I have had a note forwarded to me since I came here, by a party who is
a stranger to me, requesting that I would speak on our leading
doctrines. There are so many great principles developed in the eternal
truths of God that we believe in, that it is a somewhat difficult task
to attempt, in so short a time, any adequate exposition thereof, and
if I touch upon any of these principles, it must be very lightly. The
request reminds me of an anecdote which I read a short time ago. A
lady met with a gentleman who had traveled very extensively over the
world. He was a statesman, a philosopher, and quite a celebrity. He
and the lady were going to take dinner together, and some ten or
fifteen minutes before dinner was served, the lady said to him—"Mr.—,
I am very happy to have the privilege of seeing and speaking with you,
and now while they are preparing dinner, we shall have ten or fifteen
minutes, will you please tell me all you know and 'have seen in your
travels?'"
In regard to our religion, I will say that it embraces every principle
of truth and intelligence pertaining to us as moral, intellectual,
mortal and immortal beings, pertaining to this world and the world
that is to come. We are open to truth of every kind, no matter whence
it comes, where it originates, or who believes in it. Truth, when
preceded by the little word "all," comprises everything that has ever
existed or that ever will exist and be known by and among men in time
and through the endless ages of eternity; and it is the duty of all
intelligent beings who are responsible and amenable to God for their
acts, to search after truth, and to permit it to influence them and
their acts and general course in life, independent of all bias or
preconceived notions, however specious and plausible they may be.
We, as Latter-day Saints, believe, first, in the Gospel, and that is a
great deal to say, for the Gospel embraces principles that dive
deeper, spread wider, and extend further than anything else that we
can conceive. The Gospel teaches us in regard to the being and
attributes of God; it also teaches us our relationship to that God and
the various responsibilities we are under to him as his offspring; it
teaches us the various duties and responsibilities that we are under
to our families and friends, to the community, to the living
and the dead; it unfolds to us principles pertaining to futurity; in
fact, according to the saying of one of the old disciples, it "brings
life and immortality to light," brings us into relationship with God,
and prepares us for an exaltation in the eternal world. There is
something grand, profound and intellectual associated with the
principles of the Gospel as it stands connected with the salvation and
exaltation of man. A man in search of truth has no peculiar system to
sustain, no peculiar dogma to defend or theory to uphold; he embraces
all truth, and that truth, like the sun in the firmament, shines forth
and spreads its effulgent rays over all creation, and if men will
divest themselves of bias and prejudice, and prayerfully and
conscientiously search after truth, they will find it wherever they
turn their attention. But in regard to the leading principles of the
Gospel, there are some distinctive features connected therewith,
which, like all the laws of nature and of nature's God, require
implicit obedience and compliance therewith in order to insure a
realization of the results which flow therefrom. The earth on which we
live, the matter of which it is composed, the elements with which we
are surrounded, as well as the planetary system, have certain
inscrutable, eternal, unchangeable laws connected with them that
cannot be departed from.
We talk sometimes about the great discoveries men have made connected
with electricity, steam, light and its properties, and a variety of
other principles that exist in nature; all those principles are
governed by certain specific laws, which are immutable and
unchangeable; and all of the great discoveries which men have made,
have only developed certain properties that have always existed. They
have not created anything, and their discoveries are nothing
particularly worth boasting of. A child, in its infancy, possesses
certain reasoning faculties, but they are only developed by a long
course of training and experience. It possesses arms, legs, feet, a
head and body, eyes, ears, nose, &c., but it is unconscious of this;
by and by, when its reasoning faculties begin to be developed, it
discovers that it has hands. It had them before, but it did not know
it. It is a good deal so with us and the generations which have
preceded us—we live, and have lived in a world in which from the
beginning there have existed principles, organisms and systems—all
that are now known or that ever will be discovered, but we have been
ignorant of them, and only become aware of their existence by what is
called the progress of science and the discoveries of scientific and
ingenious men. And as earthly things are governed and controlled by
unchanging laws, so it is with heavenly things. In optics certain
lenses are needed for the reception and refraction of light; in
chemistry a certain combination of elements is necessary to produce
magnetism or electricity, and you may have these elements ever so
perfect, and without the wire you cannot use them to convey
intelligence; and you may have the wire without the necessary
combination of chemical elements, and the result is the same. I have a
watch; if I wind it up it will tell the time, if I neglect to do that
it will stop. You have your steam engine, if you shut up the valve you
turn off the steam, and it ceases to move. You have a water wheel
possessing certain power, but turn off the water from that wheel and
its power ceases. It is just so in regard to all the operations of
nature—they are governed by certain laws which are understood by those who study them.
