Utah and the Mormons/Chapter 12

The Mormon creed is a curious piece of checkered and incongruous patchwork. Joseph Smith, the founder, claimed to be the divinely authorized discoverer and translator of the sacred writings of an ancient people on this continent—alleged to have been written on golden plates, and reserved until these last days for the use of "the Church of Latter-day Saints"—called the Book of Mormon.

The cardinal starting-point of Mormonism is, that the last days are at hand, and that the Mormons are Latter-day Saints. The controlling idea is, that the general judgment is to come soon; by which is not meant an indefinite series of ages, but within the lifetime of the present generation. As early as January, 1833, the prophet announced as follows:

"And now I am prepared to say, by the authority of Jesus Christ, that not many years shall pass away before the United States shall present such a scene of bloodshed as has not a parallel in the history of our nation; pestilence, hail, famine, and earthquakes will sweep the wicked of this generation from off the face of the land, to open and prepare the way for the return of the lost tribes of Israel from the north country. The ​people of the Lord, those who have complied with the requisitions of the new covenant, have already commenced gathering together to Zion, which is in the State of Missouri; therefore I declare unto you the warning which the Lord has commanded me to declare unto this generation, remembering that the eyes of my Maker are upon me, and that to Him I am accountable for every word I say, wishing nothing worse to my fellow-men than their eternal salvation; therefore, 'fear God and give glory to Him, for the hour of his judgment is come.' Repent ye, repent ye, and embrace the everlasting covenant, and flee to Zion before the overflowing scourge overtake you, for there are those now living upon the earth whose eyes shall not be closed in death until they see all these things which I have spoken fulfilled." (Times and Seasons, p. 707.)

The gathering of the Saints is that they may witness the imposing exhibition of the consummation of all things, which, in fact, is to be got up for their exclusive benefit. Under this leading idea, the true believer leaves a comfortable home in the States, endures privations and encounters danger in the long and weary travel to Utah, shelters himself in a wretched mud hovel in the Valley of Salt, and patiently waits for the sound of the last trump. To be sure, some die on the way, and some die at the place of gathering, but these are only the few decayed leaves which fall from the tree in 'summer; the mass of the foliage remains until the autumnal frosts. This is a fixed and abiding idea in the Mormon mind. They have even defined the time to be in or about the year 1870 when the grand wind-up is to take place. Any other than a ​speedy period for this catastrophe would disperse the Saints to the four winds. When the time shall have clapsed without the occurrence of this momentous display in the literal heavens, it will require a special meeting of the Celestials, and a strong revelation, to reconcile them to a postponement.

Under the pressure of this belief, the sending forth of missionaries is a necessity. The fanatical Mormon would not be satisfied unless he believed the work of conversion and gathering to be rapidly going on. No inconsiderable amount of their preaching is made up of reports from returned missionaries, who recount the victories they have gained over Gentile adversaries, the miracles they have performed, and the multitudes they have baptized. In March, 1853, one Gruard, a returning missionary from the Sandwich Islands, delivered one of these discourses, in which he claimed to have baptized 700 natives. A Mormon's statement is generally to be taken with many grains of allowance, especially where there is no chance for contradiction; and if this champion baptized one tenth of the number, it was a sufficient foundation for the story; but, whether 70 or 700, not a dozen of them will ever become members of the Latter-day flock.

Before the eventful period arrives, the Saints have a huge amount of business to do. They have not only to gather in all who are to be made Saints among the Gentiles, but the lost tribes of Israel are to be brought out of the "North country"—somewhere in the neighborhood of Sir John Franklin—and all the Indians are to be converted. Joseph, in 1831, said by revelation, "But before the great day of the Lord shall come, Ja​cob shall flourish in the wilderness, and the Lamanites shall blossom as the rose." The Lamanites are Indians, but they have never blossomed at all under Mormon horticulture. Encouraged by the prophecy, they have preached diligently to the sons of the forest and the plains, and have baptized a few; but the Indians are a wary race, and not one convert has ever remained steadfast. On the contrary, they are now in open hostility with the Utahs, upon whose lands they have encroached; and Walker, or Wachor, the chief of this tribe, is their most deadly enemy, notwithstanding he has been purified by repeated baptisms.

