{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_46099/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_46099","id":"gutenberg_46099","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/46099","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Philosophy & Ethics","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Latter Day Saint churches","Latter Day Saints"],"text":"The Vitality of \"Mormonism\"\n\n_An Address_\n\n\nBY\n\nJAMES E. TALMAGE\n\nOF THE COUNCIL OF THE TWELVE, CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER-DAY\nSAINTS\n\n\n\nPUBLISHED BY THE CHURCH\n\n\nSalt Lake City\n1917\n\n\n\nPREFATORY NOTE\n\nThe following pages embody an address delivered by invitation at a\nmeeting of the Denver Philosophical Society, at Denver, Colorado,\nDecember 14th, 1916, by Dr. James E. Talmage.\n\nThe address has already been printed through the daily press and in\nmagazine pages; and it is presented herewith in convenient form,\nsuitable for preservation.\n\nThe conciseness, clearness, and accuracy with which the subject is\ntreated commend it to the attention of interested and studious readers.\n\nTHE PUBLISHERS.\n\nSalt Lake City, Utah, January, 1917.\n\n\n\nThe Vitality of \"Mormonism\"\n\nWhy does \"Mormonism\" persist? Determined attempts were made both\nopenly and by stealth to strangle the system at its birth, to destroy\nthe mustard seed at the time of the planting; and, as the fact of its\nsurvival has become prominent the certainty of its impending demise has\nbeen announced time and again; the fall of the umbrageous tree, amidst\nwhose branches the birds of search continue to find food and shelter,\nhas been often predicted.\n\nOn the 6th of April, 1830, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day\nSaints was organized as a body corporate at Fayette in the State of\nNew York; and the names of but six persons are of record as those of\nactual participants. True, by that time a few times six had identified\nthemselves with the new and unprecedented movement; but, as the laws of\nthe State specified six as the required number of incorporators, only\nthat number took part in the legal procedure. And they, save one, were\nrelatively unknown and in fact obscure.\n\nThe name of Joseph Smith had already been heard beyond his home\ndistrict. He was at the time a subject of rapidly spreading notoriety\nif not of enviable fame. The Book of Mormon, purporting to be a record\nof the aboriginal peoples of the Western Continent, particularly\nan account of the dealings of God with those peoples, in short the\nScriptures of what came afterward to be called the New World, had\nalready been published. It was in reference to the title page of this\nwork that the appellation \"Mormon,\" first given in derision as a\nnickname, was fastened upon the members of the Church.\n\nSuch a beginning as that of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day\nSaints may seem to afford little ground of either hope or fear as to\nfuture developments; nevertheless, the newly established Church was\nmade the subject of assault from its inception. What was there to cause\nhostile concern over the voluntary association of six men and a few of\ntheir friends in an organization of openly expressed purpose, and that\npurpose the peaceful promulgation of what they verily believed to be.\nthe uplifting religion of life, the Gospel of Jesus Christ?\n\nWhatever may be the answer to the query, the fact that the Church\nmet determined opposition, increasingly severe from the beginning,\nis abundantly attested by history. While active persecutors and\nopenly avowed assailants were comparatively few, the majority of\nthose who gave any attention to the matter treated \"Mormonism\" with\naggressive disdain; and contempt in the affairs of human endeavor has\nnot infrequently proved itself a more effective weapon than physical\nassault. In this instance violence and outrage resulted.\n\nI invite your attention to \"The Vitality of 'Mormonism'\" under a\nconvenient classification, though, as will be seen, the divisions are\ninter-related and merge intimately together. Let us consider:\n\n1. Facts attesting the vitality and virility of the Church.\n\n2. Some causes thereof.\n\n3. Some of the results.\n\n\n\n1. _Facts attesting the Vitality and Virility of the Church_.\n\nToday the \"Mormon\" Church is known by name at least throughout the\ncivilized world as well as amongst most of the semi-cultured peoples\nin the remoter parts of the earth and on the islands of the sea.\nSince 1830 every year has witnessed an increase in membership and an\nextension of \"Mormon\" propaganda. The six have increased to over half a\nmillion adherents. In Utah and adjacent States, in Canada and Mexico,\nbetween seventy and eighty \"Stakes of Zion\" have been established,\neach Stake comprising several Wards, of which there are now over seven\nhundred and fifty; and the greater part of North America outside the\nestablished Stakes, as also many foreign countries, are covered by well\norganized Missions, each with its component Conferences and Branches.\n\nThe growth of the Church is apparent to even the poorly informed. But\nthe Church has not only grown; it has developed. Between growth and\ndevelopment there is a difference of the most essential kind; and not\na few of the grave mistakes of men, even in every day affairs, in\nbusiness, in politics, in statesmanship are traceable to our confusing\nand confounding the two. Growth alone is the result of accretion, the\naccumulation of material, the amassing of stuff. Development involves\nan extension of function, a gradation of efficiency, a passing from\nimmaturity to maturity, from infancy to manhood.