There are laws pertaining to eternal things—the things of God—that are
just as immutable and unchangeable as those of which I have been
speaking, and to realize the results they are calculated to produce,
you must submit to and obey them. God has distinctly told us in his
revelations that "no man knows the things of God but by the Spirit of
God, even as no man knows the things of man but by the spirit of man
that is within him," then how can men obtain a knowledge of the things
of God except they first take the course which he has pointed out?
They cannot do it. If the laws which govern terrestrial things are
immutable, the laws which govern celestial things are certainly not
less so, and this brings me to the consideration of some of the first
principles of the Gospel which we as a people believe in.
We believe that it is necessary for man to be placed in communication
with God; that he should have revelation from Him, and that unless he
is placed under the influence of the inspiration of the Holy Spirit,
he can know nothing about the things of God. I do not care how learned
a man may be, or how extensively he may have traveled; I do not care
what his talent, intellect or genius may be, at what college he may
have studied, how comprehensive his views or what his judgment may be
on other matters, he cannot understand certain things without the
Spirit of God, and that necessarily introduces the principle I before
referred to—the necessity of revelation. Not revelation in former
times, but present and immediate revelation, which shall lead and
guide those who possess it in all the paths of life here, and to
eternal life hereafter. A good many people, and those professing
Christians, will sneer a good deal at the idea of present revelation.
Whoever heard of true religion without communication with God? To me
the thing is the most absurd that the human mind could conceive of. I
do not wonder, when the people generally reject the principle of
present revelation, that skepticism and infidelity prevail to such an
alarming extent. I do not wonder that so many men treat religion with
contempt, and regard it as something not worth the attention of
intelligent beings, for without revelation religion is a mockery and a
farce. If I cannot have a religion that will lead me to God, and
place me en rapport with him, and unfold to my mind the principles of
immortality and eternal life, I want nothing to do with it.
The principle of present revelation, then, is the very foundation of
our religion. The Christian world reject that, and say the Bible is
all-sufficient. I can remember in my younger days searching its
contents very diligently. It is a glorious book to study, and I
earnestly recommend it to the attention of our young men and young
women, and of our old men and old women. "Search the Scriptures," was
the command of Jesus, "for in them ye think ye have eternal life, and
they are they that testify of me." I would not only search the
Scriptures that we now have, but I would search also every revelation
that God has given, does give, or will give for the guidance and
direction of his people, and then I would reverence the Giver, and
those also whom he makes use of as his honored instruments to
promulgate and make known those principles; and I would seek to be
governed by the principles that are contained in that sacred word.
Now then let me look back a little, and examine things as they have
existed. What kind of a Gospel was it that Jesus introduced? We are
told that it was the Gospel; but what sort of an organization did his
Church have? Apostles, Prophets, Pastors, Teachers and
Evangelists—inspired men—men who had the ministering of angels, the
spirit of prophecy, and the principle of revelation; men who had the
heavens opened to them, so that they could contemplate the purposes of
God as they should roll along throughout every subsequent period of
time until the winding up scene. Whence did they obtain this
knowledge? They obtained it through obedience to the Gospel of Jesus
Christ, and hence it is very properly said that "life and immortality
are brought to light by the Gospel."
Well, who were the ancient Apostles? They were men chosen and selected
by Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Who were these Prophets? Men who were
in possession of the spirit of prophecy; and you show me a man who is
called and inspired of God to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and I
will show you a Prophet, for we are told that "the testimony of Jesus
is the spirit of prophecy;" and if a man has not the spirit of
prophecy and revelation he is not the man to teach the things of God,
for that is the principle by which all God's chosen and authorized
ministers in every age have been inspired, and by which they have
taught the things of eternal life to the children of men.
