A LEAF IN REVIEW of the Words and Acts of God and Men Relative to the Fullness of the Gospel Copyright 1933 by THE CAXTON PRINTERS, LTD. Caldwell, Idaho (Now expired) Contents Preface to Second Edition and Biographical Note and Appendix, Section III: A Mighty Prophet Of the Remnant of the House of Israel Now Dwelling on this Land and Index with Cross References to the Subjects in B. Harvey Allred's A Leaf in Review of the Words and Acts of God and Men Relative to the Fullness of the Gospel Copyright c. 1980 by Lynn L. Bishop & Rhea Allred Kunz. All rights reserved. Any correspondence or inquiries should be directed to: Review and Preview Publishers P. 0. Box 368 Draper, Utah, 84020 [3] PREFACE TO SECOND EDITION More than thirty years have elapsed since the writer of this widelyknown and controversial book took his journey to that place "where the wicked cease from troubling and the weary be at rest." In the near thirtyfive years of its existence, this book has been in great demand. Many who have dared to investigate or espouse an unpopular cause have turned to this publication as one of the few existing and enduring treatises on the subject of Mormon Church apostasy. In the minds of many who champion "the fullness", it is a sad reflection that urgent necessity now calls for another prophet "crying in the wilderness" against the apostasy that now exists among many Fundamentalists and other outcasts and dissidents. As a daughter of the author of A Leaf in Review of the Acts of God and Men, often I have wished that my father's book were reprinted and updated. Now I have come to see more clearly than ever that this book is timeless. In its truth and in its application, it fits present and future spiritual and sociopolitical conditions locally, nationally and abroad. Whatever the name or nature of books that will yet augment and enrich A Leaf in Review, this gem of great spiritual truth will and must remain as it is, unchanged, a spiritual entity of priceless and enduring value. It not only reveals the moral and spiritual decline, present and future, of the Mormon people and the terrible judgments to follow; it reveals the mission and identity of the "one like unto Moses" (D&C 103:158) who will deliver the valiant remnant of this people from spiritual and temporal bondage and lead them to Jackson County, Missouri to prepare a place and habitation for the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. In the following pages, I have attempted a brief review of my father's life. We are indebted to Lynn L. Bishop and his brother, Steven L.Bishop for the index and appendix. Rhea Allred Kunz [4] BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE My father, Byron Harvey Allred Jr. was born on March 31, 1870 to Byron Harvey and Phoebe Irene Cook Allred at St. Charles, Bear Lake County, Idaho. His early life was arduous but he made the best of his opportunity for a grade school education and by selfimprovement qualified to become a teacher and to practice law. At the age of eighteen he married his childhood sweetheart, Charlotte Susannah Pead. To this union were born eleven living children. The following paragraph is taken from a brief sketch of the life of Charlotte written by one of her sisters. "Her husband, Byron Harvey Allred Jr., was the most sought after man in Star Valley. He was a brilliant man; a lawyer, school teacher, carpenter, etc. He could do almost anything and was a good provider. They were the second family in Afton to have linoleum on their floor. He was kind, loving, and considerate of Lottie. It seemed to me that they loved with a love that was more than the ordinary love." He became a Wyoming State Legislator at the age of twentytwo years, the second youngest man in the United States to serve in that [5] capacity. In 1897, father was called to fill a mission preaching the gospel in the "Indian territory" and thereabouts. When he was thirtythree years of age he took his first plural wife, Mary Evelyn Clark. The sealing was performed in Colonia Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico by Anthony W. Ivins, July 15, 1903.(1) To this union were born ten children. Having foreseen the Mexican Revolution in a dream, Father brought his families to the United States early in 1908. The following December his first wife and her newborn twin daughters died.(2) In 1916 the author was elected a representative to the Idaho legislature where he served as Speaker of the House. During the first World War he was director of important state offices under Governor Moses Alexander. Subsequently he moved to Canada with his plural family and two unmarried children of the first wife. After three eventful years the family returned to Boise, Idaho where Father's health began a rapid decline. Frequently throughout his life time he had been requested to speak to public gatherings, Church and civil. Now the task became increasingly hard for him to accomplish. He was a fluent, articulate speaker with an unusually good speaking voice, clear and resonant as a bell until weakened by age and physical suffering. In 1927 Father made a trip to Salt Lake City where he had the happy privilege of again meeting a beloved former missionary companion, Loin C. Woollen, of Centerville, Utah. At this time Father also met John Wickersham Woolley, father of Loin, and from these men heard for the first time, the detailed and thrilling account of John Taylor's experience on the night of Sept. 26 and 27, 1886, in John W. Woolley's home. At that time heavenly visitors spent the night with and instructed President Taylor, who in turn called and conducted the memorable meetings of the next day. At this time provisions were made for the perpetuation of Celestial Marriage.(3) Laden with the glad news and actuated by the glory and beauty of the same, Father came home to Boise, where he promptly appointed a meeting of his wife and all children of teen or adult age. As the eldest child then present and with my husband of less than three months, I was one of the privileged few. As Father conducted the little gathering and narrated the story of that wonderful and historic event, the Holy Ghost fell upon us in great power, confirming the facts as they fell from Father's lips. Against great odds of physical suffering and financial scantiness, Father began A Leaf in Review.(4) Spiritual experiences, of which I am aware, renewed his courage and improved his health, enabling him to continue his work on the manuscript until it was finished and [6] in the publisher's hands. Only those who were near Father and who, like him, had subdued the fear of mortals and devils could know and appreciate the holy influence that led and sustained the patient scribe. Often we felt this holy influence like an aura about him as we observed his thin and bent form toiling over books and typewriter. Likewise only we who sensed this holiness could or would share his great joy and ease his financial burden in bringing the book to completion. One of the high points of Father's book is his testimony of the great Indian prophet. It was the privilege of myself and other children of B. Harvey Allred during our youth to hear from him the detailed account of his meeting with our departed Mother Charlotte and two little girls, likely the twins, and going with them to the great assemblage of Indian people who had gathered to hear that "mighty prophet." I bear humble witness that I heard and believed Father's narration of this prophetic experience years before he wrote his book.(5) For about a year previous to his death Father experienced much better health and could visit children and family members in other states. Thus God enabled him to explain and confirm his experiences and testimony to contrite and dedicated family members and friends. Approximately nine months before his death another sainted and lovely woman was added to his family for time and eternity. She was Frieda Dorothea Elizabeth Von Qualen Bauer, mother of several children, a gospel convert and widow of an atheist husband who refused to hear the gospel. On the Sunday just prior to Father's death in Emmett, Idaho, he was visited by a family acquaintance. This man came seeking and obtaining correct ordination to the Melchizadek Priesthood under Father's hands. At this time Father was feeling considerably better and informed his visitor, "My work is done. I am ready to go and am just waiting for my call." To his wife and children he conveyed this same information, settled his affairs and joyfully anticipated going. To the end, his mind remained keen and bright. That call came early on the morning of March 18, 1937. [7] Preface IN LIFE'S experiences, influenced mightily by the words and acts of God and men, relative to the fullness of the gospel, I find justification for A Leaf In Review. So interwoven are these mightiest things with man's eternal destiny, I feel it a duty I owe to my fellows to indicate their relative merits, measured by divine truths discovered in my personal experiences. My cause could be better introduced to the reader by an honest and frank narrative, in which will be found the first plantings of doubt's fertile acorn, now grown into a mighty oak of conviction rooted in the living Word of God, yet, because of the unavoidable length of this narrative, it will be more fully written within the body of our REVIEW, when we approach the subjects most closely connected therewith. I am not so conceited, nor am I such a fool as to believe my thoughts, feelings, and knowledge as expressed in a REVIEW OF THE WORDS AND ACTS OF GOD AND MEN shall turn "a little corner of the world upside down." If some honest souls can, by my compilations and writing, be moved to think for themselves, to watch and to pray, and if some truth be found, make it their own, my humble purpose shall be well served. From the depths of my heart I thank The Giver of All Good that I "was born of goodly parents and taught in the ways of the Lord." I praise His holy name that I, and you, dear reader, have been privileged to live in this "the ushering in of the dispensation of the fullness of times" . . . a "time that a whole and complete and perfect union and welding together of dispensations and keys and powers and glories should take place and be revealed from the days of Adam even to the present time; and not only this, but those things which never have been revealed from the foundation of the world, but which have been kept hid from the (worldly) wise and prudent, shall be revealed unto babes [8] and sucklings, in this the dispensation of the fullness of times."(6) With all my soul, I thank my Lord for the gift of a living faith in the fullness of His gospel, as it is taught in the "sticks of Judah and Ephraim, "(7) and again revealed of Him through His prophet, Joseph Smith. Notwithstanding my many weaknesses and imperfections, God, in His mercy, has counted me fit to receive His "Two Priesthoods" and in their authority to bear my humble testimony to His gospel, at home and abroad. It is by the Grace of Jesus Christ, our Lord, that I know He lives and have heard His voice; that I know His gospel in its fullness, as revealed through Joseph Smith, is verily true, "everlasting and unchangeable."(8) For the reason that I believe with all my soul the declaration of Paul, "there is no other gospel, and though we or an angel from heaven preach any other gospel, let him be accursed," and that this gospel, as taught by Christ and His apostles, unchanged and unchangeable, was taught in authority by Joseph Smith "is the power of God unto salvation," of it I am not ashamed.(9) I believe just as sincerely that the sacred Scripture, the Bible, the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, the Pearl of Great Price, and other attested revelations from God, contain a true record of the fullness of the gospel as given of Jesus Christ and by His holy prophets and apostles, and that all mankind will be judged by those truths and not by the doctrines of men. A careful and prayerful study of the gospel as contained in those sacred documents, when compared with the teachings, practice, and gifts of the Latter Day Saint Church of today, has convinced me beyond the shadow of a doubt that this Church has apostatized, or turned away from many of the saving truths taught in those holy writings, and that the leaders of this Church have perverted the doctrines, changed the ordinances, rejected the fullness of the gospel, and broken the new and everlasting covenant.(10) [9]Believing these truths to be selfevident when called to the attention of honest seekers after righteousness, many of whom have been asleep with an assurance that "all is well in Zion," and for the purpose of more fully discharging what I honestly believe to be my duty to my conscience, my fellow men, and my God, I have been irresistibly moved upon to compile the references and write the comments made thereon as contained in A LEAF IN REVIEW. I alone am responsible for its contents, as arranged, for its faulty language and diction and all other imperfections therein. I lay no claim to mortal or divine commission for this REVIEW or its publication. If, perchance, good comes of my effort, the praise, honor, and glory is all the Lord's, for He alone is the author of good. If evil or harm comes to me or mine or any other of mankind as a result, I alone am responsible for what I have arranged and written, and not for evil others may do in and of themselves. Having a conscience void of known offense in this thing toward my Maker and man, I have most humbly sought the Lord to guide me with His spirit, to give sense, courage, and strength to write the truth as I honestly understand it to be, and to stay my mind, hand, and pen should the weakness and imperfections to which the flesh is heir  and I am full of them  move me to write a word contrary to His holy will. The final fruits of my humble effort, all now in His just care, will determine to what extent He has seen fit to hear my pleadings. I acknowledge with gratitude my indebtedness to several of my good brethren (whom I will not name lest responsibility for my act be charged to them), for locating and providing me with some of the quotations from church history, civil history, and private documents herein copied and arranged. All italicizing employed is mine. Footnotes will aid the reader in locating complete text from which quotation is made. If errors are found in these it is of the head and not the heart. I have nothing new to declare; that which I have here [10] assembled of the revealed word of God, is more than ample to prove my claims and damn the unbelieving and rebellious of this generation. Because of A LEAF IN REVIEW I shall no doubt be considered bigoted, presumptuous and "out of harmony" by many of my fellow church members. Some of my loved brethren and sisters who know best my frailties, and yet have hitherto done me the honor to consider me worthy of some little esteem, may now censure and condemn, even without a study of A LEAF IN REVIEW. I hope, for the sake of such I shall not be maligned. What I write I write with an honest and sincere conviction in its truth and present need. If I am found in error, I will be indeed grateful to the friend who sets me right. My imperfect language and limited vocabulary force me to make many repetitions, and to employ words and sentences in an effort to make my meaning clear that will, undoubtedly, smack of a spite, harshness, and bitterness I by no means feel. I love, honor, and respect that body of good men, whom my convictions of right and wrong impel me to declare do not possess the divine requisites of prophets, seers, and revelators, as I admire no other similar group of men on earth. I believe them to possess virtues and qualifications for their responsible positions a hundredfold greater than I possess and to possess them more than any like body of men of whom I know. Notwithstanding the fact that I know the lack of living faith in the promises and commands of God and the departure from many of His most sacred laws and ordinances, on the part of our leaders, has deterred and prevented untold numbers of honest, Godfearing Saints from living the fullness of the gospel as taught by our Lord through Joseph Smith and other holy prophets and apostles, I also know these good men do teach and admonish the people to be honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous and to do good to all men. And although they do not teach or practice "all that God has revealed" and even hinder others who would do those things, yet, we can  and it is our solemn duty as we love our souls and [11] our God  diligently observe all their righteous teachings and admonitions, and obey every law and commandment or part thereof revealed of God, which these leaders do or do not teach, and their leadership will permit us to practice either through the church organization, or through other divinely appointed means, or in and of ourselves. I fearlessly declare unto all the world, and in the name of Jesus Christ, through the irresistible power of His spirit that is upon me, that all they who will believe, teach, and diligently observe to do these things, in humility before God, with an eye single to His glory, will be prepared and counted worthy to believe and obey the fullness of the gospel and shall receive an inheritance with the righteous, when God makes up His jewels and moves again in mighty power to "set His house in order."(11) All the powers of man and hell combined cannot stay the hand of the Mighty God of Jacob from the speedy execution of His purpose to "set His house in order" and pour out His blessings, even eternal blessings of joy, glory, and increase in the heaven of heavens upon those who delight to honor and obey Him. It is not the purpose of A LEAF IN REVIEW to attempt a vindication of the fullness of the gospel as taught of our Lord through His prophet Joseph Smith. To this I have here borne my humble and solemn testimony; but its purpose is to prove to the honest searcher for truth, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that the Church of Latterday Saints as an organization, and its leaders have apostatized from many of its divine truths. Because of my weakness and imperfections, I fear and dread the censure of my loved brethren and sisters, and even more do I fear that by this, my seeming rashness, I shall be deprived of my church standing and the prized positions of trust I have held therein with my fellows. These things I have prized next to my mortal life from my youth. On account of "church action" taken against other men who have dared to express their honest convictions, and of their ostracism by their former associates, my [12] contemplation of the possible, yes, probable, results to me and mine of my REVIEW fills me with mortal fear and dread. I am very weak and lack the courage one who travels this path should possess. May a kind Father temper the winds to me and mine if it be His will I should be shorn, and turn my present weakness into needed courage and strength. For seven long years I have tried to reason against my better sense of duty in this matter. I have searched in vain for an acceptable excuse for leaving this thing to more worthy and capable minds. Several times I have gathered courage to make a beginning, but my overwhelming fear of facing the worldly consequences of a publication of my convictions has driven me to desist and destroy much of that I had written. I have at last arrived at a milestone in my journey of life where I have encountered a fear of facing the known consequences of a violated conscience, through continued silence, far more poignant than any fear I ever felt of the displeasure and abuse of mortal man. I have now "put my hand to the plow," and God being my helper, I will not again turn back until I have "turned my little furrow." To Him, first and last, I am indebted for all I am and have, and, little though it be in the eyes of other men, I prize it very highly. Through His abundant mercy and goodness I have life. Many times He has spared it unto me. Twice, while held in the very grasp of death, has He, by the miraculous and direct interposition of His holy angels, seen fit to intercede and lengthen my days. To what purpose I know not, yet, be it ever so small, I pray I may not fail it now. For this and other unmerited blessings I have in the holy priesthood, conferred upon me by and through a direct succession of ordination under the hands of my Redeemer, for the fullness of the gospel, for my wives and my children, for my true friends, for my all, 0 Lord, my God, I am humbly grateful to Thee. [13] Surely, even under the burden of my many imperfections, I can do no less than to make, in this my humble effort to uphold Thy sacred truths, a published acknowledgment of my endless debt to Thee. To the cause of truth embraced in the fullness of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and the good of my fellow men I humbly dedicate A LEAF IN REVIEW. B. HARVEY ALLRED. Boise, Idaho, May 23, 1932. [15] CONTENTS Page PREFACE TO SECOND EDITION.......................................3 Biographical Note of B. Harvey Allred (second edition only).....4 PREFACE (first edition).........................................7 Chapter 1. A Plea for Truth...........................................19 2. They wander................................................22 3. A Rock of Refuge...........................................24 4. Of What Composed...........................................25 5. How Discovered.............................................27 6. The Unfailing Guide and Key to Knowledge...................28 7. The Reliable Key of Conceit................................30 8. Priesthood, Its Covenant and Oath..........................32 9. The Call and Authority of Joseph Smith.....................35 10. The Foundation.............................................39 11. Priesthood, Powers and Authority...........................40 12. Has the Sun Gone Down?.....................................44 13. What Constitutes a Prophet, a Seer, and a Revelator?.......50 14. A House of Order Versus a House of Confusion...............54 15. The Aaronic Priesthood.....................................63 16. Order of Conferring and Ordaining to Priesthood............78 17. "If Ye Forsake Him, He Will Forsake You"...................86 18. "Neither Are Your Ways My Ways, Saith the Lord"............89 19. "The Tares Shall Be Bound in Bundles and Burned"...........93 20. "Verily, They Have Their Reward"...........................96 21. "The Root of All Evil"....................................103 22. Cut Off  "A Land of Zion Unto Whom?"....................107 23. Fast Offering, Man's or the Lord's Plan?..................110 24. God's House Shall Be Set in Order.........................116 25. The Faithful Mormon's Emblem..............................125 26. "Your Iniquities Have Turned Away These Things, and Your Sins Have Withholden Good Things From You"..........130 27. Apostasy Foretold.........................................131 28. "They Have Perverted My Law"..............................136 29. "The Bone of Mormon Contention"...........................140 30. The New and Everlasting Covenant of Marriage Ceremony.....150 31. "But Cursed Be the Deceiver"..............................157 32. "Who Is on the Lord's Side?"..............................166 [16] 33. The Manifesto.............................................194 34. Life's Experience.........................................198 35. Teaching, Warning, and Prophecies.........................204 36. We Resume.................................................211 37. "Therefore Turn Thou to Thy God"..........................215 ADDED CONTENTS OF SECOND EDITION: (Not yet in this infobase) Page APPENDIX......................................................223 Contents of Appendix.......................................227 Preface to Appendix........................................229 Section I: Revelation to John Taylor Recorded in His Own Handwriting..............................................230 Section II: Visitation of Jesus Christ and Joseph Smith to John Taylor as Recorded by Lorin C. Woolley..............232 Section III: A Mighty Prophet of the Remnant of the House of Israel Now Dwelling on This Land................................239 INDEX with CROSS REFERENCES...................................259 Preface to Index with Cross References.....................263 Key to Abbreviations.......................................263 Index with Cross References................................269 [19] 1 A PLEA FOR TRUTH. GOD HAS commanded those who have in this day been called by Him to proclaim His gospel and prune His vineyard that they should "proclaim the truth according to the revelations and commandments which He has given them." "And thus if ye are faithful," said He, "ye shall be laden with many sheaves, and crowned with honor, and glory, and immortality, and eternal life."(12) In strict accord with this command A LEAF IN REVIEW will seek, with our Lord's help, to proclaim and vindicate His sacred truths. That they are the most dependable and enduring of all things given to us of God is evidenced in these precious words, "For behold, and lo, the Lord is God, and the Spirit beareth record, and the record is true, and the truth abideth forever and ever."(13) The revelations inform us(14) that "All truth is independent in that sphere in which God placed it, to act for itself, as all intelligence also; otherwise there is no existence. Behold, here is the agency of man, and here is the condemnation of man; because that which is from the beginning is plainly manifest unto them, and they receive not the light." We are here informed that these saving truths which have existed from the beginning, God has plainly manifested unto us through His revelations and commandments in this our present sphere of action. And these truths are independent and selfexistent regardless of man's attitude toward them. Man is also free and independent, has his free agency in all spheres of his existence, he may accept or reject any or all of these eternal, saving truths. We are further told that no man can acquire a fullness of truth unless he keepeth God's commandments pertaining to that sphere in which he exists. [20] The revelation teaches us that "Man was also in the beginning with God," and in that sphere of man's first organized or spirit state God proclaimed this eternal truth, also independent in its every sphere of operation: "They who keep their first estate shall be added upon; and they who keep not their first estate shall not have glory in the same kingdom with those who keep their first estate; and they who keep their second estate shall have glory added upon their heads forever and ever."(15) Scripture hereinafter cited teaches us that some spirits "kept not their first estate." Having transgressed the truths of God pertaining to that sphere they were condemned and cast out. This truth is also taught us by the revelations of God. If we reject their testimony concerning that which befell the disobedient during our "first estate," we will be much inclined to reject God's truths revealed concerning His laws which govern this sphere or probation of our lives, and thereby forfeit our right to added glory. Hoge says, "It is easier to find a score of men wise enough to discover the truth than to find one intrepid enough in the face of opposition to stand up for it." To the few willing to "stand up" for truth I quote the comforting words of the apostle. "God hath from the beginning, chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth."(16) Moreover, "The tender mercies of the Lord are over all those whom He hath chosen, because of their faith."(17) But, says Christ, "He that will not take up his cross and follow me and keep my commandments, the same shall not be saved."(18) Kind reader, are you "hungering and thirsting after righteousness"? If so, you "shall be filled with the Holy Ghost"(19) is the promise of our Lord; but you must believe and obey the truth when presented, or you will by no means obtain your salvation. Truth and truth only has power to save your soul, yet its complete acceptance will bring a cross for you to bear, for in keeping God's commandments [21] the wicked and unbelieving will hate and persecute you."(20) If you are granted a conviction of the truths quoted and written within A LEAF IN REVIEW, have you the courage to accept and act upon them? If not, I beg you peruse these pages no further, "For unto whom much is given, much is required and he who sins against the greater light shall receive the greater condemnation."(21) The Lord has said over and over again, "Give heed unto my word which is quick and powerful, sharper than a twoedged sword, to the dividing asunder of both joints and marrow; therefore give heed unto my words."(22) Many things written and quoted herein will sound harsh and unkind to the wicked and unbelieving. To such they will cut deep, but to the righteous they will bring joy, comfort, and strength. Paul tells us "There is a deceivableness of unrighteousness in those that perish, because they receive not the love of the truth that they might be saved; And for this reason God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie that they might be damned who believe not the truth and have pleasure in unrighteousness."(23) Unrighteousness in men always causes them to fear the truth, and leads them to seek excuses for not facing it. They attempt to deceive themselves, then their fellows, because they have no love for the truth that runs counter to their conceit and worldly ambitions. So strong is this desire within them to deceive that they actually believe, first their exaggerations, then the falsehoods they once uttered to deceive others, and thus delusions, selfcreated, grow into belief to their damnation. The deceivableness of unrighteousness in many who profess to speak for God has, for years, presented strong delusion, masked in robes of priesthood, before the people and themselves. [22] 2 THEY WANDER. "WHO provideth for the raven his food? When his young ones cry unto God, they wander for lack of meat."(24) Many honest, conscientious seekers after truth, within the Church wander like lost sheep on the mountain; "they are tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine." They look in vain to the shepherds whom they have been taught to respect, reverence, and obey as the mouthpiece of God. Searching, searching for a soulsatisfying solution of the many serious and perplexing problems, they return unrewarded. They seek and pray for light through lamps that have ceased to burn. On almost every hand are heard contentions and disputations concerning points of sacred doctrine and ordinances upon which we have been taught our eternal exaltation depends. In high places exist doubts, controversies and disputations, where there should be unity of faith and purpose if we are to have an "answer of God." Witness these facts in the talks made by President Grant at the funeral of Elder Ray Pratt and at the dedicatory services of the Hollywood Stake Chapel, or Tabernacle, as well as from many other sources too numerous to quote or name. And yet, never in all the history of the Church of former or Latterday Saints have there been so many men of worldly wisdom and learning in the presiding quorums of the Church as there are today. It was of late said in the hearing of the writer, by one who pretends to little faith in any creed, that if the words of Paul as recorded in I Cor. 1:26, 27; 2:4, 12, 13 were transposed they would well depict the present day leadership of the Mormon Church. Then he proceeded to quote: "Many wise men after the flesh, many mighty, many noble are called, for God hath chosen the wise of the world to confound foolishness, and hath chosen the strong [23] in things of this world to confound the things that are weak." "They have received not the Spirit which is of God that they might know the things which were freely given to us of God; but they have received the spirit of the world, which things they speak in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but not which the Holy Ghost teacheth." "My preaching was with enticing words of man's wisdom, but not in demonstration of the spirit and of power." I know this is not wholly true of them, for many times some of them do teach through the inspiration of God's spirit. But, just how much, if any, of it is true, God must judge, yet, in the absence of convincing evidence to the contrary, none will arise to deny the fact that "The seers have closed their mouths and the sun has gone down over our prophets." We are left without satisfying evidence that God longer "delights to reveal the mysteries of the kingdom through them, under their present state of unbelief and rebellion against His laws." [24] 3 A ROCK OF REFUGE. CAN WE say with David "The Lord is my rock and my fortress, my refuge and my saviour"?(25) "Take my yoke upon you and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart; and ye shall find rest unto your souls."(26) Oh, the hope this promise of our Lord inspires in the weary and heavy laden! The answer can come from God and from Him alone. He who has perfect "knowledge of things as they are, and as they were, and as they are to come."(27) "The spirit of Truth is of God ."(28) "The Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost," which Christ said to His disciples, "the Father will send in my name, He shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you."(29) Inasmuch as few of us unworthy mortals are privileged to listen to the very words of our Lord as were His apostles and righteous saints of that day, and as few of the most faithful have been and now are, in this, the dispensation of the fullness of times, and of these few remaining, none deliver to us "The word of the Lord" on these confusing mysteries, publicly or privately, in a manner approved by our church organization, we must turn to another source for truth, namely, that of the writings of holy men of God contained in our accepted Scriptures, the Bible, the Book of Mormon, The Doctrine and Covenants, the Pearl of Great P rice, and other authenticated documents, containing their testimony concerning the sacred truths embraced within the "fullness of the gospel" as taught by the Lord to them. [25] 4 OF WHAT COMPOSED? "WITH God is wisdom and strength. He hath counsel and understanding." "He discovereth deep things out of the darkness, and bringeth out to light the shadow of death."(30) "For His eyes are upon the ways of men, and He seeth all his goings." "There is no darkness, nor shadow of death (in Him) where the workers of iniquity may hide them selves."(31) In searching for God's truth contained in the Holy Scriptures, we must ever remember, "No prophecy of the Scripture is of any private interpretation, for the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man; but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost."(32) We must accept the prophecy as given, if its wording is in language that conveys to our finite minds a ready understanding, but if it be couched in language peculiar to the olden prophets, we must make sure we have the Spirit of God to direct our interpretations, for "The things of God are only understood by the Spirit of God"(33) and unless in possession of that infallible power we may "wander from understanding." If we take the unwarranted liberty of placing our own private interpretation on the written word of God, not easily understood by man's common intelligence, we are treading on unsafe grounds. Other mortals will claim the same prerogative, and confusion is sure to follow, to the condemnation of all who participate. "God's Spirit is sent forth into the world to enlighten the humble and contrite, and to the condemnation of the ungodly."(34) Peter's admonition that we place no private interpretation upon prophecy of the Scripture certainly applies to God's laws and commandments contained therein. [26] If the doctrine, laws and commandments taught by holy men of God when moved upon by the Holy Ghost, in olden times, were the will of God and not of men, and became Scripture for our guidance, most assuredly the doctrines, laws, and commandments taught in this, or any other dispensation, by holy men of God when moved upon by the Holy Ghost, are the word of God, Scripture, and truth, equally binding and authoritative. If we seek to wrest, misconstrue, or place a private interpretation upon them we do it in our own damnation.(35) For God whether it be the Father, the Son, or the Holy Ghost, is the same yesterday, today, and forever .(36) "God does not walk in crooked paths, neither does He turn to the right hand nor the left, neither doth He vary from that which He hath said."(37) Of this matter the Lord said to Joseph Smith, "And this is the example unto them, that they shall speak as they are moved upon by the Holy Ghost. Whatever they shall speak when moved upon by the Holy Ghost shall be scripture, shall be the will of the Lord, shall be the mind of the Lord, shall be the word of the Lord, shall be the voice of the Lord, and the power of God unto salvation."(38) [27] 5 HOW DISCOVERED. NOW, kind reader, having learned that an unfailing source of Truth, a "rock of refuge" awaits our exploring, we are confronted with another vital question, namely, how are we to know that men claiming power and authority to speak the mind and will of the Lord are really holy men of God, moved upon by the Holy Ghost? This is indeed an essential understanding if we are not to be deceived by the worldly wisdom and cunning of men. Nearly all of us are quite willing to admit that the dead prophets were thus qualified, but what of the living? Cannot the same rule of measurement be applied to both? Or, in "building the tombs of the dead prophets,"(39) did we pause to apply any rule? However, insofar as prophecies, revelations, and teachings of the dead prophets are recorded in the Bible, Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, and Pearl of Great Price, we, as Latterday Saint Church members, have repeatedly agreed to accept them as our "Standard Church Works," containing the will of God. We need not now pause to apply any rule for determining their authority. Yet if there is to be had an infallible key for knowing whether or not God really spoke, or is speaking certain things, written or oral, through men, that measure could surely be applied to the contents of those books, did we care now to employ it. Inasmuch as we Latterday Saints have already agreed to accept those books as containing the word, mind, and will of God to us, the writer of this REVIEW will be justified in employing their record of truth to discover this unfailing key, by which we may know whether or not any pretended revelation from God is in fact God's word  a "rock of refuge." [28] 6 THE UNFAILING GUIDE AND KEY TO KNOWLEDGE. NOW, dear reader, to the discovery of that priceless key by which we may know whether or not the Holy Ghost, God or the Spirit of God is moving upon us or upon others. "The things of man are understood by the spirit of man which is in him, but the things of God knoweth no man but by the spirit of God."(40) "By my Spirit will I enlighten them, and by My power will make known unto them the secrets of My will."(41) Many holy and sacred truths "are only to be seen and understood by the power of the Holy Spirit which God bestows on those who love Him and purify themselves before Him."(42) You now understand the conditions upon which you may possess that key. Not all men and women are worthy to be entrusted with it any more than they would be with the keys to the United States Treasury vaults. Reader, if you have complied with those allimportant conditions, God is ready, and will be pleased to entrust you with that key. He says unto us, "I, the Lord, am bound when ye do what I say, but when ye do not what I say, ye have no promise. "(43) If you have not already received this priceless key, do you not think its possession is worthy your utmost, faithful effort to obtain? Try your own soul, and feel first that you are worthy to be trusted of God, then try the Lord. He will not fail you. "Faith without works is dead." "Knock and it shall be opened unto you." But, know first that you are fit to enter! Having honestly and worthily sought this key, how are you to know when it is in your possession? Ponder, with prayerful heart the following: The Lord said to Oliver Cowdery, "you have supposed that I would give it unto you, (not the key, but the [29] knowledge it would unlock) when you took no thought, save it was to ask me; but, behold, I say unto you, that you must study it out in your mind; then ask Me if it be right, and if it is I will cause that your bosom shall burn within you: therefore, you shall feel that it is right: But, if it be not right, you shall have no such feelings; but shall have a stupor of thought, that shall cause you to forget the thing which is wrong: therefore, you cannot write that which is sacred, save it be given you from Me."(44) Dear reader, can the English language make a thing more clear? This "burning within your bosom" is that "baptism of the Holy Ghost and fire" which John said Christ would give."(45) The same that is promised to the truly repentant and faithful believer in our day.(46) It is that baptism of fire and power felt by the prophet, Joseph Smith, the effects of which he so forcefully tells in the sixth verse of the eightyfifth section of The Doctrine and Covenants. Its holy presence is unmistakable, its power irresistible and infallible. There is no other that can counterfeit it. It is unfailing and gloriously overwhelming, to the extent that it takes possession of your entire being. Your every nerve cell and fiber becomes a power of sight, feeling, or hearing so far beyond the power of man's normal senses that we can make no adequate comparison. Its heavenly presence and power cannot be described by the feeble words at mortal man's command. It must be experienced to be sensed and understood. Faithful reader, it is a priceless key, of more value than all earth's riches. With all your might, mind, and strength lay hold, worthily, upon it. If you once possess it you would rather part with life than be deprived of it. May its blessed promptings be with us in our present quest, for we shall have real need and frequent occasion to employ it in this, the most important search of all our mortal life. We will hereafter refer to it as "the key to knowledge." [30] 7 THE RELIABLE KEY OF CONCEIT. THERE is a class, some of whom may be blessed, "such as should be saved," to read and profit by the contents of A LEAF IN REVIEW who are unworthy to possess the "key to knowledge" because of their conceit, selfrighteousness, worldlymindedness, and "stiffkneedness." For just such, God, loving all His children, has prepared another key, yes, an unfailing key. "None shall be left with excuse for rejecting the words of God or holy men speaking for Him. For convenience and because of its appropriateness we will call this key "the key of conceit." Do not despise it because of the name. It is of God and will help you to know His word whether spoken or written. The occasion for the revealing of this key came about in November of 1831 on this wise: The gospel net gathered in many of the meek and lowly and a few of the learned of the earth. Among this class particularly appeared from time to time a few who were "wise in their own conceit." Their language and address were good, their natural powers of expression whether by word or pen, were superior to the natural learning possessed by the prophet, Joseph. In their conceit and in a spirit of contempt for the powers of God, weak in their worldly eyes, they said they could write better revelations than some of Joseph's were, as expressed in his imperfect language. When many of the elders were ordained and sent out to preach the Gospel they were instructed to testify to the divinity of the Book of Mormon and th e Book of Commandments which contained the revelations given by Joseph Smith. The boasting and ridicule of the few worldly wise among them caused doubts to arise in the minds of some of the spiritually weaker elders. These and some of the more devout and faithful who had received a testimony [31] of the divinity of those revelations came to Joseph with earnest request to know how these doubts could be overcome, and the boasting of the conceited few be confounded. A meeting of these and other brethren was called at which time the Prophet received the revelation now known as Section 67 in our Doctrine and Covenants. Only that portion containing this key is quoted: "Now seek ye out of the book of commandments, even the least that is among them, and appoint him that is the most wise among you: "Or, if there be any among you, that shall make one like unto it, then ye are justified in saying that ye do not know that they are true; "But if ye cannot make one like unto it, ye are under condemnation if ye do not bear record that they are true." William E. Mellon as the wisest man in his own estimation, having more learning than sense, endeavored to write a commandment like unto one of the least of the Lord's, but failed and was greatly humiliated. He learned "it was an awful responsibility to write in the name of the Lord." Dear friend, when you doubt the divinity of any declaration, oral or written, claiming to be of the Lord, if you are not in possession of the key to knowledge, insert and turn this key of conceit. You will find the promise true and something worth your while inside, be you either doubter or faithful believer. There is this great difference in those two keys. The key to knowledge not only reveals the Truth, but it also gives courage and power to make that Truth your own. The key of conceit carries with it no such saving gift, yet it opens a door by which humility may acquire the gift. Reader, you are now, or should be, equipped with keys to unlock the door to Truth for yourself as we proceed on our way. [32] 8 PRIESTHOOD, ITS COVENANT AND OATH. IN A former dispensation "God gave some to be apostles, and some prophets, and some evangelists; and some pastors and teachers for the perfecting of the saints unto the work of ministering, unto the building up of the body of Christ till we all attain unto the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God."(47) God has given us the same priesthood, and the same offices append to those priesthoods in our day, for the same ministry and purpose .(48) If we are to be perfected and brought to a unity in the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, we should thoroughly understand the priesthood, its offices, duties, and powers, and know to just what extent we owe obedience to and reverence for the priesthoods and offices within them. The salvation of the souls of men depends upon the rights, powers, authority, and righteousness of those who accept the mighty responsibilities of "ministering for men in things pertaining to God." When priesthood is to be authoritatively conferred upon men, God requires that they be selected and chosen according to the gifts, callings, and qualifications in them for the righteous discharge of duties and responsibilities of the office to which they will be ordained.(49) When men are thus selected and have the priesthoods conferred upon them God demands righteous and capable service through inspiration of His Holy Spirit, and He requires them to enter into the following covenant, sealed by oath, with Him.(50) Those who "come unto those two priesthoods aver that they have been faithful unto their obtaining." They are then required by God's word to enter into the following covenant with Him whom they are called to represent: they covenant to magnify their calling, to [33] receive God and obey His laws and commandments, to receive Christ and take upon them His name, and to receive His servants. How many men and boys on whom the priesthood has been conferred were advised of that covenant and oath? The following is God's promise, sealed by oath, made to those who observe their covenant: That they shall be sanctified by His Spirit unto the renewing of their bodies; That they shall become the sons of Moses and Aaron and the seed of Abraham; That they shall be the Church and the kingdom and the elect of God; That all the Father hath shall be given unto them. Dear reader, have you entered into that covenant, and do you value the promises of God here repeated to that extent that you will diligently comply with its terms? God's oath and covenant cannot be broken or moved. But if man fails to perform his part "after he hath received it and altogether turneth therefrom, he shall not have forgiveness in this world, nor in the world to come!"(51) 0 Lord, our God, full of justice, compassion, and longsuffering toward men, have mercy upon all those who profess thy name, and are led unwittingly to accept the sacred and awful responsibilities of administering therein, and visit the sins of their ignorant mockery upon the heads of those who wantonly blaspheme Thy holy priesthood and gracious name! Our Lord has prescribed the only conditions upon which He will accept men or the acts of men "who come unto these two priesthoods," and yet men are known to have presumed divine rights, by virtue of some ordination, to represent Him in their ministrations, and to proclaim salvation to those who trustingly accept the sacraments of His holy ordinances at their hands, when they well knew they were not only unworthy to be delegated with divine authority, but had not diligently observed the covenants they were required to make with [34] God when that authority was supposed to have been conferred upon them! How long, 0 Lord, wilt Thou withhold the visitation of Thy just anger upon all those who are reprobate concerning Thy holy commandments? [35] 9 THE CALL AND AUTHORITY OF JOSEPH SMITH. "AND I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell upon the earth, and to every nation and kindred, and tongue, and people; saying with a loud voice, Fear God and give glory to Him; for the hour of His judgment is come; and worship Him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of water."(52) God ordained that Joseph Smith should receive at the hand of that holy angel His everlasting gospel, and reveal unto us His mind and will, to confer sacred priesthood and keys, to administer in the ordinances of the gospel for our eternal salvation. Of this He said: "I the Lord, called upon my servant Joseph Smith and spoke unto Him from heaven, and gave him commandments."(53) "Behold, thou art Joseph and thou wast chosen to do the work of the Lord."(54) And in the following words the Lord commanded those who professed His name to receive Joseph Smith's revelations as authority from Him: "Being inspired of the Holy Ghost to lay the foundation thereof, (meaning the Church) and to build it up unto the most holy faith . . . . Wherefore, meaning the Church, thou shalt give heed unto all his words and commandments which he shall give unto you, as he receiveth them, walking in all holiness before me."(55) All who have a portion of the spirit of truth in them will understand that Joseph Smith's words and commandments were of God and binding upon men as His word and law only when they were given under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, and this while Joseph Smith was strictly observing God's ordinances. "For although a man may have many revelations, and have power to do [36] many mighty works, yet if he boasts in his own strength, and sets at naught the counsels of God, and follows after the dictates of his own will and carnal desires, he must fall and incur the vengeance of a just God upon him."(56) The Lord also told Joseph Smith that the gifts, powers, and blessings that had been bestowed upon him would be taken away if he did not abide in Him.(57) This prophet was mortal and subject to fault when the Holy Ghost was not with him, just as other men chosen of God have been and will be in mortality. We read of Joseph's sinning, repenting, and being forgiven of the Lord."(58) If these weaknesses to which mortal is heir, were evidenced in a tried and proven prophet of God, as was Joseph Smith, would they not possess other men, not so gifted, to an even greater degree? Would not they, too, be subject to a like condemnation for sin? We are informed that God "cannot look upon sin with the least degree of allowance."