The Articles of Faith Part 47

=5.= This work of regeneration has already begun. As a necessary preliminary, whereby the curse that would otherwise afflict the earth might be averted, Elijah the prophet was to visit the earth, bringing with him the keys and authority of a great work; concerning which event, while yet future, the Lord said:--"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."[1131]

[1131] Mal. iv, 5-6; see also III Nephi xxv.

=6.= The Latter-day Saints solemnly declare that this prophecy has had a literal fulfillment, in that on the third day of April, A.D. 1836, Elijah visited the Prophet Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery, in the newly dedicated temple at Kirtland, Ohio, announced his mission as that spoken of by the mouth of Malachi, declared that the day for the fulfillment of the prediction had come, and committed the keys of this work of the last dispensation to the Church, that the labor of restoration might be carried on; and moreover, as a sign "that the great and dreadful day of the Lord is near, even at the doors."[1132]

Throughout the Millennium, this process of regeneration will be continued. Society shall be purified; nations shall exist in peace; wars shall cease; the ferocity of beasts shall be subdued; the earth, escaping in a great measure the curse of the Fall, shall yield bounteously to the husbandman; and the planet shall be redeemed.

[1132] Doc. and Cov. cx, 14-16; p. 154, this book.

=7.= The final stages of this regeneration of nature will not be reached until the Millennium has run its blessed course. Describing the events to take place after the completion of the thousand years, John the Revelator says:--"And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were pa.s.sed away; and there was no more sea.... And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of G.o.d is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and G.o.d himself shall be with them, and be their G.o.d. And G.o.d shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are pa.s.sed away."[1133] A similar prediction was made by Ether the Jaredite, six hundred years before Christ was born:--"And there shall be a new heaven, and a new earth: and they shall be like unto the old, save the old have pa.s.sed away, and all things have become new."[1134] This event is to follow the scenes of the Millennium, as the context makes plain.

[1133] Rev. xxi, 1, 3-4.

[1134] Book of Mormon, Ether xiii, 9.

=8.= In the year 1830 of our present era, the Lord said:--"When the thousand years are ended, and men again begin to deny their G.o.d, then will I spare the earth but for a little season; and the end shall come, and the heaven and the earth shall be consumed and pa.s.s away, and there shall be a new heaven and a new earth, for all old things shall pa.s.s away, and all things shall become new, even the heaven and the earth, and all the fulness thereof, both men and beasts, the fowls of the air and the fishes of the sea: and not one hair, neither mote, shall be lost, for it is the workmans.h.i.+p of mine hand."[1135]

[1135] Doc. and Cov. xxix, 22-25.

=9.= According to the scriptures, the earth has to undergo a change a.n.a.logous to death, and to be regenerated in a manner comparable to a resurrection. References to the elements melting with heat, and to the earth being consumed and pa.s.sing away, such as occur in many scriptures already cited, are suggestive of death; and the new earth, really the renewed or regenerated planet, which is to result, may be compared with a resurrected organism. The change has been likened unto a transfiguration.[1136] Every created thing has been made for a purpose; and everything that fills the measure of its creation is to be advanced in the scale of progression, be it an atom or a world, an animalcule, or man--the direct and literal offspring of Deity. In speaking of the degrees of glory provided for His creations, and of the laws of regeneration and sanctification, the Lord, in a revelation dated 1832, speaks plainly of the approaching death and subsequent quickening of the earth. These are His words:--"And again, verily, I say unto you, the earth abideth the law of a celestial kingdom, for it filleth the measure of its creation, and transgresseth not the law.

Wherefore it shall be sanctified; yea, notwithstanding it shall die, it shall be quickened again, and shall abide the power by which it is quickened, and the righteous shall inherit it."[1137]

[1136] Doc. and Cov. lxiii, 20-21.

[1137] Doc. and Cov. lx.x.xviii, 25-26.

