The Articles of Faith. James E. Talmage

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СКАЧАТЬ him to their several creeds. To his surprise, these professed teachers of Christ treated his statements with the utmost contempt, declaring that the day of revelation from God had long since passed away; and that the manifestation, if indeed he had received any such at all, was surely from Satan. Nevertheless, the ministers exerted themselves, with a unity of purpose strangely at variance with their former hostility toward one another, to ridicule the young man, and to denounce his testimony. The neighborhood was aroused; persecution, bitter and vindictive, was waged against him and his family; he was actually fired upon by a would-be assassin: yet through it all he was preserved from bodily injury; and in spite of increasing opposition he remained faithfully steadfast to his testimony of the heavenly visitation.14 In this condition of trial, he continued without further manifestation for three years, constantly expecting, but never receiving the additional light and added instructions for which he yearned. He was keenly sensitive of his own frailty and conscious of human weaknesses. He pleaded before the Lord, acknowledging his errors and craving help.

      15. Angelic Visitations.—On the night of September 21st, 1823, while praying for forgiveness of sins and for guidance as to his future course, he was blessed with another heavenly manifestation. There appeared in his room a brilliant light, in the midst of which stood a personage clothed in white, and with a countenance of radiant purity and loveliness. The celestial visitor announced himself as Moroni, a messenger sent from the presence of God; and then he proceeded to instruct the youth as to some of the Divine purposes in which Joseph was to take a most important part. The angel said that through Joseph as the earthly instrument the true Church would be again established upon the earth; that his name would be known among all nations and tongues, honored by the good, reviled by the wicked; that a record, engraven on plates of gold, giving a history of the nations that had formerly lived upon the western continent and an account of the Savior's ministrations among the people on this land, was hidden in a hill near by; that with the plates were two sacred stones, known as Urim and Thummim, by the use of which, men in olden times had become seers, and that through those instruments God would enable Joseph to translate the record engraved on the plates.

      16. The angelic messenger then repeated several prophecies which are recorded in the ancient scriptures; some of the quotations were given with variations from our Bible readings. Of the words of Malachi the following were quoted: "For behold, the day cometh that shall burn as an oven, and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall burn as stubble, for they that come shall burn them, saith the Lord of Hosts, and it shall leave them neither root nor branch."15 And further:—"Behold, I will reveal unto you the Priesthood by the hand of Elijah the prophet, before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. And he shall plant in the hearts of the children the promises made to the fathers, and the hearts of the children shall turn to their fathers; if it were not so, the whole earth would be utterly wasted at his coming."16 Among other scriptures, Moroni cited the prophecies of Isaiah relating to the restoration of scattered Israel, and the promised reign of righteousness on earth,17 saying that the predictions were about to be fulfilled; also the words of Peter to the Jews, concerning the prophet who Moses said would be raised up, explaining that the prophet referred to was Christ, and that the day was near at hand when all who rejected the words of the Savior would be cut off from among the people.18

      17. Having delivered his message, the angel departed, the light in the room seeming to condense about his person, and disappearing with him. But the heavenly visitant returned a second and a third time during the night, each time repeating the instructions, with additional admonitions as to the requirements, and warnings regarding temptations that would assail the youthful seer. On the following day, Moroni appeared to Joseph again, reciting anew the instructions and cautions of the preceding night, and telling him to acquaint his father with all he had heard and seen. This the boy did, and the father promptly testified that the communications were from God.

      18. Joseph soon repaired to the hill described to him in the vision. He recognized the spot indicated by the angel, and with some labor laid bare a stone box containing the plates and other things spoken of by Moroni. The heavenly messenger again stood beside him, and forbade the removal of the contents at that time, saying that four years were to elapse before the plates would be committed to his care, and that it would be his duty to visit the spot at yearly intervals. On the occasion of each of these visits the angel instructed the young man more fully regarding the great work awaiting him.

      19. It is not the purpose of the present lecture to review in detail the life and ministry of Joseph Smith;19 so much attention has been given to the opening scenes of his divinely-appointed mission, in view of the unusual importance associated with the ushering in of the modern or new dispensation of God's providence. The bringing forth of the plates from their resting-place of centuries, their translation by divine power, and the publication of the record as the Book of Mormon, shall receive attention on a later occasion; for the present it is sufficient to say that the ancient record has been translated; that the Book of Mormon has been given to the world; and that the volume is accepted as scripture by the Latter-day Saints.

      20. Later Developments: the Martyrdom.—In due time, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was organized, the Priesthood having been restored through the ordination of Joseph Smith by those who had held the keys of that authority in former dispensations. From an initial membership of but six persons, the Church grew to include thousands during the life-time of the Prophet Joseph; and the growth has continued with phenomenal rapidity and stability until the present time. One by one the powers and authorities possessed by the Church of old were restored through the man who was chosen and ordained to be the first elder of the latter-day dispensation. With the spread of the Church, persecution increased, and the effect of evil opposition reached a climax in the cruel martyrdom of the prophet, and his brother Hyrum, then patriarch of the Church, June 27, 1844. The incidents leading up to and culminating in the foul murder of these men at Carthage, Illinois, are matters of common history. Suffice it to say that prophet and patriarch gave the sacred seal of their life's blood to the testimony of the truth, which they had valiantly maintained in the face of intolerant persecution for nearly a quarter of a century.20

      21. Authenticity of Joseph Smith's Mission.—The evidence of divine authority in the work established by Joseph Smith, and of the justification of the claims made by and for the man, may be summarized as follows:

      I. Ancient prophecy has been fulfilled in the restoration of the gospel and the re-establishment of the Church upon the earth through his instrumentality.

      II. He received by direct ordination and appointment, at the hands of those who held the power in former dispensations, the authority to minister in the various ordinances of the gospel.

      III. His possession of the power of true prophecy, and of other spiritual gifts, is shown by the results of his ministry.

      IV. His doctrines are both true and scriptural.

      Each of these classes of evidence will receive attention and find ample demonstration in the course of our study of the Articles of Faith; and a detailed consideration will not be attempted at this stage of our investigation; a few illustrations, briefly stated, however, may not be out of place.

      22. I. The Fulfilment of Prophecy, wrought through the life work of Joseph Smith, is abundantly shown. John the Revelator, from his prophetic vision of the latter-day dispensation, understood and predicted that the gospel would be again sent from the heavens, and be restored to the earth through the direct ministration of an angel:—"And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people."21 A partial fulfilment of this prediction is claimed in the manifestation of the angel Moroni to Joseph Smith, as already described, whereby the restoration of the gospel was announced, and the speedy realization of other ancient prophecies was promised; and a record, described in part as containing СКАЧАТЬ