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MORMON PARADISE.

Harris says,—

"The Mormon idea of a Paradise is a singular feature in their creed. They, however, regard it as one which shows the superiority of their system over all others, and ridicule, as absurd, the notion generally entertained of the location and nature of heaven. As a matter of curiosity, then, as well as to make a further display of the absurdities of Mormonism, I will here insert a description of the Mormon Paradise, taken from the Voice of Warning, pages 179, 80. Alluding to a prophecy in the Book of Mormon, the author says, 'From this prophecy we learn, First, That America is a chosen land. Secondly, That it is the place of the new Jerusalem, which shall come down from God out of heaven upon the earth, when it is renewed. Thirdly, That a new Jerusalem is to be built in America, to the remnant of Joseph, (the Indians,) like unto or after a similar pattern to the old Jerusalem in the land of Canaan; and that the old Jerusalem shall be rebuilt at the same time; and this being done, both cities will continue in prosperity on the earth, until the great and last change, when the heavens and the earth are to be renewed. Fourth, We learn that when this change takes place, the two cities are caught up into heaven, together with the inhabitants thereof, and being changed, and made new, the one comes down on the American land, and the other to its own place as formerly. Fifth, We learn that the inhabitants are the same that gathered together and first builded them. The remnant of Joseph and those gathered. with them, inherit the new Jerusalem; and the tribes of Israel, gathered from the north countries, and from the four quarters of the earth, inhabit the other, and thus all things being made new, we find those who were once strangers and pilgrims on the earth, in possession of that better country, and that city for which they sought.'

"Here, then, is a picture of the Mormon Paradise. Let us now, for a moment, compare it to the Paradise of God, or the city of inheritance, spoken of, and sought for, by the prophets and apostles.

"Christ said, when on earth, 'In my Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.' Now, where did Christ speak of going? To the earth? He was already there, and on the very spot where one of the new Jerusalems, according to the Mormons, is to be. He meant, evidently, to his Father's house, the place where is the throne of God. Paul, in his allusion to this passage, says, 'For we know, that if this earthly house of our tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.' And speaking of Abraham, 'For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose maker and builder is God.' Here is Paul's idea of heaven, 'a house not made with hands, eternal (that is, existing from, and to, all eternity) in the heavens.' The Mormon Paradise, on the other hand, is to be built by men, (not by God, as was Abraham's,) and does not yet exist. Again, Peter says, 'Blessed be the