The Strength of the 'Mormon' Position

Jesus Christ, the greatest of all prophets, was likewise the greatest of all poets. He comprehended the universe and its symbolism as no one else ever did, and he taught in poetic parables, taking simple things as types, and teaching lessons that lead the mind upward and onward toward the ideal, toward perfection. We must not despise poetry; it is indispensable, even in practical affairs. The Gospel of Christ is replete with poetry. None but the ignorant pass it by as a thing of naught.

What of Philosophy?

Philosophy is "the account which the human mind gives to itself of the constitution of the world". So says that great modern philosopher, Ralph Waldo Emerson. Here is a passage from Plato the Greek, as translated by Emerson the American: "Let us declare the cause which led the Supreme Ordainer to produce and compose the universe. He was good; and he who is good has no kind of envy. Exempt from envy, he wished that all things should be as much as possible like himself. Whosoever, taught by wise men, shall admit this as the prime cause of the origin and foundation of the world, will be in the truth."—Representative Men, Lecture II.

Very similar to this, is that utterance of Joseph Smith's giving the origin and purpose of the Gospel. (See paragraph "Path to Perfection"; also "The Book of Abraham" 3:22-26.) But Joseph did not get his philosophy from Plato; he had it directly from God, the source of Plato's inspiration. There is no plagiarism in this semi-paralleling of a sublime thought. Confucius taught, in a negative way, the Golden Rule, afterwards taught affirmatively and more fully by Jesus of Nazareth.

  "Truth is truth, where'er 'tis found,  On Christian or on heathen ground;"

And whether uttered by an ancient sage or by a modern seer, it is worthy of all acceptance. I have mentioned Emerson. Here is a sample of that great writer's wisdom:

"Our strength grows out of our weakness. Not until we are pricked and stung and sorely shot at, awakens the indignation which arms itself with secret forces. A great man is always willing to be little. While he sits on the cushion of advantages he goes to sleep. When he is pushed, tormented, defeated, he has a chance to learn something; he has been put on his wits, on his manhood; he has gained facts; learns his ignorance; is cured of the insanity of conceit; has got moderation and real skill. Blame is safer than praise. I hate to be defended in a newspaper. As long as all that is said is said against me, I feel a certain assurance of success, but as soon as honeyed words of praise are spoken for me I feel as one that lies unprotected before his enemies. In general, every evil to which we do not succumb, is a benefactor.

"The history of persecution is a history of endeavors to cheat nature, to make water run up hill, to twist a rope of sand. The martyr cannot be dishonored. Every lash inflicted is a tongue of flame; every prison a more illustrious abode; every burned book or house enlightens the world; every suppressed or expunged word reverberates through the earth from side to side. The minds of men are at last aroused; reason looks out and justifies her own, and malice finds all her work vain. It is the whipper who is whipped and the tyrant who is undone.

"Such, also, is the natural history of calamity. The changes which break up at short intervals the prosperity of men, are advertisements of a nature whose law is growth. Evermore it is the order of nature to grow … We cannot part with our friends. We cannot let our angels go. We do not see that they only go out, that archangels may come in. We are idolaters of the old … We do not believe there is any force in to-day to rival or recreate that beautiful yesterday …

"And yet the compensations of calamity are made apparent to the understanding also, after long intervals of time. A fever, a mutilation, a cruel disappointment, a loss of wealth, a loss of friends seems at the moment unpaid loss, and unpayable. But the sure years reveal the deep remedial force that underlies all facts. The death of a dear friend, wife, brother, lover, which seemed nothing but privation, somewhat later assumes the aspect of a guide or genius; for it commonly operates revolutions in our way of life, terminates an epoch of infancy or of youth which was waiting to be closed, breaks up a wonted occupation, or a household, or style of living, and allows the formation of new ones more friendly to the growth of character. It permits or constrains the formation of new acquaintances and the reception of new influences that prove of the first importance to the next years; and the man or woman who would have remained a sunny garden flower, with no room for its roots and too much sunshine for its head, by the falling of the walls and the neglect of the gardener, is made the banyan of the forest, yielding shade and fruit to wide neighborhoods of men."—Essay III. Compensation.