\n\nGrowth produces big things, and not only things of this sort but men.\nBetween bigness and greatness, however, there is a distinction of\nkind, not alone of degree. Growth is a measure of bulk, of quantity;\nit is defined as \"so many\" or \"so much.\" Development is a gradation\nof quality; its terms are \"so good\" or \"so bad.\" America boasts of a\nconstantly increasing host of big men; the great men of the land may be\nmore easily counted. And as with men so with institutions.\n\nDead things may grow, as witness the tiny salt crystal in its\nmother-brine at first a microscopic cube, then a huge hexahedron\nlimited only by the size of the container or other external conditions.\nDevelopment, however, is the characteristic of life to which mere\ngrowth is essentially secondary and subordinate. The acorn holds in\npotential reserve all the possibilities of the stately oak; within the\ntiny egg of the butterfly lies the future caterpillar and the hidden\nglory of the mature imago.\n\nThe vital character of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints\nwas evident from the first. In masterly parable, superb in conception\nand application, the kingdom of heaven has been likened unto leaven,\nwhich a woman took and hid in three measures of meal; and, behold, from\nit the mass became leavened. I make bold to affirm that the leaven of\n\"Mormonism\" is leavening the world and its theology.\n\nThe most objectionable feature of \"Mormonism\" today appears to be its\nname. The fundamental principles of the system, its revealed truths,\nare more readily accepted when unlabeled. Every studious reader\nof recent commentaries on the Holy Scriptures, and of theological\ntreatises in general, is aware of a surprising progressiveness in\nmodern views of things spiritual, amounting in many instances to an\nabandonment of what were once regarded as the fundamentals of orthodoxy.\n\n_In the new theology \"Mormonism\" has pioneered the way_. I admit that\nso radical an assertion calls for evidence; and in its support I shall\nask your unbiased consideration of a few illustrative instances. As the\nexamples to be cited, however, must have place in any exposition of\nthe causes to which the vitality of the \"Mormon\" system of religion is\nto be ascribed, and as I assume that the actuality of the growth and\nvitality of \"Mormonism\" will not be contested, I pass in the interest\nof brevity to the second division.\n\n\n\n2._Some Causes to which the Vitality of \"Mormonism\" is due_.\n\n\"Mormonism\" is definite and incisive in its claims. It speaks to the\nworld in no uncertain tone. Its voice is virile; its activities are\nstrong. It presents an unbroken front, and is unafraid. Its attitude is\nnot tile, nevertheless it is strongly aggressive. Its methods of work\nare those of reason and persuasion, coupled with a fearless affirmation\nof testimony as to the surpassing importance of its message, which\nmessage it labors to convey to every nation, kindred, tongue and people.\n\n\"Mormonism\" lives because it is healthy, normal and undeformed. In\ngeneral, a healthy organism is assured of life, barring destruction\nfrom external violence or deprivation of physical necessities; whereas\none that is abnormal and sickly is doomed to decline. Opposition to\nthe Church, the pitiless maltreatment to which its people have been\nsubjected, comprising mobbings, drivings, spoliation, scourgings,\nassassination, and murder marked by every conceivable accompaniment of\nbarbarity, have operated to strengthen the Church, body and soul. True,\nthe heat of persecution has scorched and withered a few of the sickly\nplants such as had no depth of sincerity; but the general effect has\nbeen to promote a fuller growth, and to make richer and more fertile\nthe Garden of the Lord.\n\n\"Mormonism\" thrives and is extending its influence, leavening the\nthoughts of men, because its distinctive doctrines are those of\nprogression, in accord with the better manifestations of the spirit\nof the times, best adapted to meet the vital needs of the age. The\ntimeliness of its establishment is significant and largely explanatory\nof its success.\n\nThe seed of the restored Gospel was planted by the Divine Husbandman\nonly after due preparation of the soil. The place of planting was\nno less carefully selected than the time of seeding. In the economy\nof God, America, which is veritably the land of Zion, was aforetime\nconsecrated as the home of a free and independent nation. Only in such\nsoil could the germ of the Gospel of true liberty sprout and thrive.\n\n\"Mormonism\" lives because its claims are consistent and its position\nimpregnable. It affirms the literal fulfilment of scriptural\npredictions of a great falling away from the truth, a cessation of\nspiritual gifts and Divine authority, in short a world-wide apostasy\nfrom the Church established by the Lord Jesus Christ in the meridian of\ntime. This condition of apostasy is that pictured by Isaiah:\n\n    \"The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because\n    they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the\n    everlasting covenant.\" (Isaiah 24:5.)\n\nAnd by Amos, in his fateful utterance:\n\n    \"Behold, the days come, saith the Lord God, that I will send a\n    famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water,\n    but of hearing the words of the Lord: And they shall wander from\n    sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to\n    and fro to seek the word of the Lord, and shall not find it.\" (Amos\n    8:11, 12.)