=10.= During the Millennium, the earth, while preparing for the final change, will be tenanted by both mortal and immortal beings; but after the regeneration is complete, death will no longer be known among its inhabitants. Then the Redeemer of earth "shall deliver up the kingdom, and present it unto the Father spotless, saying, I have overcome."[1138] Before victory is thus achieved and triumph won, the enemies of righteousness must be subdued; the last foe to be vanquished is death. Thus saith Paul the Apostle:--"Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to G.o.d, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule, and all authority and power. For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet.

The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. For he hath put all things under his feet. But when he saith, All things are put under him, it is manifest that he is excepted, which did put all things under him. And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that G.o.d may be all in all."[1139]

[1138] Doc. and Cov. lxxvi, 107.

[1139] I Cor. xv, 24-26.

=11.= The following partial description of the earth in its immortalized condition has been given by the Prophet Joseph Smith in this dispensation:--"This earth, in its sanctified and immortal state, will be made like unto crystal, and will be a Urim and Thummim[1140]

to the inhabitants who dwell thereon, whereby all things pertaining to an inferior kingdom, or all kingdoms of a lower order, will be manifest to those who dwell on it; and this earth will be Christ's."[1141]

[1140] See page 273.

[1141] Doc. and Cov. cx.x.x, 9.

=12. Absence of Evidence from Science.=--Attempts have been made to demonstrate an agreement between the teachings of science concerning the destiny of the earth, and the scriptural predictions regarding the ordained regeneration of our planet, by which it is to be made fit for the abode of immortal souls. Without considering the details of the alleged evidence of mutual support between science and the revealed word in this matter, it may suffice to say that the so-called evidence is unsatisfactory, and that science is practically silent on the subject. The geologist views the earth as a body in process of continual change, its surface a heterogeneous ma.s.s of fragmental material; he reads, in the record inscribed on its stony pages, the story of past development through many successive stages of progress, each making the globe more fit for habitation by man; he witnesses the work of constructive and destructive agencies now in operation, land ma.s.ses yielding to the lowering action of air and water, and by their destruction furnis.h.i.+ng material for other formations now in process of construction;--the general effect of all such being to level the surface by degrading the hills and raising the valleys. On the other hand, he observes volcanic agencies operating to increase the inequality of level by violent eruption and crustal elevation. He confesses inability, from his observations of the present, and his deductions concerning the past of the earth, to predict even a probable future. So futile have been his efforts to ascertain the origin or determine the destiny of the globe, that he has generally abandoned the attempt. The epoch-making declaration of an acknowledged leader in the science has now become proverbial:--Geology furnishes "no traces of a beginning, no prospect of an end."[1142]

[1142] James Hutton.

=13.= The astronomer, studying the varied conditions of other worlds, may seek by a.n.a.logy to learn of the probable fate of our own. Gazing into s.p.a.ce with greatly augmented vision, he sees, within the system to which the earth belongs, spheres exhibiting a great range of development,--some in their formative stage, seemingly unfit for the abode of beings const.i.tuted as are we; others in a state more nearly resembling that of the earth: and yet others seemingly old and lifeless. Of the mighty systems beyond the comparatively small company under control of our own sun, he knows nothing but the existence of these central orbs. But, nowhere has he discovered a celestialized world. Think you that mortal eye could discern such even if it were within the limits of vision as determined by distance alone?

=14.= The poet has written:--

"Nor think though men were not, That heaven would want spectators, G.o.d want praise!

Millions of spiritual beings Walk the earth Unseen both when we wake, And when we sleep."

If this thought be founded on truth, and the Christian soul will hardly doubt it, we may as readily believe in the existence of other worlds than those of structure so gross as to be visible to our dull eyes. I repeat, that in regard to the revealed word concerning the regeneration of earth, and the acquirement of a celestial glory by our planet, science has nothing to offer, either by way of support or contradiction. Let us not because of this, disparage science, or decry the labors of its votaries. No one realizes more fully than does the truly scientific man how much we do not know.

