THE GOSPEL.
AN
EXPOSITION OF ITS FIRST PRINCIPLES.
BY
ELDER B. H. ROBERTS,
Author of Life of John Taylor; Outlines of Ecclesiastical History; New Witnesses, Etc.
Revised and Enlarged Edition.
PUBLISHED BY
GEORGE Q. CANNON & SONS CO.,
Salt Lake City, Utah.
1893.
"Religion, my honored friend, is surely a simple business, as it equally concerns the ignorant and the learned, the poor and the rich." —Burns.
PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION.
This work has been written for the purpose of instructing the youth of Zion in the first principles of the gospel.
For the most part our parents have been converted to the gospel while living in the various States of this country, or in foreign lands, by the preaching of the servants of God sent forth of him to proclaim the ushering in of the Dispensation of the Fullness of Times, and to call mankind to repentance. They carefully and thoroughly examined every principle advanced by them; for notwithstanding the doctrines taught by the Elders were older than the earth, and in various dispensations have been expounded by prophets and apostles whose testimony is recorded in the Bible, yet something in the spirit by which they were proclaimed, and the manner in which they were combined, made them a new gospel—a new religion.
Not only did our parents hear the public discourses of the servants of God, but in the home circle—to which they invited the teachers of the seemingly New Faith—the gospel, the harmony and beauty of its principles, the consistent blending in it of justice, and mercy, its sanctifying influence upon the human character, its spirit and powers, were all common topics of their conversation; until they not only intellectually assented to it as a grand system of truth, but also became imbued with its spirit, and felt and enjoyed its powers.
With the youth of Zion it has been different. Being removed from the errors of the sectarian world, it has been thought they would accept the gospel as a matter of course. It may be stated as a general truth, that too much in this respect has been taken for granted; and in too many instances our youth have not been instructed so thoroughly in the things of God as they ought to have been. Many have grown up in lamentable ignorance of even the First Principles of the gospel—which ignorance is often confounded with unbelief, or mistaken for infidelity.
To such the gospel has only to be presented intelligently, and in its native simplicity, to be accepted. "Whoever examined our religion," said one of the Fathers of the early Christian Church, "but what he accepted it?" So now: the Gospel has only to be understood to be admired and believed.
It is to place within their reach a thorough exposition of the First Principles of the gospel that this work has been prepared, and is now presented to the youth of Zion: and it is the earnest hope of the author that by a patient perusal of these pages those who now believe the gospel will find their faith strengthened and confirmed; and those who do not believe it, be convinced of its truth.
It is but fair to the writer to say that the work has been written amid the busy scenes of missionary life in a foreign land. Its preparation has been frequently interrupted by travel, and the performance of many other duties requiring the writer's attention. If this work, therefore, in point of excellence shall fall below what was desired by the General Superintendency of the Mutual Improvement Associations, at whose instigation it was written, it is hoped these circumstances will in some degree excuse it.
The Author.
PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION.
I had determined in the second edition of this work to very much alter its general plan and enlarge it; but a number of friends who have used "The Gospel" as a text-book in our Church schools, in Improvement Associations and theological classes, persuaded me not to materially change or too much enlarge it. Their experience in using the little work as a text-book gives weight to their opinions, and I have so far yielded to their judgment that I have made but few changes, and those merely verbal, in this edition of the book.
I have, however, added as a supplement, a series of articles originally written for The Contributor, on "Man's Relationship to Deity." Those articles were intended in the first place to be supplemental to "The Gospel," and as the theme has a close relation to the subject of which the work treats, I thought it would increase the interest in the whole subject to publish them in this edition.
The Author.
CONTENTS.
[Chapter I.—Introductory]
[Chapter II.—General Salvation]
[Chapter III.—General Salvation]
[Chapter IV.—General Salvation]
[Chapter V.—Individual Salvation]
[Chapter VI.—Principles and Ordinances]
[Chapter VII.—Faith]
[Chapter VIII.—Faith.—The Bible]
[Chapter IX.—Faith.—The Old Testament]
[Chapter X.—Faith.—The New Testament]
[Chapter XI.—Faith.—The New Testament]
[Chapter XII.—Faith.—The New Testament]
[Chapter XIII.—Faith.—Tradition]
[Chapter XIV.—Faith.—Revelation]
[Chapter XV.—Faith.—The Character of God]
[Chapter XVI.—Faith.—Course of Life]
[Chapter XVII.—Repentance]
[Chapter XVIII.—Repentance]
[Chapter XIX.—Repentance.—Historical Illustration]
[Chapter XX.—Repentance.—Historical Illustration]
[Chapter XXI.—Baptism]
[Chapter XXII.—Object of Baptism]
[Chapter XXIII.—The Subjects for Baptism]
[Chapter XXIV.—The Mode of Baptism]
[Chapter XXV.—The Holy Ghost]
[Chapter XXVI.—The Holy Ghost.—Who May Receive It]
[Chapter XXVII.—The Holy Ghost.—How Imparted]
[Chapter XXVIII.—The Holy Ghost.—Character and Source]
[Chapter XXIX.—The Holy Ghost.—Its Power]
[Chapter XXX.—Authority]
[Chapter XXXI.—Laws of Spiritual Development]
[Chapter XXXII.—History of the Gospel]
[Chapter XXXIII.—Salvation for the Dead]
[Conclusion]
[Supplement.—Man's Relationship to Deity]
THE GOSPEL.
[CHAPTER I.]
INTRODUCTORY.
In the investigation of any subject, it is of first importance that the terms employed be thoroughly understood; hence, I begin the subject in hand by asking and answering the question, What is the Gospel? The definition to the term I shall derive from the scriptures; not from one passage alone, but from the consideration of a number of passages.
The Apostle Paul, in defining the Gospel, calls it: "The power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth".[A]
[Footnote A: Rom i: 16.]
From other scriptures, to be considered presently, we shall see that Paul could not have meant a mere intellectual assent to the truth of the several principles composing the Gospel, but an active, living faith in them—a belief which accepts them, not in theory only, but in practice also—a belief which leads up to an implicit obedience to the ordinances and precepts of the Gospel. It is only such a belief that can make the Gospel the power of God unto salvation. In proof of this I call attention to the following scriptures: "Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven * * * Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it."[B]
[Footnote B: Matt. vii: 21, 24-27.]
"Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls. But be ye doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves."[C]
[Footnote C: James i: 21,22]
And now to come to a passage which must set at rest forever all controversy on the question. In speaking of Jesus, the writer of the book of Hebrews says: "Though he were a son, yet learned he obedience through the things which he suffered, and being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him."[D] Not to those who do not obey him.
[Footnote D: Heb. v: 8,9.]
From these scriptures we deduce the following definition: The Gospel is the power of God unto salvation unto every one who believes and obeys it.
[CHAPTER II.]
GENERAL SALVATION.
Having defined what the Gospel is, it is my purpose now, for convenience, to separate the subject into two grand divisions. These I shall call respectively: General Salvation, and Individual Salvation.
By General Salvation, I mean a salvation that is as universal as the race of man; that will extend to the sinner as well as to the saint; to the unbeliever, as well as to him who believes; to the impenitent, as well as to the penitent; in short, a salvation that is secured to every son and daughter of Adam, irrespective of his or her belief or unbelief, obedience or disobedience.
By Individual Salvation, I mean a salvation from certain consequences that result from transgressing one or more of God's holy laws; a salvation secured by complying with certain conditions specified in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and which can only be secured to those who fulfill said conditions.
First, then, as to General Salvation: Whatever mystery may hang over man's existence, he is conscious of these two facts: first, that he does exist; and second, judging from all human experience, as well as by the decrees of God, the time will come when he will die. No matter how strong the body, how perfect the health, or how buoyant the spirit, man knows that sooner or later time will sap the vital forces, unbend the body's strength, and in a few years the all- beholding sun shall see him no more in all his course.
The experience of the race proves that man is dust, and to dust he must return. It is true that a few, for the time being, have escaped this fate, through being translated by the special providence of God; as in the case of Enoch and many of his people;[A] the prophet Elijah;[B] the three Nephite apostles,[C] and also John, the apostle.[D] But even those who have attained this peculiar privilege, will doubtless yet have to pass through the mysterious change we call death, in order that the decrees of God may be fulfilled. This calamity of death, then, falls upon all mankind; and it was brought into the world through no act of theirs.
[Footnote A: Pearl of Great Price pp. 18, 19, 22.]
[Footnote B: II. Kings ii., Doc. and Cov. Sec. cx. 13.]
[Footnote C: III. Nephi xxvii: 7-33.]
[Footnote D: St. John xxi: 21-25, Doc. and Cov. Sec. vii.]
Adam transgressed the commandments given to him by his God; and through that act, sowed the seeds of death, and became mortal, and his progeny inherited, as a legacy, that mortality, and so death passed upon all mankind. And since death was brought upon mankind through no act or fault of theirs, justice demands that they should receive full and complete redemption from that evil which falls upon them through the acts of another, over which they had no control.
Such redemption has been wrought cut through the Atonement of Jesus Christ; and, in proof that that redemption from the consequences of Adam's transgression is universal, extending alike to the righteous and unrighteous, I cite the following scripture: "And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth, shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt."[E]
[Footnote E: Dan. xii: 2.]
From this it appears that not only the righteous —those who are worthy of everlasting life—are to come forth from their graves, but also the wicked—those worthy only of shame and everlasting contempt. To this agrees the testimony of Jesus, "For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son, life in himself.
"Marvel not at this; for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in their graves 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."[F] Or, as the last two clauses were given to the Prophet Joseph Smith, by inspiration: "They who have done good in the resurrection of the just, and they who have done evil in the resurrection of the unjust."[G]
[Footnote F: John v: 26, 28, 29.]
[Footnote G: Doc. and Cov. Sec. lxxv: 16, 17.]
This, too, is in harmony with Paul's teaching, pronounced on the occasion of his defense before Felix: "After the way which they call heresy, so worship I the God of my fathers, believing all things which are written in the law and in the prophets; and have hope towards God, which they themselves also allow, that there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and the unjust."[H]
[Footnote H: Acts xxiv: 14, 15.]
If it were necessary to add anything more to this array of testimony, it would be found in the words of John the Revelator. In the twentieth chapter of Revelations is given an account, first, of the resurrection of the just, and their reign of peace upon the earth for a thousand years; and then follows a description of the general resurrection in which the writer says: "And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them, and they were judged every man according to his works."[I]
[Footnote I: Rev. xx: 12, 13.]
