The occasion of administering the Sacrament, the emblems of the death
and sufferings of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, is a suitable time
for every Latter-day Saint to make the inquiry, why are we Latter-day
Saints; and for making an examination of some of the reasons which
have moved upon us to receive the doctrines of this Latter-day
dispensation, thereby subjecting ourselves to the jeers, scoffs and
ridicule of our former friends and acquaintances.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was organized on the
6th of April, 1830, with six members, who had received baptism through
the administration of Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery, the first
elders of the Church. The cause of that organization is something we
should consider when we inquire, why we are Latter-day Saints. At that
time, as at present, there existed in the world a great variety of
religious denominations, which were divided under general heads, and
sub divided into smaller divisions. Those who worship idols comprise
probably more than one-half of the inhabitants of the earth; the
followers of Mahomet, a very large portion of the remainder, perhaps
one hundred and fifty millions of people. They receive the doctrines
of the Arabian prophet. They discard idols, and follow the rules,
precepts and ceremonies laid down in the Koran. They are subdivided
into numerous sects. The portion of the world who acknowledge the
Christian religion probably embraces a population of two hundred and
fifty millions, the three main divisions of which are the Holy
Catholic Church, or Church of Rome, the Greek Church, and the
Protestant Churches. There are a great many subdivisions of the
Protestant Churches, such as the Lutheran, Baptist, Episcopal,
Presbyterian, Methodist, and others. I will not undertake to enumerate
them. I have heard it said that the number corresponds with the number
of the beast spoken of by John in Revelation, who declares
the number of the name of the beast to be 666.
In a debate, some years ago, between Alexander Campbell, the founder
of the Disciples or Reform Baptists, and Bishop Purcell, of
Cincinnati, on the Catholic religion, Mr. Campbell undertook to prove
that the numeral letters that composed the name of the beast would
answer to the name of the Catholic Church. Bishop Purcell made a very
facetious reply, saying that he could find the same numeral letters in
the name of Alexander Campbell, and could find in these numerals, he
thought, the beast with a hump on his back.
Now, though all these sects professing Christianity differ on various
points, there is one peculiarity belonging to the whole of them—they
all unite in declaring that God has ceased to give revelation and that
He has ceased to inspire men with the spirit of prophecy. While they
are all united on this point, they are divided on other points, such,
for instance, as the doctrine of Transubstantiation, or the belief
entertained by the Catholics, that the bread and wine consecrated for
the Sacrament become the actual body and blood of Christ. I suppose
that tens of thousands of men have died on the field of battle
endeavoring to settle this question by the sword. Another point of
difference is in relation to the form of baptism, some contending that
to dip the finger into a cup of water and sprinkle an infant will
answer as well as for an adult to go down into the water and be
immersed as the Savior was. Thousands of learned men have exhausted
their ingenuity trying to determine whether a certain Greek word, from
which the word baptism is derived, means to immerse, to sprinkle or to
pour.
In consequence of these differences of opinion societies and churches
have been organized, not one of them having knowledge enough to
inquire of the Lord and get a revelation to decide the matter. And if
anyone tried to think of it and proposed such a thing he would
subject himself to the ridicule of the whole, for they say, "all these
things are done away with."
When Joseph Smith was about fourteen or fifteen years old, living in
the Western part of the State of New York, there was a revival of
religion, and the different sects in that portion of the
State—principally Presbyterians, Methodists and Baptists—preached the
necessity of belief in the Lord Jesus Christ, and repentance in order
to be saved, declaring that unless men and women did this, and
obtained what they termed, "a hope for the future," they would be
cast into a lake of fire and brimstone, and there remain forever. I
have heard men spend hours in endeavoring to explain how long this
hell would last. It was frequently illustrated in this manner,
"Suppose a bird could carry a drop of water from this planet to
another, and be gone a year on the journey, and continue this until
every drop of water on the earth was carried away, and then should
take a particle of sand and go to another planet and be gone a
thousand years, and carry one article of sand at a time until every
particle of matter of which this globe is composed was carried away,
that then this eternal punishment would have just commenced, and that
the torture and pain there inflicted were so great that no mortal
could conceive anything about it." The general effort in their
preaching was to scare men into the road to heaven by such
descriptions of eternal punishment. When eloquent men deliver such
discourses they produce, especially upon ignorant people, more or less
agitation, and when this is pretty general it is called a
revival of religion. But when the excitement subsides and the converts
have obtained what is termed "a hope," then the sects who may have
united in bringing about such results begin to scramble to secure the
converts. It was so at the time to which I have referred in western
New York. The Baptists wanted their share, and the Methodists and
Presbyterians theirs; and the scramble ended in a very unpleasant and
unchristian state of feeling.