\n\nThe certainty of a general declension in spirituality among men, the\nrise of false Christs and false prophets, of mystic and deceiving\nvoices from the desert and from secret chambers was foretold by the\nChrist Himself (Matt. 24:4-5, 10, 13, 25-26). So avowed also the\nApostles Peter (2 Peter 2:1-3), and Paul (Acts 20:29-30, 1 Tim. 4:1-3,\n2 Tim. 4:1-4, 2 Thess. 2:3-4), Jude (17, 18), and John (Rev. 13:4, 6-9).\n\nThe apostate condition of Christendom has been recognized and affirmed\nby high ecclesiastical authority Let a single citation suffice. The\nChurch of England thus proclaims the fact of degeneracy, as set forth\nin her \"Homily against Peril of Idolatry,\" published about the middle\nof the sixteenth century and retained to this day as an official\ndeclaration:\n\n    \"So that laity and clergy, learned and unlearned, all ages, sects,\n    and degrees of men, women, and children of whole Christendom an\n    horrible and most dreadful thing to think have been at once drowned\n    in abominable idolatry; of all other vices most detested of God,\n    and most damnable to man; and that by the space of eight hundred\n    years and more.\"\n\nNo less definite than the prophecy of apostasy is the scriptural\nprediction of a restoration in the last days:\n\n    \"And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the\n    everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and\n    to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, Saying with a\n    loud voice, Fear God, and give, glory to him; for the hour of his\n    judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and\n    the sea, and the fountains of waters.\" (Rev. 14:6-7.)\n\n\"Mormonism\" affirms that the \"everlasting Gospel\" has been restored to\nearth in the manner specified, that is by angelic ministration. The\nnecessity of a restoration postulates the prior removal of the thing\nrestored; and the restoration of the Gospel is proof of the precedent\napostasy of mankind. But, it may be asked, had not we the Holy Bible,\nthe scriptural repository of the Gospel record? The letter, yes. But\nsurely the Gospel is more than a book. The Holy Bible prescribes\nadministrative ordinances as essential to salvation baptism by water\nand the bestowal of the Holy Ghost by the authoritative imposition\nof hands, the rebirth of water and of the Spirit, without which,\nunless the Lord Christ spoke to Nicodemus falsely, no man can enter\nthe kingdom of God. Who will venture to affirm that a possession of\na copy of the Holy Bible, or even a letter-perfect memorization of\nthe contents thereof, can give to men the right to administer in the\nordinances therein prescribed?\n\nThe angel seen by the Revelator while on Patmos was to restore not the\nletter of requirement as to baptism and other essentials, for this\nthe world had; but he was to bring again to earth the commission to\nofficiate in those saving ordinances, that is, to restore the authority\nof the Holy Priesthood.\n\n\"Mormonism\" affirms that on the 15th of May, 1829, a heavenly messenger\ndescended in light and glory, and, laying his hands upon Joseph Smith\nand his companion in the ministry, Oliver Cowdery, bestowed upon them\nthe Lesser or Aaronic Priesthood, saying:\n\n    \"Upon you my fellow servants, in the name of Messiah, I confer\n    the Priesthood of Aaron, which holds the keys of the ministering\n    of angels, and of the gospel of repentance, and of baptism by\n    immersion for the remission of sins.\"\n\nThe angelic personage announced himself as John, known of old as the\nBaptist, and declared that he acted under instructions from Peter,\nJames, and John, who held the presidency of the Higher or Melchizedek\nPriesthood in the apostolic dispensation of old. At a later date Joseph\nSmith and his fellow laborer were visited by Peter, James, and John,\nwho ordained the two to the Priesthood after the order of Melchizedek,\nwhich comprises all the authority operative in the Church of Jesus\nChrist.\n\nWhatever criticism may be offered, exception taken, or denial asserted\nagainst these solemn declarations, the consistency of the claims\nthemselves must be admitted. Authority to officiate in the ordinances\nof the Gospel was brought by angel messengers, and they the very ones\nin whom were vested the powers of the respective order of Priesthood in\nthe earlier Gospel dispensation. This same strict consistency appears\nin subsequent manifestations. Thus Moses appeared in the Temple at\nKirtland, Ohio, and conferred the keys of the gathering of the tribes\nof Israel after their long dispersion, which work is abundantly\npredicted in ancient scripture as a characteristic feature of the\nlatter days the time immediately precedent to the glorious advent of\nthe Son of Man. Elijah the prophet, in literal fulfilment of Malachi's\nprediction (Mai. 4:5-6) has brought and committed to the modern prophet\nthe authority of vicarious labor in behalf of the dead, by which the\nhearts of the departed fathers are turned to their living posterity,\nand the hearts of the yet mortal children drawn to their progenitors\nin the spirit world. True to this particular commission, the restored\nChurch rears temples to the name and service of the living God, and\nin those sacred structures carries forward vicarious service for the\nredemption of the uncounted dead who have passed away in ignorance as\nto the necessity of compliance with the laws and ordinances of the\nGospel, without which compliance no man may see the kingdom of God.\n\nSuch facts as those cited attest the consistency of the distinctive\nclaims of \"Mormonism\"; and consistency goes far to establish\ngenuineness. \"Mormonism\" would long since have gone the way of\nall false creeds and systems had its precepts been inconsistent,\nincongruous, or unscriptural.