(59) This being God's truth no man can expect, or be expected, to retain the gifts and callings of God if he transgresses His laws. No man can commit sin in any degree while possessed of the Holy Ghost, nor can he possess the Holy Ghost while committed to sin. No being, Jesus Christ himself excepted, ever dwelt long in mortality without sin, for the reason that in his mortal state he cannot endure in the constant possession of the Holy Ghost. It consumes all dross of which the tabernacle of man is composed.(60) Because of this a translation, or partial change, was granted John the Beloved, the three Nephite disciples, the worthy inhabitants of Enoch's holy city, Elijah, and others. Thus the powers of the Holy Ghost could be ever with them, preserving from sin, death, and the devil. Inasmuch as Joseph Smith was warned against transgression and threatened with the loss of his divine gifts should he continue in sin  and a failure to observe God's ordinances was one important condition named  is it not reasonable to believe that that warning, threat, and its [37] execution would apply with equal force to his successors and all who essayed to speak for God? It is only when men are humble, contrite, and faithfully observing God's laws and ordinances that they can possess the Holy Ghost and speak thereby for God. It is only at such times and under such conditions that man's prophecies, teachings, and revelations are divine, and have a binding authority to require obedience in man. At all other times their wisdom is worldly, of self and likely to err. Consequently the significance of their words may be measured by their personal knowledge and experiences through a like wisdom in their fellows, and demands only a proportionate respect. Of this matter we read: "President Wilford Woodruff is a man of wisdom, but we do not believe his personal views or utterances are revelations from God; and when 'Thus saith the Lord' comes from him, the Saints investigate it; they do not shut their eyes and take it down like a pill."(61) "To what extent is obedience to those who hold the priesthood required? This is a very important question, and one that should be understood by all Saints. . . . We have heard men who hold the priesthood remark that they would do anything they were told to do by those presiding over them, even if they knew it was wrong; but, such obedience as this is worse than folly to us. It is slavery in the extreme; and the man who would thus willingly degrade himself should not claim a rank among intelligent beings, until he turns from his folly. . . . Others in the extreme exercise of their almighty (?) authority, have taught that such obedience was necessary, and that no matter what the Saints were told to do by their Presidents, they should do without asking any questions . . . . We would ask, for what was the priesthood given unto man? It is that they may have the right to administer the law of God. Have they a right to make void that law? Verily, no! When the law of God has gone forth from His own mouth, and then declared by the mouths of His apostles and prophets, saying, Thou [38] shalt not kill, then, we say, who can kill and be forgiven? And in like manner it might be asked of all the laws of God. Who has the right to make them void? None can revoke the decree but Him by whom it was given; neither can the laws of God be trampled upon with impunity, or revoked by a lesser power than that by which they were framed. It is written of God that He cannot lie; then none need suppose that He will approve of it through His authority which is on the earth; "neither is He the son of man that He should repent, therefore He will maintain the law by which His kingdom is governed." "Where the authority of God is, there should be the confidence of all men reposed sufficiently to obey His laws; but not to violate them; for we have not yet learned that it has power enough to save the transgressor in his sins. Some men have been so wise as to think the little authority they had was sufficient for them to set aside laws and revelations, and meet our justice and judgment upon their own responsibility. But in the end they have found that responsibility to be greater than they can bear. Some have supposed that the more authority men have in the kingdom of God, the greater is their liberty to disregard His laws, and that their greatness consists in their almost unlimited privileges, which leave them without restrictions; but, this is a mistaken idea. Those who are the greatest in authority, are under the greatest restrictions; the law of their sphere is greater than that of those who are less in power, and the restrictions and penalty of that law are proportionately greater: Therefore, they are under greater obligation to maintain the virtue of the law, and the institutions of God."(62) This should make clear our position as believers in God and men holding His priesthood and administering thereunder. [39] 10 THE FOUNDATION. LET US begin our search for truth at the very "foundation." "Thou, Joseph Smith, shalt be called a seer, a translator, a prophet, and an apostle of Jesus Christ, an elder of the church. Being inspired of the Holy Ghost to lay the foundation thereof, and to build it up unto the most holy faith.(63) Wherefore, if ye shall build My Church upon the foundation of the gospel and my rock, the gates of hell shall not prevail against you."(64) Paul says, "Now therefore ye are built upon the foundation of apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief corner stone. "(65) Our Lord said to Peter, "And upon this rock (meaning the rock of revelation by which power the Godship of Christ was made known to Peter) I will build My church."(66) From only a casual reading of these passages of Scripture we might get the impression that there was lack of harmony in them. Not so. Think it over and compare them with other Scripture bearing upon the same matter, of which there is much we do not have space here to quote. The writer believes you will understand their meaning in the following light: Holy priesthood, within which there are prophets and apostles, holds the keys to the revelations of God, through which the gospel's truths, doctrines, and ordinances, are revealed from Jesus Christ, "the chief corner stone," and the church is built up unto Him. These three, the gospel of Jesus Christ, prophets and apostles with revelation form a "trinity" of power and truth constituting the foundation of Christ's Church. "Priesthood continueth in the Church of God in all generations, and this greater Priesthood administereth the gospel and holdeth the key of the mysteries of the kingdom, even the key of the knowledge of God. Therefore, in the ordinances thereof and the authority of the Priesthood, the power of Godliness is made manifest unto men in the flesh."(67) [40] 11 PRIESTHOOD, POWERS AND AUTHORITY. WITH the priesthood rests the governing power of the church, it is the delegated power and authority to act for and in behalf of God, in fact, it is the "mouth piece" of God to the people. "The rights of the Priesthood are inseparably connected with the powers of heaven and the powers of heaven can not be controlled nor handled only upon the principles of righteousness. That they may be conferred upon us, it is true, but when we undertake to cover our sins, or to gratify our pride, our vain ambitions, or to exercise control, or dominion, or compulsion upon the souls of the children of men in any degree of unrighteousness, behold the heavens withdraw themselves; the Spirit is grieved; and when it is withdrawn Amen to the Priesthood or authority of that man."(68) Please read and ponder well these words of the Lord, for thus has He defined the source of authority and the limitations of priesthood power in men." All authorities or offices in the church are appendage to this Priesthood. "(69) If the church is led, influenced, or controlled by its officers in any degree of unrighteousness, the Spirit of the Lord, or the Holy Ghost, is grieved, and if withdrawn, Amen to that man's priesthood and authority. But if this influence and control is exercised in truth and righteousness, we are given the following promise: "For thus saith the Lord, I, the Lord, am merciful and gracious unto those who fear me, and delight to honor those who serve me in righteousness, and in truth unto the end. . . . And to them will I reveal all mysteries, yea all hidden mysteries of my kingdom from days of old, and for ages to come will I make known unto them the good pleasure of my will concerning all things pertaining to my kingdom."(70) [41] Thus the Lord promises the leaders of our church that He will make known unto them the good pleasure of His will concerning all things pertaining to His kingdom, provided, they will serve Him in righteousness and truth. These promises are conditional promises of God. You are, no doubt, aware that the President of the Latter Day Saint Church, his two counselors, the Quorum of Twelve Apostles and the Presiding Patriarch of the Church are all sustained, at least semiannually, by the vote of the Church as prophets, seers, and revelators, and that the Lord has promised them, in the quotation just read, that He "will make known unto them His will concerning all things pertaining to His kingdom"  on condition of their faithful and righteous observance of His commandments. At no previous time in the history of the Mormon(71) Church have there been such changes in church practices, principles, and ordinances, such bickerings and disputations regarding just what God's will really is and who shall succeed to high church positions, as there now are and have been for the few years just past. And yet, we have no record of one of these leaders repeatedly sustained as prophets, seers, and revelators having had "the good pleasure" of God's will revealed to him pertaining to these grave matters since the departure of Wilford Woodruff, but they have disregarded and annulled the commandments of God revealed to that good and holy man, as will be hereinafter shown. Heber J. Grant, present President of the Church, and sustained as a prophet, seer, and revelator, said of himself when delivering a speech before "The Knife and Fork Club" of Kansas City a few years since, that he had never received a revelation or divine manifestation of any kind for the guidance of the Church. Many church members say they have so often listened to President Grant's account of that memorable banquet, and his speech made to that august body assembled there, that [42] they have memorized the most important details connected therewith. Yet, very few, if any, can remember of his having told the church members, while at public meeting, that he made that allimportant declaration to that "Knife and Fork Club." We must go to the written account made of that occasion at the time, if we wish to know that fact. If President Grant has even pretended to revelation since that time the Church has not been advised of it. From the pulpit and press, leaders and laymen of the Church very frequently quote, "Where there is no vision the people perish,"(72) and "If there is a prophet among you, I, the Lord, will make known myself unto him in a vision, and will speak unto him in a dream."(73) This being the Lord's truth it most certainly applies to the Mormon people as well as any other, and if it proves anything it proves that we have no prophets, seers, or revelators now, other than in name. If we have had no one to "speak for God" in all these years of disputation and dissensions, we are most certainly being taught "the precepts of men," and this in literal fulfillment of Book of Mormon prophecy, "All have gone astray save it be a few humble followers of Christ; nevertheless they are led that in many instances they do err because they are taught by the precepts of men."(74) This prophecy can have reference to no people other than the Latter Day Saints, for we are told in this same chapter it would have its fulfillment after the coming forth of the Book of Mormon and at a time when the "blood of the Saints shall cry from the ground against" their persecutors of the other churches not "built up unto the Lord." Who, we might ask, more loudly boast of being the "humble followers of Christ" than we do? Who more persistently assert that they are the "Saints of God" whose "blood has been shed for the testimony of Jesus"? None. The prophecy just quoted says, "All have gone astray." We Mormons say that refers to the whole Christian world except ourselves. The prophecy says, [43] it save it be a few." The Mormons claim to be that few. The prophecy says, "nevertheless, they are led that in many instances they do err because they are taught by the precepts of men." If we are to accept this prophecy as being of God and the Church's explanation generally given as being correct, we have proved quite conclusively that revelation from God for the guidance of the Mormon Church has ceased and we are now being "taught by the precepts of men." That revelation and prophecy have ceased is not denied in positive terms by church leader or member. However, many of them, the leaders in particular, attempt to account for this fact, and hide our need in the statement, "All that is necessary for our salvation has already been revealed, and we need no more until we observe that which we now have." Thus they admit the absence of these gifts today, and their excuse, offered in an attempt at justification, is again in fulfillment of Book of Mormon prophecy. "Therefore, wo unto him that is at ease in Zion. Wo unto him that crieth, All is well. Wo be unto him that shall say, We have received the word of God, and we need no more of the word of God, for we have enough."(75) Who but the Latter Day Saints claim to have received the word of God direct to them? Who but we boast of our Zion and cry "All is well"? Who so frequently boast of their "ease in Zion" and freedom from persecutions in the changed attitude of the world toward us as we do? Or, is it our changed attitude toward the commandments of the Lord that has won the freedom, ease, and love of the world in which we now rejoice? Good Paul, you must have been mistaken in saying, "All that would live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution."(76) [44] 12 HAS THE SUN GONE DOWN? IN THE quotation immediately following the compiler will take the liberty of rendering the word "wine," pride, and the words "strong drink," love of the world. If this version is not warranted, please read it as given in the text, or supply one you think will better convey its real meaning. "But they also have erred through pride, and through love of the world are out of the way; the priest and the prophet have erred through love of the world, they are swallowed up in pride, they are out of the way through love of the world, and they err in vision, they stumble in judgment. . . . Wherefore, hear the word of the Lord, ye scornful men that rule my people, which is in Jerusalem: Because ye have said, we have made a covenant with death and with hell are at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us; for we have made lies our refuge and under falsehood have we hid ourselves. . . . Your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through then ye shall be trodden down by it."(77) This prophecy very accurately depicts our agreement with the world, and the lies somebody has told to deceive somebody else and themselves. But we must not think we shall escape the judgment predicted. "Thus saith the Lord, concerning the prophets that make my people err, and bite with their teeth and cry, Peace, and he that putteth not into their mouths, they even prepare war against him; Therefore, night shall be unto you, that ye shall not have a vision; and it shall be dark unto you, that ye shall not divine; and the sun shall go down over the prophets, and the day shall be dark over them. Then shall the seers be ashamed, and the diviners confounded; yea they shall all cover their lips, for there is no answer of God."(78) [45] Kind reader, was history ever more accurate in its description of past events, than this prophecy is in foretelling conditions that now prevail with the Mormon Church, who claim to be "God's people" and to have prophets, seers, and revelators who all "cover their lips, for there is no answer of God?" I am not blaming, censuring or finding fault with our leaders because they are not in reality prophets, seers, and revelators. If I were, if you, kind reader, were, if a thousand more like us were, what would it amount to? Neither your nor my censure of men for pretending to be what they are not will cut a very wide swath in this field of investigation for truth. It is God's approval or censure that harvests the whole field. We have no more right to censure men in high places for not possessing the precious gifts of prophecy, revelation, and seership than we have to condemn an honest man for being poor in this world's goods. I am poor, perhaps you are, but I find some consolation in the fact that I find not one word of God condemning men for this misfortune, if misfortune it be. However, if you and I do not have worldly riches, if we are unable, having honestly and diligently tried, to provide our families with many of the good things of this world, or if we are unable to pay our honest debts, these things present an undeniable proof that you and I do not possess the gift to acquire and retain wealth. Brother John being much in need of ready money, with honest purpose, went to the banker and asked for his assistance in a loan. He told the banker he could pay it back when due. The banker, believing John to be honest and capable of doing as he agreed, let him have the money. John was a good man, but he failed, although he tried hard to meet his obligation. When it fell due he went again to the banker and explained the reasons for his failure, as he believed them to be, and asked the banker for further assistance by an extension of time. John looked good to that banker; he believed him, and gave the support asked. But, John failed again and again, and the banker repeatedly gave him his support by extensions of time. Finally, John's excuses and ability to [46] pay were doubted, then disbelieved, and the banker became thoroughly convinced that John had deceived him. He was condemned as dishonest, his available goods were attached and sold to satisfy the debt. The banker did not condemn John for being poor, but for the reason that he believed him to be a deceiver and hypocrite. So in the matter of blaming some of our church leaders for not being prophets, seers, and revelators, I have no occasion; I am not a prophet or the son of a prophet, and I find some consolation in the fact that the written word of God does not condemn men for lacking all or any one of these precious gifts. I do, however, find much in that word condemning men for hypocrisy, for pretending to be that which they are not. All of our leaders embraced in the First Presidency and Twelve, when nominated for their respective positions, found themselves in actual need of the assistance and support of church members. And, no doubt, in the beginning of their ministry, when they first asked the support of the people, they honestly believed they would be able to "magnify their high calling" or they would have declined the nomination. Having faith In God and themselves they all appeared before the Church in conference assembled and asked their support in being sustained as prophets, seers, and revelators. The people believed in them and gave their unanimous vote in support of their claims. And these brethren all voted to sustain themselves and each other as prophets, seers, and revelators, thereby covenanting to satisfy the confidence reposed in them. For some reason, we have no record of any one of these brethren having justified the expectations of the people, yet they all appeared again and again before the Church assembled, and without offering an explanation for their failure (perhaps the people never thought to ask for one) asked the people to sustain them by uplifted hands and by their prayers as prophets, seers, and revelators. And every time they renewed their request they covenanted with uplifted hand, in voting for themselves, "to make good." [47] At least twice each year ever since President Joseph F. Smith passed beyond, some, perhaps all, of these brethren have renewed their promises and been granted an extension of time. Have we on record testimony of their having met the divine requirements of the sacred positions to which they have been so often sustained by the people? It is true as recorded in Church History, Vol. 2, p. 417, the Prophet Joseph Smith asked the quorums of Priesthood and Saints assembled on the memorable occasion of the dedication of Kirtland Temple to sustain the Church Presidency, and the members of the Quorum of Twelve then present, as prophets, seers, and revelators; but, insofar as the Twelve were concerned that request was limited to the members of the Quorum present on that occasion. Some if not all the members of that Quorum then present, also many others assembled with them, spoke in tongues, prophesied, had the heavens opened to them and were administered to by angels, at that Pentecostal gathering. However, subsequent events prove conclusively that the Prophet's request and compliance on the part of the entire assembly, did not constitute all of those men prophets, seers, or revelators, recognized as such by God. Without this divine recognition any mortal pretension would most assuredly be vain. This being undeniably true, is it reasonable to believe that Joseph Smith or any of those men, would be justified in continuing to ask the Church to sustain them as being endowed with such divine gifts, after they had ceased to possess them, or if they never had been blessed with them? Kind reader, what does the Lord, for whom such men have pretended to speak, say of a final settlement? "But, wo unto them that are deceivers and hypocrites, for thus saith the Lord, I will bring them to judgment."(79) "For it shall come to pass that the inhabitants of Zion shall judge all things pertaining to Zion, and liars and hypocrites shall be proved by them, and they who are not prophets and apostles shall be known. And even the [48] bishop, who is a judge, and his counselors, if they are not faithful in their stewardship, shall be condemned and others shall be planted in their stead."(80) That is a "very hard saying" but, it is the Lord's, not the compiler's. The word of the Lord has something quite as pertinent to say relative to the authority of the President of the Church himself. The revelation(81) informs us of the several presiding offices growing out of the two priesthoods, and says, "Of the Melchizedek Priesthood, three Presiding High Priests, chosen by the body, appointed and ordained to that office, and upheld by the confidence, faith, and prayers of the Church form a quorum of the Presidency of the Church." The first requisite to right of Church Presidency, insofar as the action of the Church itself is concerned, is that these men shall be "three Presiding High Priests." Then these Three Presiding High Priests must be "chosen by the body." What body? some may ask. The revelations inform us it is the body of the Melchizedek Priesthood, not the Quorum of Twelve alone, nor that of the Seventy, high priests or elders, but by all these quorums "the body" of that Priesthood. These Presiding High Priests must be appointed and then ordained to the office of Church Presidency. As to the right of "appointment" of these men we will speak a little later. The revelation informs us they are to be ordained by the "Twelve" apostles. In order that these men may then be recognized in their high positions by the Church as a body, they must be upheld by the confidence, faith, and prayers of the Church. Insofar as the Church is concerned, by its own action, these three men are now duly authorized to represent and speak for it. But if God is to recognize this President as His mouthpiece to this people He most certainly will demand a voice in his appointment. Paul tells us" the leaders of Christ's Church in his time were ambassadors for Christ. If so, he assuredly "appointed" them. Reader, do you think the United States Government would permit Great Britain to "appoint" [49] our ambassadors to speak for this government in all its dealings with that power? Hardly! Great Britain has the right, and may possibly exercise it, to refuse to receive a duly appointed United States ambassador. In that case the United States Government would appoint another, possibly acceptable, or cease to deal with that government. Just so, the Church may reject Christ's appointed ambassadors. But a review of the acts of God convinces us that He would cease to communicate with this Church. He would most certainly find a people who would receive His "appointed" servants. He tells us, "The president of the Church, who is also president of the council, is appointed by revelation."(82) Joseph Smith and all his divinely authorized successors, were first "appointed" of God by revelation, then recognized by the Church as President through the very means quoted above. If the present President of the Church was appointed by revelation from God," then chosen "by the body of the Melchizedek Priesthood," and all the people were authoritatively advised of these very important facts, is it not possible that the Church would more diligently and earnestly uphold him by their confidence, faith, and prayers, and that we would again hear "Thus saith the Lord" in matters now perplexing the Church so sorely? If the First Presidency of the Mormon Church, "three Presiding High Priests," were "appointed by revelation," then they, with the Twelve were chosen, ordained, and sustained in their respective positions, as the revelations say they should be, and this without pretending to the sacred and divine powers of "prophets, seers, and revelators," we could find no reason in the written word why any Mormon, familiar with the revelations and fully converted to their divinity, should hesitate to sustain these good men as a Church Presidency and Quorum of Twelve Apostles, because, nowhere can we find in these revelations that God demands these unusual and divine qualifications, at all times, of any of these Church officials. Why then should church members be required to sustain these brethren in positions and claim not demanded by God of them, or evidenced in their ministrations? [50] 13 WHAT CONSTITUTES A PROPHET, A SEER, AND A REVELATOR? WHAT divine requisites have we a right to expect in a prophet of God? Answer: He or she who prophesies in the name of the Lord and that prophecy comes true is Please pause a moment before we attempt to complete that sentence. For, that stated is by no means, the most vital test. We might have to live a very long time for it to be of much value in our search for truth. The Lord answers our question in a fullness for ready use. Paul says, "Now I beseech you brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offenses contrary to the doctrine which we have learned and avoid them."(83) Something more explicit, "Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns or figs of thistles ?"(84) Let us examine more carefully these "fruits" of which Jesus speaks. "If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder, and the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spoke unto thee, saying, let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them. Thou shalt not hearken unto that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams; for the Lord your God proveth you, to know whether you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul."(85) This word of God teaches that although a pretending prophet prophesies in His name and that prediction comes true, yet he is not of God if he teaches something contrary to that which God has previously revealed. For "from eternity to eternity God and His gospel are the same, everlasting and unchangeable."(86) We have a modern revelation confirming the truths [51] set forth above. "And again, I will give unto you a pattern in all thing s, that you may not be deceived, for Satan is abroad in the land, and he goeth forth deceiving the nations; Wherefore, he that prayeth whose spirit is contrite, the same is accepted of me, if he obey mine ordinances; He that speaketh, whose spirit is contrite, whose language is meek and edifieth, the same is of God, if he obey mine ordinances. . . . And again, he that is overcome and bringeth forth not fruits, even according to this pattern, is not of me. Wherefore, by this pattern ye shall know the spirits in all cases under the whole heavens."(87) Has any mortal with faith in God an excuse now for being deceived by those who pretend to be God's prophets? Test them and yourself by this infallible pattern. Though they may possibly be obeying God's ordinances, if they teach others not to obey those ordinances, or prevent others from obeying them, God will surely bring them to judgment. The Scripture cited teaches us very plainly that the fruits by which Jesus told us we might judge a pretending prophet, if enumerated would stand in about the following order: 1st. The prophecy must be uttered in the name and by the authority given of God. 2nd. The prophet must himself obey God's ordinances and teach others to walk in subjection to God's laws. 3rd. His precepts must be in perfect accord with all that God has previously revealed on the subject taught. 4th. The prophecies uttered must come true in every particular. In these fruits the Lord has provided a sure means whereby we may justly judge a pretending prophet; and by the just and careful application of this rule God will try His people and justify or condemn their response to professed prophetic powers. What of a Seer's Qualifications? God Answers Us! By the holy angel God said to Joseph Smith, "Also, that there were two stones in silver bows, and these two stones, fastened to a breastplate, constituted what is called the Urim and Thummim, and the possession and [52] use of these stones were what constituted 'Seers' in ancient, or former times."(88) And God establishes this truth in the mouth of two witnesses. "And the things are called interpreters, and no man can look into them except he be commanded, lest he should look for that he ought not and he should perish. And whosoever is commanded to look into them the same is called seer; And the king said, that a Seer is greater than a prophet; and Ammon said, that a seer is a revelator and a prophet also, and a gift which is greater no man can have except he should possess the power of God."(89) Reader, do you require anything more to know what constitutes a seer" of God? From the little written history left us of ancient Israel, particularly that found in the Bible, we learn it was not an uncommon thing for false teachers, prophets, and pretenders to sacred privilege and priesthood to arise among that people, and lead many away from the God of Abraham. Then, as now, among all people, eloquent and appealing pretenders to divine prophetic powers seem to have experienced no great difficulty in deceiving the uninformed and credulous among that chosen people. However, we have no record of a false "Seer" having arisen with pretensions of divine powers vested in those chosen Oracles, for the very simple reason that the unlearned, even, among them knew that God's "seers" were possessed of Urim and Thummim. In the days of the prophetpriests, Ezra and Nehemiah, certain learned and influential men arose claiming right to the holy priesthood, and they, as well as others, to support from certain portions known as "the most holy things" reserved from sacrifices set apart in the Mosaic Law as belonging only to the High Priest, Aaron and his sons  or the rightful presiding priesthood  by an ordinance forever."(90) These pretenders' rights to sacred place and things were "weighed in the balance and found wanting." "Therefore, they were, as polluted, put from the priest[53] hood, and the Tirshatha, (or governor of the council) said unto them that they should not eat of the most holy things, till there stood up a priest with Urim and Thummim.(91) If the possession of Urim and Thummim was so essential in ancient Israel to determine man's divine right to presiding place and sacred things, should it not have some such significance today? If their possession in ancient, or former times constituted "seers" tell me, pray, what, in the absence of these divine instruments, is required to "constitute a seer" in our day? Do you think that the acclaim of any man's followers constitutes him a prophet, a seer, or a revelator for God? The calling of a revelator is well explained in the following summary of truths set forth in the quotations cited. Please read them. A revelator in the sense in which we are supposed now to view him as representing God, is one who reveals divine truth. And all that he reveals must be in perfect harmony with God's law formerly revealed. Many persons may receive revelations.(92) Yet, there is but one mouthpiece of God to the Church when fully organized.(93) Revelation may come by the voice of God, the Holy Ghost, or angels' administrations.(94) However, revelations may come through evil sources."(95) Of these the Lord warns us to be aware, and gives infallible keys by which they may be detected. God has thrown about us every safeguard needed, so, we have no excuse but that given of sin, for being deceived by men, devils, or their emissaries. All the keys and patterns heretofore cited are at the command of the honest searcher for truth. "There are none so blind as those who will not see," and "Cursed is he that putteth his trust in man, or maketh flesh his arm, or shall hearken unto the precepts of men, save their precepts shall be given by the power of the Holy Ghost."(96) [54] 14 A HOUSE OF ORDER VERSUS A HOUSE OF CONFUSION. A CAREFUL consideration of priesthood and offices appendage thereto together with their several duties is before us in this section for additional light. Without these priesthoods, God informs us, there can be no right or authority to preach the gospel or administer in its ordinances. As we consider the offices appendage to these priesthoods, please keep fixed in your memory the "covenant and oath" those who attain unto the higher priesthood are required of God to make. It has already been quoted in this REVIEW. "Behold, mine house is a house of order, saith the Lord, and not a house of confusion. . . . Will I receive at your hands that which I have not appointed? . . . And will I appoint unto you, saith the Lord, except it be by law?"(97) In Section 84 of the Doctrine and Covenants we are told of the restoration of the gospel, the ordinances pertaining thereto, and of the priesthood given to administer in them. Verses 109 and 110 say: "Therefore, let every man stand in his own office, and labor in his own calling . . . that the system may be kept perfect." This command admits of no cavil, yet "The way of a fool is right in his own eyes; but he that hearkeneth unto counsel (of God) is wise ."(98) In our review of this most important subject we will consider the present practices of the Mormon Church and compare them with God's command just cited. In this way we will learn whether the present Mormon Church is God's house, "a house of order, where every man stands in his own office and labors in his own calling," or, whether it is a "house of confusion" unequaled in any other church in Christendom. We have already reviewed the necessity of "appointment by revelation" of the President of the Church, his [55] office and calling, as prescribed by the revelations. We will begin this further review with the office, duties, and calling of the Twelve Apostles, as individuals and as a quorum. When our Lord chose his Twelve Apostles, in the days of his personal ministry among men, he said, "Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit."(99) And He commanded them, "Go ye into all the world, and proclaim the gospel to every creature."(100) From the very brief account we have of the ministry of those Apostles, we know they obeyed their Lord's injunctions, suffering untold hardships, persecution, and even death in their strict compliance, in almost every land of the then known earth. Just so was it with calling and service of the Twelve Apostles chosen by revelation from their Lord in the incipiency of His Latter Day Work. The revelations say of the particular duties and calling of the Apostles, "The Twelve shall be my disciples, and they shall take upon them my name . . . they are called to go into all the world and to preach my gospel unto every creature."(101) That the labors of this quorum of Twelve Apostles, in promulgation of the gospel, administering and presiding in Church affairs was primarily abroad, is evidenced by so great a volume of "modern scripture" that we have space to cite only a few of the many passages of Scripture declaring this truth. Please read those here cited by reference.(102) We will, however, call the reader's attention to the following facts, conclusively establishing this truth. In compliance with the word of the Lord, the early apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of LatterDay Saints, as a quorum, diligently proclaimed the gospel abroad and there administered the affairs of the Church, suffering, like their predecessors, hunger, cold, untold hardships, and persecution in every nation to which they carried the gospel tidings. So thoroughly converted and devoted were those men to their sacred calling, that during the bitterest persecutions and drivings of the Church, [56] its Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve were at a loss to know whether the Lord required them to leave their families and loved ones at the mercy of mobs, and, under such trying circumstances, continue their ministry "abroad." Their prayer, "Show us Thy will, 0 Lord, concerning the Twelve" ascended to the Throne of Grace and they were given the Lord's answer as recorded in Section 118 of the Doctrine and Covenants. Here they were commanded to fully organize the quorum by approving and ordaining certain men there named to fill the vacancies caused by apostasy and the cutting off of former members. They were further told to have the Quorum of Twelve and those appointed to fill vacancies, meet at Far West, Missouri, on the twentysixth day of April of the following year, and there ordain the new members then called by revelation. After which they were to take leave of their families and the Saints "to go over the great waters, and there promulgate my gospel, the fullness thereof, and bear record of my name." Would it not seem to us that this required a thorough conversion to the Gospel and its restored saving powers, as well as a mighty faith in the divinity of their calling and the promises of their Lord then made to them? Verily, it would! After this revelation was made known, the mobs of Missouri swore that this was one prophecy of Joseph Smith's that would never be fulfilled, for they would see to it that there was not a Mormon left in that county by that date. Despite these threats, mobbings, and persecutions that had continued from the date of this call to the time set for its fulfillment, Joseph Smith's associate leaders of the Church, apostles remaining faithful and not then on missions abroad, and those appointed by revelation to take the places of those who had fallen, avoided the mob and before daylight on the twentysixth day of April met on the Temple Lot at Far West, and ordained those formerly chosen to complete the Quorum of Twelve. The prophet later blessed and instructed them all, after which they bade adieu to their loved ones and made their way, suffering hunger, hardship, and almost every privation, [57] over land and sea to their various fields of missionary labor.(103) So constant and diligent were the labors of the Twelve abroad that at the time of the martyrdom of the prophet and his brother, Hyrum, some of them had to be called home before a "Quorum" could be had to take their place as a Presiding Quorum over the Church until a Presidency of Three Presiding High Priests would be appointed and ordained.(104) Kind reader, please compare the service performed by those apostles of the early Mormon Church, and that of their predecessors of Peter and Paul's time with that of our present Mormon Church Quorum of Twelve being now performed. In our review of recent history and current events, we feel justified in saying that very few members of the present Quorum of Twelve have, since their call to the apostleship, performed a real missionary service "in all the world" or any part of it. It is very true that some of them have presided over missions in foreign lands, from time to time, and the majority of the Quorum, possibly, have traveled, in luxury and comfort not formerly known, from mission to mission and from Stake to Stake preaching the gospel in wellappointed churches and chapels. But, to perform a mission from door to door, from village to village or from city to city, preaching the gospel as former apostles did, or even as the majority of present day Mormon missionaries do, seems quite out of line with their Quorum prerogatives in the more modern Mormon Church. To one reviewing all this labor it appears there is much more comfort to be had, and the position carries with it more worldly dignity, when this Quorum can discharge its otherwise arduous missionary duties "abroad," by dictating its will from the most costly and beautiful church offices in all the world. Not that the possession of all these worldly comforts is in and of itself any indication of wrong having been committed in their acquirement. The question at issue in our REVIEW lies here: In view of the fact that we [58] profess to be, by divine right, in the service of the Son of Man who had during His personal mission on earth nowhere to lay his head, and, that He made definite promise, ever hitherto literally fulfilled, to all those who loved Him and would diligently labor in His cause, a worldly state quite the opposite; does the uninterrupted possession of all these worldly comforts evidence a service performed in strict compliance with our Master's commandments? If this were the only evidence found in our REVIEW that the Twelve Apostles of today did not "labor in their own calling," we might not be caused to wonder so much at their departure from the "revealed word"; but, we are moved thereby to a further consideration of the Lord's commands relative to their sacred duties as a Quorum. His word says, "The Twelve are a Traveling Presiding High Council to officiate in the name of the Lord, under the direction of the Presidency of the Church, agreeable to the institutions of heaven; to build up the Church, and regulate the affairs of the same in all nations, first unto the Gentiles and secondly unto the Jews.(105) Again, "They, (the Twelve) are also called Traveling Councilors. They constitute a traveling Presiding High Council, and from their decisions, when exercising Judiciary functions abroad, there is no appeal."(106) Scripture is so replete with evidences of the fact set forth in the above quotations, viz. that the duties of this Presiding High Council of Twelve Apostles is "Traveling" and "abroad" that we will not take more space to cite them. Because of the foregoing stated fact this Traveling High Council of Twelve Apostles, when acting as a Council and as such in judiciary capacity, have no authority, neither is it physically possible for them, if in the line of their missionary duties "abroad," to perform these very important functions "at the seat of the First Presidency of the Church." Consequently, quorums of Twelve High Priests were occasionally called for special causes, to act in behalf of the Church, before the Twelve Apostles were chosen. However, on the seventeenth of [59] February, 1834, a "permanent High Council of The Church of Christ of LatterDay Saints" was organized at Kirtland, Ohio. The minutes of this organization comprise Section 102 of our Doctrine and Covenants, of which, The Doctrine and Covenants Commentary says, on page 813, "It now forms what may be called The Constitution of The High Council of The Church of Christ." We are informed in the first and second verses of this Section that all this was done "by revelation," presumably received before the meeting convened. The second verse also says this High Council of the Church of Christ was organized "for the purpose of settling important difficulties which might arise in the Church, which could not be settled by the Church or the Bishop's Council to the satisfaction of the parties." These difficulties included those of "doctrine and principle" as is evidenced by the twentythird verse which says, "In case of difficulty respecting doctrine or principle, if there is not a sufficiency written to make the case clear to the minds of the Council, the President may inquire and obtain the mind of the Lord by revelation." It is made undeniably evident by the wording of the ninth verse that this High Council of The Church was to act for the whole Church, and not for any particular stake of the Church or for Kirtland, where it was organized, for it says, "The President of the Church, who is also President of the Council, is appointed by revelation, and acknowledged in his administrations by the voice of the Church." And that this High Council of the Church, presided over by the President of the Church was to function at the seat of the First Presidency of The Church is made evident by verses 26 and 27. That this High Council of The Church of Christ was to be a permanent organization is conclusively proved by the following quoted from the eighth verse. (Please remember, kind reader, it was said in preceding verses of this section, as above quoted, that this was being done "by revelation.") It says, "Voted, that whenever any vacancy shall occur by death, removal from office for transgression or removal from the bounds of this church [60] government, it shall be filled by the nomination of the presidents, and sanctioned by the voice of a general council of High Priests convened for that purpose, to act in the name of the Church." Inasmuch as this Church High Council was effected before the Twelve Apostles were chosen, some may say it was only a temporary organization, to be done away with when the Quorum of the Twelve was chosen. That such a position is not tenable is evidenced by the fact that the particular calling and duties of the Quorum of Twelve Apostles were made known long before this Church High Council was ever organized, and that this organization was not to be abolished after the Twelve Apostles were functioning as a quorum is conclusively proved by the following words of George A. Smith as recorded in Journal of Discourse, Vol. XI, p. 7. He said, "I remember very well the organization of the High Council at Kirtland as a permanent institution. There had been several Councils of Twelve High Priests called for special cases, but they organized it permanently on the seventeenth of February, 1834." By revelation found in Section 107, verses 79 and 80, the Lord informs us of the "permanency" of this High Council. It says, "And the Presidency of the Council of the High Priesthood shall have power to call other high priests, even twelve, to assist as Councilors; and thus the Presidency of the High Priesthood and its Councilors shall have power to decide upon testimony according to the law of the Church. "And after this decision it shall be had in remembrance no more before the Lord; for this is the highest council of the Church of God, and a final decision upon controversy in spiritual matters." It seems to the writer that these words of God and men here quoted should prove conclusively our claims set forth above. The Mormon Church of today has abolished this High Council of The Church of Christ which was to function permanently at the "seat of the First Presidency of the Church." And the Quorum of Twelve Apostles has now usurped the powers and authority of this Church High [61] Council established by revelation, in that they attempt to settle "at the seat of the First Presidency of the Church" all important difficulties which arise in the Church and are appealed from the Bishops' Councils and from the Stake High Councils, not only in secular matters but in difficulties of doctrine and principle, and that not always by "unanimous decision" which the revelations demand of all Quorums of the Melchizedek Priesthood. Yet we find no record of their President having inquired and obtained the mind of the Lord by revelation, during late years. This may not be necessary, however. Do the Seventies of the Church "stand in their own office or labor in their own calling"? A review of their calling will answer that question. The revelation says the Quorum of Seventy consists of seventy members, each Quorum, (and there are many such quorums in the Church) is presided over by seven presidents, which in turn, is presided over by the seventh president of the seven. These seven presidents of the first Quorum of Seventy also preside over all other quorums of Seventy in the Church.(107) It is claimed by the Latterday Saints that this order has existed from the beginning, whenever God's Priesthood was fully organized on earth. As evidence of that belief we cite God's instruction to Moses that he should select seventy men for the ministry in Israel.(108) And the Lord's appointment of "other seventy" also and sending them out two and two.(109) The specific duties of the Seventy in the Mormon Church, as prescribed by the revelations to Joseph Smith are, "to preach the gospel, and to be special witnesses in all the world, laboring under the direction of the Twelve Apostles.(110) The Seventy have the responsibility of traveling continually to preach the gospel, and they have no responsibility of presiding.(111) They are to be called for preaching and administering the gospel instead of any others.(112) Today very few of the Seventies, comparatively speaking, in the Mormon Church "stand in their own [62] office or labor in their own calling." They are not called by the Twelve to preach the gospel abroad "instead of any others." So far as we have been able to learn in our review of church missionary statistics, not onehalf of those called to preach the gospel abroad are seventies. The church missionaries abroad consist of high priests, seventies, elders, some bishops and priests of the Levitical Order. The Lord said the "Seventy have no responsibility of presiding." Yet Seventies are called by the present leaders of the Church to preside over branches of the Church, over missions, over Sunday Schools, in fact, over almost every activity of the Church but the Church itself. The Lord asks, "Will I accept at your hands that which I have not appointed?" Of the duties and calling of an Elder in the Church of Christ the revelations say they are "standing ministers" unto the Church.(113) They may travel but not among all nations."(114) "They are to conduct the meetings and officiate in the place and standing of a High Priest, when the last named is not present."(115) We are informed that the "office and calling of a High Priest is to be a standing President."(116) Very few Elders now "stand in their own office" or "labor in their own calling" as standing ministers to the Church or standing Presidents in the Church, as the Lord said they should. The great majority of them labor, if they labor at all, in the calling of a Priest of the Levitical Order, but by order of the Church Presidency, these Elders are designated Teachers, while they are sent out to labor in the calling of a Priest, as that calling is prescribed by revelation in God's House of Order. While these elders are "visiting from house to house" in the calling of a priest, under the name of Teacher, some Seventies and all the Ward Bishops of the Church have usurped their office of Presidency! And all this is done by order of the file leaders of the Mormon Church. [63] 15 THE AARONIC PRIESTHOOD. KIND reader, please follow with us in our review of what God says and man does with reference to the offices and their respective duties of the Aaronic Priesthood. "It is the calling of a Bishop to preside over the Aaronic Priesthood."