How was it with Jesus? He said that "he came not to do his own will;
but the will of the father who sent him;" and said he—"The words that
I speak I speak not of myself; but the Father which dwelleth in me, he
doeth the work." When the disciples went forth to preach the Gospel,
Jesus told them to go without purse and scrip, trusting in him; and he
told them that when they were brought before kings, rulers and
governors, they were not to think beforehand what they should say, for
it should be given to them in the selfsame hour that they needed it.
Paul said that the Gospel that he preached "he received not of man,
neither by man;" but he received it of God, and the words that he
spake were not his own, for he told the people definitely and
distinctly that their words came to them "not in word only, but in
power and in the demonstration of the Spirit of God, and with much
assurance." They were under the inspiration of the Almighty.
And where did we get our Bible from? "No Scripture is of any private
interpretation," we are told, "but holy men of old spake as they were
moved upon by the Holy Ghost," and while under that inspiration they
uttered the word of God, and that word became the Scripture of truth,
as we here find it. It was given by dreams, visions and revelations,
and that which was thus communicated to man was written, and has
become what we call the Bible.
When the inspired revelations which we call the Gospel were given to
men there were Apostles and Prophets, pastors, teachers and
evangelists; and how did Jesus tell his disciples to teach his Gospel?
He told them to "go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every
creature," the promise being that "he that believed and was baptized
should be saved." And it was also said that certain signs should
follow them that believed: they should cast out devils in the name of
Jesus, "they should lay hands on the sick and they should
recover," &c., showing that there was a living, vital, energetic power
associated with the Gospel that was enunciated by Jesus Christ and
taught by his Apostles. It was not connected alone with the Apostles,
as some suppose. It does not read "these signs shall follow the
Apostles who believe, or the disciples who believe," but the signs
would follow them that believe wherever the Gospel was preached in all
the world. The Gospel and its blessings were not restricted either to
time, person or place; but were to be enjoyed in all the world by all
who believed.
Paul tells us that Apostles, Prophets, evangelists, pastors, and
teachers were placed in the Church, for what? For the establishing of
Christianity? No, it does not read in that way. For the benefit of the
Apostles and those immediately surrounding them? No. To convince the
pagan Gentiles and unbelieving Jews? No, he tells us they were placed
in the Church "for the perfecting of the Saints," that they who
believed in and obeyed the Gospel might go on from strength to
strength and be enabled to endure faithful to the end. It was for the
perfecting of such persons, that, as immortal beings, they might
increase in light, intelligence and truth, and be prepared to dwell
with the Gods and the sanctified hosts in the eternal worlds.
These officers were for the perfecting of the Saints then; were they
for anything else? Yes, "for the work of the ministry and for the
edifying of the body of Christ." Why? "That they should be no more
children, tossed about by divers winds of doctrine and the craft of
cunning men whereby they lie in wait to deceive;" but that they might
"be built on the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets, Jesus Christ
himself being the chief corner stone:" that they might have a
knowledge of the truth of the Gospel for themselves, glowing in
characters of living fire written in their hearts, which no man,
influence or power could obliterate; but that it might dwell there
like a fire upon the altar eternally burning and from thence spread
its radiant effulgence glowing, increasing and spreading. This is the
kind of Gospel the ancients preached and believed in, and which we,
the Latter-day Saints, preach and believe in.
