The Articles of Faith Part 38

[887] Deut. iv, 2; xii, 32.

[888] II Tim. iii, 15.

[889] II Tim. iii, 16-17.

[890] Acts xx, 18-27.

=20.= Equally absurd is the a.s.sertion that Christ's dying exclamation, "It is finished," meant that revelation was at an end; for we find the same Jesus afterward revealing Himself, as the resurrected Lord, to His apostles, promising them further revelation,[891] and a.s.suring them that He would be with them even unto the end.[892] And, moreover, were the words of the Crucified One susceptible of any such intent, the apostles who taught by revelation as long as they lived must be cla.s.sed as impostors.

[891] Luke xxiv, 49.

[892] Matt. xxviii, 20; see also Mark xvi, 20.

=21.= To justify the anathema with which the opponents of modern revelation seek to persecute those who believe in the continual flow of G.o.d's word to His Church, the following prophecy of Zechariah is quoted:--"And it shall come to pa.s.s in that day, saith the Lord of hosts, that I will cut off the names of the idols out of the land, and they shall no more be remembered: and also I will cause the prophets and the unclean spirit to pa.s.s out of the land. And it shall come to pa.s.s, that when any shall yet prophesy, then his father and his mother that begat him shall say unto him, Thou shalt not live; for thou speakest lies in the name of the Lord: and his father and his mother that begat him shall thrust him through when he prophesieth. And it shall come to pa.s.s in that day, that the prophets shall be ashamed every one of his vision, when he hath prophesied."[893] The day here spoken of appears to be yet future, for surely the "idols" and the "unclean spirits" still have influence; and, moreover, the fact that the "prophets" here intended are false ones is shown by Zechariah's a.s.sociating them with idols and unclean spirits.

[893] Zech. xiii, 2-4.

=22.= Such attempts to oppose the doctrine of continued revelation as have been made on the authority of the foregoing scriptures are pitiably futile; they carry their own refutation, and leave untouched the truth, that belief in modern revelation is wholly reasonable and strictly scriptural.[894]

[894] See Note 2.

=23. Modern Revelation.=--In the light of our knowledge concerning the constancy of revelation as an essential characteristic of the Church, it is as reasonable to look for new revelation today as to believe in the existence of the gift during ancient times. "Where there is no vision the people perish,"[895] was declared of old; and surely it is proper to include with vision, revelation also, since the latter gift is often manifested through dreams and visions. Nevertheless, in spite of abundant and most explicit testimony of scripture, the so-called Christian sects of the day are practically a unit in declaring that revelation ceased with the apostles, or even before their time; that further communication from the heavens is unnecessary; and that to expect such is unscriptural. In a.s.suming this position, the discordant sects of the day are but following the path that was trodden by unbelievers in earlier times. The recreant Jews rejected the Savior, because He came to them with a new revelation. Had they not Moses and the prophets to guide them? what more could they need? They openly boasted "We are Moses' disciples," and added "We know that G.o.d spake unto Moses; as for this fellow, we know not from whence he is."[896]

[895] Prov. xxix, 18.

[896] John ix, 28-29.

=24.= The scriptures, far from predicting a cessation of revelation in latter times, expressly declare the continuation of that gift among the people of the Lord. John foresaw the restoration of the gospel in the last days, through angelic ministration:--"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."[897] He knew further that the voice of G.o.d would be heard in the last days, calling His people from Babylon to a place of safety:--"And 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."[898]

[897] Rev. xiv, 6.

[898] Rev. xviii, 4.

=25.= The Book of Mormon is not less explicit in declaring that direct revelation shall abide as a blessing upon the Church in the latter days. Note the prediction given through Ether the Jaredite; the context shows that the time spoken of is that of the last dispensation:--"And in that day, they [the Gentiles] shall exercise faith in me, saith the Lord, even as the brother of Jared did, that they may become sanctified in me, then will I manifest unto them the things which the brother of Jared saw, even to the unfolding unto them all my revelations, saith Jesus Christ, the Son of G.o.d, the Father of the heavens and of the earth, and all things that in them are.... But he that believeth these things which I have spoken, him will I visit with the manifestations of my Spirit, and he shall know and bear record."[899]

[899] Ether iv, 7, 11.

=26.= Lehi, instructing his sons, quoted a prophecy of Joseph the son of Jacob, which is not recorded in the compilation of books known as the Bible; it has special reference to the work of Joseph the modern prophet:--"Yea, Joseph truly said, Thus saith the Lord unto me: A choice seer will I raise up out of the fruit of thy loins; and he shall be esteemed highly among the fruit of thy loins. And unto him will I give commandment, that he shall do a work for the fruit of thy loins, his brethren, which shall be of great worth unto them, even to the bringing of them to the knowledge of the covenants which I have made with thy fathers."[900]

[900] II Nephi iii, 7.