(93) There are three classes of Bishops in God's House of Order, and this duty just cited applies to all of them. They are, first, Presiding Bishops over the Aaronic Priesthood of the whole Church, second, Stake Bishops who should perform the same duties in the various Stakes. But, the Mormon Church no longer has Stake Bishops. These are done away with in our manmade system, and their duties, or some of them, are now discharged by Stake Supervisors over the Aaronic Priesthood, others by elders or Seventies or High Priests, laboring as Stake Clerks, and by High Priests laboring as a Stake Presidency. Some of the duties prescribed by the revelation for these Stake Bishops are not now performed by any one in particular. We have no need for them now. Our ways are better than God's ways, "in our own eyes." The duty of a Bishop of the third class is to preside over a Quorum of Fortyeight Priests, in his ward or branch,(94) and all other offices in the Aaronic Priesthood. "The office of a Bishop is in administering all temporal things."(95) "To keep the Lord's storehouse. To receive the funds of the Church. To look after the temporal needs of those who are called to administer in spiritual things, and of those who are called to administer the gospel and the things of the kingdom unto the Church and unto the world.(96) These duties all apply to the three classes of Bishops. However, the temporal needs of only a certain few of those who are faithful and labor for the kingdom are administered to. All others pay their own expenses, [64] and look after their own needs, including that of their families. This is particularly true of the missionaries sent out to preach the gospel in all the world. And this, regardless of the fact that the Lord said, "It is the duty of the Church to support the families of those who are called, and must needs be sent into the world to proclaim the gospel."(97) Our church leaders of today are psychologists of no mean ability and accomplishment. They have devised a means of appealing to the prospective missionary's patriotism, fear of disfavor, and possible ostracism by his old and faithful associates, as well as to his personal pride, which seems to be far more effective than any effort made of late years to obtain financial aid from the masses with which to provide for the needs of the missionary's family. Consequently they have discarded God's revealed plan and have substituted one their worldly wisdom and ingenuity can work to better advantage. To return to the calling of Bishops, "This is the duty of a Bishop who is not a literal descendant of Aaron, but has been ordained to the High Priesthood after the Order of Melchizedek, to be a judge in Israel, to do the business of the Church." "Thus shall he be a judge, even a common judge among the inhabitants of Zion, or in the Stakes of Zion, or any branch of the Church where he shall be set apart to this ministry."(98) The duties above quoted apply to all three classes of Bishops, but, as previously stated, Stake Bishops have been done away with, and most of their duties, in matters of Stake concern, are taken direct to the Stake Presidency, the High Council or Stake Clerk, none of whom are ordained bishops. In none of the "Standard Church Works" do we find account of an instance where it is said to be a Bishop's duty to preside over anything, except the Priesthood of Aaron and a Quorum of FortyEight Priests of that order. Nor do we find a word in any one of these books charging Bishops with the responsibility of looking after the spiritual needs of a branch, ward, stake or the Church, except in the duties discharged through the [65] Aaronic Priesthood under his presidency. And yet, without one word of law or command from the Lord the Church of today has all the Bishops of the third class preside over all the wards in the Church, and look after the spiritual welfare of all its members, among which are always found men holding the higher or Melchizedek Priesthood. A certain brother, high in official position of the Church, was asked why ward Bishops were appointed to preside over wards and men holding the Melchizedek Priesthood, or to administer in spiritual matters, when the revelations of the Lord positively declared the Bishops' calling to be specifically a temporal one, except in the case of their presidency over the Aaronic Priesthood. The reply and conversation that ensued was about as follows: "The Bishop does this by virtue of the Melchizedek Priesthood he holds in conjunction with the office of Bishop. You will perhaps understand the revelations provide that if a Bishop is not a literal descendant of Aaron, he must be chosen from the Melchizedek Priesthood, a High Priest, and then ordained a Bishop to serve with two councilors?"(99) "Yes, I think I understand that," the writer answered, "but does not the commandment say that 'every man should stand in his own office and labor in his own calling'? Which of these two offices is now 'his own calling,' it does not say his own two callings. Inasmuch as only a High Priest after the Order of Melchizedek can be ordained to the office of a Bishop in the absence of a literal descendant of Aaron, and he cannot serve in that office without having two councilors, is not his calling when so ordained that of a Bishop, whose duties are temporal, instead of a High Priest?" Permit another question or two, "If a Bishop has right to preside over a ward, formerly called a Church, and the Melchizedek Priesthood therein by virtue of that Higher Priesthood from which he was chosen, why is it that the Presiding Bishop over the Aaronic Priesthood of the Church does not preside over the entire church [66] membership, including all those holding the Melchizedek Priesthood? We understand he too was chosen from the Melchizedek Priesthood, a High Priest, just the same office the President of the Church holds. "Are not the duties of Stake and Ward Bishops as precisely prescribed and limited as are those of a Presiding Bishop? Are not the temporal duties specifically named common to all Bishops? If a Presiding Bishop over the Church has no authority to preside over the Church, tell me, please, how a Ward Bishop may consistently preside over a Ward." "The Lord answers that question," the brother replied. "In the Doctrine and Covenants He says, 'Wherefore, the office of a Bishop is not equal unto it,'" (meaning the President of the Church).(100) "Exactly," I said. "That's the Lord's reason, and why should it not hold good in the matter of a Ward Presidency and Ward Bishop? The Lord informs us that it is the calling of High Priests and Elders to preside. This being true would it not be in strict harmony with His word to repeat, 'Wherefore, the office of a Bishop is not equal to it'? And the remaining sentence of that paragraph you quoted, in part says, 'For the office of a Bishop is in administering all temporal things.' Verse 74 of that Section tells us these duties are prescribed for the three classes of Bishops alike. If there is an extension of authority granted either class the Lord does not advise us of it. "May I continue?" I asked. "Yes, but  " "You may add all the objections you have to offer and we will measure their value by the Word of God. And, as I am privileged to proceed, please call my attention to all errors I may make in quoting that Word, and to all want of harmony you may detect in my effort at reasoning therefrom. I am searching for Truth and will greatly appreciate all the assistance you will give me in finding it." The kind brother patiently heard me out, about as follows: [67] "Notwithstanding the fact that the office of a Bishop is said of the Lord not to be equal to that of the Melchizedek Priesthood, 'which holds the keys to all spiritual blessings of the Church,(101) a Bishop must be chosen from that High Priesthood.(102) If this man is a worthy High Priest he would understand the temporal duties of a Bishop by the 'Spirit of Truth' the Higher Priesthood entitles him to.(103) "We are here again told of the temporal duties peculiar to a Bishop, and that the High Priest selected and ordained to that office must discharg e those duties, not the duties of a High Priest. In other words, he must be a Bishop and discharge the temporal duties of a Bishop. "I read of no duty prescribed for a Bishop who is a literal descendant of Aaron that is not set down authoritatively for a Bishop that is chosen from the Melchizedek Priesthood. And in the setting forth of all these temporal duties of a Bishop, not one word is said by the Lord even intimating that this High Priest is to function longer in the Church as a High Priest. "We are informed that the offices of Elder and Bishop, as well as all other offices in the Melchizedek Priesthood, are appendages to that Priesthood.(104) Hence, all the officers thereunder must hold that High Priesthood before they can hold an office appendage thereto. "From this revealed Word we are made to know the Priesthood holds authority over the office and not the office over the Priesthood. An Apostle holds no higher Priesthood than an Elder does, in fact, they both hold the same Priesthood. It is the office to which they are ordained thereunder that determines the rank they will hold in the Church and the duties they will discharge in its organization. "When any man holding this High Priesthood is chosen, set apart, and ordained to any particular office appendage to that Priesthood, he has no right or authority to act within the Church in any higher office appendage thereto. "There is but one instance of command, and consequently of correct procedure within the authority of the [68] Priesthood where a man holding a higher office in the Priesthood is ever ordained to a lesser office in the Priesthood, and that exception is in the case of a High Priest ordained to be and to perform the duties of a Bishop. "This specific call and ordination transfers the High Priest from his office, or appendage, in the Melchizedek Priesthood to that of a Bishop in the Aaronic Priesthood. There he not only functions as a Bishop, he is honored as a Bishop and tried as a Bishop. " 'No Bishop or High Priest who shall be set apart to this ministry shall be tried or condemned for any crime, save it be before the First Presidency of the Church.'(105) Moreover, a Bishop is the only judge or council, assisted by twelve councilors of the High Priesthood, that has authority to judge and try the President of the High Priesthood.(106) "If this specially chosen High Priest can continue to officiate in the Church as a High Priest of the Melchizedek Order, tell me, pray, why he cannot be tried as a High Priest of that Order, and, why he can exercise the authority of a High Judge which no High Priest of the Melchizedek Priesthood has a right to do? "Tell me, also, if you will, just when this High Priest chosen and ordained to be a Bishop  if he has such a right  is expected to doff the robes of his Bishopric and don those of a High Priest? And conversely, please?" If there be no power in mortal man's reasoning possessed by the writer, coupled with the revealed word of God definitely prescribing the duties of Bishops in His Church, to convince the reader that the Mormon Church of today has departed from God's commandments respecting the rights of this office, surely all must be convinced by God's word cited below, wherein he states in unmistakable words, just where Presiding Officers and Bishops shall function in the Church! First as to the right of Presidency over branches or churches, now called wards, in the Church: In Church History, Volume 1, page 336 we are informed that the High Priests having charge over all Church affairs in Zion, Missouri, were instructed to "ap[69] point, with the common consent of the branches comprising the Church in that land, Presiding Elders to take the watch care of the several branches as they were appointed." On page 409 of the same volume we learn that "ten High Priests were named and appointed to preside over as many branches, all of which are there designated by numbers one to ten inclusive." By revelation found in Section 106 of The Doctrine and Covenants, verses one to eight, Warren A. Cowdery was appointed Presiding High Priest over the Church at Freedom. And in the same manner, as recorded in Section 117, tenth verse, William Marks, a High Priest, was appointed to preside over the Church at Far West. There is surely no need to cite more instances of this procedure and prevailing order. It is sufficient to quote here just what our Assistant Church Historian, Andrew Jensen, says in "The Church Section" of the Saturday Evening Deseret News under date of September 3, 1932, page 8, as follows: "The ranking officers in the Church in the beginning were elders who presided in most of the organized branches . . . at the beginning of 1832 the following high priests figured in the Church at the head of the most important church organizations." (Fortyfour high priests are then named.) At the beginning of 1832 there were twentyeight organized branches named here. Historian Jensen says, "Later in the year, the saints in Jackson County, Missouri were divided into ten branches presided over by ten high priests." We will now review the word of God telling us just how and where Bishops function in those branches or churches and stake organizations. Kirtland and nearby branches of the Church were Presided over by Elders or High Priests prior to December 4, 1831 on which date Joseph Smith received the revelation now known as Section 72 in our Doctrine and Covenants. In this revelation Newel K. Whitney was called to be a Bishop and discharge the duties of a Bishop in that part of the Lord's vineyard, as those duties had [70] been and would be made known by revelation. The twentythird verse of this Section says, "And now behold this shall be an ensample for all the extensive branches of my Church in whatsoever land they shall be established." This order was complied with in the organization of all the larger branches of the Church thereafter, insofar as the writer is able to learn. We will, however, take space to cite but one or two instances of branch, or, as we now call it, ward organization, to show that the order given in the revelation as an "ensample" was followed in church practice while under the direction of the prophet Joseph Smith. In Church History, Volume I, page 369, the prophet is quoted as having written, "Concerning Bishops, we recommend the following: Let Brother Isaac Moreley be ordained second Bishop in Zion, and let Brother John Corrill be ordained third Bishop." These men and their counselors, also named in this letter, discharged their duties as Bishops in the branches over which Elders were appointed to preside, as already shown. Inasmuch as this REVIEW has spoken before of "Stake Bishops" and quoted the word of the Lord as designating them necessary officers in His Church, we will now learn just where these Stake Bishops functioned in early church organization. We learn from the Doctrine and Covenants, Sections 82:13; 94:1 and 96 that shortly after Newel K. Whitney was called by revelation to be a Bishop at Kirtland, it and adjacent church branches were organized into a "Stake of Zion," presided over by High Priests, and Newel K. Whitney discharged the duties of a Stake Bishop in that organization. In Church History, Volume III, page 38, we have record of the organization of a Stake of Zion at AdamondiAhman, on June 28, 1838, the Stake Presidency of Three High Priests, a High Council of Twelve High Priests, and a Stake Bishopric all of which are named. Vinson Knight was chosen as acting Bishop pro tempore for that Stake. On July 8, following this Stake organization, Newel [71] K. Whitney, acting as Stake Bishop at Kirtland, was called by revelation, as found in Section 117, verse 11, to move from Kirtland to AdamondiAhman and be a Bishop to that people,, as we understand, to be the Stake Bishop in place of Vinson Knight who had been appointed only temporarily. By revelation found in Section 124, verses 131145, we are given a complete Stake organization, which was effected at Nauvoo, Illinois January 19, 1841. And this includes a Stake Bishop and his counselors, who are, in connection with all other officers of that Stake, named. The Mormon Church of today has done away with this office entirely, and so changed the duties of a branch or ward Bishop that our muddle, in the opinion of church leaders, demands the creation of offices and responsibilities never heard of in revelations given to leaders of Christ's Church. We now have stake and ward "Supervisors" of Aaronic Priesthood appointed to perform duties the revelations say should be discharged by Bishops. The Presiding Bishop of the Church is "the only Bishop in the Mormon Church that "Stands in his own office, and labors in his own calling" according to the revelations of God given to Joseph Smith. Fortyeight Priests, after the Levitical Order, constitute a quorum, presided over by a Bishop."(107) "The Priest's duty is to, preach, teach, expound, exhort, and to baptize, and administer the sacrament ; and visit the house of each member, and exhort them to pray vocally and in secret and to attend to all family duties; and he may also ordain other Priests, Teachers, and Deacons; and he is to take the lead of meetings, when there is no Elder present. The Priest is to assist the Elder if occasion requires."(108) Although this wording admits of no misunderstanding, several readings and some careful thought may be required for us fully to sense the responsibility attached to this important Office. For the wise and capable discharging any one should know it would require a thorough understanding of the gospel for this officer to expound and teach it. It would require much wisdom and [72] no little tact for one to accomplish good and not evil in "visiting the house of each member and exhorting them to pray vocally and in secret." The Book of Mormon informs us that Joseph and Jacob were consecrated Priests and Teachers over that people. They must have possessed the requisite qualifications for the discharge of their duties, for we read that these men taught and expounded the word of God in great power.(109) Wilford Woodruff, when a man, was ordained to this responsible office and he did teach, preach, and expound the gospel in unusual power. The words used by the Nephite Prophets in ordaining Priests would indicate that men of mental and physical ability were ordained to those offices, and that they were required to discharge duties very similar, and in no way more difficult than those now demanded by the word of God of these officers in His Church. We read there the ceremony of ordination employed, "I ordain you to be a priest to preach repentance and remission of sins through Jesus Christ."(110) In view of the fact that the Lord required certain specific duties to be discharged by the Priests, and we have evidence that men who were at least supposed to possess mental capacity, tact, wisdom, and experience justifying their ordination were formerly called to those responsibilities, the wisdom of this world, particularly when augmented by wisdom given of God, should teach us that these qualifications are, or should be, demanded of those ordained to the office of Priest in our day. But, the natural endowments of our boys must far exceed that of the men of Nephite days, and the wisdom of our leaders of today seems to be ample justification for ignoring God's command entirely in this matter, for they ,not only ordain boys and very young men whom they know do not possess even mental capacity, let alone, tact, wisdom, and experience necessary to the intelligent discharge of a Priest's responsibilities, but they "go the Lord one better" in not even requiring these young and inexperienced boys to do the things the Lord said a Priest should do. [73] About the only duties Priests of the Mormon Church are required to discharge today is to administer the sacrament and baptize. Neither they nor any one else set apart to discharge the duties of a Priest are today required "to visit the house of each member, or exhort, or teach them." This great responsibility is placed on the Mormon Teacher's office, and Elders are generally chosen and set apart to act in the office of Teacher, and as such "visit the house of each member, exhort and teach them." Thus is the present Latter Day Saints Church a "house of confusion." And, yet, we have not nearly ended the mazy ways of our wanderings from the word of God. The responsibilities of the offices of Teacher and Deacon are so nearly alike, as given in the revelations, that we will consider them together. Their callings are specifically written: "To watch over the church, to be standing ministers unto the church."(111) "The Teacher's duty is to watch over the church always, and to be with and strengthen them, and see that there is no iniquity in the church; . . . and to see that the church meet together often; and also see that all the members do their duty; and he is to take lead of meetings in the absence of the elder or priest; and is to be assisted always, in all his duties in the church, by the deacons, if occasion requires."(112) Some responsibility! Common sense answers, yes! And the qualifications, as given of the Lord in the Doctrine and Covenants, required of these two sacred offices, seem to have received very little, if any, consideration, by our modern church leaders, for they call and ordain boys of twelve to sixteen years to these offices when they positively know it is an utter impossibility, physically and mentally, for one of those boys in ten thousand to discharge the duties God says belongs to those offices. But, what does that matter? The authorities do not even require them to do the things the Lord commanded, but they do order them to do things the Lord Positively declared they have no authority to do. Weigh, kind reader, what Paul said about the qualifications then required of a deacon, "Deacons should be grave, not given to folly . . . should hold the mystery of [74] the faith in a pure conscience . . . should first be proved" (Oh, dear, that seems to agree with what the Lord told Joseph Smith). We are forgetting all about what Paul said, "then let them use the office of a deacon, being blameless . . . should be the husband of one wife, and ruling their own house well !"(113) "Inconsistency with past views or conduct may be but a mark of increasing knowledge and wisdom." Many have wondered of the moral fitness of some of these boys, yet that does not seem to be of vital importance with many of those who preside in our wards. The primary question now is, "Are they 12 years old?" The revelation says "Every Elder, Priest, Teacher, or Deacon is to be ordained, according to the gifts and callings of God unto him, (not according to his age) and he is to be ordained by the power of the Holy Ghost, which is in the one who ordains him."(114) How often is this command complied with? Many offices of the priesthood as they are dishonored today by leader and layman, cost less in qualification, moral fitness, and steadfastness to principle than does office or membership in many of our fraternal lodges. They cost far less in real fitness of the recipient than a membership in the Boy Scout Troup does. And many of our thoughtless (because of inexperience and want of proper teaching) boys value their Scout membership far more than they do the priesthood that has been unwisely, and possibly unrighteously, conferred upon them. To one who obeys the word of God and honors His Holy Priesthood, these practices are a mockery before God and blaspheme His Holy Name. Even this reprobate surrender of virtue and authority in God's Priesthood is by no means the limit of our apostasy as we shall be obliged to prove by His Word. We have spoken of the Sacred Duties these offices are charged with by God. We will not speak of the things He positively forbids their doing for want of authority. "Teachers and Deacons have no authority to baptize, administer the sacrament or lay on hands."(115) Bishops, by instruction from the First Presidency and Twelve, have both Teachers and Deacons pass the [75] Sacrament to the congregation after the Elder or Priest has pronounced the prescribed blessing upon it. This is done every Sunday in the year all over the Church. They attempt to justify this breach of God's order by saying, "Passing the sacrament is not administering it." They would not only disobey God's command but they would presume to change the common and accepted meaning of the English language. Unquestioned authority on our language says "administer" means, in such usage as applied to our sacrament ordinance, "to dispense, or to give," and "to dispense," as applied here, means "to deal out in portions." So the passing of the Holy Sacrament to those who partake of it is as much a part of the "administration" as is the pronouncing of the prayer of blessing upon it. If the sacrament was not "dealt out in portions" there would be no "administration" of it. Would we be in the least justified in saying that the Holy Baptismal Sacrament was administered in the pronouncing of the ceremonial prayer, without the act of immersion? Hardly! And yet there is a perfect correspondence in relations be tween these two sacraments' different parts. If we were to admit that the "dealing out in portions" of the bread and wine was not an indispensable part of the "administration" ordinance, then we must say that it requires no Priesthood authority to deal it out in portions. If the order of our church authorities to have the Deacons and Teachers "pass the sacrament" is not a violation of God's law, and if it requires no Priesthood authority to do this, tell me, pray, why the church authorities will try a local presiding officer's church fellowship because he instructs clean and pure girl members of the Church to "pass the sacrament." Possibly such "Ceremony is the invention of wise men to keep fools at a distance; as good breeding is an expedient to make fools and wise men equals." We previously quoted, "They (teachers and deacons) have no authority to lay on hands." (It is agreed that means "for the performance of Holy ordinance.") For three separate and distinct purposes has the Church observed the ordinance of the "laying on of hands," all of which are sanctioned, and even command[76] ed, by all our "Standard Church Works." Enumerated, those purposes are: For bestowal of the Holy Ghost and confirming to church membership, For conferring the Priesthood and ordaining and setting apart to offices appendage thereto, For sealing an anointing, previously performed with a consecrated oil. As quoted, the word of the Lord says, "Neither Teachers nor Deacons have authority to lay on hands." No exceptions or qualifications are made in this command. Hence, it must be taken just as stated, if believed at all, and it applies to the "laying on of hands" in all of the divinely authorized ordinances for which it is authoritatively practiced, excepting none. And yet, some Bishops in the Mormon Church (I do not believe it to be with approval of presiding church authorities) instruct boy Teachers and Deacons to "lay hands on" other boys for the purpose of conferring the Aaronic Priesthood and ordaining to the office of Deacon or Teacher! "And I say unto you (says the Lord) it shall not be given to any one to go forth to preach my gospel, or to build up my church, except he be ordained by some one who has authority, and it is known to the church that he has authority, and has been regularly ordained by the heads of the church."(116) God's word is true. "Neither Teachers nor Deacons have authority to lay on hands." Consequently it cannot be possible that either of these offices of the Priesthood have authority to ordain others to any office in the Priesthood simply because such an ordinance demands "the laying on of hands," which neither of them have authority to do. This same divine word says that "Priests may also ordain other Priests, Teachers, and Deacons."(117) If the Priest has authority to ordain, he, of necessity, has authority "to lay on hands" for that particular purpose. No such authority is given or implied, to Teachers or Deacons. Because of disregard of the revealed word of God throughout the Church, hundreds of men and boys essay[77] ing to officiate in the ordinance of the Church are doing so without authority from God, for He will not accept at our hands that which he has not appointed. And this violation of God's law is not the only one that is fast robbing the Mormon Church of an authoritative Priesthood. Kind reader, as you value your salvation, I beg of you to read carefully and prayerfully that which is recorded here of the Word of the Lord, and make particular study, for the present of that which immediately follows. "And without the ordinances thereof, and the authority of the Priesthood the power of godliness is not manifest unto man in the flesh, For without this no man (meaning in his natural mortal state) can see God, even the Father, and live. Now this Moses plainly taught the children of Israel in the wilderness, and sought diligently to sanctify his people that they might behold the face of God. But they hardened their hearts and could not endure his presence; therefore, the Lord in His wrath, (for His anger was kindled against them) swore that they should not enter into His rest while in the wilderness, which rest is the fullness of His glory. Therefore, he took Moses out of their midst, and the Holy Priesthood also."(118) Kind reader, have you ever seriously thought just what this taking away of the Holy Priesthood meant, for time and for all eternity, to this rebellious people? Ponder over it, very earnestly. Do you think all the men of that people, who had held the Higher Priesthood, died without trying to confer, or believing that they had conferred that priesthood on their successors? Such a conclusion would hardly be justified. All such things are brought about in a more natural or ordinary way. Would it not be more reasonable to believe that this awful thing happened to Israel because they transgressed the law and order given of God by which Priesthood could be conferred, just as our Church is doing today in the matter just cited regarding the Teachers' and Deacons' want of authority and yet their presuming to bestow something for which they had no divine authority; And in the following matter even, far more effective and speedy in disposing of the Holy Priesthood? [78] 16 ORDER OF CONFERRING AND ORDAINING TO PRIESTHOOD. WE WILL again quote the Lord in this particular. "The Higher or Melchizedek Priesthood holds authority over all the offices of the church."(119) Thus we are told the Priesthood holds authority over the office, not the office over the Priesthood. "All other authorities (except the Priesthood itself) or offices in the church are appendages to this Priesthood."(120) Our best authority on the English language defines an "appendage" as "a subordinate addition or adjunct," "as a limb of a tree is an appendage to the tree," "that which is thought of as added we call an appendage to; that which is looked upon as an integral part is called an appendage of." Thus defined, all offices of the Priesthood are an appendage to, hence, added to the Priesthood, not an integral part of the Priesthood. For this reason God, through John the Baptist, conferred the Aaronic Priesthood, that which has the keys and authority over all the offices, appendage thereto, upon Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery, without naming one of those offices, using the following words: "Upon my fellow servants, in the name of Messiah, I confer the Priesthood of Aaron, which holds the keys of the ministering of angels, and of the gospel of repentance, and of baptism by immersion for the remission of sins; and this shall never be taken again from the earth, until the sons of Levi do offer again an offering unto the Lord in righteousness."(121) This holy angel then informed Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery that he acted under the direction of Peter, James, and John who held the keys of the Priesthood of Melchizedek, which, he said, "would in due time be conferred upon them."(122) These two men testify that Peter, James, and John [79] did come, in keeping with the promise made by John the Baptist, and that they did confer upon them the Melchizedek Priesthood and ordained them apostles, an office appendage to that High Priesthood."(123) These two memorable and divinely directed occasions of conferring Priesthood, one, with no reference to any office appendage thereto, the other including an ordination to the apostleship, most certainly marks the procedure followed by these Holy Messengers, as being of God; all men may say to the contrary notwithstanding. In perfect accord with these two divinely directed examples, in one of which the ceremonial words used by John the Baptist are given, President Joseph F. Smith gave the following instructions relative to conferring the Priesthood: "The revelation in Section 107, Doctrine and Covenants, verses 1, 5, 6, 7, 21 clearly points out that the Priesthood is a general authority or qualification, with certain offices or authorities appended thereto. Consequently the conferring of the Priesthood should precede and accompany ordination to office, unless it be possessed by previous bestowal and ordination. Surely a man cannot possess an appendage to the Priesthood without possessing the Priesthood itself, which he cannot obtain unless it be authoritatively conferred upon him. "Take, for instance, the office of a deacon: the person ordained should have the Aaronic Priesthood conferred upon him in connection with his ordination. He cannot receive a portion or fragment of the Aaronic Priesthood, because that would be acting on the idea that either or both of the (Melchizedek and Aaronic) Priesthoods were subject to division, which is contrary to the revelation. "In ordaining those who have not yet received the Aaronic Priesthood, to any office therein, the words of John the Baptist to Joseph Smith, Jr., and Oliver Cowdery, would be appropriate to immediately precede the act of ordination. They are: 'Upon you my fellow servants (servant) in the name of Messiah, I confer the Priesthood of Aaron.' "Of course, it would not necessarily follow that these exact words should be used, but the language should be [80] consistent with the act of conferring the Aaronic Priesthood."(124) No man will arise to say President Joseph F. Smith's instruction is not in perfect harmony with the divinely directed examples above cited, and with the revelations of God quoted by him. And yet, the present Presidency of the Mormon Church has issued the following instruction, which is copied from their leaflet issued April 26, 1921, and sent to all Stake Presidencies throughout the Church and from them conveyed to the Bishops of the Wards. ADDENDUM. CONFERRING THE PRIESTHOOD. To prevent disputes over this subject that may arise over the procedure presented on page 169 of The Gospel Doctrine, we draw attention to the fact that until recently, from the days of the Prophet Joseph Smith, ordinations to the Priesthood were directly to the office therein for which the recipient was chosen and appointed in form substantially as follows: As to the Melchizedek Priesthood, "By authority (or in the authority) of the Holy Priesthood and by the laying on of hands, I (or we) ordain you an Elder, (or Seventy, or High Priest, or Patriarch, or Apostle, as the case may be) in the Church of Jesus Christ of LatterDay Saints, and confer upon you all the rights, powers, keys, and authority pertaining to this office and calling in the Holy Melchizedek Priesthood, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, Amen." As to the Lesser Priesthood  "By (or in) the authority of the Holy Priesthood I (or we) lay my (or our) hands upon your head and ordain you a Deacon (or other officer in the Lesser Priesthood) in the Church of Jesus Christ of LatterDay Saints, and confer upon you all the rights, powers and authority pertaining to this office and calling in the Aaronic Priesthood, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, Amen." In reference to the form of procedure mentioned on [81] page 169, and that set forth in this addendum as adopted by the leading authorities of the Church from the beginning, our loved and departed President Joseph F. Smith, when questioned concerning them, decided as of record. "It is a distinction without a difference" and "Either will do." Persons, therefore, who have been ordained in either way hold the right to officiate in all the duties of their respective offices in the Priesthood." HEBER J. GRANT, ANTHON H. LUND, CHARLES W. PENROSE, First Presidency. "At a meeting of the First Presidency and Council of Twelve Apostles held April 7, the foregoing was unanimously endorsed for the instruction of the Stake and Ward Quorum Authorities in the Priesthood, so that there may be no difference of opinion or action in regard to the proper method of ordinations to the offices in the Melchizedek or Aaronic Priesthood. The forms furnished in the addendum, of which the above is a copy, contain all that is really necessary in ordaining persons to those offices, and it is desirable to omit anything further, so as to avoid confusion and needless discussion." HEBER J. GRANT, CHARLES W. PENROSE, ANTHONY W. IVENS, April 26, 1921. First Presidency. Here are presented two methods of procedure, each claiming to be correct, but as fundamentally unlike as it seems possible for two ceremonial wordings to be, both purporting to attain the same end. The first is that procedure followed by four immortal beings, as messengers commissioned of God to confer Priesthood on men. The word of the Lord as given in the revelations to Joseph Smith is in perfect accord with the procedure of the four Divine Messengers. And all this [82] in turn in agreement with President Joseph Smith's instruction as quoted, which is in its turn admitted to be effective, by the exponents of the reversal. The other plan as published in the addendum quoted, containing instruction, signed and published by the First Presidency and approved by the Quorum of Twelve of today. This makes no reference to the Word of God or His approval in the matter. It is merely an agreement reached by the leaders named and referred to. However, they do set forth some reasons, which they have approved as adequate for this published instruction. We will here weigh those reasons given in turn. The first offered is "until recently, from the days of the Prophet Joseph Smith" the procedure as recommended in their instruction, was the practice. While the writer is by no means ready to accept this statement as being wholly correct, he will say, that even did we admit it to be in strict accord with the facts, those facts would not, in the absence of further evidence, be an infallible proof of the approval of God. Only when men are observing God's ordinances, living an approved life and possessed of the Holy Ghost, are their words and acts infallible. This question of a divinely approved procedure in conferring Priesthood and ordaining to appendages thereto, has been a matter of controversy, sometimes bitter controversy, in the Church, among leaders and laymen alike, for many years. If either faction has ever published a worthy evidence that Joseph Smith and his immediate associates ever approved by word or practice, any particular ceremonial wording for this particular purpose, the writer has never learned of it, and he has by no means been a silent, uninterested observer. If such evidence is obtainable, why, pray, in view of the fact that this addendum was provoked by the incessant claims of many to the contrary, did not these brethren make public that proof? The second, and only other reason offered by the brethren named for this addendum is, "our loved and departed President Joseph F. Smith, when questioned concerning them, (the divergent views) decided, as of [83] record, "it is a distinction without a difference" and "Either will do." If this be true and a matter "of record" why, tell me, was the name or names of the parties responsible for that statement not given, and the facts published before President Smith passed beyond? To those acquainted with President Joseph F. Smith, and the fact that the persistent advocacy of this teaching, set forth in the addendum above quoted, by certain brethren (one of whom signed it as a member of the First Presidency, and was threatened with the loss of his church fellowship, by President Smith, if he did not desist) brought forth President Smith's published terse instructions, this statement of somebody (?) has very little value. We will turn from the bickerings of men to a consideration of the Word of God as applied to this question. First we will compare the pronouncement ritual as given in the addendum with the revealed word of God. "The Melchizedek Priesthood . . . has power and authority over all the offices in the church. . . . (125) The ceremonial wording begins: "By the authority of the Holy Priesthood . . . " this is in strict accord with the words of the revelation, for the reason that it is by the authority of Priesthood, not office in that Priesthood, and this wording asserts that fact "and by the laying on of hands . . . " this too agrees with the divine order(126)  "I ordain you an Elder"  This also is in harmony with the procedure supposed to have been taken by Peter, James, and John in ordaining Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery Apostles, after they had conferred the Melchizedek Priesthood: and with President Joseph F. Smith's instructions previously quoted, providing Priesthood "be possessed by previous bestowal. . . . Otherwise it does not agree with Joseph F. Smith's instruction, or with the revelation of God on which that was based. For, as Joseph F. Smith said, "Surely a man cannot possess an appendage to the Priesthood without possessing the Priesthood itself." In further consideration of this last stated fact, our [84] definition first quoted and authorized by the best authority we have on the English language says, "that which is thought of as added we call an appendage to." Thus every revelation in which office in Priesthood is spoken of as an "appendage," it is said "appendage to." Thus office "appendage to Priesthood," is as "a limb of a tree appendage to the tree." "Appendage to is not an integral part." Hence, John the Baptist conferred Priesthood without naming an "appendage" thereto. Priesthood holds the power, the authority and the keys to speak and act for God. The office is a "subordinate part," dispensable. So, with ordaining to office without conferring Priesthood to which the office is appendage, it is like giving a man the limb of a tree without the tree and expecting it to bear fruit. Having no power or authority in and of itself, it is dead, fit only to be cast into the fire and burned. The Lord says, "Will I receive at your hands that which I have not appointed, And will I appoint unto you, saith the Lord, except it be by law?"(127) The authors of the addendum proclaim in the opening words of the form there prescribed that our contention, as above quoted and stated, is correct, by saying "by power and authority of the Holy Priesthood" they proceed to ordain a man to an "appendage" which has no power or authority, in and of itself. "Not so," some will answer, "for, in the following sentence it is said, 'We confer upon you all the rights, powers, keys, and authority pertaining to this office and calling in the Holy Priesthood.'" We would ask, "What privileges, rights, powers, keys, and authority has any office appendage to that Priesthood got, if not attached to that Priesthood?" They have conferred nothing to give the office power or authority. They merely said they conferred the rights, powers, keys, and authorities those offices have in the Holy Priesthood, and yet, they withheld the conferring of that Priesthood. These good brethren even go further. They attempt to bestow upon this detached limb keys which but two appendages to the Priesthood are authorized by God to [85] hold, viz., Presidents of Priesthood and Apostles, even when authoritatively connected up with Priesthood power and authority. I am unable to find a sentence in the revealed word of God saying that either Elders, Seventies, or High Priests not appointed to Presidency ever held keys or are entitled to them. Not even the High Priest chosen from the Melchizedek Priesthood, selected and ordained to be a Bishop, holding powers and authority under that special ordination to preside over the Aaronic Priesthood, can possess the keys to that Presidency. Only a worthy, literal descendant of Aaron, properly chosen and ordained to the office of Bishop can hold those keys of Presidency.(128) This little dissertation was not undertaken with the hope of turning satelites from their orbits of blind acquiescence, but with a knowledge that God spoke and acted through those four immortal messengers, John the Baptist, and Peter, James, and John, His Apostles, whom He commanded to restore His Holy Priesthood on earth, and that those beings made no mistakes in word or act. I also know that God revealed to Joseph Smith His plan whereby the Priesthood might be retained by worthy men, and made to serve His holy purposes in bringing about the salvation of all who would hear and obey. And His servant, Joseph F. Smith, made that order and plan so plain that all men who would see might see, and hearing might hear, thereby preserving to this people the Holy Priesthood, of which ancient Israel was deprived through her blind obedience to the precepts of men. [86] 17 "IF YE FORSAKE HIM, HE WILL FORSAKE YOU." "THERE is a law irrevocably decreed in heaven before the foundation of this world, upon which all blessings are predicated: and when we obtain any blessing from God, it is by obedience to that law upon which it is predicated."(129) "The Lord is with you, while ye be with Him; and if ye seek Him He will be found of you: but if ye forsake Him He will forsake you."(130) The Lord told this Mormon people, "There is a possibility that men may fall from grace, and depart from the living God, Therefore, let the church take heed and pray always lest they fall into temptation." "Yea, and let even those who are sanctified take heed also."(131) "Pray in your families unto the Father, always in my name, that your wives and your children may be blessed."(132) "They shall teach their children to pray and walk uprightly before the Lord."(133) "If ye are purified and cleansed from all sin, ye shall ask whatsoever ye will in the name of Jesus, and it shall be done."(134) "Surely shall you receive a knowledge of whatsoever things you shall ask in faith, with an honest heart."(135) "Agree upon My word, and by the prayer of faith ye shall receive My law."(136) "And a commandment I give unto them, that he that observeth not his prayers before the Lord in the season thereof, let him be had in remembrance before the judge of My people. These sayings are true and faithful, wherefore transgress them not, neither take therefrom."(137) Thus is worded the admonition, law, and command of God to this Mormon people relative to prayer, with God's promises and warnings relative thereto. Would it not be well to examine ourselves as indi[87] viduals and thereby learn whether we have hearkened to God's command in this matter, and also review the attitude of the Church and its Authorities, that our position before God may be better sensed? For nearly fifty years the writer has served, not continuously but frequently, as a ward teacher in a number of wards in different Stakes of the Church; and for a portion of that period has received and recorded reports made to his Bishopric, by hundreds of block or ward teachers. He has lived, visited, and traveled among the Mormon people from Mexico on the South to central Canada on the North, and in nearly all those parts labored in Church activities. From personal experience and from the experience of other church workers I here make the assertion, and that without the least fear of successful contradiction, that far less than onehalf of the church membership observe a regular "season" of prayer; and many of that number do not observe that prayer in a spirit of sincere and humble devotion, rather is it offered as a matter of form and dead ceremony. From this sweeping charge I except the Saints who dwelt in Mexico while I was there. Those people were the most sincere observers of their prayers, and all other Gospel teachings and principles, of any people among whom I ever lived or labored. Notwithstanding these undeniable facts, I challenge leader and layman alike of this Church to point out one instance in the past thirty years, showing where any of the authorities of this Church, great or small, have brought transgressors of this commandment in "remembrance before the Judge" of this people. Not only has there been a fifty per cent apostasy of the church membership from God's command to observe their prayers "in the season thereof" but there has been a one hundred per cent apostasy of church leaders from God's command to them to bring the transgressors to account before the judge of this people. They have not only transgressed, but abrogated the law. They seem to consider not the Lord's sayings "to be true and faithful." If a wanton and utter disregard of the command[88] ments of a living God are an incontrovertible evidence of a departure from Him, His revealed word, when compared with the words and acts of those who profess to serve and speak for Him, in this Mormon Church, wherein they have disobeyed or ignored His law, will prove their apostasy therefrom. [89] 18 "NEITHER ARE YOUR WAYS MY WAYS, SAITH THE LORD." "I SENT you out to testify and warn the people."(138) 'Thou shalt do it with all humility, trusting in Me, reviling not against the reviler."(139) "Bear record of Me, even Jesus Christ, that I am the Son of God, that I was, that I am, and that I am to come."(140) "Declare My gospel according to the Power of the Holy Ghost which is in you."(141) "The Spirit shall be given unto you by the prayer of faith, and if ye receive not the Spirit, ye shall not teach."(142) "Go forth in the power of My Spirit, preaching My gospel, two by two, in My name."(143) The Lord, through Joseph Smith, gave those instructions to those called, ordained, and sent forth to preach His Gospel in this dispensation, and He commanded us that we should do this not only in faith, humility, honesty, and power of His Spirit, but that we should "go forth two by two," as Christ sent out His servants when He was in the flesh. He further commanded this Church and its leaders in these words, relative to their preaching His gospel, "Therefore, let no man among you, (for this command is unto all the faithful who are called of God in the Church unto this ministry) from this hour forth take purse or scrip, that goeth forth to proclaim this gospel of the kingdom."(144) No one need misunderstand this command or the reason the Lord gave for it. This reason is fully as important as the command itself. God never gives a command to His children but He has a most worthy reason for it, although He may not always honor us with a thorough explanation of that reason as He did in the case of this strict command. It reads: "Behold I send you out to prove the world; and the laborer is worthy of his hire."(145) "Whoso receiveth you [90] receiveth Me, and the same will feed you, and give you money; And he who feeds you or clothes you, or gives you money, shall in nowise lose his reward; And he that doeth not these things is not my disciple; by this you may know my disciples."