The Mormon Church commenced with no distinct faith or doctrines, except a belief in Smith as a prophet, the Bible as reformed by him, the authenticity of the Book of Mormon, and that the last days were at hand. Smith's object was to gather in followers from Christendom; and to have rejected the Bible wholly would have shocked all who place faith in it. His plan was rather a renovation than a repudiation of ancient forms—the Melchisedek and Aaronic priesthood—the twelve apostles—the seventies, &c., &c.—blending Judaism and Christianity together in this respect, and claiming that out of these forms there can be no efficient administration in spiritual things. This exercise of the gift of revelation has gone on from one emergency to another, and from one speculation to another—a species of sacerdotal legislation, each subsequent enactment repealing what is inconsistent with it in previous statutes—until the Book of Mormon has become of minor authority. These Sibylline leaves were collected together, and published in 1835, in the Book ​of "Doctrines and Covenants," and, as a whole, exhibit the inharmonious and contradictory features which might reasonably be expected under similar circumstances.

It is a curious fact, that they have widely departed from the only important doctrines contained in the Book of Mormon; but they claim that their system is progressive. Says Brigham Young: "If he (an apostle) magnifies his calling, his words are the words of eternal life and salvation to those who hearken to them, just as much so as any written revelations contained in these three books (Bible, Book of Mormon, and Doctrines and Covenants). There is nothing contained in these three books that is any more revelation than the words of an apostle that is magnifying his calling." (Deseret News extra, p. 25.)

If the apostle, under the influence of this divine afflatus, eliminates nothing but what is found in these three books, he makes no advance. Each, of course, is ambitious of being found in the ranks of this moving array, and each, as a medium, gives the hues and colorings of his own mind. The result is precisely such as might have been anticipated, and the revelations of the voluptuary, the ambitious, the crafty, and the visionary speculatist, have come forth laden with the reeking effluvia and murky hues of each one's ruling love. There is nothing positively bad in the Book of Mormon more than in the Apocrypha. It teaches Theism, the moral virtues, faith, charity, the marriage of one man with one wife, and, withal, very pointedly condemns concubinage and its kindred vices. The progressive Saints have run into pantheism; polygamy, with its ​affinities; and, what is decidedly curious, as early as 1835 they totally ignored charity as a doctrinal principle, while they made faith the beginning, middle, and end of all religion.

In 1835, something like a systematic statement of doctrines was arranged in seven lectures, by Sidney Rigdon, which were published, and form the first part of the "Doctrines and Covenants." Every one of these lectures is headed "Of Faith." From these lectures it appears that they divide all theology into Faith, the objects of faith, and the effects which flow from it.

Faith is the first great governing principle, which has power, dominion, and authority over all things. It is the principle of power in God as well as in man. By it were all things created; without it, God could not have created any thing; nor could he uphold and govern the universe. It lies at the foundation of all human effort, and is the only means of man's salvation. God would not have attempted to create any thing unless he had had faith in his power to do it, and the same rule holds in regard to man.

Next comes the objects of faith, and under this head they profess a belief in the being and attributes of God. God is without beginning of days or end of life; infinite and eternal; omnipotent, omnipresent, and omniscient; the creator and upholder of all things, and the only living and true God. (Doctrines and Covenants, p. 25, 39, 92, &c.) Our knowledge of God is only traditionary. Adam and Cain had personal interviews with him, and their knowledge has been handed down to posterity. Without a knowledge of the being and attributes of God, and faith in him, no one could ​be saved; and in this respect the Latter-day Saints are on an equality with the Former-day Saints.

God consists of a trinity of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, but the supreme power belongs to the Father and Son. Though the Holy Spirit has a nominal place in this trinity, yet, as he seems to be shorn of power, and to act more in the capacity of a servant, their doctrine in this respect, and at this period, was rather a duality than a trinity. (Doctrines and Covenants, p. 52, 55.)