\n\n\"Mormon\" doctrines are characteristically advanced and progressive, and\nherein lies a further explanation of the virility of the system. While\nin no respect at variance with earlier scriptures, \"Mormonism\" carries\nprinciples forward, and many of the obscure passages of ancient writ\nare illumined by the rays of modern revelation. As stated, \"Mormonism\"\nleads the way to higher truths. Now, by way of a few examples as\npromised:\n\n(A) The unscriptural and repellent dogma of inherent degeneracy and\nthe contaminating effect of original sin, by which every child is\nborn vile in the sight and judgment of God, long cast its dark shadow\nover the minds of men. From this conception sprang the practise of\ninfant baptism and the perverted doctrine of assured damnation for\nall innocent babes who die unbaptized. Even the Catholic church has\nmodified its teaching on this subject and today permits its members\nto believe that children who die without baptism pass to a state of\npartial happiness and content, though forever denied the supreme\nblessing of the beatific vision of God. It is conceded, of course, that\nno dictum, dogma, or doctrine of men can determine the fate of souls,\ninfant or adult, in the hereafter; nevertheless, theological teachings\nhave direct effect upon the thoughts and lives of mankind. It is\ncheering to know that practically all Christendom today repudiates the\nfrightful heresy of the eternal condemnation of babes who die without\nbaptism.\n\nHear now the word of \"Mormonism\" on the matter and note the time of its\nenunciation. In 1830 the Book of Mormon was given to the world. Therein\nwe read, in an epistle of the ancient prophet Mormon to his son Moroni:\n\n    \"Listen to the words of Christ, your Redeemer, your Lord and your\n    God. Behold, I came into the world not to call the righteous, but\n    sinners to repentance: the whole need no physician, but they that\n    are sick; wherefore little children are whole, for they are not\n    capable of committing sin; wherefore the curse of Adam is taken\n    from them in me, that it hath no power over them; and the law of\n    circumcision is done away in me. And after this manner did the Holy\n    Ghost manifest the word of God unto me; wherefore my beloved son, I\n    know that it is solemn mockery before God, that ye should baptize\n    little children. Behold I say unto you, That this thing shall ye\n    teach, repentance and baptism unto those who are accountable and\n    capable of committing sin; yea, teach parents that they must repent\n    and be baptized, and humble themselves as their little children,\n    and they shall all be saved with their little children. And their\n    little children need no repentance, neither baptism. Behold,\n    baptism is unto repentance to the fulfilling the commandments unto\n    the remission of sins. But little children are alive in Christ,\n    even from the foundation of the world.\" (Moroni 8:8-12.)\n\nIn the revelations of the current dispensation we read that children\nare accounted innocent before God until they come to the age of\nunderstanding and accountability, and that baptism is required of all\nwho have attained that condition. Thus we read:\n\n    \"All those who humble themselves before God, and desire to be\n    baptized and come forth with broken hearts and contrite spirits,\n    and witness before the church that they have truly repented of all\n    their sins, and are willing to take upon them the name of Jesus\n    Christ, having a determination to serve him to the end, and truly\n    manifest by their works that they have received of the Spirit of\n    Christ unto the remission of their sins, shall be received by\n    baptism into his church.\" (Doctrine and Covenants 20:37.)\n\n(B) The one-time general conception of heaven and hell is regarded\ntoday as antiquated, unreasonable, unscriptural and untrue. I speak\nof the heaven and the hell once thought of as the only places or\nconditions prepared for the souls of men, to one or the other of which\nstates every being that has or shall have tabernacled in the flesh is\nto be consigned, perhaps on a very narrow margin of merit or desert.\nTrue, the support of scriptural warrant was lacking for the churchly\ndogma; but many centuries were required for the world to discover the\nfact. Paul, writing to the Corinthians in the long ago, said:\n\n    \"There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial: but the\n    glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is\n    another. There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the\n    moon, and another glory of the stars: for one star differeth from\n    another star in glory. So also is the resurrection of the dead.\" (I\n    Cor. 15:40-42.)\n\nTo this portentous scripture a very narrow exposition was accorded\nin the dogmatic exegesis of the earlier commentaries, and the dictum\nof a heaven and a hell was scarcely shaken thereby. Belief in graded\nconditions in the hereafter is widespread today, and in this rational\nsubstitution of ennobling truth for degrading error, \"Mormonism\" is\nagain the world's teacher. Joseph Smith avowed that in February 1832\nhe received a Divine revelation, in which conditions in the hereafter\nwere shown to be the direct result of the individual life in mortality,\nand by which the existence of distinct kingdoms of glory, each with its\nown numerous gradations, was made plain. These are called in descending\norder the Celestial, the Terrestrial and the Telestial. Far below the\nlowest of these is the state prepared for the hopelessly unregenerate,\nthose who have sinned against light and knowledge, those who, having\nlearned the laws of righteousness and having received the testimony\nof the Christ have ruthlessly trodden the priceless pearls into the\nmire, those few who are fit companions for the devil and his angels\nthroughout eternity, those who are known by the awful name \"sons of\nperdition.