THE VITALITY OF MORMONISM by James E. Talmage Copyright (c) 1919, By James E. Talmage Table of Contents PREFACE The message of "Mormonism" is of summoning interest in the world today. People of serious mind are not satisfied with the unsupported generalization that it is naught but the outgrowth of delusion and error. Fungi of fallacy, particularly in the field of modern religious systems, are of no such sturdy growth and wholesome fruitage as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has progressively manifested. "Mormonism," mis-named though it be, stands for the principles of eternal truth as enunciated by our Lord Jesus Christ, and by His duly commissioned Apostles and Prophets. The basis of "Mormonism" is fairly summarized in the following outline of facts and premises: 1. The eternal existence of a living personal God; and the preexistence and eternal duration of mankind as His literal offspring. 2. The placing of man upon the earth as an embodied spirit to undergo the experiences of an intermediate probation. 3. The transgression and fall of the first parents of the race, by which man became mortal, or in other words was doomed to suffer a separation of spirit and body through death. 4. The absolute need of a Redeemer, empowered to overcome death and thereby provide for a reunion of the spirits and bodies of mankind through a material resurrection from death to immortality. 5. The providing of a definite plan of salvation, by obedience to which man may obtain remission of his sins, and be enabled to advance by effort and righteous achievement throughout eternity. 6. The establishment of the Church of Jesus Christ in the "meridian of time," by the personal ministry and atoning death of the foreordained Redeemer and Savior of mankind, and the proclamation of His saving Gospel through the ministry of the Holy Priesthood during the apostolic period and for a season thereafter. 7. The general "falling away" from the Gospel of Jesus Christ, by which the world degenerated into a state of apostasy, and the Holy Priesthood ceased to be operative in the organization of sects and churches designed and effected by the authority of man. 8. The restoration of the Gospel in the current age, and the reestablishment of the Church of Jesus Christ by the bestowal of the Holy Priesthood through Divine revelation. 9. The appointed mission of the restored Church of Jesus Christ to preach the Gospel and administer in the ordinances thereof amongst all nations, in preparation for the near advent of our Savior Jesus Christ, who shall reign on earth as Lord and King. The short essays following have been published at weekly intervals through two years; they number therefore one hundred and four. Concise rather than exhaustive treatment has been attempted. No apology is offered for reiteration of quotations or comment; repetition seemed preferable to the introduction of cross references. JAMES E. TALMAGE Salt Lake City, Utah, February 3, 1919. CONTENTS Preface 1. THE MUSTARD SEED AND THE TREE--Development, not Growth Alone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 2. WHAT THE "MORMONS" BELIEVE--Their Articles of Faith . . 18 3. WHAT'S IN A NAME?--Is "Mormonism" Misunderstood because of Its Unpopular Title? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 4. "MORMONISM"--A Distinctive Religious System . . . . . . 26 5. DIRECT AND SURE--The Church Bold yet Tolerant . . . . . 30 6. WHEAT AND WEEDS--Successive Apostasies from the Gospel. 33 7. A NEW DISPENSATION--Authority by Restoration not Through Succession. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 8. DIVINE COMMAND AND HUMAN AGENCY--The Church a Democracy 39 9. THE HOLY TRINITY--Unity of the Godhead. . . . . . . . . 42 10. ORIGINAL SIN--Are All to Suffer from it Eternally? . . . 45 11. THE COOPERATIVE PLAN OF SALVATION--Christ Alone Cannot Save You . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 12. THE NEED OF A REDEEMER--Man Cannot Exalt Himself . . . . 51 13. CHRIST'S UNIQUE STATUS--As Redeemer and Savior of the World. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 14. PHILOSOPHY OF THE ATONEMENT--Its Two-fold Effect . . . . 58 15. HOW DOES CHRIST SAVE?--His Plan Combines Justice and Mercy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 16. HEAVEN AND HELL--Graded Conditions in the Hereafter. . . 65 17. IN THE REALM OF THE DEAD--Paradise--What of the Spirits in Prison?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68 18. WHY ARE THEY BAPTIZED FOR THE DEAD?--Elijah the prophet on the American Continent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 19. OBEDIENCE IS HEAVEN'S FIRST LAW--Conditions of Citizenship in the Kingdom of God . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75 20. THE DEVILS BELIEVE AND TREMBLE--Faith not Mere Belief . . 79 21. THE VOICE OF JOHN THE BAPTIST AGAIN HEARD--Repent Ye, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at Hand! . . . . . . . . . 82 22. ARISE AND WASH AWAY THY SINS--The Only Way. . . . . . . . 86 23. ARE BABES TO BE DAMNED?--A Horrible Misconception . . . . 89 24. THE WATERY GRAVE--And the New Birth . . . . . . . . . . . 93 25. THE BAPTISM OF FIRE--Power of the Spirit. . . . . . . . . 96 26. IN THE NAME OF GOD, AMEN!--Authority of the Holy Priesthood Again Operative on Earth . . . . . . . . . . 99 27. FOR TIME OR FOR ETERNITY--Human Institutions and Divine Authority. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .103 28. APOSTLES AND PROPHETS NECESSARY--The Primitive Church and the Church of Latter Days . . . . . . . . . . . . .105 29. WHEN DARKNESS COVERED THE EARTH--The Long Night of Apostasy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .109 30. THE MORNING BREAKS, THE SHADOWS FLEE--Light of the Gospel Again Shines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .114 31. THE BEGINNING OF THE END--Ushering in of the Last Dispensation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .117 32. A GOD OF MIRACLES--Wonders Wrought by Devils. . . . . . .120 33. IS THE BIBLE SUFFICIENT?--Scriptures of Many Peoples. . .124 34. A MESSENGER--From the Presence of God . . . . . . . . . .128 35. SCRIPTURES OF THE AMERICAN CONTINENT--The Book of Mormon. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .132 36. BY THE MOUTH OF WITNESSES--Shall the Truth be Established . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .137 37. VOICES OF THE DEAD--A Testimony from the Dust . . . . . .140 38. A NEW WITNESS OF THE CHRIST--An Independent Scripture . .144 39. WHEN CHRIST STOOD ON AMERICAN SOIL--His Church Established Among the Ancient Americans . . . . . . . .147 40. EAST AND WEST IN ONE ACCLAIM--That Jesus is the Christ. .151 41. SHEEP OF ANOTHER FOLD--Shepherds and Sheep-herders. . . .154 42. FROM GOD TO MAN--Divine Communication in the Current Age . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .157 43. THE TRAGEDY OF ISRAEL--A Nation Without a Country . . . .161 44. THE GATHERING OF THE TRIBES--Judah and Israel to Come into Their Own. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .165 45. AMERICA THE LAND OF ZION--The Place of the New Jerusalem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .169 46. THE COMING OF THE LORD--The Consummation of the Ages. . .173 47. THE FEDERATION OF THE WORLD--A Thousand Years of Peace. .176 48. THY KINGDOM COME!--So Pray We Yet . . . . . . . . . . . .179 49. FREEDOM TO WORSHIP GOD--Man's Divine Birthright . . . . .182 50. THE LAW OF THE LAND--Should We Submit to It . . . . . . .186 51. CHURCH AND STATE--Independent but Mutually Helpful. . . .189 52. RELIGION OF DAILY LIFE--A Practical Test. . . . . . . . .193 53. AMERICA THE CRADLE OF LIBERTY--No King to Rule in the Land. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .196 54. DEMOCRACY OF AMERICAN ORIGIN--The Founding of an Ancient Republic. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .199 55. PERPETUITY OF AMERICAN NATION--Assured by Prophecy. . . .202 56. LAW OF THE TITHE--The Lord's Revenue System . . . . . . .206 57. THE UNITED ORDER--No Longer Mine and Thine, but the Lord's and Ours . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .209 58. THE WORD OF WISDOM--Sanctity of the Body. . . . . . . . .212 59. UNCHASTITY THE DOMINANT EVIL--Infamy of a Double Standard of Virtue. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .217 60. NOT GOOD FOR MAN TO BE ALONE--Companionship of the Sexes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .220 61. TILL DEATH DOES YOU PART--Is there no Hope Beyond?. . . .223 62. THEY NEITHER MARRY--Nor Give in Marriage. . . . . . . . .227 63. CELESTIAL MARRIAGE--Eternal Relationship of the Sexes . .230 64. THERE WAS WAR IN HEAVEN--Primeval Conflict over Satanic Autocracy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .233 65. WE LIVED BEFORE WE WERE BORN--Our Primeval Childhood. . .236 66. MAN IS ETERNAL--Successive Stages of Existence. . . . . .239 67. IN THE LINEAGE OF DEITY--Man's Divine Pedigree. . . . . .242 68. UNENDING ADVANCEMENT--Infinite Possibilities of Man's Estate. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .245 69. THE LIVING AND THE DEAD--Both to Hear the Gospel. . . . .248 70. GOD OF THE LIVING--All Live unto Him. . . . . . . . . . .251 71. BEYOND THE GRAVE--Repentance Possible even There. . . . .254 72. OPPORTUNITY HERE AND HEREAFTER--Free Agency and its Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .257 73. THE SPIRIT WORLD--Paradise and Hades. . . . . . . . . . .260 74. HOW LONG SHALL HELL LAST?--The Duration of Punishment . .263 75. SALVATION AND EXALTATION--Advancement Worlds Without End . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .266 76. DEITY AS EXALTED HUMANITY--Man is a God in Embryo . . . .269 77. BE YE PERFECT--Is It Possible . . . . . . . . . . . . . .273 78. THE GLORY OF GOD IS INTELLIGENCE--Knowledge is Power in Heaven as on Earth. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .276 79. WHEN IGNORANCE IS SIN--Opportunity Entails Accountability. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .279 80. KNOWING AND DOING--Knowledge May Help to Condemn or Save . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .282 81. WILL MANY OR FEW BE SAVED?--Our Place Beyond the Grave. .285 82. THE GRAVES SHALL BE OPENED--And the Dead Shall Live . . .288 83. RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD--When Shall it be? . . . . . . .292 84. REACHING AFTER THE DEAD--"Lest We Forget" . . . . . . . .295 85. THE HOUSE OF THE LORD--Why do the Latter-day Saints Build Temples?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .298 86. THE SECOND DEATH--Spiritual Banishment Like unto the First . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .301 87. ANTIQUITY OF THE GOSPEL--As Old as Adam . . . . . . . . .304 88. THE ORIGIN OF SACRIFICE--Coeval with the Race . . . . . .308 89. SIMPLICITY OF THE GOSPEL--None Need Err Therein . . . . .311 90. THE WILL OF GOD--Though Opposed, Yet Eventually Supreme . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .314 91. GOD'S FOREKNOWLEDGE--Not a Determining Cause. . . . . . .317 92. ARE MEN CREATED EQUAL?--Individualism is Eternal. . . . .320 93. ETHICS AND RELIGION--A Distinction with a Difference. . .324 94. RELIGION ACTIVE AND PASSIVE--Effort Essential to Salvation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .327 95. REMEMBER THE SABBATH DAY--A Law unto Man from the Beginning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .330 96. THE FOOLISHNESS OF GOD--And the Wisdom of Men . . . . . .333 97. FREEDOM THROUGH OBEDIENCE--Release from Autocracy of Sin. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .336 98. HE WENT AND WASHED--And Came Seeing . . . . . . . . . . .339 99. THE ROD OF IRON--A Dependable Support . . . . . . . . . .343 100. LIAR AND MURDERER--From the Beginning. . . . . . . . . .346 101. ON THE DEVIL'S GROUND--Prisoners to Satan. . . . . . . .349 102. WHAT DOTH IT PROFIT A MAN?--Worldly Gain--Eternal Loss . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .352 103. THE GARDEN OF GOD--And the Weeds of Human Culture. . . .355 104. THE LAST DISPENSATION--Today is the Sum of all the Yesterdays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .358 THE VITALITY OF MORMONISM - 1 - THE MUSTARD SEED AND THE TREE Development, Not Growth Alone Why does "Mormonism" persist? The question is perennial, while the fact implied therein commands increasing interest and concern. Determined attempts were made to stifle the system at its birth, to destroy the mustard seed at the planting; and, paradoxically, in proportion as the actuality of its survival has become generally evident, the assumed certainty of its imminent decline has been the more confidently proclaimed. The fall of the spreading tree, whose branches afford unfailing food and shelter, has been predicted time and again, but never realized. On the sixth day of April, 1830, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was organized as a body corporate at Fayette in the State of New York, with a membership of six persons. True, at that time a few times six had associated themselves more or less closely with the new religious movement; but, as the laws of the State specified six as the minimum required to form a religious corporation, only that number took part in the legal procedure. And they, save one, were relatively obscure. The name of Joseph Smith had already been heard beyond his home district. He was at the time a subject of widening notoriety if not of enviable fame. The Book of Mormon, purporting to be a record of the aboriginal peoples of the Western Continent, had already been published. In reference to the title page of this work the appellation "Mormons" came to be fastened upon members of the Church. Such a beginning as that of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints would seem to afford little ground of either hope or fear as to future developments. What was there to cause hostile concern over the voluntary association of six men and a few of their friends in an organization of openly expressed purpose, and that, the peaceful promulgation of what they verily believed to be the uplifting religion of life, the Gospel of Jesus Christ? Whatever may be the answer to the query, the fact that the Church met opposition, which for a long period was increasingly severe, is abundantly attested by history.