=27.= Nephi, the son of Lehi, spoke by prophecy of the last days, in which the Gentiles should receive a testimony of Christ with many signs and wondrous manifestations:--"He manifesteth himself unto all those who believe in him, by the power of the Holy Ghost; yea, unto every nation, kindred, tongue, and people, working mighty miracles, signs, and wonders, among the children of men, according to their faith. But behold, I prophesy unto you concerning the last days; concerning the days when the Lord G.o.d shall bring these things forth unto the children of men."[901]

[901] II Nephi xxvi, 13-14.

=28.= The same prophet, apostrophizing with warning words the unbelievers of the last days, predicted the coming forth of additional scriptures:--"And it shall come to pa.s.s, that the Lord G.o.d shall bring forth unto you the words of a book, and they shall be the words of them which have slumbered. And behold the book shall be sealed: and in the book shall be a revelation from G.o.d, from the beginning of the world to the ending thereof."[902]

[902] II Nephi xxvii, 6-7.

=29.= The Savior, addressing the Nephites, repeated the prediction of Malachi concerning the revelation to be given through Elijah, before the day of the Lord's second coming:--"Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord; and he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse."[903]

[903] III Nephi xxv, 5-6; see also Mal. iv, 5, 6; pp. 11, 153-154 this book; and for the fulfillment, Doc. and Cov. cx, 13.

=30.= By revelation in the present day, the Lord has confirmed and fulfilled His early promises, and has specifically rebuked those who would close His mouth, and estrange Him from His people. His voice is heard to-day, "proving to the world that the Holy Scriptures are true, and that G.o.d does inspire men and call them to His holy work in this age and generation, as well as in generations of old, thereby showing that He is the same G.o.d, yesterday, to-day, and forever."[904]

[904] Doc. and Cov. xx, 11-12. See also i, 11; xi, 25; xx, 26-28; x.x.xv, 8; xlii, 61; l, 35; lix, 4; lxx, 3; and the entire volume, as evidence of the continuation of revelation in the Church today.

=31. Revelation Yet Future.=--In view of the demonstrated facts that revelation between G.o.d and man has ever been and is a characteristic of the Church of Christ, it is reasonable to await with confident expectation the coming of other messages from heaven, even until the end of man's probation on earth. The Church is, and will continue to be, as truly founded on the rock of revelation as it was in the day of Christ's prophetic blessing upon Peter, who by this gift of G.o.d was able to testify of his Lord's divinity.[905] Current revelation is equally plain with that of former days, in predicting the yet future manifestations of G.o.d through this appointed channel.[906] The canon of scripture is still open; many lines, many precepts, are yet to be added; revelation, surpa.s.sing in importance and glorious fulness any that has been recorded, will yet be given to the Church and be declared to the world.

[905] Matt. xvi, 16-19; Mark viii, 27-30; Luke ix, 18-20; John vi, 69.

[906] Doc. and Cov. xx, 35; x.x.xv, 8; and the Doc. and Cov.

references last cited.

=32.= What shadow of justification or pretense of consistency can man claim for denying the power and purposes of G.o.d to reveal Himself and His will in these days as He a.s.suredly did in former times? In every department of human knowledge and activity, in everything for which man arrogates to himself glory, he prides himself in the possibilities of enlargement and growth; yet in the Divine science of theology, he holds that progress is impossible, and advancement forbidden. Against such heresy and blasphemous denial of the Divine prerogatives and power, G.o.d has proclaimed His edict in words of terrible import:--"Wo be unto him that shall say We have received the word of G.o.d, and we need no more of the word of G.o.d for we have enough."[907] "Deny not the spirit of revelation, nor the spirit of prophecy, for wo unto him that denieth these things."[908]

[907] II Nephi xxviii, 29; see also 30, and xxix, 6-12.

[908] Doc. and Cov. xi, 25.

NOTES.

=1. Freedom under Inspiration.=--Faussett has this to say of man's agency under the influence of inspiration:--"Inspiration does not divest the writers of their several individualities of style, just as the inspired teachers in the early Church were not pa.s.sive machines in prophesying (I Cor. xiv, 32). 'Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty' (II Cor. iii, 17). Their will became one with G.o.d's will; His Spirit acted on their spirit, so that their individuality had full play in the sphere of His inspiration. As to religious truths, the collective Scriptures have unity of authors.h.i.+p; as to other matters, their authors.h.i.+p is palpably as manifold as the writers. The variety is human, the unity Divine. If the four evangelists were mere machines, narrating the same events in the same order and words, they would cease to be independent witnesses. Their very discrepancies (only _seeming_ ones) disprove collusion.... The slight variations in the decalogue between Exo. xx and its repet.i.tion Deut. v, and in Ps. xviii compared with II Sam. xxii, in Ps. xiv compared with Ps. liii, and in New Testament quotations of Old Testament (sometimes from the Septuagint, which varies from the Hebrew, sometimes from neither in every word), all prove the spirit-produced independence of the sacred writers, who, under Divine guidance and sanction, presented on different occasions the same substantial truths under different aspects, the one complementing the other."--_Bible Cyclopedia_, A. R.

Faussett, p. 308.