RESURRECTION OF THE BODY.

=15. The Resurrection from the Dead.=--Closely a.s.sociated with, and a.n.a.logous to, the ordained rejuvenation of earth, whereby our planet is to pa.s.s from its present dreary and broken state to a condition of glorified perfection, is the resurrection of the bodies of all beings who have had an existence upon its surface. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints teaches the doctrine of a literal resurrection; an actual re-union of departed spirits and the tabernacles with which they were clothed during mortal probation; and a transition from mortality to immortality in the case of some who will be in the flesh at the time of the great change, and who, because of individual righteousness, are to be spared the sleep of the grave. But in such teachings, the Church is not essentially different from most Christian sects, except perhaps in the literalness of the bodily resurrection as taught by it, and in the belief concerning the nature of the resurrected state. The Bible is replete with evidence regarding the quickening of the dead. Human knowledge of the resurrection rests wholly upon revelation. Pagan peoples have therefore no conception of an actual coming forth of the dead unto life.[1143]

[1143] See Note 1.

=16.= In accepting the doctrine of a resurrection, we are to be guided by faith; which, however, is supported by abundant revelation, given in a manner unequivocal and sure. Science, the result of human research, fails to afford us any indication of such an event in the history of living things, and men have sought in vain for an a.n.a.logy in external nature. True, comparisons have been made, metaphors have been employed, and similes pressed into service, to show in nature some counterpart or semblance of the immortalizing change to which the Christian soul looks forward with unwavering confidence; but all such figures of speech are defective in the application, and untrue in their professed a.n.a.logies.

=17.= The return of spring after the death-like sleep of winter; the pa.s.sing of the crawling caterpillar into the corpse-like chrysalis, and the subsequent emergence of the winged b.u.t.terfly; the coming forth of a living bird from the tomb-like recess of the egg; these and other natural processes of development have been used as ill.u.s.trative of the resurrection. Each of them is defective, for in no instance of such awakening has there been an actual death. If the tree die, it will not resume its leaf.a.ge with the return of the sun; if the pupa within the chrysalis, or the life-germ within the egg be killed, no b.u.t.terfly or bird will emerge. When we indulge such figurative ill.u.s.trations without most thorough caution, we are apt to conceive the thought that the body predestined to resurrection is not truly dead; and that therefore the quickening which is to follow, is not what the revealed word declares it to be. Observation proves that the separation of the spirit from the body leaves the latter an inanimate ma.s.s, no longer able to resist the processes of physical and chemical dissolution. The body, deserted by its immortal tenant, is literally dead; it resolves itself into its natural components, and its substance enters again upon the round of universal circulation of matter. Yet the resurrection from the dead is a.s.sured; the faith of those who trust in the word of revealed truth will be vindicated,[1144] and the Divine decree will be carried into full effect.

[1144] See Note 2.

=18. Predictions concerning the Resurrection.=--The prophets in the past dispensations of the world's history have foreseen and foretold the final conquest of death. Some of them testified specifically of Christ's victory over the tomb; others have dwelt upon the resurrection in a general way. Job, the man of patience under tribulation, sang joyously even in his agony:--"For I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: and though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see G.o.d."[1145] Enoch, to whom the Lord revealed His plan for the redemption of mankind, foresaw the resurrection of Christ, the coming forth of the righteous dead with Him, and the eventual resurrection of all men.[1146]

[1145] Job. xix, 25-26; see also Isa. xxvi, 19; Ezek. x.x.xvii, 11-14; Hos. xiii, 14.

[1146] Pearl of Great Price: Moses vii, 56-57.