God the Father is a personage of spirit, and the Son a personage of body; that is, a body into which he entered in the natural world. The Son was begotten of the Father, and descended, and suffered according to previous ordination before the foundation of the world, to be a propitiation for the sins of all who should believe on him; by the efficacy of which the Saints are to have fullness of spirit and glory.

It seems that men, or rather their bodies, were not created as new beings, but as receptacles or "tabernacles" for pre-existing spirits which had been begotten in the heavens, and were there as the sons of God who shouted for joy at the creation; and that it was a necessary part of the plan that man should transgress, and the body die, in order that these "sons" should be furnished with resurrection bodies. It does not seem to have occurred to the Creator to impose the dissolution of the "tabernacle" as a part of the law of creation without disobedience. However, the plan having been adopted that man should transgress, it became necessary for some one to offer an atonement, and a council was called to choose a candidate for this mis​sion. Among the celebrated personages present on this memorable occasion was "Lucifer, son of the morning;" the passage from Job, "and Satan came also among them," being deemed sufficient authority on this point. Lucifer and the Son were the two candidates presented to this democratic theocracy; stump speeches were made; and the devil seems to have made a stiff fight of it, but was finally outvoted. "The contention in heaven was, Jesus said there would be certain souls that would not be saved, and the devil said he could save them all; the grand council gave in for Jesus Christ; so the devil rebelled against God and fell, and all who put up their heads for him." (Times and Seasons, p. 616.)

So much ill blood was engendered by this strife, that the devil and his adherents were finally banished, and their "tabernacles" in this world are the negro race, being cursed with a black skin. This, in reference to the election of the Son and the disgrace of Lucifer, is a doctrinal point, developed since the publication of the Book of Doctrines and Covenants, and introduced here for the sake of the connection.

Under the objects of faith are classed the works of faith, by which are understood those effected by the powers of the mind, instead of those resulting from physical efforts. By faith, in this sense, every thing is accomplished by God, angels, and men. "The whole visible creation is the effect of faith." "As all visible creation is the effect of faith, so is salvation also," and each one is saved according to the degree of his faith. "Salvation consists in the glory, authority, majesty, power, and dominion which Jehovah possesses, and in ​nothing else," and to this same degree men attain who are saved. Salvation "begins with faith, and continues by faith; and every blessing which is obtained in relation to it is the effect of faith, whether it pertains to this life or that which is to come." Faith brings with it "apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, teachers, gifts, wisdom, knowledge, miracles, healings, tongues, interpretation of tongues," &c.

Baptism is necessary to salvation, and is administered only by an apostle, and by immersion. Infants are not baptized, but blessed by an elder by the laying on of hands. Those who believe and are baptized, receive the Holy Ghost and the remission of sins. "It shall come to pass, that on as many as ye shall baptize with water, ye shall lay your hands, and they shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost." Those who do not believe and are not baptized, are damned; but as this would involve the damnation of all those who had died without the administration of this rite, baptisms are performed for them by proxy; that is, a Saint may be baptized for his deceased relatives or friends—called "baptism for the dead"—and they, by this process, are released from a state somewhat akin to Purgatory. This kind of baptism, however, can only be administered in the Temple.

Baptism may be said to be the most important of the Latter-day ordinances. Without it, no one can be saved; with it, the vilest is on the high road to salvation. There would seem to be an efficacy about it in Mormon hands which partakes of the miraculous. No matter how vile or filthy the applicant, baptism washes him into purity and comeliness. A man reeking ​from the pot-house or the brothel—the gambler, the horse-thief, and the counterfeiter—can have their sins made as wool by this all-powerful ablution. Woman, too, comes within this generous and comprehensive pale of salvation. She can be picked up from the gutter of pollution—selected out from the third tier and Five Points—and laved into respectability and purity. The oddity mentioned by Hudibras, which was

scarcely furnishes a parallel to its wondrous transformations.