It is certain, then, that the resurrection of the dead is universal, extending alike to all classes and races of men. And thus there is a general salvation from the consequences of Adam's fall. "For as by the offense of one (Adam) judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one (Christ) the free gift came upon all men to the justification of life."[J] And again, "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."[K]
[Footnote J: Rom. v: 18.]
[Footnote K: I. Cor. xv: 21, 22.]
The reader will observe that the redemption is as universal as the fall. If it were possible, still more explicit is the testimony of the Book of Mormon on this subject of man's redemption, as will be seen from the following passages: "And he (Christ) shall come into the world to redeem his people; and he shall take upon him the transgressions of those who believe on his name; and these are they that shall have eternal life, and salvation cometh to none else; therefore the wicked remain as though there had been no redemption made, except it be the loosing of the bands of death; for behold, the day cometh that all shall rise from the dead and stand before God, and be judged according to their works."
"Now there is a death which is called a temporal death; and the death of Christ shall loose the bands of this temporal death, that all shall be raised from this temporal death: the spirit and the body shall be re-united again in its perfect form; both limb and joint shall be restored to its proper frame, even as we now are at this time; and we shall be brought to stand before God, knowing even as we know now, and have a bright recollection of all our guilt. Now, this restoration shall come to all, both old and young, both bond and free, both male and female, both the wicked and the righteous; and even there shall not so much as a hair of their heads be lost; but all things shall be restored to its perfect frame, as it is now, or in the body, and shall be brought and be arraigned before the bar of Christ the Son, and God the Father, and the Holy Spirit, which is one eternal God, to be judged according to their works, whether they be good or whether they be evil."[L]
[Footnote L: Alma xi: 40, 41, 42, 43, 44.]
"Behold I have given unto you my gospel, and this is the gospel which I have given unto you, that I came into the world to do the will of my Father, because my Father sent me; and my Father sent me that I might be lifted up upon the cross; and after that I had been lifted up upon the cross, that I might draw all men unto me; that as I have been lifted up by men, even so should men be lifted up by the Father, to stand before me, to be judged of their works, whether they be good or whether they be evil. And for this cause have I been lifted up; therefore, according to the power of the Father, I will draw all men unto me, that they may be judged according to their works."[M]
[Footnote M: III Nephi xxvii: 13-15.]
"Behold, he (Christ) created Adam, and by Adam came the fall of man. And because of the fall of man, came Jesus Christ, even the Father and the Son; and because of Jesus Christ, came the redemption of man. And because of the redemption of man, which came by Jesus Christ, they are brought back into the presence of the Lord; yea, this is wherein all men are redeemed, because the death of Christ bringeth to pass the resurrection, which bringeth to pass a redemption from an endless sleep, from which sleep all men shall be awoke by the power of God, when the trump shall sound; and they shall come forth, both small and great, and all shall stand before his bar, being redeemed and loosed from this eternal band of death, which death is a temporal death."[N]
[Footnote N: Moroni ix: 12, 13.]
Still, some of skeptical inclination, will refuse to admit that justice has its perfect development in this scheme of redemption through Christ's Atonement. They insist that the sin of Adam should not be visited upon his posterity even for a moment. Why should man die? How is it that through the sacrifice of one who is innocent, salvation may be purchased for those under the dominion of death?
[CHAPTER III.]
GENERAL SALVATION.
In answer to the questions with which the last chapter closed, I may say that however difficult it may be to comprehend fully all things connected with man's fall, and God's plan for his redemption, we may be assured that the fall was not a blunder, nor was it an accident. The prophet Lehi bowed down under the weight of years, when giving his last testimony and instructions to his son Jacob, said: "Behold, all things have been done in the wisdom of him who knoweth all things. Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy."[A]
[Footnote A: II Nephi II: 24, 25.]
All that has befallen man, we may rest assured, is essential to his eternal and perfect happiness. From our limited experience, we know that men learn to appreciate the joys of prosperity by drinking deeply from the cup of adversity; they learn to prize the boon of health, by languishing upon the bed of affliction; they learn the value of wealth, by experiencing want and poverty; the sweets of life are rendered still more sweet by the draughts of bitterness we are compelled to drink; and the ever intermittent gleams of sunshine are made more bright by the renewing storms which darken the sky; and thus—
"Tis sorrow builds the shining ladder up,
Whose golden rounds are our calamities."
As it is with these things I have mentioned, so it is in respect to the greatest blessing Deity can bestow upon man—the gift of eternal life. How great that gift, it is difficult for us to understand. It is not to live merely three score years, nor a thousand years, nor ten thousand years, but eternally; and while
"The stars shall fade away, the sun himself
Grow dim with age, and nature sink in years;
Man shall flourish in immortal youth.
Unhurt amid the war of elements,
The wreck of matter and the crash of worlds."—
But in order that his children might know how to prize the greatest of all his gifts. Deity has ordained that they should pass through the dark valley of death; and in the meantime, by passing through this probation we call life, they might have the opportunity of demonstrating before the heavens their integrity to principles of righteousness and truth; and by coming in contact with evil, they might forever prize that which is pure and good: that vice might ever be hideous to them, and virtue lovely—and thus the eternal happiness of man be made secure. Thus with death, as with many other things, that which at times we consider our greatest calamity, turns out to be our greatest good.
As to the second question[B]—How is it that through the sacrifice of one who is innocent salvation may be purchased for those under the dominion of death?—I will observe, in passing, that what should most concern us, is, not so much how it is that such is the case, but is it a fact. Is it true that God has established such a scheme of redemption, is what should concern us most.
[Footnote B: See Discourse of J. Taylor, J. of D. vol 10, p. 114.]
To that question the blood sprinkled upon a thousand Jewish altars, and the smoke that darkened the heavens for ages from burnt offerings, answers yes. For those sacrifices, and that sprinkled blood were but typical of the great sacrifice to be made by the Messiah.
Even the mythology of heathen nations retains the idea of an atonement that either has been, or is to be made for mankind. Fantastic, distorted, confused; buried under the rubbish of savage superstition it may be, but it nevertheless exists. So easily traced, so distinct is this feature of heathen mythology, that some writers have endeavored to prove that the gospel plan of redemption was derived from heathen mythology. Whereas the fact is that the Gospel was understood and extensively preached in the earliest ages;[C] men retained in their tradition a knowledge of those principles or parts of them, and however much they may have been distorted, traces of them may still be found in nearly all the mythologies of the world.
[Footnote C: See Pearl of Great Price, Writings of Moses, pp. 12 to 31. Gal iii, 8. Heb. iv, 2, in connection with latter part of chap iii. I Cor. X, 1-4. Mediation and Atonement by the late Prest. John Taylor —Appendix.]
The prophets of the Jewish scriptures answer the foregoing question in the affirmative. The writers of the New Testament make Christ's Atonement the principal theme of their discourses and epistles. The Book of Mormon, speaking as the voice of an entire continent of people, whose prophets and righteous men sought and found God, testifies to the same great fact. The revelations of God as given through the Prophet Joseph Smith are replete with passages confirming this doctrine, and lastly, the Saints who have received this doctrine and walked in obedience to the laws of heaven, bear testimony that the Spirit of God has borne record to their spirits that the Atonement of Christ is a grand reality.
This evidence is more than sufficient, it seems to me, to establish the fact of the atonement beyond the possibility of a doubt; and if there are some things in it not within the scope of our comprehension, still there is sufficient foundation for our glorious hope of eternal life through its power; for the evidence proving the fact of that Atonement is sufficient, wanting nothing, either in quality or quantity.
The Atonement is not the only fact which man accepts without being able to comprehend it. Such facts exist all about us. For example, here stands a row of trees; here is the plum tree, the peach, pear, apple, cherry and the apricot. They send their roots down into the same soil; their fibres become interlaced in it; and yet each tree has the mysterious power to draw from the same soil the substances which produce its own peculiar fruit. So it is throughout the vegetable kingdom. But how it is that the peach tree produces the peach, while the plum tree, from the same soil, produces the plum; or how one plant produces wheat, while another at its side produces barley, we cannot tell. But there is the fact; and how stupid would he be considered who rejected the fact, because, forsooth, he cannot understand the mysterious powers or forces which produce it!
As Bishop Watson remarks to Sir Edward Gibbon, in the letters which comprise his Apology for Christianity:—"In physics you cannot comprehend the primary cause of anything: not of the light by which you see; nor of the elasticity of the air by which you hear; nor of the fire by which you are warmed. In physiology you cannot tell what first gave motion to the heart, nor what continues it, nor why its motion is less voluntary than the lungs; nor why you are able to move your arms to the right or left by a simple volition; * * * nor comprehend the principle by which your body was at first formed, nor by which it is sustained, nor by which it will be reduced to earth." The list might be indefinitely extended, for the facts in nature which are incomprehensible are more numerous than those of revelation. And yet those who insist that all the facts connected with revelation should be of such a character that they are perfectly comprehended, refuse not to accept the facts in nature because they are incomprehensible. Why cannot they treat with equal fairness the facts of revelation and leave it to time and further revelation to make that clear which is now obscure?
[CHAPTER IV.]
GENERAL SALVATION.
Unbelievers delight to represent God, the great Law Giver, as unspeakably cruel in demanding such an Atonement as Christ made for the salvation of the children of men. But let it be borne in mind that he who made the Atonement did so voluntarily. Testifying to his disciples respecting the matter he says: "Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up 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. This commandment have I received of my Father."[A]
[Footnote A: John x. 17,18.]
When his enemies gathered about him,—a former friend betraying him with a kiss,—and Peter prepared to defend him with the sword, he chided him for his rashness, commanding him to put up his sword, and added: "Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels? But how then shall the scriptures be fulfilled, that thus it must be?"[B]
[Footnote B: Matt. xxvi: 53, 54.]
Thus down to the very last moment, it appears that Jesus could have been delivered from the sacrifice had he so willed it. But the principle which was the guiding-star of his life—"Father, not my will, but thy will be done" influenced him in this instance, and he drank of the cup given him of his Father, and wrung out the dregs in agony; but he did it voluntarily, and that, too, out of his great love for mankind.
Among men we sometimes see this willingness to suffer for others. Men there are who would lay down their lives for their friends. In the times when imprisonment for debt was customary in England, we often meet instances where out of pure love and kindness towards his fellows, a man under no obligation whatever to do so, has paid the debts of the unfortunate, satisfied the demands of the law, and set the captive free. It is related of Lord Byron that when he was a lad attending school, a companion of his fell under the displeasure of a cruel, overbearing bully, who unmercifully beat him. Byron happened to be present, but knowing the uselessness of undertaking a fight with the bully, he stepped up to him and asked him how much longer he intended to beat his friend. "What's that to you?" gruffly demanded the bully. "Because," replied young Byron, the tears standing in his eyes, "I will take the rest of the beating if you will let him go."
