Certainly, the most dramatic change instituted under President Kimball's leadership was the revelation to ordain blacks to the priesthood. On 9 June 1978, the First Presidency addressed a letter to the general and local officers of the Church throughout the world. In it, they said that they had been pleading "long and earnestly in behalf of these, our faithful brethren, spending many hours in the Upper Room of the Temple supplicating the Lord for divine guidance." The letter went on to declare that the Lord had "heard our prayers, and by revelation has confirmed that the long-promised day has come when every faithful, worthy man in the Church may receive the holy priesthood, with power to exercise its divine authority, and enjoy with his loved ones every blessing that flows therefrom, including the blessings of the temple. Accordingly, all worthy male members of the Church may be ordained to the priesthood without regard for race or color."
The New York Times called it "without question the most important shift by the church since it outlawed polygamy." Later, President Kimball recalled that he had prayed over the matter for many days in the temple. "I was very humble. . . . I was searching for this. I wanted to be sure." After his many visits to the temple to meditate and pray, President Kimball called a special meeting of the Quorum of the Twelve and asked them to remain following their meeting.
We considered this very seriously and thoughtfully and prayerfully. . . . I offered the final prayer and I told the Lord if it wasn't right, if He didn't want this change to come in the Church, that I would be true to it all the rest of my life. . . . We had this special prayer circle, then I knew that the time had came. I had a great deal to fight . . . myself, largely, because I had grown up with this thought that Negroes should not have the priesthood. . . . But this revelation and assurance came to me so clearly that there was no question about it.
Elder Bruce R. McConkie of the Quorum of the Twelve said that President Kimball "prayed with great faith and great fervor" and when he finished his prayer the "Lord gave a revelation by the power of the Holy Ghost." Elder McConkie noted that the revelation came to the "President of the Church and to each individual present." The result, he said, "was that President Kimball knew, and each one of us knew, independent of any other person, by direct and personal revelation to us, that the time had now come to extend the gospel and all its blessings and all its obligations, including the priesthood . . . to those of every nation, culture, and race, including the black race."
(Lengthening Our Stride: the Remarkable Administration of Spencer W. Kimball by Dennis L. Lythgoe Fn, BYU Studies, vol. 25 (1985), Number 4 - Fall 1985 12.)
Thursday, May 31, 2007
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Why were blacks denied the priesthood for so long?
QUESTION
Why were blacks denied the priesthood for so long?
ANSWER
A meaningful response to this question rests on an understanding of what the priesthood is. That understanding is generally not had by those asking the question. A typical dictionary definition is "the office and vocation of a priest." For a Latter-day Saint, the priesthood is appreciably more than that. The priesthood embraces the power and authority to act in the name of God. It is the authority to represent Deity in teaching the gospel and in performing the ordinances of salvation. Independent of the Spirit of revelation there can be no priesthood. One can hardly profess to speak for a God who will not speak to him. In legal terms, priesthood can be likened to the power of attorney, which is the legal authority by which one person acts in the name of another.
If one accepts the Latter-day Saint claim to priesthood—that is, that only within The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints can the authority be found to speak for God—one must at the same time accept what God has said through that priesthood. This was the principle that Christ taught when he told the meridian Twelve, "Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you" (John 15:16). Thus if one believes that Peter, James, and John did in fact confer the authority they received from the Savior upon Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery, one must also believe that the priesthood is to function as those to whom the apostles entrusted it direct. On the other hand, if a person does not believe that Latter-day Saints have this authority, then he cannot be asking the question out of concern for those denied this priesthood. Such a person should be relieved rather than offended that the Latter-day Saints have not given to others a priesthood in which he does not believe.
Answers to questions about why the Lord, in his wisdom, chooses to withhold certain privileges or blessings from certain people for a period of time are generally not known to us. At the time of Moses, the Melchizedek Priesthood was taken from the children of Israel. In its stead they were given the Aaronic, or Lesser, Priesthood. This priesthood was restricted to worthy males of the tribe of Levi. We are told in a revelation on the priesthood that the higher priesthood was taken because the children of Israel failed to sanctify themselves that they might stand in the presence of God (see D&C 84:19-25). This statement, however, leaves unanswered the question about why unborn generations were denied the priesthood because of the failure of their progenitors. Many similar situations exist. Why, for instance, are some nations required to wait so much longer than others to receive the blessings of the gospel? Or why are some couples who want children so badly unable to have them? Or why are some who desire to find a companion to whom they can be sealed in the temple unable to do so?
Our response to such questions must be one of faith. We simply trust the wisdom of God and accept his timetable. We know that he loves all his children and that the withholding of certain blessings for a time and season will not go unrewarded.
(Joseph Fielding McConkie, Answers: Straightforward Answers to Tough Gospel Questions [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1998], 30.)
Why were blacks denied the priesthood for so long?
ANSWER
A meaningful response to this question rests on an understanding of what the priesthood is. That understanding is generally not had by those asking the question. A typical dictionary definition is "the office and vocation of a priest." For a Latter-day Saint, the priesthood is appreciably more than that. The priesthood embraces the power and authority to act in the name of God. It is the authority to represent Deity in teaching the gospel and in performing the ordinances of salvation. Independent of the Spirit of revelation there can be no priesthood. One can hardly profess to speak for a God who will not speak to him. In legal terms, priesthood can be likened to the power of attorney, which is the legal authority by which one person acts in the name of another.
If one accepts the Latter-day Saint claim to priesthood—that is, that only within The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints can the authority be found to speak for God—one must at the same time accept what God has said through that priesthood. This was the principle that Christ taught when he told the meridian Twelve, "Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you" (John 15:16). Thus if one believes that Peter, James, and John did in fact confer the authority they received from the Savior upon Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery, one must also believe that the priesthood is to function as those to whom the apostles entrusted it direct. On the other hand, if a person does not believe that Latter-day Saints have this authority, then he cannot be asking the question out of concern for those denied this priesthood. Such a person should be relieved rather than offended that the Latter-day Saints have not given to others a priesthood in which he does not believe.
Answers to questions about why the Lord, in his wisdom, chooses to withhold certain privileges or blessings from certain people for a period of time are generally not known to us. At the time of Moses, the Melchizedek Priesthood was taken from the children of Israel. In its stead they were given the Aaronic, or Lesser, Priesthood. This priesthood was restricted to worthy males of the tribe of Levi. We are told in a revelation on the priesthood that the higher priesthood was taken because the children of Israel failed to sanctify themselves that they might stand in the presence of God (see D&C 84:19-25). This statement, however, leaves unanswered the question about why unborn generations were denied the priesthood because of the failure of their progenitors. Many similar situations exist. Why, for instance, are some nations required to wait so much longer than others to receive the blessings of the gospel? Or why are some couples who want children so badly unable to have them? Or why are some who desire to find a companion to whom they can be sealed in the temple unable to do so?
Our response to such questions must be one of faith. We simply trust the wisdom of God and accept his timetable. We know that he loves all his children and that the withholding of certain blessings for a time and season will not go unrewarded.
(Joseph Fielding McConkie, Answers: Straightforward Answers to Tough Gospel Questions [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1998], 30.)
Lineage and Priesthood
In the Book of Abraham as in many ancient versions of the Abraham story, the hero in his youth challenges a king's assertion of divine authority (Abr. 1:5-6), claiming to have the true authority himself (1:2-3). The king takes up the challenge and tries to make a ritual offering of Abraham as the well-known substitute King or tanist. (Abr. 1:8-14 and Fac. 1.) Abraham's miraculous delivery converts the King, who petitions Abraham for his priesthood and offers his own honors in exchange—such is the burden of many legends and of Facsimile No. 3; he also covets Abraham's wife in hopes of establishing a priestly line in the true succession. (233: Apr. 1970, 79ff.)
Why was Pharaoh, "a righteous man, ... blessed ... with the blessings of wisdom" (Abr. 1:26), denied that priesthood which he "would fain claim from Noah, through Ham" (1:27)? Certainly not because of Ham, "a just man [who] walked with God" (Moses 8:27), but rather because he claimed it through the wrong line, "that lineage by which he could not have the right of Priesthood" (Abr. 1:27). What was wrong with it? Simply this: it was not the patriarchal but the matriarchal line he was following. Even while "seeking earnestly to imitate that order established by the fathers in the first generations (what the Egyptians called the pa'at), in the days of the first patriarchal reign" (1:26), he nonetheless traced his descent and his throne to "a woman, who was the daughter of Ham, the daughter of Egyptus" (1:23); this woman "discovered the land" and "settled her sons in it" (1:24). Her eldest son became the first Pharaoh, ruling "after the manner" of the patriarchal order (1:25), which the King sought earnestly to "imitate." Thus the government of Egypt was carried on under the fiction of being patriarchal while the actual line was matriarchal, the Queen being "the Wife of the God and bearer of the royal lineage." (421:47.) But however noble it may be, a matriarchal line cannot claim patriarchal authority, even though all the parties concerned are sympathetically portrayed. In all of which there is no mention of race, though enemies of the Church have declared with shock and outrage that these passages are proof of Mormon discrimination against blacks.
(Hugh Nibley, Abraham in Egypt [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1981], 133 - 134.)
Why was Pharaoh, "a righteous man, ... blessed ... with the blessings of wisdom" (Abr. 1:26), denied that priesthood which he "would fain claim from Noah, through Ham" (1:27)? Certainly not because of Ham, "a just man [who] walked with God" (Moses 8:27), but rather because he claimed it through the wrong line, "that lineage by which he could not have the right of Priesthood" (Abr. 1:27). What was wrong with it? Simply this: it was not the patriarchal but the matriarchal line he was following. Even while "seeking earnestly to imitate that order established by the fathers in the first generations (what the Egyptians called the pa'at), in the days of the first patriarchal reign" (1:26), he nonetheless traced his descent and his throne to "a woman, who was the daughter of Ham, the daughter of Egyptus" (1:23); this woman "discovered the land" and "settled her sons in it" (1:24). Her eldest son became the first Pharaoh, ruling "after the manner" of the patriarchal order (1:25), which the King sought earnestly to "imitate." Thus the government of Egypt was carried on under the fiction of being patriarchal while the actual line was matriarchal, the Queen being "the Wife of the God and bearer of the royal lineage." (421:47.) But however noble it may be, a matriarchal line cannot claim patriarchal authority, even though all the parties concerned are sympathetically portrayed. In all of which there is no mention of race, though enemies of the Church have declared with shock and outrage that these passages are proof of Mormon discrimination against blacks.
(Hugh Nibley, Abraham in Egypt [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1981], 133 - 134.)
The Bible: Teachings of Joseph Smith
Bible
1 He that can mark the power of Omnipotence, inscribed upon the heavens, can also see God's own handwriting in the sacred volume: and he who reads it oftenest will like it best, and he who is acquainted with it, will know the hand wherever he can see it; and when once discovered, it will not only receive an acknowledgment, but an obedience to all its heavenly precepts. (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 vols. 2:14)
2 From what we can draw from the Scriptures relative to the teachings of heaven, we are induced to think that much instruction has been given to man since the beginning which we do not possess now. This may not agree with the opinions of some of our friends who are bold to say that we have everything written in the Bible which God ever spoke to man since the world began, and that if he had ever said anything more we should certainly have received it. But we ask, does it remain for a people who never had faith enough to call down one scrap of revelation from heaven, and for all they have now are indebted to the faith of another people who lived hundreds and thousands of years before them, does it remain for them to say how much God has spoken and how much he has not spoken? We have what we have, and the Bible contains what it does contain: but to say that God never said anything more to man than is there recorded, would be saying at once that we have at last received a revelation: for it must require one to advance thus far, because it is nowhere said in that volume by the mouth of God, that He would not, after giving what is there contained, speak again; and if any man has found out for a fact that the Bible contains all that God ever revealed to man he has ascertained it by an immediate revelation, other than has been previously written by the prophets and apostles. But through the kind providence of our Father a portion of His word which He delivered to His ancient saints, has fallen into our hands, is presented to us with a promise of a reward if obeyed, and with a penalty if disobeyed. That all are deeply interested in these laws or teachings, must be admitted by all who acknowledge their divine authenticity. (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 vols. 2:18)
3 You may hug up to yourselves the Bible, but, except through faith in it you get revelation for yourself, the Bible will profit you but little. (Hyrum L. Andrus and Helen Mae Andrus, comps., They Knew the Prophet, p. 101)
4 "Is there anything in the Bible which licenses you to believe in revelation now-a-days?"
Is there anything that does not authorize us to believe so? If there is, we have, as yet, not been able to find it.
. . . "Is not the canon of the Scriptures full?"
If it is, there is a great defect in the book, or else it would have said so. (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 vols. 3:30)
5 Report of Mathew L. Davis: He [Joseph Smith] then took up the Bible. "I believe," said he, "in this sacred volume. In it the 'Mormon' faith is to be found. We teach nothing but what the Bible teaches. We believe nothing, but what is to be found in this book." (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 vols. 4:78)
6 I will now turn linguist. There are many things in the Bible which do not, as they now stand, accord with the revelations of the Holy Ghost to me.
I will criticize a little further. There has been much said about the word hell, and the sectarian world have preached much about it, describing it to be a burning lake of fire and brimstone. But what is hell? It is another modern term, and is taken from hades. I'll hunt after hades as Pat did for the woodchuck. (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 vols. 5:425)
7 There is no salvation between the two lids of the Bible without a legal administrator. (Joseph Smith, Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 319)
8 I believe the Bible as it read when it came from the pen of the original writers. Ignorant translators, careless transcribers, or designing and corrupt priests have committed many errors. As it read, Gen. vi. 6, "It repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth;" also, Num. xxiii. 19, "God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the Son of man, that he should repent;" which I do not believe. But it ought to read, "It repented Noah that God made man." This I believe, and then the other quotation stands fair. If any man will prove to me, by one passage of Holy Writ, one item I believe to be false, I will renounce and disclaim it as far as I promulgated it.
The first principles of the Gospel, as I believe, are, faith, repentance, baptism for the remission of sins, with the promise of the Holy Ghost.
—"Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection." If a man leaves the principles of the doctrine of Christ, how can he be saved in the principles? This is a contradiction. I don't believe it. I will render it as it should be—"Therefore not leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God, of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment." (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 vols. 6:57-58)
9 I have an old edition of the New Testament in the Latin, Hebrew, German and Greek languages. I have been reading the German, and find it to be the most nearly correct translation, and to correspond nearest to the revelations which God has given to me for the last fourteen years. (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 vols. 6:307)
10 I thank God that I have got this old book; but I thank him more for the gift of the Holy Ghost. I have got the oldest book in the world; but I have got the oldest book in my heart, even the gift of the Holy Ghost. (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 vols. 6:308)
Footnotes
211. Letter to the brethren scattered from Zion, Kirtland, 22 January 1834.
212. Letter to the brethren scattered from Zion, Kirtland, 22 January 1834.
213. David Osborn's recollection of an 1837 statement, published in the Juvenile Instructor, 15 March 1892.
214. Answers to questions frequently asked the Prophet, Far West, 8 May 1838.
215. A letter of Mathew L. Davis to his wife describing the Prophet's discourse in Washington, D.C., 6 February 1840.
216. Sabbath address, Nauvoo, 11 June 1843.
217. Sabbath address, Nauvoo, 23 July 1843.
218. Sabbath address, Nauvoo, 15 October 1843.
219. King Follett Discourse, Nauvoo, 7 April 1844.
220. King Follett Discourse, Nauvoo, 7 April 1844.
1 He that can mark the power of Omnipotence, inscribed upon the heavens, can also see God's own handwriting in the sacred volume: and he who reads it oftenest will like it best, and he who is acquainted with it, will know the hand wherever he can see it; and when once discovered, it will not only receive an acknowledgment, but an obedience to all its heavenly precepts. (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 vols. 2:14)
2 From what we can draw from the Scriptures relative to the teachings of heaven, we are induced to think that much instruction has been given to man since the beginning which we do not possess now. This may not agree with the opinions of some of our friends who are bold to say that we have everything written in the Bible which God ever spoke to man since the world began, and that if he had ever said anything more we should certainly have received it. But we ask, does it remain for a people who never had faith enough to call down one scrap of revelation from heaven, and for all they have now are indebted to the faith of another people who lived hundreds and thousands of years before them, does it remain for them to say how much God has spoken and how much he has not spoken? We have what we have, and the Bible contains what it does contain: but to say that God never said anything more to man than is there recorded, would be saying at once that we have at last received a revelation: for it must require one to advance thus far, because it is nowhere said in that volume by the mouth of God, that He would not, after giving what is there contained, speak again; and if any man has found out for a fact that the Bible contains all that God ever revealed to man he has ascertained it by an immediate revelation, other than has been previously written by the prophets and apostles. But through the kind providence of our Father a portion of His word which He delivered to His ancient saints, has fallen into our hands, is presented to us with a promise of a reward if obeyed, and with a penalty if disobeyed. That all are deeply interested in these laws or teachings, must be admitted by all who acknowledge their divine authenticity. (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 vols. 2:18)
3 You may hug up to yourselves the Bible, but, except through faith in it you get revelation for yourself, the Bible will profit you but little. (Hyrum L. Andrus and Helen Mae Andrus, comps., They Knew the Prophet, p. 101)
4 "Is there anything in the Bible which licenses you to believe in revelation now-a-days?"
Is there anything that does not authorize us to believe so? If there is, we have, as yet, not been able to find it.
. . . "Is not the canon of the Scriptures full?"
If it is, there is a great defect in the book, or else it would have said so. (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 vols. 3:30)
5 Report of Mathew L. Davis: He [Joseph Smith] then took up the Bible. "I believe," said he, "in this sacred volume. In it the 'Mormon' faith is to be found. We teach nothing but what the Bible teaches. We believe nothing, but what is to be found in this book." (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 vols. 4:78)
6 I will now turn linguist. There are many things in the Bible which do not, as they now stand, accord with the revelations of the Holy Ghost to me.