But where is the necessity of a new revelation, some may inquire, to
restore this Gospel, seeing that it is the same Gospel that is
recorded in the Scriptures? The Catholics would tell us there is no
need of it, for they obtained it from God in ancient times, and have
retained it, and it has been handed down in regular succession to the
present day. I am not going to investigate all these theories today,
there would not be time, suffice it to say that they are mere
fallacies, neither Catholics, Greeks, or Protestants have retained the
Gospel and the power to administer it. When we come to the Protestant
world there is a great deal of credit due to them for the course they
have taken. But has the Gospel been continued among them in its purity
from the time that Jesus lived on the earth? Is there any man who has
the hardihood to say so? I do not think you can find one. Whence
originated these notions, opinions, theories, principles and dogmas
that exist among men in the religious world at the present day? Did
they originate with God? We are told that "he is not the author of
confusion, but of order." Did he inspire men with all these various
dogmas and theories? Certainly not. Who did; where did they
come from? Why, men, in various ages, many of them very good men, have
tried to stop the flood of evil, false doctrine, error and crime, and
in doing so, unaided by inspiration, they have made very great
blunders. When the pope, through the instrumentality of Loyola, was
selling indulgences in a shameful and disgraceful manner, Martin
Luther and other reformers rose up and denounced it as an evil, and
they were right in that, for it was an evil, and a crime and an
outrage upon society, for it was bartering that for money which God
never intended or authorized. Inquires one—"Did not Jesus give to his
disciples 'the keys of the kingdom of heaven,' and say that 'Whose
soever sins they remit should be remitted, and whose soever sins
they retain should be retained?'" "Yes." "Then why did not others
have that power?" They did, if they obtained it legitimately; but not
in that kind of a way. Peter never possessed power to sell forgiveness
of sins. In the days of the Apostles there was a certain man who saw
the power of God made manifest through their administrations, and he
offered them money to confer the same power upon him, but he was told
that, inasmuch as he had thought the gift of God could be purchased
with money, his money should perish with him. "But did not Peter and
the other disciples possess the power to forgive sins?" Yes. How did
they exercise it? The Scriptures are very plain on that point. Read
the account of Peter, on the day of Pentecost, addressing thousands of
people who were assembled at Jerusalem on that occasion. They cried
out to Peter and the rest of the Apostles—"Men and brethren, what
shall we do to be saved? We believe your statement, we believe we are
sinners, we believe we have consented to the death of the Son of God,
now what shall we do?" Did he say—"I will forgive you your sins?" No,
no such thing. Did he have the power? Yes. How did he exercise it?
Said he—"Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of
Jesus Christ, for the remission of your sins, and you shall receive
the Holy Ghost," and they took them and led them down into the water,
and baptized them, and their sins were forgiven. That is the way the
Apostles forgave sins, it was not by selling indulgences.
Martin Luther introduced some good principles, but did he bring back
the Gospel Jesus brought? No, verily no. Did Melancthon? No. Zwingler?
No. John Knox? No. Did Calvin? No, none of them brought back the
Gospel of Jesus. They went about teaching good principles of morality,
and the Gospel as far as they knew it. But God did not impart to them
the light of revelation which the ancient Saints enjoyed, and as each
of those reformers had his peculiar views and ideas in regard to the
Gospel, they were the originators of the multitudes of sects and
parties now existing in the Christian world. Luther promulgated his
views very extensively in Germany, Calvin, who differed from him in
regard to the doctrine of free will, and was a believer in the
doctrine of fate, election or reprobation, promulgated his views
extensively, and so with others. If they had had the light of
revelation this variation would not have existed, the Spirit of God
would have led them into all truth and brought them to the unity of
the faith, and they would have seen eye to eye, as the Scriptures say
men will do "When God brings again Zion, and with their voice
together will they sing."
We will refer to some of these seceding churches, but first for a
moment will notice the Greek church. This church seceded from the
Latin church, or the Latin from the Greek. I do not care which way you
take it. There was a schism between these two bodies, and each pursued
its own peculiar course, and that course has been very erratic,
foolish and far from the principles of truth. Then there is the
Episcopal Church. How did it originate? Through Henry the Eighth. How
was it that he started a church? History informs us that it was simply
on this ground—he was desirous of having a divorce from his wife and
the Pope would not grant it. Before this Henry had written a book or
pamphlet in defense of popery and in opposition to the Reformation,
for which the Pope styled him "Defender of the Faith;" but when the
Pope would not consent to grant the English king this divorce he
became angry, and determined to start a church of his own; and
fortunately or unfortunately he had two pliant tools, ecclesiastics in
the Catholic church, and to gratify their sovereign they lent
themselves to him to assist in carrying out his plan, and together
they started the Church of England, or the Episcopal Church as it is
now called. When Henry had got a priesthood of his own he got the
divorce he wanted, and went on his way rejoicing I suppose, at least
in his way.