That partakes to some extent, at least enough so for illustration, of the spirit by which the Son of God was actuated when he offered himself a ransom for mankind, to redeem them from the power and dominion of death, from which they were powerless to free themselves.
There was something more, however, in the suffering of the Messiah than merely the ordinary pangs and terrors of personal death. As stated by the late President John Taylor, "The suffering of the Son of God was not simply the suffering of personal death; for in assuming the position that he did in making an atonement for the sins of the world, he bore the weight, the responsibilities and the burden of the sins of all men, which, to us, is incomprehensible. As stated, 'The Lord your Redeemer suffered death in the flesh; wherefore he suffereth the pains of all men.' And Isaiah says: 'Surely he hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows;' also, 'The Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all;' and again, 'he hath poured out his soul unto death, and he was numbered with the transgressors, and he bear the sins of many;' or, as it is written in the second book of Nephi, 'For behold, he suffereth the pains all men, yea the pains of every living creature, both men, women and children, who belong to the family of Adam;' whilst in Mosiah it is declared, 'he shall suffer temptations and pains of body, hunger, thirst and fatigue, even more than man can suffer, except it be unto death; for behold, blood cometh from every pore so great shall be his anguish for the wickedness and abominations of his people.'"[C]
[Footnote C: Mediation and Atonement ch. xxi.]
By this Atonement of Messiah's there is especially one fact thrown out into bold relief, that is, the great love of God and Christ for mankind. When you come to think of the unspeakable agony, of the anguish of heart, of the pains that racked the body and distressed the mind of the Savior at the time of his betrayal, and during his trial and crucifixion, you may begin to see how great the love of the Father for mankind must be, when he would consent for his only begotten Son to pass through this great humiliation and affliction, in order to redeem mankind from the bonds of death. On such contemplation increased emphasis will be given to the passage —"In this was manifested the love of God towards us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world that we might live through him."[D] And also to this—"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn, the world, but that the world through him might be saved."[E]
[Footnote D: I. John iv: 9.]
[Footnote E: John iii. 16, 17.]
Then what shall we say for the greatness of the love of the Son of God, who of his own free will volunteered to take upon himself the task of man's redemption! Not only of redeeming him from death, but from the consequences of all sins, that is, on certain conditions, as we shall see further on!
I have often thought that the love of a son for his mother must ever be made stronger, and become more sanctified, through bringing to mind the sufferings which brought her to the very gates of death, to give him life; her subsequent devotion, anxiety, toil and watchfulness in the years of his childhood and youth, making her a being "enskyed and sainted," to him. So it is with Christ. The recollection of the love he bears for us as manifested in the sufferings he endured in our stead, for upon him was laid the iniquity of us all, and by his stripes are we to be healed—the recollection, I say, of his excruciating agony in Gethsemane, where he sweat great drops of blood, in the council chamber of the Jews, in the streets of Jerusalem at the hands of the rabble, and finally upon Calvary, in order to satisfy the inexorable claims of justice, must seal and make perfect the bond of love which connects us with him; and bears witness to the world how great, how infinite the love of Christ for us, how great the price paid for our ransom. Well may the Apostle say—"Ye are not your own, for ye are bought with a price."[F]
[Footnote F: I Cor. vi. 19, 20.]
In the Atonement made for man, there is a nice balancing of the relative claims of Justice and Mercy. The law given to man being transgressed, Justice demanded the payment of the penalty, which was death. And as Adam had no power to liberate himself from the captivity thereof, his sleep in the grave must have been eternal; so also with all his posterity to whom his mortality was bequeathed as an evil legacy, had not Mercy put in her claims and prevented Justice from being cruel. The Son of God having it given him to have life in himself,[G] and being capable of making an infinite atonement, he stood forth as the great friend of man and offered himself as a sacrifice to satisfy the claims of Justice. That offering was accepted by the great Law Giver, and upon the demands of Justice being satisfied, —the law having no further claim upon him, the captive is set free from the dominion of death.
[Footnote G: John v: 26.]
Mercy is not permitted to rob Justice, but she claims her own. Justice is not permitted to be cruel, but he retains his dignity—his demands are satisfied. As the late President Taylor very beautifully and very truthfully said: "Is justice dishonored? No; it is satisfied; the debt is paid. Is righteousness departed from? No; there is a righteous act. All requirements are met. Is judgment violated? No; its demands are fulfilled. Is mercy triumphant? No; she simply claims her own. Justice, judgment, mercy and truth all harmonize as the attributes of Deity. Justice and truth have met together, righteousness and peace have kissed each other, justice and judgment triumphant as well as mercy and peace; all the attributes of Deity harmonize in this great, grand, momentous, just, equitable, merciful and meritorious act."[H]
[Footnote H: Mediation and Atonement, ch. xxiv. To the reader who would make a more thorough investigation of this subject than these pages afford, I refer him to the following passages and works. Book of Mormon, II Nephi Chap. ii. Mosiah xv, 18-27. Alma xxxiv, 7-17. Alma xlii, 1-26. Doc. and Cov. Sec lxxvi, and especially the "Mediation and Atonement" by the late Prest. John Taylor Also Watson's Apology for Christianity, Letter vi. Jenyn's Internal Evidences of the Christian Religion, the concluding chapter.]
Through this Atonement, made by Messiah, a full and complete redemption from the consequences of Adam's transgression is brought about; that is, a victory over the grave is secured; and that, too, through the merits of Jesus Christ, And while the law transgressed by Adam has been vindicated, the posterity of Adam, who became subject to death through his disobedience, are redeemed from the grave without anything being required of them. For as their agency was not concerned in bringing about the mischief, neither is anything demanded of them in order to obtain redemption from it.
So far salvation is free, universal, and unconditional extending to every man, woman and child who has ever breathed the breath of life. And hence the Prophet Joseph Smith wrote as one of the articles of our faith—"We believe that men will be punished for their own sins, and not for Adam's transgression."
This is what I mean, then, by General Salvation Free redemption for all mankind through the resurrection from death, which was the great penalty affixed to the law that Adam transgressed. This is what the Atonement of Christ accomplished for man, but this is not all it did, as we shall see when we come to speak of Individual Salvation.
Meantime, through the fall, comes our present state of probation; our opportunities for gaining an experience in this life; of coming in contact with good and evil; learning to love the one and despise the other, by seeing them placed in contrast with each other, working out their respective results, to the production of happiness on the one hand, and misery on the other. From which experience we shall learn on what basis rests the eternal felicity of intelligences, and how to perpetuate it throughout the ages yet unborn.
[CHAPTER V.]
INDIVIDUAL SALVATION.
Having dealt with what I called General Salvation, I now turn to Individual Salvation. You have seen that man is redeemed from the evils brought upon him through Adam's sin, without any act of belief or obedience being required of him. This is because his agency or will was not exercised in breaking the law given to Adam. The calamity overtakes him through no fault of his; and consequently his deliverance, so far, comes without his seeking—in fact, it comes independent of him. In this matter, man is passive, being acted upon by the relative claims of Justice and Mercy.
But apart from the transgressions of our first parents, there is a vast amount of sin, crime and corruption in the world. Envy, hatred, malice, contention, evil-speaking, jealousy, and covetousness abound; to say nothing of the greater evils of lying, drunkenness, stealing, fornication, adultery, and debauchery of every description, which would be improper even to name.
Selfishness is the starting point of the present system of industrialism; chicanery and fraud enter into all the avenues of trade; dishonesty walks the streets without shame; licentiousness revels in its own wantonness; whoredoms are poisoning the life's blood of the nations; prostitution flaunts its shame upon the streets, and takes up its abode in the very shadow of the church, where men meet to worship God. Instead of beautifying the earth, man is but making many portions of it sink-holes of iniquity; where poverty, misery, degradation, drunkenness, crime and sin lie festering in their filthiness under the sunlight of heaven, until the very earth is defiled under the inhabitants thereof.
Now, who is responsible for all these evils, this seething mass of iniquity, which blights like a hell-sent plague this fair creation of ours—the earth? I answer that every man and every woman and every child, who has arrived at the years of accountability—who understands the difference between good and evil—is responsible for it, so far, and to that extent that his or her individual acts contribute to the grand aggregate of crime in this sin-stained world.
In the commission of these individual sins, too, man's agency becomes a factor. He sins knowingly willfully, and sometimes wantonly. He transgresses the laws of God and of nature in spite of the protests of his conscience, the convictions of his reason and the promptings of his judgment. He becomes desperately wicked and so depraved that he actually seeks evil and loves it. He hugs it to his bosom and cries, "Evil, be thou my good; sin, be thou my refuge!"
For the transgression of that law which brought death into the world. Justice had no claims upon the posterity of Adam, because their agency was not concerned in it, hence a free redemption was provided from the calamity that overtakes them. But in the case of these individual sins, where the agency of every person is exercised, justice demands that the penalties affixed to the violated laws be satisfied, and the transgressors punished. But here again the principle of mercy is active. As I have before stated, the victory over death is not the only benefit arising from the Atonement of the Messiah; but by the sacrifice which he made he purchased mankind as an inheritance for himself, and they became of right under his dominion, for he ransomed them from an endless sleep in the grave. Nor is that all, but as the scripture saith: "He hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows * * * He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed * * * The Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all."[A] So that his Atonement not only broke the bonds of death, but also atoned for the individual sins of men on condition of their obedience—their loyalty to Christ, who by virtue of his Atonement redeemed them from endless death, and therefore of right became their lawgiver, and had power given him to dictate the terms upon which the full benefits of his Atonement should be applied to individuals, in order to release them from the penalties which follow as a consequence of their personal violations of the principles of righteousness.
[Footnote A: Isaiah liii: 5,6.]
First, however, let us settle it in our minds from authority that the Atonement of Christ has this two-fold force that I have ascribed to it, viz.: that it redeems all mankind from death; and also redeems them from the consequences of personal sins, through obedience to Christ.
The first part of the proposition has already been discussed and proven in those chapters devoted to the consideration of General Salvation, and those arguments need not be repeated here.
That the second part is true is evident from such scripture as: "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, and he that believeth not shall be damned;"[B] and, "Being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him."[C] But while you are under the necessity of sustaining the proposition, so far as the Jewish Scriptures are concerned, by inference, by conclusions drawn from the consideration of numerous passages, in the Book of Mormon we have passages which at once sustain the doctrine: "And also 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 woe, woe unto him who knoweth that he rebelleth against God; _for salvation cometh to none such, except it be through repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ_."[D]
[Footnote B: Mark xvi. 16.]