* (see the author's "Story and Philosophy of `Mormonism'," 136 pp., The Deseret News, Salt Lake City, Utah.) Today the "Mormon" Church is known, by name at least, throughout the civilized world, as well as among most of the semi-cultured peoples in the remoter parts of the earth and on the islands of the sea. The six have increased to over half a million adherents. The growth of the organization is apparent to even the poorly informed. But the Church has not only grown; it has developed. Between growth and development there is an essential difference; and not a few of the grave mistakes of men, even in every-day affairs--in business, in politics, in statesmanship--are traceable to our confusing and confounding the two. Growth alone is the result of accretion, the accumulation of material, the amassing of stuff. Development involves an extension of function, a gradation of efficiency, a passing from immaturity to maturity, from the seed to the fruiting tree. Growth produces big things, and not only things of this sort but men. Between bigness and greatness, however, there is a distinction of kind. Growth is a measure of bulk, of quantity; it is specified as "so many" or "so much"; development is a gradation of quality; its terms are "so good" or "so bad." Our nation boasts a constantly increasing host of big men; the great men of the country may be more easily counted. And as with men so with institutions. Dead things may grow, as witness the tiny salt crystal in its mother-brine--at first a microscopic cube, then a huge hexahedron limited only by the size of the container or other external conditions. Development, however, in the characteristic of life, to which mere growth is essentially secondary and subordinate. The vital character of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has been evident from the first. "Mormonism" lives because it is healthy, normal and undeformed. In general, a healthy organism is assured of life, barring destruction from external violence or deprivation of physical necessities; whereas one that is abnormal and sickly is doomed to decline. Opposition to the Church, the pitiless maltreatment to which its people have been subjected, particularly in the earlier decades of its history, comprising mobbings, drivings, spoliation, scourgings, and assassination, have operated to strengthen the Church, body and soul. True, the heat of persecution has scorched and withered a few of the sickly plants, such as had little depth of sincerity; but the general effect has been to promote a fuller growth, and to make richer and more fertile the Garden of the Lord. The Church has never experienced a distinctive period of reduced membership. Always the present has been the time of its highest achievement. In spite of persecution, some of which sprang from misplaced sincerity and zeal while much was born of ignorance and fanaticism, the strength of the institution, measured in terms of loyalty, devotion and unswerving adherence to the principles of the restored Gospel, has steadily increased. It is a notable fact that its members are imbued with the testimony of certitude as to the genuineness of the Gospel they have espoused and the perpetuity of the Church. This has been a distinguishing feature from the beginning. Apostasy from the organization is so rare as to be negligible. Excommunicants, who are deprived of their membership through failure to live up to the high standard of morality and duty required by the revealed law of the Church, while not numerous exceed by many fold those who voluntarily withdraw and affiliate with other religious bodies. "Mormonism" is definite and incisive in its claims. It speaks to the world in no uncertain tone. Its voice is virile; its activities are strong. It presents an unbroken front and is unafraid. Its attitude is not hostile, though strongly aggressive. Its methods are those of reason and persuasion, coupled with a fearless affirmation of testimony as to the surpassing importance of its message, which message it labors to convey to every nation, kindred, tongue and people. It is not too much to affirm that the leaven of "Mormonism" is leavening the world and its theology. Every studious reader of recent commentaries on the Holy Scriptures, and of theological treatises in general, is aware of a surprising progressiveness in modern views of things spiritual, amounting in many instances to an abandonment of what were once regarded as the fundamentals of orthodoxy. In the new theology "Mormonism" has pioneered the way. In its early days the Church received the word of the Lord avouching the perpetuity of the organization. While no individual was promised that he should not fall away, and though the forfeiture of the Holy Spirit's companionship was specified as the sure and incalculable loss to all who wilfully persisted in sin, the blessed assurance was given that the Church of Jesus Christ was established for the last time, never to be destroyed, nor again driven from the earth through apostasy. Men may come and men may go, but the Church shall go on forever. There has never been revision nor amendment in the fundamental law of the Church, and the only changes are those natural to development, expansion and adaptation to new conditions. The world is full of sects and churches, and there is scarcely one that has not a counterpart in a revised or reformed or reorganized sect. But the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saint is no sect; it is an original creation, established upon the earth in this age as a restoration. There will never be a reformed or reorganized variant of this, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The faith of the people is no whit weakened because of their fewness. This very condition was foretold. Nearly six centuries before the Savior's birth, a Hebrew prophet on the Western Continent predicted the establishment of this Church in the last days, and testified of it, as he had seen in vision, that its members would be found in all parts of the earth, but that their numbers would be relatively small. See Book of Mormon, 1 Nephi 14. "Strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few, there be that find it." (Matt. 7:14, also Book of Mormon, 3 Nephi 14:14.) The doors of the Church are open to all, rich and poor, learned and unlearned; and the pleading invitation to enter and become partakers of the blessings that pertain both to mortality and to the eternities beyond is freely extended--to you and yours and to everybody, near and afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call. - 2 - WHAT THE "MORMONS" BELIEVE Their Articles of Faith WHILE it may be impossible for any religious body to set forth in a brief statement all the distinguishing features of its doctrines and practise, it has become usual for churches to embody the fundamentals of their belief in condensed form as creeds. When asked for a concise presentation of the principal doctrines accepted by his people, Joseph Smith, through whose instrumentality the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was established, responded with the Articles of Faith presented below. This was in the year 1841. From the time of their first promulgation The Articles have been in force as an authorized statement of belief; and they were early adopted as such by the Church in general conference assembled. The Articles of Faith of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints 1. We believe in God, the Eternal Father, and in His Son Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost. 2. We believe that men will be punished for their own sins, and not for Adam's transgression. 3. We believe that through the Atonement of Christ, all mankind may be saved, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel. 4. We believe that the first principles and ordinances of the Gospel are:--(1) Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; (2) Repentance; (3) Baptism by immersion for the remission of sins; (4) Laying on of hands for the Gift of the Holy Ghost. 5. We believe that a man must be called of God, by prophecy, and by the laying on of hands, by those who are in authority, to preach the Gospel and administer in the ordinances thereof. 6. We believe in the same organization that existed in the Primitive Church, viz.: apostles, prophets, pastors, teachers, evangelists, etc. 7. We believe in the gift of tongues, prophecy, revelation, visions, healing, interpretation of tongues, etc. 8. We believe the Bible to be the word of God, as far as it is translated correctly; we also believe the Book of Mormon to be the word of God. 9. We believe all that God has revealed, all that He does now reveal, and we believe that He will yet reveal many great and important things pertaining to the Kingdom of God. 10. We believe in the literal gathering of Israel and in the restoration of the Ten Tribes; that Zion will be built upon this [the American] continent; that Christ will reign personally upon the earth; and that the earth will be renewed and receive its paradisiacal glory. 11. We claim the privilege of worshiping Almighty God according to the dictates of our own conscience, and allow all men the same privilege, let them worship how, where, or what they may. 12. We believe in being subject to kings, presidents, rulers, and magistrates, in obeying, honoring, and sustaining the law. 13. We believe in being honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous, and in doing good to all men; indeed, we may say that we follow the admonition of Paul, we believe all things, we hope all things, we have endured many things, and hope to be able to endure all things. If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things. --Joseph Smith. To most of these items many sects professing Christianity could confidently pledge allegiance; to many of them all Christian bodies subscribe. Belief in the existence and powers of the Holy Trinity, in Jesus Christ as the Savior and Redeemer of the human race, in man's individual accountability for his acts, in the acceptance of sacred writ as the Word of God, in the rights of worship according to the dictates of conscience, in the moral virtues--these professions and beliefs are a common creed in the realm of present-day Christendom. There is no peculiarly "Mormon" interpretation, in the light of which these principles of faith and practise are viewed by the Latter-day Saints, except, perhaps, in a certain simplicity and literalness of acceptance. The Articles of Faith are confessedly but an incomplete summary of doctrine, as the ninth of the series avers. The atmosphere of the Church is that of expectancy, of reverent waiting for further revelation of the Divine will and purpose. "Mormonism" is alive, and therefore grows and develops with the years. It promulgates latter-day Scripture as well as the Holy Writ of centuries remote; and strict comparison demonstrates consistency and harmony in spirit and principle. "Mormonism" affirms itself to be the embodiment of the essential requirements of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, as proclaimed by the Master Himself, and by His duly ordained Apostles in the Primitive Church, and as taught and administered under Divine authority in the present dispensation. "Mormonism" is new only as a reestablishment, a restoration. It is the embodiment of the eternal Gospel, come again. (For more detailed treatment see the author's "The Articles of Faith," 480 pp., The Deseret News, Salt Lake City, Utah.) - 3 - WHAT'S IN A NAME? Is "Mormonism" Misunderstood Because of Its Unpopular Title? WHAT'S in a name? So asked one who has been called the chief of English bards; and hosts of thoughtful minds have been conscious of the same insistent query springing up as a conception original to each. Who but the superficial will venture to deny the influence of names? We are all subject to the witchery of bias and of prejudice for or against; and the odium or the good repute of a name ofttimes determines our provisional acceptance or rejection of that for which it stands. Most of us are in the habit of putting up our knowledge in little packages, duly ticketed. These we stow away in more or less orderly fashion, and though we glance betimes at the label we are apt to forget what any one of the parcels really contains. "Mormonism" is an unpopular name; the truths for which it stands, the principles which it embodies, are more readily believed in if left unlabeled. It should be borne in mind that the term "Mormon" with its several variants was first applied by way of nickname to the people now so designated. But nicknames may be so sanctified by effort and achievement that they become titles of respect and profound significance. To this fact history lends definite and abundant testimony. The term "Christian" was first applied as an epithet of contempt. You know how it was hurled in hatred and disdain at the disciples in Antioch. See Acts 11:26. Yet the followers of Christ accepted the name and hallowed it by sacrifice and righteous deeds; and today the world counts but one distinction greater than being called a Christian, and that is to be a Christian in fact. The "Mormon" people do not resent the misnomer by which they are commonly known, and which has been put upon them by popular usage. They deplore, however, the possible misunderstanding that the Church to which they belong professes to be the church of Mormon. It should be known that Mormon was a man, a very distinguished and a very able man it is true, an eminent prophet and historian according to the record bearing his name, but a man nevertheless. The "Mormon" Church affirms itself to be in no sense the church of Mormon, nor the church of Joseph Smith, nor of Brigham Young, nor of any man other than the Savior and Redeemer of the race. The true name of this Church, the designation by which it is officially known is The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This is an age of multitudinous sects, cults, and religious societies in general, and the number increases year by year. Strictly speaking a sect is a branch or offshoot of a primary institution, and in this sense numerous sects have arisen and others may arise, all professing something in common though differing in particulars ofttimes to the point of antagonism. Most of the existing sects designate themselves as "churches" with a distinctive forename to each. As the term "church" in its ordinary and broad usage is a common possession, unprotected by letters patent or other guaranty of exclusiveness, its general employment as an alternative for "sects" or cognate nouns is no breach of law, order or custom. Narrowing our consideration to that of churches professing Christianity, we meet the question as to whether there can be two or more diverse sects, opposed to each other in essentials of belief and practise, and both or all be in reality the Church of Jesus Christ. Can a church that is divided against itself, or a multitude of sects with discordant doctrines and conflicting claims to priestly authority, be one and all the same church, and that the Church of God? The question has been answered by the churches themselves; and their emphatic reply in the negative is expressed in the names by which these organizations have chosen to be known. Some have elected to be called after the names of their founders or eminent promoters, as Lutherans, Calvinists, Wesleyans, Campbellites. Others proclaim by their self-chosen titles a preference for appellations denoting some descriptive feature of their plan of organization or governmental system, as Episcopal, Presbyterian, Congregational. Yet others attach so great significance to distinctive points of doctrine as to make that the mark of identity, such as Unitarian, Trinitarian, Universalist, Baptist. None of us can consistently challenge the vested right of religious associations to choose their own names. Moreover, the designations of existing sects, with few exceptions, are self-explanatory, significantly expressive, and eminently appropriate. In general the names tell, as explicitly as any brief title could do, just what the respective sect, society or church professes to be. Organizations planned and operated for individual and social betterment, whether known as churches or otherwise, are commendable institutions. Inasmuch as membership therein is a matter of personal choice, no objection should be raised against rules established by common consent or majority decision for the admission of new applicants or for the discipline of members, provided, of course, that such rules he administered without infringement upon the rights of outsiders. But can any association of men, conceived and effected on human initiative, be anything other than an earthly institution, even though its aims be lofty and its activities the most praiseworthy? The Church of Jesus Christ, as