\" Of them the revelation last referred to avers:\n\n    \"Thus saith the Lord, concerning all those who know my power, and\n    have been made partakers thereof, and suffered themselves, through\n    the power of the devil, to be overcome, and to deny the truth and\n    defy my power They are they who are the sons of perdition, of whom\n    I say that it had been better for them never to have been born,\n    For they are vessels of wrath, doomed to suffer the wrath of God,\n    with the devil and his angels in eternity; Concerning whom I have\n    said there is no forgiveness in this world nor in the world to\n    come, Having denied the Holy Spirit after having received it, and\n    having denied the Only Begotten Son of the Father having crucified\n    him unto themselves, and put him to an open shame. These are they\n    who shall go away into the lake of fire and brimstone, with the\n    devil and his angels, And the only ones on whom the second death\n    shall have any power; Yea, verily, the only ones who shall not be\n    redeemed in the due time of the Lord, after the sufferings of his\n    wrath.\" (Doctrine and Covenants 76:31-38.)\n\nIn immeasurable contrast is the state of those who attain not only\nsalvation but exaltation in the Celestial kingdom. We read:\n\n    \"They are they who received the testimony of Jesus, and believed\n    on his name and were baptized after the manner of his burial,\n    being buried in the water in his name, and this according to the\n    commandment which he has given, That by keeping the commandments\n    they might be washed and cleansed from all their sins, and receive\n    the Holy Spirit by the laying on of the hands of him who is\n    ordained and sealed unto this power. And who overcome by faith, and\n    are sealed by the Holy Spirit of promise, which the Father sheds\n    forth upon all those who are just and true. They are they who are\n    the church of the First Born. They are they into whose hands the\n    Father has given all things--They are they who are Priests and\n    Kings, who have received of his fullness, arid of his glory, And\n    are Priests of the Most High, after the order of Melchizedek, which\n    was after the order of Enoch, which was after the order of the Only\n    Begotten Son; Wherefore, as it is written, they are Gods, even the\n    sons of God Wherefore all things are theirs, whether life or death,\n    or things present, or things to come, all are theirs and they are\n    Christ's and Christ is God's. And they shall overcome all things;\n    Wherefore let no man glory in man, but rather let him glory in God,\n    who shall subdue all enemies under his feet--These shall dwell in\n    the presence of God and his Christ for ever and ever. These are\n    they whom he shall bring with him, when he shall come in the clouds\n    of heaven, to reign on the earth over his people. These are they\n    who shall have part in the first resurrection. These are they who\n    shall come forth in the resurrection of the just.\" (Verses 51-65.)\n\nOf those who attain the lesser glory of the Terrestrial it is written:\n\n    \"And again, we saw the terrestrial world, and behold and lo, these\n    are they who are of the terrestrial, whose glory differs from that\n    of the church of the First Born, who have received the fullness\n    of the Father, even as that of the moon differs from the sun in\n    the firmament. Behold, these are they who died without law, And\n    also they who are the spirits of men kept in prison, whom the\n    Son visited, and preached the gospel unto them, that they might\n    be judged according to men in the flesh, Who received not the\n    testimony of Jesus in the flesh, but afterwards received it. These\n    are they who are honorable men of the earth, who were blinded by\n    the craftiness of men. These are they who receive of his glory, but\n    not of his fullness. * * * These are they who are not valiant in\n    the testimony of Jesus; wherefore they obtain not the crown over\n    the kingdom of our God.\" (Verses 71-76, 79.)\n\nAnd of the inhabitants of the Telestial:\n\n    \"And again, we saw the glory of the telestial, which glory is that\n    of the lesser, even as the glory of the stars differs from that of\n    the glory of the moon in the firmament. These are they who received\n    not the gospel of Christ, neither the testimony of Jesus. These are\n    they who deny not the Holy Spirit. These are they who are thrust\n    down to hell. These are they who shall not be redeemed from the\n    devil, until the last resurrection, until the Lord, even Christ\n    the Lamb shall have finished his work. * * * And the glory of the\n    telestial is one, even as the glory of the stars is one, for as one\n    star differs from another star in glory, even so differs one from\n    another in glory in the telestial world; For these are they who\n    are of Paul, and of Apollos, and of Cephas. These are they who say\n    they are some of one and some of another some of Christ and some\n    of John, and some of Moses, and some of Elias, and some of Esaias,\n    and some of Isaiah, and some of Enoch; But received not the gospel,\n    neither the testimony of Jesus, neither the prophets, neither the\n    everlasting covenant. Last of