[Footnote C: Heb. v: 16.]
[Footnote D: Mosiah iii: 11, 12.]
Alma, in answering a question asked him by the lawyer Zeezrom, said of Jesus:—"And he shall come into the world to redeem his people; and he shall take upon him the transgressions of those who believe on his name; and these are they that shall have eternal life, and salvation cometh to none else; therefore the wicked remain as though there had been no redemption made, except it be the loosing of the bonds of death; for behold the day cometh that all shall rise from the dead and stand before God and be judged according to their works."[E]
[Footnote E: Alma xi: 40,41.]
Still more plain in relation to the effect that Messiah's Atonement has upon the personal sins of men, is the word of the Lord through the Prophet Joseph Smith to Martin Harris, warning him to repent lest his sufferings be sore—how sore, how exquisite, how hard to bear he knew not: "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, I partook and finished my preparations unto the children of men."[F]
[Footnote F: Doc. and Cov. Sec. xix, 16-18. See also Mosiah iii, 20, 21.]
These passages to my mind prove the dual character of Messiah's Atonement—the redemption from the consequences of Adam's transgression, from death; and redemption from personal sins on condition of implicit obedience to the laws of Christ—to the gospel, which we have already seen is the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes and obeys it.
It will doubtless be observed by the attentive reader that upon this showing those who die before they are capable of knowing good or evil, before they arrive at the years of accountability and who, therefore, are pure and innocent, are saved by the merits of Jesus Christ alone. Being redeemed from the death brought upon them by the fall of Adam, by the Atonement made by Christ, and having committed no personal sins —dying in the days of their innocence—they have nothing to repent of. Having broken no law. Justice has no claim upon them; they fall into the arms of Mercy alone, and there they are secure. Well might Jesus exclaim—"Suffer little children to come unto me, for of such is the kingdom of heaven!" But those who interpret that scripture to mean that little children have to be baptized or perform or have performed for them any other ordinance, in order that they might come unto Christ, or to save them in the kingdom of God, are woefully ignorant of the gospel, and fail to grasp the grandeur, the consistency the perfection there is in it.
It was doubtless these considerations which caused Mormon to say, in writing to his son Moroni: "Listen to the words of Christ your Redeemer, your Lord and your God. Behold I came into the world not to call the righteous but sinners to repentance: the whole need no physician, but they that are sick; wherefore little children are whole for they are not capable of committing sin, wherefore the curse of Adam is taken from them in me, that it hath no power over them; * * * and after this manner did the Holy Ghost manifest the word of God unto me, wherefore my beloved son, I know that it is solemn mockery before God that ye should baptize little children. Behold I say unto you that this thing shall ye teach, repentance and baptism unto those who are accountable and capable of committing sin; yea, teach parents that they must repent and be baptized and humble themselves as their little children, and they shall all be saved with their little children. And their little children need no repentance, neither baptism* * * Little children are alive in Christ, even from the foundation of the world."[G]
[Footnote G: Moroni viii, 8-12.]
No less implicit is the word of the Lord through the Prophet Joseph Smith: "But behold I say unto you, that little children are redeemed from the foundation of the world through mine Only Begotten. Wherefore they cannot sin, for power is not given unto Satan to tempt little children, until they begin to become accountable before me."[H]
[Footnote H: Doc. and Cov. Sec. xxix, 46, 47.]
Moreover, it appears that Mercy has special claims upon those men and women, and also upon nations and races who know not the laws of God, or have never heard the gospel. The first Nephi in speaking of the Atonement of Christ and its effects where proclaimed and rejected, says: "Wherefore he has given a law; and where there is no law given there is no punishment; and where there is no punishment, there is no condemnation; and where there is no condemnation, the mercies of the Holy One of Israel have claim upon them because of the Atonement; for they are delivered by the power of him (Christ); for the Atonement satisfieth the demands of his justice upon all those who have not the law given to them, that they are delivered from that awful monster, death and hell and the devil, and the lake of fire and brimstone (see Alma xii, 17),[I] which is endless torment; and they are restored to that God who gave them breath, which is the Holy One of Israel."[J]
[Footnote I: The torments of the ungodly sinners are likened unto a lake of fire and brimstone by this writer, Nephi—not that sinners are plunged into a lake of fire and brimstone as so-called orthodox Christians teach. Indeed, in the above passages there is a definition of what the lake of fire is—it is "endless torment," which ever exists for the punishment of impenitent sinners—each one partaking of it to such a degree and for such time as is necessary to satisfy the demands of justice. In the very chapter above quoted Nephi says of the wicked: "And their torment is as a lake of fire and brimstone, whose flames ascendeth up for ever and ever, and have no end.">[
[Footnote J: II. Nephi ix, 25, 26.]
And so Moroni: "For the power of redemption Cometh on all they that have no law; wherefore he that is not condemned, or he that is under no condemnation cannot repent; and unto such baptism availeth nothing."[K]
[Footnote K: Moroni viii, 22.]
To this also agrees the teachings of Paul: "For as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law;[L] and as many as have sinned in the law, shall be judged by the law."[M]
[Footnote L: I venture the suggestion, basing it on the sense of the whole passage, that it should read: "Shall also be judged without the law.">[
[Footnote M: Rom ii, 12.]
So also the word of the Lord to Joseph Smith: "And again I say unto you, that whosoever having knowledge, have I not commanded to repent? And he that hath no understanding it remaineth in me to do as it is written."[N]
[Footnote N: Doc. and Cov. Sec. xxix, 49, 50.]
Hence it is that the heathen nations who have had no law given to them, and have died without law, will have part in the first resurrection.[O]
[Footnote O: Doc. and Cov. Sec. xlv, 54. See also Mosiah xv, 24, 25.]
Still, those who have died without law are placed at this disadvantage; that if they are not under the condemnation of the law, through not having had it delivered to them, neither are they sanctified by the law, and consequently their development in spiritual knowledge and experience is not such as may warrant us in expecting that they are prepared to inherit the same degree of glory with those who have received the law of the gospel, faithfully observed all its requirements and through their obedience have become sanctified by it, and inherit the celestial glory, the highest of all. Therefore, it is written of those who die without the law: "These are they who are of the terrestrial [world], whose glory differs from that of the church of the First Born, who have received the fullness of the Father, even as the moon differs from the sun in the firmament. Behold these are they who died without law."[P]
[Footnote P: Doc. and Cov. Sec. lxxvi, 71, 72.]
I know of nothing that is written, however, which prevents us from believing that they may, eventually, enter the celestial kingdom. Of one thing at least we may rest assured, and that is, that they will receive all the glory, all the exaltation, that their capacity can comprehend and enjoy, and they will be satisfied with the mercy and justice of God.[Q]
[Footnote Q: See chapter on Salvation for the Dead.]
But now to return to those to whom the gospel is preached, and who can only hope for salvation from the penalties affixed to sin, by obeying the precepts and ordinances thereof. How far is their obedience taxed? What principles are they to accept, what precepts practice, what ordinances observe?
To the first question I make answer: That since Christ ransomed mankind by his own death and suffering, from an endless sleep in the grave, in order to attain the additional grace of an immunity from the consequences of our personal violations of the laws of righteousness—a forgiveness of sins—man's obedience to him must be implicit and absolute. It is the duty of man to obey the whole Gospel, all precepts, all ordinances, as far as they are made known unto him—in short, it is binding on him to live by every word which proceedeth from the mouth of God. In proof of this, I have only to add that when Jesus commanded his apostles to go into the world and preach the Gospel he said: "Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you"[R]
[Footnote R: Matt. xxviii, 19, 20.]
There is no one single thing, however great, that man can do and then be under no further obligations to continue to observe the laws of righteousness. The reply of Jesus to the young man who came running to him saying, "Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?" was—"If you will enter into life, keep the commandments." The young man asked, "which;" that is, which of the commandments must he keep. And here I will say that by reading a little between the lines it is not difficult to see that the young man had an idea that there was some great thing he could do, and by that one act secure eternal life. But the answer of Jesus dispelled that illusion, for he said:—"Thou shalt do no murder, thou shalt not commit adultery, thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not bear false witness; honor thy father and thy mother; and thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. The young man sayeth, all these things have I kept from my youth up; what lack I yet? Jesus said unto him, if thou wilt be perfect, go and sell all thou hast and give it to the poor, * * * and come and follow me."[S]
[Footnote S: Matt. xix: 16-22.]
It will be observed from the foregoing that it was not enough that the young man keep the commandments in the law of Moses, not enough that he sell all that he had and give it to the poor, but he must then come and follow his Master. How much that means! But I shall not particularize, I shall sum up the matter by saying' that this case, together with the observations in the preceding chapters, plainly proves that if man would be perfect, if he would obtain the full benefits of Messiah's atonement, complete absolution from his personal violation of holy, righteous laws, as well as deliverance from the grave, his obedience to the laws of Christ— the Gospel, must be implicit, absolute.
[CHAPTER VI.]
PRINCIPLES AND ORDINANCES.
In this chapter I shall deal briefly and collectively with those principles that must be accepted, the ordinances that must be observed, the precepts that must be followed and the kind of a life that must be led in order to secure a forgiveness of individual sins, and obtain and grow in the favor of heaven—in short, what laws and ordinances man is required to obey in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
I shall enter into no analysis of the respective principles spoken of, but shall merely point them out, and enter into a more particular consideration of them further on in the work.
Certain it is that faith enters into and forms a part of the Gospel. Men are required to believe in God, and in Jesus Christ: and by that I mean, not merely an assent to their existence, but an acceptance of the whole system of truth revealed by them for man's salvation. Faith of necessity is a factor in the Gospel, because it is the incentive to all action; for unless men believe in God's existence, and in the revelations and commandments which he has given them, they will consider themselves under no obligations to obey him; and hence will neglect the things which concern their salvation. It was the knowledge of this fact, doubtless, which led Paul to say: "He that cometh to God must believe that he is (i.e. exists), and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him."[A] And Jesus, too, when he said: "If ye believe not that I am he (the Redeemer, the Son of God), ye shall die in your sins."[B]—had the same thing in his mind.
[Footnote A: Heb. xi: 6.]
[Footnote B: John viii: 24.]
Hence, I say, faith is of necessity a part of the Gospel, a fundamental principle of it; and therefore much importance is given to it by the writers of Scripture. How great that importance is may be learned from the fact that Jesus said, on the one hand, "He that heareth my word, and believeth on Him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life":[C] while on the other hand He said, "He that believeth not shall be damned."[D]
[Footnote C: John v: 25.]
[Footnote D: Mark xvi: 16.]