(146) The fulfillment of this law would bring blessings, not only to the gospel messenger, but to those who would care for him, and by this Godgiven means His servants would know who was then a believer in the Lord, and acceptable to Him. The mandevised systems of the Mormon Church have not only robbed the disciples of the Lord of the opportunity of receiving His promised blessings, and His gospel messengers of this divinely given means of discovering those disciples, but they have revoked the law itself, and substituted one of their own devising, and in direct opposition to it. The leaders attempt to justify their breach of this command by saying, "The laws of the land, particularly that of many cities, have so changed since that command was given, that men are not permitted now to remain in them any great length of time, without visible means of support, so it is necessary to call only men who have, or are able to obtain, sufficient ready means for their support." And so, they proclaimed another order of their own devising which, if put into words to cover the facts, would be worded about like this: "Let no man among you, who is called of the church authorities into the ministry, go forth to proclaim this gospel of the reformed kingdom, without a big purse and plenty of money in it." In public sermon our leaders, general and local, boast of the great faith, and sacrifice being made by the Mormon missionaries to preach the gospel. But they fail to add, "in violation of God's law!" Yes, we have made and are continuing to make great sacrifice of time, and money by the hundreds of thousands of dollars, and in its very manner of offering, our faith seems to have far exceeded that ever before manifest in man, for we find no written record of any other people who went so far as to believe God would extend great reward and glory to them for violating His laws through which those sacrifices should [91] be made, and expecting Him to receive something He had not appointed. In view of the fact that God promised our church leaders and missionaries His kind protecting and watchful care, if we would but observe to do as He said, it is most certain that we lost faith in God's promises before we abrogated His law. If God actually commanded us to preach His Gospel in the particular spirit and manner proclaimed of Him, He would certainly make it possible for us to comply, if we were honest, true, and faithful to His commands. For He said through His Prophet Nephi, "I will go and do the thing which the Lord hath commanded, for I know that the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save He shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which He commanded them."(147) The Lord's conditional promise made to this Church in connection with this matter says, "And any man that shall go and preach this gospel of the kingdom, and fail not to continue faithful in all things shall not be weary in mind, neither darkened, neither in body, limb or joint. And they shall not go hungry neither athirst."(148) What greater promise could God make? Yet, if they feel this is not ample assurance of His divine care, we have more, and surely sufficient for those who have faith in God's promises. "And again I say unto you, if ye observe to do whatsoever I command you, I, the Lord, will turn away all wrath and indignation from you, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against you."(149) The abolishment of God's law, in this, as in many other matters, proves conclusively to an unbiased mind, that our church leaders had far more faith in the ability and will of the civil officers of the land to enforce the civil law, than they had in God's promise "to turn away all wrath and indignation" from them. It may have been their lack of faith in themselves, rather than in God. In either case that lack gave no license to set God's law aside, so long as those men professed to speak for Him. As with all others recreant to a sacred trust, these brethren did not promulgate their departure until they [92] located an excuse or reason for doing so, a reason that would satisfy those "who never talk to their own souls." Some of them quote the following in justification of the annulment, "Let no man break the law of the land, for he that keepeth the laws of God hath no need to break the laws of the land."(150) Some Mormon elders, as well as other ministers are very adroit when it comes to quoting, or omitting to quote Scripture in effort to establish their contention. Some of them would ask the reader to accept this last quotation without qualification, as the whole word of God on this matter. Yet, they would raise their hands in holy horror the thought of the right and authority of a city, state, or the United States Congress to legislate for God. This, nevertheless, would be the inevitable conclusion of one who would accept their interpretation of that lone passage of Scripture. "Oftentimes excusing of a fault, doth make a fault the worse by the excuse."(151) What does the revelation say divinely authorized elders sent forth to preach the Gospel of our Lord should do in the event they and their testimony is rejected? This, "He that receiveth you not, go away from him alone by yourselves, and cleanse your feet even with water, pure water, whether in heat or in cold, and bear testimony of it unto your Father which is in heaven, and return not again unto that man. And into whatsoever village or city ye enter do likewise. Nevertheless, search diligently and spare not; and wo unto that house, or that village or city that rejecteth you, or your words, or your testimony concerning me. Wo, I say again, unto that house, or that village, or city that rejecteth you, or your words, or your testimony of me."(152) Oh, why can we not in faith and humility plow, plant, and water and trust God for the increase? Because, if the Mormon Church of today were simple enough to believe the Lord actually gave these commandments and really meant what He said, then had faith enough to take Him at His word, amen to that hopedfor popularity for which the Mormon Church has made the highest known bid. [93] 19 "THE TARES SHALL BE BOUND IN BUNDLES AND BURNED." "BEHOLD I will take the children from among the heathen, whither they be gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land; and I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel."(153) "I heard another voice from heaven saying, Come out of her, My people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues."(154) The Latter Day Saints claim divine authority and right to participate in the gathering together of the "dispersed of Israel, and all who will, by obedience unto the word of God, become the children of Abraham," by right of the fact that "After this vision closed, the heavens were again opened unto us, and Moses appeared before us, and committed unto us the keys of the gathering of Israel from the four parts of the earth."(155) After this authority and the keys of the gathering of Israel were given to Joseph Smith and associates, they vigorously proclaimed the "gathering of Israel," saying the appointed time of the Lord foretold of the prophets of old was now at hand.(156) The voice declared, "Ye are called to bring to pass the gathering of mine elect, for mine elect hear my voice and harden not their hearts." "Behold it is my will that all they who call on my name, and worship me according to mine everlasting gospel, should gather together, and stand in holy places."(157) As will be understood, this last command is made to embrace all who will accept the gospel teachings of God's authorized servants who received the sacred commission, directly or indirectly, from this holy messenger, Moses. But the LatterDay Saints Church must have found what appears to them to be a better plan than that given of God, for they have superseded His and substituted one of their own. [94] They now instruct their missionaries and converts that all they who call on God's name, and worship Him according to the revised teachings of the Mormon Church, should remain in their own lands and build up local organizations and fine church buildings in convenient places. The church leaders seem to have lost all fear, and even thought that the Lord's prophets had told the wicked world God would send plagues upon them when the cup of their iniquity was full; that these angels sent to Joseph Smith and others had instructed them to gather out the elect of the Lord that they might not be made partakers of those evil scourges. Some few elders of the Mormon Church have taught that this gathering should be held in abeyance, until Zion, Jackson County, Missouri should be occupied again by the Saints; that those who first gathered to that consecrated land, had been driven out by their enemies. For this reason they could not comply longer with that command, and the Lord accepted their offering, then told them, "Let those commandments which I have given concerning Zion and her law be executed, and fulfilled, after her redemption."(158) These instructions and commandments had no reference to the gathering or any other command that was general in its application. It had reference only to the commands given to this particular people, relative to consecration of certain lands purchased there and to the building of the temple and city of Independence. For in this same revelation, the twentyfourth verse, it is said, " . . . but carefully gather together, as much in one region as can be consistently with the feelings of the people." The bitter hatred of the people of that part against the Mormons was manifest in their mobbing, plundering, burning and in murder of numbers of this despised people. The assembly or gathering together in one place of any considerable number of Mormons, was at once heralded as a menace to unbelievers, and used as an excuse for further outrages against the hated followers of Joseph Smith. For these reasons the revelation just [95] quoted named no particular place for their gathering in that "region" at that particular time. The law of "gathering" did not apply to Jackson County, Missouri alone, but included other places previously and thereafter named. This commandment to "gather together and stand in holy places," was made, by previous and later revelations, just as binding upon the believers after the Missouri mobbings as it was before. In a revelation given to Joseph Smith about seven months prior the revelation so often quoted by exponents of that false teaching, and referred to above was received; and two months after the Saint's expulsion from Jackson County, Missouri we are told, "Again, verily I say unto you, I will show unto you wisdom in me concerning all the churches, inasmuch as they are willing to be guided in a right and proper way for their salvation, that the work of gathering together of my Saints may continue, that I may build them up unto my name upon holy places; for the time of the harvest is come, and my work must needs be fulfilled. Therefore a commandment I give unto all the churches, that they shall continue to gather together unto places which I have appointed."(159) In two revelations given more than seven years after the driving from "Zion" in Jackson County, the Lord commanded all those who took upon themselves His name, "to gather themselves together" in places already appointed, and to be hereafter appointed."(160) All the successors to Joseph Smith, in church leadership, down to Wilford Woodruff as vigorously taught the "law of gathering" as did Joseph Smith himself. It remained for leaders of later years to rescind God's commandments in this matter, as in nearly all others. We will now turn to the reason God gave for restoring the keys and authority, and delivering the positive commands for His people to gather together; and of the past and of the present results of our turning away from God's laws. [96] 20 "VERILY, THEY HAVE THEIR REWARD." GOD'S reasons given for the commandment to gather together, in this, the "Dispensation of the Fullness of times," are: "That the work of the gathering together of my saints may continue, that I may build them up unto my name upon holy places; For the time of the harvest is come, and my word must needs be fulfilled. Therefore, I must gather together my people according to the parable of the wheat and tares, that the wheat may be secured in the garners to possess eternal life, and be crowned with celestial glory when I shall come in the kingdom of My Father to reward every man according as his work shall be; while the tares shall be bound in bundles, and their bands made strong, that they may be burned with unquenchable fire."(161) "Wherefore, the decree hath gone forth from the Father, that they shall be gathered into one place upon the face of this land, to prepare their hearts and be prepared in all things against the day when tribulation and desolation are sent forth upon the wicked. For the hour is nigh and the day soon at hand when the earth is ripe; and all the proud, and they that do wickedly shall be as stubble, and I will burn them up, saith the Lord of Hosts, that wickedness shall not be upon the earth."(162) These reasons were surely thought to be ample justification for the mighty zeal manifest in Joseph Smith, his immediate associates, and believing successors, and all the missionaries of their time, with their thousands of converts who all possessed a like faith in God's word. But alas, and wo unto those who have disbelieved and abrogated God's holy commandments, "Verily, they have their reward." As an almost immediate result of the turning away from the Lord in this one particular, many hundreds of faithful Saints, whom God said should "gather together in one place upon this land," were scat [97] tered abroad among almost every nation drawn into the seething caldron of the World War! Church members of one nation were drafted to shed the blood of their fellow church members of the opposing battle front. The nations were "bound in bundles" by compacts and treaties of fear or favor, and Mormons were found in every bundle. 0 Lord, our God, what will our disobedience of Thy holy laws force upon us when those bundles are "bound with unbreakable bands" and "burned with unquenchable fire"? Hide, oh, hide, from mine eyes the sight of Thy just answer, and save those who would be faithful to Thee, from a burning the unrighteousness of shepherds would force upon them! Remember, 0 Lord, the contrite and faithful who are blinded by the precepts of men. Read the Lord's command given to this Mormon people concerning war, and mark well the immediate consequences of our apostasy! "For, if ye will not abide in my covenant, ye are not worthy of me. Therefore, renounce war and proclaim peace."(163) This and other similar commandments relative to war are so plain that a fool need not err. It positively commands this Mormon people to renounce war; that means for us to reject war, finally and publicly. But the Mormon Church and its leaders have renounced God's command and publicly rejected it in word and act. The commandments say further, "Ye are forbidden to shed blood."(164) The Book of Mormon tells us, "God has forbidden bloodshed, from the beginning."(165) The Lord even commanded this people that they should not go to battle in their own cause, and promised them if they would observe to do as He said, He would fight their battles.(166) In the revelations God sets forth a rule, and examples of His law given to former people, and tells us that only on compliance with those conditions will He "justify His people in going to war."(167) Not one of the provocations God named as a condition of justification, ever existed in [98] the wars in which the Mormons have shed blood. Please read those conditions of justification given of the Lord. They should be well understood before we have ceased to study them. Permit the writer now to compare the attitude of our early church leaders relative to war, with that of our present leaders, who have "renounced" God's command that they should "renounce war." When Brigham Young stood at the head of the Mormon Church he informed his followers that "war is murder!"(168) The war with Mexico was the first participated in by the United States with a foreign nation, after the organization of the Mormon Church. Prior to our Government's declaration of war with that Republic, Joseph Smith importuned Congress and the President of the United States, to be permitted to enlist a goodly number of his followers in the Federal service, and with them, be permitted to march to Oregon for the purpose of holding that vast territory for the United States against possible encroachments from the English Crown. It is made clear from the Prophet's teachings, and that of his associate church leaders, that they did not believe in war, and not for one moment did they think that the recruits asked for, if granted, would be called upon to shed the blood of their fellow men, in the proposed undertaking. The chief purpose of the Mormon leaders in securing the approval of the United States Government for this proposed undertaking, was that it might provide a means of moving the persecuted Mormon Church into the far West, and at the same time discourage any attempt on the part of England to lay claim to that territory. The opportunity sought was denied Joseph Smith and his fellows, but when war was declared against Mexico the Church was required to provide five hundred able bodied men for the service marching west into California. Compliance on the part of the Mormons worked a great hardship on them at that particular time, because of the [99] mobbings they had suffered and their scattered and unsettled condition. However, Brigham Young, then their leader, advised his followers to accept the call for enlistment, and in doing so he promised them in the name of his God, that if they would respond and keep the Lord's commandments they should not be called upon to shed one drop of their fellow man's blood. The shedding of blood seemed to be the chief worry of the Mormon leaders of that day, and, strange as it may seem, the promise made to the enlisted men by Brigham Young was literally fulfilled, and that in the face of facts and circumstances that then seemed to preclude the possibility of fulfillment. Prior to and during the devastating Civil War, which Joseph Smith predicted would come(169) the LatterDay Saint church leaders, prophets and Elders warned the converts yet sojourning in various parts of the United States, to flee to the appointed place of gathering in the Rocky Mountains, if they would escape the ravages of this awful war, which they first said would, then had come because of the wickedness of the people. The history of those harrowing times informs us that all LatterDay Saints who harkened to those warnings and obeyed the instruction, did escape the shedding of blood and the war's devastation. When it is remembered that the Mormons had taken great interest and active part in the heated political questions of the day, particularly that of slavery, when they frequently said that if any war was ever justified, surely that to save our Union was, yet, in spite of these many heart interests they adhered to God's command to "renounce war," they must be credited with a fixed determination at that time to honor God's law, and to possess a faith in His promises not found in the Mormon Church of today, as is plainly evidenced by their participation in subsequent wars. When the Spanish American War came the attitude of the Mormon Church had experienced a complete reversal. Enlistment and participation was in no way compulsory, rather was it a matter of choice, and boast [100] ing patriotism. The thing to be achieved was of no vital interest to our country's peace or prosperity. And yet, some of the Mormon leaders, having an eye to the opportunity then offered to make a spectacular bid for popularity, did not hesitate to sacrifice obedience to God's command that they should "renounce war and proclaim peace," but they encouraged church members to enlist and demonstrate their "love for country." The writer does not remember of the church leaders then informing their followers that "war was murder" or that "God had forbidden bloodshed from the beginning." Quite the contrary. They evidenced far more faith in the efficacy of man's esteem than they did in God's law. In keeping with that faith they "announced their alms in the synagogues and upon the streets that they might have the praise of men." "Verily they have their reward." For the first time in the history of the Mormon people, many of their trusting young men were thrown into the maw of war's hell. There they were overcome by the ravages of sin that ever rides apace with war, far more than by the fire of mortal combatants. When the war ended, some of those unfortunate men brought back to their Zion the most diseased and sexually corrupt condition hitherto known among that people. "Verily, they have their reward." However, it remained for the "World War" to prove fully our complete apostasy from the Lord's command. "For they loved the praises of men more than they loved the praise of God."(170) By the written and spoken word, from the press and the pulpit our Elders of the Church, from the very head down, proclaimed their patriotism. They advised their young men to enlist early in "the war for Democracy" and not wait for the draft. To all the world they proclaimed "from the housetops" their loyalty to "humanity's cause." If we judge from clamor and outward evidences, there was no people in all the United States who responded more eagerly to their country's call for volunteers and money than did the Mormons. Many of them have not yet ceased to boast of the Mormons' exhibition made before men. [101] Some of us went so far in our war crazed zeal and patriotism that we joined other zealots in vehement denunciation of certain other religious denominations that had the courage, and faith in God's word, to say that war was contrary to their religious convictions, therefore they refused to participate. Not so the LatterDay Saints, and yet we assert that God revealed His mind and will to us through Joseph Smith, His prophet. However, we forget to tell the world that we lay aside our religion when we want to enter society. In fact, we have no need to. They have been acquainted with that fact for some time. Some of the Elders, in both Canada and the United States, went so far as to tell church members, in private conversation and in public discourse that it was the Lord's will we should take active part "in this war for humanity." A few of these warcrazed leaders even promised the Saints that "God would protect the youth of Zion" as He had done the "Two thousand young men of Helaman's army" mentioned in the Book of Mormon."(171) Reader, think of these promises, then of that made by Brigham Young to the "Mormon Battalion" and compare the results. "By their fruits ye shall know them." Having been taught from childhood to have faith in the teachings and promises of their church leaders, many of the trusting young men, the physically best, as in all other communities, eagerly enlisted and complied with the draft for the World War, and that with a belief it was God's will, and they would be protected by Him in some miraculous manner. Kind reader, pause a moment. Picture, if you can, these eager young men, once "little tots" at mother's knee, there being taught to pray for a Priesthood in which they should trust as God's unerring mouthpiece to them through all time. Then, prior to their enlistment, being taught by this same Priesthood that God's special care and kind providences would watch over and protect them in the coming struggle. Can you imagine the heartbreaking sorrow and disappointment, or the horror experienced by these young men in the cruel shattering of [102] a life's faith? When these boys awoke to the fact that they had suffered of wounds, and their fellow church members died in battle, just as their unbelieving buddies did, can you imagine, in part, what that awakening meant to them? Many of these Mormon boys and young men, once embued with a false faith because of the false teachings of their elders, were first shocked, then completely stunned. Some awful mistake had been made, and they were now made to eat of the bitter fruits of that error. Like blinded men they groped for light. The inevitable conclusion reached was that they had been miserably deceived. They not only doubted the authority of church leaders to speak for God, but they doubted the very existence of a God. They became hard and bitter killers of their fellow men. Many of them abandoned the faith of their fathers, and the survivors of this shattered remnant brought back to their homes and former associates a disregard for moral precept, and for the "professed" divinity of Mormon Priesthood. The attitude of the LatterDay Saint church leaders toward the World War, and the resulting active part its members took in it, bore its inevitable fruits of a shattered faith in God and the rights of men to speak for Him. A sexual and moral impurity never before experienced by the Mormon people took possession of and shattered many formerly clean and happy homes. Our utter disregard for the commandments of God given to us relative to war made our people partakers of its damning evils, the fruits of which can never be overcome throughout time and all eternity. [103] 21 "THE ROOT OF ALL EVIL." "IF ANY MAN shall take of the abundance which I have made, and impart not his portion, according to the law of My gospel, unto the poor and the needy, he shall, with the wicked, lift up his eyes in hell, being in torment."(172) At intervals throughout the existence of mankind, he has sought to devise and introduce a workable social order, through which there could be had a more equitable distribution of labor and its emoluments. Profane as well as sacred history records the rise, brief duration, and fall of some such order. The Bible tells us of such an order in Apostolic days, "And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and one soul; neither said any of them that aught of the things which he possessed was his own; but they all had things common."(173) The order spoken of here seems to have endured the onslaughts of man's selfishness for only a short time. The Book of Mormon gives brief account of a similar plan which endured among the Nephites, after Christ's personal visit to them, for nearly two hundred years. It says, "And they had all things common among them, therefore they were not rich and poor, bond and free, but they were all made free and partakers of the heavenly gift . . . . And there was no envyings, no strifes, no tumults nor whoredoms, nor lyings, nor murder, nor any manner of lasciviousness; and surely there could not be a happier people among all the people who had been created by the hand of God"(174) The Pearl of Great Price, Book of Moses(175) gives an account of the people under righteous Enoch having lived this, or a very similar order. None of these sacred records, however, give any detailed account of rules or system governing the practice in these orders. We do [104] not learn whether they were different, or one and the same thing. It remained for Joseph Smith, the LatterDay Prophet, to proclaim, by way of revelation and commandment from God, rules of action or procedure governing a social order which he said was the same as that referred to in the above named Scripture. This is known among us, and in the Doctrine and Covenants as the United Order and Law of Consecration. The writer of this REVIEW does not have space, and the reader would not have patience, for a consideration of the relationship of these two named parts of the whole order. It is sufficient to say that the one, the United Order, so blends with the Law of Consecration, that a perfect law of eternal consequence and duration was proclaimed to exist. Strict obedience to the whole law insured the faithful not only temporal blessings, but also a celestial glory in the world to come. The Lord there says to Joseph Smith, "The abundance of the earth was ordained for the use of man, But, it is not given that one man should possess that which is above another, Wherefore, the world lieth in sin."(176) This sin God sought, through Joseph Smith, to overcome in the establishment of the United Order and Law of Consecration. While we may find recorded throughout the pages of the Doctrine and Covenants sufficient material, when properly assembled, to proclaim a workable system, no one revelation contains sufficient regarding the law to provide a reasonable understanding of its operation. For this reason we will make reference only to the law itself in a general way, or to its salient features. The title of Section 78 of the Doctrine and Covenants is, "The order given of the Lord to Joseph Smith, Jr. for the purpose of establishing the poor." This says it is "For a permanent and everlasting establishment and order unto my church."(177) It is "to be an united order, and an everlasting order for the benefit of my church and for the salvation of men until I come."(178) [105] These revelations inform the LatterDay Saints that this was no temporary order to be set aside any time or any place at the will and good pleasure of members or leaders. That it was to be in full force and effect until Christ comes. The Lord has not come yet, however, the Mormons did not wait for that great event to set aside His law in this or any other matter that interferred with their worldly ambitions. This law has long since been nullified by our disobedience and lack of effort to live it. Some leaders and laymen seek to conceal their own knowledge of wilful disobedience on the part of the entire Mormon Church by saying this law and order applied only to the Zion of Jackson County, Missouri. Such a claim is but a wicked or silly subterfuge for avoiding the contempt of honest men. In a revelation given to Joseph Smith in 1832 he was told of the Lord, "This order I have appointed to be an everlasting order unto you and unto your successors, inasmuch as you sin not."(179) Mark in the following the consequences of turning away from it. "Hark and hear, 0 ye, My people, saith the Lord your God, ye, whom I delight to bless with the greatest blessings, ye, that hear me, and ye that hear me not I will curse, that have professed my name, with the heaviest of cursings!"(180) "I have decreed a decree which my people shall realize, inasmuch as they hearken from this very hour (they had just been informed of the mobbings endured, and of their drivings, as a result of their transgressions of this and other commandments) unto the counsels which I, the Lord their God, shall give unto them. Behold they shall, for I have decreed it, begin to prevail against mine enemies from this very hour. And by hearkening to observe all the words which I the Lord their God shall speak unto them, they shall never cease to prevail. . . . But inasmuch as they keep not my commandments, and hearken not to observe all my words, the kingdoms of the world shall prevail against them."(181) Judge you, kind reader, whether or not the Latter Day Saints have prevailed over the kingdoms of this world from that very hour! [106] Just a handful of the lawless element of one "kingdom of this world" drove them from their homes and nearly all their possessions in the land where that revelation was given. If the kingdoms of this world had prevailed over this church to no greater extent than to drive, mob, burn, and murder them until they migrated to the fastnesses of the Rocky Mountains, we all might now be inclined to believe God had a hand in it, instead of its being done by lawless mobs as a result of our disobedience to God's commandments. The kingdom of this world has prevailed over this Mormon people to a far greater extent than the plundering, burning, and murdering of its members. It has prevailed to that extent that this one kingdom has compelled them to abandon every law and ordinance that was objectionable to it. No, the writer is in error in saying the United States Government thus prevailed by compulsion. It prevailed, because the leaders of this people and the people themselves did not believe God when He repeatedly promised to protect them and fight their battles if they would but obey Him. It prevailed because this people were ashamed of the Law of God and loved and feared the world more than they loved and feared their God. It continues to prevail to the extent that whatever the United States Government does or says, the Mormon people do and say, and that with more zeal than any other of its citizens, or officials. [107] 22 CUT OFF  "A LAND OF ZION UNTO WHOM?" "FOR IT must needs be that they (this people) be organized according to My Laws  if otherwise they will be cut off."(182) The Lord is here again speaking of the Law of Consecration and the United Order considered briefly in our former section. There is not a LatterDay Saint, layman or leader, that dare arise to say this people is organized according to that law. And, yet, in the face of all these evidences that have been quoted and will be hereafter quoted in this REVIEW to the contrary they all, without ceasing, continue to "commend themselves by measuring themselves by themselves and comparing themselves among themselves find themselves favored of themselves, and forget what the Lord said of themselves." However, it is the purpose of this REVIEW to further remind them of what the Lord said of them. With no great exception, since the days of the Prophet Joseph Smith, have we any evidence that the file leaders of this Church made any Herculean effort to observe the Law of Consecration and United Order themselves. They sought to induce the church members to live it, however, with no marked success. Although the people several times undertook to live at least a part of the law, worldly selfishness and the want of authoritative, living example worked failure. This law of Consecration and United Order, given of the Lord, if righteously lived, would have not only created temporal equality among its observers, but it would have provided ample funds for carrying on the "building up of the Church" and promulgation of the gospel. Disobedience on the part of leaders and members brought about failure, and want of all the desirable things obedience would have attained. If the Church was to carry on, some means for pro [108] viding the very necessary funds must be devised. So, our leaders selected a very small portion of God's law as revealed to Joseph Smith, which they hoped to induce the refractory people to observe. To give this fragmentary law a coloring of divine approval they presumed to call it "The Law of Tithing" and proceeded to promise the people all the blessings promised ancient Israel that were predicated upon their obedience to that portion of the Law of Carnal Commandments given of Moses. And, a good many more too. The law referred to is found in Section 119 of the Doctrine and Covenants. This commandment was given of the Lord in answer to Joseph Smith's prayer, "O Lord, show unto Thy servants how much thou requirest of the properties of the people for a tithing?" Very definite question! Please note carefully the Lord's answer, just as pointed and definite. "Verily, thus saith the Lord, I require all their surplus property to be put into the hands of the bishop of my church of Zion." This is a concise summary of the "Law of Consecration" above referred to. The revelation continues, "And this shall be the beginning of the tithing of my People." We have now forgotten all about "the beginning" of our tithing! "And after that, those who have thus been tithed shall pay one tenth of all their interest annually; and this shall be a standing law unto them forever, for my Holy Priesthood, saith the Lord." "Verily I say unto you, it shall come to pass, that all those who gather unto the land of Zion shall be tithed of their surplus properties, and shall observe this law, or they shall not be found worthy to abide among you." The writer and compiler of this REVIEW challenges any LatterDay Saint, member or leader, to produce a living convert to this faith that has been tithed of his surplus properties during the last fifty years, or a living man or woman born of Mormon parentage that has thus been tithed. Those who are unable to locate such a person may read what the Lord further says about it, as follows: [109] "And I say unto you, if my people observe not this law, to keep it holy, and by this law sanctify the land of Zion unto me, that my statutes and my judgments may be kept thereon, that it may be most holy, behold, verily I say unto you, it shall not be a land of Zion unto you." Not a soul dare arise to say the Mormon people have observed to keep that law holy. If not, answer me, Is this land sanctified unto God? If not, can His statutes and judgments be kept thereon? Is it holy to Him? In the disobedience of this divine law God announces that His statutes and judgments are not kept holy before Him. "The Lord is with you, while ye be with Him: and if ye seek Him He will be found of you; but if ye forsake Him, He will forsake you."(183) [110] 23 FAST OFFERING, MAN'S OR THE LORD'S PLAN? IN AN address delivered by our President Heber J. Grant, in the Salt Lake Tabernacle, June 19, 1932, he said, among other things, "But when it comes to tithing, that is a law of God, it is not given by persuasion, and I announced here last Sunday that we would have an abundance with which to take care of all who are in distress if every member of the Church paid into the charity fund, the equivalent of two meals per month . . . . One reason I have always labored faithfully to get people to pay their tithing is that I have had the joy of paying tithing all my life, from the time I was a child, and earned the first money I ever received, I have been honest with the Lord. . . . "No true LatterDay Saint who loves the Lord with all his heart, might, mind, and strength, will ever fail to honestly pay his tithing; to honestly contribute every month the equivalent of two meals." Elder Melvin J. Ballard is quoted as having quoted from the Doctrine and Covenants, "And it is my purpose to provide for My Saints, For all things are mine, But it must needs be done in mine own way: And behold this is the way that I, the Lord, have decreed to provide for my Saints: that the poor shall be exalted and the rich made low. . . . Therefore if any man shall take of the abundance which I have made and impart not his portion, according to the law of the gospel, unto the poor and the needy, he shall, with the wicked, lift up his eyes in hell, being in torment."(184) "But," says Elder Ballard, "the Lord's plan of distribution has not been accepted by the world. He did, however, give the plan to the LatterDay Saints, by which there could be an equitable provision for the wants of the needy. In this Church He established, as one means of making us feel a common bond of sympathy with each other, The Fast Day, and on the first Sunday of each [111] month, LatterDay Saints are expected to abstain from two meals, eating but once on that day, Sunday. "And then having brought ourselves into subjection, we take what we have saved, the price of two meals, and give it in the Lord's way. "President Grant appealed to us last Sunday from this pulpit, saying that the time had come when the members of the Church should rally to the Lord's plan of providing for the sustenance of the poor by observing righteously this Fast Day observance. We need not go elsewhere. We need not devise other plans or means than that which the Lord has provided. It is ample and adequate today, if LatterDay Saints would use it. . . . And then comes that other glorious plan of the Lord in the equalization of wealth by the law of Tithing. Before this was given the Lord gave us some knowledge concerning the perfect order that was established in the days of Enoch, wherein there were no rich and no poor, and the people were perfect. . . . But the Lord knew it would take a lot of training, and He had no sooner given us this plan, than He gave us another, which He called 'a schoolmaster' to train and prepare us to enter this higher order. And this 'schoolmaster' is called the law of Tithing. . . . "Now, brethren and sisters, let us not be led away by some other scheme than the Lord's plan, for there are those who would run ahead of the Church. Yes, the Lord's plan will come in due time, but we will not enter into the United Order until the Saints have been under the 'schoolmaster' long enough to be trained. . . . When the right time comes the inspiration will rest upon the prophet of the Lord, He will tell the people when the right time comes to enter into this thing that will ultimately make for universal brotherhood and the solution of our problems." (See Deseret News of June 25, 1932.) We have quoted from these two discourses of recent utterance for the reason that they express the views and position of the General Authorities of the Church. Elder Ballard delivered an excellent discourse, and in our REVIEW we find it well worth careful reading and study. We have italicized parts of both discourses to emphasize points we wish to review carefully. [112] We will consider the "LatterDay Saint's Fast Day plan" for providing for the poor, referred to repeatedly by the speakers quoted, as "The Lord's Plan." In a review of the word of the Lord, Church History, Historical Record, and Journal Histories of the Church, we learn that the Saints would not observe the Lord's law of Consecration and United Order, a Law whereby a unity in all things might be obtained. The observance of a special day of fasting and prayer was a practice by the Church almost from the incipiency of the LatterDay work. As early as 1832 the Lord commanded the Saints to build a "house of prayer and fasting." Church history tells us the first Thursday of each month was devoted to fasting and prayer. The Saints abstained from manual labors and great congregations gathered in the Kirtland Temple, a room of which was dedicated to that sacred purpose. There great blessings and abundant manifestations of the Spirit were poured out upon the worshipers. These services of fasting and prayer were not accompanied by the contribution of funds for the poor. The Lord had provided amply for that in His law of Consecration and United Order. Special days of fasting and prayer were also observed, as that held on January 17, 1843, for the deliverance of the Prophet Joseph Smith and his brethren from mob rule. Again July 14, 1850 a special day of fasting and prayer was observed, that the Lord might stay the ravages of cholera among the Saints. However, there was no general practice of contributing at these fast meetings for the sustenance of the poor. We have account of but very few instances in which, on special occasions, due to failure on the part of the people to observe the Lord's Law for providing for the poor, an offering was requested and contributed for this purpose. One of these was on Thursday, May 15, 1845, another on Friday, April 27, 1849 by special proclamation. When the church members and leaders had thoroughly departed from the observance of the Lord's law for caring for the poor, Brigham Young and associates devised the plan of requiring the Saints to make fast offerings in [113] 1855. From that day until the present this has been the practice of the Church. Elder Ballard says and also quotes President Grant as saying, "This is the Lord's plan." We have no evidence that the Lord had anything to do with it. It is another instance where the Church has turned away from "the Lord's Plan" and devised one of its own. Elder Ballard warns the church members against turning away from this plan to the acceptance of manmade systems, by saying, "We need not go elsewhere. We need not devise other plans or means than that which the Lord has provided. It is ample and adequate today, if LatterDay Saints would use it." Inasmuch as the plan of fast offering now observed by the Church is a plan devised by mortal man and not by God, is it not reasonable to believe that man may devise a better plan? He is ever improving on old systems. The merits of any such plan must be measured by the wisdom and experience of the man who devises it, yet, all such plans are fallible. Elder Ballard is quoted as having said further, that when the right time comes the inspiration will rest on the prophet of the Lord, and He will tell the people when the right time comes to enter into this thing that will ultimately make for universal brotherhood and the solution of our problems." Does it not occur to one that the prophet of the Lord has already received not only "inspiration," but revelation, telling the people "the right time" came many years ago, but the Church seemed to think and act differently. Should any man, prophet or otherwise, presume to tell the Lord He made a mistake in 1832, that another proclamation must be issued by this prophet before the "right time" can come? The right time, the time of the Lord, has been here since that memorable year of abundant revelation. The Lord will surely set His "house in order" very soon, and when that time comes, as come it will, those who have been thinking and living as though the time for observing the "Lord's plan" was yet in the distant future will "be cut asunder, and allotted their portion among unbelievers where there is weeping, wailing, and gnashing of teeth." [114] Any system for providing for the poor, be it manmade or the Lord's plan, demands community life; when any man, or group of men, stands in the way and prevents the people from observing the "Lord's plan" he is assuming a grave responsibility, for which the Lord will surely bring him or them to account. Elder Ballard said also, "And then comes that other glorious plan of the Lord in the equalization of wealth by the law of tithing. Before this was given the Lord gave us some knowledge concerning that perfect order that was established in the day of Enoch, wherein 'there were no rich and no poor and the people were perfect. . . . ' But the Lord knew it would take a lot of training, and He had no sooner given this command than (He found He'd made a mistake) He gave us another, which He called 'a schoolmaster' to train and to prepare us to enter this higher order. This 'schoolmaster' is called the 'Law of Tithing.'" Elder Ballard possibly has access to written word of the Lord that we know nothing of, hence the reason for his remark. Nowhere do we find in modern scripture that the Lord in speaking of the "Law of Tithing" as given to the Latterday Saints ever called it "a schoolmaster," nor did He so speak of any law revealed to Joseph Smith in the dispensation of the fullness of time. The law of carnal commandments as given to ancient Israel was spoken of by Paul as "a schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ," However, Elder Ballard, and all other students of the revelations given to Joseph Smith, is well aware of the fact that the "Law of Tithing" associated with the "carnal commandments" as lived by ancient Israel, is only a very small part of the "Law of Tithing" as delivered through Joseph Smith in this, the dispensation of the fullness of time; and that this law comprehended the law of consecration without which there can be no "equalization of wealth," "no poor and no rich." President Grant said he had "been honest with the Lord" in the payment of his tithes. We venture to say that neither President Grant nor any other member of the Church living today has been "honest with the Lord" [115] according to the revelation contained in Section 119 of the Doctrine and Covenants, for that required the consecration of all their surplus properties. "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts."(185) [116] 24 GOD'S HOUSE SHALL BE SET IN ORDER! IN SOME respects, one of the most remarkable predictions ever uttered by man, prophet, or pretending prophet, of which we have written record, was made by Joseph Smith November 27, 1832, and now constitutes a portion of Section 85 of the Doctrine and Covenants. Inasmuch as it was prophesied of this Mormon people and their leaders, and relates almost wholly to events yet in the future (this last assertion is disputed by some), the Revelation will be quoted almost entirely as a review is made of the words and acts of God and man relative to this prophecy and its fulfillment. Much controversy has taken place among the Mormon people, participated in by leaders and laymen alike, over this prophecy, the occasion of its utterance and its fulfillment. The Revelation has been omitted from a recent compilation of "modern revelations" bearing title of LatterDay Revelation. In advertising this book, those who were responsible for its publication and distribution say in part, "Selections comprising Scriptures of general and enduring value." So, this prophecy has been left out for the simple reason that our Church authorities deemed it to be of no "enduring value." This opinion has been expressed by many of our Presiding Authorities for nearly thirty years, although they are not all agreed in that pronouncement. The prophecy was discussed at some length by file leaders of the Church in an article written in the Deseret News of November 11, 1905. First to the Prophecy itself: In Church History, Volume 1, pages 297299 is given an account of the incident connected with and leading up to this prediction. In this history Joseph Smith is represented as asking himself and Elder W. W. Phelps by letter the following question: [117] "What shall become of all those essaying to come up to Zion, in order to keep the commandments of God, and yet receive not their inheritance by consecration?" The Prophet Joseph Smith then said, "I will proceed to unfold to you some of the feelings of my heart, and to answer the question." Then follow the answer and prophecy, both of which were accepted by the Church as the word of God on the subject treated, and it became Section 85 of our Doctrine and Covenants as now printed. "It is the duty of the Lord's clerk, whom He has appointed, to keep a history, and a general church record, of all things that transpire in Zion, and of all those who consecrate properties, and receive inheritance legally from the Bishop; And also their manner of life, their faith and works; and also of the apostates who apostatize after receiving their inheritance. "It is contrary to the will and commandment of God, that those who receive not their inheritance by consecration, agreeable to this law which He has given, that He may tithe His people, to prepare them against the day of vengeance and burning, should have their names enrolled with the people of God; Neither is their genealogy to be kept, or to be had where it may be found on any of the records or history of the Church: Their names shall not be found, neither the names of their fathers, nor the names of the children written in the book of the Law of God, saith the Lord of Hosts." (The enforcement of the Lord's will as expressed here would go rather hard with presentday Mormons, for not a soul among them has received his "inheritance by consecration." Yet, the prophecy revealing God's plan of enforcement strikes deep at the roots of Mormonism, and if ever fulfilled would revolutionize the whole Mormon system of church government, as well as eligibility of membership.) The effect of the operation of the Spirit upon Joseph Smith's mind and body is graphically described by him in the following words: "Yea, thus saith the still small voice, which whispereth through and pierceth all things; and oftentimes [118] it maketh my bones to quake while it maketh manifest, saying: "And it shall come to pass that I, the Lord God, will send one mighty and strong, holding the sceptre of power in his hand, clothed with light for a covering, whose mouth shall utter words, eternal words; while his bowels shall be a fountain of truth, to set in order the house of God, and to arrange by lot the inheritance of the Saints, whose names are found, and the names of their fathers, and of the children, enrolled in the book of the law of God. "While that man, who was called of God and appointed, that putteth forth his hand to steady the Ark of God, shall fall by the shaft of death, like as a tree that is smitten by the vivid shaft of lightning. "And all they who are not found written in the book of remembrance shall find none inheritance in that day, and shall be cut asunder, and their portion shall be allotted them among unbelievers, where are wailing and gnashing of teeth. "These things I say not of myself; therefore, as the Lord speaketh, He will also fulfill. "And they who are of the High Priesthood, whose names are not found written in the book of the law, or that are found to have apostatized, or to have been cut off from the church; as well as the lesser priesthood, or the members, in that day, shall not find an inheritance among the Saints of the Most High. Therefore it shall be done unto them as unto the children of the priests, as will be found recorded in the second chapter and sixtyfirst and second verses of Ezra." The more complete the departure of any people from the commandments of God, the greater their love for pomp, prestige, and ostentation; hence their desire to escape the odious charges of apostasy and betrayal of trust imposed by those commandments, and the confidence of their following. Such feelings would naturally move some of our church leaders and members to argue that this most important prophecy, just quoted, has already been fulfilled, or the occasion of its fulfillment has past. In the article above referred to, published in the [119] Deseret News of November 11, 1905, the authors assert that the man "who was called of God, and appointed that putteth forth his hand to steady the Ark of God," and shall "fall by the shaft of death" was Bishop Edward Partridge, then in charge of administration of the law of consecration for the Church. To make their declaration, if possible, more emphatic, they ask the following question, and make the appended answer. "But was Edward Partridge the one in 1832 who was putting forth his hand to steady the Ark of God, and threatened with falling by the shaft of death like a tree is smitten by the vivid shaft of lightning?" Then they answer, "Undoubtedly." In their effort to meet the objections made by those who believe the prophecy is yet to be fulfilled, and who believe that "God cannot lie," these brethren say that because of Edward Partridge's transgression this threatened punishment was uttered; but that he later repented, "And inasmuch as through his repentance and sacrifices and suffering Bishop Edward Partridge undoubtedly obtained a mitigation of the threatened judgments against his 'falling by the shaft of death, like a tree that is smitten with the vivid shaft of lightning,' so the occasion for sending another to fill his station, 'one mighty and strong to set in order the house of God, and arrange by lot the inheritance of the Saints,' may also be considered as having passed away and the whole incident of the prophecy closed." We are moved to ask, "Was the transgression of Bishop Edward Partridge the occasion for God's promise to send 'one mighty and strong to set in order the house of God, and arrange by lot the inheritance of the saints?' " Our REVIEW will attempt to answer this question from the Church History and the Doctrine and Covenants. We read in the Doctrine and Covenants, Section 64:17, a revelation given to Joseph Smith September 11, 1831, of the transgression of Bishop Edward Partridge these words: "And also my servant Edward Partridge, behold he hath sinned, and Satan seeketh to destroy his [120] soul; but when these things are made known unto them and they repent of the evil, they shall be forgiven." We are informed in this Section that Edward Partridge was not the only high official of the Church who had sinned. Several are there named, among them Joseph Smith himself, who, in verse seven is promised forgiveness on condition of repentance, just as Edward Partridge and others were. We learn from Church History, Volume 1, page 267, that when Joseph and others accompanying him, arrived in Zion, Jackson County, Missouri, "The right hand of fellowship was given me (J. S.) by the Bishop, Edward Partridge, in behalf of the Church. The scene was solemn, impressive, and delightful. . . . During the intermission a difficulty, or hardness which had existed between Bishop Partridge and Elder Rigdon, was amicably settled, and when we came together in the afternoon all hearts seemed to rejoice." In the minutes of this meeting, which was held April 26, 1832, found recorded in the Far West Record it is said, "All differences settled and the hearts of all were united together in love" (p. 25). In a revelation given to Joseph Smith on the same date, recorded in Section 82 of the Doctrine and Covenants, it is made certain that Edward Partridge, with others, was then forgiven, not only by his brethren, but by the Lord also, conditionally however. It reads, "Verily,verily, I say unto you my servants, that inasmuch as you have forgiven one another your trespasses, even so, I, the Lord forgive you. . . . And now, verily I say unto you, I, the Lord will not lay sin to your charge; Go your ways and sin no more; but unto that soul that sinneth shall the former sins return, saith the Lord your God." By this we learn that divine forgiveness was extended to those who had sinned, "inasmuch as you have forgiven one another," no further, and that the former sins should return to that soul who sinned again. This, of course, included Edward Partridge with others named. Now if we can find that this Bishop sinned again (in the matter [121] of "unbelief and darkness" of which he was accused), there might be possible occasion for his transgression having been the "occasion" of Joseph Smith's prophecy and warning, at least in part, as it was uttered November 27, following the time of this forgiveness. In Section 84:76, of the Doctrine and Covenants, a revelation given on the twentysecond and twentythird of September, 1832, we read, "They are to be upbraided for their evil hearts of unbelief; and your brethren in Zion for their rebellion against you at the time I sent you. On January 24, 1833, two letters were written to the "Brethren in Zion." One of these was written by Joseph Smith and addressed to William W. Phelps. The other was written by Orson Hyde and Hyrum Smith, acting as a committee appointed to this task by a Conference of High Priests assembled in Kirtland, Ohio. This letter was addressed to "The Bishop, his Council, and the inhabitants of Zion" (in Jackson County, Missouri). Both of these letters will be found in the Church History, Volume 1, pages 316 to 321. They deal exclusively with the insubordination and transgression of certain "Brethren in Zion," and both letters name William W. Phelps and "Brother Gilbert" as men who had transgressed. The letter written by Orson Hyde and Hyrum Smith, as a special committee, says: "At the time Joseph, Sidney, and Newel left Zion, all matters of hardness and misunderstanding were settled and buried (as they supposed), and you gave them the hand of fellowship; but afterwards you brought up all these things again, in a censorious spirit, accusing Brother Joseph in rather an indirect way of seeking after monarchial power and authority." From these letters and the revelation above quoted, we learn that some of the "Brethren in Zion" deceived Joseph Smith and his fellow visitors when the "hand of fellowship" was extended to them. They learned of this deception "in Brother Carrill's letter of June 2, 1832, a little over one month after they had departed from Zion. While both letters referred to named William W. [122] Phelps and "Brother Gilbert" as transgressors, neither of them mention the name of Bishop Edward Partridge as having been in any way connected with it. One letter, as stated, is addressed to him as "The Bishop and Council," and in the body of this letter the "Bishop" is instructed to "read this to the Elders, that they may warn the members of the scourge that is coming except they repent." We find no word in Church History or private letters, intimating that Bishop Partridge was in further transgression or participated in the deception practiced upon the brethren. And, in view of the fact that Joseph Smith said, on July 23, 1833, that Bishop Edward Partridge was "a man without guile," we are made to know that Joseph Smith did not consider this man's former transgression the "occasion" for this prophecy delivered by him November 27, of the year before. If Joseph Smith knew this man to be "without guile," incapable of deceit, cunning, or duplicity, it is quite impossible that God or Joseph Smith would threaten him with death "like a tree is smitten with the vivid shaft of lightning." No, we must turn elsewhere if we are to find the "occasion" for this most remarkable prophecy made by Joseph Smith. As further proof of this fact we are impelled to ask some more questions: Did Edward Partridge, after repenting, prove to be one "mighty and strong," "clothed with light for a covering"? Hardly! Did Edward Partridge, either before or after his repentance, set "the house of God in order" and "arrange by lot the inheritance of the Saints"? Hardly! Was there a "book of the law of God" before or in Edward Partridge's day, in which they might find the names of the saints and the names of their fathers and their children, in order that he might "arrange by lot their inheritances"? Certainly not! Were "all they who were not found in the book of remembrance" deprived of an inheritance in Edward Partridge's day"? No! Were any of them "cut asunder" and their portion allotted them among unbelievers? No! Were they of the High Priesthood, as well as the [123] Lesser Priesthood and the members, whose names were not found written in the book of the law of God, deprived of an inheritance among the saints in Edward Partridge's, or any body else's day? He who will tell the truth must say "no" to all these questions. Has one thing for which Joseph Smith said God would send "one mighty and strong" been accomplished since the day Joseph Smith made that prediction? No man dare arise to say it has. Then, if God ever intends to "set His house in order," it must yet be accomplished, for He has not done so to date. And, if there ever was a time in the history of Mormonism that their house was farther from the order God said should be in His house than it is today, we have no account of it either from the memory of man or written history. There is not one member of this Church living today who has received his inheritance by consecration. And there is not one member of this Church from its President down to the last admitted, that makes the least effort to live the law Bishop Edward Partridge was charged with administering. The prophecy most assuredly points to a day then future, and yet future, and to men and events that should live and transpire "in that day." The Lord offered no apology. He did not say, "if" or "unless," but He did say "I will send one mighty and strong." Today all these of the High Priesthood, and of the Lesser Priesthood and the members, who never had their names written in the "book of the law of God," never consecrated their properties, and never received inheritances by consecration, are numbered among the faithful, and are not troubled by wailings and gnashing of teeth. To those who believe God spoke by the mouth of Joseph Smith, there is a looking forward to the fulfillment of that prediction, and they all believe God will set His house in order. If it is to have its fulfillment in the Mormon Church, reason would lead men to believe that it must be in the very near future, for there is but one man left among all the leaders of the Mormon Church today who even lays claim to having "been called of God and chosen" by revelation, who could put forth his hand "to [124] steady the Ark of God," even if he felt so inclined, and that man is President Heber J. Grant, called to the Apostleship by revelation from God given to President John Taylor in 1882. If this brother is the man referred to in the prophecy, its fulfillment must come very soon, if we are to judge such matters by the allotted age of man. They who ridicule our claims to divine revelation, and to having prophets, seers, and revelators say, "Now if, as your church authorities say, Bishop Edward Partridge undoubtedly obtained a mitigation of the threatened judgments against his 'falling by the shaft of death, like a tree is smitten with the vivid shaft of lightning,' through his repentance and forgiveness, so the occasion for sending another to fill his place, one mighty and strong to set in order the house of God, and arrange by lot the inheritance of the saints, may also be considered as having passed away and the whole incident of the prophecy closed." If this can be correct, while God's purposes to 'set His house in Order and arrange by lot the inheritance of the saints,' as your prophet says, still remains unfulfilled, God must have changed His mind as to the necessity for those things. Or, perhaps the 'one mighty and strong' whom He spoke of sending might have proved unworthy, and thus have been a contributing cause, so your Lord concluded to forget the whole matter, and, like your church authorities, 'consider the whole incident of the prophecy closed.' " Sacrilege! And yet, there is about as much reason in that scoffing statement as there is in some arguments men advance to prove their false position a true position in this Church. God spoke by Joseph Smith, or there is no truth in Mormonism and it is the most damnable hoax ever perpetrated on man. On the other hand, if God did speak through Joseph Smith, Mormonism, if taught and lived as he founded it, through the revelations of God, is the greatest revelation God ever gave to mortal, except that of His Only Begotten. God speaks no idle words. [125] 25 THE FAITHFUL MORMON'S EMBLEM. "HER priests have violated my law, and have profaned mine holy things: they have put no difference between the holy and the profane, neither have they showed difference between unclean and clean."(186) For the enlightenment of those who are not acquainted with the facts concerning the "Mormon garments" we will first explain, briefly as possible, its makeup, use, and purpose. This garment is not the mysterious emblem or sign of secret, profane, and unrighteous covenant some honest, yet misinformed souls have believed it to be. There is no mystery or thing for concealment about it, other than its considered sacredness. All LatterDay Saints who are of clean lives and faithful in their observance of the commandments of the Lord (and, I am ashamed to say, many who are not), except those who observe too many of those commandments, are taught and permitted to enter our sacred temples for the purposes of having their marriage solemnized and sealed, and to make holy and sacred covenant before God and men that they will keep themselves clean, virtuous, chaste, honest, true, and just before all men, and obedient to God's commandments. This solemn and voluntary covenant is made and entered into by all who receive the Temple marriage rights, and by many who do not then enter the temples for marriage purposes, but are set apart to gospel service. All who enter into those solemn covenants are provided with a cloth covering for the body, called a "garment." This fabric is to be worn next to the body; it is marked with four certain, specific, and should be, exact markings, each mark being an outward emblem of the holy and sacred covenants, above named, which the recipient has entered into. [126] These garments were, at the first, ordered to be as distinctive and exact in their pattern as in their markings. All who, with understanding, honestly, solemnly, and worthily enter into those covenants and accept the garment emblem of those covenants, with righteous purpose to observe them, consider the garment a holy and very sacred emblem; and they do their utmost to preserve it clean, unmutilated, and uncontaminated by contact with unclean things, and from the touch and sight of scoffers of things sacred. That is the "Mormon garment" in a nut shell. And the writer of this REVIEW, with untold numbers of others, considers it most holy and sacred. Much and many changes in pattern, and a little in markings of the LatterDay Saint garment, have been made and approved by the majority of our file leaders and very many of the members of the Church, from time to time. The pattern and the location of its markings as now worn by many Mormons, laymen, and some leaders, yet not approved in its extreme by our presiding authorities, is as unlike that of the garment introduced by Joseph Smith as are the modern, fashionable girl's "stepins" unlike her greatgrandmother's "pantalettes." Many of our modern Mormon women, unable to locate the knee emblem anywhere near the knee if made in an undergarment of fashion, make it in and near the top of their fine, fleshcolored hose. Then, in a filmy fabric suspended from the shoulders by a like ribbon, they cut the two upper markings. I am not going to tell just where they place the other body markings. I don't believe they know or care themselves. This and other departures from the sacred pattern and markings of that original emblem, considered so holy and precious by tens of thousands of faithful church members, is considered by them as a disgusting sacrilege and blasphemous practice. The first pronounced departure from original pattern of garment, within memory of the writer, came about in this way: many men and women, reverent and faithful church members, who were daily employed in shops, factories, mines, and smelters where it was quite im [127] possible to keep the long sleeves and legs, and sometimes collars, of the original pattern whole, clean, and protected from the eye and touch of scoffers, made request of our church leaders that they be permitted to wear a short sleeved, short legged, and collarless garment. The request was granted, and the change believed by them to be justified, inasmuch as the markings and their location could be as well preserved on the changed garment as on the original pattern, and these were considered to be the vital, or most vital features. It was not long after this change was approved and adopted by those for whom it was granted, until the great majority of church members used that garment. This privilege was early considered a right regardless of justifiable need. Soon many and almost any kind of changes to meet the requirements of fashion and conceit were made, until we have today many examples of a sacred emblem being sacrificed to the god of fashion. The following are submitted as evidences of the origin and sacredness of the LatterDay Saint garment pattern and markings, and should be of worth to those who profess a faith in the doctrines of their Church. "Not one of those commandments of God, these gifts that have been bestowed, these keys of knowledge and of principle that have been restored and revealed unto us through the gospel of Jesus Christ and its ordinances, should be violated in the least by the LatterDay Saints. They should be held in sacred reverence. We should hold them as we hold dear to the heart the most sacred things to our souls, because they are God's commandments, and keys, His requirements made of us, and they are the pointing of the way, by the manifestations of the Spirit of the Lord unto us, in which we should walk, in order that we may become entitled to the greatest amount of happiness in this world, and in the world to come a fullness of joy. And by neglecting, slighting, and putting them aside, by turning away from the course which the Lord has marked out for us to pursue, we weaken ourselves, shear ourselves of our own strength, and deprive ourselves of the light needed to make us more efficient in the discharge of our duties as the children of God. We [128] entered into covenant with the Lord that we will keep ourselves pure and unspotted from the world. We have agreed before God, angels, and witnesses in sacred places, that we will not commit adultery, will not lie, that we will not steal or bear false witness against our neighbor, or take advantage of the weak, that we will help and sustain our fellow men in the right, and take such a course as will prove most effectual in helping the weak to overcome their weaknesses and bring themselves into subjection to the requirements of heaven. We cannot neglect, slight, or depart from the spirit, meaning, intent, and purpose of these covenants and agreements that we have entered into with our Father in Heaven without shearing ourselves of glory, strength, right, and title to His blessings, and to the gifts and manifestations of His Spirit. The Lord has given unto us garments of the holy priesthood, and you know what that means, and yet there are those of us who mutilate them, in order that we may follow the foolish, vain, and (permit me to say) indecent practices of the world. In order that such people may imitate the fashions they will not hesitate to mutilate that which should be held by them the most sacred of all things in the world, next to their own virtue, next to their own purity of life. They should hold these things that God has given unto them sacred, unchanged and unaltered from the very pattern in which God gave them. Let us have the moral courage to stand against the opinions of fashion and especially where fashion compels us to break a covenant and so commit a grievous sin."(187) This word of President Joseph F. Smith plainly indicates that not only the markings of the LatterDay Saint garment was given of God, but the pattern was also revealed of Him. As an additional evidence of that fact, note the following: "Midvale, Utah, June 20, 1932. On the twentyseventh of September, 1886, I was at an eighthour meeting at John W. Woolley's home in [129] Centerville. In that meeting the importance and sacredness of the Garments were explained by President John Taylor. Part of the time he stood in mid air with a halo of light around him. President Taylor told us the time would come when changes in the garment would be made, and it was necessary for the brethren to have the correct understanding of the pattern and meaning of the marks so as to be able to teach the Saints at that time. He told us that it was the pattern of the garment given to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden and it all had a sacred meaning. . . . Adam and Eve, he told us, were without clothing and the garment was given for the protection of the body. The sleeves reaching to the wrists and the legs to the ankles; not fitting tight. This pattern was given to the Prophet Joseph Smith by two heavenly beings. Signed: DANIEL R. BATEMAN." We have other very similar testimonies corroborating Daniel R. Bateman's as given above. One more will probably be sufficient, being that told by John W. Woolley, in the presence of the signatories whose names are attached and others. "In December, 1928, about twelve days before the death of John W. Woolley, of Centerville, Utah, we had a talk with him at his home. He told us of an incident that took place in Nauvoo (as we remember it), when he was a boy of thirteen years. "His mother was preparing to do some sewing. The cloth and scissors were lying on the table, when the Prophet Joseph Smith knocked at her door. When invited inside he observed the material on the table. He inquired, 'What are you making, Sister Woolley?' 'Some garments,' she replied. He said, 'Let me cut them out for you,' and with her permission he cut a complete garment. Then he said, 'Now, Sister Woolley, this is the pattern exactly as it was revealed to me. Remember always to make your garments exactly as I have cut them and instructed you.' Signed: MR. AND MRS. MORRIS Q. KUNZ. Boise, Idaho, May 25, 1932." [130] 26 YOUR INIQUITIES HAVE TURNED AWAY THESE THINGS AND YOUR SINS HAVE WITHHOLDEN GOOD THINGS FROM YOU."(188) AS ADDITIONAL evidence of God's departing from the Mormon people, our REVIEW Will cite another warning given this people of God, and make reference to its fulfillment, calling upon the reader's memory and experiences to verify it. It also is in connection with the Law of Consecration. "Nevertheless, in your temporal things you shall be equal, and this not grudgingly, otherwise the abundance of the manifestations of the Spirit shall be withheld."(189) It is a well authenticated fact that in the earlier days of this LatterDay Saint Church, its faithful adherents did enjoy wonderful and "abundant manifestations of the Spirit," such as speaking in tongues, the interpretation of tongues, prophecies, even restoring to life those pronounced dead, the restoration of sight to those early and long blind, many healings, and diversities of gifts. In fact, the writer has several times witnessed such manifestations, but as to the speaking in tongues and interpretations thereof, prophecies and their remarkable fulfillment, it was upwards of thirty years ago. Although I have been an almost constant attendant at most of our solemn church assemblies, those former frequent gifts have been of late conspicuously absent. I feel myself on quite safe grounds in saying that I do not believe there is today in the Mormon Church, one man or woman, boy or girl, in one thousand of its church membership who has witnessed the abundance of these manifestations during the last thirty years. Hundreds have witnessed remarkable healings, preservations, and the like, through faith in the recipient or administrator, but I cannot say that the Mormon Church is particularly distinguished from other believers in Christ and His abundant mercies to the faithful, in the receiving and enjoyment of the blessings of faith and clean living. It is the marked absence of the "abundant manifestations" of God's Spirit in the Mormon Church now that verifies God's justice in warning given, and our loss of divine right to possess, witnessing more fully that as a consequence of our disobedience God is forsaking us. [131] 27 APOSTASY FORETOLD. IN A pamphlet entitled Celestial Marriage on sale by the Shepherd Book Company of Salt Lake City, Brigham Young is quoted as having said, in public discourse delivered at the dedication of the St. George Temple, "Hear it, ye elders of Israel, and mark it down in your logbooks; the fullness of the Gospel is the United Order, and the Order of Plural Marriage; and without these two principles this gospel never can be full. And, I much fear that when I am gone this people will give up these two principles which we prize so highly; and if they do this church cannot advance as God wishes it to advance." Brigham Young's expressed fears were truly prophetic, for the Mormon Church has given up both these principles, in consequence of which he informed us we could not have the fullness of the gospel. Brigham Young was by no means alone in predicting the apostasy of this people from the "fullness of the gospel." The Book of Mormon, after which we are nicknamed, is far more emphatic in stating Christ's own words, predicting our departure therefrom. In all the marginal cited quotations pertaining to this one paragraph, those of this American nation who receive the gospel and are instrumental in bringing forth the Book of Mormon, and first declaring its divinity are called "Gentiles" in order to distinguish them from the "remnant of the house of Israel" found on this land, now called "Indians."(190) The following quoted words from Joseph Smith's prayer, adds justification, if such be required, of this Scripture application.(191) "O Lord, we have spoken before Thee concerning the revelations and commandments, which thou hast given us who are identified with the Gentiles." And in his reference to the call of the Twelve Apostles, he says: "They are the Twelve Apostles who are called to the [132] office of the Traveling High Council, who are to preside over the Church of the Saints among the Gentiles, when there is a presidency established; and they are to travel and preach among the Gentiles until the Lord shall command them to the Jew."(192) In III Nephi 20:28, Christ also designates us Gentiles and says, they shall receive a fullness of the gospel, and in 16:6, 7 He says, these Gentiles shall believe in God and be blessed with the Holy Ghost, and because of this the gospel in its fullness shall come unto them. Joseph Smith and all his informed followers claim to be the people spoken of in that Scripture as "Gentiles" who assisted in the bringing forth of the Book of Mormon and preaching its truths and testimony. And we alone, claim to have received the Holy Ghost and the fullness of the gospel in fulfillment of Christ's prediction. Reader, please consider with care what verse ten of the last chapter quoted above has to say, "If they reject the fullness of My gospel, I will bring the fullness of My gospel from among them." We have rejected the two most important principles without which Brigham Young said this gospel can not be full. "Just a moment," says the mentally lazy objector, "does not the marginal reference say, of the passage you have just quoted, 'it was fulfilled when the Saints left the states and came to Utah'?" It does, but who was the author of that comment? Mortal, the good man who arranged the Book of Mormon subject matter into chapter and verse, and the marginal references as we now have them in our later editions of the book. He did not profess to speak for our Lord, but performed, to the best of his ability, the great task he so ably discharged. But, that this able man erred in judgment is well evidenced now by facts of later occurrence. To know this we have but to ask ourselves a few questions, use our thinker, and answer in keeping with facts we must surely discover. We might ask first, Was the gospel ever received by that people of those states in its fullness? No. Was it [133] even taught them in its fullness? No. Was the Holy Ghost ever poured out upon that people? Decidedly, No! Although the Saints were driven from those states, has not the gospel been preached to that people far more extensively since the Saints were expelled than it was before? Certainly. Then the fullness of the gospel was never "taken from among them" if the want of preachers to declare it constituted a taking away, as the marginal references inferred. The old comment was so manifestly incorrect that it has been omitted from late editions. No, the Mormons are the only people who lay claim to having received the Holy Ghost and the fullness of the gospel, consequently we are the only people who could have rejected it and had it taken from among us. God's mercy in permitting us to receive the fullness of the gospel, our rejection of its fullness, and the pouring out of the Holy Ghost upon thousands and thousands of this people, testifying unto them of the divinity of that fullness before and after the Church's apostasy from it, is incontrovertible proof that this Church is fast going backward instead of "advancing as God wishes it to advance." Brigham Young is quoted in the Journal of Discourses, Volume 4, page 327 as saying, "When the spirit of persecution, and the spirit of hatred, of wrath and of malice cease in the world against this people, it will be the time that this people have apostatized and joined hands with the wicked, and not until then." The entire Mormon Church, particularly its leaders, exhibit much pleasure now in boasting of the popularity of the Mormon people! And they acclaim to all the world, from pulpit and press, the cessation of persecution as an evidence of their worthiness of the "praise of men" now being lavished upon this once hated and despised people. Paul says, "All that will live Godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution."(193) If Paul be true and persecution has ceased of the Mormon Church, they are not living "Godly in Christ Jesus." "If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. If ye were of the world, the world [134] would love its own; but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you."(194) No one will say Christ's words are not a true measure of the world's estimation of those whom He hath chosen. The Mormon Church is quite as well thought of today, where its apostasy is known, as is any other church. In fact, it is said of them, "The Mormon Church is like all other churches. They have discarded every principle of their religion as formerly taught by Joseph Smith, if that principle was seriously objected to by others, except their presumptuous claim to the receiving of revelations from God, and their late leaders do not pretend to that now." "They used to declare in keeping with revelations recorded in the Doctrine and Covenants(195) that theirs was the only church on earth recognized by Christ as His. But we do not hear much of that now. They teach tolerance, if not acquiescence, in matters that run directly counter to the teachings of other churches." The writer of this REVIEW asserts it as a fact, and challenges proof to the contrary, that the Mormons are as a church under the direction of its present President, Heber J. Grant, more bitterly hating and persecuting those who believe, teach, and practice all the principles and doctrines that were taught by Joseph Smith than any other people, church, or faction, religious or civil, on earth. We are well acquainted with many Latterday Saints whom we know to be honest and upright men and women, if measured by the best moral and business ethics of the day, who now are and will continue to be sustained as worthy members and leaders, until such time as they are discovered to be possessed of too much faith in the divinity of the Patriarchial Order of Marriage as revealed by Joseph Smith. We are also well acquainted with a goodly number of men and women of like commendable virtues, who once were considered to be in the best of church standing, but for this discovered excess of faith are now outcasts, considered unclean by their former fellow church members and leaders. [135] If the Mormon Church has "apostatized and joined hands with the wicked," the words of Christ and His apostles teach us that we should expect it to hate and persecute all those He had "chosen out of the world" and who are "living Godly in Christ Jesus." One who dares now to run counter to the proclaimed order of the Mormon Church, or be found "out of harmony with the brethren" by trying to live "the fullness of the gospel" as taught by Joseph Smith, if discovered in his refractory course, will be summarily dealt with, cut off from the Church and ignominiously ostracized from approved Mormon society, and that with far greater dispatch and abhorrence than an adulterer or whoremonger would be. We have the proof ready if our statement is challenged. [136] 28 " THEY HAVE PERVERTED MY LAW." "FOR MY people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that held no water."(196) The reason for this lies within the hearts of the people who hear the word, we are informed by our Lord's parable.(197) " A sower went out to sow his seed; and as he sowed, some fell by the wayside; and it was trodden down, and the fowls of the air devoured it. "And some fell upon a rock; and as soon as it was sprung up, it withered away, because it lacked moisture. "And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprang up with it, and choked it. "And other fell on good ground, and sprang up, and bare fruit an hundredfold. "And his disciples asked him, saying, What might this parable be? "And he said . . . Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. These by the wayside are those that hear; then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved. "They on the rock are they, which, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, which for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away. "And that which fell among thorns are they, which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection. "But that on the good ground are they, which, in an honest and good heart, having heard the work, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience." The reason for so few "bringing forth fruit with patience" is given again in the following quotations from the prophets: [137] "My people know not the judgment of the Lord. How do ye say? We are wise and the law of the Lord is with us! Lo, certainly in vain made he it; the pen of the scribe is in vain. The wise men are ashamed, they are dismayed and taken: lo, they have rejected the word of the Lord: and what wisdom is in them? Therefore will I give their wives unto others, and their fields to them that shall inherit them: for every one, from the least even unto the greatest, is given to covetousness; from the prophet even unto the priest, every one dealeth falsely. "For they have healed the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, peace, peace, when there is no peace. "Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? Nay, they were not ashamed, neither could they blush; therefore shall they fall among those that fall. In the time of their visitation they shall be cast down saith the Lord."(198) Another primary cause, "I, even I, am he that comforteth you: who art thou, that thou shouldst be afraid of a man that shall die, and the son of man which shall be made as grass; and forgettest the Lord thy maker, that hath stretched forth the heavens, and laid the foundations of the earth; and hast feared continually every day because of the fury of the oppressor, as if he were ready to destroy?"(199) And, "For they loved the praise of men, more than they loved the praise of God."(200) We have no inclination to claim that this Scripture above quoted, was spoken particularly of the Mormon people. However, we do fearlessly assert that they apply to all peoples who lay claim to having received the word of God, and have then, through the lusts of the flesh, shame to acknowledge and obey the revealed word, or because of their fear of men, been led to forsake the fountain of living waters. Dear reader, please mark carefully the claims of A LEAF IN REVIEW herein now set forth, namely, that in these four last quoted passages of Scripture, as itali [138] cized by the compiler, are made very clear, as we shall hereinafter prove, the three primary reasons for the apostasy of the Mormon Church from the doctrine of plural marriage, as taught in the revelations received by Joseph Smith, and shortly to become a subject of our REVIEW. Please consider well the triumvirate of influences above named, "love of the world," "shame," "and fear of men," all arrayed against the practice of a principle toward which the masses of the Teutonic races are, by custom and modern teaching, bitterly antagonistic. Under such conditions the practice of plural marriage, as a religious tenet, demanded something far more potent than a mere belief in the divinity of the doctrine, or the gratification of the lust of flesh, to enable men and women to withstand the onslaughts of that damning triumvirate. Then when worldly wisdom arrayed in cloak of priesthood assumed the right to speak for God by "resolution" and therein assert "The law of the Lord is with us" in justification of the annulment of the revelation commanding plural marriage; all those tried and harried souls, unable longer to withstand the withering attack of Satan's powerful allies, "love of the world," "shame of the law of God," and "fear of man" gladly took refuge behind the usurpers' promulgation of a counterfeit law of God. Note with care, kind reader, what the prophet Ezekiel says of this blasphemous presumption. "Thus saith the Lord God, woe, unto the foolish prophets, that follow their own spirit, and have seen nothing! 0 Israel, thy prophets are like the foxes in the deserts. Ye have not gone up into the gaps, neither made up the hedges for the house of Israel, to stand in the battle in the day of the Lord."(201) Reader, have we, as a church, guarded against the possibility of deception? Ezekiel continues, "They (the prophets) have seen vanity and lying divination, saying, The Lord saith; and the Lord hath not sent them; and they have made others to hope that they would confirm the word. Have ye not [139] seen a vain vision, and have ye not spoken a lying divination, where as ye say, The Lord saith it, albeit I have not spoken? "Therefore, thus saith the Lord God, because ye have, spoken vanity, and seen lies, therefore, behold, I am against you, saith the Lord God. And mine hand shall be upon the prophets that see vanity, and that divine lies: they shall not be in the assembly of my people, neither shall they enter into the land of Israel; and ye shall know that I am the Lord God." [140] 29 "THE BONE OF MORMON CONTENTION." SECTION 132 of the Doctrine and Covenants will be reviewed at some length, in connection with "the words and acts of God and men" relative thereto. This revelation has been omitted from the "Selection of Latterday Revelations" as being of no "enduring value." Until recent years the title of that revelation, as given in all editions of the Doctrine and Covenants, was, Revelation on the Eternity of the Marriage Covenant, including Plurality of Wives. It now appears that this title was too much in keeping with the actual contents of the revelation to meet the requirements of those who turned away from the doctrine, so, in our later editions it reads as follows: "Revelation given through Joseph Smith the Prophet, at Nauvoo, Illinois, recorded July 12, 1843, relating to the new and everlasting covenant, including the eternity of the marriage covenant, as also plurality of wives. The Prophet's inquiry of the Lord  He is told to prepare himself to receive the new and everlasting covenant  Conditions of this law  The power of the Holy Priesthood instituted by the Lord must be operative in ordinances to be in effect beyond the grave  Marriage by secular authority is of effect during mortality only  Though the form of marriage should make it appear to be for time and eternity, the ordinance is not valid beyond the grave unless solemnized by the authority of the Holy Priesthood as the Lord directs  Marriage duly authorized for time and eternity to be attended by surpassing blessings  Essentials for the attainment of the status of godhood  The meaning of eternal lives  Plurality of wives acceptable only when commanded of the Lord  The sin of adultery  Commandment to Emma Smith, wife of the Prophet." All italicizing is the compiler's, made for the purpose of directing the reader's attention to departure from real meaning and, in one part, wording of the revelation, [141] as well as from the spirit of the original introductory heading. So far as the compiler has been able to discover, this introduction now printed in our latest editions of the Doctrine and Covenants, is the only one argumentative introduction used in the Doctrine and Covenants. As will be readily observed in reading this REVIEW, there has been, for some years, such divergent opinion and bitter controversy and disputations, even among file leaders of the Mormon Church, over the meaning and application of this revelation, that those who have turned away from the doctrine, and now have control of all Mormon Church publications, cannot resist the temptation to force their opinions upon readers of this revelation by presuming to "graft them into the written word" by an argumentative introduction. "Error of opinion may be tolerated where reason is left free to combat it." So diametrically opposite are the opinions expressed by both leaders and laymen of the Mormon Church today, that few casual observers can judge from expressions of those opinions who is honestly mistaken, or who is deliberately deceiving. Both cannot be right. The only infallible measure is the word of God on the matter. As we review that and compare it with the words and acts of men, the reader's intelligence, particularly if aided by the "key to knowledge," will give him a satisfying answer to this vital question. In assembling the sayings of men, whether that tending to support the writer's contention, or that directly opposed to it, we have selected the very strongest and most emphatic wording we could find. The reader will observe a great difference in strength and solemnity of statement between the two sides. This is not due to choice of selection in any way, but to the nature of the testimonies themselves. James E. Talmage, at present one of the most influential of the Quorum of Twelve Apostles, author of many very worthy treaties on the belief and practices of the Mormon people, and one whose expressions of opinion and conviction are accepted as expressions of the majority of the presiding authorities of the Church today, [142] says, in one of his books, The Story and Philosophy of Mormonism, page 98, "The Latterday Saints were long regarded a polygamous people. That plural marriage has been practiced by a limited portion of the people, under sanction of church ordinance, has never, since the introduction of the system, been denied; but, that plural marriage is a vital tenet of the Church is not true. What the LatterDay Saints call Celestial Marriage is a characteristic of the Church, and is in very general practice; but of Celestial Marriage, plurality of wives was an incident, never an essential." The interpretation placed on this revelation, as to plurality of wives being an essential, by Joseph Smith and all his successors, down to and including President Joseph F. Smith, is clearly stated by the last named President, as quoted in the Journal of Discourses, Volume 20, page 24, "Some people have supposed that the doctrine of Plural Marriage was a sort of superfluity. . . In other words some of the saints have said, and believe that a man with one wife, sealed to him by the authority of the Priesthood for time and eternity, will receive an exaltation as great and glorious, if he is faithful, as he possibly could with more than one wife. I wish here to enter my solemn protest against that idea, for I know it is false . . . The marriage of one woman to a man for time and eternity, by the sealing power, according to the law of God, is a fulfillment of the Celestial Law of Marriage in part, and is good as far as it goes; . . but this is only the beginning of the law, not the whole of it. Therefore, whoever has imagined that he can obtain the fullness of blessings pertaining to the Celestial Law, by complying with only a portion of its conditions, has deceived himself. He cannot do it . . . I understand the Celestial Law of Marriage to mean that every man in the Church who has the ability to obey and practice it in righteousness and will not shall be damned. I say I understand it to mean this and nothing less. And I testify in the name of Jesus Christ that it does mean that . . . If a man acknowledges that he is incapable or disqualified to obey this law, then it remains with God to deal with him. . . It is not likely, [143] however, that he will take his seat with Abraham, Isaac or Jacob and share in their promised blessings." It is impossible for both of these men to have told the truth. If present leaders of the Mormon Church love popularity and the good will of their fellow men more than they love the commandments of God, it is easy to understand why they should attempt to explain away the objectionable features of that revelation, but how any man, after a careful study of the wording of that revelation, and believing it to be in verity the word of God, could read into it such a meaning as that expressed by Elder Talmage is not so easily understood. That the reader of this REVIEW may better understand the extent of the modern Mormon's departure from the spirit of that revelation, and the reasons given by Joseph Smith and his earlier followers for the interpretation placed upon it, as just quoted from Joseph F. Smith, it will be necessary for the compiler to quote the greater part of the revelation, and a goodly number of their testimonials bearing directly upon its essential position in the saving powers of the gospel as taught by that LatterDay prophet. Referring again to the original introductory title of this revelation, "A Revelation on the Eternity of the Marriage Covenant, Including Plurality of Wives," that has recently been repealed. As explained by the founders of this Church, the word "including" as used in the title, means containing or comprising, and this definition seems to be well confirmed by the body of the revelation. According to their testimony it will be seen that a marriage without "including" a plurality of wives, could no more be a "Celestial Marriage," than the shell of a nut could be a nut without including the kernel. The first verse of this section reads inasmuch as you have inquired at my hand to know wherein I, the Lord, justified (persons named), as touching the principle and doctrine of their having many wives and concubines . . . " V. 2, "I am the Lord, thy God and will answer thee as touching this thing." [144] Joseph Smith is here quoted as asking God a definite question, relative to "plurality of wives," not at all about monogamy, and the Lord promises to answer him as "touching this thing." No other question was asked, no promise made here as to any other thing. "Or, what man is there of you, who, if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone?"