all, these all are they who will\n    not be gathered with the saints, to be caught up unto the church\n    of the First Born, and received into the cloud. These are they\n    who are liars, and sorcerers, and adulterers, and whoremongers,\n    and whosoever loves and makes a lie. * * * These are they who are\n    cast down to hell and suffer the wrath of Almighty God, until the\n    fullness of times when Christ shall have subdued all enemies under\n    his feet, and shall have perfected his work, * * * But behold, and\n    lo, we saw the glory and the inhabitants of the telestial world,\n    that they were as innumerable as the stars in the firmament of\n    heaven, or as the sand upon the sea shore, And heard the voice of\n    the Lord, saying these all shall bow the knee, and every tongue\n    shall confess to him who sits upon the throne for ever and ever;\n    For they shall be judged according to their works, and every man\n    shall receive according to his own works, his own dominion, in the\n    mansions which are prepared, And they shall be servants of the\n    Most High, but where God and Christ dwell they cannot come, worlds\n    without end.\" (Verses 81-85, 98-103, 106, 109-112.)\n\n\"Mormonism\" proclaims the possibility of eternal advancement within\nthe several kingdoms provided in the hereafter and teaches that even\nrepentance is possible beyond the grave. It utters solemn warning,\nhowever, against procrastination and wilful neglect here, holding\nthat this life is strictly a probationary period given unto men for\nrepentance and valiant service, and that to neglect is to lose the\nability to repent. It repudiates what it regards as a strained and\nirrelevant exposition of a certain isolated passage from the Preacher\nof old: \"If the tree fall toward the south, or toward the north, in the\nplace where the tree falleth, there it shall be.\" (Eccles. 11:3.) This\nwe do not believe was ever intended to mean that as the man is when he\ndies so shall he be eternally; nor do we admit that the tenor of Holy\nWrit supports any such inference. Neglect, wilful procrastination, evil\nlife here shall surely be a handicap to eternal progress; but however\nfar behind his more faithful fellows a sinner may fall, he shall yet\nadvance if he will but repent and try. Is it empty assumption to say\nthat such doctrine as this, given to the world through the Book of\nMormon in 1830, is more vital than the dogmas of neverending torment\nand eternal damnation?\n\n(C) It was long taught that the body is a hindrance and a burden to\nthe spirit, a thing to be contemned and despised. Carried to its\ninevitable extreme this belief led to the abnormalities of asceticism,\nmonastic isolation, celibacy, and resultant evils. The spirit of this\nage impels to healthful living, to the preservation of the body and the\nconservation of its God-given functions, to the prudent observances of\nsanitation and hygiene, to abstinence from intoxicants, narcotics and\nstimulants generally. As early as February the Lord gave a revelation\nto the Church touching matters of hygiene and diet. \"The Word of\nWisdom\" it has been rightly called; and its precepts are now proclaimed\nby the teachers of men. Hear it:\n\n    \"That inasmuch as any man drinketh wine or strong drink among you,\n    behold it is not good, neither meet in the sight of your Father,\n    only in assembling yourselves together to offer up your sacraments\n    before him. And, behold, this should be wine, yea, pure wine of the\n    grape of the vine, of your own make. And, again, strong drinks are\n    not for the belly, but for the washing of your bodies. And again,\n    tobacco is not for the body, neither for the belly, and is not good\n    for man, but is an herb for bruises and all sick cattle, to be used\n    with judgment and skill. And again, hot drinks are not for the body\n    or belly. And again, verily I say unto you, all wholesome herbs\n    God hath ordained for the constitution, nature, and use of man.\n    Every herb in the season thereof, and every fruit in the season\n    thereof; all these to be used with prudence and thanksgiving. Yea,\n    flesh also of beasts and of the fowls of the air, I, the Lord, have\n    ordained for the use of man with thanksgiving; nevertheless they\n    are to be used sparingly; And it is pleasing unto me that they\n    should not be used only in times of winter, or of cold, or famine.\n    All grain is ordained for the use of man and of beasts, to be the\n    staff of life, not only for man but for the beasts of the field,\n    and the fowls of heaven, and all wild animals that run or creep on\n    the earth; And these hath God made for the use of man only in times\n    of famine and excess of hunger. All grain is good for the food of\n    man, as also the fruit of the vine, that which yieldeth fruit,\n    whether in the ground or above the ground. Nevertheless, wheat for\n    man, and corn for the ox, and oats for the horse, and rye for the\n    fowls and for swine, and for all beasts of the field, and barley\n    for all useful animals, and for mild drinks, as also other grain.\n    And all saints who remember to keep and do these sayings, walking\n    in obedience to the commandments, shall receive health in their\n    navel, and marrow to their bones; And shall find wisdom and great\n    treasures of knowledge, even hidden treasures; And shall run and\n    not be weary, and shall walk and not faint; And I, the Lord, give\n    unto them a promise, that the destroying angel shall pass by them,\n    as the children of Israel, and not slay them. Amen.\" (Doctrine and\n    Covenants 89:5-21.)