I will criticize a little further. There has been much said about the word hell, and the sectarian world have preached much about it, describing it to be a burning lake of fire and brimstone. But what is hell? It is another modern term, and is taken from hades. I'll hunt after hades as Pat did for the woodchuck. (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 vols. 5:425)
7 There is no salvation between the two lids of the Bible without a legal administrator. (Joseph Smith, Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 319)
8 I believe the Bible as it read when it came from the pen of the original writers. Ignorant translators, careless transcribers, or designing and corrupt priests have committed many errors. As it read, Gen. vi. 6, "It repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth;" also, Num. xxiii. 19, "God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the Son of man, that he should repent;" which I do not believe. But it ought to read, "It repented Noah that God made man." This I believe, and then the other quotation stands fair. If any man will prove to me, by one passage of Holy Writ, one item I believe to be false, I will renounce and disclaim it as far as I promulgated it.
The first principles of the Gospel, as I believe, are, faith, repentance, baptism for the remission of sins, with the promise of the Holy Ghost.
—"Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection." If a man leaves the principles of the doctrine of Christ, how can he be saved in the principles? This is a contradiction. I don't believe it. I will render it as it should be—"Therefore not leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God, of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment." (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 vols. 6:57-58)
9 I have an old edition of the New Testament in the Latin, Hebrew, German and Greek languages. I have been reading the German, and find it to be the most nearly correct translation, and to correspond nearest to the revelations which God has given to me for the last fourteen years. (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 vols. 6:307)
10 I thank God that I have got this old book; but I thank him more for the gift of the Holy Ghost. I have got the oldest book in the world; but I have got the oldest book in my heart, even the gift of the Holy Ghost. (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 vols. 6:308)
Footnotes
211. Letter to the brethren scattered from Zion, Kirtland, 22 January 1834.
212. Letter to the brethren scattered from Zion, Kirtland, 22 January 1834.
213. David Osborn's recollection of an 1837 statement, published in the Juvenile Instructor, 15 March 1892.
214. Answers to questions frequently asked the Prophet, Far West, 8 May 1838.
215. A letter of Mathew L. Davis to his wife describing the Prophet's discourse in Washington, D.C., 6 February 1840.
216. Sabbath address, Nauvoo, 11 June 1843.
217. Sabbath address, Nauvoo, 23 July 1843.
218. Sabbath address, Nauvoo, 15 October 1843.
219. King Follett Discourse, Nauvoo, 7 April 1844.
220. King Follett Discourse, Nauvoo, 7 April 1844.
Virtue: Teachings of Joseph Smith
Virtue
1 Certainly, then, those two classes of men [virtuous and wicked] could not hold the reins of the same government at the same time in peace; for internal jars, broils, and discords would rack it to the center, were such a form of government to exist under such a system. The virtuous could not enjoy peace in the constant and unceasing schemes and evil plans of the wicked; neither could the wicked have enjoyment in the constant perseverance of the righteous to do justly. That there must be an agreement in this government, or it could not stand, must be admitted by all. Should the king convey the reins into the hands of the rebellious the government must soon fall; for every government, from the creation to the present, when it ceased to be virtuous, and failed to execute justice, sooner or later has been overthrown. And without virtuous principles to actuate a government all care for justice is soon lost, and the only motive which prompts it to act is ambition and selfishness. (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 Vols. 2:10-11)
2 Now for a man to consecrate his property, wife and children, to the Lord, is nothing more nor less than to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit the widow and fatherless, the sick and afflicted, and do all he can to administer to their relief in their afflictions, and for him and his house to serve the Lord. In order to do this, he and all his house must be virtuous, and must shun the very appearance of evil. (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 Vols. 3:231)
3 We think that truth, honor, virtue and innocence will eventually come out triumphant. (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 Vols. 3:292)
4 Therefore we beseech of you, brethren, that you bear with those who do not feel themselves more worthy than yourselves, while we exhort one another to a reformation with one and all, both old and young, teachers and taught, both high and low, rich and poor, bond and free, male and female; let honesty, and sobriety, and candor, and solemnity, and virtue, and pureness, and meekness, and simplicity crown our heads in every place; and in fine, become as little children, without malice, guile or hypocrisy. (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 Vols. 3:296)
5 Brother Hyrum and the Twelve present bore testimony that they had never heard me teach any principles but those of the strictest virtue, either in public or private. (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 Vols. 4:582-83)
Report of Eliza R. Snow: He [Joseph Smith] said . . . if you do right, there is no danger of your going too fast.
He said he did not care how fast we run in the path of virtue; resist evil, and there is no danger. (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 Vols. 4:605)
7 Report of Eliza R. Snow: He [Joseph Smith] said . . . there is now a day of salvation to such as repent and reform;—and they who repent not should be cast out from this society [the Relief Society]; yet we should woo them to return to God, lest they escape not the damnation of hell! Where there is a mountain top, there is also a valley—we should act in all things on a proper medium to every immortal spirit. Notwithstanding the unworthy are among us, the virtuous should not, from self importance, grieve and oppress needlessly, those unfortunate ones—even these should be encouraged to hereafter live to be honored by this society, who are the best portions of the community. Said he had two things to recommend to the members of this society, to put a double watch over the tongue: no organized body can exist without this at all. All organized bodies have their peculiar evils, weaknesses and difficulties, the object is to make those not so good reform and return to the path of virtue that they may be numbered with the good, and even hold the keys of power, which will influence to virtue and goodness—should chasten and reprove, and keep it all in silence, not even mention them again; then you will be established in power, virtue, and holiness, and the wrath of God will be turned away. (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 Vols. 5:20)
8 Report of Eliza R. Snow: [Joseph Smith] said it is no matter how fast the society [Relief Society] increases, if all the members are virtuous; that we must be as particular with regard to the character of members now, as when the society was first started; that sometimes persons wish to crowd themselves into a society of this kind when they do not intend to pursue the ways of purity and righteousness, as if the society would be a shelter to them in their iniquity. (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 Vols. 5:23)
9 Every honest man who has visited the city of Nauvoo since it existed, can bear record of better things, and place me in the front ranks of those who are known to do good for the sake of goodness, and show all liars, hypocrites and abominable creatures that, while vice sinks them down to darkness and woe, virtue exalts me and the Saints to light and immortality. (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 Vols. 5:290-91)
10 With the smiling prospects around us at present, success seems certain; and, with the blessings of Jehovah, we shall reap the reward of virtue and goodness. I go for the good of the world; and if all honest men would do so, mean men would be scarce. (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 Vols. 6:55-56)
11 The whole earth shall bear me witness that I, like the towering rock in the midst of the ocean, which has withstood the mighty surges of the warring waves for centuries, am impregnable, and am a faithful friend to virtue, and a fearless foe to vice,—no odds whether the former was sold as a pearl in Asia or hid as a gem in America, and the latter dazzles in palaces or glimmers among the tombs.
I combat the errors of ages; I meet the violence of mobs; I cope with illegal proceedings from executive authority; I cut the gordian knot of powers, and I solve mathematical problems of universities, with truth—diamond truth; and God is my "right hand man."
And to close, let me say in the name of Jesus Christ to you, and to presidents, emperors, kings, queens, governors, rulers, nobles, and men in authority everywhere, Do the works of righteousness, execute justice and judgment in the earth, that God may bless you and her inhabitants; and
The laurel that grows on the top of the mountain
Shall green for your fame while the sun sheds a ray;
And the lily that blows by the side of the fountain
Will bloom for your virtue till earth melts away.
(Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 Vols. 6:78)
12 Where is the virtue of our forefathers? and where is the sacred honor of freemen!
. . . Must we, because we believe in enjoying the constitutional privilege and right of worshiping Almighty God according to the dictates of our own consciences, and because we believe in repentance, and baptism for the remission of sins, the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, the millennium, the day of judgment, and the Book of Mormon as the history of the aborigines of this continent,—must we be expelled from the institutions of our country, the rights of citizenship and the graves of our friends and brethren, and the Government lock the gate of humanity and shut the door of redress against us? If so, farewell freedom! adieu to personal safety! and let the red hot wrath of an offended God purify the nation of such sinks of corruption; for that realm is hurrying to ruin where vice has the power to expel virtue. (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 Vols. 6:91, 92)
13 With the strictest scrutiny publish the facts, whether a particle of law has been evaded or broken: virtue and innocence need no artificial covering. (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 Vols. 6:218)
14 Truth, virtue, and honor, combined with energy and industry, pave the way to exaltation, glory and bliss. (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 Vols. 6:425)
15 Sir:—We understand that you have been cut off from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; and feeling an ardent desire for the salvation of the souls of men, we take pleasure in feeling after you; and therefore would, in the sincerity of men of God, advise you to be rebaptized by Elder Nickerson, one of the servants of God, that you may again receive the sweet influences of the Holy Ghost, and enjoy the fellowship of the Saints.
The law of God requires it, and you cannot be too good. Patience is heavenly, obedience is noble, forgiveness is merciful, and exaltation is godly; and he that holds out faithful to the end shall in no wise lose his reward. A good man will endure all things to honor Christ, and even dispose of the whole world, and all in it, to save his soul. Grace for grace is a heavenly decree, and union is power where wisdom guides. (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 Vols. 6:427)
Footnotes
2156. Letter to the brethren scattered from Zion, Kirtland, 22 January 1834.
2157. Letter to the Church from Liberty Jail, 16 December 1838.
2158. Letter to the Saints from Liberty Jail, 20-25 March 1839.
2159. Letter to the Saints from Liberty Jail, 20-25 March 1839.
2160. Nauvoo, 6 April 1842.
2161. Remarks to the Relief Society, Nauvoo, 28 April 1842.
2162. Remarks to the Relief Society, Nauvoo, 26 May 1842.
2163. Remarks to the Relief Society, Nauvoo, 9 June 1842.
2164. Letter to the editor of the Times and Seasons, 1 March 1843.
2165. Letter to Horace R. Hotchkiss, Nauvoo, 12 October 1843.
2166. Letter to James Arlington Bennett, Nauvoo, 13 November 1843.
2167. Letter to the "Green Mountain Boys" in Vermont, appealing for their support, Nauvoo, 29 November 1843.
2168. A pamphlet containing the Prophet's political platform, entitled Views of the Powers and Policy of the Government of the United States, Nauvoo, 7 February 1844.
2169. Letter to Joel Hamilton Walker, Nauvoo, 1 June 1844.
2170. Letter of the Prophet and Hyrum Smith to Mr. Tewkesbury (Abijah R. Tewksbury), Nauvoo, 4 June 1844, seeking to restore him to fellowship.
1 Certainly, then, those two classes of men [virtuous and wicked] could not hold the reins of the same government at the same time in peace; for internal jars, broils, and discords would rack it to the center, were such a form of government to exist under such a system. The virtuous could not enjoy peace in the constant and unceasing schemes and evil plans of the wicked; neither could the wicked have enjoyment in the constant perseverance of the righteous to do justly. That there must be an agreement in this government, or it could not stand, must be admitted by all. Should the king convey the reins into the hands of the rebellious the government must soon fall; for every government, from the creation to the present, when it ceased to be virtuous, and failed to execute justice, sooner or later has been overthrown. And without virtuous principles to actuate a government all care for justice is soon lost, and the only motive which prompts it to act is ambition and selfishness. (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 Vols. 2:10-11)
2 Now for a man to consecrate his property, wife and children, to the Lord, is nothing more nor less than to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit the widow and fatherless, the sick and afflicted, and do all he can to administer to their relief in their afflictions, and for him and his house to serve the Lord. In order to do this, he and all his house must be virtuous, and must shun the very appearance of evil. (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 Vols. 3:231)
3 We think that truth, honor, virtue and innocence will eventually come out triumphant. (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 Vols. 3:292)
4 Therefore we beseech of you, brethren, that you bear with those who do not feel themselves more worthy than yourselves, while we exhort one another to a reformation with one and all, both old and young, teachers and taught, both high and low, rich and poor, bond and free, male and female; let honesty, and sobriety, and candor, and solemnity, and virtue, and pureness, and meekness, and simplicity crown our heads in every place; and in fine, become as little children, without malice, guile or hypocrisy. (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 Vols. 3:296)
5 Brother Hyrum and the Twelve present bore testimony that they had never heard me teach any principles but those of the strictest virtue, either in public or private. (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 Vols. 4:582-83)
Report of Eliza R. Snow: He [Joseph Smith] said . . . if you do right, there is no danger of your going too fast.
He said he did not care how fast we run in the path of virtue; resist evil, and there is no danger. (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 Vols. 4:605)
7 Report of Eliza R. Snow: He [Joseph Smith] said . . . there is now a day of salvation to such as repent and reform;—and they who repent not should be cast out from this society [the Relief Society]; yet we should woo them to return to God, lest they escape not the damnation of hell! Where there is a mountain top, there is also a valley—we should act in all things on a proper medium to every immortal spirit. Notwithstanding the unworthy are among us, the virtuous should not, from self importance, grieve and oppress needlessly, those unfortunate ones—even these should be encouraged to hereafter live to be honored by this society, who are the best portions of the community. Said he had two things to recommend to the members of this society, to put a double watch over the tongue: no organized body can exist without this at all. All organized bodies have their peculiar evils, weaknesses and difficulties, the object is to make those not so good reform and return to the path of virtue that they may be numbered with the good, and even hold the keys of power, which will influence to virtue and goodness—should chasten and reprove, and keep it all in silence, not even mention them again; then you will be established in power, virtue, and holiness, and the wrath of God will be turned away. (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 Vols. 5:20)
8 Report of Eliza R. Snow: [Joseph Smith] said it is no matter how fast the society [Relief Society] increases, if all the members are virtuous; that we must be as particular with regard to the character of members now, as when the society was first started; that sometimes persons wish to crowd themselves into a society of this kind when they do not intend to pursue the ways of purity and righteousness, as if the society would be a shelter to them in their iniquity. (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 Vols. 5:23)
9 Every honest man who has visited the city of Nauvoo since it existed, can bear record of better things, and place me in the front ranks of those who are known to do good for the sake of goodness, and show all liars, hypocrites and abominable creatures that, while vice sinks them down to darkness and woe, virtue exalts me and the Saints to light and immortality. (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 Vols. 5:290-91)
10 With the smiling prospects around us at present, success seems certain; and, with the blessings of Jehovah, we shall reap the reward of virtue and goodness. I go for the good of the world; and if all honest men would do so, mean men would be scarce. (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 Vols. 6:55-56)
11 The whole earth shall bear me witness that I, like the towering rock in the midst of the ocean, which has withstood the mighty surges of the warring waves for centuries, am impregnable, and am a faithful friend to virtue, and a fearless foe to vice,—no odds whether the former was sold as a pearl in Asia or hid as a gem in America, and the latter dazzles in palaces or glimmers among the tombs.
I combat the errors of ages; I meet the violence of mobs; I cope with illegal proceedings from executive authority; I cut the gordian knot of powers, and I solve mathematical problems of universities, with truth—diamond truth; and God is my "right hand man."
And to close, let me say in the name of Jesus Christ to you, and to presidents, emperors, kings, queens, governors, rulers, nobles, and men in authority everywhere, Do the works of righteousness, execute justice and judgment in the earth, that God may bless you and her inhabitants; and
The laurel that grows on the top of the mountain
Shall green for your fame while the sun sheds a ray;
And the lily that blows by the side of the fountain
Will bloom for your virtue till earth melts away.
(Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 Vols. 6:78)
12 Where is the virtue of our forefathers? and where is the sacred honor of freemen!
. . . Must we, because we believe in enjoying the constitutional privilege and right of worshiping Almighty God according to the dictates of our own consciences, and because we believe in repentance, and baptism for the remission of sins, the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, the millennium, the day of judgment, and the Book of Mormon as the history of the aborigines of this continent,—must we be expelled from the institutions of our country, the rights of citizenship and the graves of our friends and brethren, and the Government lock the gate of humanity and shut the door of redress against us? If so, farewell freedom! adieu to personal safety! and let the red hot wrath of an offended God purify the nation of such sinks of corruption; for that realm is hurrying to ruin where vice has the power to expel virtue. (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 Vols. 6:91, 92)
13 With the strictest scrutiny publish the facts, whether a particle of law has been evaded or broken: virtue and innocence need no artificial covering. (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 Vols. 6:218)
14 Truth, virtue, and honor, combined with energy and industry, pave the way to exaltation, glory and bliss. (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 Vols. 6:425)
15 Sir:—We understand that you have been cut off from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; and feeling an ardent desire for the salvation of the souls of men, we take pleasure in feeling after you; and therefore would, in the sincerity of men of God, advise you to be rebaptized by Elder Nickerson, one of the servants of God, that you may again receive the sweet influences of the Holy Ghost, and enjoy the fellowship of the Saints.
The law of God requires it, and you cannot be too good. Patience is heavenly, obedience is noble, forgiveness is merciful, and exaltation is godly; and he that holds out faithful to the end shall in no wise lose his reward. A good man will endure all things to honor Christ, and even dispose of the whole world, and all in it, to save his soul. Grace for grace is a heavenly decree, and union is power where wisdom guides. (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 Vols. 6:427)
Footnotes
2156. Letter to the brethren scattered from Zion, Kirtland, 22 January 1834.
2157. Letter to the Church from Liberty Jail, 16 December 1838.
2158. Letter to the Saints from Liberty Jail, 20-25 March 1839.
2159. Letter to the Saints from Liberty Jail, 20-25 March 1839.
2160. Nauvoo, 6 April 1842.
2161. Remarks to the Relief Society, Nauvoo, 28 April 1842.
2162. Remarks to the Relief Society, Nauvoo, 26 May 1842.
2163. Remarks to the Relief Society, Nauvoo, 9 June 1842.
2164. Letter to the editor of the Times and Seasons, 1 March 1843.
2165. Letter to Horace R. Hotchkiss, Nauvoo, 12 October 1843.
2166. Letter to James Arlington Bennett, Nauvoo, 13 November 1843.
2167. Letter to the "Green Mountain Boys" in Vermont, appealing for their support, Nauvoo, 29 November 1843.
2168. A pamphlet containing the Prophet's political platform, entitled Views of the Powers and Policy of the Government of the United States, Nauvoo, 7 February 1844.
2169. Letter to Joel Hamilton Walker, Nauvoo, 1 June 1844.
2170. Letter of the Prophet and Hyrum Smith to Mr. Tewkesbury (Abijah R. Tewksbury), Nauvoo, 4 June 1844, seeking to restore him to fellowship.