Poetry and philosophy appeal to some, when the Gospel in its fulness might offend; "the meat of the word" being too strong for them. The plain blunt message of the man of God, who comes proclaiming, "Thus saith the Lord," antagonizes many. They turn from it; but will listen to the philosopher, with his clear, delightful reasoning, or to the poet, with his apt and appealing illustrations. All kinds of teachers go before the prophet, preparing his way, or come after him, confirming his testimony. And the sum of it all will be the betterment and eventual salvation of the race.

The Power of Music—Seeing for One's Self

Music softens the heart, and helps men and women to receive the Gospel. Tourists come in a constant stream, to listen to the wonderful tones of the great organ and the singing of the splendid choir in the Salt lake Tabernacle. The Gospel is not always preached to them; they do not always want the Gospel; but they are mellowed by the music, and they go away with kinder feelings toward, and a better understanding of, the people who build such instruments, who organize such choirs, and rear such structures. Their works speak for them. Grapes are not gathered from thorns, nor figs from thistles. Depraved wretches, such as the "Mormons" are falsely represented to be, do not love music, poetry and philosophy, do not cultivate the arts and sciences, do not turn deserts into gardens, nor rear Tabernacles and Temples unto God.

I well remember when President Grant came to Utah—the first President of the United States to set foot within the Territory, now a State. It was at a time when, all over this broad land, the bitterest prejudice prevailed against the Latter-day Saints; and it was freely asserted that the man who had finished with the South, would "make short work of Utah and the Mormons." Among the places visited by the President and his party while in Salt Lake City, was the Tabernacle, where they heard the great organ. I do not know what he thought of it, but Mrs. Grant, her face streaming with tears, turned to Captain Hooper, who had been Utah's delegate in Congress, and said with deep feeling: "I wish I could do something for these good Mormon people." The music had touched her heart, and perhaps the heart of her noble husband; for General Grant was noble, though yielding at times to strong prejudice.

Before reaching the Tabernacle, he had passed up South Temple Street, lined on both sides with Sunday School children, neatly and tastefully attired, waving banners and mottoes of welcome to the Nation's Chief. Riding in an open carriage, and running the gauntlet of applause and cheers, the honored guest turned to Governor Emery, who sat at his side, and inquired concerning the juvenile host: "What children are these?" "Mormon children," replied Emery. Grant was silent for a moment, and then was heard to murmur, "I have been deceived."

But he never was deceived again—not in the same way. He could trust his eyes when he looked upon those beautiful children: they were not the product of crime and depravity, not the offspring of savages and criminals. He could trust his ears, too, when he heard that choir and organ. No one could make him believe, after that, that the "Mormons" were as black as they had been painted.

No Substitute for the Gospel

There is more than one way to reach the human heart, and God has legitimate use for everything good, wise, virtuous and praiseworthy. Let it not be supposed, however, that music, poetry, painting, sculpture, philosophy, science, or anything else, can take the place of the Divine Plan whereby He proposes to save this world, as He has saved millions of worlds like it. He will use everything good and true and beautiful to melt the hearts of his children and prepare them for salvation; but salvation itself comes only by one route—the Lord Jesus Christ. This is the Great Ideal, and it must be honored as such. In dealing with it, no Procrustean process is permissible. It must not be chopped off because men think it too long, nor stretched out because they deem it too short. God did not send his Truth into the world to be mutilated. Men's theories, however plausible, cannot supersede divine revelation. The gifts of God, however precious, are no standard by which to judge the Giver. The Truth as Heaven reveals it is the Standard, and the opinions and theories of men must give way. There is no substitute for the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Propositions to be Reconciled

Referring now to a passage previously quoted, concerning the days of Adam, when a decree went forth that the Gospel should be in the world "until the end thereof." I was once asked to reconcile that passage with the idea of a new dispensation, the question coming in this form: "If the Gospel was to be in the world from the days of Adam 'until the end', what was the need of restoring it—bringing it back again?"