Belief in God and in Jesus Christ—in the sense I have described in the foregoing—when once fixed in the mind and heart, leads men to obedience to God's laws. It leads them to repentance and every other good work.
Repentance is made particularly prominent in the scheme of man's salvation. It was taught by John the Baptist in the wilderness of Judea; the main feature of his mission seemed to have been to call men to repentance. It was taught, too, by Messiah himself. On the occasion of some telling him of certain Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices, he said: "Suppose ye that these Galileans were sinners above all Galileans, because they suffered these things? I tell you nay; but except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish."[E]
[Footnote E: Luke xiii: 1, 3.]
Going to the time when the Apostles began to fulfill the mission given to them to preach the Gospel, it will be found that this same principle, in connection with others, is urged upon the acceptance of the people. On that occasion Peter preached a discourse in which he proved from the old Scriptures that Jesus was the Messiah, and in answer to the cries of the people, "Men and brethren, what shall we do?" he answered, "Repent and be baptized every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost."[F]
[Footnote F: Acts ii: 38.]
Following this case is another, also recorded in the Acts of the Apostles, in which the Gospel was taught and obeyed by the people of Samaria, under the teachings of one Philip and the apostles Peter and John. In this latter case there is a development of the same principles that were taught on the day of Pentecost. I can do no better than quote the passage which gives the history of the circumstance: "Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria and preached Christ unto them. And the people with one accord gave heed unto those things which Philip spake, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did. For unclean spirits, crying with loud voices, came out of many that were possessed with them; and many taken with palsies, and that were lame, were healed. And there was great joy in that city: * * * [and] when they believed Philip preaching the things concerning the kingdom of God, and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. * * * Now when the apostles which were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent unto them Peter and John: who, when they were come down, prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Ghost (for as yet he was fallen upon none of them; only they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus). Then laid they their hands on them, and they received the Holy Ghost."[G]
[Footnote G: Acts viii: 5-8, 12, 14-17.]
The same principles that are here taught— the same ordinances that were observed by the people of Samaria—are enumerated in another scripture, as the "principles of the doctrine of Christ." The language is: "Therefore not[H] leaving the principles of the doctrines of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith towards God, of the doctrines of baptisms, and of the laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment, and this will we do if God permit."[I]
[Footnote H: I quote the passage here as it stands in the inspired translation of the Bible—or, rather, what should be called the inspired revision of the Bible—by the Prophet Joseph, that is, "not leaving the principles," etc.; and it seems to me that all must agree that that is right. For, admitting that faith, for instance, is a principle of the doctrine of Christ—and it is enumerated as one in this very passage —how can that principle be left and we go on unto perfection? It is a principle that enters into religious life, no matter how far advanced in all that is excellent the individual may be. It is a principle that underlies the actions of the Gods, and enters into their life and work—"by faith the worlds were made." We might as well admonish the mathematician to leave the fundamental principles of his science and expect him to go on unto perfection. But he cannot do it. The simple principle of addition, subtraction, multiplication and division, enter into his calculation?, whatever his advancement in the science of numbers; and in like manner the fundamental principles of the gospel are connected with our spiritual advancement, and we cannot leave them, and go on to perfection —hence Joseph Smith's rendering must be correct.]
[Footnote I: Heb. vi: 1-3.]
It is scarcely necessary for me to say that these doctrines must be accepted, and the ordinances observed by those who would obtain favor with God, and the remission of their sins; for I have already pointed out the fact, that implicit obedience to the law of Christ—the Gospel—is the only means of salvation for man. And furthermore it is written: "Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son."[J]
[Footnote J: II. John ix.]
It would seem, then, that it is binding upon man to receive the whole Gospel, with all its principles, precepts, ordinances and sacraments. And not only are they to be received but the candidate for eternal life should continue therein. He must not be content with being born of the water and of the spirit into the kingdom; he should not forever remain in his childhood in spiritual things: but as the natural child gradually obtains control over the limbs, and makes them obey his will, either to stand erect, walk, or run; and so continues until he develops into the skillful workman whose hand is able to execute whatever his brain conceives—so in spiritual things—those born into the kingdom of God should grow in grace and in the knowledge of the truth. The injunction placed upon those who accept the faith of the Gospel[K] is that they add to their "faith, virtue; and to virtue, knowledge; and to knowledge, temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience, godliness; and to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, charity. For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ."[L]
[Footnote K: The reader will observe that the words of Peter which I quote in the above are addressed by him "to them that have obtained like precious faith" with himself—to the Saints (see 1st verse of the chapter quoted), hence I say the injunction is to those who have accepted the Gospel—to the children of the Kingdom.]
[Footnote L: II. Peter i: 5-8.]
Such, in brief, is the Gospel of Jesus Christ as taught by the Messiah and his apostles in Palestine. The same was taught by the prophets and apostles among the Nephites on the western hemisphere. The same is restored to the earth in our day through the revelations of God and the inspired teachings of Joseph Smith, and other men whom the Lord has raised up in this generation. Such are the principles which in the aggregate constitute the power of God unto salvation to those who believe and obey them.
[CHAPTER VII.]
FAITH.
It is now my purpose to enter into a more particular consideration of the respective principles and ordinances which constitute the Gospel, or plan of man's salvation.
First in order, both from necessity and because of its importance, is the principle of faith. And following the same method of investigation I adopted at the commencement of this inquiry, viz: defining as clearly as I am able, the meaning of the words and terms used, I come to the question. What is faith? And in answer say that it is an assurance in the mind of the existence and reality of things which one has not seen, or which to him have not been demonstrated. It may be an assurance in the mind of the existence of some Being whom we have not seen, but whose works are visible, and who has been seen by others; or it may be of the transpiring of some event at which we were not present, but of which others bear witness; or it may be an assurance of the correctness of certain deductions based upon scientific calculations, though the principles of the science, and the method of dealing with them, by which the conclusions are reached, we neither understand nor are able to follow; in whatever it may be, that assurance of the mind which accepts as truth those things which one has not seen, and does not know for a certainty from his own experience to be absolutely true, is faith. For example, to bring to our aid the assistance of illustration, few, perhaps none of my readers have ever seen the Lord Jesus Christ; yet the writers of the New Testament bear testimony to the reality of his existence, and relate the circumstances which make up his eventful career. The writers of the Book of Mormon do the same in relation to his labors on the western hemisphere Joseph Smith testifies that, in vision, he saw both Jesus and his Father, in the spring of 1820.[A] Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon bear record that they saw him in February, 1832;[B] and Oliver Cowdery and Joseph Smith say they saw him in the Kirtland Temple, in April, 1836.[C] These evidences establish an assurance, or faith, in the mind, concerning the existence of Jesus, the Lord.
[Footnote A: Pearl of Great Price, p. 59.]
[Footnote B: Doc. and Cov., sec. 76.]
[Footnote C: Doc. and Cov., sec. 110.]
Again, none of us, and perhaps no one living, was at the battle of Waterloo; yet the fact of that battle taking place is testified to by many historians; no one doubts it, and the evidence in the case is so certain, that one may say he has perfect faith or assurance, approaching almost within the lines of absolute knowledge, that the event transpired—that assurance in the mind is faith.
Still another illustration: Mathematicians claim that they can weigh the earth, and measure the distance between our planet and the sun. One may not be acquainted with the methods of their calculations, or the principles involved in them, yet such is the character and learning of the thoughtful men who make the claim, that we accept their statements and conclusions as true, though we may not be able ourselves to comprehend the science which reveals to them, perhaps to the certainty of demonstration, these facts:—this confidence in their statements—this assurance of the mind, is faith.
Other elements enter into this principle, but at this stage of our investigation, I desire to present the subject in its simple rather than in its complex character.
A step further in the investigation of this principle brings us to the consideration of the facts upon which faith rests, or from which it springs. I think a careful reading of the remarks already made in this chapter will lead the reader to see that faith is based upon evidence, upon testimony. It is the evidence we have in the testimonies of the writers of our Scripture, and the prophets of God to which I have alluded, supported to some extent also by the glorious works of nature, that creates in the mind faith in the existence of God. That Paul held these views, that is, that faith is based upon evidence, is clearly seen in this passage: "For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. How, then, shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach except they be sent? So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God;"[D] or, in plainer terms— "faith cometh by hearing the word of God."[E]
[Footnote D: Rom. x: 13-17.]
[Footnote E: I understand that such is the rendering of this passage—Rom. x: 17—by the Prophet Joseph.]
Faith is based upon evidence, then, and here I would remark, that the faith will be true or false according as the evidence or testimony is truthful or untruthful. Evidence is to faith what the fountain is to the stream; and as an impure fountain cannot send forth pure streams, so incorrect evidence cannot establish a true or profitable faith.
By way of illustration I borrow the following from the Works of Orson Pratt:
"When Europeans first began their explorations in the New World, the Indians whom they met were much amazed at the power and explosive properties of gun-powder, and asked many questions respecting the manner in which it was produced. The Europeans, taking advantage of the ignorance of the savages, and seeing an opportunity to increase their wealth by the deception, told the Indians that it was the seed of a plant which grew in the lands they had come from, and doubtless it would thrive in their land also. The Indians, of course, believed this statement and purchased the supposed seed, giving in exchange for it large quantities of gold. In implicit faith they carefully planted the supposed seed, and anxiously watched for its sprouting and the appearance of the plant; but it never came. They had faith in the statements made to them by the Europeans, but as these statements were false, and therefore the evidence on which the Indians based their belief untrue, their faith was vain."
Thus must it ever be. Only correct evidence, only truthful testimony can produce fruitful, profitable faith. No matter how sincere one's belief may be in an error, that will not transform the error into truth. The sincere faith of the Indians in what the Europeans had said about the "gun-powder seed" did not make that substance produce a plant yielding gun-powder. And so faith in false doctrines, founded upon false testimony, cannot savor of salvation.
It is also worthy of note, in passing, that the character and intensity of the faith depends largely upon the quality and quantity of the evidence. If a credible witness testifies to any matter of fact, however strange or unusual the fact may be, one would have some degree of faith in it; but if another witness to the fact, equally credible with the first, also testifies to the same thing, one's faith would be greatly increased; and so as the evidence was multiplied the faith would grow, until at last faith would become so perfect that it would pass almost into the domain of knowledge.
So much for faith in general. Now to consider it as a principle of revealed religion. Here it occupies a prominent place. It is the foundation on which religion rests, and the source of all righteousness. In religion, it is in God that faith centers; it is to him that religious faith directs the eyes of man, and bids him hope through Christ to obtain eternal life. And as this is the primary principle in religion, it is my purpose to show from the Scriptures that there is an abundance of evidence which, if carefully considered, will not fail to produce faith in the mind of him who is desirous to know the truth as to the existence of God, the divinity of Christ's mission and the truth of the Gospel.