(202) In the third verse God instructs Joseph Smith, "to receive and obey the instruction which I am about to give unto you." We might ask what instruction? The only consistent answer would be, "as touching the principle and doctrine of plurality of wives." "For all those who have this law, (what law?) revealed unto them must obey the same." "For behold I reveal unto you a new, and an everlasting covenant; and if ye abide not that covenant, then are ye damned." Joseph Smith is quoted in the Church Historical Record, Volume 6, page 226 as having said that after this revelation was given to him he had hesitated to obey it, and "an angel from heaven appeared before him with a drawn sword, threatening him with destruction unless he went forward and obeyed the commandment." From this account it is made certain that the Lord meant just what He said relative to the consequences of disobedience to this "new and everlasting covenant" and the command could have reference to nothing but plural marriage, for Joseph Smith already had one wife, and if God meant that Joseph Smith should only marry this good woman again, this time by the authority of the Priesthood, it is very difficult to believe that Joseph would have hesitated to that extent that he would be threatened with death at the hands of an angel. The command to obey this law was not limited to Joseph Smith alone, as the new introduction to this section intimates it was, for verse four continues, "for no one can reject this covenant and be permitted to enter my glory." From this word it is made very evident that [145] the authors of our argumentative introduction to this Section were hardly justified in saying that the marriage of a man to one wife, by one "duly authorized for time and eternity would be attended by surpassing blessings." And when they say plurality of wives acceptable only when commanded of the Lord they must have overlooked the fact that God said "No one can reject this covenant and be permitted to enter my glory." It certainly included those selfdeluded brethren, as well as Joseph Smith. "But," says the Talmage school, "plural marriage is not celestial marriage." Joseph F. Smith, Sixth President of the Mormon Church, just quoted above, says it is. Let us find out what God said about it. Verse five, "For all who will have a blessing at my hands shall abide the law which was appointed for that blessing, and the conditions thereof, as were instituted from before the foundation of the world. This paragraph informs us that there is a law governing the rights of all who would have a blessing "at God's hands. And if the blessings sought or to be obtained it must be through obedience to that law and the conditions thereof." Verse six, "And as pertaining to the new and everlasting covenant, it was instituted for the fullness of my glory, and he that receiveth a fullness thereof must and shall abide the law, or he shall be damned, saith the Lord, God." We learn here there is a law pertaining to the new and everlasting covenant, and God's word makes obedience to it obligatory, emphasized by the words must and shall. Now if we can but learn just what that law is and precisely what those "conditions" are we will "come to a saving understanding." In Section 131 of the Doctrine and Covenants, verses one to four, we are told the same thing in a little different wording. It says, "In the celestial glory there are three heavens or degrees; and in order to obtain the highest, a man must obey this Order of The Priesthood; (meaning the new and everlasting covenant of marriage.) And if he does not he [146] cannot obtain it. He may enter into the other, but that is the end of his kingdom, he cannot have an increase." From this quotation we are made to know that the "new and everlasting covenant" of marriage and this "Order of the Priesthood" mean one and the same thing. They may be used interchangeably. So, if we are able to learn from this or any other revelation given to Joseph Smith, relative to this particular matter, just what either one of these terms are stated to mean, we will, of course, know just what they both mean, with reference to plurality of wives. (Reader, please hold this in memory until we come to it again, as we shall a little further in our REVIEW.) You will recall that verse five, previously quoted, required obedience, not only to the law, but also to the conditions thereof. We will now learn what these "conditions" are. Verse seven speaks of the eternal duration of any covenant or contract, which may include a contract of marriage with but one wife, and it names the "conditions," but it does not say one word about the "law" as applied to "the new and everlasting covenant of marriage," in other words "this Order of the Priesthood." It merely names the " conditions" governing any covenant, and those "conditions" there named constitute the whole law as pertaining to such contracts to make them eternally binding insofar as the contracting parties themselves are concerned. And those conditions named are conditions of the law governing a new and everlasting covenant of marriage, not the law itself. Specifically named they are, First, a covenant between the contracting parties to be eternally binding. Second, that covenant must be sealed by the Holy Spirit of Promise, and Third, by one who is ordained of God. In verse fifteen we are given of the Lord an example of a marriage contract that does not comply with the law or its conditions governing a marriage of eternal duration, hence is not of force when the contracting parties are dead. In verse eighteen we are told of a marriage, wherein the contracting parties, unaided and of their own accord, [147] make eternal covenant (that is compliance made with the first "condition" named in verse seven), but it is not done by God's law, nor do they comply with the other two conditions of that law, namely, have it "sealed by the Holy Spirit of Promise and that by one who is ordained of God." Such a marriage is not the "new and everlasting covenant of marriage." Verse nineteen mentions the indispensable law of God but does not say just what that law is, and it names the three conditions of that law which must be complied with in order to make it of "full force and effect when they are out of the world" and becomes a marriage by the new and everlasting covenant, and carries with it all the power, glories, exaltation, and eternal increase named in that verse and in Section 131 above quoted. The conditions are exactly the same as those named in the seventh verse, but the conditions as referred to in this nineteenth verse are named as "conditions" of "God's law," by which the exaltation and eternal increase are secured. We have already learned that the terms "the new and everlasting covenant of marriage" and this "Order of the Priesthood" are used in revelation as synonymous terms. The terms, "my word, which is my law" and "the law" are repeatedly used in this Section. If we can find a like relation between these two terms and those just named as synonymous, it would help us much to get a clear understanding of the significance of all these terms, as employed in this revelation. In verse three the Lord says, "All those who have this law revealed unto them, must obey the same." The next verse reads, "I reveal unto you a new and everlasting covenant, and . . . he . . . must abide this law." From these words and those employed in verses five, six, nineteen, and twentysix, we learn that the terms, "my word which is my law" "the law" "this law," and "the new and everlasting covenant," mean one and the same thing. In verse twentyeight it reads, "and will give unto thee the law of My Holy Priesthood." If we substitute for the words, "My Holy Priesthood" used in the twentyeighth verse the words, "this Order [148] of the Priesthood," used in section 131, it would read, "I will give unto thee the law of 'this Order of the Priesthood' "; and if we substitute the term, "the new and everlasting covenant of marriage" as employed there, it would read, "I will give unto thee the law of 'the new and everlasting covenant of marriage' " or, "I will give unto thee 'the new and everlasting covenant' of 'My Holy Priesthood.' " As these terms are employed throughout this revelation, the sameness of meaning is maintained. They are all synonymous terms, and may be used interchangeably without altering the meaning of the sentence or paragraph where employed. God promised Joseph Smith that He would answer him as touching the matter, principle, and doctrine of men of olden times having a plurality of wives, and being justified therein by Him. In doing this God first explains the "conditions" of this "law, principle and doctrine" of plurality of wives; but in doing so He does not again use the words, principle, doctrine, or "having many wives." Wherever "this principle and doctrine" of plurality of wives is thereafter referred to, the terms, "my word which is my law," "the law," "this law," or "the new and everlasting covenant" are used. We might ask why this law should be called a new and everlasting covenant. We are told in verse six, "it was instituted for the fullness of my glory"; and in verse five that "the 'conditions' thereof were instituted from before the foundation of the world." Verse twentyeight tells us "the law of my Holy Priesthood was ordained of me and my Father before the world was." So, this covenant or law of the Holy Priesthood was at least very old. Yet, to Joseph Smith and this dispensation it was entirely new, hence, called "the new and everlasting covenant." In verses three and four Joseph Smith is told that he must receive and obey the instructions the Lord is "about to give unto him," and that the Lord is going to reveal to him "a new and everlasting covenant." The Lord then proceeds to give to Joseph Smith the promised "instructions," which include repeated reference to "this law" [149] and necessity of strict obedience thereto. These instructions are very explicit relative to the "conditions" of this law. Yet, so far as we have reviewed this revelation, God has not told Joseph Smith just what "this law," or the "new and everlasting covenant" he was about to reveal was. However, on reaching verse twentyeight the Lord says, "I am the Lord thy God and will give unto thee the law of my Holy Priesthood." Although the Lord has not yet given the law, but has confined His instructions solely to the conditions thereof and the stern necessity of obedience, He promises Joseph that He "will give unto thee the law . . . " In verse thirtyone the Lord says that "by this law" are the continuation of the works of my Father, wherein he glorified himself." And in verse thirtytwo says to Joseph, "Go ye, therefore, and do the works of Abraham: enter ye into my law, and ye shall be saved. But if ye enter not into my law ye cannot receive the promise of my Father which He made unto Abraham." God commanded Abraham, and Sarah gave Hagar to Abraham to wife. And why did she do it? Because this was the law. God then asks, "Was Abraham, therefore, under condemnation? Verily I say unto you, Nay, for I, the Lord, commanded it. In the following four verses God tells Joseph Smith that He justified not only Abraham, but all others that Joseph inquired about and many more, in having a plurality of wives, for the same reasons and on the same grounds. And God told Joseph Smith that "no one can reject this covenant and be permitted to enter into my glory." Furthermore, God told this prophet as recorded in verses sixtyone and sixtytwo of this revelation, "If any man" live this law of plurality of wives in accordance with the "conditions" named before, he cannot commit adultery for they belong to him and he is justified. [150] 30 THE NEW AND EVERLASTING COVENANT OF MARRIAGE CEREMONY. IT IS STATED, but upon what authority the writer of this REVIEW cannot say, that the Marriage Ceremony as given complete below, and taken from t he Millenial Star, Volume 15, page 214, was given to Joseph Smith by revelation. Be that as it may, the ceremony is that used in our temples in solemnizing "the new and everlasting covenant of marriage." "Do you, brother (calling him by name), take sister (calling the bride by her name), by the right hand and receive her unto yourself, to be your lawful and wedded wife, and you to be her lawful and wedded husband, for time and for all eternity, with a covenant and promise on your part, that you will fulfill all the laws, rites and ordinances pertaining to this holy matrimony, in the new and everlasting covenant, doing this in the presence of God, angels and these witnesses, of your own free will and choice? (The bridegroom answers yes). Do you, sister (calling her by name), take brother (calling him by name) by the right hand, and give yourself to him, to be his lawful and wedded wife for time and for all eternity, with a covenant and promise on your part, that you will fulfill all the laws, rites and ordinances, pertaining to this holy matrimony, in the new and everlasting covenant, doing this in the presence of God, angels and these witnesses, of your own free will and choice? (The bride answers yes). In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the authority of the Holy Priesthood, I pronounce you legally and lawfully husband and wife, for time and for all eternity; and seal upon you the blessings of the holy resurrection, with power to come forth in the morning of the first resurrection, clothed with glory, immortality and eternal life; and I seal upon you the blessings of thrones, and dominion s and principalities, and power s and exaltations, together with the blessings of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; and say unto you, be faithful and multi [151] ply, and replenish the earth, that you may have joy and rejoicing in your posterity in the day of the Lord Jesus. All these blessings, together with the blessings pertaining to the new and everlasting covenant, I seal upon your heads, through your faithfulness unto the end, by the authority of the Holy Priesthood, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen." Let us inquire into this ceremony of "the new and everlasting covenant of marriage," and learn just what these contracting parties have done and covenanted to do. They have first covenanted an eternal marriage with each other. This covenant has been sealed by the Holy Spirit of Promise, and that by one having authority of God. They have complied with the three "conditions" of "this law" of the "new and everlasting covenant." What yet remains to be done? They have solemnly covenanted to do something more! What is it? That they "will fulfill all the laws, rites, and ordinances pertaining to this holy matrimony, in the new and everlasting covenant." There is something yet to be done, in order that this may be binding as "the new and everlasting covenant of marriage." As Joseph F. Smith said, "it is good as far as it has gone, but this is only the beginning of the law, not the whole of it." "God commanded Abraham, and Sarah gave Hagar to Abraham to wife." And why did she do it? Because this was the law. And these contracting parties have covenanted "to do the works of Abraham" and enter into that law, that they might be saved and have the blessings of Abraham, which this ceremony of the new and everlasting covenant of marriage promised them. " . . . and he that abideth not this law (of the new and everlasting covenant), can in no wise enter into my glory, but shall be damned, saith the Lord." (V 27.) If the new and everlasting covenant of marriage does not include plurality of wives, as the old introductory title, and Joseph F. Smith said it did, why this marriage ceremony demanding a solemn covenant on the part of the contracting parties, that they will fulfill all the laws, rites and ordinances that pertain to this new and ever [152] lasting covenant of marriage? If this new and everlasting covenant of marriage is wholly comprehended in the marriage of a man to one wife; and that has already been effected, why exact further covenant to perform a nonessential? What additional law, rite, or ordinance can be demanded to make a marriage already wholly complete and eternal, any more effective? If it is not expected that the contracting parties shall live the law by which Abraham received his promise of countless and eternal increase, why, pray, promise them the blessings of Abraham? God said, "If ye enter not into my law ye cannot receive the promises of my Father which He made unto Abraham." Does this marriage ceremony presume to dictate to God? The covenant righteously made by Father Abraham moved God to make these most wonderful promises to him. What less, in the contracting parties, could move a servant of God to promise them Abraham's blessings? All the promises made by God to Abraham, and those this holy marriage ceremony, when uttered by divine authority, makes to the parties being united by the new and everlasting covenant of marriage, are named in the nineteenth verse of Section 132. And they are all repeated, in a different wording, in this marriage ceremony. The revelation says, this eternal marriage, and all the blessings promised, will be realized, "If ye abide in my covenant, and commit no murder whereby to shed innocent blood." The marriage ceremony says, this eternal marriage, and all blessings promised, will be realized, through your faithfulness unto the end. Both, in substance, repeat eternal law of God, that all blessings are predicated upon condition of obedience. Those who are of Elder Talmage's persuasion, that the new and everlasting covenant does not include plurality of wives, who enter our holy temples for marriage purposes, enter into that solemn covenant, but, without any intention of abiding in it. In this revelation we are reviewing, the Lord has given examples of divinely approved, and unapproved marriages. For the particular benefit of those to whom [153] the word applies, God has also given us an example of a new and everlasting covenant of marriage entered into and violated. The complete illustration is given in the twentysixth verse. We will ask you to read it, as the REVIEW will refer only to the salient points. The Lord says here that if they commit any sin against this holy covenant, and almost every other sin that could be catalogued, except the committing of murder whereby they shed innocent blood, that after they have paid the price in hell, "they shall come forth in the first resurrection, and enter into their exaltation." But, mark you, friend, He did not say that these covenant breakers should be "exalted" to any of the thrones, principalities, kingdoms, powers, dominions, or any other of the great blessings promised in the nineteenth verse to those who "did abide in my covenant" The thirtyninth verse informs us that David entered into this holy covenant of plural marriage, and "did not sin against God" in any thing, save the case of Uriah and his wife. Although David did "abide" in all the other conditions of the covenant, except that he did commit adultery and shed innocent blood, he lost his wives and his exaltation. The parties referred to in the example of the twentysixth verse, violated their covenant and committed almost every other sin in the catalog of crime, except the shedding of innocent blood. God said that after Satan had buffeted them about long enough, "they shall come forth in the first resurrection, and enter into their exaltation." But He did not say anything about what became of that sinner's wife or wives, or, what that "exaltation" would be. We must learn that from His word written elsewhere. "In the celestial glory there are three heavens, or degrees; And in order to obtain the highest, a man must enter (must means abide too) into this Order of the Priesthood (meaning the new and everlasting covenant of marriage). And if he does not he cannot obtain it. He [154] may enter into the other, but that is the end of his kingdom; he cannot have an increase."(203) "And, as pertaining to the new and everlasting covenant, it was instituted for a fullness of my glory; and he that receiveth a fullness thereof, must and shall abide the law, or he shall be damned, saith the Lord God."(204) It is made evident here that unless a man abides in the new and everlasting covenant, "he cannot have an increase." And he that does not abide the law "shall be damned." It is then impossible for the covenant breaker to enter the highest degree of glory, or to have an increase. He will be damned. So, his "exaltation" cannot be very great, and if he cannot have an increase he must not have a wife. Most assuredly the covenant breaker's lot in the eternal worlds could be no better than that of one who did not believe the law of the Holy Priesthood, therefore made no such covenant before God, angels, and men. The fifteenth verse of this revelation, as previously stated, gives an example wherein marriage vows are not in accord with the new and everlasting covenant of marriage, hence not binding when the contracting parties are out of this world. These people do not enter into sacred covenant as those mentioned in verse twentysix do. Their state, after this life is told in the sixteenth and seventeenth verses. "Therefore, when they are out of the world, they neither marry, nor are given in marriage; but are appointed angels in heaven, which angels are ministering servants, to minister for those who are worthy a far more, and exceeding, and eternal weight of glory. "For these angels did not abide my law, therefore they cannot be enlarged, but remain separately and singly, without exaltation, in their saved condition, to all eternity, and from henceforth are not Gods, but are angels of God, forever and ever." "But," says one, "the covenant breaker entered into his exaltation." Yes, he had been buffeted in hell and when redeemed from that prison was "exalted" a state [155] higher; but it is not reasonable to believe that it would be to the rank of "angels of God." In President Wilford Woodruff's journal under date of October 14, 1882, we have the following, taken from a record of a meeting held with the Church Presidency, Twelve Apostles, and Presidents of Stakes. "E. Snow said that Joseph Smith said, 'the man who had but one wife and would not take another, would have her taken from him and given to one who had more.' " Isaiah says, 56:4, 5, "For thus saith the Lord unto the eunuchs that keep my sabbaths, and choose the things that please me, and take hold of my covenant: Even unto them will I give in mine house, and within my walls, a place and a name better than of sons and daughters: I will give them an everlasting name, that shall not be cut off." There may be some who, realizing the significance of making solemn promise and entering into sacred covenant before God, angels, and men, that they would "fulfill all the laws, rites and ordinances pertaining to this holy matrimony in. the new and everlasting covenant" would not jeopardize their eternal exaltation to some degree of glory, by assuming such grave responsibilities; and, yet, wanted to enter into a marriage with one wife that would be eternally binding. The Lord has provided. However, one possessing sufficient intelligence to reach such conclusions, could be expected to know that they would not receive the promises made to Abraham, if they would not enter into this covenant to live the law of Abraham. The Lord says in the seventh verse, "All covenants, contracts, bonds, obligations, oaths, vows, performances, connections, associations, or expectations (that certainly includes marriage covenants, contracts, and vows) that are not made and entered into, and sealed, by the Holy Spirit of Promise, of him who is anointed, both as well for time and for all eternity, . . . are of no efficacy or force, in and after the resurrection from the dead; for all contracts that are not made unto this end, have an end when men are dead." If these marriage vows and contracts, and all other [156] covenants are not of force after men are dead unless these stipulated conditions are complied with, it is most certain they would be of force after men are dead, provided, those conditions were all complied with. Although this marriage is of eternal duration, provided the contracting parties do not violate their rights therein, and wish it to so continue, however, we, and they, now know that such a marriage can produce no eternal increase, there would be an "end to their kingdom; they cannot have an increase." That might well please and satisfy some of those who now profess to believe in God and yet wilfully destroy their offspring. To all such the writer declares they shall forfeit their power of eternal increase anyhow. This is not a presumptuous declaration on my part but it is God's truth. I repeat in the name of my Lord Jesus Christ that "All they who believe they are so wise, they that have been ashamed and dismayed because of the word of the Lord, and have rejected the word of the Lord, They that are not ashamed when they had committed abominations, nay, were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush for their corruption, they shall fall and be cast down, and therefore will I give their wives unto others, and their fields to them that shall inherit them, saith the Lord."(205) Shall the eunuchs who kept God's covenant not inherit them? That the writer's argumentation from the revealed word of God is thoroughly sustained by those who formerly spoke with authority for and in the name of God, our REVIEW will now attempt to prove. [157] 31 "BUT CURSED BE THE DECEIVER."(206) "IT IS ALSO written in your law that the testimony of two men is true."(207) This law Christ referred to must have had reference to a people other than the Mormons, for we have the testimony of at least a dozen of them that are so diverse to the testimony of another dozen of them, that we do not need the testimony of another dozen of them, to convince us that the testimony of at least a dozen of them is false. Some of those testimonies will be reviewed now. The reader of these compilations will determine in his own mind which of these many divergent testimonies are true. They that are possessed of the "key to knowledge" need not be deceived by either, and if unashamed and unafraid will be ready to take up his cross and follow the Master. We have already quoted the testimony of Apostle Talmage, who is the mouthpiece for the majority of the present church Presidency and Quorum of Twelve, saying in part "that plural marriage is a vital or essential tenet of the Church is not true." Apostle Melvin J. Ballard voices the sentiments of the majority of the church Presidency and Quorum of Twelve, also, in the following quotation taken from the Ogden StandardExaminer of December 6, 1926. "The New and Everlasting Covenant of Marriage which entitles a person to the highest degree of celestial glory is not Plural Marriage. Plural Marriage is wholly unlawful and wholly wrong." The Apostle was very emphatic in declaring that those who today are teaching the doctrine of plural marriage are out of harmony with the first Presidency of the Church. He also declared that those who enter into plural marriage are entering into contracts that are not of the Lord." Statements and testimonies of this same nature, and almost same wording, have been made and borne by some [158] of the church Presidency and by a number of the Quorum of Twelve, many, many times, since the death of President Joseph F. Smith. There is such a sameness in them that were we to review them all, the compiler is quite sure it would be, in the great majority of cases mere repetition, as though the statements had been by rote. Reader, please bear in mind, our REVIEW does not claim that all of the church Presidency or all of the Quorum of Twelve, in the past or present, agree with these statements of Apostles Talmage and Ballard. By a majority vote of the first Presidency and the Quorum of Twelve, the voice of the Church, by very many of the people believed to be the voice of God to the Church, is expressed. This was not so formerly when matters of grave concern were to be determined by quorums of the priesthood. "Every member in each quorum (First Presidency, the Twelve or the Seventies) must be agreed to its decisions, in order to make their decisions of the same power or validity one with the other. A majority may form a quorum, when circumstances render it impossible to be otherwise. The decisions of these quorums, or either of them, are to be made in all righteousness, in holiness and lowliness of heart, meekness and longsuffering, and in faith and virtue, and knowledge and temperance, patience, godliness, brotherly kindness and charity. Because the promise is, if these things abound in them they shall not be unfruitful in the knowledge of the Lord."(208) Have they "been fruitful in the knowledge of the Lord"? Has the word "Thus saith the Lord" been given by them since Wilford Woodruff died? "And whenever any of you receives the word of the Lord, let it be written and presented in your councils, and whatever by united consent you deem wise to be presented unto the people, let it be presented by the President."(209) Is it possible that because any of you have not received the word of the Lord, the word and will of men could be acted upon by a majority instead of a unanimous consent? To a review of the testimony of the other school  we [159] have already quoted the testimony of Joseph F. Smith, which will now be quoted again, only in part. "I say I understand the Celestial Law of Marriage to mean that every man in the Church who has the ability to obey and practice it in righteousness and will not shall be damned. . . . And I testify in the name of Jesus Christ, it does mean that." WILFORD WOODRUFF: "God our heavenly Father, knowing that this is the only law ordained by the God of eternity, that would exalt immortal beings to kingdoms, thrones, principalities, powers, and dominions, and heirs of God and joint heirs of Jesus Christ to a fullness of the celestial glory, I say, God, knowing these things, commanded Joseph Smith, the Prophet, and all LatterDay Saints to obey this law, or you shall be damned."(210) "Will we unite with the plurality order of the ancient patriarchs, or will we consent, voluntarily, to be doomed to eternal celibacy? This is the true division of the question. One or the other we must choose. We can not be married for eternity . . . without subscribing to the law that admits a plurality of wives."(211) BRIGHAM YOUNG: "Now if any of you will deny the plurality of wives, and continue to do so, I promise you that you will be damned."(212) ORSON PRATT: "I want to prophesy that all men and women who oppose the revelation . . . of plurality of wives will find themselves in darkness."(213) LORENZO SNOW: "Respecting the doctrine of plural marriage, to which the prosecution so often referred, it was revealed to me, and afterward, in 1843, explained to me fully by Joseph Smith the Prophet. I married my wives because God commanded it. The ceremony which united us for time and eternity was performed by a servant of God, having authority. God being my helper, I would prefer to die a thousand deaths, than renounce my wives and violate that sacred obligation."(214) CHARLES W. PENROSE: "He, Charles W. Penrose, showed that the revelation that had been the subject of attack was only one published on celestial marriage, and [160] if the doctrine of plural marriage was repudiated, so must the glorious principle of marriage for eternity be, the two being indissolubly interwoven with each other."(215) JOSEPH SMITH, the Prophet: "And if any man preach any other gospel than that which I have preached, he shall be cursed; And some of you who now hear me shall see it and know that I testify the truth concerning them. There is no error in the revelations which I have taught."(216) LORENZO SNOW, later President of the Church, said:"He, Joseph Smith, said that the Lord had revealed it unto him and commanded him to have women sealed to him is wives, that he foresaw the trouble that would follow and sought to turn away from the commandment, And an angel from heaven appeared before him with a drawn sword, threatening him with destruction unless he went forward and obeyed the commandment."(217) BRIGHAM YOUNG said: "God never introduced the Patriarchal Order of Marriage with a view to please the carnal desires, nor to punish females for anything they had done; but He introduced it for the express purpose of raising up a royal priesthood, a peculiar people. It has been strenuously urged by many that this doctrine was introduced through lust, but that is a gross misrepresentation. This revelation which God gave to Joseph, was for the express purpose of providing a channel for the organization of tabernacles, for the spirits to occupy who have been reserved to come forth into the kingdom of God, and that they might not be obliged to take tabernacles out of the kingdom of God. "Now, if any of you will deny the plurality of wives, and continue to do so, I promise you that you will be damned, and I will go still further to say, take this revelation or any other revelation that the Lord has given, and deny it in your feelings, and I promise that you will be damned. But the Saints who live their religion will be exalted."(218) WILFORD WOODRUFF said:(219) "Father Abraham obeyed [161] the law of the Patriarchal Order of Marriage. His wives were sealed to him for time and eternity, and so were the wives of the patriarchs and prophets that obeyed the law. "I desire to testify as an individual and as a Latter Day Saint, that I know that God has revealed this law unto this people. I know that if we had not obeyed that law that we should have been damned; the judgments of God would have rested upon us; the kingdom of God would have stopped right where we were when God revealed that law unto us." This is the testimony of a proved prophet and revelator of God. If the kingdom of God had stopped at the time that revelation was given unless the leaders had obeyed that law, do you think God's kingdom stopped when the leaders ceased to obey it, and that we have now a kingdom that is not recognized by God, for which reason He has ceased to "reveal His mind and will" to pretending prophets and revelators? You answer. Orson Pratt, in discourse October 7, 1874(220) said: "Why do LatterDay Saints practice polygamy? This is a plain question. I will answer it just as plainly. It is because we believe, with all the sincerity of our hearts, as has been stated by former speakers from this stand, that the Lord God, who gave revelations to Moses approbating polygamy, has given revelations to the LatterDay Saints, not only approbating it but commanding it, as He commanded Israel in ancient times."  (but, Orson, that's no reason today, for mighty few of us believe anything of the kind. Apostle Talmage, for the majority of our Presidency and Quorum of Twelve, says, "It is not true." Either one of you was mistaken, or else one of you deliberately lied. In either case, that one was not what he pretended to be, an apostle and prophet of Christ.) Orson Pratt continues, "Now, after having said so much in relation to the reason why we practice polygamy, I want to say a few words in regard to the revelation on polygamy. God has told us LatterDay Saints that we shall be condemned if we do not enter into that principle, and yet I have heard now and then a brother or [162] sister say, 'I am a LatterDay Saint, but I do not believe in polygamy.' "Oh, what an absurd expression! What an absurd idea! A person might as well say, 'I am a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ but I do not believe in Him.' One is as consistent as the other. Or, a person might as well say, 'I believe in Mormonism and the revelations given through Joseph Smith, but I am not a polygamist, and I do not believe in polygamy.' What an absurdity. If one portion of the doctrines of the Church is true, the whole of them is true. If the doctrine of polygamy, as revealed to the LatterDay Saints, is not true, I would not give a fig for all your revelations that came through Joseph Smith: I would denounce the whole of them , because it is utterly impossible, according to the revelations that are contained in these books, to believe a part of them to be divine  from God  and a part of them from the devil. That is foolishness in the extreme; it is an absurdity that exists because of the ignorance of some people. I have been astonished at it! I did hope there was more intelligence among the LatterDay Saints, and a greater understanding of the principle than to suppose that anyone can be a member of this Church, in good standing, and yet reject polygamy. The Lord has said that those who reject this principle reject their salvation; they shall be damned, saith the Lord. Those to whom I reveal this law and they do not receive it, shall be damned. Now here comes in our consciences. We have either to renounce Mormonism, Joseph Smith, Book of Mormon, Book of Covenants and the whole system of things as taught by the LatterDay Saints, and say that God has not raised up a Church, has not raised up a prophet, has not begun to restore all things as He promised: we are obliged to do this, or say, with all our hearts, 'Yes, we are polygamists, we believe in the principle, we are willing to practice it because God has spoken from the heavens.' "Now I want to prophesy a little. It is not often that I prophesy, though I was commanded to do so when a boy. I want to prophesy that all men and women who oppose the revelation which God has given in relation to [163] polygamy will find themselves in darkness, the spirit of God will withdraw from them the very moment of their opposition to that principle, until they will finally go down to hell and be damned, if they do not repent . . . Now if you want to go into darkness, brethren and sisters, begin to oppose this revelation. Sisters, you begin before your husbands, or husbands, you begin to say before your wives, ' I do not believe in the principle of polygamy and I intend to instruct my children against it.' Oppose it in this way, and teach your children to do the same, and if you do not become as dark as midnight there is no truth in Mormonism." Joseph F. Smith,(221) says, "In the first place, it (plural marriage) is a principle that savors of life unto life or death unto death, therefore it is well for those who have embraced the gospel to obtain a knowledge in relation to this matter. It is a principle that pertains to eternal life, in other words, endless lives or eternal increase, it is a law of the gospel pertaining to the celestial kingdom, applicable to all gospel dispensation, when commanded and not otherwise, and neither acceptable to God or binding on men unless given by commandment, not only so given in this dispensation but particularly adapted to the conditions and necessity thereof." (The testimony and statement as to general application of this doctrine follow the above extracts from Joseph F. Smith's discourse, as it is recorded at the beginning of this section and will not be repeated here.) "If then, this principle was of such great importance that the Prophet himself was threatened with destruction, and the best men in the Church with being excluded from the favor of the Almighty, if they did not enter into and establish the practice of it upon the earth, it is useless to tell me that there is no blessing attached to obedience to the law, or that a man with only one wife can obtain as great reward, glory or kingdom as he can with more than one, being equally faithful . . . . Man cannot receive the fullness of the blessings unless he fulfills the law, any more than he can claim the gift of the Holy [164] Ghost after he is baptized without the laying on of hands by the proper authority, or the remission of sins without baptism, though he may repent in sack cloth and ashes. . . . "I understand the law of celestial marriage to mean that every man in this Church who has the ability to obey it, and will not, shall be damned, I say I understand it to mean this and nothing less, and I testify in the name of Jesus Christ it does mean that . . . The law is in force upon the inhabitants of Zion and he that is qualified to obey it cannot neglect or disregard it with impunity, but it must be obeyed in righteousness. The commandment is, be ye righteous, be ye holy as He is holy." Upon the words, clauses and sentences italicized by the compiler of this extract from Joseph F. Smith's discourse, "hang all the law and the prophets" of Mormon belief, controversy, and dispute of the last thirty years. While one faction quoted in this REVIEW solemnly asserts and testifies as Joseph F. Smith did, another declares the doctrine of plural marriage is not now and never was an essential, as James E. Talmage did. Another school asserts, in terms almost as positive as Joseph F. Smith does, that they possess with him a like knowledge; but that the manifesto approved and issued by the Church October 1890, not only expressed the will of the people, but also expressed the will of God. For this reason the command of God no longer enjoins obedience to a law that was once mandatory, and that its present teachings and practices are not now approved by God. There are many others of the persuasion in accord with that expressed by James E. Talmage, and that the manifesto not only abolished that right of choice by divine order, but made the further practice of the principle a sin in the sight of God. We have a fifth class, of which the writer is a member, very much in the minority, just a handful, if we may judge by audible words and open acts, and yet, at least in our own estimation, a primary school. A school that asserts in word and act their belief and knowledge in the divinity of the "new and everlasting covenant of marriage including plurality of wives," that the command enjoins obedience on all who would obtain exalta [165] tion in the highest degree of the celestial kingdom,' that the command and its necessity for obedience has never been revoked by God, consequently is as binding today as it was the hour God's angel demanded the Prophet's compliance therewith. It is the further purpose of this REVIEW of the words and acts of God and men to establish, through the revealed word of God and His acts already apparent, an incontrovertible evidence that will unmistakably prove the right and the wrong of this vital question, a question on which the hellishness or godliness of Mormonism hangs. [166] 32 "WHO IS ON THE LORD'S SIDE?" "AND IF it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose ye this day whom ye will serve, whether the God of Heaven or the gods of this world? But, as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord, our God."(222) Those who claim God revoked, through the manifesto, His law, whether optional or mandatory find their chief bulwark of justification and defense in the following words, also previously quoted herein. "Let no man break the laws of the land, for he that keepeth the laws of God hath no need to break the laws of the land."(223) We would repeat, a rather strange god this class must worship. It must be a god made with men's hands. For, if that quotation be interpreted literally, without qualification, it would authorize the lawmakers of this or any other country where the Mormons dwell to legislate for God, to say just what commandments the Mormon's God may put into effect and what He may not. Under no two civil governments would this god's operative laws be the same. Yet this is the being or nonentity those who would take refuge behind a lone and literal interpretation of that Scripture would profess to worship. You and they may say, "The writer in this REVIEW is neither just nor honest in making such insinuations, for, we do claim this word quoted is not only subject to reasonable qualification, but the rights and powers of the God we worship demand qualification. The revelation, perhaps you would say, 'resolution' or manifesto presented and signed by President Wilford Woodruff says, 'Inasmuch as laws have been enacted by Congress forbidding plural marriages, which laws have been pronounced constitutional by the courts of last resort, I hereby declare my intention to submit to those laws.' And the Lord said to Joseph Smith, 'And now verily I say unto you concerning the laws of the land. It is my will that my people should observe to do all things what [167] soever I command them: And the law of the land, which is constitutional, supporting the principle of freedom in maintaining rights and privileges, belongs to all mankind, and it is justifiable before me. Therefore, I, the Lord, justify you and your brethren of my Church in befriending that law which is the constitutional law of the land."(224) "As the manifesto says, 'the laws enacted by Congress against the practice of plural marriage were declared constitutional by the courts of highest resort, consequently God revoked His law that was in conflict with the constitutional law of the land; because, as He stated, "He that keepeth the laws of God hath no need to break the laws of the and.'" "Moreover, the revelation of God says, 'Verily, verily, I say unto you that when I give a commandment to any of the sons of men, to do a work unto my name, and those sons of men go with all their might, and with all they have, to perform that work, and cease not their diligence, and their enemies come unto them, and hinder them from performing that work; behold, it behooveth me to require that work no more at the hands of those sons of men, but to accept of their offering.'(225) "These are Godgiven reasons for our acceptance of the manifesto as the revoking of God's law of plural marriage given to Joseph Smith." So says the great majority of these classes. And the last reason given, in the above quotation, appears very reasonable, at least to those glad to have other men do their thinking. But, let us review these sayings of God and men. There is, however, another passage of Mormon scripture used by these brethren. A brief review of the circumstances that occasioned its utterance will be given before we quote their "shield and buckler." In the early history of the Nephite people, they, like Satan with Christ in the time of his temptation in the wilderness, and as all his worshipers have done since the dawn of history, sought to justify their lusts and unholy ambitions by quoting Scripture. "For behold, thus, saith the Lord, this people begin to [168] wax in iniquity; they understand not the Scriptures; for they seek to excuse themselves in committing whoredoms, because of the things which were written concerning David, and Solomon his son. Behold, David and Solomon truly had many wives and concubines, which thing was abominable before me, saith the Lord. Wherefore, thus saith the Lord, I have led this people forth out of the land of Jerusalem, by the power of mine arm, that I might raise up unto me a righteous branch from the fruit of the loins of Joseph. Wherefore, I, the Lord God will not suffer that this people shall do like unto them of old. Wherefore, my brethren, hear me, and hearken to the word of the Lord; for there shall not any man among you have save it be one wife; and concubines he shall have none. For I, the Lord God, delight in the chastity of women. And whoredoms are an abomination before me; Wherefore, this people shall keep my commandments, saith the Lord of Hosts, or cursed be the land for your sakes. For, if I will, saith the Lord of Hosts, raise up seed unto me, I will command my people; otherwise they shall hearken unto these things."(226) We will commence with this account, and in our review of this thought, go backward over the three quotations justifying (?) this large school's position. We must say here, this class comprises the great majority of the church membership today, if one may judge by the sound being made. The last quotation gives us understanding of just how the Nephite people sought to justify their whoredoms, and God's reasons for the command that they should have but one wife and concubines none. Is it correct that God considered a plurality of wives "whoredom"? There seems, to the casual reader to be a discrepancy in this Mormon scripture just cited. In it God is represented as saying, "David and Solomon truly had many wives and concubines, which thing was abominable before me." In Section 132 of the Doctrine and Covenants, from which our REVIEW has quoted copiously, it says, "David also received many wives and concubines, as also Solomon and Moses my servants; as also many others of my ser [169] vants, from the beginning of creation until this time; and in nothing did they sin save in those things which they received not of me. David's wives and concubines were given unto him, of me, by the hand of Nathan, my servant, and others of the prophets who had the keys of this power, and in none of these things did he si n against me, save in the case of Uriah and his wife." God did not say this of Solomon, but of him and the others he said, "in nothing did they sin, save in those things which they received not of me."(227) Paul tells us of David, " . . . he raised up unto them David to be their king; to whom also he gave testimony, and said, I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after mine own heart, which shall fulfill all my will."(228) This Scripture informs us David was a man after God's own heart when he was chosen king of Israel, and it predicts that through him God would fulfill all his will. And inasmuch as the Doctrine and Covenants already quoted says of David, long after his death, "in nothing did he sin, save in the case of Uriah and his wife, and that God Himself gave him his wives and concubines, we must eliminate David from the Book of Mormon's accusation of having committed an "abomination" in the sight of God. The condemnation must refer to Solomon alone as having been guilty of the "abomination" before God in having many wives and concubines; And, inasmuch as the Doctrine and Covenants say of Solomon in connection with others, "in nothing did they sin save in those things which they received not of me," there must have been something in connection with Solomon's having many wives and concubines that was an abomination. From this Scripture, and much other found in the Bible and Doctrine and Covenants, it appears that the "having of many wives and concubines" by Solomon was not in and of itself an abomination. It must have been that the "conditions" governing his taking of those wives was not approved of God; that God did not give them to Solomon as He had given wives and concubines to his father David,(229) by the hand of one who had authority as His servant Nathan had, or some other "condition" gov [170] erning God's approval was lacking. The Scripture will enlighten us on this point. We are informed that God appeared the second time to Solomon. At the time of his second visit He strictly admonished Solomon to live righteously before Him as his father David had done. He promised Solomon great blessings on condition of obedience, and cursing should he disobey.(230) God commanded Israel through Moses that they should not "multiply wives unto themselves," nor should they marry into other nations. For, such marriages would turn the hearts of God's people from Him, to other gods and the committing of whoredoms.(231) Solomon disobeyed God's strict command given to him personally, and to the Israelitish nation, in that he took unto himself a multiplicity of wives that God did no t command him to take. And, he married these wives of many nations, by the civil laws of those nations. These wives turned Solomon's heart from his God to the committing of whoredoms. All marriages forbidden of God are whoredoms in His sight, wherefore the Nephite people were not only committing this abomination outside of marriage relation, but they were committing it within their civil marriage relations, in that they took it upon themselves, without command from God to take many wives and concubines, as Solomon had done. Neither he nor they having complied with this Order of the Holy Priesthood or the "conditions" governing it. That such acts are an "abomination" in the sight of God is not only evidenced by Bible and Doctrine and Covenants scripture but is conclusively proved by the Word of God previously quoted from the Nephite record, and again copied below for more complete remembrance. "For, if I will, saith the Lord of Hosts, raise up seed unto me, I will command my people, otherwise they shall hearken unto these things." For these Godgiven reasons, Joseph F. Smith was justified in saying, "It is a law of the gospel pertaining to the celestial kingdom, applicable to all gospel dispen [171] sations, when commanded, and not otherwise, and neither acceptable to God or binding on men unless given by commandment." This Apostle and holy man continues to tell us that it was so given to this dispensation. While nearly all Mormons admit that fact, and are justified in saying just as Joseph F. Smith said, but the point of diversion and contention arises as to whether or not God rescinded that command in the manifesto, and whether or not the living of that law is now an abomination to God or a command applicable today. Thus the question is fairly stated, and it is one that God alone can answer to the satisfaction of those who depend on Him for infallible truth. Those who do not will be guided by their own or somebody else's worldly wisdom, regardless of what God may have to say in the matter. To such His word on this or any other matter is of little consequence. A review of this particular question will be resumed later. We return now to a consideration of the second reason, claimed to be justification for the teaching 'that God revoked this law, namely, that because our enemies came upon us and hindered us from performing this work commanded relative to plural marriage, God requires the fulfilling of that law no more of this people, and has accepted their offering. Does not that paragraph formerly quoted in full say, "When God commanded us to do a work unto His name, and those sons of men go with all their might, and with all they have, to perform that work, and they cease not their diligence," God would accept their offering? Is there a Mormon so void of good sense and knowledge of conditions that ever prevailed among this people, from the very day that revelation was made known, who would say this people did go with all their might, and with all they had, and did not cease their diligence to live that law? Hardly! It is a known and frequently published fact from the incipiency of this LatterDay work that not more than three per cent of the Mormon people ever did, at any period of the Church's history, live that law, and the writer feels quite positive he is correct in saying that not more than fifty per cent of the church members at [172] any time of the Church's history ever bore testimony of honest conviction, that they believed it to be applicable to themselves, or any one else not receiving a direct and personal revelation from God commanding them to observe the law. This fact is a matter of unexpressed, but intimated pride, in James E. Talmage, where in his Story of the Philosophy of Mormonism he says, "That plural marriage has been practiced by a limited portion of the people, under sanction of church ordinance, has never since the introduction of the system been denied." Whenever those who are ashamed of the law of God are driven to an admission of their associate's contamination thereby, they blushingly apologize for their mistake. God, through His LatterDay prophets, almost continuously pleaded with this people, and in stern commands of rebuke, many times upbraided them severely, because of their disobedience. No man, with a knowledge of facts, and a sense of justice in him would offer the words of the Lord, previously quoted from the thirtyninth verse of Section 124 as a justification for saying God revoked the law of plural marriage in the manifesto or anything else. To a review of the claim that God revoked this law because it was in conflict with constitutional law: That assertion is as absurd and unwarranted as are the claims just dismissed. No matter whether it was a statute of our land or the very constitution itself, through an amendment or unrighteous interpretation of the Constitution, as it stood when the Prophet uttered those words, such an admission would authorize men to legislate for God. God's right to speak for all earth and everything that is thereon is not amenable to such blasphemous usurpation of His powers, nor are his prophets such fools as to make utterance that would justify such sacrilege. Men uttering or even thinking such a thing, "walk in the vanity of their minds, having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their hearts."