There are two ways of reconciling these propositions. They do not really contradict each other. The Gospel has been in the world from the beginning by a series of dispensations, reaching through the entire range of human history. Our finite minds are prone to tangle themselves up in little details that cause endless quibbles and often give us a great deal of trouble; but God sweeps the whole universe with his infinite gaze, and what seem mountains to men are less than molehills in his sight. The gaps between the Gospel dispensations are not so wide to Deity as they are to us. The Lord has found it necessary at different times to temporarily withdraw the Gospel and the Priesthood from the midst of men; and yet, by repeated restorations, forming a continuous chain of dispensations, he has kept them in the world from the beginning down to the present, thus making good his ancient decree.

A Twofold Creation

But there is more to this argument. God's works are two-fold, firstly spiritual, secondly temporal; and the most important part of creation is the spiritual part. Man and woman were made first as spirits, and the same is true of earth and all that it contains—beasts, birds, fishes, trees, plants and flowers; in short, all created things. (Moses 3:4-9.) Given bodies, they become souls—not all human souls, but souls nevertheless; for the spirit and the body constitute the soul. It is the soul that is redeemed and glorified. The spirit alone cannot advance that far; it can live without the body, but the body without the spirit is dead. Evidently, therefore, the spirit is the more important. What wonder? God created the spirit; but when it came to creating the body—bodies in general—He delegated to man that portion of His work. Man can make the body of man, and can destroy it, but cannot destroy the spirit; it is beyond his power.

Now the planet upon which we dwell has a spirit. Hence there is a Spirit World; and there the Gospel has been preached for ages, so that the dead, or the departed—for they are no more dead than we are—might have opportunity to embrace it and be "judged according to men in the flesh". (1 Peter 4:6.) And the withdrawal of the Gospel from the temporal world would not necessarily involve its withdrawal from the spiritual world. Thus the divine decree, that the Gospel should be in the world "until the end thereof," receives additional vindication. God's word cannot fail.

The World of Spirits

"The Spirit World," says Parley P. Pratt, "is not the heaven where Jesus Christ, His Father, and other beings dwell, who have, by resurrection or translation, ascended to eternal mansions and been crowned and seated on thrones of power; but it is an intermediate state, a probation, a place of preparation, improvement, instruction, or education, where spirits are chastened or improved, and where, if found worthy, they may be taught a knowledge of the Gospel. In short, it is a place where the Gospel is preached, and where faith, repentance, hope and charity may be exercised, a place of waiting for the resurrection or redemption of the body; while, to those who deserve it, it is a place of punishment, or purgatory or hell, where spirits are buffeted till the day of redemption. As to its location, it is here on the very planet where we were born" (Key to Theology, Chapter 14. Compare Alma 40:11-14).

Joseph Smith tells us that our departed friends are very near to us. We need not sail off into space to be in the spirit world. We have only to pass out of the body; for the spirit world is right around us. Parley continues:

"The earth and other planets of a like order have their inward or spirit spheres, as well as their outward or temporal. The one is peopled by temporal tabernacles, and the other by spirits. In this spirit world there are all the varieties and grades of intellectual beings which exist in the present world. For instance, Jesus Christ and the thief on the cross both went to the same place, and found themselves associated in the spirit world."

Jesus, it will be borne in mind, had been crucified between two thieves, one of whom derided him, insulting his dying agonies. The other, being penitent, prayed: "Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom." To him the Savior said: "To-day thou shalt be with me in Paradise." Because of this utterance, well meaning though uninspired minds have jumped to the conclusion that the penitent thief was promised immediate heavenly exaltation, for repenting at the last moment and professing faith in the Redeemer. And this notion is still entertained. The criminal who has forfeited his life and is under sentence of death because unfit to dwell among his fallen fellow creatures, is made to believe that by confessing Christ even upon the scaffold, he is fitted at once for the society of Gods and Angels, and will be wafted to eternal bliss. Jesus never taught such a doctrine, nor did any authorized servant of God. It is a man-made theory, based upon faulty inference and misinterpretation. The Bible plainly teaches that men will be judged according to their works. (Rev. 20:12-13.) It was best for the thief, of course, to repent even at the eleventh hour; but he could not be exalted until prepared for it, if it took a thousand years. Jesus Christ and the thief both went to the world of spirits, a place of rest for the righteous, a place of correction for the wicked. Parley goes on to say:

"But the One was there in all the intelligence, happiness, benevolence and charity which characterized a teacher, a messenger anointed to preach glad tidings to the meek, to bind up the broken-hearted, to comfort those who mourned, to preach deliverance to the captive, and open the prison to those who were bound; or, in other words, to preach the Gospel to the spirits in prison, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh; while the other was there as a thief, who had expired on the cross for crime, and who was guilty, ignorant, uncultivated, and unprepared for resurrection, having need of remission of sins and to be instructed in the science of salvation.

"In the world of spirits there are Apostles, Prophets, Elders, and members of the Church of the Saints, holding keys of priesthood, and power to teach, comfort, instruct and proclaim the Gospel to their fellow spirits, after the pattern of Jesus Christ.

"In the same world there are also the spirits of Catholics, and Protestants of every sect, who have all need to be taught and to come to the knowledge of the true unchangeable gospel in its fulness and simplicity, that they may be judged the same as if they had been privileged with the same in the flesh.

"There is also the Jew, the Mahometan, the infidel, who did not believe in Christ while in the flesh. All these must be taught, must come to the knowledge of the crucified and risen Redeemer, and hear the glad tidings of the Gospel.

"There are also all the varieties of the heathen spirits; the noble and refined philosopher, poet, patriot, or statesman of Rome or Greece, the enlightened Socrates and Plato, and their like, together with every grade of spirits, down to the most uncultivated of the savage world.

"All these must be taught, enlightened, and must bow the knee to the eternal King, for the decree hath gone forth, that unto Him every knee shall bow and every tongue confess.

"Oh, what a field of labor, of benevolence, of missionary enterprise now opens to the apostles and elders of the Church of the Saints! As this field opens they will begin to realize more fully the extent of their divine mission, and the meaning of the great command to 'preach the gospel to every creature'."

Parley P. Pratt, a modern Apostle, was a friend and follower of Joseph Smith. He sat at the feet of Joseph, as Paul at the feet of Gamaliel. These are Joseph's doctrines, the doctrines of "Mormonism", which stands for the Gospel in all the ages, and for the salvation of the living and the dead. God will judge no man for an opportunity that he never possessed. Faith and repentance are just as possible and just as effectual in the spirit world as they are in this sphere. But the ordinance of baptism—immersion in water for the remission of sins, and the laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost—with other sacred ceremonies, must be done here, in places dedicated for the purpose. This vicarious work is absolutely essential, in order that the departed may be duly admitted into the Church of Christ and share in all its blessings.

The Hell of Dante

In the Thirteenth Century a great Italian poet, the immortal Dante, produced a wonderful work, "La Divina Comedia" ("The Divine Comedy"). In one part of the poem, the author represents himself as passing through Hades or Hell. In the first circle of the infernal depths—a region called "Limbo", which a footnote in my copy of the poem describes as a place "containing the souls of unbaptized children and of those virtuous men and women who lived before the birth of our Savior"—he meets some of the noble characters whom the Apostle Parley mentions as inhabiting the Spirit World, and the guide says to him:

    —"Inquirest thou not what spirits  Are these, which thou beholdest? Ere thou pass  Farther, I would thou know, that these of sin  Were blameless; and if aught they merited,  It profits not, since baptism was not theirs,  The portal to thy faith. If they before  The Gospel lived, they served not God aright;  And among such am I. For these defects  And for no other evil, we are lost;  Only so far afflicted, that we live  Desiring without hope."—Hell, Canto IV, Lines 29-39.

And this was all that Thirteenth Century theology could say for such men as Homer, Virgil, Plato, Aristotle and others, the best and brightest spirits of their times!

According to Their Works

Was it not imperative that the Heavens should again open and God's Word go forth once more upon its mission of justice and mercy? The Gospel of Christ is consistent and reasonable. It does not pre-judge men, nor save nor damn them regardless of merit or demerit. Rewarding all according to their works, it gives to every creature, living or dead, a chance to accept or reject it, before final judgment. Is it not evident that Joseph Smith and "Mormonism" were indeed a necessity at the dawn of the Nineteenth Century, when even the Christian world had lost the knowledge of the true God, proclaiming him either a nonentity incapable of act or utterance, or a monster unmerciful and unjust?

