The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Seventy's Course in Theology (Fifth
Year), by B. H. Roberts
This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most
other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions
whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of
the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at
www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have
to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook.
Title: The Seventy's Course in Theology (Fifth Year)
Divine Immanence and the Holy Ghost
Author: B. H. Roberts
Release Date: October 13, 2019 [EBook #60492]
Language: English
*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SEVENTY'S COURSE--THEOLOGY (5TH YEAR) ***
Produced by the Mormon Texts Project
(https://mormontextsproject.org/), with thanks to Rachel
Helps and BYU Transcribe
The Seventy's Course in Theology
Fifth Year
Divine Immanence and the Holy Ghost
By B. H. ROBERTS
Of the First Council of Seventy
_"He comprehendeth all things, and all things are before him, and all
things are round about him: and he is above all things, and in all
things, and is through all things, and is round about all things; and
all things are by him, and of him, even God, for ever and ever."--Doc.
and Cov., Sec. 88._
_"I have always declared God to be a distinct personage, Jesus Christ
a separate and distinct personage from God the Father, and that the
Holy Ghost was a distinct personage and a Spirit."--Joseph Smith, (June
16th, 1842.)_
Salt Lake City
1912
Introduction.
I. THE CLOSE OF THE SEVENTY'S SPECIAL COURSE IN THEOLOGY.
[Footnote: It is suggested that this Introduction be treated in the
class as a lesson.]
This Introduction is intended to serve two purposes: an Introduction
to the treatise which follows; and a valedictory to the "Seventy's
Course in Theology." The latter has reached a period, for the present
at least, as arrangements are being made to have prepared one course
of study in successive annual manuals for the three quorums of the
Melchizedek Priesthood, the Seventies, High Priests, and Elders
Quorums. The reasons for making this change are that the "Gospel is
one;" that the duty of becoming acquainted with it rests equally upon
High Priests, Seventies, and Elders; that which will qualify one of
these quorums to preach this one gospel abroad, will qualify the others
for preaching it at home; and _vice versa_. Each of these quorums,
where there is a sufficient number in each to form a good, strong
class, will still continue, as now, in their separate classes, though
studying the same manual. Where the quorums in the smaller wards are
not strong enough in numbers to assure a good class separately, they
can meet conjointly for class work and under such circumstances, having
the same text book, will be a very great advantage. The plan will also
economize both time and money in the matter of publishing manuals;
for it is patent that one text book can more readily be produced than
three, and at less expense.
These considerations, it is hoped, will outweigh any feeling of
disappointment which but for them might arise over the discontinuance
of the Seventy's special course in Theology; and then, undoubtedly,
when the new and united course shall be opened, we may reasonably
expect that its lines will be laid on a much larger ground plan, and
in its development there will be employed brethren of such scholarship
and talent as shall warrant the expectation of the very best text books
that can be produced on the great theme of which they will treat--the
Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.
II. SUBJECT OF THE PRESENT YEAR BOOK.
So much for the "valedictory" part of this Introduction; and now as to
the subject of the present Year Book. We have here the consideration
of a theme in some respects the loftiest and mightest that the mind
of man can be led to contemplate: God Immanent in the world; and God
in union with men through the medium of the Holy Ghost. Confessedly
the subject is one around which much of mystery gathers; and there are
not wanting those who, on that account, are in favor of leaving it so,
without attempting an exposition of the nature or offices of the Spirit
Immanent in the world, and the Spirit Witness to the soul of man. I
think no one can be more conscious of human limitations to understand
divine things than I am. And I doubt if any one can have greater
appreciation of the need of being careful to keep within the limits of
what God has revealed upon these subjects; for it is only what he has
revealed that can rightly instruct men in the things of God. Moreover
in no department is the frank and honest confession "I don't know,"
more imperative than in Theology; and when it is given as an actual
confession of having reached the limits of our knowledge, it is worthy
of all praise. But if it becomes tainted with the spirit of "I don't
care," then I have no respect for it.
III. MENTAL EFFORT REQUIRED TO MASTER THE THINGS OF GOD.
There is another phase in which the same thing occurs. It requires
striving--intellectual and spiritual--to comprehend the things of
God--even the revealed things of God. In no department of human
endeavor is the aphorism "no excellence without labor"--more in force
than in acquiring knowledge of the things of God. The Lord has placed
no premium upon idleness or indifference here--"seek and ye shall
find;" "knock and it shall be opened unto you;" "seek ye diligently and
teach one another words of wisdom; yea, seek ye out of the best books
words of wisdom; seek learning even by study and also by faith"--such
the admonitions God gives in reference to our pursuit of knowledge of
divine things.
Oliver Cowdery thought the work of translating from the Nephite
plates would be easy. He sought the privilege of translating and was
given an opportunity. He, it appears, believed that all that would
be necessary would be for him to ask God, and without giving further
thought the translation would be given him. His expectation in this was
disappointed. He failed to translate. Then the Lord said: "You supposed
that I would give it [i. e., the power to translate] unto you, when
you took no thought save it was to ask me; but behold, I say unto you,
that you must study it out in your mind; then you must ask me if it
be right, and if it is right I will cause that your bosom shall burn
within you; therefore you shall feel that it is right." (Doc. and Cov.