Joseph Smith had attended these meetings, and when this result was
reached he saw clearly that something was wrong. He had read the Bible
and had found that passage in James which says, "If any of you lack
wisdom let him ask of God that giveth to all men liberally and
upbraideth not," and taking this literally, he went humbly before the
Lord and inquired of Him, and the Lord answered his prayer, and
revealed to Joseph, by the ministration of angels, the true condition
of the religious world. When the holy angel appeared, Joseph inquired
which of all these denominations was right and which he should join,
and was told they were all wrong—they had all gone astray,
transgressed the laws, changed the ordinances and broken the
everlasting covenant, and that the Lord was about to restore the
priesthood and establish His Church, which would be the only true and
living Church on the face of the whole earth.
Joseph, feeling that to make known such a vision would be to subject
himself to the ridicule of all around him, knew not what to do. But
the vision was repeated several times, and in these repetitions he was
instructed to communicate that which he had seen to his father. His
father was not a member of any church, but was a man of exemplary
life. His mother and bro. Hyrum were members of the Presbyterian
church. Joseph communicated what he had seen to his father, who
believed his testimony, and told him to observe the instructions that
had been given him.
These visits led, in a short time, to the bringing forth of the record
known as the Book of Mormon, which contained the fullness of the
Gospel as it had been preached by the Savior and his apostles to the
inhabitants of this land; also a history of the falling away of the
people who dwelt on this continent and the dealings of God with them.
A great many of us can recollect that when we read the Bible in our
young days it was like a sealed book; and we were taught, and the
sentiment had been impressed upon us, that its contents had a two or
threefold spiritual meaning, and that it required a man who had
studied divinity to explain these hidden meanings. Yet we found in the
New Testament that "no prophecy of the scripture is of any private
interpretation, but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the
Holy Ghost." When we read the Book of Mormon it was a key to unlock
the scriptures to our understandings; while perusing its pages, light
burst upon our minds, and in this way the Book of Mormon revealed to
us the light of the Gospel which before had seemed obscure.
The Gospel has connected with it certain ordinances, such for instance
as the ordinance of baptism. Who has authority to administer this
ordinance?
If we make the inquiry among the sects, the Baptists will say, "We
have." Where did you get it? "One Peter Waldo, a merchant, translated
the four gospels and he established a church." Where did he
get his authority? "Why, some say he hired a monk to translate the
gospels." Where did the monk get his priesthood and authority to
administer? "I think it must have come down through the church of Rome,
if the church of Rome had authority." When these reformers came out
from it they were cut off and denounced as apostates, and if the
priesthood they received came from the church of Rome, of course a
stream cannot rise higher than its fountain, hence if the Romish
church had the authority of the priesthood to give them she had the
power to take it away. The question therefore answers itself. If
there were any authority at all it was in the Romish church, yet these
apostates from her united in denouncing her as the mother of harlots.
It is clear enough, therefore, that they were all in darkness, and
that none of them had revelations from God but were depending upon
forms of godliness without the power for the support of their several
religions, however holy they might call them. The result of this
universal darkness and apostasy was that God had to reveal the
priesthood anew, and through the administration of holy angels he gave
authority to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery, to baptize each other
and to baptize, confirm and ordain others and to preach and administer
the Gospel to this generation. This authority was not derived from the
church of Rome or any other organization, but was given by special and
direct revelation from Heaven.