Before I proceed with that investigation from the Scriptures, however, I think it will be profitable to inquire briefly into the authenticity and credibility of the Scriptures themselves; that is, as to the Jewish Scriptures; for I consider such an inquiry respecting our other Scriptures, the Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants and the revelations contained in the Pearl of Great Price, as altogether unnecessary here.
The reason that I undertake to devote several chapters to this inquiry, is because some have supposed that the testimony of the Bible respecting God is so far imperfect that it is scarcely reliable. And to the extent of my ability, I desire to check a growing skepticism in relation to the Bible, and therefore will endeavor to prove that not only are the revelations contained in the Bible sufficient to lay a sure foundation for an intelligent belief in God, but that the Bible itself is both authentic and credible. I must ask my readers to remember, however, that this of itself is a subject for a volume, and I can but devote a few pages to it; and therefore ask that too much be not expected.
[CHAPTER VIII.]
FAITH.—THE BIBLE.
A word, in passing, on the Bible as a whole, I am of the opinion that a very great many people look upon the Bible as simply one book, one testimony—one witness for God; when in fact it is not one book, but a collection of books; not one witness for God, but the collected testimony of many witnesses for him.
The word does not come, I am assured on very good authority, from the word biblos, as many have supposed; nor does it signify the book by way of eminence—the Book of books, but it is a word derived from the Greek biblia, meaning the books, and is a term first applied by Chrysostom to denote the collection of small books which constitute the Old and New Testaments; and this term with the prefix "Holy," soon came into general use. This is how the Jewish Scriptures came to be called the Holy Bible; meaning, really, the holy or sacred books. The Bible is made up of sixty-six distinct books, bound together in one volume, and written by about forty different authors. And if each book is not a separate and independent witness for God, it cannot be denied that each author is.
The first of the sacred writers is Moses, whom Bacon calls "God's first pen;" the last is the Apostle John. These two writers, the first and the last, are separated by a period of some two thousand years; and the men who wrote as they were moved upon by the Holy Ghost, in that lapse of time, and whose works have been preserved to us in the Bible, occupied various positions in life, ranging from the grand old war king of Israel, David, and the wise king Solomon, down to the humble shepherd Amos, the despised tax collector Matthew, and Peter, the unlearned fisherman. But whatever the condition of life occupied by these men, or whatever the nature of their respective writings, whether histories, biographies, poems, prophecies, or only didactic discourses on morals or religion, they all, in some way or other, bear witness to the existence of God, and give us some information respecting his character and attributes.
It is now our task to inquire briefly into the authenticity and integrity of these writings. For convenience I shall take up the two Testaments, the Old and the New, separately:
First, then, the Old Testament: It is maintained by the best biblical scholars, that the books which now constitute the Old Testament, were collected as we have them, immediately after the return of the Jews from the captivity in Babylon; that would be about the middle of the fifth century, B. C. The work is ascribed to Ezra, Nehemiah; and the men of the great synagogue. In proof of this they point to the testimony of the son of Sirach, who flourished between the years 310-370, B. C.;[A] and who speaks of the canon—with its three divisions as finally made up.[B] By the "three divisions," I mean those divisions made by the Jews in their scriptures, and which are supposed to be contemporary with the completion of the canon. Those divisions are (1) the Pentateuch, or Law;[C] (2) the Prophets; and (3) the Hagiographa.[D] It is of these divisions that the son of Sirach speaks.
[Footnote A: Vide Kitto.]
[Footnote B: See the prologue to the Book of Ecclesiasticus, in the Apocrypha.]
[Footnote C: The five books of Moses—Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.]
[Footnote D: This is a Greek term for the sacred writings not included in the other two divisions. The Talmud places the following books in this division: Ruth, Psalms, Job, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Canticles, Lamentations, Daniel, Esther, Ezra and Chronicles. The books not included in this list, nor in the Pentateuch, of course, constitute the division called the Prophets.]
Josephus in his first book against Apion (section viii) enumerates twenty-two books, "Which contain the record of all the past times; which are justly believed to be divine; and of them, five belong to Moses, which contain his laws, and the traditions of the origin of mankind till his death. This interval of time was little short of three thousand years; but as to the time from the death of Moses till the reign of Artaxerxes, king of Persia [5th cent. B. C.], the prophets, which were after Moses, wrote down what was done in their time in thirteen books, the remaining four books[E] contain hymns to God and precepts for the conduct of human life. It is true our history hath been written since Artaxerxes, very particularly, but hath not been esteemed of the like authority with the former by our forefathers, because there has not been an exact succession of prophets since that time."
[Footnote E: Our thirty-nine books of the Old Testament were so grouped by the Hebrews as to make but twenty-two, which accorded with the twenty-two letters of the Hebrew alphabet. What are generally known as the minor prophets, twelve in number, are connected as one book. The Book of Ruth was coupled with Judges; Ezra with Nehemiah; Lamentations with Jeremiah; while the two books of Samuel, Kings and Chronicles were counted but one each.]
This testimony settles the question back to the commencement of the fifth century B. C., that is, for a period of about twenty-four hundred years the authorship of the respective books of the Old Testament has been ascribed to the men who today are regarded as their authors. The rabbis say: "The wise men have left us the Law, the Prophets, and the Hagiographa, combined into one whole;" and then they specify the authors of the sacred books. That specification ascribes the respective books to the men now regarded as the author of them. The Talmud says: "Moses received the law at Sinai, and transmitted it to Joshua; Joshua to the Elders; the Elders to the Prophets; the Prophets to the men of the Great Synagogue," and, as we have seen, it was Ezra, Nehemiah, and the men of the Great Synagogue who made up our present collection of books known as the Old Testament. Josephus in speaking of those who wrote the scriptures says— "Every one is not permitted of his own accord to be a writer, nor is there any disagreement in what is written; they being only prophets that have written the original and earliest accounts of things as they learned them of God himself by inspiration; and others have written what hath happened in their own times, and that in a very distinct manner also."[F]
[Footnote F: Josephus against Apion, Book I, Sec. 8.]
From the books of the Old Testament something may be learned as to the manner in which the original parchments of the sacred books were preserved previous to the days of Ezra, extending as far back even as to Moses himself—1451 B. C. and some of the passages that I shall notice— belonging to a subsequent period to Moses, yet previous to the days of Ezra—refer to a collection of sacred books that leave small doubt that the books of Moses and other sacred writings were the ones to which allusion is made.
We are told that after Moses wrote the Law, he delivered it to the priests, the sons of Levi, with a commandment to put it in the side of the Ark of the Covenant,[G] that it might be there for a witness against Israel, whom Moses by the spirit of prophecy, foresaw would turn away from God.
[Footnote G: Deut. xxxi: 9, 24, 25, 26.]
In laying down the duties of the future King of Israel, Moses says: "And it shall be when he sitteth upon the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write him a copy of this law in a book out of that which is before the priests, the Levites"[H] —showing that it was the intention of Moses to have the Law always preserved by the priests. When Joshua had completed the book that bears his name, it is said: "And Joshua wrote these words in the book of the Law of God";[I] which was doubtless the book which Moses had placed in the Ark of the Covenant in care of the priests.
[Footnote H: Deut xvii: 18.]
[Footnote I: Joshua xxiv, 26.]
When the form of government of Israel was changed into a monarchy, Samuel explained the character of the new kingdom to the people, "and wrote it in a book and laid it up before the Lord."[J] This was three hundred and fifty years after Moses, and yet the practice of laying up these important records before the Lord, as Moses had done with his books, still prevailed; and I doubt not were placed side by side with the books of Moses and Joshua, if not attached to them.
[Footnote J: I. Sam. x: 25.]
Four centuries and a half later than Samuel, bringing us to about 640 B. C., in the reign of good king Josiah, Hilkiah, the high priest, when the temple was undergoing some repairs, found the Book of the Law in the house of the Lord,[K] and sent it to the king, who read it; and when he saw how far Israel had departed from the observance of it, and the judgments pronounced against them on condition of their forsaking the law, he sought to lead his people to repentance.
[Footnote K: II. Kings xxii—see the whole chapter.]
Isaiah, some seventy years before this, when wishing to confirm some of his own prophecies, recommended the people to seek out the Book of the Lord and read it.[L] The value of this passage is, that it gives us the testimony of Isaiah that such a book as "the Book of the Lord" was known to the people, that they had access to it, that it was a recognized authority on questions about which there might arise doubts. And there can scarcely be two opinions as to this book, alluded to by Isaiah, being either the original or an authorized copy of the writings placed in the keeping of the priests, and found by Hilkiah.
[Footnote L: Isaiah xxxiv: 16.]
We have traced this matter down to 640 B. C.; there is one more step to take, to reach Ezra, in whose days the books of the Old Testament were collected, some one hundred and eighty-five years after the date above noted.
What became of the sacred records of the Jews at the time Jerusalem was laid waste by Nebuchadnezzar, about 588 B. C.,[M] is difficult to learn. But the document granting permission to Ezra and the priests to go and rebuild the temple at Jerusalem is addressed to him thus: "Artaxerxes, king of kings, unto Ezra, the priest, a scribe of the law of the God of heaven, perfect peace." Then follows permission for all the people of Israel in his realm to go to Jerusalem with Ezra. He then continues: "Forasmuch as thou art sent of the king * * * to inquire concerning Judah and Jerusalem, _according to the law of thy God which is in thy hand_."[N] From this it appears that during the captivity the priests were permitted to retain possession of the sacred records. At any rate Ezra had them when he departed from Babylon for Jerusalem, so that they had been preserved, and that, doubtless, by the priests. This brings us to the period when the books of the Bible were collected as we have them today. And from that time, more than two thousand years ago, until the present, the Old Testament has been what it is now; the multiplication of copies and of translations, as well as the subsequent controversies between Jews and Christians, combined to secure the sacred writings against alterations.
[Footnote M: This is the Hebrew Chronology, according to Usher.]
[Footnote N: Ezra vii: 12-14.]
No one will contend that the Old Testament contains all the writings of the Jews, perhaps not all the sacred or inspired writings; for there are a number of books and writings of prophets referred to in these very books of the Old Testament, which are not to be found in the collection. But that fact does not destroy the value of these we have, or refute the testimony they bear for God. That very care which may have excluded from the sacred collection some books which were really inspired, has also prevented many worthless and uninspired books from becoming connected with the word of God.