(232) [173] Why not read the remainder of that paragraph, and seek for understanding of the Prophet's meaning? There is no untruth in it. And, if the truth is not sought and laid hold upon, blind ignorance will damn the souls that will not see. The last sentence of that seventh verse says, "And as pertaining to the law of man, whatsoever is more or less than these cometh of evil."(233) More or less than what? "And the law which is constitutional, supporting the principle of freedom in maintaining rights and privileges, belongs to all mankind, and is justifiable before me." The Constitution of the United States provided at that time that "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or of abridging the freedom of speech or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances." It was this religious right as well as civil rights then, provided in our United States Constitution, that Joseph Smith's revelation had reference to. And what was more or less than these rights and privileges, enacted into law would be of evil, it said. This same information is again given in the tenth verse. And in the eleventh verse God says, "And I give unto you a commandment, that ye shall forsake all evil and cleave unto all good, that ye shall live by every word which proceedeth from the mouth of God. For He will give unto you faithful line upon line, precept upon precept, and I will try you and prove you herewith; And whoso layeth down his life in my cause, for my name's sake shall find it again, even life eternal: Therefore, be not afraid of your enemies, for I have decreed in my heart, saith the Lord, that I will prove you in all things, whether you will abide in my covenant, even unto death, that you may be found worthy; For if ye will not abide in my covenant, ye are not worthy of me." Does that not command us that although laws of the land be enacted that were more or less than the religious and civil freedom granted in our constitution, we should [174] forsake that evil, cleave unto the good and "live by every word that proceedeth forth out of the mouth of God," laws to the contrary, notwithstanding? Does not God encourage us not to fear our enemies, though their evil laws punish us unto death? The laws enacted by the United States Congress, were declared unconstitutional by the Prophet of God, and our Lord commanded us to obey His word instead of that evil law of man, declared by man to be constitutional, as our REVIEW Will fully show a little later. Has God tried the Mormon people as He said He would, with the enactment of laws that were declared by His mouthpiece to be evil? He said He would prove us by all things, to see whether we would abide in His covenant, even unto death. Have we been found worthy, even in the least degree? "For if ye shall not abide in my covenant, ye are not worthy of me." We did not prove our devotion to the extent of the despoiling of our worldly goods, or our civil positions, our praise of men, or our ability to acquire more worldly wealth. In not one thing did this Mormon Church, as a church, prove its devotion to God and His holy covenant. A very few, comparatively speaking, suffered persecution, imprisonment, want, and hardship, and deprivation to abide in God's covenant. But the masses proved themselves unworthy of Christ who died for them. Who but God had a right to say what laws of man's framing were righteous or unrighteous? Who but He had right to declare by what means He would try those who professed His holy name? Who but He had right to and did declare the disobedient unworthy of Him? This REVIEW said God's mouthpiece declared the laws enacted by the Congress of the United States evil and unconstitutional. We will quote his word. The following quotations are taken from a revelation given to Apostle Wilford Woodruff on January 26, 1880, many months after the United States Supreme Court, in the Reynolds case, declared the law enacted against plural marriage to be constitutional. This revelation announced God's call of John Taylor to the Presidency of the Church. [175] "Thus saith the Lord unto my servant, Wilford Woodruff, I have heard thy prayers and will answer thy question. I will make known unto thee my will concerning the nations who encumber the land of promise and concerning Zion and her inhabitants. "I have already revealed my will concerning this nation through the mouth of my servant Joseph, who sealed his testimony with his own blood, which testimony has been in force upon all the world from the hour of his death. "What I, the Lord have revealed in that testament and decreed upon all nations of the earth, shall be fulfilled, saith the Lord of Hosts. "I the Lord have spoken and will be obeyed. My purposes shall be fulfilled upon this nation and no power shall stay my hand. The hour is at the door when my wrath and indignation will be poured out upon the wicked of this nation. Their murders, blasphemies, lying, whoredoms and abomination have come up before my face and before the heavens, and the wrath of my indignation is full. I have decreed plagues to go forth and waste mine enemies, and not many years hence they shall not be left to pollute my heritage. The devil is ruling over his kingdom and my spirit has no place in the hearts of the rulers of this nation, and the devil stirs them up to defy my power and to make war upon my Saints. Therefore let mine apostles and mine elders who are faithful obey my commandments which are already written for their profit and guidance . . . "And thus saith the Lord unto mine Apostles and mine Elders, when ye do these things with purity of heart, I, the Lord will hear your prayers and am bound by oath and covenant to defend you and fight your battles. As I have said in former commandments, it is not my will that mine Elders should fight the battles of Zion, for I will fight your battles. Nevertheless, let no man be afraid to lay down his life, for he that layeth down his life for my sake shall find it again and have eternal life. "This nation is ripened in iniquity and the cup of wrath of mine indignation is full and I will not stay my [176] hand in judgments upon this nation or the nations of the earth. I have decreed wars and judgments upon the wicked and my wrath and indignation are about to be poured out upon them, and the wicked and rebellious shall know that I am God. "As I the Lord have spoken so will I fulfill. I will spare none who remain in Babylon, but I will burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts. As I, the Lord have suffered so will I put all mine enemies under my feet. For I, the Lord utter my word and it shall be obeyed. And the day of wrath and indignation shall come upon the wicked. "And I say again, woe unto that nation or house or people who seek to hinder my people from obeying the Patriarchal Order of Abraham, which leadeth to Celestial Glory, which has been revealed unto my Saints, through the mouth of my servant, for whosoever doeth these things shall be damned, saith the Lord of Hosts, and shall be broken up and wasted away from under heaven by the judgments which I have sent forth and will not return unto me void. And thus with the sword, and by bloodshed, and with famine and plagues and earthquakes and the thunder of heaven and the vivid lightnings shall this nation and the nations of the earth be made to feel the chastening hand of an Almighty God, until they are broken up and destroyed and wasted away from under heaven, and no power can stay my hand, Therefore let the wicked tremble; let them that blaspheme my name hold their lips, for destruction will swiftly overtake them . . . "These revelations and testimonies are before you. Let my Saints search the word of the Lord and treasure up wisdom and be prepared for that which is to come. As I have decreed so shall my judgments begin at the house of God. "There are those in my Church who have a name among you who are adulterers and adulteresses, and those who blaspheme my name, and those who love and make a lie, and those who revel and drink with the drunken. If they do not speedily repent of this wickedness and abomination, they shall be severed from the ordinances of my house, saith the Lord. There are many who have [177] need to repent, whose hearts are set upon the things of this world, who aspire to the honors of men, and do not honor the priesthood, or do not learn this one lesson; That the rights of the priesthood are inseparably connected with the powers of heaven, and that the powers of heaven cannot be controlled nor handled only upon the principles of righteousness. Such should repent and turn unto the Lord, and seek for the Holy Spirit to guide them. Judgments will begin upon my house, and thence they will go forth unto the world and the wicked can not escape . . . . " Thus God's Prophet and Apostle declared the laws enacted against the Patriarchal Order of Marriage were of evil, and were not constitutional. That their enactment and enforcement would bring upon this and all other nations the decreed judgments of God. And God said through him, "Woe unto that nation or house or people who seek to hinder my people from obeying the Patriarchal Law of Abraham, which leadeth to Celestial Glory, which has been revealed unto my Saints through the mouth of my servant Joseph, for whosoever doeth these things shall be damned, saith the Lord God." Was the holy man a prophet of God? If so, is that law constitutional? If he was God's mouthpiece, what will be the final state of some of the leaders of this Church, and some of its members, who so bitterly "hinder my people from living" that law? All the Presidents of the Church with their counselors, and all the apostles, except those who have been long since cut off from the Church and gone the way of all liars and hypocrites, all who have left a written testimony, born in the name of Jesus Christ, or under civil oath; and all who have declared, "Thus saith the Lord" down to and including President Joseph F. Smith, have solemnly declared in the name of their God, that the laws enacted by Congress against the practice of plural marriage were of evil, and unconstitutional. God informs us in His revelations to Joseph Smith: "And for this purpose have I established the constitution of this land, by the hands of wise men whom I [178] raised up unto this very purpose, and redeemed the land by the shedding of blood."(234) If God's holy spirit dictated the Constitution of the United States, the greatest document ever written through enactment and order of mortal man, God was most certainly qualified to say, through his mouth pieces, when evil law crept in and claimed position under protection of constitutional right. That law being of evil and enacted by wicked men for the very purpose of thwarting God's purposes, all the early leaders and faithful members of this Church stood like adamant, in their declaration that they would serve God rather than man. Let our REVIEW contain a few of those godlike declarations. PETER'S EXAMPLE: "Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than man."(235) JOSEPH SMITH: "He (God) said to me that unless I accepted it and introduced it and practiced it, I, together with my people would be damned and cut off from this time henceforth. And they say if I do they will kill me . . . and I know they will; but we have got to observe it, it is an eternal principle, and was given by way of commandment, and not by way of instruction."(236) And that Prophet sealed his testimony with his blood as he predicted he would. RUDGER CLAWSON, present President of the Quorum of Twelve, said on November 3, 1884, at the time he was sent to the Utah State Prison for practicing polygamy, "I very much regret that the laws of my country should come in conflict with the laws of God; but whenever they do I shall invariably choose to obey the latter."(237) This good man would have been set at liberty, if he had only renounced his belief, teaching, and practice of plural marriage, but, like the apostles of old, and Joseph who died for his testimony, Rudger Clawson then, Christianlike, chose to languish in prison cells before he would deny his holy covenant with God and his wives. Where is he today? At the head of a Quorum pledged [179] to do all they can to punish and imprison men and women for daring to practice the principle for which he once tossed on a filthy dungeon cot, wore the stripes, and ate the food of criminals. WILFORD WOODRUFF: "Now, LatterDay Saints, what are we going to do under the circumstances? God says we shall be damned if we do not obey the law (of plural marriage). Congress says we shall be damned if we do. Now whom shall we obey, God or man? My voice is that we obey God."(238) But why the reversal evidenced in the manifesto? A review of that question will come in its order. Such constancy and faith as the men, previously quoted, evidenced in their words and acts, many hundreds of Mormon men and women put to rigid test, testified in similar words and suffering. However, this faithful few was but a handful in comparison to the masses who would not obey the law. This few was not only persecuted, tried, and imprisoned by civil authorities of our land, but they were ridiculed and condemned by many of their fellow church members, as a menace to the progress and dignity of the State. In many the love of worldly position, favor, and wealth was far greater than their love for God or His laws. The following revelation was given to President John Taylor between three and four years after the law enacted by Congress against plural marriage was declared constitutional by the court of highest resort. In it you will find God's answer as to the evil of that law. REVELATION OF 1882 "Thus saith the Lord to the Twelve and to the priesthood and people of my Church. Let my servants George Teasdale and Heber J. Grant be appointed to fill the vacancies in the Twelve, that you may be fully organized and prepared for the labors devolving upon you, for you have a great work to perform. And then proceed to fill up the presiding Quorum of Seventies, and assist in organizing that body of my priesthood who are your colaborers in the ministry. You may appoint Seymour B. [180] Young to fill up the vacancy in the presiding Quorum of Seventies, if he will conform to my law; for it is not meet that men who will not abide my law shall preside over my priesthood; and then proceed forthwith and call to your aid any assistance that you may require from among the Seventies to assist you in your labors in introducing and maintaining the gospel among the Lamanites throughout the land. And then let high priests be selected, under the direction of the First Presidency, to preside over the various organizations that shall exist among this people; that those who receive the gospel may be taught in the doctrines of my Church and in the ordinances and laws thereof, and also in the things pertaining to my Zion, and my kingdom saith the Lord, that they may be one with you in my church and my kingdom. "Let the Presidency of my Church be one in all things; and let the Twelve also be one in all things; and let them all be one with me, as I am one with the Father. . . "And let the Presidents of stakes also purify themselves, and the priesthood and people of the stakes over which they preside, and organize the priesthood in their various stakes according to my law, in all the various departments thereof, in the High Councils, in the Elder's quorums, and in the Bishops and their Councils, and in the Quorums of Priests, Teachers, and Deacons, that every quorum may be fully organized according to the order of my Church; and then let them inquire into the standing and fellowship of all that hold my holy priesthood in their several stakes; and if they find those that are unworthy let them remove them, except they repent; for my priesthood, whom I have called and whom I have sustained and honored, shall honor me and obey my laws, and the laws of my holy priesthood, or they shall not be considered worthy to hold my priesthood, saith the Lord. And let my priesthood humble themselves before me, and seek not their own will but my will; for if my priesthood whom I have chosen and called, and endowed with the spirits and gifts of their several callings, and with the powers thereof, do not acknowledge me I will not acknowledge them saith the Lord; For I will be honored and obeyed by my priesthood. [181] "And, then, I call upon my priesthood and upon all my people, to repent of all their sins and shortcomings, of their covetousness and pride and selfwill, and of all their iniquities wherein they sin against me; and to seek with all humility to fulfill my law, as my priesthood, my saints and my people; And I call upon the heads of families to put their houses in order according to the law of God, and to attend to the various duties and responsibilities associated therewith, and to purify themselves before me and to purge out iniquity from their household. And I will bless and be with you, saith the Lord, and ye shall gather together in your holy places wherein ye assemble to call upon me, and ye shall ask for such things as are right, and I will hear your prayers and my spirit and power shall be with you and my blessings shall rest upon you, upon your families, your dwellings and your households, upon your flocks and herds and fields, your orchards and vineyards, and upon all that pertains to you; and you shall be my people and I will be your God; and your enemies shall not have dominion over you, for I will preserve you and confound them, saith the Lord, and they shall not have power nor dominion over you; for my word shall go forth, and my work shall be accomplished, and my Zion shall be established, and my rule and my power and my dominion shall prevail among my people, and all nations shall yet acknowledge me. Even so, Amen." This revelation was given through President John Taylor, October 13, 1882. It was formally passed on and accepted by the Presidency and Quorum of Twelve, and was published in an edition of the Doctrine and Covenants in three foreign languages, but not the English language. It will be found in the Life of John Taylor, page 349. Why has this revelation been withheld from all our editions of the Doctrine and Covenants? John Taylor is quoted in the Journal of Discourses, Volume 25, page 309, (1884), as saying of this revelation just quoted: "God has given me a revelation in regard to celestial marriage, I did not make it. He has told me certain things pertaining to this matter, yet they would like us [182] to tone that principle down and change it, and make it applicable to the views of the day. This we cannot do, nor can we interfere with any of the commandments of God to meet the persuasions and behests of men. I cannot do it and will not do it. I find some men trying to twist round the principle in any way and every way they can. They want to sneak out of it in some way. Now, God don't want any kind of sycophancy like that. He expects us to be true to Him and to the principles He has delivered, and to feel as Job did, 'Though He slay me yet will I trust Him.' Though other folks would slay us, yet we will trust in the living God, and be true to our covenants and our God. These are our feelings in relation to this matter. We have been told that, 'it is not meet that men who will not abide my law shall preside over my priesthood,' and yet some people would like very much to do it. Well, they cannot do it . . . If God has introduced something for our glory and exaltation we are not going to have that kicked over by improper influences, either inside or outside of the Church of the living God . . . I see sometimes a disposition to try to ignore some of the laws which God has introduced, and this is one of them." President Taylor if you were with us now you would see this same disposition all the time, this law of celestial marriage has surely been "kicked over" and that by ungodly influences both within and without the Church. We now have men who claim they hold that holy priesthood, that are presiding over it not only in wards and stakes but at the very head of the Church yet they do not live this law and they do their utmost to persecute and punish those who do. Does a question arise in the minds of the people today as to whether these leaders who so violate God's commandment in that revelation have rights to the gifts and blessings of their callings? Is it a wonder that some of these are prophets, seers, and revelators in name only? How different with Joseph Smith and John Taylor. The gifts of God possessed by these men and their Christianlike steadfastness to principle bespoke a faith swallowed up in knowledge. Polygamy and the bitter persecution of those who [183] practiced it, and of the Church policy that defended it, threatened Diana of the Ephesians. There were multitudes of the Demetrius school, craftsmen who feared the utter ruin of their worldly ambitions. Some cried one thing and some another as reason why this despised doctrine should be abolished. They talked, pleaded, reasoned, cajoled, and even threatened. Even from high places within and without the Church, pressure was brought to bear in almost every conceivable form. This feeling had assumed such proportions in the closing days of President John Taylor's life, that he was prevailed upon again to inquire of the Lord, that they might know if some way could not be had of the Lord to relieve the suffering saints, and meet the demands of the persistent. At that time, and for many months prior to it, President John Taylor had, because of his years, been one of the most keen sufferers. He and a goodly number of the church leaders, hundreds of faithful men and women were in hiding, to escape the fury of the law enforced by men so unclean their foul minds and bodies would desecrate the air these hounded Saints would breathe. At the time President John Taylor was concealed and guarded in the home of a trusted fellow church member. The writer, with his father, was driving and guarding many men and women, fellow sufferers with President Taylor, at that time, in northern Utah and southern Idaho. Night and day our vigilance knew no end and no disappointments. September 26, 1886, George Q. Cannon and two other apostles were visitors of President Taylor that and the previous day. Other trusted brethren were with them a portion of that time. George Q. Cannon and some of the visiting brethren called on President Taylor that day for the purpose of conveying to him some of these demands for cessation of the teaching and practice of plural marriage. George Q. Cannon had with him a document very similar to the manifesto presented and approved fourteen years later. This instrument had been prepared by some of the most bitter opponents of this doctrine, members and nonmembers of the Church, with slight assistance from two of the faithful brethren. Some of these [184] not only asked but demanded President Taylor's signature to that paper. The contents of that document, and the requests and demands constantly coming in from other sources, were the subjects under almost constant consideration. George Q. Cannon and one of the other apostles present importuned President Taylor to obtain the will of the Lord on the matter. To this he consented, and preparation was made to that end. The day previous, or early that morning a man who had served his shift almost constantly for many months in guarding President Taylor, was sent to convey and guard Apostle Brigham Young to a place of concealment in the mountain valleys north and east of Salt Lake. In the late afternoon of September 26, he returned to his home and post of duty, tired and worn. He sought his bed in early evening, that he might be prepared for his watch as guard of President Taylor at midnight. He had hardly retired until a messenger came from President Taylor asking his attendance at the rooms of his concealment. When this brother arrived there President Taylor told him that he realized he was very tired and was much in need of rest, but he was desirous that he should take position as his special guard that night, and let the other guard take his place in the next shift. The guard gladly acquiesced in President Taylor's wishes and immediately set about to see that all windows and doors were properly darkened and locked fast. President Taylor occupied a room with door opening into the main living room, but without outside place of entrance. President Taylor retired to his room at about the usual hour. The guard sat and reclined upon a seat a little to the side of President Taylor's door and between it and the outside door of the room in which he was stationed as guard. Occasionally he would walk out and around the premises. All lights had been extinguished in the house. The guard who ordinarily would have been on watch at that time was lying down and most of the time asleep, on a lounge in the same room occupied by the guard on duty. [185] Shortly before the hour of midnight the attending guard was startled by the sound of voices in John Taylor's room, and a bright light shooting out under the closed door into the room in which he sat. He awoke the sleeping guard and in bushed voice called his attention to the voices in the adjacent room and to the light along the floor. He at first became alarmed, with fear that some unwelcome visitor had gained access to President Taylor's room of concealment. He told the awakened guard to stand at watch while he went out and around the house to the only window of John Taylor's room. With guarded silence he rapidly made his way to the window, and while he could distinctly hear the voices from within, and see small shafts of light from the room, he began feeling up and about the window shutters he had so securely nailed down, to learn if some one had broken the fastenings. Before he had proceeded far in this feeling search, a voice whispered peace to him and told him to retire to his watch for all was well. He did as he was bade. For some time the two men sat in rapt awe and silence. Finally a third voice was distinctly heard in conversation with the two that had been heard there for some time now past. Members of the family, two, I think, were called to witness these things. At just what time or period of the occurrence I do not recall. Before morning one of the voices ceased to be heard, but two remained in constant and earnest conversation. Just before dawn the sound of voices ceased entirely. By this time four or five men and one woman had reached the room and witnessed the bright light and sound of voices in conversation. As light began to dawn in the east, John Taylor came from his room surrounded by a thin halo of light. When he greeted the assembled brethren and sister, the guard, ever loved and trusted by President Taylor, said in hushed voice, "President Taylor, we heard voices in your room and became alarmed." "Yes, my boy," he replied, "I have been talking with Brother Joseph." "But, we distinctly heard three voices," the guard said. "Was there not a third person in the room with you ?" [186] "Yes, it was our Master and our Lord," was President Taylor's solemn answer. Within a few minutes fourteen men and women had assembled, and were sitting in profound silence about the room. Soon President Taylor arose, and at first standing by a table near the center of the room, began to address them. For eight happy hours that godly man addressed that body of men and women. A part of the time he stood in midair, with feet considerable distance from the floor, and his head surrounded with a halo of light. He told of his converse with the Prophet Joseph and his Lord, of much of the instruction he had received. Apostle George Q. Cannon was one of the assembly. President Taylor took in his hand the document he had been requested to sign the previous day, and holding it out at arm's length before him spoke words to this effect: "I would suffer that arm to be drawn from its socket and my tongue by its roots from my mouth before I would sign that thing. It must remain for my successor to do that." John Taylor delivered the word of the Lord in mighty power, during the hours he stood before that favored few. He uttered several prophecies pertaining to the windingup scene before the coming of Jesus Christ in His glory, in one of which he said, that prior to that time the Saints would be fully tried that the Lord might know who His chosen people would be. At that time onehalf of the professing members of the Church, "Yes, and onehalf of that half," said he will turn away from God. This prophecy was many times repredicted by his worthy son, John W. Taylor, throughout many sections of the Church, and many Saints live today who were thrilled with the mighty power in which John W. Taylor restated his father's prophecies. The Holy Spirit that coursed through the writer's whole being when John W. Taylor's arm was about him and when Abram 0. Woodruff's hands were upon his head, left with him an undying testimony of the righteousness of those apostles and the divinity of the words they uttered in teaching, promise, and prophecy. He thanks God unceasingly that he was privileged to know these and other faithful and fearless defenders of God's sacred laws. [187] John Taylor prophesied, among other things, that the time was near at hand when the Church with some of its leaders, would hate, pursue, persecute and excommunicate those who dared to teach or practice the law of plural marriage, for which he and hundreds of his brethren and sisters were then in hiding. Yet, not one year should pass before the coming of Jesus Christ, in which children would not be born under the holy covenant of the Patriarchal Order of Marriage. He ordained and set apart five men of that assembly, conferring power and authority to unite faithful men and women in this Order of the Holy Priesthood, and to seal those covenants and promises by the Holy Spirit of Promise. These men were instructed to go into different stakes throughout the Church and ordain other men to the same power and calling. By the authority of the keys and powers of his apostolic and high priesthood presidency calling, he conferred upon those men those rights and powers; and said it would never be taken from the earth until Christ came whose right it was to rule and reign. Notwithstanding the fact that some men upon whom this sealing power was conferred, have been excommunicated when discovered to have exercised those powers of the high priesthood, and all others have been declared, from the great Tabernacle pulpit and from the press, by the present President of the Church, to possess no rights or authority to solemnize such marriages, some of those men continue to exercise those sealing powers in all righteousness. No act of mortal man, other than their own unworthiness, can deprive them of that authority conferred upon them by divine injunction, or stop the carrying out of God's purposes, as predicted by John Taylor. Neither they nor those for whom they righteously officiate can be derived of their sacred rights, or cut off from Christ's Church by the words or acts of men unrighteously exercised. God says, "The rights of the priesthood are inseparably connected with the powers of heaven, and the powers of heaven cannot be controlled nor handled only upon the principles of righteousness. That they may be [188] conferred upon us, is true; but when we undertake to cover our sins, or gratify our pride, our vain ambition, or to exercise control or dominion or compulsion upon the souls of the children of men, in, any degree of unrighteousness, behold the heavens withdraw themselves; the Spirit of the Lord is grieved; and when it is withdrawn, amen to the priesthood, or authority of that man."(239) "By their fruits ye shall know them." "And there are none that doeth good, except those who are ready to receive the fullness of my gospel which I have sent forth unto this generation."(240) Who is ready to receive it or prevent others from receiving the fullness of the gospel? "And the keys of the mysteries of the kingdom shall not be taken from my servant Joseph Smith Jr., through the means I have appointed, while he liveth inasmuch as he obeyeth mine ordinances."(241) Would this not apply with equal force to all his successors rightfully holding such keys? "By their fruits ye shall know them." "Behold, this is my doctrine: Whosoever repenteth and cometh unto me, the same is my Church." "Therefore, whosoever belongeth to my Church need not fear, for such shall inherit the kingdom of heaven." "Whosoever declareth more or less than this, the same is not of me, but is against me; therefore he is not of my Church."(242) "For whoso is faithful unto the obtaining these two priesthoods of which I have spoken, and the magnifying their calling, are sanctified by the Spirit unto the renewing of their bodies. They become the sons of Moses and Aaron, and the seed of Abraham, and the church and the kingdom and the elect of God."(243) And when the conditions prescribed by God are complied with on the part of the individual and they "come by right unto those two priesthoods," the writer fearlessly declares, in the name of Jesus Christ my Lord, that all powers of men, earth and hell combined cannot rob that man of God's promised blessings. Men may cut their fellows off from the organized Church for the paltry [189] reason that they are "out of harmony" with those standing at its head, who have departed from God's precepts and ordinances, but for no other reason than the transgression of God's laws can they be deprived of their standing in the Church and kingdom of God, or the blessings of the elect of God. Fear not to serve and obey God with all your might, mind, and strength. Fear not what man may do unto you because you love and obey your God. But fear with all the horror of your soul to commit sin and transgress His holy laws and ordinances. At the time of the visit of our Lord and His Prophet Joseph Smith the following revelation of the will of God was received and declared by President John Taylor. "My son John: You have asked me concerning the new and everlasting covenant and how far it is binding upon my people. Thus saith the Lord: "'All commandments that I give must be obeyed by those calling themselves by my name, unless they are revoked by me or by my authority, and how can I revoke an everlasting covenant, for I, the Lord am everlasting and my everlasting covenants cannot be abrogated, or done away with, but they stand forever. "'Have I not given my word in great plainness on this subject? Yet have not great numbers of my people been negligent in the observance of my laws and the keeping of my commandments, and yet have I not borne with them these many years, and this because of their weakness because of the perilous times, and furthermore, it is now pleasing in me that men should use their free agency in regard to these matters. "'Nevertheless, I the Lord, do not change and my word, and my covenants and my law do not. As I have heretofore said, by my servant Joseph, all those who would enter into my glory must and shall obey my law; And have I not commanded men that if they were Abraham's seed and would enter into my glory they must do the works of Abraham? "'I have not revoked this law nor will I, for it is everlasting and those who will enter into my glory must obey the conditions thereof. Even so Amen.'" [190] Several copies of this revelation were made at the time. The original is in President John Taylor's own hand writing, and said to be in the church historian's office. This statement has been made both publicly and privately, and by the press for several years past, and if a denial of these things has ever been made by one supposed to be responsible for the custody of that revelation, we have never heard or read of it. If these things are true who is responsible for their long withholding? If they are not true why are they not authoritatively and effectually denied? The writer obtained the information as above given from two eye and ear witnesses of the event, and that testimony was borne in the name of the Lord and in mighty power, in the presence of three other hearers, and by him written down some seven years ago. Some of the prophecies delivered by John Taylor on that occasion were related to the writer nearly thirty years ago, by his son John W. Taylor, and that relating agreed in detail with the testimony borne by the two eye witnesses. If these things be incontrovertible truth, does it not prove beyond the shadow of doubt that the Lord did not abrogate the law of plural marriage? That man and not God is responsible for that manifesto. We shall discover much more proof, and that which no mortal can deny. The following revelation was given to President Wilford Woodruff, November 24, 1889, and may be found in his private journal, also in many other private libraries. "Thus saith the Lord to my servant Wilford, I, the Lord, have heard thy prayers and thy request, and will answer thee by the voice of my spirit. Thus saith the Lord unto my servants the presidency of my Church, who hold the keys of the kingdom of God on earth, I the Lord, hold the destiny of the courts in your midst, and the destiny of this nation, and the destiny of all other nations of the earth, in mine own hands, and all that I have revealed and promised and decreed concerning the generation in which you live shall come to pass, and no power shall stay my hand. "Let not my servants who are called to the Presidency of my Church deny my word or my law which concerns [191] the salvation of the children of men. Let them pray for the Holy Spirit which shall be given them to guide them in their acts. Place not yourselves in jeopardy to your enemies by promise. Your enemies seek your destruction and the destruction of my people. If the Saints will harken unto my voice, and the council of my servants the wicked shall not prevail. "Let my servants who officiate as your councilors before the courts make their pleadings as they are moved upon by the Holy Spirit without any further pledges from my priesthood. I, the Lord, will hold the courts with the officers of government and the nation responsible for their acts towards the inhabitants of Zion. I, Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the world, am in your midst. I am your advocate with the Father. Fear not, little flock, it is your Father's good pleasure to give you this kingdom. Fear not the wicked and ungodly. Search the Scripture for there are they which testify of me, also the revelations which I have given to my servant Joseph, and to all my servants since the world began, which are recorded in records of divine truth. Those revelations contain the judgments of God which are to be poured out upon all nations under the heavens, which include Great Babylon, the judgments are at the door. They will be fulfilled as God lives. Leave judgments with me, it is mine, saith the Lord. Watch the signs of the times and they shall show the fulfillment of the words of the Lord. Let my servants call upon the Lord in mighty prayer, retain the Holy Ghost as your constant companion and act as you are moved upon by the Spirit, all will be well with you. The wicked are fast ripening in iniquity and they will be cut off by the judgments of God. Great events await you in this generation and are right at your doors. Awake! 0 Israel, and have faith in God and His promises and He will not forsake you. I the Lord, will deliver my saints from the dominion of the wicked in mine own due time and way. I cannot deity my word, neither in blessing nor judgments. Therefore let mine anointed gird up their loins, watch and be sober, and keep my commandments. Pray always and not faint, exercise faith in the Lord and in the promises of God. Be [192] valiant in the testimony of Jesus Christ. The eyes of the Lord are watching over you and your acts. Therefore be faithful until I come. I come quickly to reward every man, according to the deeds done in the body, even so, Amen." Does it appear from this revelation that God would rescind His Order of the priesthood? "Until we can find some law of God abolishing and prohibiting a plurality of wives we are compelled to believe it a divine institution; and we are, furthermore, compelled to believe, that if this institution be entered into now, under the same principles which governed the holy prophets and patriarchs, that God will approbate it now as much as He did then, and that the persons who do thus practice it conscientiously and sincerely are just as honorable in the sight of God, as those who have but one wife. And that which is honorable before God should be honorable before men; And none should be despised when he acts in all good conscience upon any principle of doctrine."(244) Lorenzo Snow, then an apostle and afterward the fifth president of the Church, said while under oath before the courts of his state, relative to God abolishing the principle of plural marriage:(245) "The prosecuting attorney was quite mistaken in saying the defendant was the most scholarly, and the brightest light of the apostles, and equally wrong when pleading with the jury to assist him and the United States of America in convicting Apostle Snow, and in predicting that a new Revelation would soon follow changing the divine law of celestial marriage. "Whatever fame Mr. Bierbower may have secured as a lawyer, he certainly will fail as a prophet. The severest persecutions have never been followed by revelation changing a divine law, obedience to which brought imprisonment and martyrdom. Though I go to prison God evil not change the law of celestial marriage." The issue is here squarely stated by Apostle Snow. The law of celestial marriage has been changed since Lorenzo Snow made that declaration. If God changed [193] that law Lorenzo Snow did not speak for Him. If the inference of apostate Mormons, to the effect that God changed the law in the manifesto, has any foundation in fact, the prosecuting attorney, Mr. Bierbower, who conducted the trial against Elder Snow, has proved to be a prophet and Apostle Snow a deceiver and falsifier. If God rescinded the law of plural marriage, Lorenzo Snow is by no means the only false prophet Mormonism has produced. Our REVIEW has already quoted Joseph Smith, Brigham Young, Orson Pratt, John Taylor, Wilford Woodruff, and others as confirming by prophetic power and their priesthood the statement of Lorenzo Snow just quoted. "And her prophets have daubed them with untempered mortar, seeing vanity, and divining lies unto them, saying, Thus saith the Lord God, when the Lord hath not spoken."(246) [194] 33 THE MANIFESTO IS THIS THE WORK OF GOD OR MAN? Official Declaration (Manifesto) To Whom It May Concern: "PRESS dispatches having been sent for political purposes from Salt Lake City, which have been widely published, to the effect that the Utah Commission, in their recent report to the Secretary of the Interior, allege that plural marriages are still being solemnized and that forty or more such marriages have been contracted in Utah since last June or during the past year, also that in public discourses the leaders of the Church have taught, encouraged and urged the continuance of the practice of polygamy, "I, therefore, as President of the Church of Jesus Christ of LatterDay Saints, do hereby, in the most solemn manner, declare that these charges are false. We are not teaching polygamy or plural marriage, nor permitting any person to enter into its practice, and I deny that either forty or any other number of plural marriages have during that period been solemnized in our temples or in any other place in the territory. "One case has been reported, in which the parties allege that the marriage was performed in the Endowment House, in Salt Lake City, in the spring of 1889, but I have not been able to learn who performed the ceremony; Whatever was done in this matter was without my knowledge. In consequence of this alleged occurrence the Endowment House was, by my instruction, taken down without delay. "Inasmuch as laws have been enacted by Congress forbidding plural marriages, which laws have been pronounced constitutional by the court of last resort, I hereby declare my intention to submit to those laws, and to use my influence with the members of the Church over which I preside to have them do likewise. [195] "There is nothing in my teachings to the Church or in those of my associates, during the time specified, which can be reasonably construed to inculcate or encourage polygamy; And when any elder of the Church has used language which appeared to convey any such teaching, he has been promptly reproved. And now I publicly declare that my advice to the LatterDay Saints is to refrain from contracting any marriage forbidden by the law of the land. WILFORD WOODRUFF, President of the Church of Jesus Christ of LatterDay Saints." President Lorenzo Snow offered the following: "I move that, recognizing Wilford Woodruff as the President of the Church of Jesus Christ of LatterDay Saints and the only man on the earth at the present time who holds the keys of the sealing ordinances, we consider him fully authorized by virtue of his position to issue the manifesto which has been read in our hearing, and which is dated September 24, 1890, and that as a Church in general conference assembled, we accept this declaration concerning plural marriages as authoritative and binding. Salt Lake City, Utah, October 6, 1890." The vote to sustain the foregoing motion was unanimous. In view of the fact that Wilford Woodruff who signed this manifesto had only a year previous received a revelation from God saying His law would not be abrogated and commanding his priesthood to make no promises to the enemy, and that Lorenzo Snow who made the motion recorded had once declared under oath that God would not change the law of plural marriage, is there a person living today who knew these two men or has been placed under the influence of their teachings that dare say these men were liars, hypocrites, and blasphemers? In the revelation given to President Wilford Woodruff just quoted God commanded his priesthood, the Presidency of the Church, and the apostles to make no promises to their enemies, and He instructed Wilford [196] Woodruff to tell their counselors at law who were pleading their cases before the courts to make no further promises to the enemy. Knowing the steadfastness and integrity of these men we have no reason to believe they ever did make promises to the enemy further than that contained in the manifesto; but that their counselors at law had already made promises legally binding the presidency of the Church to their observance. The properties of the Church including all the temples were about to be confiscated by the enemy. In order to save these to the people and for other reasons that will not be here mentioned, these legal representatives made promises that are referred to in the manifesto by President Wilford Woodruff, and thereby bound them to their observance, if the church properties were to be preserved. The writer is informed through sources considered by him perfectly reliable that President Wilford Woodruff did not believe for one moment previous to the presentation of that manifesto that the people would vote for its approval. It has been reported to me that he made the statement before entering the conference session of that day, "the Saints will never approve of it." President Wilford Woodruff is reported to have grieved and felt more distressed over the final outcome in acceptance of that manifesto than any other being not possessing the knowledge he had been given could have felt. The manifesto was not rewritten by President Wilford Woodruff nor by either of his counselors or a member of the Quorum of Twelve. It was rewritten and prepared by the hand of an unbeliever in Joseph Smith or God, or any of the revelations the Mormons claimed had been received of Him. It was changed only in matters of minor wording before it was presented to that conference. When President Woodruff signed that declaration of his intention to submit to the law enacted by Congress and declared constitutional by the court of last resort, and to use his influence with the members of the Church to have them do likewise, and declared his advice to the LatterDay Saints would be to refrain from the contract [197] ing of marriages forbidden by the law of the land, it was signed and presented with the positive understanding that those declarations had reference to no other country than the United States, or those lands where laws had been so enacted and declared constitutional. The wording of the manifesto as it was last presented to President Woodruff, was altered in this particular, in keeping with his demands, so that it could not be construed to apply to any government other than that of the United States, which had enacted the laws referred to against the practice of plural marriage. [198] 34 LIFE'S EXPERIENCE. THE WRITER is convinced that a very brief account of personal experiences, in connection with the facts above stated, may assist in making more clear to the reader, not so familiar with circumstances and conditions immediately following the declaration of that manifesto, and he trusts he may be pardoned for this departure for the time being. From my earliest childhood my parents diligently taught me to believe in, and call in prayer upon the Lord, to trust His mercies and believe His promises, that His gospel as revealed to Joseph Smith and taught by his successors who followed in his footsteps, was in verity, the expressed will of God. Being a great lover of books I eagerly read all I could obtain and find time for. In my advanced adolescence I got hold of some of the teachings of Pliny, Gibbon, Ingersol, Mark Twain, and the like. The sophistry of their reasoning first amused, then their frequent and somewhat successful use appealed to my conceit and vanity. From this I drifted on until I was made to taste the bitterness of hell. Through the prayers of a saintly mother and the grace of my Lord I was saved from a complete wandering. The darkness and grievousness of mind endured for that period, made the gospel light and its promises a hundredfold more precious when I was permitted to return with an abiding faith to them. I was early blessed with many testimonies of the mercies of God and the saving power of His gospel. So humbly and sincerely did my good wife and I believe the "fullness of the gospel," that prior to our engagement we solemnly covenanted with each other that, to the utmost of our ability, with the help of God, we would live worthy of every ordinance and blessing of the gospel. Particularly did we discuss and mutually agree to obey the patriarchal order of marriage. [199] Our married life was a busy and very happy one, much of which was devoted to teaching and preaching the gospel. Yet, we hesitated to fulfill the law we had, along with all others, agreed to obey. We were finally persuaded by our convictions of right, to set our minds and shape our course to any early fulfillment of that order of the priesthood. With my parents, my wife and I attended the October Conference of 1890, at which time the manifesto was presented and adopted by vote of the assembled people. Happily, we were not in the Tabernacle at the particular time it was presented and acted upon. My father and mother, accompanied by an estimable woman, who had consented to join them in the living of that higher law, had made the long journey to Salt Lake City, primarily for the purpose of having that plural marriage solemnized in the Temple. The adoption of that manifesto placed them in a very unpleasant situation, to say the least. By special appointment, my father met the First Presidency in their office. President Wilford Woodruff, George Q. Cannon, and Joseph F. Smith were all present. Father presented his case, and was told by Wilford Woodruff, that because of the agreement entered into by the approval of the manifesto, no more plural marriages would be sanctioned or solemnized by the Church in the United States. However, inasmuch as that agreement had reference to no other lands where the practice of plural marriage was not prohibited by law, if father wished to obey the law now he would have to go where it could be done without violating the law. Joseph F. Smith then informed father that many Saints had already moved to Mexico for that very purpose, and others were going, that there were at that time several small colonies of the Saints established in that land. At great sacrifice my father with his families moved to Mexico and there lived, with hundreds of other Saints, the law of plural marriage. My wife and I tried to convince ourselves that we were now excused from the living of that law of plural marriage. [200] But, that "covenant with hell' planted in our souls the first doubts that had ever entered there, of the divinity we had all our lives believed dwelt in those who were sustained by our faith, prayers, and devout works as God's mouthpiece to men. We, with thousands and thousands of other devout believers in the gospel as revealed through Joseph Smith and taught by all his successors up to that time, were bewildered, and thrown into the whirlpool of argument, contention, and division relative to the purpose and effect of that manifesto. We had been deceived. Someone had been mistaken, or (could such a thought be permitted to enter our minds) someone had lied. Feeling deeply that something was seriously wrong somewhere, we could not long take undisturbed mental refuge in the hope that the manifesto had removed all our responsibility in that matter. Men whom I had known all my life and trusted as the soul of honor, faith and righteous integrity would tell us we were not excused. "The Lord had prepared a ram in the thicket" and all who would obey Him could, if they but had the faith to make the sacrifice. My good parents frequently wrote me in the same vein. I tried hard to believe otherwise, and I found much encouragement from the expressions of a similar belief by many others. My wife and I were ill at ease. We earnestly sought the Lord for light. It came in an unmistakable answer, but that answer did not come as I had tried to make myself believe it should come. I, like many other men, similarly persuaded of worldly thought and ambition, that our wishes must be God's wishes, sought the fulfillment of my will and in a very great measure forgot God might have a will in the matter. I, like doubting Gideon of old sought additional proof, but unlike him was given the proof in a manner prescribed by another, and to come when I had been taught my littleness and insignificance when measured as God measures men. We were not then wholly satisfied, but we were persuaded to seek counsel of an apostle, whom we knew to be a true servant of the Lord and in position to know just what interpretation President Wilford Woodruff and [201] his councilors put on that manifesto. We had good reason to know that the Quorum of Twelve was not united in their opinions or their wishes in the matter. This apostle gave us the same instruction that the First Presidency gave my father the day after the manifesto was adopted, to which he added, "It is now as much your duty to live that law as it ever was. God has not changed or abolished His commandment in the matter, and if you ever obtain the blessings He promised you must obey the laws upon which those blessings are predicated. It is your duty to obey that law and God has provided a way for those who are worthy and will make the sacrifice." My wife and I at once set about our preparation to move to Mexico, where the law of plural marriage could be obeyed without violating the laws of the land. In the meantime we had received a divine testimony of the truthfulness and necessity of obedience to that principle. We no longer had need to depend on the word of man. We knew for ourselves what was right and what was wrong, and we knew too that some men in high places were deceivers, but whether ignorantly or wilfully so we did not then know. A true and devout woman, with an abiding faith and testimony in all the principles of the gospel consented to assist us in our effort to worthily live that higher law, and to make, with us, the sacrifices obedience demanded then of all who would live it and not break the agreement our Church had entered into with the United States. In 1903 we moved to Mexico, and there were united in the new and everlasting covenant of marriage, by one who held authority to solemnize such marriages. That we might meet all requirements of the laws of that land and have the children born to us legalized thereunder, we were married by the civil laws also. For five years we were privileged to live and practice that law, among the best people it has ever been our lot to know in life. In the meantime Apostle Abram 0. Woodruff died in that land. His death gave the apostate members of the Quorum of Twelve a majority in that quorum, which had [202] some years previously usurped the governing powers of the Church in nearly all matters. This majority lost no time in ejecting Apostles John W. Taylor and Mathias F. Cowley, the only two remaining true and steadfast to the teachings of their predecessors and all former presidents of the Church. At least, they were the only two left who had the courage to openly and fearlessly express their convictions. If others of similar conviction remained then, or are now in the Quorum they take good care to make no public expression of their views. The apostate majority now established in undisputed rule hastened to Mexico's thicket and stole that little ram  pardon, please, it is not levity, but wholly truth. These usurpers of authority and robbers of the people's rights, shocked those tried and proved Saints by declaring that it was God's will plural marriage should cease in all lands, irrespective of civil law in the matter, that the manifesto applied to all countries and no more such marriages should be solemnized or sanctioned by the Church. They did not then go to the point of declaring all plural marriages contracted since the manifesto were "wholly unlawful and wholly wrong," that those who were living under that law were living in sin and committing adultery. That remained for a later time, when these men had a more sure and solid hold on the "steering wheel." Who could require more evidence than that already offered, that some men posing as prophets, seers, and revelators, were deceivers and hypocrites? If demanded, it has surely been provided in undeniable facts just related; and yet, there is more to come anon. Having been told by a power more trustworthy than the word of man that war was speedily coming to Mexico, and that those of the Mormon Church who remained there would be partakers of its hell, I sought and obtained, from church authority then presiding there, permission to return to the United States. Mexico could no longer be counted a place of refuge and safety for those faithful to the gospel as revealed to Joseph Smith. This people were, up to this time, the most united and diligent observers of all of God's laws [203] known in the history of the Mormon Church. They enjoyed an abundance of the gifts of the spirit enjoyed by no other people of the Church. They were becoming very prosperous in this world's goods too. Magnificent homes, good churches, and schools that were built and owned by that people were the pride of northern Mexico. The people were respected, even though frequently oppressed by the government and its officials. Their virtues, industry, and thrift were pointed to with pride by governors and rulers of that nation. Upon the very heels of the abrogation of God's law of plural marriage in that land, came confusion, disputations, and dissension among the people. War came to that unhappy land, and the Mormon people were considered legitimate prey for every waring faction of the country. 