It was no sooner noised abroad that Joseph Smith was preaching the
Gospel in its purity and administering its ordinances than a howl went
up from all the world that he was an impostor, an ignorant fellow, a
man without education, and the Book of Mormon was denounced as
ungrammatical. An argument was raised that if it had been translated
by the gift and power of God it would have been strictly grammatical.
Now so far as grammar is concerned we have King James' Bible before us
which was translated two hundred and fifty years ago, by a large
number of the most learned men that could be found in Great Britain,
and it was put into the best language of that time; but since that day
the English language has undergone so many changes and improvements
that societies have been formed in various countries for the express
purpose of retranslating the Bible so as to make it in accordance
with the modern usages of our language. When the Lord reveals anything
to men He reveals it in language that accords with their own. If any
or you were to converse with an angel, and you used strictly
grammatical language he would do the same. But if you used two
negatives in a sentence the heavenly messenger would use language to
correspond with your understanding, and this very objection to the
Book of Mormon is an evidence in its favor.
It has been claimed that a Presbyterian minister, named Solomon
Spaulding, wrote the Book of Mormon; but the very language and style
of the book are abundant evidence that it never was written by a
learned man and that it never was written by a man who designed to
make a romance or novel. It is very well known to hundreds and
thousands that this statement in relation to Solomon Spaulding is
entirely false, and that no such man ever had any acquaintance with
Joseph Smith. It is also known to hundreds that the Book of Mormon was
written by Oliver Cowdery, word for word as dictated by Joseph Smith,
and that the original copy of that work was in Cowdery's handwriting.
When Joseph Smith commenced to bear testimony to the things of the
kingdom and to tell the people to repent of their sins and put away
their hypocrisy and corruption, and to be baptized for the remission
of their sins and receive the laying on of hands for the reception of
the Holy Ghost, the Holy Ghost fell on them who obeyed, and bore
testimony to them that they had received the truth. And thousands of
the Elders have testified throughout the earth that they knew this was
the work of God, for God had revealed it unto them; and they have
declared that all who would humble themselves before the Lord and obey
the principles of the Gospel, though they might subject themselves to
the jeers and scoffs of those around them, and suffer persecution at
the hands of mobs, would receive a testimony from God that this was
His work.
The Elders, in bearing this testimony, have received anything but
encouraging treatment. They have been mobbed, stoned, daubed with tar
and feathers, driven from place to place and persecuted in every way.
The pulpit and the press have teemed with abuse against them, and the
whole Christian world has appeared to be anxious to destroy the
"Mormons" as they are called. Elder Parley P. Pratt, before receiving
the Gospel, was a minister of the Reformed Baptist, or Campbellite,
Church in Ohio. This sect had a brick meetinghouse in Mentor, Geauga,
now Lake Co. The people who owned this house had prided themselves on
their great liberality, they would give everybody a chance to preach.
Bro. Pratt, wishing to preach to them went there but found the door
shut against him, and the congregation assembled outside. He preached
on the door step. Quite a number of his former Christian brethren had
gone to a neighboring grocery and qualified the inner man with
something stimulating, and having supplied themselves with eggs, and
procured a drum and fife they marched backwards and forwards in front
of the speaker, throwing their eggs at him until their supply—five
dozen—was exhausted. Elder Pratt kept on preaching and bearing
testimony of the truth of the Gospel. Among those present who seemed
to enjoy the scene was a Campbellite, a grave looking deacon, to whom
a young man, a stranger, who happened to be present said, "Is this the
way you worship God in this country?" "Oh, no Sir!" answered the
deacon, "that man is a 'Mormon.'" The stranger then remarked,
"his
talk is very reasonable." "Yes," said the old gentleman, "but he
is a
'Mormon,' and we do not intend that he shall preach here." "He appears
very cool," remarked the stranger. "Yes," said the deacon, "he
is used
to it, he has been in such scrapes before."