=19.= Nephi testified to his brethren that the Redeemer's death was a fore-ordained necessity, provided in order that resurrection from the dead might be given to man. These are his words:--"For as death hath pa.s.sed upon all men, to fulfil the merciful plan of the great Creator there must needs be a power of resurrection, and the resurrection must needs come unto man by reason of the fall; and the fall came by reason of transgression; and because man became fallen they were cut off from the presence of the Lord; ... And this death of which I have spoken, which is the spiritual death, shall deliver up its dead; which spiritual death is h.e.l.l; wherefore, death and h.e.l.l must deliver up their dead, and h.e.l.l must deliver up its captive spirits, and the grave must deliver up its captive bodies, and the bodies and the spirits of men will be restored one to the other; and it is by the power of the resurrection of the Holy One of Israel. O how great the plan of our G.o.d! For on the other hand, the paradise of G.o.d must deliver up the spirits of the righteous, and the grave deliver up the body of the righteous; and the spirit and the body is restored to itself again, and all men become incorruptible, and immortal, and they are living souls, having a perfect knowledge like unto us in the flesh; save it be that our knowledge shall be perfect."[1147]

[1147] II Nephi ix, 6, 12-13.

=20.= Samuel, the Lamanite prophet, predicted the Savior's birth, ministry, death, and resurrection, and explained the resulting resurrection of mankind:--"For behold, he surely must die, that salvation may come; yea, it behoveth him, and becometh expedient that he dieth, to bring to pa.s.s the resurrection of the dead, that thereby men may be brought into the presence of the Lord; Yea, behold this death bringeth to pa.s.s the resurrection, and redeemeth all mankind from the first death--that spiritual death; for all mankind, by the fall of Adam, being cut off from the presence of the Lord, are considered as dead, both as to things temporal and to things spiritual. But, behold, the resurrection of Christ redeemeth mankind, yea, even all mankind, and bringeth them back into the presence of the Lord."[1148]

[1148] Helaman xiv, 15-17; see also Mosiah xv, 20-24; and Alma xl, 2, 16.

=21.= The New Testament furnishes abundant evidence that the doctrine of the resurrection was very generally understood during the time of Christ's earthly mission, and in the succeeding apostolic era.[1149]

The Master Himself proclaimed these teachings. In reply to the hypercritical Sadducees,[1150] He said:--"But as touching the resurrection of the dead, have ye not read that which was spoken unto you by G.o.d, saying, I am the G.o.d of Abraham, and the G.o.d of Isaac, and the G.o.d of Jacob? G.o.d is not the G.o.d of the dead, but of the living."[1151] the Jews who sought His life because of His deeds and doctrine He spoke in this way:--"Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is pa.s.sed from death unto life. Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of G.o.d: and they that hear shall live."[1152]

[1149] Matt. xiv, 1-2; John xi, 24.

[1150] See Note 3.

[1151] Matt. xxii, 31-32; see also Luke xiv, 14.

[1152] John v, 24-25; see also verse 21, and xi, 23-25.

=22.= That Christ fully comprehended the purpose of His approaching martyrdom, and the resurrection which was to follow, is abundantly proved by His own utterances while yet in the flesh. To Nicodemus He said:--"And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life."[1153] And to Martha, who was bewailing the death of her brother Lazarus, he declared: "I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live."[1154] Of His own resurrection He prophesied freely; specifying the time during which His body would be entombed.[1155]

[1153] John iii, 14-15.

[1154] John xi, 25.

[1155] Matt. xii, 40; xvi, 21; xvii, 23; xx, 19.

=23. Two General Resurrections= are mentioned in the scriptures: these may be specified as first and final, or as the resurrection of the just and the resurrection of the unjust. The first was inaugurated by the resurrection of Jesus Christ; immediately following which, many of the departed Saints came forth from their graves; a continuation of this, the resurrection of the just, has been in operation,[1156] and will be brought to pa.s.s in a general way in connection with the coming of Christ in His glory, and will be incident therefore to the beginning of the Millennium. The final resurrection will be deferred until the end of the thousand years of peace, and will be in connection with the last judgment.