United States: Teachings of Joseph Smith
United States
1 I arrived safely at Nauvoo, after a wearisome journey, through alternate snow and mud, having witnessed many vexatious movements in government officers, whose sole object should be the peace and prosperity and happiness of the whole people; but instead of this, I discovered that popular clamor and personal aggrandizement were the ruling principles of those in authority; and my heart faints within me when I see, by the visions of the Almighty, the end of this nation, if she continues to disregard the cries and petitions of her virtuous citizens, as she has done, and is now doing. (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 Vols. 4:89)
2 Our nation, which possesses greater resources than any other, is rent, from center to circumference, with party strife, political intrigues, and sectional interest; our counselors are panic stricken, our legislators are astonished, and our senators are confounded, our merchants are paralyzed, our tradesmen are disheartened, our mechanics out of employ, our farmers distressed, and our poor crying for bread, our banks are broken, our credit ruined, and our states overwhelmed in debt, yet we are, and have been in peace.
. . . With all our evils we are better situated than any other nation. (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 Vols. 5:62)
3 In the United States the people are the government, and their united voice is the only sovereign that should rule, the only power that should be obeyed, and the only gentlemen that should be honored at home and abroad, on the land and on the sea. Wherefore, were I the president of the United States, by the voice of a virtuous people, I would honor the old paths of the venerated fathers of freedom; I would walk in the tracks of the illustrious patriots who carried the ark of the Government upon their shoulders with an eye single to the glory of the people. (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 Vols. 6:208)
Footnotes
2128. Nauvoo, 4 March 1840.
2129. Editorial in the Times and Seasons, 15 July 1842.
2130. A pamphlet containing the Prophet's political platform, entitled Views of the Powers and Policy of the Government of the United States, Nauvoo, 7 February 1844.
1 I arrived safely at Nauvoo, after a wearisome journey, through alternate snow and mud, having witnessed many vexatious movements in government officers, whose sole object should be the peace and prosperity and happiness of the whole people; but instead of this, I discovered that popular clamor and personal aggrandizement were the ruling principles of those in authority; and my heart faints within me when I see, by the visions of the Almighty, the end of this nation, if she continues to disregard the cries and petitions of her virtuous citizens, as she has done, and is now doing. (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 Vols. 4:89)
2 Our nation, which possesses greater resources than any other, is rent, from center to circumference, with party strife, political intrigues, and sectional interest; our counselors are panic stricken, our legislators are astonished, and our senators are confounded, our merchants are paralyzed, our tradesmen are disheartened, our mechanics out of employ, our farmers distressed, and our poor crying for bread, our banks are broken, our credit ruined, and our states overwhelmed in debt, yet we are, and have been in peace.
. . . With all our evils we are better situated than any other nation. (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 Vols. 5:62)
3 In the United States the people are the government, and their united voice is the only sovereign that should rule, the only power that should be obeyed, and the only gentlemen that should be honored at home and abroad, on the land and on the sea. Wherefore, were I the president of the United States, by the voice of a virtuous people, I would honor the old paths of the venerated fathers of freedom; I would walk in the tracks of the illustrious patriots who carried the ark of the Government upon their shoulders with an eye single to the glory of the people. (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 Vols. 6:208)
Footnotes
2128. Nauvoo, 4 March 1840.
2129. Editorial in the Times and Seasons, 15 July 1842.
2130. A pamphlet containing the Prophet's political platform, entitled Views of the Powers and Policy of the Government of the United States, Nauvoo, 7 February 1844.
Sprit World: Teachings of Joseph Smith
Spirit World
1 "If the Mormon doctrine is true, what has become of all those who died since the days of the Apostles?"
All those who have not had an opportunity of hearing the Gospel, and being administered unto by an inspired man in the flesh, must have it hereafter, before they can be finally judged. (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 Vols. 3:29)
2 Words of Benjamin F. Johnson: Then with a deep-drawn breath, as a sigh of weariness, he sank down heavily in his chair, and said, "Oh! I am so tired—so tired that I often feel to long for my day of rest. For what has there been in this life but tribulation for me? From a boy I have been persecuted by my enemies, and now even my friends are beginning to join with them, to hate and persecute me! Why should I not wish for my time of rest?"
His words and tone thrilled and shocked me, and like an arrow pierced my hopes that he would long remain with us. I said, as with a heart full of tears, "Oh! Joseph, what could we, as a people, do without you and what would become of the great latter-day work if you should leave us?"
He was touched by my emotions, and in reply he said, "Benjamin, I would not be far away from you, and if on the other side of the veil I would still be working with you, and with a power greatly increased, to roll on this kingdom." (Hyrum L. Andrus and Helen Mae Andrus, comps., They Knew the Prophet, p. 97)
I will say something about the spirits in prison. There has been much said by modern divines about the words of Jesus (when on the cross) to the thief, saying, "This day shalt thou be with me in paradise." King James' translators make it out to say paradise. But what is paradise? It is a modern word: it does not answer at all to the original word that Jesus made use of. Find the original of the word paradise. You may as easily find a needle in a haymow. Here is a chance for battle, ye learned men. There is nothing in the original word in Greek from which this was taken that signifies paradise; but it was—This day thou shalt be with me in the world of spirits: then I will teach you all about it and answer your inquiries. And Peter says he went and preached to the world of spirits (spirits in prison, I Peter, 3rd chap., 19th verse), so that they who would receive it could have it answered by proxy by those who live on the earth, etc. . . .
I will criticise a little further. There has been much said about the word hell, and the sectarian world have preached much about it, describing it to be a burning lake of fire and brimstone. But what is hell? It is another modern term, and is taken from hades. I'll hunt after hades as Pat did for the woodchuck.
Hades, the Greek, or Shaole, the Hebrew: these two significations mean a world of spirits. Hades, Shaole, paradise, spirits in prison, are all one: it is a world of spirits.
The righteous and the wicked all go to the same world of spirits until the resurrection. "I do not think so," says one. If you will go to any house any time, I will take my lexicon and prove it to you.
The great misery of departed spirits in the world of spirits, where they go after death, is to know that they have come short of the glory that others enjoy and that they might have enjoyed themselves, and they are their own accusers. "But," says one, "I believe in one universal heaven and hell, where all go, and are all alike, and equally miserable or equally happy."
What! where all are huddled together—the honorable, virtuous, and murderers, and whoremongers, when it is written that they shall be judged according to the deeds done in the body? But St. Paul informs us of three glories and three heavens. He knew a man that was caught up to the third heavens. Now, if the doctrine of the sectarian world, that there is but one heaven, is true, Paul, what do you tell that lie for, and say there are three? Jesus said unto His disciples, "In my Father's house are many mansions, if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you, and I will come and receive you to myself, that where I am ye may be also." (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 Vols. 5:424-26)
4 Now, all those [who] die in the faith go to the prison of spirits to preach to the dead in body, but they are alive in the spirit; and those spirits preach to the spirits that they may live according to God in the spirit, and men do minister for them in the flesh; and angels bear the glad tidings to the spirits, and they are made happy by these means. (Joseph Smith, The Words of Joseph Smith, p. 370; standardized)
P5 Words of William Taylor: He [Joseph Smith] seemed to be just as familiar with the spirit world, and as well acquainted with the other side, as he was with this world. (Hyrum L. Andrus and Helen Mae Andrus, comps., They Knew the Prophet, p. 161)
6 Words of Lucy Walker Kimball: He [Joseph Smith] anticipated great joy in meeting his parents and friends beyond the grave. He believed that as soon as the spirit left the body we were shaking hands with and greeting our friends. (Hyrum L. Andrus and Helen Mae Andrus, comps., They Knew the Prophet, p. 139)
Footnotes
1981. Answers to questions frequently asked the Prophet, Far West, 8 May 1838.
1982. Letter of Benjamin F. Johnson to George S. Gibbs, 1903. The conversation described may have occurred in March 1843.
1983. Sabbath address, Nauvoo, 11 June 1843.
1984. Sabbath address, Nauvoo, 12 May 1844, as reported by George Laub.
1985. Recollection of William Taylor, published in the Young Woman's Journal, December 1906.
1986. Recollection of Lucy Walker Kimball, published in the Woman's Exponent, November 1910.
1 "If the Mormon doctrine is true, what has become of all those who died since the days of the Apostles?"
All those who have not had an opportunity of hearing the Gospel, and being administered unto by an inspired man in the flesh, must have it hereafter, before they can be finally judged. (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 Vols. 3:29)
2 Words of Benjamin F. Johnson: Then with a deep-drawn breath, as a sigh of weariness, he sank down heavily in his chair, and said, "Oh! I am so tired—so tired that I often feel to long for my day of rest. For what has there been in this life but tribulation for me? From a boy I have been persecuted by my enemies, and now even my friends are beginning to join with them, to hate and persecute me! Why should I not wish for my time of rest?"
His words and tone thrilled and shocked me, and like an arrow pierced my hopes that he would long remain with us. I said, as with a heart full of tears, "Oh! Joseph, what could we, as a people, do without you and what would become of the great latter-day work if you should leave us?"
He was touched by my emotions, and in reply he said, "Benjamin, I would not be far away from you, and if on the other side of the veil I would still be working with you, and with a power greatly increased, to roll on this kingdom." (Hyrum L. Andrus and Helen Mae Andrus, comps., They Knew the Prophet, p. 97)
I will say something about the spirits in prison. There has been much said by modern divines about the words of Jesus (when on the cross) to the thief, saying, "This day shalt thou be with me in paradise." King James' translators make it out to say paradise. But what is paradise? It is a modern word: it does not answer at all to the original word that Jesus made use of. Find the original of the word paradise. You may as easily find a needle in a haymow. Here is a chance for battle, ye learned men. There is nothing in the original word in Greek from which this was taken that signifies paradise; but it was—This day thou shalt be with me in the world of spirits: then I will teach you all about it and answer your inquiries. And Peter says he went and preached to the world of spirits (spirits in prison, I Peter, 3rd chap., 19th verse), so that they who would receive it could have it answered by proxy by those who live on the earth, etc. . . .
I will criticise a little further. There has been much said about the word hell, and the sectarian world have preached much about it, describing it to be a burning lake of fire and brimstone. But what is hell? It is another modern term, and is taken from hades. I'll hunt after hades as Pat did for the woodchuck.
Hades, the Greek, or Shaole, the Hebrew: these two significations mean a world of spirits. Hades, Shaole, paradise, spirits in prison, are all one: it is a world of spirits.
The righteous and the wicked all go to the same world of spirits until the resurrection. "I do not think so," says one. If you will go to any house any time, I will take my lexicon and prove it to you.
The great misery of departed spirits in the world of spirits, where they go after death, is to know that they have come short of the glory that others enjoy and that they might have enjoyed themselves, and they are their own accusers. "But," says one, "I believe in one universal heaven and hell, where all go, and are all alike, and equally miserable or equally happy."
What! where all are huddled together—the honorable, virtuous, and murderers, and whoremongers, when it is written that they shall be judged according to the deeds done in the body? But St. Paul informs us of three glories and three heavens. He knew a man that was caught up to the third heavens. Now, if the doctrine of the sectarian world, that there is but one heaven, is true, Paul, what do you tell that lie for, and say there are three? Jesus said unto His disciples, "In my Father's house are many mansions, if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you, and I will come and receive you to myself, that where I am ye may be also." (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 Vols. 5:424-26)
4 Now, all those [who] die in the faith go to the prison of spirits to preach to the dead in body, but they are alive in the spirit; and those spirits preach to the spirits that they may live according to God in the spirit, and men do minister for them in the flesh; and angels bear the glad tidings to the spirits, and they are made happy by these means. (Joseph Smith, The Words of Joseph Smith, p. 370; standardized)
P5 Words of William Taylor: He [Joseph Smith] seemed to be just as familiar with the spirit world, and as well acquainted with the other side, as he was with this world. (Hyrum L. Andrus and Helen Mae Andrus, comps., They Knew the Prophet, p. 161)
6 Words of Lucy Walker Kimball: He [Joseph Smith] anticipated great joy in meeting his parents and friends beyond the grave. He believed that as soon as the spirit left the body we were shaking hands with and greeting our friends. (Hyrum L. Andrus and Helen Mae Andrus, comps., They Knew the Prophet, p. 139)
Footnotes
1981. Answers to questions frequently asked the Prophet, Far West, 8 May 1838.
1982. Letter of Benjamin F. Johnson to George S. Gibbs, 1903. The conversation described may have occurred in March 1843.
1983. Sabbath address, Nauvoo, 11 June 1843.
1984. Sabbath address, Nauvoo, 12 May 1844, as reported by George Laub.
1985. Recollection of William Taylor, published in the Young Woman's Journal, December 1906.
1986. Recollection of Lucy Walker Kimball, published in the Woman's Exponent, November 1910.
Signs: Teachings of joseph Smith
Signs
Faith comes not by signs, but by hearing the word of God. (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 Vols. 3:379)
It is an eternal principle, that has existed with God from all eternity: That man who rises up to condemn others, finding fault with the Church, saying that they are out of the way, while he himself is righteous, then know assuredly, that that man is in the high road to apostasy; and if he does not repent, will apostatize, as God lives. The principle is as correct as the one that Jesus put forth in saying that he who seeketh a sign is an adulterous person; and that principle is eternal, undeviating, and firm as the pillars of heaven; for whenever you see a man seeking after a sign, you may set it down that he is an adulterous man. (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 Vols. 3:385)
The Lord cannot always be known by the thunder of His voice, by the display of His glory or by the manifestation of His power; and those that are the most anxious to see these things, are the least prepared to meet them, and were the Lord to manifest His powers as He did to the children of Israel, such characters would be the first to say, "Let not the Lord speak any more, lest we His people die." (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 Vols. 5:31)
In Mark we have these important words: Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptised shall be saved, and he that believeth not shall be damned. And to show how the believers are to be known from the unbelievers, he continues and says: And these signs shall follow them that believe: in my name shall they cast out devils: they shall speak with new tongues: they shall take up serpents: and if they drink any deadly thing it shall not hurt them: they shall lay hands on the sick and they shall recover. (Times and Seasons 3:903)
When I was preaching in Philadelphia, a Quaker called out for a sign. I told him to be still. After the sermon, he again asked for a sign. I told the congregation the man was an adulterer; that a wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and that the Lord had said to me in a revelation, that any man who wanted a sign was an adulterous person. "It is true," cried one, "for I caught him in the very act," which the man afterwards confessed, when he was baptized. (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 Vols. 5:268)
Faith comes not by signs, but by hearing the word of God. (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 Vols. 3:379)
It is an eternal principle, that has existed with God from all eternity: That man who rises up to condemn others, finding fault with the Church, saying that they are out of the way, while he himself is righteous, then know assuredly, that that man is in the high road to apostasy; and if he does not repent, will apostatize, as God lives. The principle is as correct as the one that Jesus put forth in saying that he who seeketh a sign is an adulterous person; and that principle is eternal, undeviating, and firm as the pillars of heaven; for whenever you see a man seeking after a sign, you may set it down that he is an adulterous man. (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 Vols. 3:385)
The Lord cannot always be known by the thunder of His voice, by the display of His glory or by the manifestation of His power; and those that are the most anxious to see these things, are the least prepared to meet them, and were the Lord to manifest His powers as He did to the children of Israel, such characters would be the first to say, "Let not the Lord speak any more, lest we His people die." (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 Vols. 5:31)
In Mark we have these important words: Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptised shall be saved, and he that believeth not shall be damned. And to show how the believers are to be known from the unbelievers, he continues and says: And these signs shall follow them that believe: in my name shall they cast out devils: they shall speak with new tongues: they shall take up serpents: and if they drink any deadly thing it shall not hurt them: they shall lay hands on the sick and they shall recover. (Times and Seasons 3:903)
When I was preaching in Philadelphia, a Quaker called out for a sign. I told him to be still. After the sermon, he again asked for a sign. I told the congregation the man was an adulterer; that a wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and that the Lord had said to me in a revelation, that any man who wanted a sign was an adulterous person. "It is true," cried one, "for I caught him in the very act," which the man afterwards confessed, when he was baptized. (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 Vols. 5:268)
Sectarianism: Teaching of Joeseph Smith
Sectarianism
1 Minutes: There is never a time when the spirit is too old to approach God. All are within the reach of pardoning mercy, who have not committed the unpardonable sin, which hath no forgiveness, neither in this world, nor in the world to come. There is a way to release the spirits of the dead; that is by the power and authority of the Priesthood—by binding and loosing on earth. This doctrine appears glorious, inasmuch as it exhibits the greatness of divine compassion and benevolence in the extent of the plan of human salvation.
This glorious truth is well calculated to enlarge the understanding, and to sustain the soul under troubles, difficulties and distresses. For illustration, suppose the case of two men, brothers, equally intelligent, learned, virtuous and lovely, walking in uprightness and in all good conscience, so far as they have been able to discern duty from the muddy stream of tradition, or from the blotted page of the book of nature.
One dies and is buried, having never heard the Gospel of reconciliation; to the other the message of salvation is sent, he hears and embraces it, and is made the heir of eternal life. Shall the one become the partaker of glory and the other be consigned to hopeless perdition? Is there no chance for his escape? Sectarianism answers "none." Such an idea is worse than atheism. The truth shall break down and dash in pieces all such bigoted Pharisaism; the sects shall be sifted, the honest in heart brought out, and their priests left in the midst of their corruption.
Many objections are urged against the Latter-day Saints for not admitting the validity of sectarian baptism, and for withholding fellowship from sectarian churches. Yet to do otherwise would be like putting new wine into old bottles, and putting old wine into new bottles. What! new revelations in the old churches? New revelations would knock out the bottom of their bottomless pit. New wine into old bottles! The bottles burst and the wine runs out! What! Sadducees in the new church! Old wine in new leathern bottles will leak through the pores and escape. So the Sadducee saints mock at authority, kick out of the traces, and run to the mountains of perdition, leaving the long echo of their braying behind them.
He [Joseph Smith] then referred to the lack of charity in the sects, in denouncing all who disagree with them in opinion, and in joining in persecuting the Saints, who believe that even such may be saved, in this world and in the world to come (murderers and apostates excepted).