=2. The Doctrine of no Further Revelation, New and False.=--"The history of the people of G.o.d, from the earliest ages, shows that _continued revelation_ was the only way by which they could possibly learn all their duties, or G.o.d's will concerning them.

They never once thought that the revelations given to previous generations were sufficient to guide them into every duty. A doctrine which rejects new revelation is a new doctrine, invented by the devil and his agents during the second century after Christ; it is a doctrine in direct opposition to the one believed in and enjoyed by the saints in all ages. Now, to subvert and do away a doctrine four thousand years old, and introduce a new one in its stead can only be done by divine authority.... As the doctrine, then, of continued revelation is one that was always believed by the saints, it ought not to be required of any man to prove the necessity of the continuation of such a doctrine. If it were a new doctrine, never before introduced into the world, it would become necessary to establish its divine origin; but inasmuch as it is only the continuation of an old doctrine, established thousands of years ago, and which has never ceased to be believed and enjoyed by the saints, it would be the greatest presumption to call it in question at this late period; and hence it would seem almost superfluous to undertake to prove the necessity of its continuance. Instead of being required to do this, all people have the right to call upon the new-revelation deniers of the last seventeen centuries to bring forward their strong reasonings and testimonies for breaking in upon the long-established order of heaven, and introducing a new doctrine so entirely different from the old. If they wish their new doctrine to be believed, let them demonstrate it to be of divine origin, or else all people will be justified in rejecting it, and clinging to the old."--Orson Pratt, _Divine Authenticity of the Book of Mormon_, I (2) 15, 16.

=3. Inspiration a Sure Guide.=--"Inspiration has been defined to be the 'actuating energy of the Holy Spirit, in whatever degree or manner it may have been exercised, guided by which the human agents chosen by G.o.d have officially proclaimed his will by word of mouth or have committed to writing the several portions of the Bible.' By _plenary inspiration_ we mean that this energy was so fully and perfectly exercised, as to make the teaching of the sacred writers to be, in the most literal sense of the words, G.o.d's teaching, as proceeding from him, truly expressing his mind, and bearing with it the sanction of his authority. By _verbal inspiration_ we mean that this energy was not exhausted in suggesting to the writers the matter of Scripture, and then leaving them to themselves to convey, in their own manner and after an exclusively human sort, what had been supernaturally suggested; but that they were a.s.sisted and guided in the conveyance of the truth received.... When the doctrine of plenary and verbal inspiration is thus disentangled from the misapprehensions which have been entertained of it, it presents in no point of view any just ground of objection. It is consistent with all the conclusions relative to the Word which modern scholars.h.i.+p has succeeded in establis.h.i.+ng; for the dreams of the 'higher criticism' are little more than the vagaries of arbitrary caprice; and it is much to be regretted that they have been honored with a deference wholly undeserved, and have been rashly placed side by side with the valuable and precious results of genuine criticism. These results, in many respects, point decisively in the direction of plenary inspiration, when the doctrine itself is rightly understood, as supplying the only consistent and logical ground on which the authority of the canonical writings can be safely based."--Ca.s.sell's _Bible Dictionary_, pp. 559, 561.

=4.= "Is it unreasonable, is it unphilosophical, thus to look for additional light and knowledge? Shall religion be the one department of human thought and effort in which progression is impossible? What would we say of the chemist, the astronomer, the physicist, or the geologist, who would proclaim that no further discovery or revelation of scientific truth is possible, or who would declare that the only occupation open to students of science is to con the books of by-gone times and to apply the principles long ago made known, for none others shall ever be discovered? The chief motive impelling to research and investigation is the conviction that to knowledge and wisdom there is no end. 'Mormonism' affirms that all wisdom is of G.o.d, that the halo of his glory is intelligence, and that man has not yet learned all there is to learn of him and his ways. We hold that the doctrine of continuous revelation from G.o.d is not less philosophical and scientific than scriptural."--_The Philosophy of "Mormonism._" The Author, in _Improvement Era_, Vol. iv, p.

468.

LECTURE XVII.

THE DISPERSION OF ISRAEL.

=Article 10.=--We believe in the literal gathering of Israel and in the restoration of the Ten Tribes, etc.

=1. Israel.=--The term _Israel_, in its original sense, expressed the thought of one who had succeeded in his supplication before the Lord; "soldier of G.o.d," "one who contends with G.o.d," "a prince of G.o.d," are among the common English renderings. The name first appears in sacred writ as a t.i.tle conferred by the Lord upon Jacob, when the latter prevailed in his determination to secure a blessing from his heavenly visitor in the wilderness, receiving the promise "Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel, for as a prince hast thou power with G.o.d and with men, and hast prevailed."[909] We read further:--"And G.o.d appeared unto Jacob again, when he came out of Padan-aram, and blessed him, and G.o.d said unto him, Thy name is Jacob; thy name shall not be called anymore Jacob, but Israel shall be thy name: and he called his name Israel."[910]

[909] Gen. x.x.xii, 28.

[910] Gen. x.x.xv, 9-10.