What is set down so far in this chapter relates to the Hebrew version of the Scriptures alone; but about three hundred years B. C., by some set down at 285 B. C., an event occurred which did much to preserve the integrity of the Hebrew Scriptures; by that I mean the probability of alterations being made in them was lessened, and they the more likely to be brought down to us just as they were written originally.
At the date above given, Ptolemy Philadelphus, King of Egypt, was gathering up the books which constituted the splendid Alexandrian Library, and being informed by his librarian, Demetrius Phalerius, concerning the Hebrew Scriptures, he at once set himself at work to procure a Greek translation of them. The better to secure this object he set at liberty many Jews in his kingdom, and sent word to the high priest at Jerusalem, Eleazar, his desire, asking that six Elders from each tribe of Israel, such as were skilled in the law, should be sent to him to translate their Scriptures for him. This was done. and it is said that the work was completed in seventy-two days.[O]
[Footnote O: For a full account of this matter see Antiquities of the Jews by Josephus, Book xii, chapter ii.]
This translation is called the Septuagint, meaning the seventy, often represented by the Roman numerals LXX; but whether it is so called because it was translated by about seventy Elders, or for the reason that the translation occupied about seventy days is not clear. At any rate copies of this translation were multiplied, and in the days of Messiah's personal ministering in Judea was the version most in use, and the one he and his Apostles usually referred to, when sustaining their teachings by that which aforetime had been written by inspiration.
That this is true is evident from the following facts: There are in the New Testament 225 quotations from the Old;[P] and of these over one half, that is 120, agree verbatim with the Septuagint. "That these quotations," says an able writer, "must have been taken from the Septuagint is plain from the copia verborum, the remarkable fertility of expression, in the Greek language, which forbids us to believe that, had the quotations been from the Hebrew, the Greek rendering would have agreed verbatim with the passages in the Septuagint version. Of any Old Testament passage made up of only ten words, there are not fewer than thirty modes of translating it into Greek; and such indeed are the possible varieties, that if thirty different persons were translating into Greek a Hebrew sentence of three lines, none of them, though all were to give a perfectly correct rendering, would be found exactly agreeing in the Greek words employed, or in the collection of these."
[Footnote P: The only books in the Old Testament not quoted in the New are Ruth, I. and II. Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon, Lamentations, Obadiah, Nahum and Zephaniah.]
Again, of the one hundred and five remaining quotations in the New Testament, from the Old, thirty-nine agree verbatim with the Septuagint, except that a synonymous word occurs once in two or three lines. There are next, twenty-two quotations agreeing verbatim or nearly so, with the Septuagint, but even in sense differing from the Hebrew text. Hence out of the two hundred and twenty-five quotations in the New Testament from the Old, we may say that not fewer than one hundred and ninety must have been taken from the Septuagint version.
From about three centuries B. C., then, the Old Testament has existed at least in two languages, and this has contributed much, as I before said, to prevent the corruption of the text and preserve the integrity of the Scriptures; for if changes were made in the Hebrew, it would be discovered from the LXX.; and if alterations were made in the LXX., it could be detected from the Hebrew. There were other translations made of the Scriptures into still other languages, but as my space is limited, I cannot give an account of them here.
We have now seen how the books of the Old Testament, as we have them at the present day, were collected by Ezra, some 2400 years ago; we then went to the last book written by Moses— Deuteronomy—and from it learned that his writings were deposited in the ark of the covenant in charge of the priests and Levites; how Joshua and Samuel also laid up their writings before the Lord; and how Isaiah referred the Jews to these sacred writings in confirmation of his own prophecies; how when in 640 B. C. the temple was undergoing some repairs the high priest found in it an ancient copy of the law; and how Ezra in Babylon had the sacred writings in his possession, so that he at that time would have no difficulty in fixing upon the authorship of the sacred books then before him.
I shall further examine this question of the authenticity of the Old Testament in my next chapter, but the testimony I shall there consider will also have a bearing upon its integrity, and will likewise tend to confirm the claims as to its containing the revelations of God to the Jews; and to this latter consideration I especially invite the attention of the reader.
[CHAPTER IX.]
FAITH.—THE OLD TESTAMENT.
Certain it is that the Hebrew Scriptures, the Old Testament, the same collection of books that we now have, was recognized by the Lord Jesus Christ and the prophets and apostles of that dispensation as the word of God, and was referred to by them as "the law and the prophets." This is evident from the fact of their frequently appealing to those scriptures to sustain their own doctrine and teachings. Nearly every book of the Old Testament is quoted in the New, and therefore all the evidence which may be amassed in support of the divinity of Christ and the inspiration of the New Testament, sustains also the authenticity and inspiration of the Old; for the inspired writers of the former appeal to the latter as an unquestioned authority in matters relating to God. Hence, whatever evidence sustains the New Testament, supports also the Old. I trust the reader will bear this in mind, and when I have considered and proved, as I hope to do, the authenticity and credibility of the New Testament, remember that it is a witness for the Old Testament, an important, I might say an infallible one, since it is inspired; it comes as from God.
In our day the evidences which support the authenticity of the Jewish Scriptures have accumulated in a most remarkable manner. In 1835 the two rolls of papyrus, one filled with the writings of Joseph, who was sold into Egypt, and the other with those of Abraham, came into the hands of Joseph Smith. The roll containing the writings of Abraham was translated by the prophet, at least in part, and is published in the Pearl of Great Price under the title of the Book of Abraham. The manner in which these rolls of papyrus came into Joseph Smith's possession was as follows:
In 1831 the celebrated French traveler, Antonio Sebolo, penetrated Egypt as far as the ancient city of Thebes, under a license procured from Mehemet Ali—then viceroy of Egypt—through the influence of Chevalier Drovetti, the French consul. Sebolo employed 433 men for four months and two days; and entering the catacombs near ancient Thebes on the 7th of June, 1831, they procured eleven mummies. These were shipped to Alexandria, and from thence the great traveler started with his treasures for Paris. But en route for the French capital, Sebolo put in at Trieste, where he was taken sick, and after an illness of ten days died. This was in 1832. Previous to his death he willed his Egyptian treasures to his nephew, Michael H. Chandler, who was then living in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, but whom Sebolo believed to be in Dublin, to which city he ordered the mummies shipped.
Mr. Chandler ordered the mummies forwarded to New York, where he took possession of them. There the coffins for the first time were opened, and in them were found two rolls of papyrus covered with engravings. While still in the custom house, Mr. C. was informed by a gentleman, a stranger to him, that no one in the city could translate the characters, but was referred to Joseph Smith, who, the stranger informed him, possessed some kind of gift or power by which he had previously translated similar characters.
Joseph Smith was then unknown to Mr. C. The mummies were shipped to Philadelphia, and from there Mr. C. traveled through the country, exhibiting them and the rolls of papyrus. He finally passed through Kirtland, where Joseph Smith was residing. Joseph, seeing the rolls of papyrus and the record upon them, had the Saints purchase them, and they were translated as before stated.[A]
[Footnote A: The above I have condensed from the account given of this matter by the Prophet Joseph in his history.]
This Book of Abraham, while it has no direct reference to the works of Moses, gives an account of the creation of this earth, which, substantially, is the same account as that given by Moses;[B] and is, at least, a strong collateral evidence to the correctness of the account in Genesis.
[Footnote B: Pearl of Great Price, pp. 41-45]
In the year 1830, the visions of Moses, through which he was enabled to write the account of the creation in Genesis, and the history of the world down to the time of the Flood, were revealed to Joseph Smith. This part of the world's history, as given to the Prophet Joseph, is substantially the same as that in Genesis, only more full and perfect than that; the Lord pointing out here and there where the record of Moses, as we now have it in the Bible, has been marred because of changes made by wicked men. Still, as I say, the accounts substantially agree, and in the revelations to which I have called attention the Lord says over and over again that these things he revealed to Moses, and that Moses bore record of them.[C]
[Footnote C: Pearl of Great Price, pp. from 1 to 31.]
This is testimony of the most direct character as to the authenticity of the books in our Bible giving this history. All ancient tradition says Moses wrote Genesis, and now in this day, a revelation is given from God to Joseph Smith, saying that an account substantially the same as that in Genesis was revealed to Moses, and that he recorded it.
I come now to the strongest witness of all for the authenticity, and also the divinity of the Jewish Scriptures; I mean the Book of Mormon. In the first place let me say that the Book of Mormon itself, as an inspired book, rests on so sure a basis, that however much men may be disposed to doubt the authenticity, credibility, and inspiration of the Jewish Scriptures, they cannot, if they investigate the claims of the Book of Mormon doubt its truth.[D] And in these Nephite Scriptures is contained the most direct and positive proofs relative to the authenticity of the Bible.
[Footnote D: Those who desire to prosecute an investigation of this subject win do well to read the "Divine Authenticity of the Book of Mormon," by O. Pratt; and "A New Witness for God," by the author of this work.]
According to the Book of Mormon, Lehi and his family left Jerusalem in the first year of the reign of Zedekiah, about 600 B. C. Soon after leaving Jerusalem, from his camp in the wilderness Lehi sent his sons back to that city to obtain the genealogies of his fathers, and a record of the Jews. In this mission his sons were successful, returning to their father's encampment in the wilderness with a set of brass plates on which the record and the genealogies were written.
The return of the sons of Lehi to their father was celebrated with great rejoicing. Nephi in his account of it says: "And after they had given thanks unto the God of Israel, my father, Lehi, took the records which were engraved upon the plates of brass, and he did search them from the beginning. And he beheld that they did contain the five books of Moses, which gave an account of the creation of the world, and also of Adam and Eve, who were our first parents; and also a record of the Jews from the beginning, even down to the commencement of the reign of Zedekiah, king of Judah, and also the prophecies of the holy prophets, from the beginning, even down to the commencement of the reign of Zedekiah; and also many prophecies which have been spoken by the mouth of Jeremiah."[E]
[Footnote E: I. Nephi v: 10-13.]
Here is a direct reference to the Jewish Scriptures, in which five books are accredited to Moses —the same number as in our present Bible—and the prophecies of Jeremiah are also mentioned.
Then in a vision, in which the future was unfolded to Nephi, he saw that a book would go from the Jews to the Gentiles, and that it would be like the record upon the brass plates. This is the passage: "The angel said unto me, Knowest thou the meaning of the book? And I said unto him, I know not. And he said. Behold it proceedeth out of the mouth of a Jew; and I, Nephi, beheld; and he said unto me, the book that thou beholdest is a record of the Jews, which contains the covenants of the Lord which he hath made unto the house of Israel; and it also containeth many of the prophecies of the holy prophets; and it is a record like unto the engravings which are upon the plates of brass, save there are not so many; nevertheless they contain the covenants of the Lord, which he hath made unto the house of Israel; wherefore, they are of great worth unto the Gentiles."[F]
[Footnote F: I. Nephi xiii: 21-23.]