an institution both earthly and heavenly, that is to say having vital relation to mortal life and to eternity, cannot have been originated at human instance. That church is not the fruitage of man's planting, neither the offshoot of other and older institutions. The Church of Jesus Christ, therefore, is not, nor can it be, a sect. The Book of Mormon affirms that the Lord Jesus Christ, shortly after His ascension in Judea, visited the early inhabitants of the Western Continent and established His Church amongst them. As He had done in Galilee, so in America. He chose and ordained Twelve Disciples, to whom He gave authority to administer the ordinances of the Gospel, which, as the Lord taught, are essential to salvation. He very clearly set forth that His Church was to be rightly named, as the following record attests. The Twelve, whom He had commissioned to build up the Church, prayed for instruction, saying: "Lord, we will that thou wouldst tell us the name whereby we shall call this Church; for there are disputations among the people concerning this matter." And the Resurrected Lord, there present in visible Person, answered them in this wise: "Verily, verily I say unto you, why is it that the people should murmur and dispute because of this thing? Have they not read the Scriptures, which say ye must take upon you the name of Christ, which is my name? For by this name shall ye be called at the last day. And whoso taketh upon him my name, and endureth to the end, the same shall be saved at the last day. Therefore whatsoever ye shall do, ye shall do it in my name; therefore ye shall call the Church in my name; and ye shall call upon the Father in my name, that He will bless the Church for my sake. And how be it my Church, save it be called in my name? For if a church be called in Moses' name, then it be Moses' church; or if it be called in the name of a man, then it be the church of a man; but if it be called in my name, then it is my Church, if it so be that they are built upon my gospel." (Book of Mormon, 3 Nephi 27.) The members of the Church aver that the distinguishing features of their religious system, in short, the essentials of the philosophy of "Mormonism" are epitomized in the name of their organization--The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. If the name be used without Divine warrant, its assumption can not fail to be regarded as a sacrilege; if it has been authoritatively bestowed one need look no further for explanation of the vitality exhibited by the Church in so impressive a degree from the day of its organization to the present. - 4 - "MORMONISM" A Distinctive Religious System IN the popular classification of religious bodies, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, if included at all, is generally given mention apart from churches and sectarian institutions in general. The segregation is eminently proper, for this Church is strictly unique. No well informed commentator, no capable critic in either friendly or hostile mood, has classed "Mormonism" as the sectarian offspring of any mother church, nor as any mere variation of a preexisting body. No church on earth claims, acknowledges or admits any community of origin with the commonly known but mis-called "Mormon" Church. Nor does the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints assert any such relationship with other bodies. At this point it is well to consider the fact that toleration in religious belief and practise is a fundamental tenet of "Mormonism." This is set forth in one of the formulated Articles of Faith: "We claim the privilege of worshiping A]mighty God according to the dictates of our own conscience, and allow all men the same privilege, let them worship how, where, or what they may." We demand no prerogatives, ask no privileges, beyond what we readily accede to be the common rights of mankind. Our distinctive teachings and the claims of the Church as to its commission to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and administer the saving ordinances thereof, must be judged on their merits, and in the spirit of testimony, which we believe the honest-hearted inquirer may gain for himself in the course of unbiased investigation. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is unique in that it solemnly affirms to the world that the new dispensation, foretold in prophecy as a characteristic of the last days precedent to the second advent of Christ, is established, and that the Holy Priesthood, with all its ancient authority and power, has been restored to earth. "Mormonism" affirms that such restoration was a necessity, inasmuch as mankind had fallen away from the Gospel of Christ during the dark ages of history, with the inevitable consequence that the Holy Priesthood had been taken from the earth, and authority to administer the essential and saving ordinances of the Gospel had been lost. The condition of spiritual darkness was foretold by prophets who lived prior to the meridian of time, as also by Jesus Christ while in the flesh, and by His Apostles, who were left to continue the ministry after the Lord's departure. Furthermore, the fact of the great falling away or general apostasy is admitted, and indeed affirmed, by high ecclesiastical authority. Consider the forceful declaration of the Church of England, embodied in her official "Homily Against Peril of Idolatry," first published about the middle of the 16th century, and still in force as "appointed to be read in churches." "So that laity and clergy, learned and unlearned, all ages, sects, and degrees of men, women, and children of whole Christendom--an horrible and most dreadful thing to think--have been at once drowned in abominable idolatry; of all other vices most detested of God, and most damnable to man; and that by the space of eight hundred years and more." Prophets of olden times were permitted to look beyond the black night of apostasy and to behold the glorious dawn of the restoration. John, the Apostle and Revelator, having seen the events in vision, wrote of the realization as then already attained: "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 worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters." (Rev. 14:6-7.) We affirm the literal fulfilment of this gladsome promise through the ministration of angels in these latter days, by which the Holy Priesthood has been renewed to man. Thus, in 1823, an angelic personage ministered to Joseph Smith, and later delivered to the mortal prophet the ancient record from which the Book of Mormon has been translated. This record contains "the fullness of the everlasting Gospel" as delivered by the Savior to the ancient inhabitants of the Western Continent. Then, on May 15, 1829, John the Baptist, who held the keys of the Lesser or Aaronic Priesthood in the earlier dispensation, appeared in his resurrected state and ordained Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery to that order of Priesthood, comprising "the keys of the ministering of angels, and of the gospel of repentance, and of baptism by immersion for the remission of sins." (Doctrine & Covenants 13.) Later, the presiding three of the ancient Twelve Apostles ordained these men to the holy apostleship, conferring upon them the Higher or Melchizedek Priesthood, which comprises all authority for the administration of the prescribed ordinances of the Gospel, and for the building up of the Church of Jesus Christ in the current dispensation, preparatory to the coming of the Christ to reign on earth. This is the distinctive claim of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Being under Divine commission so to do, the Church proclaims these solemn truths, with full recognition of the individual rights of men to believe or disbelieve according to their choice. - 5 - DIRECT AND SURE The Church Bold Yet Tolerant THE establishment of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was no experiment. Its actual organization as a body corporate was preceded by visitations of heavenly beings, by definite revelation, by prophecies as to the unfolding plan of the Divine purpose in these latter days, and by the publication of the Book of Mormon--a volume of Scripture which, though comprising the record of ancient peoples, was new to the modern world. These and other heavenly manifestations, including the bestowal of the Holy Priesthood with its expressly defined authority and appointment to organize and build up the Church, were made through Joseph Smith, who at the time of the first visitation was a lad in his fifteenth year. To the earnest student of this unprecedented series of events a certain dominant characteristic is apparent--the positiveness and certitude with which the successive avowals of the youthful prophet were set forth. From his testimony of the glorious theophany by which the dispensation of the fulness of times was inaugurated, down to his last inspired utterances immediately preceding his martyrdom, his doctrinal teachings, his affirmations and prophecies were unweakened by qualification or ambiguity. Plain and unembellished by studied rhetoric or dramatic effect, his solemn averments were free from even the shadow of the tentative or provisional. He voiced his message fearlessly and in the strength of simplicity, with no restraining afterthought of opposition, ridicule or persecution. True to the character of a real prophet, he gave out only as he received--line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little. And behold, the precepts have arrayed themselves into a scriptural unity; the lines have fallen into order as verses of a revealed epic; and the little has grown to the fulness of the everlasting Gospel. The mission of Joseph Smith and that of the Church he was instrumental in founding have from the first been before the world in their true colors. Though the unity of unalterable purpose and unchanging plan is impressively apparent, there is nothing in the latter-day Scripture that savors of policy or obscure intent. Granted that the claims of the Church are bold ones, even strikingly so, and that some of them when first enunciated stood in disturbing contrast with certain theological dogmas long regarded as orthodox. Nevertheless, they were presented with an assurance such as only the certainty of their Divine source could justify or sufficiently explain. In this age of free speech and liberty of conscience it is surely allowable to put forth views and publish affirmations relating to religious belief, even though the doctrines be opposed to earlier conceptions, provided the rights of men to accept or reject be duly respected. Consider the following instances of the solemn avowals made by Joseph Smith. He declares that in answer to prayer, in the spring of 1820, he was visited by two Personages, in the form and likeness of perfect men and amidst light and glory indescribable, who were none other than God the Eternal Father and the Lord Jesus Christ; and that the former pointing to the latter said "This is my beloved Son, hear Him." Then on September 21, 1823, Joseph Smith was visited by the angel Moroni, who disclosed to him the depository of the ancient records from which the Book of Mormon has been since translated. Part of the angel's message on this occasion, as recorded in the words of the latter-day prophet, Was "that God had a work for me to do; and that my name should be had for good and evil among all nations, kindreds, and tongues, or that it should be both good and evil spoken of among all people." (Pearl of Great Price, p. 89.) Is it conceivable that an unschooled youth, of obscure parentage and humble surroundings, would venture to assert such future distinction without the assurance of unmistakable commission? Another of Moroni's predictions is thus stated by Joseph Smith: "He informed me of great judgments which were coming upon the earth, with great desolations by famine, sword, and pestilence; and that these grievous judgments would come on the earth in this generation." Furthermore, the angel cited Scripture from both the Old Testament and the New, relating to the gathering of Israel, vicarious work for the dead, and other characteristics of the last days, declaring that all these earlier prophecies were about to be fulfilled. In 1832 a revelation was received by Joseph Smith definitely foretelling the civil war in this country, and specifying the defection of the State of South Carolina as the beginning. This portentous prediction followed: "The days will come that war will be poured out upon all nations," and that by bloodshed, famine, plagues, as well as by earthquakes and other destructive natural agencies, the inhabitants of the earth would be brought into mourning and humility. - 6 - WHEAT AND WEEDS Successive Apostasies from the Gospel THE kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field; but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat." (Matt. 13:24-25.) So hath it been from the beginning; so will it be until the end. The Lord God gave commandment unto Adam, and straightway Satan countered with sophistry and falsehood disguised as half the truth. Adam preached the Gospel and administered its essential ordinances amongst his posterity; "And Satan came among them, saying: I am also a son of God; and he commanded them, saying: Believe it not; and they believed it not, and they loved Satan more than God. And men began from that time forth to be carnal, sensual, and devilish." (Pearl of Great Price, p. 21.) Thus, even during the lifetime of the first patriarch, many of his descendants fell into apostasy and denied the God with whom their great progenitor had talked face to face. From Adam to Noah righteous men taught and testified of the truth, denounced sin and warned sinners; yet all the while Satan sowed assiduously the tares of wickedness in the hearts of men, and with such evil success that, excepting Noah and his household, the whole human family became corrupt. So awful was the condition that the floods came and swept the ungodly race from the earth; and their rebellious spirits passed into the state of duress, in which they remained until the way of repentance was opened to them anew by the ministry of the disembodied Christ over twenty-three centuries later. See 1 Peter 3 :18-20. As the children of men multiplied and nations developed after the Deluge, the wholesome plants of Divine truth struggled against the rank growth of error; therefore the Lord commanded Abraham to leave his idolatrous country and kindred, that through him and his posterity the saving powers of the Priesthood might be preserved among men. The tares of idolatry and its inseparable abominations grew apace. Even the harrowing experiences of Egyptian bondage failed to extirpate the weeds from Israel, though the fertilizing effect of humility under suffering did much to nurture and sustain the precious grain of the covenant. At the time of the Exodus the Israelites constituted the few whom the Lord could call His own; and they had to undergo a disciplinary probation--a course of intensive and purifying cultivation, covering four decades in the wilderness--before they were deemed fit to enter the land of their inheritance. They were distinguished as Jehovah-worshipers, and as such stood apart from the more thoroughly apostate and degenerate world. But even Israel's fields were full of tares; and the Lord mercifully suspended the fulness of the Gospel requirements, which, because of violation, would have been a means of condemnation; and the law of carnal commandments, generalized as the Mosaic Code, was given instead--as a