This doctrine presents in a clear light the wisdom and mercy of God in preparing an ordinance for the salvation of the dead, being baptized by proxy, their names recorded in heaven and they judged according to the deeds done in the body. (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 Vols. 4:425-26)
2 They [God and Christ in the First Vision] told me that all religious denominations were believing in incorrect doctrines, and that none of them was acknowledged of God as His Church and kingdom: and I was expressly commanded "to go not after them," at the same time receiving a promise that the fullness of the Gospel should at some future time be made known unto me. (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 Vols. 4:536)
3 To say that the heathens would be damned because they did not believe the Gospel would be preposterous, and to say that the Jews would all be damned that do not believe in Jesus would be equally absurd; for "how can they believe on him of whom they have not heard, and how can they hear without a preacher, and how can he preach except he be sent;" consequently neither Jew nor heathen can be culpable for rejecting the conflicting opinions of sectarianism, nor for rejecting any testimony but that which is sent of God, for as the preacher cannot preach except he be sent, so the hearer cannot believe without he hear a "sent" preacher, and cannot be condemned for what he has not heard, and being without law, will have to be judged without law. (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 Vols. 4:598)
4 The sectarian world are going to hell by hundreds, by thousands and by millions. (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 Vols. 5:554)
5 You observed, "as I have proven myself to be a philosophical divine" I must excuse you when you say that we must leave these influences to the mass. The meaning of "philosophical divine" may be taken in various ways. If, as the learned world apply the term, you infer that I have achieved a victory, and been strengthened by a scientific religion, as practiced by the popular sects of the age, through the aid of colleges, seminaries, Bible societies, missionary boards, financial organizations, and gospel money schemes, then you are wrong. Such a combination of men and means shows a form of godliness without the power; for is it not written, "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise." "Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the rudiments of the world, and not after the doctrines of Christ." (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 Vols. 6:73)
6 One truth revealed from heaven is worth all the sectarian notions in existence. (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 Vols. 6:252)
Footnotes
1928. Conference address, Nauvoo, 3 October 1841.
1929. Letter to John Wentworth, editor of the Chicago Democrat, Nauvoo, 1 March 1842.
1930. Editorial in the Times and Seasons, 15 April 1842.
1931. Sabbath address, Nauvoo, 27 August 1843.
1932. Letter to James Arlington Bennett, Nauvoo, 13 November 1843.
1933. Sabbath address, Nauvoo, 10 March 1844.
1 Minutes: There is never a time when the spirit is too old to approach God. All are within the reach of pardoning mercy, who have not committed the unpardonable sin, which hath no forgiveness, neither in this world, nor in the world to come. There is a way to release the spirits of the dead; that is by the power and authority of the Priesthood—by binding and loosing on earth. This doctrine appears glorious, inasmuch as it exhibits the greatness of divine compassion and benevolence in the extent of the plan of human salvation.
This glorious truth is well calculated to enlarge the understanding, and to sustain the soul under troubles, difficulties and distresses. For illustration, suppose the case of two men, brothers, equally intelligent, learned, virtuous and lovely, walking in uprightness and in all good conscience, so far as they have been able to discern duty from the muddy stream of tradition, or from the blotted page of the book of nature.
One dies and is buried, having never heard the Gospel of reconciliation; to the other the message of salvation is sent, he hears and embraces it, and is made the heir of eternal life. Shall the one become the partaker of glory and the other be consigned to hopeless perdition? Is there no chance for his escape? Sectarianism answers "none." Such an idea is worse than atheism. The truth shall break down and dash in pieces all such bigoted Pharisaism; the sects shall be sifted, the honest in heart brought out, and their priests left in the midst of their corruption.
Many objections are urged against the Latter-day Saints for not admitting the validity of sectarian baptism, and for withholding fellowship from sectarian churches. Yet to do otherwise would be like putting new wine into old bottles, and putting old wine into new bottles. What! new revelations in the old churches? New revelations would knock out the bottom of their bottomless pit. New wine into old bottles! The bottles burst and the wine runs out! What! Sadducees in the new church! Old wine in new leathern bottles will leak through the pores and escape. So the Sadducee saints mock at authority, kick out of the traces, and run to the mountains of perdition, leaving the long echo of their braying behind them.
He [Joseph Smith] then referred to the lack of charity in the sects, in denouncing all who disagree with them in opinion, and in joining in persecuting the Saints, who believe that even such may be saved, in this world and in the world to come (murderers and apostates excepted).
This doctrine presents in a clear light the wisdom and mercy of God in preparing an ordinance for the salvation of the dead, being baptized by proxy, their names recorded in heaven and they judged according to the deeds done in the body. (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 Vols. 4:425-26)
2 They [God and Christ in the First Vision] told me that all religious denominations were believing in incorrect doctrines, and that none of them was acknowledged of God as His Church and kingdom: and I was expressly commanded "to go not after them," at the same time receiving a promise that the fullness of the Gospel should at some future time be made known unto me. (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 Vols. 4:536)
3 To say that the heathens would be damned because they did not believe the Gospel would be preposterous, and to say that the Jews would all be damned that do not believe in Jesus would be equally absurd; for "how can they believe on him of whom they have not heard, and how can they hear without a preacher, and how can he preach except he be sent;" consequently neither Jew nor heathen can be culpable for rejecting the conflicting opinions of sectarianism, nor for rejecting any testimony but that which is sent of God, for as the preacher cannot preach except he be sent, so the hearer cannot believe without he hear a "sent" preacher, and cannot be condemned for what he has not heard, and being without law, will have to be judged without law. (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 Vols. 4:598)
4 The sectarian world are going to hell by hundreds, by thousands and by millions. (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 Vols. 5:554)
5 You observed, "as I have proven myself to be a philosophical divine" I must excuse you when you say that we must leave these influences to the mass. The meaning of "philosophical divine" may be taken in various ways. If, as the learned world apply the term, you infer that I have achieved a victory, and been strengthened by a scientific religion, as practiced by the popular sects of the age, through the aid of colleges, seminaries, Bible societies, missionary boards, financial organizations, and gospel money schemes, then you are wrong. Such a combination of men and means shows a form of godliness without the power; for is it not written, "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise." "Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the rudiments of the world, and not after the doctrines of Christ." (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 Vols. 6:73)
6 One truth revealed from heaven is worth all the sectarian notions in existence. (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 Vols. 6:252)
Footnotes
1928. Conference address, Nauvoo, 3 October 1841.
1929. Letter to John Wentworth, editor of the Chicago Democrat, Nauvoo, 1 March 1842.
1930. Editorial in the Times and Seasons, 15 April 1842.
1931. Sabbath address, Nauvoo, 27 August 1843.
1932. Letter to James Arlington Bennett, Nauvoo, 13 November 1843.
1933. Sabbath address, Nauvoo, 10 March 1844.
Second Coming: Teachings of Joseph Smith
When I contemplate the rapidity with which the great and glorious day of the coming of the Son of Man advances, when He shall come to receive His Saints unto Himself, where they shall dwell in His presence, and be crowned with glory and immortality; when I consider that soon the heavens are to be shaken, and the earth tremble and reel to and fro; and that the heavens are to be unfolded as a scroll when it is rolled up; and that every mountain and island are to flee away, I cry out in my heart, What manner of persons ought we to be in all holy conversation and godliness! (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 Vols. 1:442)
How is it that these old Apostles should say so much on the subject of the coming of Christ? He certainly had once come; but Paul says, To all who love His appearing, shall be given the crown: and John says, When He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is. Can we mistake such language as this? Do we not offer violence to our own good judgment when we deny the second coming of the Messiah? (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 Vols. 2:20)
We see that perilous times have truly come, and the things which we have so long expected have at last began to usher in; but when you see the fig tree begin to put forth its leaves, you may know that the summer is nigh at hand. There will be a short work on the earth. It has now commenced. I suppose there will soon be perplexity all over the earth. Do not let our hearts faint when these things come upon us, for they must come, or the word cannot be fulfilled. I know that something will soon take place to stir up this generation to see what they have been doing, and that their fathers have inherited lies and they have been led captive by the devil, to no profit; but they know not what they do. (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 Vols. 3:286)
We see that everything is being fulfilled; and that the time shall soon come when the Son of Man shall descend in the clouds of heaven. (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 Vols. 3:291)
I will prophesy that the signs of the coming of the Son of Man are already commenced. One pestilence will desolate after another. We shall soon have war and bloodshed. The moon will be turned into blood. I testify of these things, and that the coming of the Son of Man is nigh, even at your doors. If our souls and our bodies are not looking forth for the coming of the Son of Man; and after we are dead, if we are not looking forth, we shall be among those who are calling for the rocks to fall upon them.
The hearts of the children of men will have to be turned to the fathers, and the fathers to the children, living or dead, to prepare them for the coming of the Son of Man. If Elijah did not come, the whole earth would be smitten.
There will be here and there a Stake of Zion for the gathering of the Saints. Some may have cried peace, but the Saints and the world will have little peace from henceforth. Let this not hinder us from going to the Stakes; for God has told us to flee, not dallying, or we shall be scattered, one here, and another there. (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 Vols. 3:390)
Explained concerning the coming of the Son of Man; also that it is a false idea that the Saints will escape all the judgments, whilst the wicked suffer; for all flesh is subject to suffer, and "the righteous shall hardly escape;" still many of the Saints will escape, for the just shall live by faith; yet many of the righteous shall fall a prey to disease, to pestilence, etc., by reason of the weakness of the flesh, and yet be saved in the Kingdom of God. So that it is an unhallowed principle to say that such and such have transgressed because they have been preyed upon by disease or death, for all flesh is subject to death; and the Savior has said, "Judge not, lest ye be judged." (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 Vols. 4:11)
There is no other way for the Saints to be saved in these last days, than by the gathering as the concurrent testimony of all the holy Prophets clearly proves. . . .
It is also the concurrent testimony of all the Prophets, that this gathering together of all the Saints, must take place before the Lord comes to "take vengeance upon the ungodly," and "to be glorified and admired by all those who obey the Gospel." (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 Vols. 4:272)
This messenger [Moroni] proclaimed himself to be an angel of God, sent to bring the joyful tidings that the covenant which God made with ancient Israel was at hand to be fulfilled, that the preparatory work for the second coming of the Messiah was speedily to commence; that the time was at hand for the Gospel in all its fullness to be preached in power, unto all nations that a people might be prepared for the Millennial reign. (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 Vols. 4:536-37)
Seven or eight young men came to see me, part of them from the city of New York. They treated me with the greatest respect. I showed them the fallacy of Mr. Miller's data concerning the coming of Christ and the end of the world, or as it is commonly called, Millerism, and preached them quite a sermon; that error was in the Bible, or the translation of the Bible; that Miller was in want of correct information upon the subject, and that he was not so much to blame as the translators. I told them the prophecies must all be fulfilled; the sun must be darkened and the moon turned into blood, and many more things take place before Christ would come. (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 Vols. 5:271-72)
[Mr. Redding] has not seen the sign of the Son of Man, as foretold by Jesus; neither has any man, nor will any man, until after the sun shall have been darkened and the moon bathed in blood; for the Lord hath not shown me any such sign; and as the prophet saith, so it must be—"Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but He revealeth His secret unto His servants the prophets." (See Amos Therefore, hear this, O earth: The Lord will not come to reign over the righteous, in this world, in 1843, nor until everything for the Bridegroom is ready. (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 Vols. 5:291)
Were I going to prophesy, I would say the end of the world would not come in 1844, 5, or 6, or in forty years. There are those of the rising generation who shall not taste death till Christ comes.
I was once praying earnestly upon this subject, and a voice said unto me, "My son, if thou livest until thou art eighty-five years of age, thou shalt see the face of the Son of Man." I was left to draw my own conclusions concerning this; and I took the liberty to conclude that if I did live to that time, He would make His appearance. But I do not say whether He will make His appearance or I shall go where He is. I prophesy in the name of the Lord God, and let it be written—the Son of Man will not come in the clouds of heaven till I am eighty-five years old. Then read the 14th chapter of Revelation, 6th and 7th verses—"And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, saying with a loud voice, Fear God and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment is come." And Hosea, 6th chapter, After two days, etc.,—2,520 years; which brings it to 1890. The coming of the Son of Man never will be—never can be till the judgments spoken of for this hour are poured out: which judgments are commenced. Paul says, "Ye are the children of the light, and not of the darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief in the night." It is not the design of the Almighty to come upon the earth and crush it and grind it to powder, but he will reveal it to His servants the prophets.
Judah must return, Jerusalem must be rebuilt, and the temple, and water come out from under the temple, and the waters of the Dead Sea be healed. It will take some time to rebuild the walls of the city and the temple, &c.; and all this must be done before the Son of Man will make His appearance. There will be wars and rumors of wars, signs in the heavens above and on the earth beneath, the sun turned into darkness and the moon to blood, earthquakes in divers places, the seas heaving beyond their bounds; then will appear one grand sign of the Son of Man in heaven. But what will the world do? They will say it is a planet, a comet, &c. But the Son of Man will come as the sign of the coming of the Son of Man, which will be as the light of the morning cometh out of the east. (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 Vols. 5:336-37)
The inhabitants of the earth are asleep: they know not the day of their visitation. The Lord hath set the bow in the cloud for a sign that while it shall be seen, seed time and harvest, summer and winter shall not fail; but when it shall disappear, woe to that generation, for behold the end cometh quickly. (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 Vols. 5:402)
In the days of Noah, God destroyed the world by a flood, and He has promised to destroy it by fire in the last days: but before it should take place, Elijah should first come and turn the hearts of the fathers to the children. . . .
I have asked of the Lord concerning His coming; and while asking the Lord, He gave a sign and said, "In the days of Noah I set a bow in the heavens as a sign and token that in any year that the bow should be seen the Lord would not come; but there should be seed time and harvest during that year: but whenever you see the bow withdrawn, it shall be a token that there shall be famine, pestilence, and great distress among the nations, and that the coming of the Messiah is not far distant."
But I will take the responsibility upon myself to prophesy in the name of the Lord, that Christ will not come this year, as Father Miller has prophesied, for we have seen the bow; and I also prophesy, in the name of the Lord, that Christ will not come in forty years; and if God ever spoke by my mouth, He will not come in that length of time. Brethren, when you go home, write this down, that it may be remembered.
Jesus Christ never did reveal to any man the precise time that He would come. Go and read the Scriptures, and you cannot find anything that specifies the exact hour He would come; and all that say so are false teachers. (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 Vols. 6:251, 254)
How is it that these old Apostles should say so much on the subject of the coming of Christ? He certainly had once come; but Paul says, To all who love His appearing, shall be given the crown: and John says, When He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is. Can we mistake such language as this? Do we not offer violence to our own good judgment when we deny the second coming of the Messiah? (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 Vols. 2:20)
We see that perilous times have truly come, and the things which we have so long expected have at last began to usher in; but when you see the fig tree begin to put forth its leaves, you may know that the summer is nigh at hand. There will be a short work on the earth. It has now commenced. I suppose there will soon be perplexity all over the earth. Do not let our hearts faint when these things come upon us, for they must come, or the word cannot be fulfilled. I know that something will soon take place to stir up this generation to see what they have been doing, and that their fathers have inherited lies and they have been led captive by the devil, to no profit; but they know not what they do. (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 Vols. 3:286)
We see that everything is being fulfilled; and that the time shall soon come when the Son of Man shall descend in the clouds of heaven. (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 Vols. 3:291)
I will prophesy that the signs of the coming of the Son of Man are already commenced. One pestilence will desolate after another. We shall soon have war and bloodshed. The moon will be turned into blood. I testify of these things, and that the coming of the Son of Man is nigh, even at your doors. If our souls and our bodies are not looking forth for the coming of the Son of Man; and after we are dead, if we are not looking forth, we shall be among those who are calling for the rocks to fall upon them.
The hearts of the children of men will have to be turned to the fathers, and the fathers to the children, living or dead, to prepare them for the coming of the Son of Man. If Elijah did not come, the whole earth would be smitten.
There will be here and there a Stake of Zion for the gathering of the Saints. Some may have cried peace, but the Saints and the world will have little peace from henceforth. Let this not hinder us from going to the Stakes; for God has told us to flee, not dallying, or we shall be scattered, one here, and another there. (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 Vols. 3:390)
Explained concerning the coming of the Son of Man; also that it is a false idea that the Saints will escape all the judgments, whilst the wicked suffer; for all flesh is subject to suffer, and "the righteous shall hardly escape;" still many of the Saints will escape, for the just shall live by faith; yet many of the righteous shall fall a prey to disease, to pestilence, etc., by reason of the weakness of the flesh, and yet be saved in the Kingdom of God. So that it is an unhallowed principle to say that such and such have transgressed because they have been preyed upon by disease or death, for all flesh is subject to death; and the Savior has said, "Judge not, lest ye be judged." (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 Vols. 4:11)
There is no other way for the Saints to be saved in these last days, than by the gathering as the concurrent testimony of all the holy Prophets clearly proves. . . .
It is also the concurrent testimony of all the Prophets, that this gathering together of all the Saints, must take place before the Lord comes to "take vengeance upon the ungodly," and "to be glorified and admired by all those who obey the Gospel." (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 Vols. 4:272)
This messenger [Moroni] proclaimed himself to be an angel of God, sent to bring the joyful tidings that the covenant which God made with ancient Israel was at hand to be fulfilled, that the preparatory work for the second coming of the Messiah was speedily to commence; that the time was at hand for the Gospel in all its fullness to be preached in power, unto all nations that a people might be prepared for the Millennial reign. (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 Vols. 4:536-37)
Seven or eight young men came to see me, part of them from the city of New York. They treated me with the greatest respect. I showed them the fallacy of Mr. Miller's data concerning the coming of Christ and the end of the world, or as it is commonly called, Millerism, and preached them quite a sermon; that error was in the Bible, or the translation of the Bible; that Miller was in want of correct information upon the subject, and that he was not so much to blame as the translators. I told them the prophecies must all be fulfilled; the sun must be darkened and the moon turned into blood, and many more things take place before Christ would come. (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 Vols. 5:271-72)
[Mr. Redding] has not seen the sign of the Son of Man, as foretold by Jesus; neither has any man, nor will any man, until after the sun shall have been darkened and the moon bathed in blood; for the Lord hath not shown me any such sign; and as the prophet saith, so it must be—"Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but He revealeth His secret unto His servants the prophets." (See Amos Therefore, hear this, O earth: The Lord will not come to reign over the righteous, in this world, in 1843, nor until everything for the Bridegroom is ready. (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 Vols. 5:291)
Were I going to prophesy, I would say the end of the world would not come in 1844, 5, or 6, or in forty years. There are those of the rising generation who shall not taste death till Christ comes.