Sec. 9.)
The incident illustrates the truth here contended for--achievement in
divine things, progress in the knowledge of them, comes only with hard
striving, earnest endeavor, determined seeking.
IV. THE PLEA OF "THUS FAR, BUT NO FURTHER."
Mental laziness is the vice of men, especially with reference to divine
things. Men seem to think that because inspiration and revelation are
factors in connection with the things of God, therefore the pain and
stress of mental effort are not required; that by some means these
elements act somewhat as Elijah's ravens and feed us without effort on
our part. To escape this effort, this mental stress to know the things
that are, men raise all too readily the ancient bar--"Thus far shalt
thou come, but no farther." Man cannot hope to understand the things of
God, they plead, or penetrate those things which he has left shrouded
in mystery. "Be thou content with the simple faith that accepts without
question. To believe, and accept the ordinances, and then live the
moral law will doubtless bring men unto salvation; why then should
man strive and trouble himself to understand? Much study is still a
weariness of the flesh." So men reason; and just now it is much in
fashion to laud "the simple faith;" which is content to believe without
understanding, or even without much effort to understand. And doubtless
many good people regard this course as indicative of reverence--this
plea in bar of effort--"thus far and no farther." "There is often a
great deal of intellectual sin concealed under this old aphorism,"
remarks Henry Drummond. "When men do not really wish to go farther they
find it an honorable convenience sometimes to sit down on the outmost
edge of the 'holy ground' on the pretext of taking off their shoes."
"Yet," he continues, "we must be certain that, making a virtue of
reverence, we are not merely excusing ignorance; or under the plea of
'mystery' evading a truth which has been stated in the New Testament a
hundred times, in the most literal form, and with all but monotonous
repetition." (Spiritual Law, pp. 89, 90.)
This sort of "reverence" is easily simulated, and is of such flattering
unction, and so pleasant to follow--"soul take thine ease"--that
without question it is very often simulated; and falls into the same
category as the simulated humility couched in "I don't know," which so
often really means "I don't care, and do not intend to trouble myself
to find out."
V. THE PRAISE OF SIMPLE FAITH.
I maintain that "simple faith"--which is so often ignorant and
simpering acquiescence, and not faith at all--but simple faith taken at
its highest value, which is faith without understanding of the thing
believed, is not equal to intelligent faith, the faith that is the gift
of God, supplemented by earnest endeavor to find through prayerful
thought and research a rational ground for faith--for acceptance of
truth; and hence the duty of striving for a rational faith in which
the intellect as well as the heart--the feeling--has a place and is a
factor.
But, to resume: This plea in bar of effort to find out the things
that are, is as convenient for the priest as it is for the people.
The people of "simple faith," who never question, are so much easier
led, and so much more pleasant every way--they give their teachers so
little trouble. People who question because they want to know, and
who ask adult questions that call for adult answers, disturb the ease
of the priests. The people who question are usually the people who
think--barring chronic questioners and cranks, of course--and thinkers
are troublesome, unless the instructors who lead them are thinkers
also; and thought, eternal, restless thought, that keeps out upon the
frontiers of discovery, is as much a weariness to the slothful, as
it is a joy to the alert and active and noble minded. Therefore one
must not be surprised if now and again he finds those among religious
teachers who give encouragement to mental laziness under the pretense
of "reverence;" praise "simple faith" because they themselves,
forsooth, would avoid the stress of thought and investigation that
would be necessary in order to hold their place as leaders of a
thinking people.
VI. THE INCENTIVES TO, AND THE GLORY OF, KNOWLEDGE IN THE NEW
DISPENSATION.
Against all the shams of simulated humility and false reverence which
are but pleas to promote and justify mental laziness, I launch the
mighty exhortations and rebukes of the New Dispensations of the Gospel
of the Christ--the Dispensation of the Fulness of Times, in which God
has promised "to gather together in one all things in Christ, both
which are in heaven and which are on earth; even in him." They are as
follows:
_"The glory of God is Intelligence." (Doc. and Cov. Sec. 93.)_
_"It is impossible for a man to be saved in Ignorance." (Doc. and Cov.