schoolmaster, whose rigid insistence and compelling restraint, whose rod of correction would, in the course of centuries, prepare the covenant though recreant people for the reestablishment of the Gospel--as was effected through the personal ministry of the Redeemer. See Gal. 3:23-26. Following the Messianic ministry and apostolic dispensation, another cloud of apostasy enveloped the world, and for well-nigh sixteen centuries held the race befogged in its clammy mists. In this murky and fetid atmosphere the weeds of superstition, unbelief and human dogma flourished as a dank tropical jungle, while belief in revealed truth survived only as a wilted growth amidst the prevalent insalubrity. The last apostasy was general, alike on both hemispheres. For nearly two centuries after its establishment on the Western Continent, the Church of Jesus Christ flourished to the blessing of its members. Then followed disruption and apostasy, the bitter fruitage of sin; and so was fulfilled the saddening prophecy of Alma concerning the Nephites: "Yea, and then shall they see wars and pestilences, yea, famines and bloodshed, even until the people of Nephi shall become extinct. Yea, and this because they shall dwindle in unbelief, and fall into the works of darkness, and lasciviousness, and all manner of iniquities. Yea, I say unto you, that because they shall sin against so great light and knowledge, yea, I say unto you, that from that day, even the fourth generation shall not all pass away, before this great iniquity shall come." (Book of Mormon, Alma 45.) Following each of these epoch-marking declensions, from the Adamic to the current dispensation, there has come a period of revival, rejuvenescence, or as now witnessed, a definite restoration and reestablishment of the Church of Jesus Christ, by which the tares, though not yet rooted up to be burned, have been at least prevented from choking out the wheat. The application of our Lord's parable of the wheat and the tares to the great falling away, or the last general apostasy, is thus shown in latter-day Scripture: "And after they [the Apostles of old] have fallen asleep, the great persecutor of the church, the apostate, the whore, even Babylon, that maketh all nations to drink of her cup, in whose hearts the enemy, even Satan, sitteth to reign, behold he soweth the tares; wherefore the tares choke the wheat and drive the church into the wilderness." (Doctrine & Covenants 86:3; compare Rev. 12:6, 14.) But the day of the Church's exile is ended. In unostentatious triumph she has returned after enforced absence, and is established anew for the blessing of all who make themselves fit to be partakers of her bounty. - 7 - A NEW DISPENSATION Authority by Restoration Not Through Succession TO act officially in affairs of government, to administer public laws and ordinances, a man must have been duly elected or appointed and must have qualified as the law provides. If there be but the shadow of doubt as to his legal competency, his acts, say as president, senator, governor, judge or mayor, are almost sure to be challenged; and, if his claims to authority be invalid, his so-called official acts are justly pronounced null and void, while the quondam pretender may be liable to severe penalty. In like manner authority to administer the ordinances of the Gospel of Jesus Christ must be definitely vested through personal conferment as the law of God prescribes. "And no man taketh this honor unto himself, but he that is called of God, as was Aaron." (Heb. 5:4). Aaron was called and set apart to the priestly office by revelation from God through Moses, and retributive punishment fell upon all who essayed to minister without authority in the priest's office. Consider the awful fate of Korah and his associates (Num. 16), the instance of Uzziah king of Judah (2 Chron. 26), and, in New Testament times, that of Sceva's sons (Acts 19), all of whom brought upon themselves condign penalty for blasphemously arrogating the right to officiate in the name of the Lord. How great a lesson is writ for warning and guidance in the history of Saul, king of Israel. He had received his anointing under the hand of Samuel the prophet. On the eve of battle, when Samuel delayed his coming to offer sacrifices for victory, Saul presumptuously officiated at the altar, failing to realize that, king though he was, his royal authority did not empower him to serve even as a deacon in the household of God. His sacrilege was one of the principal causes that led to his rejection by the Lord. While in the flesh Christ chose His Apostles and ordained them, bestowing upon them specific authority. Those who were afterward called through revelation, e.g., Matthias, Saul of Tarsus who came to be known as Paul the Apostle, Barnabas, and others, were ordained by those previously invested with the Holy Priesthood. Elders, priests, bishops, teachers and deacons in the Primitive Church on the Eastern hemisphere were all similarly ordained; and so a succession was maintained until the Church, corrupted and apostate, was no longer worthy to be called the Church of Jesus Christ, because it was not; and the real Church, characterized by investiture of the Holy Priesthood, was lost to mankind. When the Resurrected Lord established His Church on the Western Continent, He called and personally commissioned Twelve Disciples; and later, others were with equal definiteness and certainty called and ordained to priestly functions by revelation through those in authority; and this order continued in the West until, through transgression, the people became apostate and succession in the priesthood no longer obtained. See Book of Mormon, 3 Nephi 11 and later chapters. There is but one church on the earth today claiming authority in the Holy Priesthood by direct succession from the Primitive Church; and surely none can consistently assert priestly powers by spontaneous origination. The rational interpretation of history reveals the literal fulfilment of ancient prophecy in the absolute loss of sacerdotal authority during the early centuries of the Christian Era; so that present-day claim to the Priesthood through unbroken succession from the Apostles of old rests upon arbitrary assertion only. If a mother church be devoid of Divine commission in the Holy Priesthood, definitely and authoritatively vested, no sect springing from that parent institution can inherit the Priesthood. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints positively avers that it lays claim to no priestly authority through mortal succession reaching back to the Primitive Church of the East, nor by descent from the Nephite Church of Christ as established on the Western Continent. To the contrary, this Church affirms the complete cessation of Divine commission in churchly organizations, and the consequent necessity of a restoration--a new dispensation from the heavens. This Church disavows any and all derivation of appointment or commission, direct or implied, from other organizations, Catholic or Protestant, "established" or dissenting churches sects or parties. It defends the rights of all men, whether church members or not, to worship as they severally choose to do, and to believe in and advocate the genuineness of any sect or church to which they elect to belong; and, by the same principle of liberty, it claims the right to set forth its own professions and doctrines, the while bespeaking for these a dispassionate and prayerful consideration. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints avows that the Holy Priesthood has been restored to earth in the present age, by means and manner strictly in accord with prophecy; and that through direct bestowal from the heavens the authority to administer the ordinances of the Gospel, which are indispensable to individual salvation, is operative today in preparation for the advent of the Lord Jesus Christ, which is near, as hath been predicted by the mouths of holy prophets and by the coming Lord Himself. - 8 - DIVINE COMMAND AND HUMAN AGENCY The Church a Democracy THE compound character of the name-title--The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints--has elicited inquiries from many thoughtful readers. Does the organization profess to be The Church of Jesus Christ, or The Church of the Latter-day Saints? The answer is--both. As we have already seen, our Lord designated the Church established by Himself in the meridian of time as "My Church," that is to say, His Church--The Church of Jesus Christ. And, as also shown, when the Savior ministered in the resurrected state to the ancient inhabitants of America, He established His Church amongst them, and particularly directed that the institution be called by His name as the only properly descriptive title. See Book of Mormon, 3 Nephi 27. When the Church was reestablished upon earth through the instrumentality of Joseph Smith the prophet, in 1830, it was provisionally called the Church of Jesus Christ, in harmony with the principle and practise established by the Savior among the Nephites, and to express the Lord's specific designation of the latter-day body as "My Church." The early revelations given to the Church contain frequent mention of common consent or the voice of the members, as essential in matters of administration. The following excerpts are illustrative: "No person is to be ordained to any office in this church, where there is a regularly organized branch of the same, without the vote of that church." "And all things shall be done by common consent in the church, by much prayer and faith, for all things you shall receive by faith. Amen." (Doctrine & Covenants 20 and 26.) After the people had been trained through the revealed word and by actual experience in the affairs of Church government, when they had learned the basal lesson that upon every member rests a measure of responsibility, and that in consistency and justice each is entitled to part and voice in the activities of the organized body, the Lord specified in the following manner the expanded and complete name by which the institution was to be known. He spoke by revelation directed to the High Council and "unto all the elders and people of my Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, scattered abroad in all the world. For thus shall my Church be called in the last days, even The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints" (115:3-4). The name thus conferred is a self-explanatory and exclusive title of distinction and authority. It is an epitome of the cardinal truths and of the philosophical basis of the system commonly called "Mormonism." Every prayer that is offered, every ordinance administered, every doctrine proclaimed by the Church, is voiced in the name of Him whose Church it is. Nevertheless, as an association of human membership, as a working body having relation with the secular law, as a religious society claiming the rights of recognition and privilege common to all, it is the people's institution, for the operation of which, so far as such is dependent upon them, they are answerable to themselves, to the organization as a unit, and to God. The plan of organization and government of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is that of a theodemocracy, whose organic constitution has been revealed from heaven and is accepted by the members as their guide in faith, doctrine and practise. The Church receives commandments through revelation, and when such are promulgated the assembled body takes action, voting to accept and to obey the same so far as the Divine direction calls for service. Such a conception as that of the Church rejecting a Divine revelation is extreme, and suggests an improbable contingency. Nevertheless, individuals having membership in the Church may ignore or reject the commandments of God, and so exhibit the spirit of apostasy in a degree proportionate to their disaffection; but such declension by the Church in its entirety is neither to be supposed nor feared. Adam had his agency, and chose to use it in disobeying the Lord's injunction. Of the commandment and the alternative we read: "And I, the Lord God, commanded the man, saying: Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; thou shalt not eat of it. Nevertheless, thou mayest choose for thyself, for it is given unto thee; but, remember that I forbid it, for in the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die." (Pearl of Great Price, pp. 13-14.) The same principle applies to persons and to the Church as a whole today. God has not established His Church to make of its members irresponsible automatons, nor to exact from them blind obedience. Albeit, blessed is the man who, while unable to fathom or comprehend in full the Divine purpose underlying commandment and law, has such faith as to obey. So did Adam in offering sacrifice, yet, when questioned as to the significance of his service, he answered with faith and assurance worthy the patriarch of the race: "I know not, save the Lord commanded me." - 9 - THE HOLY TRINITY Unity of the Godhead WE believe in God the Eternal Father, and in His Son Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost." So runs the first of the "Articles of Faith" of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. A similar asseveration of belief has place in most creeds or churches called Christian. The Scriptures affirm the existence of the Supreme Trinity, constituting the Godhead, the governing Council of the heavens and the earth. The very name "Trinity" which is commonly current in the literature of Christian theology, connotes three distinct entities, and such we believe to be the scriptural signification and therefore expressive of the actual constitution of the Godhead. Three Personages are comprised, each designated by the exalted title "God", and each of whom has separately and individually revealed Himself to mankind; these are (1) God the Eternal Father, (2) God the Son, or Jesus Christ, and (3) God the Holy Ghost. That the three are individually separate and distinct Personages is evidenced by such Scriptures as the following. As our Lord Jesus Christ emerged from the baptismal waters of Jordan, John, the officiating priest, recognized the visible sign of the Holy Ghost, while he saw before him the Christ with a tangible body of flesh and bones, and heard the voice of the Eternal Father saying: "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." (Matt. 3:16, 17). The three Personages were there present, each manifesting Himself in a different manner to mortal sense, and plainly, each distinct from the others. Again, in that last soled interview with His apostles on the night of the betrayal, the Lord Jesus thus cheered with sublime assurance their sorrowful despair: "But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me." (John 15:26.) Could the members of the Trinity be more definitely segregated? That the Comforter is the Holy Ghost is expressly set forth in the preceding chapter (John 14:26), and in that passage also the Father and the Son are as separately specified. That the Eternal Father and His Son Jesus Christ are individual Personages is clear from the very fact of the relationship expressed, for no being can be his own father or his own son. The numerous Scriptures in which Christ is shown as praying to His Father abundantly testify of Their distinct personality; and, furthermore, amidst the indescribable glory of our Lord's transfiguration, from out of the cloud came the voice of the Father, avowing again: "This is my beloved Son." The individual members of the Holy Trinity are united in