I was once praying earnestly upon this subject, and a voice said unto me, "My son, if thou livest until thou art eighty-five years of age, thou shalt see the face of the Son of Man." I was left to draw my own conclusions concerning this; and I took the liberty to conclude that if I did live to that time, He would make His appearance. But I do not say whether He will make His appearance or I shall go where He is. I prophesy in the name of the Lord God, and let it be written—the Son of Man will not come in the clouds of heaven till I am eighty-five years old. Then read the 14th chapter of Revelation, 6th and 7th verses—"And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, saying with a loud voice, Fear God and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment is come." And Hosea, 6th chapter, After two days, etc.,—2,520 years; which brings it to 1890. The coming of the Son of Man never will be—never can be till the judgments spoken of for this hour are poured out: which judgments are commenced. Paul says, "Ye are the children of the light, and not of the darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief in the night." It is not the design of the Almighty to come upon the earth and crush it and grind it to powder, but he will reveal it to His servants the prophets.
Judah must return, Jerusalem must be rebuilt, and the temple, and water come out from under the temple, and the waters of the Dead Sea be healed. It will take some time to rebuild the walls of the city and the temple, &c.; and all this must be done before the Son of Man will make His appearance. There will be wars and rumors of wars, signs in the heavens above and on the earth beneath, the sun turned into darkness and the moon to blood, earthquakes in divers places, the seas heaving beyond their bounds; then will appear one grand sign of the Son of Man in heaven. But what will the world do? They will say it is a planet, a comet, &c. But the Son of Man will come as the sign of the coming of the Son of Man, which will be as the light of the morning cometh out of the east. (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 Vols. 5:336-37)
The inhabitants of the earth are asleep: they know not the day of their visitation. The Lord hath set the bow in the cloud for a sign that while it shall be seen, seed time and harvest, summer and winter shall not fail; but when it shall disappear, woe to that generation, for behold the end cometh quickly. (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 Vols. 5:402)
In the days of Noah, God destroyed the world by a flood, and He has promised to destroy it by fire in the last days: but before it should take place, Elijah should first come and turn the hearts of the fathers to the children. . . .
I have asked of the Lord concerning His coming; and while asking the Lord, He gave a sign and said, "In the days of Noah I set a bow in the heavens as a sign and token that in any year that the bow should be seen the Lord would not come; but there should be seed time and harvest during that year: but whenever you see the bow withdrawn, it shall be a token that there shall be famine, pestilence, and great distress among the nations, and that the coming of the Messiah is not far distant."
But I will take the responsibility upon myself to prophesy in the name of the Lord, that Christ will not come this year, as Father Miller has prophesied, for we have seen the bow; and I also prophesy, in the name of the Lord, that Christ will not come in forty years; and if God ever spoke by my mouth, He will not come in that length of time. Brethren, when you go home, write this down, that it may be remembered.
Jesus Christ never did reveal to any man the precise time that He would come. Go and read the Scriptures, and you cannot find anything that specifies the exact hour He would come; and all that say so are false teachers. (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 Vols. 6:251, 254)
Atonement: Teachings of Joseph Smith
Atonement
But notwithstanding the transgression, by which man had cut himself off from an immediate intercourse with his Maker without a Mediator, it appears that the great and glorious plan of His redemption was previously provided; the sacrifice prepared; the atonement wrought out in the mind and purpose of God, even in the person of the Son, through whom man was now to look for acceptance, and through whose merits he was now taught that he alone could find redemption, since the word had been pronounced, Unto dust thou shalt return.
But that man was not able himself to erect a system, or plan with power sufficient to free him from a destruction which awaited him, is evident from the fact that God, as before remarked, prepared a sacrifice in the gift of His own Son who should be sent in due time, to prepare a way, or open a door through which man might enter into the Lord's presence, whence he had been cast out for disobedience. (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 vols. 2:15)
Now I understand by this quotation [Moses 7:62], that God clearly manifested to Enoch the redemption which He prepared, by offering the Messiah as a Lamb slain from before the foundation of the world; and by virtue of the same, the glorious resurrection of the Savior, and the resurrection of all the human family, even a resurrection of their corporeal bodies, is brought to pass. (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 vols. 2:260)
"What are the fundamental principles of your religion?"
The fundamental principles of our religion are the testimony of the Apostles and Prophets, concerning Jesus Christ, that He died, was buried, and rose again the third day, and ascended into heaven; and all other things which pertain to our religion are only appendages to it. But in connection with these, we believe in the gift of the Holy Ghost, the power of faith, the enjoyment of the spiritual gifts according to the will of God, the restoration of the house of Israel, and the final triumph of truth. (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 vols. 3:30)
[God] foreordained the fall of man; but all merciful as He is, He foreordained at the same time, a plan of redemption for all mankind. I believe in the Divinity of Jesus Christ, and that He died for the sins of all men, who in Adam had fallen. (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 vols. 4:78)
Through the atonement of Christ and the resurrection and obedience in the gospel, we shall again be conformed to the image of [God's] Son, Jesus Christ. Then we shall have attained to the image, glory, and character of God. (Joseph Smith, The Words of Joseph Smith, p. 231; standardized)
Salvation could not come to the world without the mediation of Jesus Christ. (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 vols. 5:555)
The salvation of Jesus Christ was wrought out for all men, in order to triumph over the devil; for if it did not catch him in one place, it would in another. (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 vols. 6:314)
But notwithstanding the transgression, by which man had cut himself off from an immediate intercourse with his Maker without a Mediator, it appears that the great and glorious plan of His redemption was previously provided; the sacrifice prepared; the atonement wrought out in the mind and purpose of God, even in the person of the Son, through whom man was now to look for acceptance, and through whose merits he was now taught that he alone could find redemption, since the word had been pronounced, Unto dust thou shalt return.
But that man was not able himself to erect a system, or plan with power sufficient to free him from a destruction which awaited him, is evident from the fact that God, as before remarked, prepared a sacrifice in the gift of His own Son who should be sent in due time, to prepare a way, or open a door through which man might enter into the Lord's presence, whence he had been cast out for disobedience. (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 vols. 2:15)
Now I understand by this quotation [Moses 7:62], that God clearly manifested to Enoch the redemption which He prepared, by offering the Messiah as a Lamb slain from before the foundation of the world; and by virtue of the same, the glorious resurrection of the Savior, and the resurrection of all the human family, even a resurrection of their corporeal bodies, is brought to pass. (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 vols. 2:260)
"What are the fundamental principles of your religion?"
The fundamental principles of our religion are the testimony of the Apostles and Prophets, concerning Jesus Christ, that He died, was buried, and rose again the third day, and ascended into heaven; and all other things which pertain to our religion are only appendages to it. But in connection with these, we believe in the gift of the Holy Ghost, the power of faith, the enjoyment of the spiritual gifts according to the will of God, the restoration of the house of Israel, and the final triumph of truth. (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 vols. 3:30)
[God] foreordained the fall of man; but all merciful as He is, He foreordained at the same time, a plan of redemption for all mankind. I believe in the Divinity of Jesus Christ, and that He died for the sins of all men, who in Adam had fallen. (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 vols. 4:78)
Through the atonement of Christ and the resurrection and obedience in the gospel, we shall again be conformed to the image of [God's] Son, Jesus Christ. Then we shall have attained to the image, glory, and character of God. (Joseph Smith, The Words of Joseph Smith, p. 231; standardized)
Salvation could not come to the world without the mediation of Jesus Christ. (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 vols. 5:555)
The salvation of Jesus Christ was wrought out for all men, in order to triumph over the devil; for if it did not catch him in one place, it would in another. (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 vols. 6:314)
Jesus Christ: Teachings of Joseph Smith
Jesus Christ
See also Atonement; Second Coming
Whenever the Lord revealed Himself to men in ancient days, and commanded them to offer sacrifice to Him, that it was done that they might look forward in faith to the time of His coming, and rely upon the power of that atonement for a remission of their sins. (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 Vols. 2:17)
Who, among all the Saints in these last days, can consider himself as good as our Lord? Who is as perfect? Who is as pure? Who is as holy as He was? Are they to be found? He never transgressed or broke a commandment or law of heaven—no deceit was in His mouth, neither was guile found in His heart. And yet one that ate with Him, who had often drunk of the same cup, was the first to lift up his heel against Him. Where is one like Christ? He cannot be found on earth. Then why should His followers complain, if from those whom they once called brethren, and considered as standing in the nearest relation in the everlasting covenant they should receive persecution? (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 Vols. 2:23)
The Son, who was in the bosom of the Father, [is] a personage of tabernacle, made or fashioned like unto man, being in the form and likeness of man, or rather man was formed after his likeness and in his image; he is also the express image and likeness of the personage of the Father, possessing all the fullness of the Father, or the same fullness with the Father; being begotten of him, and ordained from before the foundation of the world to be a propitiation for the sins of all those who should believe on his name, and is called the Son because of the flesh, and descended in suffering below that which man can suffer; or, in other words, suffered greater sufferings, and was exposed to more powerful contradictions than any man can be. But, notwithstanding all this, he kept the law of God, and remained without sin, showing thereby that it is in the power of man to keep the law and remain also without sin; and also, that by him a righteous judgment might come upon all flesh, that all who walk not in the law of God may justly be condemned by the law, and have no excuse for their sins. And he being the Only Begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth, and having overcome, received a fullness of the glory of the Father, possessing the same mind with the Father, which mind is the Holy Spirit, that bears record of the Father and the Son. (Joseph Smith, Lectures on Faith 5:2)
The Lord wants the wheat and tares to grow together; for Zion must be redeemed with judgment, and her converts with righteousness. (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 Vols. 2:228)
Priesthood and Church Governmenta-Smith, Joseph, Jr.TP5 How have we come at the Priesthood in the last days? It came down, down, in regular succession. Peter, James, and John had it given to them and they gave it to others. Christ is the Great High Priest; Adam next. Paul speaks of the Church coming to an innumerable company of angels—to God the Judge of all—the spirits of just men made perfect; to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant. (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 Vols. 3:387-88)
[Adam was he] to whom Christ was first revealed, and through whom Christ has been revealed from heaven, and will continue to be revealed from henceforth. (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 Vols. 4:207)
None ever were perfect but Jesus; and why was He perfect? Because He was the Son of God, and had the fullness of the Spirit, and greater power than any man. But notwithstanding their vanity, men look forward with hope (because they are "subjected in hope") to the time of their deliverance. (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 Vols. 4:358-59)
Jesus Christ became a ministering spirit (while His body was lying in the sepulchre) to the spirits in prison, to fulfill an important part of His mission, without which He could not have perfected His work, or entered into His rest. After His resurrection He appeared as an angel to His disciples. . . .
. . . Jesus Christ went in body after His resurrection, to minister to resurrected bodies. (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 Vols. 4:425)
Report of Eliza R. Snow: President Smith arose and called the attention of the meeting to the 12th chapter 1st Corinthians—"Now concerning spiritual gifts, I would not have you ignorant." Said that the passage in the third verse, which reads, "No man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost," should be translated "no man can know that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost." (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 Vols. 4:602-3)
When Egypt was under the superintendence of Joseph it prospered, because he was taught of God; when they oppressed the Israelites, destruction came upon them. When the children of Israel were chosen with Moses at their head, they were to be a peculiar people, among them God should place His name; their motto was: "The Lord is our lawgiver; the Lord is our Judge; the Lord is our King, and He shall reign over us." While in this state they might truly say, "Happy is that people, whose God is the Lord." Their government was a theocracy; they had God to make their laws, and men chosen by Him to administer them; He was their God, and they were His people. Moses received the word of the Lord from God Himself; he was the mouth of God to Aaron, and Aaron taught the people, in both civil and ecclesiastical affairs; they were both one, there was no distinction; so will it be when the purposes of God shall be accomplished: when "the Lord shall be King over the whole earth," and "Jerusalem His throne." "The law shall go forth from Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem." (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 Vols. 5:64)
He, the Lord [is] a priest forever, after the order of Melchisedec, and the anointed son of God, from before the foundation of the world. . . .
. . . If Enoch was righteous enough to come into the presence of God, and walk with him, he must have become so by keeping his commandments, and so of every righteous person, whether it was Noah, . . . Abraham, . . . Jacob, . . . Moses, . . . or whether it was Jesus Christ himself, who had no need of repentance, having . . . no sin; according to his solemn declaration to John:—now let me be baptised: for no man can enter the kingdom without obeying this ordinance: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Surely, then, if it became John and Jesus Christ, the Saviour, to fulfil all righteousness to be baptised—so surely, then, it will become every other person that seeks the kingdom of heaven to go and do likewise; for he is the door, and if any person climbs up any other way, the same is a thief and a robber!
In the former ages of the world, before the Saviour came in the flesh, "the saints" were baptised in the name of Jesus Christ to come, because there never was any other name whereby men could be saved; and after he came in the flesh and was crucified, then the saints were baptised in the name of Jesus Christ, crucified, risen from the dead and ascended into heaven, that they might be buried in baptism like him, and be raised in glory like him, that as there was but one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and one God and father of us all, even so there was but one door to the mansions of bliss. (Times and Seasons 3:905)
Christ came according to the words of John, and He was greater than John, because He held the keys of the Melchisedek Priesthood and kingdom of God, and had before revealed the priesthood of Moses, yet Christ was baptized by John to fulfill all righteousness. (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 Vols. 5:258)
How was the least in the kingdom of heaven greater than [John the Baptist]?
In reply I asked—Whom did Jesus have reference to as being the least? Jesus was looked upon as having the least claim in God's kingdom, and seemingly was least entitled to their credulity as a prophet; as though He had said—"He that is considered the least among you is greater than John—that is I myself." (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 Vols. 5:261)
The Lord deals with this people as a tender parent with a child, communicating light and intelligence and the knowledge of his ways as they can bear it. (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 Vols. 5:402)
If a man gets a fullness of the priesthood of God, he has to get it in the same way that Jesus Christ obtained it, and that was by keeping all the commandments and obeying all the ordinances of the house of the Lord. (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 Vols. 5:424)
It always has been when a man was sent of God with the priesthood and he began to preach the fullness of the gospel, that he was thrust out by his friends, who are already to butcher him if he teach things which they imagine to be wrong; and Jesus was crucified upon this principle. (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 Vols. 5:425)
As the Father hath power in Himself, so hath the Son power in Himself, to lay down His life and take it again, so He has a body of His own. The Son doeth what He hath seen the Father do: then the Father hath some day laid down His life and taken it again; so He has a body of His own; each one will be in His own body; and yet the sectarian world believe the body of the Son is identical with the Father's. (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 Vols. 5:426)
Salvation could not come to the world without the mediation of Jesus Christ. . . .
Jesus Christ is the heir of this Kingdom—the only begotten of the Father according to the flesh, and holds the keys over all this world. (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 Vols. 5:555, 556)
This generation is as corrupt as the generation of the Jews that crucified Christ; and if He were here to-day, and should preach the same doctrine He did then, they would put Him to death. (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 Vols. 6:58)
The scriptures inform us that Jesus said, as the Father hath power in himself, even so hath the Son power—to do what? Why, what the Father did. The answer is obvious—in a manner to lay down his body and take it up again. Jesus, what are you going to do? To lay down my life as my Father did, and take it up again. . . .
. . . What did Jesus do? Why, I do the things I saw my Father do when worlds came rolling into existence. My Father worked out His kingdom with fear and trembling, and I must do the same; and when I get my kingdom, I shall present it to My Father, so that He may obtain kingdom upon kingdom, and it will exalt Him in glory. He will then take a higher exaltation, and I will take His place, and thereby become exalted myself. So that Jesus treads in the tracks of His Father, and inherits what God did before; and God is thus glorified and exalted in the salvation and exaltation of all His children. (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 Vols. 6:305, 306)
My object was to preach the scriptures, and preach the doctrine they contain, there being a God above, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 Vols. 6:474)
If Abraham reasoned thus—If Jesus Christ was the Son of God, and John discovered that God the Father of Jesus Christ had a Father, you may suppose that He had a Father also. Where was there ever a son without a father? And where was there ever a father without first being a son? Whenever did a tree or anything spring into existence without a progenitor? And everything comes in this way. Paul says that which is earthly is in the likeness of that which is heavenly. Hence if Jesus had a Father, can we not believe that He had a Father also? I despise the idea of being scared to death at such a doctrine, for the Bible is full of it.