This efficacy, too, has a continuando—a species of perpetuity perfectly marvelous. A man or woman may slide away into former licenses—the horse-thief may, in a fit of forgetfulness, take a valuable nag from some careless emigrant—the fair Cyprian be a little too lavish of her favors—when lo! these stray lambs return again and again to the ever-open fold, and are washed into a new regeneration—their sins forgotten and forgiven, and ready to be forgotten and forgiven, for the seventy and seventh time, which I believe is the canonical number of times in which they may safely transgress. Even the sin of apostacy, which, in Mormon estimation, is the blackest of all, may be whitened by this process; and it is related of Gladden Bishop, who claimed to stand in the same relation to Joseph Smith that our Lord did to John the Baptist, that he was excommunicated and rebaptized nine times, but was finally cut off and given over to the buffetings of Satan for one thousand years.

The sacrament of the Lord's Supper is recommend​ed as expedient, and is administered by a priest or elder. Wine was at first used, but water afterward substituted, because none could be obtained except of Gentile manufacture.

Subsequently, to rebut the charges of infidelity and heathenism brought against them, they published the following syllabus of doctrines:

"We believe in God the eternal Father, and in his Son Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost.

"We believe that men will be punished for their own sins, and not for Adam's transgressions.

"We believe that through the atonement of Christ all mankind may be saved, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel.

"We believe that these ordinances are, 1st. Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; 2d. Repentance; 3d. Baptism by immersion for the remission of sins; 4th. Laying on of hands by the gift of the Holy Spirit; 5th. The Lord's Supper.

"We believe that men must be called of God by inspiration, and by laying on of hands from those who are duly commissioned to preach the Gospel, and administer the ordinances thereof.

"We believe in the same organization that existed in the primitive Church, viz., apostles, prophets, pastors, teachers, evangelists, &c.

"We believe in the powers and gifts of the everlasting Gospel, viz., the gift of faith, discerning of spirits, prophecy, revelation, visions, healing, tongues, and the interpretation of tongues, wisdom, charity, brotherly love, &c.

"We believe in the word of God recorded in the Bi​ble; we also believe the word of God recorded in the Book of Mormon, and in all other good books.

"We believe all that God has now revealed, all that he does now reveal, and we believe that he will reveal many more great and important things pertaining to the kingdom of God and Messiah's second coming.

"We believe in the literal gathering of Israel, and in the restoration of the ten tribes; that Zion will be established upon the Western Continent; that Christ will reign personally upon the earth a thousand years; and that the earth will be renewed, and receive its paradisiacal glory.

"We believe in the literal resurrection of the body, and that the rest of the dead live not again until the thousand years are expired.

"We claim the privilege of worshiping Almighty God according to the dictates of our own conscience, unmolested, and allow all men the same privilege, let them worship how or what they may.

"We believe in being subject to kings, queens, presidents, rulers and magistrates; in obeying, honoring, and sustaining the law.

"We believe in being honest, true, chaste, temperate, benevolent, virtuous, and upright, and in doing good to all men; indeed, we may say that we follow the admonitions of Paul: we 'believe all things,' we 'hope all things,' we have endured very many things, and hope to be able to 'endure all things.' Every thing lovely, virtuous, praiseworthy, and of good report, we seek after, looking forward 'to the recompense of reward.' But an idle or lazy person can not be a Christian, neither have salvation. He is a drone, and is des​tined to be stung to death, and tumbled out of the hive."

In this rudely-fashioned theological structure, faith, it will be seen, is the cementing principle by which it is kept together. Faith is made not only the grand motive and propelling power, but also the regulating principle—the modus operandi—in divine and human efforts. They seem to have wholly overlooked the fact that man has a will as well as an understanding; and that, as he was created in the image and likeness of God, we are warranted in the belief that the Creator possesses these faculties in infinite perfection. The will of man is the receptacle of love, and the understanding of wisdom; and as the one is the motive, and the other the regulating power of all orderly human action, we may see that a union of these two faculties is absolutely necessary to constitute humanity. And, looking from man to his Maker, we may gain some insight into the laws which regulate the creation and government of the universe. Knowing, too, that man possesses these two faculties, and that charity resides in the will, and faith in the understanding, we may learn why it is that these two doctrinal principles are so necessarily interwoven into his spiritual being, that to take away one would destroy that duality which makes him human—would, in fact, reduce him to a mere perversion, which might well be represented by a body with one eye, one arm, and one leg, one lobe of a brain, one half of a nose, &c.