\n\nHot drinks against which the people are warned have been and are\nunderstood to include tea and coffee, and the inhibition was preached\nand published prior to the discovery by chemists that theine, caffeine\nand kindred alkaloids are of pronounced deleterious and actually\npoisonous effect. Here again has \"Mormonism,\" as a living teacher, led\nthe way to the paths of a better life, not for the hereafter alone, but\nfor this world.\n\nThe most potent of all forces operating to maintain the vitality of\n\"Mormonism\" is found in the Divine source of its powers and authority.\nIt teaches the actuality of present day revelation as the needs of the\nChurch require. The system lives and shall never die because it is\nimbued with the spirit of eternal life. Men cannot destroy the Divine;\nthe mortal is impotent in assault upon the immortal; the finite is\npowerless to prevail against the infinite.\n\n\n\n3. _Some of the Practical Results_.\n\nHad \"Mormonism\" died in its infancy the splendid results of its effects\nupon mankind would be unknown even as history. To the vitality of the\nsystem, to its inherent virility, is due the development at which today\nthe world marvels. Among the practical results of \"Mormonism\" are the\nfollowing.\n\n(A) A system of church organization unknown, since the disintegration\nof the Primitive Church through apostasy. This organization comprises\nall the essential offices and officers of the olden Church-apostles,\nhigh priests, seventies, elders, bishops, priests, teachers, deacons.\nThe religion of \"Mormonism\" is practical, dealing with the spiritual it\nis true, but also in a prominent degree with the essentials of every\nday life.\n\n(B) An effective missionary system, by which the Gospel message is\nproclaimed throughout the world, and that message of salvation is\ndelivered without money or price. Elders and missionary women are sent\nout into the several fields, bearing their own expenses except so far\nas they may receive assistance through the generosity of the people\namongst whom they labor.\n\n(C) A coherent and mutually helpful body, in which the ties and\nprejudices of diverse nationality and of varied tradition are swallowed\nup in the common love for the Gospel and in the individual testimony\nof its genuineness. When one of the early presiding officers of the\nChurch was asked by an earnest investigator wherein lay the secret of\nthe marvelous influence by which so great an aggregation of foreign and\notherwise diverse people were governed, the answer was: \"We teach them\ncorrect principles and they govern themselves.\"\n\nThis effect of the Gospel is apparent in the happiness and satisfaction\nmanifest among those who have become members of the Church after\nreal repentance. Apostasy from the Church is a rare phenomenon. Even\nexcommunication for failure to live aright is more common; and, be\nit known, that the Lord's revelations to the Church provide that\ntransgression, if not followed by sincere contrition and earnest effort\nto make amends, is to be visited by disfellowshipment.\n\nEvery Latter-day Saint is expected to be true to the sanctity of his\nindividual testimony. He is directly answerable to his God. As to his\nconviction that the Gospel taught by the Church is genuine, he is held\nto have undergone the test prescribed by the Christ that of doing the\nwill of God and thus learning for himself that the doctrine is true.\nThe peace and satisfaction evinced by converts to \"Mormonism\" well nigh\nsurpasses human belief.\n\n(D) A self-supporting organization, not dependent upon the gifts of a\nwealthy few, but upon the proportionate giving of all. In the material\nsupport of the Church as a human institution the widow's penny is as\nacceptable as are the goldpieces of the millionaire. The system of\ntithepaying has been a success in the Church from the first. Every\nmember should consider it a duty to pay a tenth of his income, whether\nthat tenth for any given period be a dime or a thousand dollars; but\nno payment is arbitrarily exacted, for compliance with the law of the\ntithe, to be acceptable before God, must be voluntary and willing. The\npeople are taught that while the Lord needs their tithes and offerings,\ntheir need to be tithed is many times greater. Besides the tithing\nother free-will offerings are made. On the monthly fast day each family\nis asked to contribute the cost-equivalent of the meals from which the\nmembers have fasted; and the means so obtained is administered by the\nbishops for the relief of the deserving poor. Special offerings are\ncalled for and willingly given as occasion requires. A recent request\nfor aid to the war sufferers resulted in the voluntary and eager giving\nof over $30,000 in a single day; and this amount was forwarded and\ndistributed without diminution for commission or other administrative\nexpense, the Church organization proving ample for the purpose.\n\n(E) A series of auxiliary associations which operate as helps in\ngovernment. These include the Relief Society, the Sunday School Union,\nthe Young Men's and the Young Ladies' Mutual Improvement Associations,\nthe Primary Association, and the Religion Classes. The purpose of these\nis in general indicated by the names. Church schools are maintained for\nsuch members as prefer denominational to secular education; and these\ninstitutions range from the kindergarten to the normal school and the\ncollege. We believe that true education comprises the development of\nbody, mind, and spirit; and facilities for this symmetrical training\nare provided. To \"Mormon\" pupils in the public schools of both common\nand secondary grades instruction in religion and ethics is given\nthrough the Religion Classes, which are conducted outside the regular\nschool hours and as a supplement to the secular curriculum. This\ninstructional feature, now advocated by eminent educators for all\npublic schools, has been in successful operation among the Latter-day\nSaints for over a quarter of a century.