I want you to pay particular attention to what I am saying. Jesus said that the Father wrought precisely in the same way as His Father had done before Him. As the Father had done before. He laid down His life, and took it up the same as His Father had done before. He did as He was sent, to lay down His life and take it up again; and then was committed unto Him the keys, &c. I know it is good reasoning. (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 Vols. 6:476-77)
Our lives have already become jeopardized by revealing the wicked and bloodthirsty purposes of our enemies; and for the future we must cease to do so. All we have said about them is truth, but it is not always wise to relate all the truth. Even Jesus, the Son of God had to refrain from doing so, and had to restrain His feelings many times for the safety of Himself and His followers, and had to conceal the righteous purposes of His heart in relation to many things pertaining to His Father's kingdom. When still a boy He had all the intelligence necessary to enable Him to rule and govern the kingdom of the Jews, and could reason with the wisest and most profound doctors of law and divinity, and make their theories and practice to appear like folly compared with the wisdom He possessed; but He was a boy only, and lacked physical strength even to defend His own person, and was subject to cold, to hunger and to death. So it is with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; we have the revelation of Jesus, and the knowledge within us is sufficient to organize a righteous government upon the earth, and to give universal peace to all mankind, if they would receive it, but we lack the physical strength, as did our Savior when a child, to defend our principles, and we have of necessity to be afflicted, persecuted and smitten, and to bear it patiently until Jacob is of age, then he will take care of himself. (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 Vols. 6:608-9)
See also Atonement; Second Coming
Whenever the Lord revealed Himself to men in ancient days, and commanded them to offer sacrifice to Him, that it was done that they might look forward in faith to the time of His coming, and rely upon the power of that atonement for a remission of their sins. (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 Vols. 2:17)
Who, among all the Saints in these last days, can consider himself as good as our Lord? Who is as perfect? Who is as pure? Who is as holy as He was? Are they to be found? He never transgressed or broke a commandment or law of heaven—no deceit was in His mouth, neither was guile found in His heart. And yet one that ate with Him, who had often drunk of the same cup, was the first to lift up his heel against Him. Where is one like Christ? He cannot be found on earth. Then why should His followers complain, if from those whom they once called brethren, and considered as standing in the nearest relation in the everlasting covenant they should receive persecution? (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 Vols. 2:23)
The Son, who was in the bosom of the Father, [is] a personage of tabernacle, made or fashioned like unto man, being in the form and likeness of man, or rather man was formed after his likeness and in his image; he is also the express image and likeness of the personage of the Father, possessing all the fullness of the Father, or the same fullness with the Father; being begotten of him, and ordained from before the foundation of the world to be a propitiation for the sins of all those who should believe on his name, and is called the Son because of the flesh, and descended in suffering below that which man can suffer; or, in other words, suffered greater sufferings, and was exposed to more powerful contradictions than any man can be. But, notwithstanding all this, he kept the law of God, and remained without sin, showing thereby that it is in the power of man to keep the law and remain also without sin; and also, that by him a righteous judgment might come upon all flesh, that all who walk not in the law of God may justly be condemned by the law, and have no excuse for their sins. And he being the Only Begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth, and having overcome, received a fullness of the glory of the Father, possessing the same mind with the Father, which mind is the Holy Spirit, that bears record of the Father and the Son. (Joseph Smith, Lectures on Faith 5:2)
The Lord wants the wheat and tares to grow together; for Zion must be redeemed with judgment, and her converts with righteousness. (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 Vols. 2:228)
Priesthood and Church Governmenta-Smith, Joseph, Jr.TP5 How have we come at the Priesthood in the last days? It came down, down, in regular succession. Peter, James, and John had it given to them and they gave it to others. Christ is the Great High Priest; Adam next. Paul speaks of the Church coming to an innumerable company of angels—to God the Judge of all—the spirits of just men made perfect; to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant. (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 Vols. 3:387-88)
[Adam was he] to whom Christ was first revealed, and through whom Christ has been revealed from heaven, and will continue to be revealed from henceforth. (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 Vols. 4:207)
None ever were perfect but Jesus; and why was He perfect? Because He was the Son of God, and had the fullness of the Spirit, and greater power than any man. But notwithstanding their vanity, men look forward with hope (because they are "subjected in hope") to the time of their deliverance. (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 Vols. 4:358-59)
Jesus Christ became a ministering spirit (while His body was lying in the sepulchre) to the spirits in prison, to fulfill an important part of His mission, without which He could not have perfected His work, or entered into His rest. After His resurrection He appeared as an angel to His disciples. . . .
. . . Jesus Christ went in body after His resurrection, to minister to resurrected bodies. (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 Vols. 4:425)
Report of Eliza R. Snow: President Smith arose and called the attention of the meeting to the 12th chapter 1st Corinthians—"Now concerning spiritual gifts, I would not have you ignorant." Said that the passage in the third verse, which reads, "No man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost," should be translated "no man can know that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost." (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 Vols. 4:602-3)
When Egypt was under the superintendence of Joseph it prospered, because he was taught of God; when they oppressed the Israelites, destruction came upon them. When the children of Israel were chosen with Moses at their head, they were to be a peculiar people, among them God should place His name; their motto was: "The Lord is our lawgiver; the Lord is our Judge; the Lord is our King, and He shall reign over us." While in this state they might truly say, "Happy is that people, whose God is the Lord." Their government was a theocracy; they had God to make their laws, and men chosen by Him to administer them; He was their God, and they were His people. Moses received the word of the Lord from God Himself; he was the mouth of God to Aaron, and Aaron taught the people, in both civil and ecclesiastical affairs; they were both one, there was no distinction; so will it be when the purposes of God shall be accomplished: when "the Lord shall be King over the whole earth," and "Jerusalem His throne." "The law shall go forth from Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem." (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 Vols. 5:64)
He, the Lord [is] a priest forever, after the order of Melchisedec, and the anointed son of God, from before the foundation of the world. . . .
. . . If Enoch was righteous enough to come into the presence of God, and walk with him, he must have become so by keeping his commandments, and so of every righteous person, whether it was Noah, . . . Abraham, . . . Jacob, . . . Moses, . . . or whether it was Jesus Christ himself, who had no need of repentance, having . . . no sin; according to his solemn declaration to John:—now let me be baptised: for no man can enter the kingdom without obeying this ordinance: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Surely, then, if it became John and Jesus Christ, the Saviour, to fulfil all righteousness to be baptised—so surely, then, it will become every other person that seeks the kingdom of heaven to go and do likewise; for he is the door, and if any person climbs up any other way, the same is a thief and a robber!
In the former ages of the world, before the Saviour came in the flesh, "the saints" were baptised in the name of Jesus Christ to come, because there never was any other name whereby men could be saved; and after he came in the flesh and was crucified, then the saints were baptised in the name of Jesus Christ, crucified, risen from the dead and ascended into heaven, that they might be buried in baptism like him, and be raised in glory like him, that as there was but one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and one God and father of us all, even so there was but one door to the mansions of bliss. (Times and Seasons 3:905)
Christ came according to the words of John, and He was greater than John, because He held the keys of the Melchisedek Priesthood and kingdom of God, and had before revealed the priesthood of Moses, yet Christ was baptized by John to fulfill all righteousness. (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 Vols. 5:258)
How was the least in the kingdom of heaven greater than [John the Baptist]?
In reply I asked—Whom did Jesus have reference to as being the least? Jesus was looked upon as having the least claim in God's kingdom, and seemingly was least entitled to their credulity as a prophet; as though He had said—"He that is considered the least among you is greater than John—that is I myself." (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 Vols. 5:261)
The Lord deals with this people as a tender parent with a child, communicating light and intelligence and the knowledge of his ways as they can bear it. (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 Vols. 5:402)
If a man gets a fullness of the priesthood of God, he has to get it in the same way that Jesus Christ obtained it, and that was by keeping all the commandments and obeying all the ordinances of the house of the Lord. (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 Vols. 5:424)
It always has been when a man was sent of God with the priesthood and he began to preach the fullness of the gospel, that he was thrust out by his friends, who are already to butcher him if he teach things which they imagine to be wrong; and Jesus was crucified upon this principle. (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 Vols. 5:425)
As the Father hath power in Himself, so hath the Son power in Himself, to lay down His life and take it again, so He has a body of His own. The Son doeth what He hath seen the Father do: then the Father hath some day laid down His life and taken it again; so He has a body of His own; each one will be in His own body; and yet the sectarian world believe the body of the Son is identical with the Father's. (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 Vols. 5:426)
Salvation could not come to the world without the mediation of Jesus Christ. . . .
Jesus Christ is the heir of this Kingdom—the only begotten of the Father according to the flesh, and holds the keys over all this world. (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 Vols. 5:555, 556)
This generation is as corrupt as the generation of the Jews that crucified Christ; and if He were here to-day, and should preach the same doctrine He did then, they would put Him to death. (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 Vols. 6:58)
The scriptures inform us that Jesus said, as the Father hath power in himself, even so hath the Son power—to do what? Why, what the Father did. The answer is obvious—in a manner to lay down his body and take it up again. Jesus, what are you going to do? To lay down my life as my Father did, and take it up again. . . .
. . . What did Jesus do? Why, I do the things I saw my Father do when worlds came rolling into existence. My Father worked out His kingdom with fear and trembling, and I must do the same; and when I get my kingdom, I shall present it to My Father, so that He may obtain kingdom upon kingdom, and it will exalt Him in glory. He will then take a higher exaltation, and I will take His place, and thereby become exalted myself. So that Jesus treads in the tracks of His Father, and inherits what God did before; and God is thus glorified and exalted in the salvation and exaltation of all His children. (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 Vols. 6:305, 306)
My object was to preach the scriptures, and preach the doctrine they contain, there being a God above, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 Vols. 6:474)
If Abraham reasoned thus—If Jesus Christ was the Son of God, and John discovered that God the Father of Jesus Christ had a Father, you may suppose that He had a Father also. Where was there ever a son without a father? And where was there ever a father without first being a son? Whenever did a tree or anything spring into existence without a progenitor? And everything comes in this way. Paul says that which is earthly is in the likeness of that which is heavenly. Hence if Jesus had a Father, can we not believe that He had a Father also? I despise the idea of being scared to death at such a doctrine, for the Bible is full of it.
I want you to pay particular attention to what I am saying. Jesus said that the Father wrought precisely in the same way as His Father had done before Him. As the Father had done before. He laid down His life, and took it up the same as His Father had done before. He did as He was sent, to lay down His life and take it up again; and then was committed unto Him the keys, &c. I know it is good reasoning. (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 Vols. 6:476-77)
Our lives have already become jeopardized by revealing the wicked and bloodthirsty purposes of our enemies; and for the future we must cease to do so. All we have said about them is truth, but it is not always wise to relate all the truth. Even Jesus, the Son of God had to refrain from doing so, and had to restrain His feelings many times for the safety of Himself and His followers, and had to conceal the righteous purposes of His heart in relation to many things pertaining to His Father's kingdom. When still a boy He had all the intelligence necessary to enable Him to rule and govern the kingdom of the Jews, and could reason with the wisest and most profound doctors of law and divinity, and make their theories and practice to appear like folly compared with the wisdom He possessed; but He was a boy only, and lacked physical strength even to defend His own person, and was subject to cold, to hunger and to death. So it is with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; we have the revelation of Jesus, and the knowledge within us is sufficient to organize a righteous government upon the earth, and to give universal peace to all mankind, if they would receive it, but we lack the physical strength, as did our Savior when a child, to defend our principles, and we have of necessity to be afflicted, persecuted and smitten, and to bear it patiently until Jacob is of age, then he will take care of himself. (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 Vols. 6:608-9)
Hell, Teachings of Joseph Smith
Hell
What is the damnation of hell? To go with that society who have not obeyed His commands. (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 Vols. 4:555)
There has been much said about the word hell, and the sectarian world have preached much about it, describing it to be a burning lake of fire and brimstone. But what is hell? It is another modern term, and is taken from hades. I'll hunt after hades as Pat did for the woodchuck.
Hades, the Greek, or Shaole, the Hebrew: these two significations mean a world of spirits. Hades, Shaole, paradise, spirits in prison, are all one; it is a world of spirits.
The righteous and the wicked all go to the same world of spirits until the resurrection. "I do not think so," says one. If you will go to my house any time, I will take my lexicon and prove it to you.
The great misery of departed spirits in the world of spirits, where they go after death, is to know that they come short of the glory that others enjoy and that they might have enjoyed themselves, and they are their own accusers. (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 Vols. 5:425)
3 I see no faults in the Church, and therefore let me be resurrected with the Saints, whether I ascend to heaven or descend to hell, or go to any other place. And if we go to hell, we will turn the devils out of doors and make a heaven of it. Where this people are, there is good society. What do we care where we are, if the society be good? (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 Vols. 5:517)
What is the damnation of hell? To go with that society who have not obeyed His commands. (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 Vols. 4:555)
There has been much said about the word hell, and the sectarian world have preached much about it, describing it to be a burning lake of fire and brimstone. But what is hell? It is another modern term, and is taken from hades. I'll hunt after hades as Pat did for the woodchuck.
Hades, the Greek, or Shaole, the Hebrew: these two significations mean a world of spirits. Hades, Shaole, paradise, spirits in prison, are all one; it is a world of spirits.
The righteous and the wicked all go to the same world of spirits until the resurrection. "I do not think so," says one. If you will go to my house any time, I will take my lexicon and prove it to you.
The great misery of departed spirits in the world of spirits, where they go after death, is to know that they come short of the glory that others enjoy and that they might have enjoyed themselves, and they are their own accusers. (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 Vols. 5:425)
3 I see no faults in the Church, and therefore let me be resurrected with the Saints, whether I ascend to heaven or descend to hell, or go to any other place. And if we go to hell, we will turn the devils out of doors and make a heaven of it. Where this people are, there is good society. What do we care where we are, if the society be good? (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 Vols. 5:517)
Freedom, Teachings of Joseph Smith
Freedom
All men are, or ought to be free, possessing unalienable rights, and the high and noble qualifications of the laws of nature and of self-preservation, to think, and act, and say as they please, while they maintain a due respect to the rights and privileges of all other creatures, infringing upon none. (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 Vols. 5:156)
Freedom is a sweet blessing. Men have a right to take and read what papers they please; "but do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?" It certainly is no more than just to suppose that charity begins at home; and if so, what must such as profess to be Saints think, when they patronize the splendor of Babylon and leave the virtue of Zion to linger for want of bread? (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 Vols. 6:69)
All men are, or ought to be free, possessing unalienable rights, and the high and noble qualifications of the laws of nature and of self-preservation, to think, and act, and say as they please, while they maintain a due respect to the rights and privileges of all other creatures, infringing upon none. (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 Vols. 5:156)
Freedom is a sweet blessing. Men have a right to take and read what papers they please; "but do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?" It certainly is no more than just to suppose that charity begins at home; and if so, what must such as profess to be Saints think, when they patronize the splendor of Babylon and leave the virtue of Zion to linger for want of bread? (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 Vols. 6:69)
Baptism, Teachings of Joseph Smith
Baptism, Teachings of Joseph Smith
"Do the Mormons baptize in the name of 'Joe' Smith?" No, but if they did, it would be as valid as the baptism administered by the sectarian priests. (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 vols. 3:29)
Baptism is a holy ordinance preparatory to the reception of the Holy Ghost; it is the channel and key by which the Holy Ghost will be administered. (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 vols. 3:379)
3 Being born again, comes by the Spirit of God through ordinances. (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 vols. 3:392)
Report of Mathew L. Davis: He [Joseph Smith] does not believe in infant baptism, sprinkling, but in immersion, after eight years of age. (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 vols. 4:80)
Report of Wilford Woodruff: [President Smith said:] The doctrine of baptizing children, or sprinkling them, or they must welter in hell, is a doctrine not true, not supported in Holy Writ, and is not consistent with the character of God. All children are redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ, and the moment that children leave this world, they are taken to the bosom of Abraham. . . .
My intention was to have spoken on the subject of baptism, but having a case of death before us, I thought proper to refer to that subject. I will now, however, say a few words upon baptism, as I intended.
God has made certain decrees which are fixed and immovable; for instance,—God set the sun, the moon, and the stars in the heavens, and gave them their laws, conditions and bounds, which they cannot pass, except by His commandments; they all move in perfect harmony in their sphere and order, and are as lights, wonders and signs unto us. The sea also has its bounds which it cannot pass. God has set many signs on the earth, as well as in the heavens; for instance, the oak of the forest, the fruit of the tree, the herb of the field—all bear a sign that seed hath been planted there; for it is a decree of the Lord that every tree, plant, and herb bearing seed should bring forth of its kind, and cannot come forth after any other law or principle. Upon the same principle do I contend that baptism is a sign ordained of God, for the believer in Christ to take upon himself in order to enter into the kingdom of God, "for except ye are born of water and of the Spirit ye cannot enter into the kingdom of God," said the Savior. It is a sign and a commandment which God has set for man to enter into His kingdom. Those who seek to enter in any other way will seek in vain; for God will not receive them, neither will the angels acknowledge their works as accepted, for they have not obeyed the ordinances, nor attended to the signs which God ordained for the salvation of man, to prepare him for, and give him title to, a celestial glory; and God had decreed that all who will not obey His voice shall not escape the damnation of hell. . . .
Baptism is a sign to God, to angels, and to heaven that we do the will of God, and there is no other way beneath the heavens whereby God hath ordained for man to come to Him to be saved, and enter into the kingdom of God, except faith in Jesus Christ, repentance, and baptism for the remission of sins, and any other course is in vain; then you have the promise of the gift of the Holy Ghost. . . .
At the close of the meeting, President Smith said he should attend to the ordinance of baptism in the river, near his house, at two o'clock, and at the appointed hour, the bank of the Mississippi was lined with a multitude of people, and President Joseph Smith went into the river and baptized eighty persons for the remission of their sins, and what added joy to the scene was, that the first person baptized was M.L.D. Wasson, a nephew of Mrs. Emma Smith—the first of her kindred that has embraced the fullness of the Gospel.
At the close of this interesting scene, the administrator lifted up his hands towards heaven, and implored the blessing of God to rest upon the people; and truly the Spirit of God did rest upon the multitude, to the joy and consolation of our hearts. (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 vols. 4:554-55, 557)
Upon looking over the sacred pages of the Bible, searching into the prophets and sayings of the apostles, we find no subject so nearly connected with salvation, as that of baptism. In the first place, however, let us understand that the word baptise is derived from the Greek verb baptiso, and means to immerse or overwhelm, and that sprinkle is from the Greek verb rantiso, and means to scatter on by particles; then we can treat the subject as one inseparably connected with our eternal welfare; and always bear in mind that it is one of the only methods by which we can obtain a remission of sins in this world, and be prepared to enter into the joys of our Lord in the world to come.
As it is well known that various opinions govern a large portion of the sectarian world as to this important ordinance of the gospel, it may not be amiss to introduce the commissions and commands of Jesus himself on the subject.—He said to the twelve, or rather eleven at the time: Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost; teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: Thus it is recorded by Matthew. In Mark we have these important words: Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptised shall be saved, and he that believeth not shall be damned. And to show how the believers are to be known from the unbelievers, he continues and says: And these signs shall follow them that believe: in my name shall they cast out devils: they shall speak with new tongues: they shall take up serpents: and if they drink any deadly thing it shall not hurt them: they shall lay hands on the sick and they shall recover. And in Luke we find the finishing clause like this,—that it was necessary that Christ should die and rise the third day—that remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And ye are witnesses of these things.