The Saints have invented, or rather destroyed, the law of human existence. They have set up faith as a duty which controls all things, divine and human. ​Love is nothing—wisdom is every thing. God and his creatures have understandings, but no will—thoughts, but no affections. The cold, harsh, icy inductions of reason, create, govern, and control all things; nothing moves in heaven, earth, or hell from the impulses of affection. The only impulses in Mormon faith or practice are those which regard worldly grandeur, and the appetites and lusts of the flesh. God created all things because he had faith in his power to do it, not because he was actuated by the love of producing happiness: it was a question of power, not of love. Man acts only because he believes he can produce results; if he did not so believe, he would make no effort. All that is said in common parlance and in preaching about the love and tender mercies of God, are mere cant and unmeaning phrases by the side of the freezing dogma of faith so distinctly set forth. We may as soon expect the snow-capped mountains which surround the seat of Mormon power to be clothed with the verdure of spring, as look for the vegetation and growth of a single spiritual principle from such a creed.

At first, their notions of hell were not very well defined. They scouted the idea of "fire and brimstone," notwithstanding their literalism, on the ground that the bodies of the damned, being material, must necessarily be consumed in such a furnace. In reference to the duration of punishment, some curious ideas have been evolved. The question was once put to Joseph, by a Universalist, upon this point, and was answered by a quibbling revelation in the following formula:

​By the same revelation, it appears that the terms eternal and endless are used because God is eternal and endless, and not in reference to the duration of the punishment; that punishment for a limited period is eternal and endless, because God inflicts it. The Lord was condescending enough to inform the prophet that it was written "eternal damnation, that it might work upon the hearts of the children of men," for the sake of his glory. Whether the Universalist, so skillfully angled for, was caught, does not appear.

In regard to the nature of the punishment, the most definite idea seems to be, that those who come short of salvation are deprived of their external bodies, separated from their friends, and imprisoned. In this condition, as "the spirits in prison," they are preached to, and have a chance to repent, and, if they do, can enter again into earthly tabernacles, and try once more for a kingdom. Every sinner, therefore, has more than one chance; he can run the gauntlet of an earthly tabernacle as many times as he chooses to repent in this infernal prison-house.

The prophet, however, was careful, in a subsequent revelation, to provide a more enduring hell for apostates. Apostacy was discovered to be the sin against the Holy Ghost which is not to be forgiven. Those who sin in this respect are "they who shall go away into the lake of fire and brimstone, with the devil and his angels, and the only ones on whom the second death shall have any power; yea, the only ones who shall not be redeemed in the due time of the Lord:" "they shall go away into everlasting punishment, which is endless punishment, to reign with the devil ​and his angels to eternity." The devil and his angels are those who voted in the minority at the election before referred to, and were cast down. Whether this appendix to the infernal regions was satisfactory to the Universalist, we have no means of knowing.

The salvation, as well as damnation, of the Saints possesses many curious features. The grossest materialism will be found to be the underlying formation on which the conglomerated stratum rests. There are three degrees of salvation, or glories, as they are sometimes called—the celestial, terrestrial, and telestial, corresponding to the sun, moon, and stars. The celestial is the highest, and those who attain it are to have celestial bodies, and are the priests of the order of Melchisedek. The terrestrial is a degree lower. It is made up of the "spirits in prison" who receive the Gospel when it is there preached to them: these have only terrestrial bodies. The telestial is the lowest of all, and is made up of those who in the first instance are cast into hell, but, after roasting a while, are finally redeemed from the devil in the last resurrection. These have telestial bodies, and occupy, as it were, the basement story of this singular theological edifice. The bodies for these degrees, though differently named, all agree in being material; that being, according to Mormon estimation, the entire composition of all things, divine, human, and infernal.