'Their property was pillaged, burned, and confiscated on almost every hand. The people were driven from their homes. Families and communities that had ever before been united and happy in serving each other and God, were broken up and scattered far and wide. [204] 35 TEACHING, WARNING, AND PROPHECIES. THAT was just a beginning of the judgment of God that shall start to be executed first in His own house. God will judge those men "according to the fruits of their doings." "And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God unto the shepherds, Woe be to the shepherds of Israel that do feed themselves! should not the shepherds feed the flocks? Ye eat the fat, and ye clothe you with the wool, ye kill them that are fed; but ye feed not the flock. The diseased have ye not strengthened, neither have ye healed that which was sick, neither have ye bound up that which was broken, neither have ye brought again that which was driven away, neither have ye sought that which was lost; but with force and with cruelty have ye ruled them. "And they were scattered because there is no shepherd; and they became meat to all the beasts of the field when they were scattered. My sheep wandered through all the mountains, and upon every high hill: yea, my flock was scattered upon all the face of the earth, and none did search or see after them. "Therefore, ye shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: As I live, saith the Lord God, surely because my flock became a prey, and my flock became meat to every beast of the field, because there was no shepherd, neither did my shepherds search for my flock, but the shepherds fed themselves, and fed not my flock. Therefore, 0 ye shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: Thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I am against the shepherds; and I will require my flock at their hand, and cause them to cease from feeding the flock; neither shall the shepherds feed themselves any more; for I will deliver my flock from their mouth, that they may not be meat for them."(247) [205] While Ezekiel's prophecy was not directed to this people and shepherds over them, particularly, in the name of the Lord God who put those words into that prophet's mouth, I, the writer of this REVIEW of the acts of God and man, declare by the power of the spirit upon me, that, although that prophecy was not made particularly of the Mormon people and their shepherds, wherein it is applicable to them, it shall be fulfilled, full to the brim and running over, and spreading out therefrom to all nations and their rulers, and fully accomplished in all the wicked and unfaithful shepherds of every people under heaven. The writer was about to record the following revealed truths as, "Thus saith the Lord," but His Holy Spirit forbade it because this sacred right is vested in another. He was then instructed to restate these truths which God has repeatedly revealed and declared by His prophets to this people, and that has before been repeatedly revealed to individuals, that he should give utterance to them and the warnings and the prophecies in the name of our Lord as they were made known unto him, not by way of commandment, but as a restatement of commandments formerly given as "Thus saith the Lord" and by way of instruction and warning to all those who may read and hear. Jesus Christ is the God of this land, choice above all other lands. When God separated this from all other lands and brought it forth out of the depths, He formed and shaped and surrounded it with the waters thereof. He decreed a decree pertaining to it and the sons of men He should permit to dwell thereon, a decree that shall not be altered or violated so long as the lands upon the face of the earth which he has organized shall remain divided. From the time this choice land was first brought to rest in the midst of the mighty waters, even down to the present time, God has instructed the sons of men that were moved by Him to dwell upon it, by His own mouth and by the mouth of His holy prophets which He has always raised up unto them; that this land was a land choice above all other lands, a land of plenty, a land of [206] safety, a land of promise, reserved as such only to those who would serve Him in righteousness. The Lord God who holds in His hands the destinies of all nations, has ever had a special care over this land, because of the prayers and righteousness of His servant Enoch and His decree uttered in keeping therewith. The God of Enoch sealed His promise by oath and covenant that the wicked and ungodly should never obtain a lasting inheritance in this land. The Lord God called and foreordained His servant Joseph that he should be born upon this land, in this the dispensation of the fullness of times, a dispensation of the fullness of His gospel given unto man for his salvation and a dispensation of the fullness of His wrath and destruction that should come upon the wicked and disobedient thereto. God spoke unto His servant Joseph in his youth, and when he was found worthy before Him, God revealed unto him His unchangeable precepts, laws, and ordinances and His commandments pertaining thereto. A holy and perfect plan ordained of the Gods before man was formed out of the dust. A plan by which this goodly land might be redeemed from the influences and powers of Satan, which had laid hold upon it through the great wickedness of the nations whose abominations had swept them from it. A plan by which this choice land might be again sanctified and consecrated a Zion unto a righteous people. A holy land, a land where God's statutes and judgments might be kept as they once were kept by the righteous Nephites, for two hundred years after His personal advent and ministrations among them, a holy place in which the pure and clean, the humble and contrite, might become holy and sanctified before God, as were His people under the ministrations of His righteous servant Enoch, a holy place in which the obedient would be kept as within the hollow of His right hand, guarded and protected from wars, famine, disease, plagues, and pestilence, which the Lord shall permit the wicked and ungodly to bring upon themselves, until they are utterly wasted away and destroyed from off the face of the earth. [207] God's Spirit has borne testimony to those truths revealed by His servant Joseph Smith and others called, ordained, and sustained by Him to proclaim and administer the fullness of His gospel. His Holy Spirit has touched the hearts of those whom He would save from among all nations; and He has planted within the souls of the humble and contrite thus touched an everlasting and infallible assurance of His saving grace. By worthy prophets and apostles, and by many other humble and faithful elders who have received His holy priesthood, and obeyed His holy ordinances, has God unceasingly taught this people, gathered from almost every nation, that justification before Him and exaltation in His Father's house can be obtained only through strict obedience to every word that proceedeth forth from the mouth of the Lord our God, whether that word be declared by His own voice or by the voice of His servants when moved upon by the Holy Ghost. His people know His word and obey it, when declared by those whom He delights to honor and bless with a perfect knowledge of His will, for His will never changes nor does His word ever deviate from generation to generation, yet, when those who have professed His name and covenanted by baptism in water to obey His word, will not steadfastly observe His commandments, God takes from them the laws they will not obey, and withdraws all promises made in connection therewith; until, by a continued departure from His truths, all light and saving truth associated therewith will be driven away from those who will not hearken. Our Lord declares it to be His glory to bring to pass the exaltation of all who will walk in the light as He is in the light; therefore, He delights to reveal His word and will to all mankind who will diligently serve Him. But all who will not feel after Him, but seek to become a law unto themselves will, by their vanity and conceit, deliver themselves into the power of Satan, who delighteth to thwart God's purposes, by the subjugation of the souls of men which He has created. Therefore, that the humble and obedient might be saved, the Lord God has decreed that the wickedness of [208] Lucifer, son of the morning, and of those who will to follow after him, shall utterly destroy itself and all they who persist in it from before His face; and that he and all they who unceasingly tempt and deceive those who are weak but would serve God, shall be destroyed, both soul and body. Their identity as creations of God shall cease to be. The Lord says He delights not in the sorrow, misery or suffering of the sons of men. He is continuously grieved thereby, and when their wilful disobedience to His laws which would have redeemed and glorified them with an endless joy, persists beyond that point at which they could repent, it is by the mercy of His Father that those souls be, by themselves, disorganized and returned to native element, where it can be made to serve a goodly end. These truths the Lord God has made known to men from the beginning; yet there are many who profess my name, sheep and shepherds, among this people who seeing will not see and hearing will not hear. Our Lord's cup of sorrow and indignation is full because of the great sins of men for whom He died. The judgments He has decreed should come upon the wicked and the lands upon which they dwell shall begin at His house, and the land upon which they who profess His name and have received His holy priesthood now dwell. This goodly land, which by God's laws and their righteous observance may become a land of Zion unto the faithful, shall, by the turning away of those with whom He entrusted His law and the administration thereof, become a land of destruction beyond that of any other land upon this choice portion of the earth. It shall be cut and torn and rent asunder by the vivid lightning of the heavens, as a pitted potter's field. The mighty thunders shall reverberate therefrom throughout the whole land; and the stunning roars thereof shall be made the audible voice of God, heard by all peoples dwelling in the land, and of nations afar, crying, "Repent, repent, for the hour of God's judgment is come. Behold the day has come, when the cup of the wrath of my indignation is full. My wrath with the wicked of all nations shall be made manifest in the utter destruction of all who will [209] not repent of their wickedness and abominations before me." An east wind of overwhelming fury shall come upon this land, a land hitherto preserved by its mountains from the wind's fierce blasts. It shall level to the earth the habitations and magnificent works of the ungodly and those who blaspheme God's holy name among this people; and floods of gushing waters shall pile them in heaps upon the low places in the midst of their valleys. Pestilence and diseases shall take hold upon the wicked, and their bodies shall lie strewn upon the broken earth, an unbearable stench therefrom shall afflict the living. By heaven's flaming sheets of lightning shall their bodies be burned as chaff thrown from a summer's threshing .floor. The earth shall be cleansed by its sweeping flames, and made clean for those who will sanctify it through obedience to God's holy laws. The shepherds of this people and all nations upon the earth who unrighteously appropriate the moneys, offerings, and tithes of the people to their own greedy ends, and thereby dwell in homes of luxury, issue their mandates from marble palaces and eat the fat of the land, while the cry of the cold and the hungry, the widow and the orphan, the oppressed and downtrodden of the people ascend to heaven for succor, shall be made to feel the wrath of an Almighty God upon them and all that pertaineth to them. The worldly rich, both of the people and of the shepherds, who will not impart of their substance to lighten the burdens and suffering of the poor and innocently oppressed shall languish in hell. The covetous and greedy, the thief and the robber, all they who will not live honestly by their own toil shall be burned by fires of their own kindling, and shall not know eternal riches which God giveth to the upright. They who will not observe God's laws by which lands and places may be made holy, shall not receive the protection God has promised the obedient, when these visitations come to the wicked and ungodly. If they who have professed the name of their Lord, and have received His holy priesthood, and have undertaken to administer in [210] the rights and ordinances thereof, do not turn from their evil ways, their adulteries, whoredoms, and abominations before God they shall be the first and the last to suffer the wrath of an offended God who will not be mocked. All they who will repent of their evil ways and turn unto the Lord their God with all their might, mind, and strength, shall escape these unparalleled calamities by standing in holy places within the covering wings of the God of this land, who is Jesus Christ. Through His prophets God has warned all those who will hear and obey, to gather together and stand in holy places. And how can places be made holy to Him but by the righteous observance of all His laws? And how can holy places preserve a people, if they will not hear and gather together upon them? The gospel of Jesus Christ has been given to this people in its fullness and in its plainness. It is written before us in many languages. His promises of blessing and protection to the obedient and warnings of overwhelming destruction that shall come upon the disobedient are also full and plain. Hear! Hear! Oh, will you not hear, the admonition and prophetic warning of one of God's most lowly and unfit servants, for in the humility of my soul and in the name of my Lord Jesus I declare it unto all who will hear; I say unto you His spirit will testify unto the pure and contrite of their truthfulness. Despise not the truth because of the weak source of its repeated utterance. It is again and again before you, do not turn away! [211] 36 WE RESUME. HAVING obtained the consent of rightful church authority in Mexico, I moved my first family to Idaho, and my second to another land where I could, through the assistance of kind friends, look after their welfare. In doing this we sought to avoid violating the laws of our native country. Within a very short time the first of my sister wives died. When that true and good woman was laid to rest, my second wife immediately sent word to me, saying she had promised her companion sister, that in event of her death she would do her utmost to be a mother to her children, and that she wanted now to be permitted to fulfill that promise. I went for this faithful woman and we were at once married by the civil laws of this land. Through the early coming of my second wife, our marriage and the augmenting of my household, some of my good apostate relatives, ever shining lights in the Mormon Church, and a number of our apostate leading brethren, now remembered, or first learned, that I had taken this good woman in plural marriage after the declaration of the manifesto. These splendid people all became much exercised over the probable loss of our souls, for, said they, "you are living in sin and adultery." So long as these shepherds expressed themselves in whispering brotherly and sisterly concern to me and my wife we laughed it off and said our hearts and our actions were known to a just God whom we knew made no mistakes, and we were very willing to leave our case in His hands. To these selfconstituted guardians of our sinful souls, we were fast becoming hardened transgressors and ripening for hell. They could not possibly feel that they had freed their skirts from our sins, until they had done their utmost to advise our children of their unholy parentage. Some of our children were of tender years and [212] easily wounded by these damnable lies, perhaps unwittingly told. Our manner of public and private living, our faith, and our works in various church positions, and our ignorance of having committed the sin of adultery, along with many hundreds of our equally ignorant brethren and sisters, justified our church standing, in the eyes of those in high places; "But," said one chief among them, "you must be married again, this time in the temple, by proper authority." For the sake of our young children, we smiled instead of telling this "tinkling cymbal" what he was. I said to my wife, "Although you and I know they are either deceived themselves, or they are lying hypocrites, for the sake of our children not yet come to years of understanding, and to shut the mouths of these people, we can be married again. If you will consent to become my wife again, I think I can hold a record for once in my life, that of having been married more times to one woman, without having once been divorced, of any sinner on earth. We have loved each other, if possible, more devotedly after each marriage than we did before. Why not try it again?" That good woman, then the mother of eight children of her own, and just as good a mother of seven children of her sister wife, for the fourth time listened to my importunities. With our seven living children we repaired to the temple; and, oh, what a blasphemy! We were married again, and had all our children, including the first born to us, who had been taken in infancy, sealed to us. To satisfy the clamorings of apostate shepherds of an apostate church, I permitted myself and my clean family to be made party to a mockery before my God. No Christian church since Christ for whom this Church is named, has so completely apostatized from the principles and doctrines upon which it was founded, and that distinguished it from all manmade churches, as has the Church of Jesus Christ of LatterDay Saints organized by Joseph Smith a prophet of God. No other church has so changed or abrogated the laws [213] which they claimed were once delivered to them of God. The Mormons alone have declared that God condescended to speak from the heavens His will direct to their prophets and apostles. They and they alone have dared to declare that divine authority has been given unto us by the visitation of holy messengers, authority to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ and administer in the ordinances thereof, for the salvation of the souls of men. We assert that God cannot lie, that He does not vary from that which He hath said, that He is the same yesterday, today, and forever, and yet, we, and we alone, of all churches in Christendom have dared to abolish and nullify the laws given of God directly to us. "Behold, the Lord maketh the earth empty; and maketh it waste and turneth it upside down, and scattereth abroad the inhabitants thereof, . . . The land shall be utterly empty, and utterly spoiled; for the Lord hath spoken this word. The earth mourneth, and fadeth away; the world languisheth, and fadeth away; the haughty people of the earth do languish. The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof, because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinances and broken the everlasting covenant. Therefore hath the curse devoured the earth and they that dwell thereon are desolate; therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men left."(248) Who but the LatterDay Saints ever claimed to have received laws from God directed to them that could be transgressed? Who but the LatterDay Saints ever had ordinances in this day and age of the world given to them of God? Who but the LatterDay Saints ever received an "everlasting covenant" from God that could be broken? "Therefore hath the curse devoured the earth, and they that dwell thereon are desolate; therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men left." Who believes in a God that would so curse the sons of men and the earth they live upon, for the transgression of laws that were given of God nearly two thousand years ago, and that when God has ceased to speak to men? Would our God bring such calamities upon men for the [214] changing of ordinances of which the world today knew nothing? Do you think the God of Abraham would curse men for breaking a covenant they never knew of? None living upon the earth today but the Mormons have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinances, and broken the everlasting covenant God condescended to give direct to them. Therefore, the Lord God of heaven and earth who gave to this people the laws they have transgressed, the ordinances they have changed, the everlasting covenant they have broken has pronounced their condemnation. Hear and read it, all you who yet are spared to turn unto Him! "And your minds in times past have been darkened because of unbelief, and because you have treated lightly the things you have received; which vanity and unbelief hath brought the whole Church under condemnation; And this condemnation resteth upon the children of Zion, even all; and they shall remain under this condemnation until they repent and remember the new and everlasting covenant, even the book of Mormon, and the former commandments which I have given them, not only to say, but to do according to that which I have written." Thus saith the Lord to His Prophet Joseph Smith, as it is recorded in the Doctrine and Covenants, Section 84:5457. "Watchman, what of the night? Watchman, what of the night?" [215] 37 "THEREFORE TURN THEE TO THY GOD."(249) HEAR, 0 ye people, hear! that edict is of God and not of man! Ye people of whom God once said, "This Church . . . the only true and living Church upon the face of the whole earth, with which I, the Lord am well pleased, speaking of the Church collectively and not individually."(250) Ye people to whom God condescended to speak through His prophet, ye whom he entrusted with His holy priesthood sent by the hands of heavenly messengers, ye people "identified with the Gentiles" to whom He entrusted the bringing forth and proclaiming of His "new witness," even the Book of Mormon, ye people, the children of Zion, the Church, every Stake, every Ward, every Branch, every person, all who have taken upon yourselves the name of Christ, and have ceased to believe His written word, hearken ye! If ye had given heed to the words and commandments given unto you of God through His servant Joseph Smith, "the gates of hell would not have prevailed against you."(251) But ye, "even all" have proved recreant to those sacred trusts. Therefore God, even God who once was well pleased with you, as an organized body, has pronounced your condemnation, and your continued disobedience provoked His continued condemnation, until you repent and not only say but do according to that which He has written. Our gracious God warned this Church saying, "There is a possibility that man may fall from grace and depart from the living God. Therefore," said He, "let the Church take heed and pray always lest they fall into temptation; yea, and even let those who are sanctified take heed also." "And we know," said the prophet, "these things are true and according to the revelation of John." "And the Lord God has spoken it."(252) And, yet, ye heeded not, hence ye have fallen into temptation that has caused you to depart from the living God. Therefore night has come unto you [216] that ye have not a vision; and it is dark unto you that you cannot divine; and the sun has gone down over your prophets, and the day is dark over them. Now your seers are ashamed of the laws of God, and your diviners are confounded because of their agreement with death. "Yea they all cover their lips for there is no answer of God."(253) The priesthood called to administer the laws and ordinances of the gospel and to preside over the Church have not wholly kept their covenant with God," and many have ceased to bring forth fruits according to the pattern God gave us. Therefore, He says they are not of Him.(254) They have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinances, and broken the new and everlasting covenant. Wherefore, they make no attempt to have the people obey the commandment of God, "the standing law unto them forever." "And I say unto you, if my people observe not this law to keep it holy, and by this law sanctify the land of Zion unto me, that my statutes and my judgments may be kept thereon, that it may be most holy, behold verily I say unto you, it shall not be a land of Zion unto you."(255) Because of these things there is not now upon the earth a place sanctified and made holy where God's statutes and judgments may be kept, or a people preserved from the wars, famines, plagues, and pestilence that shall in this day be poured out upon the wicked of all nations. "Ye have made a consort of Babylon, with her ye have committed whoredoms and abominations, and with her ye shall partake of her plagues unless you speedily repent and turn back to your God. All ye who do not repent and turn to the Lord with all your hearts, and by your faith and righteous works have your names written in the Book of the Law of God shall find no inheritance among the Saints of the Most High, but ye shall be cut asunder and your portion shall be appointed you among unbelievers, where are wailing and gnashing of teeth,"(256) for the Lord hath spoken it. Man's salvation and exaltation in the celestial kingdom of God does not depend upon his membership in any organized group or church, no matter what its name or [217] its pretensions. Such organizations are effected by God to assist His Saints in learning of His ways, and to facilitate the teaching of His gospel and the observance of His commandments. Only when that church as an organization strictly teaches and observes God's laws can it be a help to mankind. If a church is not in harmony with God it will retard rather than advance man's salvation. God said of this Church, "Behold, I say unto you, were it not for the transgression of my people, speaking concerning the Church and not individuals, they might have been redeemed even now. But behold, they have not learned to be obedient to the things which I required at their hands, but are full of all manner of evil, and do not impart of their substance, as becometh Saints, to the poor and afflicted among them; And are not united according to the union required by the law of the celestial kingdom; and Zion cannot be built up unless it is by the principles of the law of the celestial kingdom; otherwise I cannot receive her unto myself."(257) When such a condition prevails in a church and it will not repent, blessed is he that is "out of harmony" with it and its leaders, provided, he be in harmony with God. It is God's approval, not man's measuring of his fellow man's fitness that determines our eternal exaltation. If the Church as an organization continues to transgress the laws of God, its state will in no way affect the salvation of those who do not participate in its transgression, but evidence by their works a love for God more than they love all else. Were it otherwise man's redemption and exaltation would depend upon sinful men rather than upon the grace of our Lord. "Behold this is my doctrine  whosoever repenteth and cometh unto me, the same is my church. Whosoever declareth more or less than this, the same is not of me, but is against me; therefore he is not of my church. And now behold, whosoever is of my church, and endureth of my church to the end, him will I establish upon my rock, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against them." "And now remember the words of him who is the life and the light of the world, your Redeemer, your Lord and your God."(258) [218] The conditions governing and maintaining an individual's standing as Christ's Church, is exactly the same as that governing and maintaining an organization's standing as His Church. "For whoso is faithful unto the obtaining these two priesthoods of which I have spoken, and the magnifying their calling, are sanctified by the Spirit unto the renewing of their bodies. They become the sons of Moses and Aaron and the seed of Abraham, an the church and kingdom, and the elect of God."(259) As previously stated, only on condition of man's being "out of harmony" with God can he be deprived of his standing as Christ's Church and kingdom or of his priesthood once authoritatively bestowed upon him. No man, woman, or child who has, through an implicit faith in God and His Son Jesus Christ, repented of their sins, been baptized and had the gifts of the Holy Ghost bestowed upon them, by one exercising divine authority, and thereafter remains true to God and His covenants can be deprived of their rights to the celestial kingdom of God by the acts of devils, men or angels. God's eternal decree to exalt His obedient children can never be revoked, even by Him, for He is God and cannot lie. God's kingdom is set up on the earth, never more to be thrown down or given to another people; and there will remain men divinely authorized to administer the laws and ordinances of that kingdom, until God sets His house in order, and that regardless of the present or future attitude of the Church toward the laws of God and those who observe them. It behooved God that the gospel in its fullness should go forth from the Gentiles unto the remnant of the house of Israel upon this and other lands; that His power and mercy might be shown forth unto the Gentiles and they made to taste the joys of eternal life through the Holy Ghost poured out upon them.(260) His church has been organized among them, but through their transgression of God's laws they deprived themselves of the fullness of the gospel, and have thereby turned the key against themselves forever. Hereafter they who are worthy among [219] them will be permitted to assist the remnant of the house of Israel in the promulgation of the gospel in power, in the building of the New Jerusalem and the temple of God therein.(261) But never again, as a Gentile nation and people, will they be permitted to bear the standard and lead the hosts of God. They have polluted their Church organized of God. "And there shall be a cry go forth: Depart ye, depart ye, go ye out from thence, touch not that which is unclean: go ye out of the midst of her: be ye clean that bear the vessels of the Lord." And God's people, with whom will be the fullness of the gospel, shall be led by a mighty prophet of the remnant of the house of Israel now dwelling on this land. It has been the writer's privilege to see that prophet standing in mighty majesty amidst thousands of his worshipful people. The mountains with their trees and shrubs, the hills with their grass and flowers, the valleys with their fields and streams joined the hosts of his nation "born in a day" singing paeans of praise to the God of heaven and earth! "His servant shall deal prudently; he shall be exalted and extolled and be very high; Many shall be greatly astonished, for although they seek to destroy him, and they mar his visage and form more than the sons of men. But behold, the life of my servant shall be in my hand therefore they shall not hurt him, although he shall be marred because of them. Yet I will heal him, for I will show unto them that my wisdom is greater than the cunning of the devil."(262) If the Gentiles "will repent and hearken unto my words, and harden not their hearts, I will establish my church among them, and they shall come in unto the covenant and be numbered among this the remnant of Joseph, unto whom I have given this land for their inheritance. And they shall assist my people, the remnant of Jacob, and also as many of the house of Israel as shall come, that they might build a city, which shall be called the New Jerusalem. And then shall they assist my people that they may be gathered in, who are scattered upon [220] all the face of the land, in unto the New Jerusalem. And then shall the power of heaven come down among them; and I also will be in the midst.(263) "But, if the Gentiles do not repent they shall be cut off from among the covenant people of God and shall be trodden down and torn in pieces. Their beasts, their fields and their groves shall be destroyed: Their cities and their strongholds, their magnificent buildings and all the workmanship of their hands which they have worshiped. Their places of sin and carnal pleasure, all shall be leveled to the earth and burned. And it shall come to pass that all lyings, and deceivings, and envyings, and strifes, and priestcrafts, and whoredoms shall be done away. For it shall come to pass, saith the Father, that at that day whosoever will not repent and come unto my Beloved Son, them will I cut off from among my people, 0 house of Israel. And I will execute vengeance and fury upon them, even as upon the heathen, such as they have not heard."(264) To them who have loved and been comforted of the Lord, He shall say, "Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thy habitations; spare not, lengthen thy cords and strengthen thy stakes; for thou shalt break forth on the right hand and on the left, and thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles and make the desolate cities to be inhabited. Fear not, for thou shalt not be ashamed; neither be thou confounded, for thou shalt not be put to shame; for thou shalt forget the shame of thy youth, and shalt not remember the reproach of thy youth, and shalt not remember the reproach of thy widowhood any more. For thy maker, thy husband, the Lord of Hosts is His name; and thy Redeemer, the Holy one of Israel  the God of the whole earth shall he be called, will watch over thee. . . . No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord."(265) [221] The coming of our Lord is very near, He will cut his work very short in righteousness. There is barely time for those who labor unceasingly to prepare to meet Him. All others will have no oil in their lamps. His prophet will precede him and prepare the believing of the remnant of Israel upon this land for His coming. Unparalleled tribulation will come like a mighty whirlwind on a clear and cloudless summer's day, upon all nations. Its gathering is now before your eyes. Peace shall no more return to the earth until the consummation of God's decree to utterly destroy the wicked! Those who profess the name of Christ will be tested, cleaned, and purified as gold in the crucible before it receives its master's stamp of approval. None but the tried, clean, and pure will be chosen by our Lord for His jewels. I beg of you to study and ponder over these things you have read, with a most sincere desire to know the truth, for nothing but truth can make you free. Call upon God in humble prayer without ceasing. Ask Him in the humility of your soul if these things be true. If your heart is right before Him and they are true He will cause your bosom to burn within you and you shall know the truth for yourself and not for another. Then pray and labor without ceasing that God will give you wisdom and strength to take up your cross and follow your Redeemer. "Think not that I am come to send peace on earth; I came not to send peace, but a sword. "For I am come to set a man at variance against his father and the daughter against her mother, and the daughterinlaw against her motherinlaw. And a man's foes shall be they of his own household. "He that loveth father and mother more than me, is not worthy of me. And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me is not worthy of me. "He that findeth his life, shall lose it; and he that loseth his life for my sake, shall find it."(266) "These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world."(267) [222] "And the peace of God which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."(268) May the grace of our Lord and the joy of His truths possess your soul is the prayer of your humble friend and brother in Christ. B. HARVEY ALLRED. [The following colophon ended the first edition ] This fearless and scholarly discourse on Mormon doctrine called "A Leaf in Review," by B. Harvey Allred, has been made into a book by The Caxton Printers, Ltd., during the fourth month of nineteen hundred and thirtythree at their publishing house in Caldwell, Idaho. The type is Linotype Century Expanded, ten point, designed by Theodore L. De Vinne, a noted American typographer. Presswork is from standard Miehle letterpresses. Paper is Eggshell Book, 60pound, supplied by Sabin Robbins Company, of Cleveland, Ohio. This volume is small octavo in size, with rounded corners and limp binding without joint, and gold stamped side title, a method much in vogue in England. The binding material is Corvus Permatex, 43, levant grain, lustersheen, supplied by Peerless Roll Leaf Company, Union City, New Jersey. The typographical and mechanical details were supervised by W. Earle Norton. Here is a book to be read with an open mind. He who knows only his own side of the case usually knows little of that. NOTES (1) Cf. Index: Allred, Plural Mar. (2)Cf. Index: Allred. (3)Cf. Chapter 32 and Appendix II. (4)Cf. Page 7. (5)Cf. page 219. (6)D. and C. 128:18. (7)Ezek. 37:1522; D. and C. 27:5. (8)I Nephi 10:1719; D. and C. 3:2. (9)Gal. 1:69; Romans 1:16. (10)Isaiah 24:5, 6. (11)D. and C. 85:7. (12)D. and C. 75:25. (13)D. and C. 1:39. (14)D. and C. 93:3032. (15)P. of G. P. Abraham, 3:26. (16)II Thess. 2:13, 14. (17)I Nephi 1:20. (18)D. and C. 56:2; Matt. 10:38. (19)Matt. 5:312; III Nephi 12:6. (20)II Tim 3:12; John 15:19. (21)D. and C. 82:3; Luke 12:48. (22)D. and C. 6:2; Heb. 4:12. (23)II Thess. 2:10, 11. (24)Job 38:11. (25)II Sam. 22:2, 3. (26)Matt. 11:29. (27)D. and C. 93:24, 26. (28)D. and C. 84:45; John 14:26. (29)John 14:26 (30)Job 12:13, 22. (31)Job 34:21, 22. (32)II Peter 1:20, 21. (33)I Cor. 2:10, 11; D. and C. 18:18. (34)D. and C. 136:33. (35)II Peter 3:15, 16; D. and C. 10:63. (36)I Nephi 10:18; D. and C. 3:2. (37)I Nephi 10:19. (38)D. and C. 68:3, 4. (39)Matt. 23:29. (40)I Cor. 2:10,11. (41)D. and C. 76:10. (42)D. and C. 76:116. (43)D. and C. 82:10. (44)D. and C. 9:7, 8, 9. (45)Mark 1:8; Matt. 3:11; Luke 3:16. (46)D. and C. 33:11; 20:14. (47)Eph. 4:1113. (R.V.) (48)D. and C. 124:123144; 107:68 (49)D. and C. 20:60. (50)D. and C. 84:3341. (51)D. and C. 84:4142. (52)Rev. 14:6, 7. (53)D. and C. 1:17. (54)D. and C. 3:9; 9:12; 18:8. (55)D. and C. 21:24. (56)D. and C. 3:4, 13. (57)D. and C. 35:18. (58)D. and C. 5:21; 93:47. (59)D. and C. 1:31; 38:10; 50:9. (60)D. and C. 67:12; 136:37; P. of G. P. Book of Moses 1:25, 11, 14. (61)C. W. Penrose, in Mill. Star Vol. 54, p. 191. (62)Mill. Star Vol. 14. No. 33, p. 59456. (63)D. and C. 21:1, 2. (64)D. and C. 18:4, 5. (65)Ephesians 2:20. (66)Matt. 16:17, 18. (67)D. and C. 84:1721. (68)D. and C. 121:3638. (69)D. and C. 107:5. (70)D. and C. 70:58. (71)The writer loves and honors the name "Mormon" and with a feeling of reverence therefor will hereafter use it, for brevity's sake, when referring to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. (72)Prov. 29:18. (73)Numbers 12:6. (74)II Nephi 28:10, 14. (75)II Nephi 28:24, 25, 29. (76)II Tim. 3:12. (77)Isaiah 28:7, 15, 18. (78)Micah 3:57. (79)D. and C. 50:6. (80)D. and C. 64:3840. (81)D. and C. 107:21, 22. (82)D. and C. 102:9. (83)Rom. 16:17. (84)Matt. 7:1516. (85)Deut. 13:15. (86)D. and C. 20:17; 76:3, 4. (87)D. and C. 52:1420. (88)Writings of Joseph Smith, P. of G. P. p. 89, v. 35. (89)Mosiah 8:13, 14. (90)Numbers 18:8, 9. (91)Ezra 2:62, 63; Neh. 7:65. (92)D. and C. 76:58. (93)D. and C. 43:27. (94)D. and C. 20:35. (95)D. and C. 28:11, 12. (96)II Nephi 28:31. (97)D. and C. 132:811. (98)Proverbs 12:15. (99)John 15:16. (100)Mark 16:15; Matt. 28:19. (101)D. and C. 18:27, 28; 107:98. (102)D. and C. 84:62; 107:23, 33; 112:21; 118. (103)Ch. Hist. Vol 2, p. 190200. (104)Essentials in Church Hist., p. 386. (105)D. and C. 107:3336. (106)Doc. and Cov. Commentary p. 864. (107)D. and C. 107:9397. (108)Numbers 11:1625. (109)Luke 10:1, 17. (110)D. and C. 107:25, 26, 34. (111)D. and C. 124:138140. (112)D. and C. 107:38. (113)D. and C. 124:137. (114)D. and C. 107:98. (115)D. and C. 20:45; 107:11. (116)D. and C. 124:133135. (93)D. and C. 68:17; 107:87, 88. (94)D. and C. 107:87, 88. (95)D. and C. 107:68, 71. (96)D. and C. 72:916. (97)D. and C. 75:24. (98)D. and C. 107:7274. (99)D. and C. 107:6871. (100)D. and C. 107:68. (101)D. and C. 107:67. (102)D. and C. 107:69. (103)D. and C. 107:71. (104)D. and C. 84:29. (105)D. and C. 68:22, 23. (106)D. and C. 107:76, 82. (107)D. and C. 107:87, 88. (108)D. and C. 20:4652. (109)II Nephi 5:26; Jacob 1:18, 19. (110)Moroni 3:3. (111)D. and C. 84:111. (112)D. and C. 20:5357. (113)I Tim. 3:813. (114)D. and C. 20:60. (115)D. and C. 20:58. (116)D. and C. 42:11. (117)D. and C. 20:46, 48. (118)D. and C. 84:2125. (119)D. and C. 107:8 (120)D. and C. 107:5. (121)D. and C. 13:1. (122)P. of G. P., Writings of Joseph Smith, p. 100, v. 72. (123)Church History, Vol. 1, p. 4042. (124)Gospel Doctrine p. 169, and Improvement Era Vol. 4, p. 394, March 1901. (125)D. and C. 107:8. (126)D. and C. 13:1; I Tim. 4:14. (127)D. and C. 132:10, 11. (128)D. and C. 107:70. (129)D. and C. 130:20, 21. (130)II Chron. 15:2. (131)D. and C. 20:3234. (132)III Nephi 18:21; Alma 34:21. (133)D. and C. 68:28. (134)D. and C. 50:29. (135)D. and C. 8:1; 37:2. (136)D. and C. 41:3; 50;1. (137)D. and C. 68:33, 34. (138)D. and C. 88:81. (139)D. and C. 19:30. (140)D. and C. 68:6. (141)D. and C. 18:32. (142)D. and C. 42:14. (143)D. and C. 42:6. (144)D. and C. 84:86. (145)D. and C. 84:79. (146)D. and C. 84:89, 90, 91. (147)I Nephi 3:7. (148)D. and C. 84:80. (149)D. and C. 98:22. (150)D. and C. 58:21. (151)Shakespeare. (152)D. and C. 84:9295. (153)Ezek. 37:21, 22. (154)Rev. 18:4. (155)D. and C. 110:11. (156)D. and C. 29:710. (157)D. and C. 101:22. (158)D. and C. 105:34. (159)D. and C. 101:63, 64, 67. (160)D. and C. 124:2526; 125:2. (161)D. and C. 101:6467. (162)D. and C. 29:8, 9. (163)D. and C. 98:15, 16. (164)D. and C. 63:31. (165)Ether 8:19. (166)D. and C. 105:14. (167)D. and C. 98:3337. (168)Brigham Young's Discourses, p. 563. (169)D. and C. 87. (170)John 12:43. (171)Alma 56:55, 56. (172)D. and C. 104:17, 18. (173)Acts 4:32. (174)IV Nephi 1:3, 16, 17. (175)P. of G. P., Book of Moses 7:18. (176)D. and C. 49:19, 20. (177)D. and C. 78:4. (178)D. and C. 104:1, 2. (179)D. and C. 82:20. (180)D. and C. 41:1. (181)D. and C. 103:58. (182)D. and C. 51:1, 2. (183)II Chron. 15:2. (184)D. and C. 104:1519. (185)Isaiah 55:8, 9. (186)Ezek. 22:26. (187)Improvement Ear, Vol. 9, p. 812, Joseph F. Smith. (188)Jer. 5:25. (189)D. and C. 70:14. (190)I Nephi 13:34; III Nephi 16:4; 20:28; 21:26. (191)D. and C. 109:60. (192)Ch. Hist. Vol. 2, p. 200; D. and C. 107:33. (193)II Tim. 3:12. (194)John 15:1820. (195)D. and C. 1:30. (196)Jer. 2:13. (197)Luke 8:515. (198)Jer. 8:713. (199)Isaiah 51:12, 13. (200)John 12:43. (201)Ezek. 13:110. (202)Matt. 7:811. (203)D. and C. 131:14. (204)D. and C. 132:6. (205)Jer. 8:9, 10. (206)Mal. 1:14. (207)John 8:17. (208)D. and C. 107:2331. (209)Rev. to W. Woodruff Jan. 26, 1890. (210)Mill. Star of April 12, 1872, p. 242 (211)Mill. Star Vol. 5, p. 15. (212)Contributor, V. 5, p. 56. (213)The Seer, Vol. 11, No. 1, p. 10. (214)Lorenzo Snow, before District Court of Utah. (See Martyrdom of Joseph Standing, p. 144. (215)Mill. Star, Vol. 45, p. 454. (216)Church Historical Record, Vol. 7, p. 548. (217)Church Historical Record, Vol. 6, p. 222. (218)Contributor, Vol. 5, p. 56. (219)Journal of Discourses, Vol. 24, p. 244, July 20, 1888. (220)Journal of Discourses, Vol. 17, p. 223. (221)Journal of Discourses, Vol. 20, p. 24. (222)Joshua 24:15, 16. (223)D. and C. 58:21. (224)D. and C. 98:46. (225)D. and C. 124:49. (226)Jacob 2:2330. (227)D. and C. 132:38, 39. (228)Acts 13:22; I Sam. 13:14. (229)II Sam. 12:713. (230)I Kings 9:49. (231)Exodus 34:16; Deut. 7:3, 4. (232)Eph. 4:17, 18. (233)D. and C. 98:7. (234)D. and C. 101:80. (235)Acts 5:29. (236)Contributor, Vol. 5, p. 259. (237)The Martyrdom of Joseph Standing, p. 8. (238)Mill. Star of April, 1879, p. 242. (239)D. and C. 121:3438. (240)D. and C. 35:12. (241)D. and C. 64:5. (242)D. and C. 10:67, 68. (243)D. and C. 84:3335. (244)Orson Pratt, in the Seer, p. 16. (245)See Martyrdom of Joseph Standing, p. 144. (246)Ezek. 22:28. (247)Ezek. 34:110. (248)Isaiah 24:16. (249)Hosea 12:6. (250)D. and C. 1:30. (251)D. and C. 21:46. (252)D. and C. 20:3235. (253)Micah 3:57. (254)D. and C. 52:1421. (255)D. and C. 119. (256)D. and C. 85:811. (257)D. and C. 102:25. (258)D. and C. 10:6770. (259)D. and C. 84:33, 34. (260)III Nephi 21:57. (261)III Nephi 21:2224. (262)III Nephi 20:4144; 21:10. (263)III Nephi 21:2225. (264)III Nephi 21:14, 24. (265)III Nephi 22. (266)Matt. 10:3439. (267)John 16:33. (268)Phillippians 4:7.