We will now examine the witnesses. As it will be recollected, they were to wait at Jerusalem till they were endowed with power from on high and then go and teach all nations whatsoever the Lord had commanded them. As Peter held the keys of the kingdom, we will examine him first.
Now on the day of Pentecost, when there was a marvelous display of the gifts, according to the promise in Mark, many were pricked in the heart, and said unto Peter, and to the rest of the Apostles, men and brethren what shall we do? Peter said unto them: Repent, and be baptised every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, &c.—Here one of the witnesses says in so many words, repent and be baptised. And we are of the opinion that Peter having been taught by the Lord, would be about as correct a counselor, or ambassador as we or they could enquire of to know the right way to enter into the kingdom.
Again, Luke in his record of the acts of the Apostles, says:—And it came to pass, that while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul having passed through the upper coasts, came to Ephesus; and finding certain disciples, he said unto them, have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed? And they said unto him, We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost. And he said unto them, Unto what then were ye baptised? And they said, unto John's baptism. Then said Paul, John verily baptised with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, That they should believe on him which should come after him, that is on Christ Jesus. When they heard this, they were baptised in the name of the Lord Jesus.—And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them; and they spake with tongues, and prophesied.
From the above witnesses we are informed that baptism was the essential point on which they could receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. It seems from the reasoning above that some sectarian Jew had been baptising like John, but had forgotten to inform them that there was one to follow by the name of Jesus Christ, to baptise with fire and the Holy Ghost:—which showed these converts that their first baptism was illegal, and when they heard this they were gladly baptised, and after hands were laid on them, they received the gifts, according to promise, and spake with tongues and prophesied. . . .
. . . Nicodemus . . . came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him. Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born again he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born?—Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water, and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. This strong and positive answer of Jesus, as to water baptism, settles the question: If God is the same yesterday, today, and forever; it is no wonder he is so positive in the great declaration: He that believes and is baptised shall be saved, and he that believes not shall be damned! There was no other name given under heaven, nor no other ordinance admitted, whereby men could be saved: No wonder the Apostle said, being "buried with him in baptism," ye shall rise from the dead! No wonder Paul had to arise and be baptised and wash away his sins: No wonder the angel told good old Cornelius that he must send for Peter to learn how to be saved: Peter could baptise, and angels could not, so long as there were legal officers in the flesh holding the keys of the kingdom, or the authority of the priesthood. . . .
No man can be saved without baptism. . . . Jesus Christ himself, who had no need of repentance, having . . . no sin, [gave the] dec-laration to John:—now let me be baptised: for no man can enter the kingdom without obeying this ordinance: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Surely, then, if it became John and Jesus Christ, the Saviour, to fulfil all righteousness to be baptised—so surely, then, it will become every other person that seeks the kingdom of heaven to go and do likewise; for he is the door, and if any person climbs up any other way, the same is a thief and a robber!
In the former ages of the world, before the Saviour came in the flesh, "the saints" were baptised in the name of Jesus Christ to come, because there never was any other name whereby men could be saved; and after he came in the flesh and was crucified, then the saints were baptised in the name of Jesus Christ, crucified, risen from the dead and ascended into heaven, that they might be buried in baptism like him, and be raised in glory like him, that as there was but one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and one God and father of us all, even so there was but one door to the mansions of bliss. Amen. (Times and Seasons 3:903-5)
"Do you believe in the baptism of infants?" asks the Presbyterian. No. "Why?" Because it is nowhere written in the Bible. Circumcision is not baptism, neither was baptism instituted in the place of circumcision. Baptism is for remission of sins. Children have no sins. Jesus blessed them and said, "Do what you have seen me do." Children are all made alive in Christ, and those of riper years through faith and repentance.
So far we are agreed with other Christian denominations. They all preach faith and repentance. The gospel requires baptism by immersion for the remission of sins, which is the meaning of the word in the original language—namely, to bury or immerse.
We ask the sects, Do you believe this? They answer, No. I believe in being converted. I believe in this tenaciously. So did the Apostle Peter and the disciples of Jesus. But I further believe in the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands. Evidence by Peter's preaching on the day of Pentecost, Acts 2:38. You might as well baptize a bag of sand as a man, if not done in view of the remission of sins and getting of the Holy Ghost. Baptism by water is but half a baptism, and is good for nothing without the other half—that is, the baptism of the Holy Ghost.
The Savior says, "Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." "Though we or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed," according to Galatians 1:8. (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 vols. 5:499-500)
8 The Savior said unto John, I must be baptized by you. Why so? To fulfil all righteousness. John refuses at first, but afterwards obeyed by administering the ordinance of baptism unto him, Jesus having no other legal administrator to apply to. (Joseph Smith, Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 319)
I will leave this subject here, and make a few remarks on the subject of baptism. The baptism of water, without the baptism of fire and the Holy Ghost attending it, is of no use; they are necessarily and inseparably connected. An individual must be born of water and the spirit in order to get into the kingdom of God. In the German, the text bears me out the same as the revelations which I have given and taught for the past fourteen years on that subject. I have the testimony to put in their teeth. My testimony has been true all the time. You will find it in the declaration of John the Baptist. (Reads from the German.) John says, "I baptize you with water, but when Jesus comes, who has the power (or keys) He shall administer the baptism of fire and the Holy Ghost." Great God! Where is now all the sectarian world? And if this testimony is true, they are all damned as clearly as anathema can do it. I know the text is true. I call upon all you Germans who know that it is true to say, Aye. (Loud shouts of "Aye.")
Alexander Campbell, how are you going to save people with water alone? For John said his baptism was good for nothing without the baptism of Jesus Christ. . . .
There is one God, one Father, one Jesus, one hope of our calling, one baptism. All these three baptisms only make one. Many talk of baptism not being essential to salvation; but this kind of teaching would lay the foundation of their damnation. (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 vols. 6:316, 317)
"Do the Mormons baptize in the name of 'Joe' Smith?" No, but if they did, it would be as valid as the baptism administered by the sectarian priests. (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 vols. 3:29)
Baptism is a holy ordinance preparatory to the reception of the Holy Ghost; it is the channel and key by which the Holy Ghost will be administered. (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 vols. 3:379)
3 Being born again, comes by the Spirit of God through ordinances. (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 vols. 3:392)
Report of Mathew L. Davis: He [Joseph Smith] does not believe in infant baptism, sprinkling, but in immersion, after eight years of age. (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 vols. 4:80)
Report of Wilford Woodruff: [President Smith said:] The doctrine of baptizing children, or sprinkling them, or they must welter in hell, is a doctrine not true, not supported in Holy Writ, and is not consistent with the character of God. All children are redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ, and the moment that children leave this world, they are taken to the bosom of Abraham. . . .
My intention was to have spoken on the subject of baptism, but having a case of death before us, I thought proper to refer to that subject. I will now, however, say a few words upon baptism, as I intended.
God has made certain decrees which are fixed and immovable; for instance,—God set the sun, the moon, and the stars in the heavens, and gave them their laws, conditions and bounds, which they cannot pass, except by His commandments; they all move in perfect harmony in their sphere and order, and are as lights, wonders and signs unto us. The sea also has its bounds which it cannot pass. God has set many signs on the earth, as well as in the heavens; for instance, the oak of the forest, the fruit of the tree, the herb of the field—all bear a sign that seed hath been planted there; for it is a decree of the Lord that every tree, plant, and herb bearing seed should bring forth of its kind, and cannot come forth after any other law or principle. Upon the same principle do I contend that baptism is a sign ordained of God, for the believer in Christ to take upon himself in order to enter into the kingdom of God, "for except ye are born of water and of the Spirit ye cannot enter into the kingdom of God," said the Savior. It is a sign and a commandment which God has set for man to enter into His kingdom. Those who seek to enter in any other way will seek in vain; for God will not receive them, neither will the angels acknowledge their works as accepted, for they have not obeyed the ordinances, nor attended to the signs which God ordained for the salvation of man, to prepare him for, and give him title to, a celestial glory; and God had decreed that all who will not obey His voice shall not escape the damnation of hell. . . .
Baptism is a sign to God, to angels, and to heaven that we do the will of God, and there is no other way beneath the heavens whereby God hath ordained for man to come to Him to be saved, and enter into the kingdom of God, except faith in Jesus Christ, repentance, and baptism for the remission of sins, and any other course is in vain; then you have the promise of the gift of the Holy Ghost. . . .
At the close of the meeting, President Smith said he should attend to the ordinance of baptism in the river, near his house, at two o'clock, and at the appointed hour, the bank of the Mississippi was lined with a multitude of people, and President Joseph Smith went into the river and baptized eighty persons for the remission of their sins, and what added joy to the scene was, that the first person baptized was M.L.D. Wasson, a nephew of Mrs. Emma Smith—the first of her kindred that has embraced the fullness of the Gospel.
At the close of this interesting scene, the administrator lifted up his hands towards heaven, and implored the blessing of God to rest upon the people; and truly the Spirit of God did rest upon the multitude, to the joy and consolation of our hearts. (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 vols. 4:554-55, 557)
Upon looking over the sacred pages of the Bible, searching into the prophets and sayings of the apostles, we find no subject so nearly connected with salvation, as that of baptism. In the first place, however, let us understand that the word baptise is derived from the Greek verb baptiso, and means to immerse or overwhelm, and that sprinkle is from the Greek verb rantiso, and means to scatter on by particles; then we can treat the subject as one inseparably connected with our eternal welfare; and always bear in mind that it is one of the only methods by which we can obtain a remission of sins in this world, and be prepared to enter into the joys of our Lord in the world to come.
As it is well known that various opinions govern a large portion of the sectarian world as to this important ordinance of the gospel, it may not be amiss to introduce the commissions and commands of Jesus himself on the subject.—He said to the twelve, or rather eleven at the time: Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost; teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: Thus it is recorded by Matthew. In Mark we have these important words: Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptised shall be saved, and he that believeth not shall be damned. And to show how the believers are to be known from the unbelievers, he continues and says: And these signs shall follow them that believe: in my name shall they cast out devils: they shall speak with new tongues: they shall take up serpents: and if they drink any deadly thing it shall not hurt them: they shall lay hands on the sick and they shall recover. And in Luke we find the finishing clause like this,—that it was necessary that Christ should die and rise the third day—that remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And ye are witnesses of these things.
We will now examine the witnesses. As it will be recollected, they were to wait at Jerusalem till they were endowed with power from on high and then go and teach all nations whatsoever the Lord had commanded them. As Peter held the keys of the kingdom, we will examine him first.
Now on the day of Pentecost, when there was a marvelous display of the gifts, according to the promise in Mark, many were pricked in the heart, and said unto Peter, and to the rest of the Apostles, men and brethren what shall we do? Peter said unto them: Repent, and be baptised every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, &c.—Here one of the witnesses says in so many words, repent and be baptised. And we are of the opinion that Peter having been taught by the Lord, would be about as correct a counselor, or ambassador as we or they could enquire of to know the right way to enter into the kingdom.
Again, Luke in his record of the acts of the Apostles, says:—And it came to pass, that while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul having passed through the upper coasts, came to Ephesus; and finding certain disciples, he said unto them, have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed? And they said unto him, We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost. And he said unto them, Unto what then were ye baptised? And they said, unto John's baptism. Then said Paul, John verily baptised with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, That they should believe on him which should come after him, that is on Christ Jesus. When they heard this, they were baptised in the name of the Lord Jesus.—And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them; and they spake with tongues, and prophesied.
From the above witnesses we are informed that baptism was the essential point on which they could receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. It seems from the reasoning above that some sectarian Jew had been baptising like John, but had forgotten to inform them that there was one to follow by the name of Jesus Christ, to baptise with fire and the Holy Ghost:—which showed these converts that their first baptism was illegal, and when they heard this they were gladly baptised, and after hands were laid on them, they received the gifts, according to promise, and spake with tongues and prophesied. . . .
. . . Nicodemus . . . came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him. Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born again he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born?—Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water, and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. This strong and positive answer of Jesus, as to water baptism, settles the question: If God is the same yesterday, today, and forever; it is no wonder he is so positive in the great declaration: He that believes and is baptised shall be saved, and he that believes not shall be damned! There was no other name given under heaven, nor no other ordinance admitted, whereby men could be saved: No wonder the Apostle said, being "buried with him in baptism," ye shall rise from the dead! No wonder Paul had to arise and be baptised and wash away his sins: No wonder the angel told good old Cornelius that he must send for Peter to learn how to be saved: Peter could baptise, and angels could not, so long as there were legal officers in the flesh holding the keys of the kingdom, or the authority of the priesthood. . . .
No man can be saved without baptism. . . . Jesus Christ himself, who had no need of repentance, having . . . no sin, [gave the] dec-laration to John:—now let me be baptised: for no man can enter the kingdom without obeying this ordinance: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Surely, then, if it became John and Jesus Christ, the Saviour, to fulfil all righteousness to be baptised—so surely, then, it will become every other person that seeks the kingdom of heaven to go and do likewise; for he is the door, and if any person climbs up any other way, the same is a thief and a robber!
In the former ages of the world, before the Saviour came in the flesh, "the saints" were baptised in the name of Jesus Christ to come, because there never was any other name whereby men could be saved; and after he came in the flesh and was crucified, then the saints were baptised in the name of Jesus Christ, crucified, risen from the dead and ascended into heaven, that they might be buried in baptism like him, and be raised in glory like him, that as there was but one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and one God and father of us all, even so there was but one door to the mansions of bliss. Amen. (Times and Seasons 3:903-5)
"Do you believe in the baptism of infants?" asks the Presbyterian. No. "Why?" Because it is nowhere written in the Bible. Circumcision is not baptism, neither was baptism instituted in the place of circumcision. Baptism is for remission of sins. Children have no sins. Jesus blessed them and said, "Do what you have seen me do." Children are all made alive in Christ, and those of riper years through faith and repentance.
So far we are agreed with other Christian denominations. They all preach faith and repentance. The gospel requires baptism by immersion for the remission of sins, which is the meaning of the word in the original language—namely, to bury or immerse.
We ask the sects, Do you believe this? They answer, No. I believe in being converted. I believe in this tenaciously. So did the Apostle Peter and the disciples of Jesus. But I further believe in the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands. Evidence by Peter's preaching on the day of Pentecost, Acts 2:38. You might as well baptize a bag of sand as a man, if not done in view of the remission of sins and getting of the Holy Ghost. Baptism by water is but half a baptism, and is good for nothing without the other half—that is, the baptism of the Holy Ghost.
The Savior says, "Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." "Though we or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed," according to Galatians 1:8. (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 vols. 5:499-500)
8 The Savior said unto John, I must be baptized by you. Why so? To fulfil all righteousness. John refuses at first, but afterwards obeyed by administering the ordinance of baptism unto him, Jesus having no other legal administrator to apply to. (Joseph Smith, Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 319)
I will leave this subject here, and make a few remarks on the subject of baptism. The baptism of water, without the baptism of fire and the Holy Ghost attending it, is of no use; they are necessarily and inseparably connected. An individual must be born of water and the spirit in order to get into the kingdom of God. In the German, the text bears me out the same as the revelations which I have given and taught for the past fourteen years on that subject. I have the testimony to put in their teeth. My testimony has been true all the time. You will find it in the declaration of John the Baptist. (Reads from the German.) John says, "I baptize you with water, but when Jesus comes, who has the power (or keys) He shall administer the baptism of fire and the Holy Ghost." Great God! Where is now all the sectarian world? And if this testimony is true, they are all damned as clearly as anathema can do it. I know the text is true. I call upon all you Germans who know that it is true to say, Aye. (Loud shouts of "Aye.")
Alexander Campbell, how are you going to save people with water alone? For John said his baptism was good for nothing without the baptism of Jesus Christ. . . .
There is one God, one Father, one Jesus, one hope of our calling, one baptism. All these three baptisms only make one. Many talk of baptism not being essential to salvation; but this kind of teaching would lay the foundation of their damnation. (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 vols. 6:316, 317)
Falsehoods
Time and experience will teach us more and more how easily falsehood gains credence with mankind in general, rather than the truth.
(Joseph Smith)
(Joseph Smith)
Pure Religion
"Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep . . . unspotted from the world." (James 1:27.)
A few weeks ago as I approached the temple grounds where I was to meet a friend, a young woman—a stranger to me—stepped up and said, "Would you like to know what kind of people these Mormons really are?"
I responded with, "I think I already know a little bit about what they really are."
To this the heckler retorted, "They surely don't live the teachings of Jesus Christ as they should."
My concluding comment was, "Who does?"
As I continued my walk to the visitors' center, I began to ponder the actions of those persons who are giving time and money to discredit, embarrass, ridicule, and shame those who have religious views that differ from their own. Sometimes such actions can unify and strengthen those who are attacked. However, in some few instances they plant seeds of discord, and at times righteous people are hurt by their slander.
I doubt that such actions can be called Christ-like. At no time did Jesus Christ encourage us to spend time participating in damaging, destructive criticism. His message was to encourage us to seek, learn, and share all that is praiseworthy and of value as we associate with our fellow beings. Only those who are vindictive and cantankerous participate in ferreting out and advertising the negative and unsavory.
I will be forever grateful for the wise counsel my mission president gave me as I arrived in England to serve as a missionary. He said, "Elder Ashton, these people in this land have been at it a long time. If you will keep your eyes, ears, and mind open, you can learn much while you are here. Look for the good and overlook that which is different from your ways."
The longer I stayed in England, the more I appreciated his advice. Day by day I grew to love and appreciate that great country and its people. For example, instead of freezing in the raw winter weather, I did as the English did— I put on another sweater rather than wasting time murmuring and complaining.
Robert West wrote, "Nothing is easier than fault-finding; no talent, no self-denial, no brains . . . are required to set up in the grumbling business." (Richard L. Evans' Quote Book [Salt Lake City, Utah: Publishers Press, 1971], p. 221.)
Whether accusations, innuendos, aspersions, or falsehoods are whispered or blatantly shouted, the gospel of Jesus Christ reminds us that we are not to retaliate nor contend. "Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath: for the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God." (James 1:19-20.)