purpose, plan, and method. To conceive of disagreement, differences, or dissension among them would be to regard them as lacking in the attributes of perfection that characterize Godhood. But that this unity involves any merging of personality is nowhere attested in Scripture, and the mind is incapable of apprehending such a union. In the course of His soulful High-Priestly prayer, Christ supplicated the Father in behalf of the Apostles, asking "that they may be one" as He and the Father were one (John 17:11). Surely the Lord did not intimate that He would have the Apostles lose their individuality and become one person; and indeed, He had long before assured them that at a time which is even yet future they "shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel." (Matt. 19:28.) Human knowledge concerning the attributes of God and the nature of the Godhead is such as has been revealed from the heavens. Divine revelation is the ultimate source of all we know of the being and personality of the Deity. Through revelation in ancient days God was made known to man--to Adam, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Moses, and the prophets. And in the present age, after mankind had in great measure come to reject the plain and simple truths of a personal God and His actual Son Jesus Christ, such as the Scriptures affirm, the Father and the Son have revealed Themselves anew. Joseph Smith has given us his solemn testimony that in the early spring of 1820, while engaged in solitary prayer, to which he had been impelled by scriptural admonition (James 1:5), he was visited by the Eternal Father and His Son Jesus Christ, and that the Father, pointing to the Christ, spake, saying: "This is my beloved Son, hear Him." In this wise was ushered in the Dispensation of the Fulness of Times, foretold by the Apostle of old (Eph. 1:10). In 1820 there was on earth one mortal who knew beyond all question that the human conception of Deity, as an incorporeal essence of something possessing neither form nor substance, is as devoid of truth in respect to both the Father and the Son as its statement in formulated creeds is incomprehensible. Joseph Smith has proclaimed anew to the world the simple truth that the Eternal Father and His glorified Son Jesus Christ are in form and stature perfect Men; and that in Their physical likeness mankind has been created in the flesh. - 10 - ORIGINAL SIN Are All to Suffer from it Eternally? WE believe that men will be punished for their own sins, and not for Adam's transgressions." Belief in original sin, with its dread incubus as a burden from which none can escape, has for ages cast its depressing shadow over the human heart and mind. Accepting as fact the account outlined in Genesis concerning the transgression of the parents of the race, every thoughtful reader must have wondered as to whether he is to suffer throughout this life and beyond for a deed in which he had no part, and for which, according to his natural conception of justice and right, he was not even indirectly responsible. If he assumes an affirmative answer to his honest query, he must have stood aghast at the seeming injustice of it all. The Scriptures proclaim in definite terms the fact of individual responsibility, and as an indispensable consequence, the Free Agency of Man. Freedom to choose or reject and accountability for the choice go hand in hand. The word of Divine revelation made the matter plain very early in the history of mankind. To evil-hearted Cain the Lord said: "If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? And if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door." (Gen. 4:7.) A knowledge of good and evil is essential to progress, and the school of experience in mortality has been provided for the acquirement of such knowledge. The Divine purpose was thus enunciated by an ancient Hebrew prophet: "Wherefore, the Lord God gave unto man that he should act for himself. Wherefore man could not act for himself, save it should be that he was enticed by the one or the other. . . . Wherefore, men are free according to the flesh; and all things are given them which are expedient unto man. And they are free to choose liberty and eternal life, through the great mediation of all men, or to choose captivity and death, according to the captivity and power of the devil; for he seeketh that all men might be miserable like unto himself." (Book of Mormon, 2 Nephi 2:16 and 27.) And a later prophet voiced the eternal truth as addressed to his wayward fellows: "And now remember, remember, my brethren, that whosoever perisheth, perisheth unto himself; and whosoever doeth iniquity, doeth it unto himself; for behold, ye are free." (Book of Mormon, Helaman 14:30.) But, many have asked how can man be regarded as free to choose right or wrong when he is predisposed to evil through the heritage of original sin bequeathed to him by Adam? Heredity at most is but tendency, not compulsion; and we have no warrant for doubt in the light of revealed truth concerning the inherent justice and mercy of God that every element of cause or inflicted tendency will be taken into righteous account in the judgment of each and every soul. The man who can intelligently ask or consider the question framed above shows his capability of distinguishing between good and evil, and can not consistently excuse himself for wilful wrongdoing. Our first parents disobeyed the command of God by indulging in food unsuited to their condition; and, as a natural consequence, they suffered physical degeneracy, whereby bodily weakness, disease, and death came into the world. Their posterity have inherited the resultant ills, to all of which we now say flesh is heir; and it is true that these human imperfections came through disobedience, and are therefore the fruits of sin. But as to accountability for Adam's transgression, in all justice Adam alone must answer. The present fallen status of mankind, as expressed in our mortal condition, was inaugurated by Adam and Eve; but Divine justice forbids that we be accounted sinners solely because our parents transgressed. Though the privations, the vicissitudes, and the unrelenting toil enforced by the state of mortal existence be part of our heritage from Adam, we are enriched thereby; for in just such conditions do we find opportunity to develop the powers of soul that shall enable us to overcome evil, to choose the good, and to win salvation and exaltation in the mansions of our Father. If the expression "original sin" has any definite signification it must be taken to mean the transgression of our parents in Eden. We were not participators in that offense. We are not inheritors of original sin, though we be subjects of the consequences. The millions who have been slaughtered or have otherwise met death because of the greatest war in history, and those other and more millions of helpless dependents who have endured such agonies as to make of death a blessed relief, are all involved in the frightful results of the precipitation of war by their respective rulers; yet who can doubt that when a just accounting is called, those who brought about the carnage and the suffering shall be made to answer, not the irresponsible victims? And to everyone who has suffered blamelessly, He who notes even the sparrow's fall shall give full meed of recompense. Why waste time and effort in bewailing what Adam did? Better is it to face like men the actual conditions of our existence and to meet the requirements of righteous living. From the effects of Adam's transgression full redemption is assured through the atonement wrought by Jesus Christ our Lord. "For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive." (1 Cor. 15:22.) - 11 - THE COOPERATIVE PLAN OF SALVATION Christ Alone Cannot Save You WE believe that through the Atonement of Christ all mankind may be saved, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel." In earlier articles of this series it has been shown that mortality is divinely provided as a means of schooling and test, whereby the spirit offspring of God may develop their powers and demonstrate their characters. Every one of us has been advanced from the unembodied or preexistent state to our present condition, in which the individual spirit is temporarily united with a body of flesh and bones. Yet this promotion to the mortal state is regarded by many as a degradation; and we are prone to bewail the fallen condition of the race as an unmitigated calamity. The Scriptures make plain the glorious truth that man may rise far above the plane upon which he existed before his birth in the flesh. We have stooped that we may conquer; we have been permitted to descend only that we may attain greater heights. The transgression of our parents in Eden was foreseen, and the Divine plan provided a means of redemption. The Eternal Father, who is verily the Father of our spirits, well understood the diverse natures and varied capacities of His unembodied children; and it was plain to Him, even from the beginning, that in the school of mortal life some would succeed while others would fail; some would be faithful and others false; some would choose the good, others the evil; Some would seek the way of life while others would follow the road to destruction. He foresaw that His commandments would be disobeyed and His law violated; and that men, shut out from His presence and left to themselves could sink rather than rise, would retrograde rather than advance, and would be lost to the heavens. It was plain to him that death would enter the world, and that the possession of bodies by His children would be of brief individual duration. A Redeemer was chosen, and that even before the foundation of the world. He, the first-born among all the spirit children of God, was to come to earth, clothed with the attributes of both Godhood and manhood, to teach men the saving principles of the eternal Gospel and so establish on earth the terms and conditions of salvation. In consummation of His mission, Christ gave up His life as a voluntary and vicarious sacrifice for the race. Through the Atonement wrought by Him the power of death has been overcome; for while all men must die, their resurrection is assured. The effect of Christ's Atonement upon the race is twofold: 1. The eventual resurrection of all men, whether righteous or wicked. This constitutes Redemption from the Fall, and, since the Fall came through individual transgression, in all justice relief therefrom must be made universal and unconditional. 2. The providing of a means whereby reparation may be made and forgiveness be obtained for individual sin. This constitutes Salvation, and is made available to all through obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel. Between redemption from the power of death and salvation in the Kingdom of Heaven there is a vital difference. Man alone cannot save himself; Christ alone cannot save him. The plan of salvation is cooperative. The Atonement effected by the Lord Jesus Christ has opened the way; it is left to every man to enter therein and be saved or to turn aside and forfeit salvation. God will force no man either into heaven or into hell. Jacob, a Nephite prophet, has given us a masterly summary of the results of our Lord's Atonement, both as to the universal redemption from death, and the conditions upon which individual salvation may be obtained: "For as death hath passed upon all men, to fulfil the merciful plan of the great Creator, there must needs be a power of resurrection, and the resurrection must needs come unto man by reason of the fall; and the fall came by reason of transgression; and because man became fallen, they were cut off from the presence of the Lord; Wherefore it must needs be an infinite atonement; Save it should be an infinite atonement, this corruption could not put on incorruption. Wherefore, the first judgment which came upon man must needs have remained to an endless duration. . . . And it shall come to pass, that when all men shall have passed from this first death unto life, insomuch as they have become immortal, they must appear before the judgment-seat of the Holy One of Israel; and then cometh the judgment, and then must they be judged according to the holy judgment of God. . . . And he suffereth this, that the resurrection might pass upon all men, that all might stand before him at the great and judgment day. And he commandeth all men that they must repent, and be baptized in his name, having perfect faith in the Holy One of Israel, or they cannot be saved in the kingdom of God. And if they will not repent and believe in his name, and be baptized in his name, and endure to the end, they must be damned; for the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel, has spoken it." (Book of Mormon, 2 Nephi 9:6, 7, 15, 22-24). - 12 - THE NEED OF A REDEEMER Man Cannot Exalt Himself THE Scriptures inform us that, prior to his transgression in Eden, Adam held direct and personal communion with God; and that one of the immediate consequences of his fall, which was brought about through disobedience, was his forfeiture of that exalted association. He was shut out from the presence of God, and though he heard the Divine Voice he no longer was permitted to behold the Presence of the Lord. This banishment was to the man spiritual death; and its infliction brought into effect the predicted penalty, that in the day of his sin he would surely die. See Gen. 2:17; Pearl of Great Price, p. 14. Through partaking of food unsuited to their condition and against which they had been specifically forewarned, the man and his wife became subject to physical degeneracy; and, eventually, as Satan the arch-tempter had foreseen, both the man and the woman had to suffer bodily death. Their offspring were directly affected by the hereditary enthralment, to which Abel fell a victim even during the life-time of his parents. Death came into the world through sin; the imperfections and frailties incident to the mortal state are conducive to sin; and man is prone in an inexcusable degree to readily yield thereto. So general is sin operative in the world that the wise comment of the ancient preacher stands unchallenged: "There is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good and sinneth not." (Eccles. 7:20). And the admonitory precept given by John the Apostle has lost none of its inspired forcefulness with time: "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us." (1 John 1:8). This sinful and fallen condition of mankind and the universal infliction of death are dominant elements of Satan's diabolical scheme to subdue the embodied spirits, whom he, as the rebellious son of the morning, had failed to draw to his standard in the conflict of primeval hosts. See Rev. 12:7-9; Isa. 14:12; also Doctrine & Covenants 29:36-38 and 76:25-27. God provided a way by which His spirit-children would become embodied as a means of advancement; Satan introduced degeneracy and death in an attempt to thwart the Divine purpose. Death may claim its victim in infancy or youth, in the period of life's prime or when the snows of age have settled heavily upon the venerable head; it may come through disease or accident, by violence, or as what we call the result of natural causes; but come it must, as Satan well knows; and in that knowledge lies his present though but temporary triumph. But the ways of God, as they ever have been and ever shall be, are infinitely more potent than the deepest designs of men or devils; and the Satanic machinations to make death perpetual and supreme were foreseen and provided against even before the first man had been clothed in flesh. The Atonement wrought by Jesus Christ was ordained to overcome death, and to provide a means of ransom from sin and consequent deliverance from the dominion of Satan. As the natural and inevitable penalty incident to Adam's fall came upon the race through individual transgression, it would be manifestly unjust and therefore impossible as part of the Divine plan to make all men suffer the results thereof without provision for emancipation. "Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned: . . . Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life." (Rom. 5:12, 18). And further: "For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive." (1 Cor. 15:21, 22; see further Book of Mormon, Mosiah 3:11, 12). Without assistance from some power superior to his own, fallen man would remain eternally in his state of spiritual banishment from the presence of God. He is tainted and defiled through sin; and though he must pass the gates of death, that change from the embodied to the disembodied state cannot consistently be regarded as a means of ransom from the effect of transgression. We find in Nature an analogy applicable to our present demonstration; though in its use the present writer claims no credit for originality. The lifeless mineral, belonging to the lowest of the "three kingdoms," may grow big through accretion of substance, and may attain relative perfection of structure and form as in the crystal. But, though placed in the most favorable environment, no mineral particle unassisted by the power incident to life can become part of a living organism such as the plant. The living plant, however, may reach down to the mineral plane, and by absorption and assimilation make the mineral part of its own organic tissue. So the plant, though of itself utterly powerless to attain the yet higher plane of animal tissue, may be assimilated by the animal and become part thereof. And so with respect to either plant or animal substance becoming a constituent of human tissue. So for the advancement of man from his present fallen state to the higher condition of spiritual life, a power greater than his own is requisite. Through the operation of laws obtaining in the spiritual world man may be reached and lifted; himself he cannot exalt. A Redeemer and Savior is essential to the accomplishment of the Father's plan, which is "to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man" (Pearl of Great Price, p. 7); and that Redeemer and Savior is Jesus the Christ, beside whom there is and can be no other. - 13 - CHRIST'S UNIQUE STATUS As Redeemer and Savior of the World TO hosts of earnest and thoughtful people, comprising who devoutly believe in the efficacy of our Lord's atoning death as a means of redemption from death and salvation from sin, it is a matter of surpassing wonder that the sacrifice of a single life could be made an effective means of emancipation for mankind. Scriptures ante-dating the Savior's earthly life plainly aver that the Atonement to be made by Him was to be a vicarious sacrifice, voluntary and love-inspired on His part, and universal in its application so far as human-kind would avail themselves of its beneficent means. These conditions were confirmed by the personal affirmations of the embodied Christ, and are attested by Scriptures post-dating the tragic consummation on Calvary. The concept of vicarious service, in which one may act or officiate for and in behalf of another, is as old as the race. It is, however, fundamentally opposed to the unscriptural assumption that the merits of one man may be accounted to the cancellation of another's sins. Scriptures both ancient and modern, the traditions of the human family, the rites of altar sacrifice, and even the sacrileges of heathen idolatry involve the basal conception of vicarious atonement. This principle, of Divine establishment in its original and uncorrupted form, was revealed to Adam (Pearl of Great Price, pp. 19-20), who offered sacrifices in the similitude of the then future death of the Lamb of God, and was taught and practised by later prophets down to the time of Christ. The Scriptures relieve us from the assumption that any ordinary mortal, by voluntarily giving up his life even as a martyr to the best of causes, could become a ransom for the sins of his fellows and a victor over death. Jesus Christ, though He lived and died as one of the human family, was of unique nature. Never has another such as He walked the earth. Christ was the only Being among all the embodied spirit-children of God suited to and acceptable as the great sacrifice of atonement, in these definite and distinct respects: 1. He was the One chosen and foreordained in the heavens to this specific service. 2. He was and is the Only Begotten of the Father in the body, and therefore the only Being ever born to earth who possessed in their fulness the inherent attributes of both Godhood and manhood. 3. He was and is the one and only sinless Man who has lived in mortality. Concerning our Lord's foreordination as the Redeemer and Savior, He has given us personal testimony with which the utterances of prophets who lived before His birth and apostles who taught after His death are in harmony. Twenty-two centuries before the meridian of time, the then unembodied Christ revealed Himself to a Book of Mormon prophet, saying: "Behold I am he who was prepared from the foundation of the world to redeem my people. Behold I am Jesus Christ." (Book of Mormon, Ether 3:14). Unto Moses the Father spake, saying: "Thou art in the similitude of mine Only Begotten, and mine Only Begotten is and shall be the Savior." (Pearl of Great Price, p. 2). These Scriptures are in accord with Peter's testimony of Christ as "a Lamb without blemish and without spot, who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world." (1 Peter 1:19-20). As the Eternal Father's Only Begotten Son in the flesh, Christ possessed the inborn power to withstand death indefinitely, and this just as naturally as that He, being the offspring of a mortal mother, should derive the ability to die. Jesus Christ inherited through the operation of the natural law of heredity the physical, mental, and spiritual attributes of His parents--the Father immortal and glorified, the mother human. He could not be slain until His hour had come, the hour in which He would voluntarily give up His life, and permit His own decease as an act of will. How else are His definite asseverations concerning Himself to be construed? Consider for example this: "Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again." (John 10:17-18). And further: "For as the Father hath life in himself, so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself." (John 5:26). Christ died, not as other men have died or shall die, because of inability to escape death, but for a special purpose by voluntary surrender. Thus, the atoning sacrifice was no usual death of an ordinary man, but the decease of One who had the power to live. It was a sacrifice, indeed! (For comprehensive treatment see the author's work "Jesus the Christ," 800 pp., The Deseret News, Salt Lake City, Utah.) As a sinless Man Christ was exempt from the dominion of Satan; and was sublimely conscious of His own perfect probity. He challenged assailants with the pertinent demand "Which of you convinceth me of sin?" (John 8:46); and in the hour of His entrance into Gethsemane solemnly averred: "The prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me." (John 14:80). Had our Lord died as the result of Satan's power over Him through transgression, His death would have been but an individual experience, expiatory in no degree of any offenses but His own. His absolute freedom from spot or blemish of sin made Him eligible, His humility and willingness rendered Him acceptable as the propitiatory sacrifice for the sins of the world. In these respects, as in that of His having life in Himself and therefore power over death, He was of a status absolutely unique among men. With this knowledge spake the ancient Hebrew prophet, saying: "As the Lord God liveth, there is none other name given under heaven, save it be this Jesus Christ of which I have spoken, whereby man can be saved." (Book of Mormon, 2 Nephi 25:20). - 14 - PHILOSOPHY OF THE ATONEMENT Its Two-fold Effect BELIEF in the efficacy of the death of Jesus Christ as a means of atonement, whereby redemption and salvation are made possible, is an essential feature of distinctively Christian religion. That belief if sustained by works constitutes faith in or acceptance of the Christ as the Only Begotten Son of God, and is supported by the Holy Scriptures of all ages. Nevertheless, to most of us, the fact of the Atonement is a great mystery. Be it remembered that the effect of the Atonement is two-fold: (1) Redemption of the human race from physical death, which entered the world as a result of Adam's transgression; and (2) Salvation, whereby means of relief from the results of individual sin are provided. Victory over death and the tomb became manifest in the resurrection of the crucified Christ. Of all who have lived in the flesh He was the first to come from the grave with spirit and body reunited, a resurrected, immortalized Soul. Justly, therefore, is He called "the firstfruits of them that slept" (1 Cor. 15:20); "the firstborn from the dead" (Col. 1:18); and "the first begotten of the dead." (Rev. 1:5). Immediately following our Lord's resurrection, "many bodies of the saints which slept arose, and came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many." (Matt. 27:52-53). We learn that in due time everyone who has lived and died on earth shall be resurrected, "they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation." (John 5:29). However, the order in which we shall be resurrected is determined by individual conditions of righteousness or guilt. (See 1 Cor. 15:23; Rev. 20:5-6.) A latter-day Scripture, describing the general resurrection of the just, incident to the approaching advent of Christ, embodies the Lord's declaration in these words: "The trump of God shall sound both long and loud, and shall say to the sleeping nations, Ye saints arise and live; ye sinners stay and sleep until I shall call again." (Doctrine and Covenants 48:18). The second effect of the Atonement makes salvation possible to all men through obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel; and of these the following are fundamental: (1) Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; (2) Repentance; (8) Baptism by immersion for the remission of sins; (4) Laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost. It is evident that but for the Atonement accomplished by the Savior, there could be no resurrection from the dead (see Book of Mormon, 2 Nephi 9:7-12); and advancement from the disembodied state would be impossible. And just as plainly the Scriptures declare that without the Atonement of Christ mankind would be left in their sins, without means of making amends therefor and receiving remission thereof. We have learned but little of the eternal laws operative in the heavens; but that God's purposes are accomplished through and by law is beyond question. There can be no irregularity, inconsistency, arbitrariness or caprice in His doings, for such would mean injustice. Therefore, the Atonement must have been effected in accordance with law. The self-sacrificing life, the indescribable agony, and the voluntary death of One who had life in Himself with power to halt His torturers at any stage, and whom none could slay until He permitted, must have constituted compliance with the eternal law of justice, propitiation and expiation by which victory over sin and death could be and has been achieved. Through the mortal life and sacrificial death of our Lord Jesus Christ the demands of justice have been fully met, and the way is opened for the lawful ministration of mercy so far as the effects of the Fall are concerned. Sin, followed by death, came into the world through the transgression of one man. The entailment of mortality upon that man's posterity, with all its elements of a fallen state, is natural, we say, because we think we know something about heredity. Is it any more truly natural that one man's transgression should be of universal effect than that the redeeming and saving achievement of One, fully empowered and qualified for the work of atonement, should be of universal blessing? The ancient Apostles were explicit in answer. Thus spake Paul: "Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life." (Rom. 5:18). And further: "For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself a ransom for all." (1 Tim. 2:5-6). Christ, victor over sin and death, established His right to prescribe the conditions under which man may attain salvation, and these are summarized as obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel. That the physical, mental, and spiritual agony preceding and accompanying the crucifixion was real and necessary to the accomplishment of His foreappointed mission has been affirmed by the Christ in the current dispensation: "For behold I, God, have suffered these things for all, that they might not suffer if they would repent; but if they would not repent, they must suffer even as I. Which suffering caused myself, even God, the greatest of all, to tremble because of pain, and to bleed at every pore, and to suffer both body and spirit: and would that I might not drink the bitter cup and shrink--Nevertheless, glory be to the Father, and I partook and finished my preparation unto the children of men. Wherefore, I command you again to repent." (Doctrine and Covenants 19:16-20). - 15 - HOW DOES CHRIST SAVE? His Plan Combines Justice and Mercy THE results of the Atonement accomplished by the Lord Jesus Christ comprise (1) universal deliverance from bodily death, that is to say the assured resurrection of all the dead, and (2) deliverance from the effects of individual sin. It is but just that since death has been entailed upon the entire race through the act of our first parents, redemption therefrom should be likewise universal, without effort or sacrifice on our part. We shall each be resurrected from death, our disembodied spirits tabernacling again in their bodies of flesh and bones, whether we be relatively clean, or filthy from sin; but the time or order of our respective liberation from the grave will be determined by our state of righteousness or guilt. So the Scriptures aver. (See e.g. John 5:28-29; 1 Cor. 15:23; Book of Mormon, 2 Nephi 9:6-13; and Doctrine and Covenants 88:96-102.) Herein is a lawful adjustment between justice and mercy. We are mortal through no personal fault; we shall be made immortal without personal merit. Such is justice. And though many have committed crimes far more heinous than Adam's disobedience, even they shall eventually be absolved from their hereditary mortality. Such is mercy. The Divine plan of salvation, made effective through the Atonement, is likewise of universal application, so that every man may become a beneficiary thereof; but that plan is not self-operative. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints summarizes the conditions in this wise: "We believe that men will be punished for their own sins, and not for Adam's transgression. "We believe that, through the Atonement of Christ, all mankind may be saved, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel." However great his moral weakness and sinful tendencies entailed by heredity, every responsible individual knows right from wrong, with some degree of conviction; and in the final judgment of that soul every element, whether of extenuation or crimination, will be taken into due account. Means of making amends for sin, and thereby establishing eligibility as fit subjects for remission or forgiveness, are freely offered to all men; but the prescribed conditions must be complied with or the incubus of sin cannot be lifted. Salvation is not to be had for the mere asking. It is too precious a pearl to be wantonly cast at the feet of the unrepentant and unregenerate who, heedless of its eternal worth, would fain tread it into the mire wherein they wallow. Christ's plan for saving the souls of men contemplates no universal and unconditional remission of sins. That would be justice travestied and mercy corrupted. So far as I am personally responsible for sin, I, and I alone am accountable. This is just. But though I make all material restitution possible to my brother whom I may have wronged, I cannot alone wipe the stain of guilt from my soul. To obtain remission from God whose laws I have violated, to be again reconciled to Him through expiation for my transgression, I am in dire need of help. That help is provided through obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I am not left without hope; but on the contrary have the Divine assurance of possible emancipation. This is mercy, indeed. "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned." (Mark 16:16). So spake the Christ. The belief here specified must mean that active, vital, potent belief which we distinctively designate faith. A mere assent of the mind to any proposition, without application and action, remains a mental concept and nothing more. Our Lord's association of belief with baptism is proof that no empty or idle belief can avail to save. Genuine faith in the Lord Jesus Christ naturally leads to obedience to His commands; and the firstfruits of faith are embodied in repentance. None but the truly repentant believer is an acceptable subject for baptism. Thus no man can consistently hope for salvation in the Kingdom of God except through the Atonement of Jesus Christ; and the Atonement is made operative for the remission of sins through individual compliance with the conditions explicitly set forth by "the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him." (Heb. 5:9). Christ's method of saving souls is that of providing definite means, which any one may accept or reject to his own eternal gain or loss. Universal amnesty for crime may serve to increase crime. God's system of benevolence, which comprises and exceeds all that we call charity, consists in helping sinners to help themselves. Indiscriminate giving fosters pauperism in both the temporal and the spiritual sense. Man alone cannot save himself; and just as truly, Christ alone cannot save him. Obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel is the price of salvation. An ancient Hebrew prophet thus set forth in simplicity the plan of salvation dependent upon the Atonement of Christ: "His blood atoneth for the sins of those who have fallen by the transgression of Adam, who have died, not knowing the will of God concerning them, or who have ignorantly sinned. But, wo, wo unto him who knoweth that he rebelleth against God; for salvation cometh to none such, except it be through repentance and faith on the Lord Jesus Christ." (Book of Mormon, Mosiah 3:11-12). In these latter days the Lord hath given this commandment unto the Church: "Thou shalt declare repentance and faith on the Savior and remission of sins by baptism and by fire, yea, even the Holy Ghost." (Doctrine and Covenants 19:31.) - 16- HEAVEN AND HELL Graded Condition in the Hereafter THE destiny of souls in the hereafter is a subject of persistent interest and concern in human belief and speculation. Even pagan literature and the languages of heathendom testify to a general though ofttimes vague conception of two widely separated places or strongly contrasted states of future existence, which are in the main equivalent to the heaven and the hell of dogmatic theology. The Holy Scriptures generalize the future estate of the righteous as heaven, and the opposite as hell, without giving warrant, however, for the belief that but two places or kingdoms are provided, to one or the other of which every soul is to be consigned according to the balance-sheet of his life's account, and perhaps on a very small margin of merit or guilt. Equally unscriptural is the inference that the state of the soul at death determines that soul's place and environment throughout eternity, forever deprived of opportunity of progression. When left to his imagination, without the guidance of revelation, man conjures up & heaven and a hell to suit his fancy. Thus, to the mind of the savage, heaven is & hunting-ground with game a-plenty; to the carnal, heaven promises perpetual gratification of senses and passions; to the lover of truth and the devotee of righteousness, heaven is the assurance of limitless advancement in wisdom and achievement. And to each of these, hell is the eternal realization of deprivation, loss, disappointment and consequent anguish. Divine revelation is the only source of sure knowledge as to what awaits man beyond the grave, and from this we learn that at death the spirits of all men pass to an intermediate state, in which they associate with their kind, the good with the good, the wicked with the wicked, and so shall endure in happiness or awful suspense until the time appointed for their resurrection. Paradise is the dwelling place of relatively righteous spirits awaiting the glorious dawn of the resurrection. The final judgment, at which all men shall appear before the bar of God, is to follow their resurrection from the dead. We shall stand in our resurrected bodies of flesh and bones to receive from Jesus Christ, who shall judge the world, the sentence we individually merit, whether it be "Come ye blessed of my Father" or "Depart from me ye cursed." (See Matt. 25 :31-46.) In His solemn discourse to the Apostles immediately prior to the betrayal our Lord sought to cheer their saddened hearts with the assurance, "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 if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also." (John 14:2, 3.) Here is conclusive proof of varied conditions in the world beyond; and the teachings of Paul are incisive as to the state of resurrected souls: "There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial; but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another. There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars: for one star differeth from another star in glory. So also is the resurrection of the dead." (1 Cor. 15:40-42.) Latter-day revelation avers even more explicitly the fact of numerous and graded states provided for the souls of men. There is a Celestial Kingdom, into which shall enter all who have won not alone Salvation, but Exaltation. And who are these blessed ones? "They are they who received the testimony of Jesus, and believed on his name and were baptized after the manner of his burial, being buried in the water in his name, and this according to the commandment which he has given; that by keeping the commandments they might be washed and cleansed from all their sins, and receive the Holy Spirit." (Doctrine & Covenants, 76). Next in order is the Terrestrial Kingdom, in which shall be saved those who, though honorable according to the codes of men, have failed in valiant and aggressive service in the cause of God, and also those who have died in ignorance of the prescribed "laws and ordinances of the Gospel." "Behold, these are they who died without law, and also they who are the spirits of men kept in prison, whom the Son visited, and preached the gospel unto them, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh; who received not the testimony of Jesus in the flesh, but afterwards received it. These are they who are honorable men of the earth, who were blinded by the craftiness of men." Yet lower is the Telestial Kingdom, and of its inhabitants we read: "These are they who received not the gospel of Christ, neither the testimony of Jesus. These are they who deny not the Holy Spirit. These are they who are thrust down to hell. These are they who shall not be redeemed from the devil, until the last resurrection, until the Lord, even Christ the Lamb shall have finished his work. . . But behold, and lo, we saw the glory and the inhabitants of the telestial world, that they were as innumerable as the stars in the firmament of heaven, or as the sand upon the sea shore." Far below the lowest of these kingdoms of glory is the fate or state decreed for the souls who have sinned in the full light of knowledge and with conscious guilt, those who having received the testimony of Christ have ruthlessly and wantonly denied it in the interest of temporary gain or gratification, who have fallen so far in transgression as to be known by the awful name "sons of perdition," for whom no forgiveness is promised. (See Doctrine & Covenants, 76:32-38). Thus is it provided that every soul shall inherit according to his deserts under the inviolable laws of God. Salvation is relative. He who attains the Telestial state is saved from the fate of utter Perdition; he who wins a place in the Terrestrial is raised above the lesser glory; and those who merit exaltation in the Celestial kingdom are supremely blessed, for they shall dwell and serve with God and His Christ eternally. - 17 - IN THE REALM OF THE DEAD Paradise--What of the Spirits in Prison? WE believe that through the Atonement of Christ all mankind may be saved, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel." No limitation is here expressed with respect to the living or the dead. Who are the living but the few just now tabernacled in mortal bodies destined sooner or later to die? Who are the dead but the uncounted myriads who once lived in the flesh and have already passed to the world of the disembodied? If the Atonement accomplished by the Lord Jesus Christ be a means of salvation to the few only who constituted the living during some specific period, or even to all who have heard and accepted the Gospel while in the body, the sacrifice made by the Son of God becomes of limited and small effect. The sure word of Scripture declares otherwise. Christ affirmed that His mission as the Redeemer and Savior of the race extended beyond the grave. Consider the profound significance of His words: "Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live. . . . Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the grave's shall hear His voice, And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation." (John 5:25-29). Jesus Christ died upon the cross in the literal sense in which all men die. While the corpse lay in the rock-hewn sepulchre the immortal Christ existed as a disembodied Spirit. Where was He, and what were His activities in the interval between His death on Calvary and His emergence from the tomb with spirit and body reunited--a resurrected Soul? The most natural assumption is that He went where the spirits of the dead ordinarily go; and that in the sense in which He had been while in the flesh a Man among men, He was during the period of disembodiment a Spirit among spirits. The Scriptures confirm this conception as true. While in the bodiless state our Lord ministered among the departed, both in Paradise and in the prison realm where dwelt in a state of durance the spirits of the disobedient. To this effect testified Peter: "For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit: By which also He went and preached unto the spirits in prison." (1 Peter 3:18, 19). And further: "For, for this cause was the gospel preached also to them that are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit." (1 Peter 4:6). One of the two condemned malefactors crucified by our Lord's side reviled Him; the other, who was penitent, supplicated the dying Christ saying: "Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom"; and to this appeal the Lord replied with the blessed assurance: "Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in paradise." (Luke 23:42, 43). The spirit of Jesus and that of the repentant sinner left their crucified bodies and went to the same place in the spirit world. But neither of them at that time went to Heaven, the abode of the Eternal Father; for, on the third day following, Jesus, then a resurrected Being, positively stated to the weeping Magdalene: "I am not yet ascended to my Father," and added as to an event then future, "but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God." (John 20:17). Christ and the contrite thief went to Paradise; but Paradise is not the distinctive abode of God. To infer that the crucified transgressor was saved by his dying confession, and was granted a special passport to Heaven with sins unexpiated and without his compliance with "the laws and ordinances of the Gospel" is to disregard both letter and spirit of Scripture, and to ignore both reason and the sense of justice. We find here no warrant for belief in the efficacy of death-bed confession as a means of grace. Only through individual faith, repentance, and works can remission of sins be obtained. The dying malefactor who won from the Christ the comforting promise of a place in Paradise had manifested both faith and repentance. The blessing promised him was to the effect that he should that day hear the Gospel preached in Paradise. In the acceptance or rejection of the message of salvation he would be left an agent unto himself. The requirement of obedience to "the laws and ordinances of the Gospel" was not waived, suspended, or superseded in his case, nor shall it be for any soul. For the dead who have lived and died in ignorance of the requirements of salvation, as, in another sense, for the disobedient who later come to repentance, the plan of God provides for the vicarious administration of the essential ordinances to the living posterity in behalf of their dead progenitors. Of this saving labor Malachi prophesied in solemn plainness (Malachi 4:5, 6); and the glorious fulfilment has been witnessed in this modern age. The great Temples reared by the Latter-day Saints are maintained in large part for the service of the living in behalf of the dead. - 18 - WHY ARE THEY BAPTIZED FOR THE DEAD? Elijah the Prophet on the American Continent IN one of his letters to the Corinthians, Paul the Apostle discusses the resurrection of the dead, which was a subject of contention at the time of his writing. Having shown that through the Atonement of Jesus Christ all mankind shall be eventually redeemed from bodily death, the scholarly Apostle asks: "Else what shall they do which are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at all? Why are they then baptized for the dead?" (1 Cor. 15 :29). As the question is put by way of finality and climax to the preceding argument and is without explanatory comment, we must conclude that the subject involved no new or strange doctrine; but to the contrary that the people both understood and practised the ordinance of vicarious baptism by the living in behalf of the dead. To Nicodemus our Lord declared in such plainness as to preclude dispute: "Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." (John 3:5). That this new birth comprises water baptism by immersion, as was at that time being administered by John the Baptist, and the higher baptism of the Spirit, which Christ Himself came to give, is evident from the scriptural context. Note the incisiveness of our