We will now come to some others among the reformers. There was John
Knox, in Scotland a very zealous and very intolerant man, nothing very
pleasant about him, some traits of his character I never admired, and
I have read some things in his works that are not very pleasant,
gentle or amiable; but he was no doubt a very sincere and zealous
Christian in his way, and sought to do good. Then there was Calvin,
another tolerably sincere man in my opinion, and judging from what
history tells about him, he was desirous of stemming the torrent of
evil and advancing good principles as far as he knew how. But who
among them brought back the Gospel which Jesus taught? Not one.
Leaving Calvin, Knox, Luther and the early reformers we come down to
later times, and we find that in the Church of England there were some
things which the conscientious portion of its members could not
sustain, and a reformation was inaugurated by John and Charles Wesley,
and a Mr. Fletcher. They taught many good principles; but they did not
bring back the Gospel of Jesus Christ, although they were very zealous
and very desirous of doing good, and I think there was something very
creditable in their efforts to stem the current of evil and to resist
and unmask the corruption that was creeping in under the name of
religion and to unmask the hypocrisy that existed; but they did not
restore the Gospel, and one of them, in singing said he looked forward
to and hoped the time would come when—
"From chosen Abraham's seed
The new Apostles choose
O'er isles and continents to spread
The dead-reviving news."
They did not have it, however he knew that, and although he was
desirous of having such a state of things restored, he was not able to
introduce it, for God had not called upon him to perform that work.
There have been various other isms besides those I have mentioned, in
some instances arising more from personal pique, prejudice and contradictions and personal interests of men than for the glory of God
and for the good of mankind, and I am afraid their originators cared
more about preaching the Gospel according to certain men, rather than
the Gospel according to Jesus Christ. In such a state of things what
is to be done? We are living in a world in which the spirits who have
dwelt in the bosom of God are coming into and leaving this state of
existence at the rate of about a thousand millions in every
thirty-three years; and here are thousands of so-called ministers of
religion with an inefficient Gospel, that God never ordained, trying
to ameliorate the condition of mankind, and sending what they call the
Gospel to the heathen, and they are continually calling for the
pecuniary aid of their fellow Christians to assist them in this
enterprise. But if they have not the truth themselves how can they
impart it to others? How can blind leaders lead people in the way of
life and salvation? Was it not necessary, in view of the ignorance and
blindness of the people everywhere, in regard to the principles of
salvation, that something should be done to ameliorate the condition
of a fallen world? The Christian world, by their unbelief, have made
the heavens as brass, and wherever they go to declare what they call
the Gospel they make confusion worse confounded; but who shall debar
God from taking care of his own creation, and saving his creatures?
Yet this is the position that many men have taken. But notwithstanding
the unbelief so prevalent throughout Christen dom, God restored his
ancient Gospel to Joseph Smith, giving him revelation, opening the
heavens to him, and making him acquainted with the plan of salvation
and exaltation of the children of men. I was well acquainted with him,
and have carefully examined the revelations given through him, and
notwithstanding all the aspersions that have been cast upon him, I
believe that, with the exception of Jesus Christ, there never was a
greater Prophet upon this wide earth than he; and to the revelations
he made known are we indebted for the glorious principles that God has
communicated to the world in these last days. We were as much in the
dark as other people were about the principles of salvation, and the
relationship we hold to God and each other, until these things were
made known to us by Joseph Smith. A great deal is said at the present
time about the relation of husband and wife; but where is there a man
outside of this Church who understands anything about this
relationship, as well as that of parents to children? There is not
one, and the Latter-day Saints knew nothing about it until it was
revealed by Joseph Smith, through the Gospel. It is the Gospel that
teaches a woman that she has a claim upon a man, and a man that he has
a claim upon a woman in the resurrection; it is the Gospel that
teaches them that, when they rise from the tombs in the resurrection,
they will again clasp hands, be reunited, and again participate in
that glory for which God designed them before the world was.
[To Be Continued On Page 1, Vol. 17.]