No religion, group, or individual can prosper over an extended period of time with fault-finding as their foundation. To the world, and especially to members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we declare there is no time for contention. "If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man's religion is vain." (James 1:26.)
The poet Robert Frost once defined education as "the ability to listen to almost anything without losing your temper or your self-confidence." Probably we will never be free of those who are openly anti-Mormon. Therefore, we encourage all our members to refuse to become anti- anti-Mormon. In the wise words of old, can we "live and let live"? (Johann Schiller, in The Home Book of Quotations [New York: Dodd, Mead & Company, 1935], p. 1119.)
Certainly one of our God-given privileges is the right to choose what our attitude will be in any given set of circumstances. We can let the events that surround us determine our actions—or we can personally take charge and rule our lives, using as guidelines the principles of pure religion. Pure religion is learning the gospel of Jesus Christ and then putting it into action. Nothing will ever be of real benefit to us until it is incorporated into our own lives.
It seems to me there has never been a period in history when it has been more important for us to be engaged in pure religion as taught by the Savior. This religion is not to retaliate, or to exchange in kind, evil actions or unkind statements. Pure religion encompasses the ability to cherish, to build up, and to turn the other cheek in place of destroying and tearing down. Blessed are they who strive to serve the Lord without wasting time faulting Him or those who serve Him.
The discerning realize that it is not realistic to expect perfection in others when none of us is perfect: "Why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull the mote out of thine eye; and behold, a beam is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye." (Matthew 7:3-5.)
Meaningful progress can be made only when all of us can cast the motes out of our own eyes, leave judgment to our Father in heaven, and lose ourselves in righteous living.
As we reflect upon actions that do not fit the definition of pure religion, perhaps we should contemplate the nature of this term: "Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep . . . unspotted from the world." (James 1:27.)
The words are simple, but a basic formula is revealed— namely, help those who are in need, build your life around the gospel of Jesus Christ, and avoid yielding to worldly temptations.
As with most simple formulas, all of us must analyze our own lives and use wisdom and free agency as we apply the basic principles. Jesus said, "This is my gospel; and ye know the things that ye must do in my church; for the works which ye have seen me do that shall ye also do; for that which ye have seen me do even that shall ye do." (3 Nephi 27:21.) The doing is always more difficult than the knowing.
We were visiting some friends this past summer. A very young son with a new tricycle was disturbed because his parents were giving us their attention and all of us were ignoring him. He rode his trike as fast as his little legs could pedal, calling, "Look at me!" The inevitable happened as he looked at us instead of where he was going. He rode directly into a lawn chair. To try to stem the tears and take his mind off the hurt, his mother said, "That naughty chair hurt you. Let's spank the chair." I suppose her response momentarily distracted the boy, but the mother was letting her son blame something else for the accident rather than himself. How many times do we look for something external on which to place blame for our actions? It hurts to look inward and assume responsibility for our situations.
To keep ourselves unspotted from the world requires taking charge of and ruling our lives from within, accepting responsibility for our own actions, and choosing the role of peacemaker rather than retaliator when those around us are critical or spread false propaganda. It includes being aware that God's work on earth is done by human beings, all of whom have some weaknesses. It encompasses the ability to look for the good accomplished rather than being disillusioned when human failings surface. It includes resisting the urge to proclaim such weaknesses so adamantly that the basic good is overshadowed and testimonies waver.
Pure religion is maintaining a balance between sophisticated, intellectual information and the basic "bread- and-butter" principles of the gospel. Latter-day Saints are encouraged to pursue learning in all areas. However, superior knowledge and academic achievements need to be enhanced by wisdom, good judgment, and spiritual guidance in order to use all that is learned for the benefit of the individual and his fellow beings.
Some think they can learn of God only by appreciating His handiwork. Mountains, streams, flowers, birds, and animals are to be enjoyed and admired; but this is not enough. In the formal Church setting, gospel truths are shared, new concepts are internalized, and new experiences are offered—all of which can result in enriched feelings about oneself and in learning better methods of helping others.
One who practices pure religion soon discovers it is more rewarding to lift people up than to hold them down. Happiness is bound up with helpfulness. Those who fail to protect someone's good name, who take advantage of the innocent or uninformed, who build a fortune by pretending godliness to manipulate others, are missing the joy of practicing pure religion.
Many have found joy by extending mercy and tender care to those around them. What a strength it is to witness friends visiting nursing homes to comfort patients who don't even have the capacity to express appreciation. There are some who would question God's motives when He allows many to linger in pain and hopeless physical and mental deterioration. While this process is taking place, others teach us by their compassionate service and patience. One who has served in many leadership positions in the Church, even in missions and temples, now without specific assignment, meets each month with those confined in a nursing home and often says, "What satisfaction I get each month as I visit these precious souls."
Pure religion is showing concern and affection for those who, because they have lost their companions, are experiencing feelings of loneliness and neglect. Recently I visited with a bishop who has in his ward more than sixty widows. He beamed, "I love them all!" At least once a week he and his counselors visit them, in addition to the calls made by their home teachers. "They are the joys of our lives," he repeated. He might have said, "Don't you think that is more than our share?"
Another worthy practice in pure religion is a daily telephone call to each housebound person in a neighborhood. A loving, older, widowed lady said, "If I telephone each day, it gives them a lift, and if they don't answer the phone, it lets me know they probably need a personal visit from me." One of these friends could not afford a telephone, so this same sister had a phone installed and took care of the monthly bill.
Pure religion encompasses patience and long-suffering. A father recovering from the wounds of alcoholism has often said,"I am making my way back because my family would not give up on me. Everyone had written me off except my wife and children." How sweet are those words: " I am making my way back because my family would not give up on me."
Pure religion is practiced when we lift the unfortunate and unusual children. Some of God's choicest earthly spirits are those without meaningful parental care. Many are given family relationships by foster parents on a part- or full-time basis.
Pure religion is having the courage to do what is right and let the consequence follow. It is doing the right things for right reasons. To be righteous or serving or loving or obedient to God's laws just to earn praise or recognition is not pure religion. It is being able to withstand ridicule and even temporary unpopularity with some peer groups when you know who you are and for what goals you are reaching. So many of our young people, and older ones also, have developed just such inner strength. They have a great influence for good on others with whom they associate.
Loving those around us includes being sensitive to feelings of others. As is often done, a conducting officer announced that when the deacons were through passing the sacrament, they were invited to go and sit with their families. One father noticed a boy walk out and sit in the foyer. The next week he invited that deacon to sit with his family rather than go through the embarrassment and loneliness caused by not having his own family in attendance. This parent responded to the need of the boy rather than criticizing the leaders for the policy. The actions of this father can be enlarged on and put into practice by every member.
The safety and protection of each person, especially children, should be a concern for all of us. We can be instrumental in assisting in the protection of each other by being aware of potential dangers and being willing to do our part to thwart those who would injure, steal from, or abuse any person, young or old.
Another example of pure religion can be practiced in today's political election processes by those who explain and debate the issues and avoid pettiness and slander. Real political winners are those who would accept defeat rather than participate in character assassination.
Examples of pure religion can be found on every hand. At a funeral about a month ago, I learned of a valiant young lady on a mission in a distant land who, after much prayer and many tears, wrote to her dying mother just before the terminal illness took its toll, and told her that even though she would like to be at her bedside, she would follow her mother's teachings and stay in the mission field to finish her assignment and search out those who wanted to hear the gospel.
From the simple scripture that defines pure religion come great guidelines. To be unspotted from the world, one must avoid all of Satan's evil plans for the inhabitants of the world. Retaliation, fault-finding, deceit, pettiness, hypocrisy, judging, and destroying one another do not belong in the definition of pure religion.
Empathy is sincere love for self and our fellow beings. Henry David Thoreau said, "Could a greater miracle take place than for us to look through each other's eyes for an instant?" If this were possible, I'm sure we could visit and help the widowed and fatherless and all who need our help with the pure love of Christ and thus be responsive to the needs of those around us.
May God help us to learn and live the principles of pure religion. The business of lifting each other is a full- time occupation. Pure religion can never be taught or lived by those who are petty, prejudiced, contentious, or unresponsive to the needs of others. Pure religion is following the teachings of our Savior.
(Marvin J. Ashton, Be of Good Cheer [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1987], 15.)
A few weeks ago as I approached the temple grounds where I was to meet a friend, a young woman—a stranger to me—stepped up and said, "Would you like to know what kind of people these Mormons really are?"
I responded with, "I think I already know a little bit about what they really are."
To this the heckler retorted, "They surely don't live the teachings of Jesus Christ as they should."
My concluding comment was, "Who does?"
As I continued my walk to the visitors' center, I began to ponder the actions of those persons who are giving time and money to discredit, embarrass, ridicule, and shame those who have religious views that differ from their own. Sometimes such actions can unify and strengthen those who are attacked. However, in some few instances they plant seeds of discord, and at times righteous people are hurt by their slander.
I doubt that such actions can be called Christ-like. At no time did Jesus Christ encourage us to spend time participating in damaging, destructive criticism. His message was to encourage us to seek, learn, and share all that is praiseworthy and of value as we associate with our fellow beings. Only those who are vindictive and cantankerous participate in ferreting out and advertising the negative and unsavory.
I will be forever grateful for the wise counsel my mission president gave me as I arrived in England to serve as a missionary. He said, "Elder Ashton, these people in this land have been at it a long time. If you will keep your eyes, ears, and mind open, you can learn much while you are here. Look for the good and overlook that which is different from your ways."
The longer I stayed in England, the more I appreciated his advice. Day by day I grew to love and appreciate that great country and its people. For example, instead of freezing in the raw winter weather, I did as the English did— I put on another sweater rather than wasting time murmuring and complaining.
Robert West wrote, "Nothing is easier than fault-finding; no talent, no self-denial, no brains . . . are required to set up in the grumbling business." (Richard L. Evans' Quote Book [Salt Lake City, Utah: Publishers Press, 1971], p. 221.)
Whether accusations, innuendos, aspersions, or falsehoods are whispered or blatantly shouted, the gospel of Jesus Christ reminds us that we are not to retaliate nor contend. "Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath: for the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God." (James 1:19-20.)
No religion, group, or individual can prosper over an extended period of time with fault-finding as their foundation. To the world, and especially to members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we declare there is no time for contention. "If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man's religion is vain." (James 1:26.)
The poet Robert Frost once defined education as "the ability to listen to almost anything without losing your temper or your self-confidence." Probably we will never be free of those who are openly anti-Mormon. Therefore, we encourage all our members to refuse to become anti- anti-Mormon. In the wise words of old, can we "live and let live"? (Johann Schiller, in The Home Book of Quotations [New York: Dodd, Mead & Company, 1935], p. 1119.)
Certainly one of our God-given privileges is the right to choose what our attitude will be in any given set of circumstances. We can let the events that surround us determine our actions—or we can personally take charge and rule our lives, using as guidelines the principles of pure religion. Pure religion is learning the gospel of Jesus Christ and then putting it into action. Nothing will ever be of real benefit to us until it is incorporated into our own lives.
It seems to me there has never been a period in history when it has been more important for us to be engaged in pure religion as taught by the Savior. This religion is not to retaliate, or to exchange in kind, evil actions or unkind statements. Pure religion encompasses the ability to cherish, to build up, and to turn the other cheek in place of destroying and tearing down. Blessed are they who strive to serve the Lord without wasting time faulting Him or those who serve Him.
The discerning realize that it is not realistic to expect perfection in others when none of us is perfect: "Why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull the mote out of thine eye; and behold, a beam is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye." (Matthew 7:3-5.)
Meaningful progress can be made only when all of us can cast the motes out of our own eyes, leave judgment to our Father in heaven, and lose ourselves in righteous living.
As we reflect upon actions that do not fit the definition of pure religion, perhaps we should contemplate the nature of this term: "Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep . . . unspotted from the world." (James 1:27.)
The words are simple, but a basic formula is revealed— namely, help those who are in need, build your life around the gospel of Jesus Christ, and avoid yielding to worldly temptations.
As with most simple formulas, all of us must analyze our own lives and use wisdom and free agency as we apply the basic principles. Jesus said, "This is my gospel; and ye know the things that ye must do in my church; for the works which ye have seen me do that shall ye also do; for that which ye have seen me do even that shall ye do." (3 Nephi 27:21.) The doing is always more difficult than the knowing.
We were visiting some friends this past summer. A very young son with a new tricycle was disturbed because his parents were giving us their attention and all of us were ignoring him. He rode his trike as fast as his little legs could pedal, calling, "Look at me!" The inevitable happened as he looked at us instead of where he was going. He rode directly into a lawn chair. To try to stem the tears and take his mind off the hurt, his mother said, "That naughty chair hurt you. Let's spank the chair." I suppose her response momentarily distracted the boy, but the mother was letting her son blame something else for the accident rather than himself. How many times do we look for something external on which to place blame for our actions? It hurts to look inward and assume responsibility for our situations.
To keep ourselves unspotted from the world requires taking charge of and ruling our lives from within, accepting responsibility for our own actions, and choosing the role of peacemaker rather than retaliator when those around us are critical or spread false propaganda. It includes being aware that God's work on earth is done by human beings, all of whom have some weaknesses. It encompasses the ability to look for the good accomplished rather than being disillusioned when human failings surface. It includes resisting the urge to proclaim such weaknesses so adamantly that the basic good is overshadowed and testimonies waver.
Pure religion is maintaining a balance between sophisticated, intellectual information and the basic "bread- and-butter" principles of the gospel. Latter-day Saints are encouraged to pursue learning in all areas. However, superior knowledge and academic achievements need to be enhanced by wisdom, good judgment, and spiritual guidance in order to use all that is learned for the benefit of the individual and his fellow beings.
Some think they can learn of God only by appreciating His handiwork. Mountains, streams, flowers, birds, and animals are to be enjoyed and admired; but this is not enough. In the formal Church setting, gospel truths are shared, new concepts are internalized, and new experiences are offered—all of which can result in enriched feelings about oneself and in learning better methods of helping others.
One who practices pure religion soon discovers it is more rewarding to lift people up than to hold them down. Happiness is bound up with helpfulness. Those who fail to protect someone's good name, who take advantage of the innocent or uninformed, who build a fortune by pretending godliness to manipulate others, are missing the joy of practicing pure religion.
Many have found joy by extending mercy and tender care to those around them. What a strength it is to witness friends visiting nursing homes to comfort patients who don't even have the capacity to express appreciation. There are some who would question God's motives when He allows many to linger in pain and hopeless physical and mental deterioration. While this process is taking place, others teach us by their compassionate service and patience. One who has served in many leadership positions in the Church, even in missions and temples, now without specific assignment, meets each month with those confined in a nursing home and often says, "What satisfaction I get each month as I visit these precious souls."
Pure religion is showing concern and affection for those who, because they have lost their companions, are experiencing feelings of loneliness and neglect. Recently I visited with a bishop who has in his ward more than sixty widows. He beamed, "I love them all!" At least once a week he and his counselors visit them, in addition to the calls made by their home teachers. "They are the joys of our lives," he repeated. He might have said, "Don't you think that is more than our share?"
Another worthy practice in pure religion is a daily telephone call to each housebound person in a neighborhood. A loving, older, widowed lady said, "If I telephone each day, it gives them a lift, and if they don't answer the phone, it lets me know they probably need a personal visit from me." One of these friends could not afford a telephone, so this same sister had a phone installed and took care of the monthly bill.
Pure religion encompasses patience and long-suffering. A father recovering from the wounds of alcoholism has often said,"I am making my way back because my family would not give up on me. Everyone had written me off except my wife and children." How sweet are those words: " I am making my way back because my family would not give up on me."
Pure religion is practiced when we lift the unfortunate and unusual children. Some of God's choicest earthly spirits are those without meaningful parental care. Many are given family relationships by foster parents on a part- or full-time basis.
Pure religion is having the courage to do what is right and let the consequence follow. It is doing the right things for right reasons. To be righteous or serving or loving or obedient to God's laws just to earn praise or recognition is not pure religion. It is being able to withstand ridicule and even temporary unpopularity with some peer groups when you know who you are and for what goals you are reaching. So many of our young people, and older ones also, have developed just such inner strength. They have a great influence for good on others with whom they associate.
Loving those around us includes being sensitive to feelings of others. As is often done, a conducting officer announced that when the deacons were through passing the sacrament, they were invited to go and sit with their families. One father noticed a boy walk out and sit in the foyer. The next week he invited that deacon to sit with his family rather than go through the embarrassment and loneliness caused by not having his own family in attendance. This parent responded to the need of the boy rather than criticizing the leaders for the policy. The actions of this father can be enlarged on and put into practice by every member.
The safety and protection of each person, especially children, should be a concern for all of us. We can be instrumental in assisting in the protection of each other by being aware of potential dangers and being willing to do our part to thwart those who would injure, steal from, or abuse any person, young or old.
Another example of pure religion can be practiced in today's political election processes by those who explain and debate the issues and avoid pettiness and slander. Real political winners are those who would accept defeat rather than participate in character assassination.
Examples of pure religion can be found on every hand. At a funeral about a month ago, I learned of a valiant young lady on a mission in a distant land who, after much prayer and many tears, wrote to her dying mother just before the terminal illness took its toll, and told her that even though she would like to be at her bedside, she would follow her mother's teachings and stay in the mission field to finish her assignment and search out those who wanted to hear the gospel.
From the simple scripture that defines pure religion come great guidelines. To be unspotted from the world, one must avoid all of Satan's evil plans for the inhabitants of the world. Retaliation, fault-finding, deceit, pettiness, hypocrisy, judging, and destroying one another do not belong in the definition of pure religion.
Empathy is sincere love for self and our fellow beings. Henry David Thoreau said, "Could a greater miracle take place than for us to look through each other's eyes for an instant?" If this were possible, I'm sure we could visit and help the widowed and fatherless and all who need our help with the pure love of Christ and thus be responsive to the needs of those around us.
May God help us to learn and live the principles of pure religion. The business of lifting each other is a full- time occupation. Pure religion can never be taught or lived by those who are petty, prejudiced, contentious, or unresponsive to the needs of others. Pure religion is following the teachings of our Savior.
(Marvin J. Ashton, Be of Good Cheer [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1987], 15.)
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