Nephi further informs us that it was his practice to read frequently to his people from these brass plates, that they might be informed concerning the dealings of God with their forefathers; and all through the Nephite Scriptures these brass plates are referred to. Moreover, whole chapters, and sometimes several chapters together, especially from the writings of Isaiah,[G] are transcribed from the brass plates to the record made by Nephi; and comparing these transcribed portions of the Old Testament found in the Book of Mormon with the parts which correspond to them in our present English version of the Jewish Scriptures, it will be seen that the difference is but slight; substantially they agree. The circumstance not only proves the authenticity of the Scriptures, but it is also a strong proof of the integrity of our present version of them.
[Footnote G: See I. Nephi chapters xx, xxi; II. Nephi vii, viii; also II. Nephi from the xii to xxiv.]
It is true the Book of Mormon informs us that many plain and precious parts of this book, which proceeds from the mouth of the Jew, are taken away and others corrupted, but that does not affect the statement I make that the substantial agreement between these passages in the Book of Mormon and Bible, proves, in the main, the integrity as well as the authenticity of the Jewish Scriptures. Here, so far as the authenticity of the Old Testament is concerned, I shall, for the present, rest my case; and proceed with a like inquiry as to the New.
[CHAPTER X.]
FAITH.—THE NEW TESTAMENT.
There is an impression existing, and it is one encouraged by infidel writers, that the acceptance of the books now comprising the New Testament, was the arbitrary action of a council of bishops three or four hundred years A. D. This I believe to be a wrong impression. I do not think the list of books that now constitute the New Testament was made up in an arbitrary manner, at one time, or by any single council. It can be shown that the books and epistles now in the collection known as the New Testament, were accepted as inspired writings by the Christian churches, before the councils of the church undertook any discussion of the subject; and even when this question was before those councils, they merely decided what books before-time had been regarded by the churches as inspired.
The first council which undertook to pronounce a decision on the subject was that of Laodicea in the year 363 A. D. "Probably the decree of this council," as Archdeacon Paley remarks, "rather declared than regulated the public judgment, or, more properly speaking, the judgment of some neighboring churches, the council itself consisting of no more than thirty or forty bishops of Lydia and the adjoining countries;" and after this council the question, "What books were entitled to be received as Scripture?" was discussed with great freedom, and without any reference to the declaration made by the council of Laodicea.[H]
[Footnote H: Paley's Evidences, Part I, ch. ix.]
The list of inspired books of the New Testament, as we have them now, was accepted by the council of Hippo, held 393 A. D. The third council of Carthage, 397 A. D., and also the sixth of Carthage, 419 A. D., confirmed the decisions of the first. Thus, from that early date, the authorship and inspiration of the books of the New Testament may be said to have been fixed.
True, certain early Christian writers doubted the inspiration and authenticity of some of the books now in the New Testament; II Peter, the Epistle to the Hebrews, the Epistle of James and the Apocalypse[I] being among those whose inspiration and authenticity were questioned; and some Bible scholars since those days have held the same doubts; but the preponderance of evidence is in favor of the inspiration of all the books of the New Testament, and of their being the productions of the men accredited in those early days, and by the councils named, with having written them.
[Footnote I: Revelations of St. John.]
It is quite evident, however, that the New Testament does not contain all the inspired writings of the apostles and disciples, since there are references in the books of the New Testament to other books written by the same authors, which would certainly be equally inspired with those we now have in the collection. Such, for instance, as another epistle to the Corinthians,[J] also a second epistle to the Colossians,[K] and another book of Jude.[L] Still, because some inspired books were lost, and others rejected by these councils, that does not affect those that remain as to their authenticity or inspiration; though had we those inspired books that were lost or rejected, many passages in the books that have been preserved to us might be made more plain.
[Footnote J: I. Cor. v.]
[Footnote K: Col. iv: 16.]
[Footnote L: Jude 3.]
Could it be proven even, that some of the books now retained in the New Testament collection were uninspired, and not written by those now accredited with being their authors, that would not affect these books about whose authenticity and inspiration there has never been a question. Suppose all those books I have named as having had their authenticity questioned, should turn out to be forgeries, we would still have the four Gospels, the Acts, the thirteen Epistles of Paul that stand unquestioned; and as long as even one of these books remains unshaken as to its authenticity and inspiration, you have a witness for God and Christ in it—an exposition, to some extent, at least, of the character and attributes of Deity. For the New Testament, like the Old, is not one book, but a collection of books; each independent of the other. It is not one witness for God and Christ, but a collection of the testimonies of a number of witnesses. And if it could be proven (but I do not think it can be) that some of these books were of such doubtful origin that they are unworthy a place in the collection, it does not follow that the other books of the New Testament are also of doubtful origin and unworthy of confidence.
Furthermore, if it be admitted (and I am willing to admit it) that some of the texts in the books comprising the New Testament have been corrupted or changed, and portions thereof taken away, while these things tend to, and do weaken the testimony of the witnesses, and make many parts obscure, and even contradictory, still, after making all these concessions, enough remains uncorrupted and unimpaired, to give us in those books strong and reliable witnesses—whose testimony cannot be impeached—for God. And while some parts have been corrupted, and thus rendered imperfect, yet the narrative of the life of Christ, the Gospel he advocated, the moral precepts he inculcated in his system of truth, together with the revelations contained in those Scriptures respecting the character and attributes of Deity, are all substantially correct.
I refer again to the manner in which the list of books now composing the New Testament was decided upon. I have already stated that I do not think it was by the arbitrary decision of any one council at any one time, that the selection of this list of books was made and all others rejected. On the contrary it was most probably the work of years. "The most plausible supposition," says an unquestioned authority, "is that each of the most influential churches founded by the Apostles in person, made for its own use a collection of all the writings duly ascertained to be apostolic and inspired. The epistles sent to the different churches were soon, doubtless, communicated to the sister associations for the strengthening of each other's faith, hope and virtue." Indeed the Apostle Paul, in one instance at least, commands an interchange of apostolic writings. In his epistle to the Colossian saints he says: "And when this epistle is read among you, cause that it be read in the church of the Laodiceans, and that ye likewise read the epistle from Laodicea."[M] Doubtless, as stated by Chambers, "The brotherly love which was a notable feature of primitive Christianity, led Christians everywhere to make common property of the local messages from apostles, as valuable to them all alike. Nor did they ever dream of withholding from their brethren copies of such inspired writings as had come into their own hands. No general order from the apostles was needed to prompt individual Christians or congregations that had been favored with an inspired communication to make it equally well known to every neighbor. There must have been the most cordial reciprocity of communication in this matter, an unreserved sharing of new Scripture with each other; the fair and full interchange of apostolic oracles leading to such a multiplication, that each church possessed, for the benefit of its members, a copy of all inspired writings previously issued by the Apostles."[N] And here let me add, that in the multiplication of copies, it is not to be wondered at if the originals were soon lost sight of, or worn out by constant use.
[Footnote M: Col. iv: 16.]
[Footnote N: Information for the People, Vol. II Art. Bible.]
[CHAPTER XI.]
FAITH.—THE NEW TESTAMENT.
The earliest reference we have to any writings or collection of writings now in the New Testament, and in which they are recognized as authoritative scripture, is in the second Epistle of Peter. That apostle, writing about the year 65 A. D., says: "Account that the long suffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you; as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest as they do the other scriptures, unto their own destruction."[A]
[Footnote A: II. Peter iii: 15, 16.]
It will be observed that the reference to the Epistles of Paul is of such a character that it leads us to infer that those Epistles were well and generally known by the church at large; for this Epistle of Peter's which we quote, is written to no particular branch of the church, but "to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Savior Jesus Christ;"[B] in other words, to the church universal; and it can scarcely be doubted that some of the larger branches of the church, even in that early day, had the Epistles of Paul in a collected form. It will also be observed that Peter places these Epistles of Paul on equal authority with Scripture by saying, that the unlearned and unstable wrest them, "_as they do also the other scripture_, unto their own destruction."
[Footnote B: II. Peter i: 1.]
There is a tradition that the apostle John, on his return from his banishment to Patmos—96 A. D.—made a collection of what he considered the inspired writings of the apostles and disciples of Christ; but the tradition seems not to be well founded. It is generally admitted, however, that he must have had before him the three other gospels when he wrote the one which bears his name, because his book called "The Gospel according to St. John," is supplemental in its character, and in it he gives prominence to those incidents in the life of his Master and the doctrines he taught, about which the other writers are either silent or have said but little. This peculiarity is accounted for by the supposition that John had before him the other three narratives of his Master's life and mission, and that he sought to make prominent what they had omitted or treated but briefly, that the church— in the four books—might have a complete history of Messiah's life, and labors and doctrines.
In his admirable work on the "Evidences of Christianity," Archdeacon Paley maintains that the following allegations respecting the books comprising the New Testament are capable of proof; in fact, to my mind, the learned Archdeacon does prove them, and places them beyond the power of successful contradiction:
I. That the historical books of the New Testament, meaning thereby the four Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles, are quoted, or alluded to, by a series of Christian writers, beginning with those who were contemporary with the apostles, or who immediately followed them, and proceeding in close and regular succession from their time to the present.
II. That when they are quoted, or alluded to, they are quoted or alluded to with peculiar respect, as book sui generis;[C] as possessing an authority which belonged to no other books, and as conclusive in all questions and controversies amongst Christians.
[Footnote C: That is, of its own kind.]
III. That they were, in very early times, collected into a distinct volume.
IV. That they were distinguished by appropriate names and titles of respect.
V. That they were publicly read and expounded in the religious assemblies of the Christians.
VI. That commentaries were written upon them, harmonies formed out of them, different copies carefully collated, and versions of them made in different languages.
VII. That they were received by Christians of different sects, by many heretics as well as Catholics, and usually appealed to by both sides in the controversies which arose in those days.
VIII. That the four Gospels, the Acts of the Apostles, thirteen Epistles of St. Paul, the first Epistle of John and the first of Peter, were received, without doubt by those who doubted concerning the other books which are included in our present canon—[authorized list].
IX. That the Gospels were attacked by the early adversaries of Christianity, as books containing the accounts upon which the religion was founded.
X. That formal catalogues of authentic scriptures were published, in all of which our present sacred histories were included.
XI. That these propositions cannot be affirmed of any other books claiming to be books of scripture; by which are meant those books which are commonly called apocryphal books of the New Testament.[D]