This circumstance illustrates the manner in which the Elders were
received when they went forth to preach the Gospel, and it required
the testimony of the Holy Spirit, a strong sense of duty and
revelation from the Almighty to stir them up to go forth under such
circumstances. Not only did this persecution extend to those who
preached the Gospel, but to all believers, for, although the Saints
were industrious, peaceable and virtuous, every kind of falsehood was
told against them, their houses were torn down, their property
destroyed and every species of injustice and cruelty was heaped upon
them.
Our labors in these valleys will prove that we are an industrious
people. When we came here we had to make the roads into the country and to bring all our supplies for 1200 or 1400 miles. We
labored in this desert country, from which the Heavens withheld rain,
and yet we had to cultivate the earth. Now, visitors exclaim, "what an
industrious people you are!" We were always so. When we settled in the
state of Missouri we made the prairie blossom like the rose. But our
enemies lied about us and published scandal concerning us, although we
were law-abiding. There was not a solitary man in the county of
Jackson, who held office, who was a "Mormon," yet there was never a
lawsuit or complaint against the Latter-day Saints up to the time the
mobs in Jackson County broke loose upon us and drove us away and
robbed us of our homes; and when the mob published their manifesto, to
which the whole of them placed their names, they declared that the
civil law gave them no hold of "this people, who profess to heal their
sick with holy oil." The Apostle James says, "if any are sick, let
them send for the Elders, who shall anoint them with oil, and the
prayer of faith shall save the sick." The Latter-day Saints believed
and practiced this, and this was urged as a reason for driving us from
our homes, tearing down our houses, tarring and feathering the bishops
and leading men, whipping the Elders, destroying their property, and
sending them forth, outcasts, into the world. This puts me in mind of
the old Quaker, who was very particular about taking life. He was very
much annoyed at a dog that came into his store, but not wishing to
kill him, he said, "I'll not kill thee, but I'll give thee a bad
name," so he turned him out, at the same time crying, "bad dog, bad
dog!" Somebody hearing this, thought the Quaker said, "mad dog," and
shot him. After they had turned us out they gave us a bad name.
These circumstances have a tendency to impress deeply upon the minds
of the Latter-day Saints a determination to know why they are such.
The God of heaven has revealed to us that this is His work. He has
implanted in the hearts of the faithful a living, burning, eternal
testimony that this is the only way of salvation, and that all things
else are comparatively worthless.
Why have we penetrated these mountains? To establish ourselves here
that we might enjoy religious liberty. We have sacrificed more for
religious liberty than any set of men in this generation and we are
here for this purpose. And in every act of our lives we should do our
best to preserve unchanged, and unalloyed the pure faith of the
everlasting Gospel which God has revealed to us for our salvation.
I bear testimony that these things are true, and that God did inspire
His servant Joseph Smith and the Elders of Israel to lay the
foundation of the only true Church upon the face of the earth, and did
inspire His servant Brigham Young to lead forth the Saints to build up
Zion in the chambers of the mountains in these last days—and this is
the path to celestial glory. Oh, but, says one, "Are you going to send
everybody who does not believe in 'Mormonism' to that burning lake you
were talking about?" No, we are not, we expect that God will deal with
every man according to his works, whether good or evil; but we testify
that no man can ever attain to the fullness of the blessings of
celestial glory without obeying the ordinances which God has revealed
to the Latter-day Saints. But there is a glory of the sun, and of the
moon and of the stars, and one star differeth from another star in
glory; so it is in the eternal worlds; in the great diversity of
glories there is a place for all in accordance with their works, knowledge and understanding. But when we have come to a
knowledge of the truth, if we fall therefrom our position is worse
than if we had never obeyed it, hence the necessity of continued zeal
on our part to fulfil the great duties required of us that we may be
prepared for exaltation in the kingdom of God, which may God grant us
in the name of Jesus. Amen.
- George A. Smith