The Articles of Faith. James E. Talmage

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      15. Consider the word of the Lord regarding those whose sin is the unpardonable one, whose transgression has carried them beyond the present horizon of possible redemption; those who have sunk so low in their wickedness as to have lost the power and even the desire to attempt reformation.150 "Sons of Perdition" is the terrible designation by which they are known. These are they who, having learned the power of God, afterward renounce it; those who sin wilfully, in the light of knowledge; those who open their hearts to the Holy Spirit, and then put the Lord to a mockery and a shame by denying Him; and those who commit murder, wherein they shed innocent blood;151 these are they of whom the Savior has declared that it would be better for them had they never been born.152 These are to share the punishment of the devil and his angels—punishment so terrible that the knowledge is withheld from all except those who are consigned to this dread doom, though a momentary glance at the awful picture is permitted to some.153 These sinners are the only ones over whom the second death hath power, "Yea, verily, the only ones who shall not be redeemed in the due time of the Lord."154

      16. The Duration of Punishment.—As to the duration of such punishment, we may take assurance that it will be graded according to the sin; and that the popular interpretation of scriptural passages to the effect that every sentence for misdeeds is interminable, is entirely false.155 Great as is the effect of this life upon the hereafter, and terrible as is the responsibility of opportunities lost for repentance, God holds the power to pardon beyond the grave. And yet the scriptures speak of eternal and endless punishment. Any punishment ordained of God is eternal, for He is eternal.156 His is a system of endless punishment, for it will always exist as a place or condition prepared for disobedient spirits; yet the infliction of the penalty will have an end in every case of willing repentance and attempted reparation. And repentance is not impossible in the spirit world.157 Yet, as seen, there are some sins so terrible that their consequent punishments are not made known to man;158 these extreme penalties are reserved for the "Sons of Perdition."

      17. The false doctrine that the punishment to be visited upon the erring souls is endless, that every sentence for sin is of interminable duration, must be regarded as one of the most pernicious results of unenlightened sectarianism. It is but a dogma of unauthorized and erring churches, at once unscriptural, unreasonable, and revolting to one who loves mercy and honors justice. True, the scriptures speak of everlasting burnings, eternal damnation, and the vengeance of eternal fire,159 as characteristics of the judgment provided for the wicked; yet in no instance is there justification for the inference that the individual sinner will have to suffer the wrath of offended justice forever and ever. The punishment in any case is sufficiently severe without the added and supreme horror of unending continuation. Justice must have her due; but when "the uttermost farthing" is paid, the prison doors shall open and the captive be free. But the prison remains, and the law prescribing punishment for offences will not be repealed.

      18. So general were the ill-effects of the commonly-accepted doctrine, unscriptural and untrue though it was, regarding the endless torment awaiting every sinner, that even before the Church had been formally organized in the present dispensation, God gave a revelation through the Prophet Joseph Smith, touching this matter, in which we read:—"And surely every man must repent or suffer; for I, God, am endless: wherefore I revoke not the judgments which I shall pass, but woes shall go forth, weeping, wailing and gnashing of teeth, yea to those who are found on my left hand; nevertheless it is not written that there shall be no end to this torment, but it is written endless torment. Again it is written eternal damnation … for behold, I am endless, and the punishment which is given from my hand, is endless punishment, for Endless is my name; wherefore, eternal punishment is God's punishment. Endless punishment is God's punishment.160"

      19. Satan.—We have had occasion to refer frequently to the author of evil among men. This is Satan,161 the adversary or opponent of the Lord, the chief of all evil spirits, called also the Devil,162 Beelzebub,163 or the Prince of Devils, Perdition,164 and Belial.165 The figurative appellations Dragon and Serpent are applied to Satan, when reference is made to his fall.166 We learn from the revealed word167 that Satan was once an angel of light; he was then known as Lucifer, a Son of the Morning, but his uncontrolled ambition prompted him to aspire to the glory and power of the Father, to secure which he made the unjust proposition to redeem the human family by compulsion; failing in this purpose, he headed an open rebellion against the Father and the Son, drawing a third of the hosts of heaven into his impious league.168 These rebellious spirits were expelled from heaven, and have since followed the impulses of their wicked natures by seeking to lead human souls to their own condition of darkness. They are the Devil and his angels. The right of free agency, maintained and vindicated by the fateful strife in heaven, prevents the possibility of compulsion being employed in this fiendish work of degradation; but the powers of these malignant spirits to tempt and persuade are used to their utmost limits. Satan tempted Eve to transgress the law of God;169 it was he who imparted the secret of murder to the fratricide, Cain.170

      20. Satan exerts a mastery over the spirits that have been corrupted by his practices; he is the foremost of the angels who were thrust down, and the instigator of the ruin of those who fall in this life; he seeks to molest and hinder mankind in good efforts, by tempting to sin; it may be by imposing sickness,171 or possibly death. Yet in all these malignant doings, he can go no farther than the transgressions of the victim may enable him, or the wisdom of God may permit him to go, and he may at any time be checked by the superior power. Indeed, even the operations of his utmost malice may be turned to the accomplishment of Divine purposes. The scriptures prove to us that the days of Satan's power are already numbered,172 his doom has been pronounced, and in the Lord's own time he will be completely overcome. He is to be bound during the millennial reign,173 and after that thousand years of blessed peace, he will be loosed for a little season; then his defeat will be made complete, and his power over the children of God will be entirely destroyed.

      THE FALL.

      21. Our First Parents in Eden.174—The crowning scene of the great drama of creation was the forming of man in the image of his spiritual Father, God.175 For the reception of the first man, the Creator had specially prepared a choice region of earth, and had embellished it with natural beauties calculated to gladden the heart of its royal possessor. "The Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden,176 and there he put the man whom he had formed."177 Soon after man's advent upon the earth the Lord created for him a companion or help-meet, declaring that it was not good that man should be alone,178 Thus, male and female, Adam and his wife Eve, were placed in the Garden. They had been given dominion "over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth."179 With this great power were associated certain special commands, the first of which in point of importance was that they "be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth, and subdue it;" then, that they refrain from eating or even touching the fruit of a certain tree, the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, which grew in the midst of the Garden, though of all other fruits they were permitted to freely partake. The words of God concerning this command and its penalty are:—"And I, the Lord God, commanded the man, saying, of every tree in the garden thou mayest freely eat, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it; nevertheless thou mayest choose for thyself, for it is given unto thee, but remember that I forbid it, for in the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die."180

      22. The Temptation to disobey this command soon came. Satan presented himself before Eve in the Garden, and, speaking by the mouth of the serpent, questioned her about the commands СКАЧАТЬ