Sons of Perdition

God is not trying to damn the world, but to save it. All will be saved except "the sons of perdition", those who have had every opportunity to be saved—yes, saved and exalted. They who have known God, and have "tasted of the powers of the world to come", and then have thrown it all away, trampling upon the Truth as a thing of naught, denying the Holy Ghost, and "crucifying the Lord afresh";—these cannot be saved, for salvation is predicated upon repentance, and such have sinned away the power to repent. This is what makes their case hopeless. But comparatively few go that far. All the rest will be saved, and eventually glorified.

Different Degrees of Glory

There are different degrees of glory—a glory of the sun, a glory of the moon, and a glory of the stars. So Paul taught (1 Cor. 15:40-42); and Joseph Smith taught it even more plainly. (Doc. & Cov. 76.) They who inherit celestial glory, of which the sun in the firmament is typical, are they who receive the Gospel in this life, and are valiant for it and endure to the end, giving to God the fulness of their obedience. They who inherit terrestrial glory, which differs from the celestial as the moon differs from the sun, are they who receive not the Gospel here, but afterwards receive it; souls not valiant, and who therefore "win not the crown". The inheritors of telestial glory, typified by the stars, "are they who are thrust down to hell", where they pay their debt to Justice, after which Mercy claims its own, and they are ushered into a light and freedom greater than the finite mind can comprehend.

Such is "Mormonism's" astounding declaration—the only religion on earth that dares to say THE DAMNED CAN BE SAVED! Yes, anyone can be saved who will repent, even in the depths of hell. But why go there to repent? Why not make Peace with Heaven here?

A Nautical Illustration

I was crossing the Atlantic on an ocean liner. I was a first cabin passenger; and besides myself there were upwards of a hundred others in that part of the vessel. The second cabin had about twice as many passengers, and in the steerage were several hundred more. The first cabin berths were not only the best furnished, but the most favorably situated for comfort, convenience, and safety. Every courtesy was shown to the passengers; the captain and other officers were their associates; their food was of the choicest, and they had the full freedom of the ship. They might go down into the second cabin, or lower down, into the steerage, and return, without hindrance or question. They had paid for these privileges and were therefore entitled to them. But it was different in the second cabin. There the food was not so good, the berths were less comfortable, and the privileges fewer. Passengers might descend into the steerage, but were not permitted upon the upper deck. In the steerage, conditions were even less favorable. The food was still poorer, and the restrictions were more rigid. The occupants of that section were not allowed even in the second cabin. Having paid only for steerage accommodations, these were all that they could consistently claim. Viewing the situation, I said to myself: What a striking analogy to the final destiny of the human race, as set forth in the revelations of God! All men rewarded according to their works—saved according to their merits, in the eternal mansions of the Father! And I resolved anew that I would be a first cabin passenger over the ocean of life into the haven of Celestial glory.

Mormonism's Magnanimity

Joseph the Seer, after gazing upon the glories of eternity, outlining the ultimate destiny of the human race, had another vision in which he "beheld that all children who die before they arrive at the years of accountability, are saved in the Celestial Kingdom". He also saw his father, his mother, and his brother Alvin in that Kingdom. His parents had received the Gospel; but Alvin died before it came. He was a good man, however, and had faith in what the Prophet told him. He simply had not been baptized. Nevertheless, Joseph beheld him in celestial glory, the highest glory of all, and it caused him to marvel. Then fell this word from Heaven:

"All who have died without a knowledge of this Gospel, who would have received it if they had been permitted to tarry, shall be heirs of the Celestial Kingdom of God; also all that shall die henceforth without a knowledge of it, who would have received it with all their hearts, shall be heirs of that Kingdom, for I, the Lord, will judge all men according to their works, according to the desire of their hearts." (Joseph Smith's Teachings, p. 19; Church History, Vol. 2, pp. 380-318).