Lord's affirmation that without baptism man cannot enter the kingdom of God. No distinction is made, no exceptions are implied. The indispensable condition is applicable to all men whether living or dead. Nicodemus, though a scholar and a master in Israel, failed to understand the full import of our Lord's words, and in seeming bewilderment asked: "How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born?" (Verse 4). With at least equal pertinency it may now be asked: How can a man who has died without baptism be baptized? Can he enter the second time into his body of flesh and be immersed in water? The answer is that the living may be baptized for the dead. No one who accepts as a reality the Atonement of Jesus Christ in behalf of all humankind can consistently deny the efficacy of vicarious service, in which one person officiates in behalf of another, provided of course that the labor be done by Divine appointment. In the last chapter of the Old Testament the prophet Malachi describes a condition of the last days immediately precedent to the second advent of the Christ: "For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch." (Malachi 4:1). This fateful prediction is followed by the blessed promise, expressed in the words of Jehovah: "Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord: And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse." (Verses 5, 6). Joseph Smith the modern prophet solemnly affirms that in 1836 Elijah the prophet of ancient Israel appeared in the Temple that had been erected by the Latter-day Saints at Kirtland, Ohio, and effected the fulfilment of Malachi's prediction by this declaration: "Behold, the time has fully come, which was spoken of by the mouth of Malachi, testifying that he (Elijah) should be sent before the great and dreadful day of the Lord come, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the children to the fathers, lest the whole earth be smitten with a curse." (Doctrine & Covenants, 110:14-15). This union of the interests of the departed fathers with those of their yet living descendants is a necessary preparation for the coming of the Lord, as affirmed by Joseph Smith: "The earth will be smitten with a curse, unless there is a welding link of some kind or other, between the fathers and the children, upon some subject or other, and behold what is that subject? It is the baptism for the dead. For we without them cannot be made perfect; neither can they without us be made perfect." (D. C. 128:18). The Latter-day Saints are distinguished as a Temple-building people. Through direct revelation the Lord has made plain that baptism and associated ordinances for the dead, as also certain endowments of the living, are acceptable only when administered in structures specially reared and consecrated for this sacred service. In the spirit realm, as in our material world of mortals, the Gospel of Jesus Christ is being preached; and among both dead and living the authoritative proclamation is made: Repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand. To be competent to officiate for his dead, a man must first comply with the laws and ordinances of the Gospel in his own behalf. There is an element of particular fitness in the fact that the appointed minister, through whom the vicarious service of the living in behalf of the dead has been inaugurated in the current dispensation, is none other than Elijah, who was taken from earth without passing through the change we call death, and who therefore held a peculiar and special relationship to both the living and the dead. True to the commission conferred through Elijah's modern ministry, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints rears Temples to the name and service of the living God, and in those sacred structures carries forward the appointed service for the salvation of the uncounted dead who have passed away in ignorance as to the necessity of compliance with the laws and ordinances of the Gospel, without which compliance no man can have place in the Kingdom of God. - 19 - OBEDIENCE IS HEAVEN'S FIRST LAW Conditions of Citizenship in the Kingdom of God WE believe that through the Atonement of Christ all mankind may be saved, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel. (Articles of Faith, 3). Pope's famous line, "Order is Heaven's first law," has often been misapplied. Order is a result of compliance with established requirements; of necessity, therefore, it cannot be first. It is an effect, not the primary cause. A more thoughtful generalization leads to the conclusion that obedience is the basal law of Heaven, and that this law is equally valid and as truly operative in things pertaining to mortality. Jesus Christ, through whom the plan of salvation has been made available to mankind, has prescribed the conditions under which we may become its beneficiaries--the terms by which citizenship in the Kingdom of God may be secured. Among these specified conditions is baptism by immersion for the remission of sins. The gross materialist, who wilfully refuses to see or to acknowledge anything beyond the affairs of earth, may ask: How can water wash away sin? In answer be it said, water cannot remove the stain of guilt; nevertheless, obedience to the law of baptism as required by Jesus Christ is truly a means of securing forgiveness. Obedience, not water, is the cleansing unction. Have you never read of Naaman, captain of the Syrian hosts, who sought relief from his leprosy through the ministration of Elisha, the man of God? Read 2 Kings, chap. 5. The prophet commanded the leper to wash himself seven times in Jordan, and promised that through obedience the man would be cleansed. But the haughty Syrian was offended at the simplicity of the requirement. He had expected some ceremonial spectacle of power, a display of miracle. But by the counsel of his servant he went "and dipped himself seven times in Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God: and his flesh came again like unto the flesh of a little child, and he was clean." The waters of Jordan had no special virtues of healing, but obedience effected a cure from the leprous affliction, which was rightly regarded as at once a bodily disease and a curse. And what of the widow, whose sons were to be sold into bondage because she could not pay her late husband's debt? Read 2 Kings 4:1-7. She came to Elisha in agony of soul; and the prophet told her to take the one little pot of oil in her house, and pour from it into as many vessels as she could borrow. With scrupulous care she complied with every detail of the instructions given her by the man of God, and the vessels were filled from the single cruse. Then she came and told the man of God. And he said, "Go, sell the oil, and pay thy debt, and live thou and thy children of the rest." Obedience is a source of power, even as is prayer. When the Jews marveled at the wisdom of Christ, He told them of a very simple yet effective way of obtaining, each for himself, knowledge of supreme worth. "My doctrine is not mine," said He, "but his that sent me. If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself." (John 7:16, 17). In every-day affairs we comply without question with the requirements essential to the results we desire. Electricity lights our homes, propels our vehicles, drives our machinery, transmits our messages, but only on condition that we obey to the minutest detail the laws by which that mystic force operates. We may cause the sunlight to record indelibly the beauties of the landscape, or the features of a friend, but only through obedience to the laws of light and the numerous mechanical adjustments incident to the use of the camera. And as we fully and unreservedly obey, the result is sure. Why then should it be a thing strange in our eyes that through obedience to established and eternal law the higher or spiritual powers should be invoked to our service? The effect is equally sure. The Christ has given us solemn assurance: "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved." (Mark 16:16). In the present age, the unalterable necessity of obedience as a means of blessing has been reaffirmed through the prophet Joseph Smith: "There is a law, irrevocably decreed in heaven before the foundations of this world, upon which all blessings are predicated; And when we obtain any blessing from God, it is by obedience to that law upon which it is predicated." (Doctrine and Covenants 130:20, 21). And further: "I, the Lord, am bound when ye do what I say, but when ye do not what I say, ye have no promise." (82:10). There is no element of uncertainty in the plan of salvation, far less of inconsistency or caprice in the judgment to be rendered on individual lives, for that would imply injustice. The plan is simple. Man is in a fallen condition, beset with weaknesses and sin. Means are provided whereby he may rise, and, through the corridors of death and the portals of the resurrection, reach the way of eternal progression. These means are all comprised in obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel. It is only by compliance with the laws of our community and nation that we have title to personal liberty and to a share in the blessings and privileges provided by the government under which we live. Shall the terms of citizenship in the Kingdom of God be less definite than in the nations officered by men? Divine authority for the naturalization of mankind in that eternal Kingdom has been restored to earth in the current age. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints calls upon all peoples, irrespective of race or nationality, to cultivate an abiding faith in God, to turn from sin in contrite and genuine repentance, to be baptized by the authority of the Holy Priesthood, and to receive the assured companionship of the Holy Ghost through the laying on of hands. On the high authority of the Holy Scriptures, the direct word of God to man, be it said: There is no other road to Salvation. - 20 - THE DEVILS BELIEVE AND TREMBLE Faith Not Mere Belief WE believe that the first principles and ordinances of the Gospel are: (1) Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; (2) Repentance; (3) Baptism by immersion for the remission of sins; (4) Laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost. (Articles of Faith, 4). Faith in God is the first, the fundamental, the basal principle of the Gospel; as, indeed, faith, in the more general usage of the term, is the impelling cause to activity even in ordinary affairs. Faith and belief are not infrequently confused, and the words are too commonly regarded as synonymous. An approach to identity of meaning appears in early English, in consequence of which fact belief is sometimes given the more definite signification of faith in our versions of the Holy Scriptures. Belief may be nothing more than a mental assent to any proposition, principle, or alleged fact; whereas faith implies such confidence and conviction as shall inspire to action. Belief is by comparison passive, a mere agreement or tacit acceptance only; faith is active and positive, and is accompanied by works. Faith is vivified, vitalized, living belief. Even the devils believe that Jesus is the Christ, and so fully that they tremble at the prospect of the fate foreshadowed by that belief (see James 2:19). Their belief may amount even to certain knowledge, but they remain devils nevertheless. Consider the man possessed by a demon in the country of the Gadarenes. When he beheld Jesus afar off he ran to the Master, and worshiped Him, while the evil spirit by whom the man was controlled acknowledged the Lord, calling Him "Jesus, thou Son of the Most High God." (Mark 5; for analogous instances see Mark 1:23-27, and 3:8-11). Strikingly similar in form, yet vitally different in spirit and effect, is this testimony of the demons as compared with Peter's confession of his Lord. To the Savior's question "Whom say ye that I am?" Peter replied in practically the same words voiced by the unclean spirits: "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God." (Matt. 16:15, 16). Peter's faith had already been tested, and had demonstrated its vital power. Through faith the Apostle had forsaken much that had been dear, and had followed his Lord in persecution and suffering. His knowledge of God as the Eternal Father and of Jesus Christ as the Redeemer may have been no greater than that of the demons; but while to them that knowledge was an added cause of condemnation, to him it was the power of righteous service and of eventual salvation. In a theological sense faith includes a moving, vital, inspiring confidence in God, and the acceptance of His will as our law and of His words as our guide in life. Faith in God is a principle of power, for by its exercise spiritual forces are made operative. By this power phenomena that appear to be supernatural, such as we call miracles, are wrought. Even the Lord Jesus was influenced and in a measure controlled by the lack of faith or the possession thereof by those who sought blessings at His hands. We are told that at a certain time and place Jesus "could there do no mighty work" because of the people's unbelief, which was so dense that He marveled at it. (Mark 6:5, 6). Repeatedly did the Lord rebuke and admonish with such reproofs as "O ye of little faith," "Where is your faith?" and "How is it that ye have no faith?" In glorious contrast rang out His words of benediction to those whose faith had made it possible for Him to heal and to save: "Thy faith hath made thee whole" and "According to your faith be it unto you." Read the record of the youthful demoniac whose agonized father brought his son to the Master, pleading pitiably "If thou canst do any thing, have compassion on us and help us." To this qualified intercession Jesus replied "If thou canst believe" and added "All things are possible to him that believeth." (Read Mark 9:14-29). The faith requisite to the healing was not that of the Healer alone,' but primarily faith on the part of the suppliant. If through faith Divine interposition may be secured to the accomplishment of what we call material or physical miracles, and of this the Scriptures contain copious testimony (read Hebrews, chap. 11), is it consistent to doubt that faith is the appointed agency for invoking and securing spiritual blessings, even to the attainment of salvation in the eternal worlds? As shown in earlier articles, redemption from the power of death is assured to all through the victory achieved by Jesus Christ; but salvation is an individual gift, provided for all who shall establish claim thereto through obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel. Faith in God the Eternal Father, and in His Son Jesus Christ as the Redeemer and Savior of the race, and in the Holy Ghost, is essential to the securing of individual salvation. Paul forcefully declares "But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him." (Heb. 11:6). The Scriptures abound in assurances of salvation to those who exercise faith in God. The Savior's teachings are conclusive: "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned." (Mark 16:16). And again: "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him." (John 3:36). But who will venture to affirm that passive belief as distinguished from active faith is here implied? Can a man be said to believe in Jesus Christ in any effective and genuine sense unless that man shall strive to do the things that Christ commands? To any such inconsistent assumption, the Apostle John replies: "And hereby we do know that we know him, if we k