\n\n(F) A community whose vital statistics tell of prolonged life, high\nbirth and low death rates, high marriage rate, few divorces, and\ngeneral material prosperity. I present to you a few comparisons of\ndata obtained from the Presiding Bishopric of the Church, showing the\ncondition of Latter-day Saints in the organized stakes of Zion, for\nthe six-year period ending with the year 1915, as contrasted with the\nlatest reports for such States of the Union as maintain statistical\nbureaus and are classed in official reports as the registration area.\n\nAmong the Latter-day Saints resident in the Stakes. In the country at\nlarge so far as reported\n\nBirth rate per 1,000................39.........................25\n\nDeath rate per 1,000............... 8.7........................14.1\n\nMarriage rate per 1,000.............16.........................13\n\nDivorces per 10,000..................4.........................10\n\nAverage age at death.................38........................32\n\nThe statistics of infant mortality are strikingly significant. Deaths\nfrom all causes among children under one year of age averaged for\nthe three years ending with 1915 fewer than 59 per thousand births\nin \"Mormon\" families, while the latest report from the United States\nregistration area shows 249 deaths per thousand. Deaths of children\nunder five years of age, including those who die under one year,\nseparately reported, average 82 per thousand births among \"Mormons\" and\n349 for the country at large.\n\nA letter from the Presiding Bishopric to the author, accompanying the\nstatistical report from which the foregoing items have been culled,\ncontains the following statement: \"A detailed record is kept of all the\ncauses of death among Latter-day Saints in the intermountain region.\nThis is carefully supervised by local officers and compiled, and we\nthink it is even more accurate than are the average statistics of the\nbest regulated States of the Union. Details concerning any group of\ncauses of death under the international classification are on file\nsubject to examination by any who may be interested.\"\n\nOne of the certified causes of death in which \"Mormons\" lead the\ncountry is old age. In Latter-day Saint communities the families owning\ntheir own homes constitute 75 per cent of the whole number of families.\nThink what this means the absence of rent-collector or landlord, whose\nshadow too often converts the home into a dreary house.\n\nYes, \"Mormonism\" is alive. The world is better for its presence.\nIt extends to all peoples the invitation to come, to drink at its\nfountains, to partake of its fruits, and to rejoice in the countless\nblessings offered by the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ our Lord.\n\n\n\nARTICLES OF FAITH\n\nOF THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER-DAY SAINTS.\n\n1. We believe in God, the Eternal Father, and in His Son, Jesus Christ,\nand in the Holy Ghost.\n\n2. We believe that men will be punished for their own sins, and not for\nAdam's transgression.\n\n3. We believe that, through the atonement of Christ, all mankind may be\nsaved, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel.\n\n4. We believe that the first principles and ordinances of the Gospel\nare: First, Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; second, Repentance; third,\nBaptism by immersion for the remission of sins; fourth, Laying on of\nHands for the Gift of the Holy Ghost.\n\n5. We believe that a man must be called of God, by \"prophecy, and by\nthe laying on of bauds,\" by those who are in authority, to preach the\ngospel and administer in the ordinances thereof.\n\n6. We believe in the same organization that existed in the primitive\nchurch, namely, apostles, prophets, pastors, teachers, evangelists, etc.\n\n7. We believe in the gift of tongues, prophecy, revelation, visions,\nhealing, interpretation of tongues, etc.\n\n8. We believe the Bible to be the word of God, as far as it is\ntranslated correctly; we also believe the Book of Mormon to be the word\nof God.\n\n9. We believe all that God has revealed, all that He does now reveal,\nand we believe that He will yet reveal many great and important things\npertaining to the Kingdom of God.\n\n10. We believe in the literal gathering of Israel and in the\nrestoration of the Ten Tribes. That Zion will be built upon this\ncontinent. That Christ will reign personally upon the earth, and that\nthe earth will be renewed and receive its paradisical glory.\n\n11. We claim the privilege of worshiping Almighty God according to the\ndictates of our own conscience, and allow all men the same privilege,\nlet them worship how, where or what they may.\n\n12. We believe in being subject to kings, presidents, rulers and\nmagistrates, in obeying, honoring and sustaining the law.\n\n13. We believe in being honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous,\nand in doing good to ALL MEN; indeed we may say that we follow the\nadmonition of Paul, \"We believe all things, we hope all things,\" we\nhave endured many things, and hope to be able to endure all things. If\nthere is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy\nwe seek after these things. JOSEPH SMITH.","title":"The Vitality of \"Mormonism\": An Address","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":7399}