Sec. 131.)_
_"Whatever principles of intelligence we attain unto in this life, it
will rise with us in the resurrection." (Doc. and Cov. Sec. 130.)_
_"If a person gains more knowledge and intelligence in this life
through his diligence and obedience than another, he will have so much
the advantage in the world to come." (Doc. and Cov. Sec. 130.)_
_"A man is saved no faster than he gets knowledge, for if he does not
get knowledge, he will be brought into captivity by some evil power
in the other world, as evil spirits will have more knowledge, and
consequently more power, than many men who are on the earth." (Joseph
Smith--History of the Church, Vol. IV., p. 588.)_
_"Knowledge saves a man; and in the world of spirits no man can be
exalted but by knowledge; so long as a man will not give heed to the
commandments he must abide without salvation. If a man has knowledge
he can be saved; although he has been guilty of great sins, he will be
punished for them. But when he consents to obey the Gospel, whether
here or in the world of Spirits, he is saved." (Joseph Smith--Minutes
of the General Conference of the Church, April, 1844. "Improvement
Era," Jan., 1909, p. 186.)_
_"Seek ye diligently and teach one another words of wisdom; yea, seek
ye out of the best books words of wisdom: seek learning even by study,
and also by faith." (Doc. and Cov. Sec. 88:118.)_
_"I give unto you a commandment, that you teach one another the
doctrine of the Kingdom."_
_"Teach ye diligently and my grace shall attend you, that you may be
instructed more perfectly in theory, in principle, in doctrine, in the
law of the gospel, in all things that pertain unto the kingdom of God,
that are expedient for you to understand;_
_"Of things both in heaven and in the earth, and under the earth;
things which have been, things which are, things which must shortly
come to pass; things which are at home, things which are abroad; the
wars and the perplexities of the nations, and the judgments which are
on the land, and a knowledge also of countries and of kingdoms,_
_"That ye may be prepared in all things when I shall send you again to
magnify the calling whereunto I have called you, and the mission with
which I have commissioned you." (Doc. and Cov. Sec. 88:79-90.)_
_"It is important that we should understand the reasons and causes of
our exposure to the vicissitudes of life and of death, and the designs
and purposes of God in our coming into the world, our sufferings
here, and our departure hence. What is the object of our coming into
existence, then dying and falling away, to be here no more? It is but
reasonable to suppose that God would reveal something in reference
to the matter, and it is a subject we ought to study more than any
other. We ought to study it day and night, for the world is ignorant in
reference to their true condition and relation. If we have any claim on
our Heavenly Father for anything, it is for knowledge on this important
subject." (Joseph Smith--History of the Church, Vol. VI., p. 50.)_
_"God shall give unto you (the saints) knowledge by his Holy Spirit,
yea by the unspeakable gift of the Holy Ghost, that has not been
revealed since the world was until now: which our forefathers have
waited with anxious expectation to be revealed in the last times,
which their minds were pointed to, by the angels, as held in reserve
for the fullness of their glory; a time to come in the which nothing
shall be withheld, whether there be one God or many Gods, they shall be
manifest; all thrones and dominions, principalities and powers, shall
be revealed and set forth upon all who have endured valiantly for the
gospel of Jesus Christ; and also if there be bounds set to the heavens,
or to the seas; or to the dry land, or to the sun, moon, or stars;
all the times of their revolutions; all the appointed days, months,
and years, and all the days of their days, months, and years, and all
their glories, laws, and set times, shall be revealed, in the days of
the dispensation of the fulness of times, according to that which was
ordained in the midst of the Council of the Eternal God of all other
Gods, before this world was, that should be reserved unto the finishing
and the end thereof, when every man shell enter into his eternal
presence, and into his immortal rest. How long can rolling waters
remain impure? What power shall stay the heavens? As well might man
stretch forth his puny arm to stop the Missouri river in its decreed
course, or to turn it up stream, as to hinder the Almighty from pouring
down knowledge from heaven, upon the heads of the Latter-day Saints"
(Doc. and Cov. Sec. 121, 26-33.)_
VII. NECESSARY ATTITUDE OF THE CHURCH IN THE MATTER OF MENTAL
ACTIVITY AND INTELLECTUAL DEVELOPMENT.
Surely, in the presence of this array of incentives, instructions
and commandments to seek for knowledge, taken from the revelations
and other forms of instruction by the Prophet of the New
Dispensation--taking into account also the scope of the field of
knowledge we are both persuaded and commanded to enter--whatever
position other churches and their religious teachers may take, the
Church of Jesus Christ in the New Dispensation can do no other than to
stand for mental activity, and earnest effort to come to a knowledge
of truth up to the very limit of man's capacity to find it, and the
goodness and wisdom of God to reveal it.
The New Dispensation having opened with such a wonderful revelation
respecting God, making known as the very first step in that revealed
knowledge not only the _being_ of God but the _kind_ of
beings both the Father and the Son are--its representatives may not
now attempt to arrest the march of inquiry and plead "mystery" or
"humility" or "reverence" as a bar to entrance into those very fields
of knowledge God has commanded us to enter, and reap in, and of which
he gives us assurance that our harvest shall be abundant.
VIII. THE LIMITS OF OUR INQUIRIES.
Let me not be misunderstood. Again I say, I am aware that there are
limits to man's capacity to understand things that are. That God also
in his wisdom has not yet revealed all things, especially respecting
the Godhead; and that where his revelations have not yet cast their
rays of light on such subjects, it is becoming in man to wait upon the
Lord, for that "line upon line, and precept upon precept" method by
which he, in great wisdom, unfolds in the procession of the ages the
otherwise hidden treasures of his truths. All this I agree to; but all
this does not prevent us from a close perusal and careful study of
what God has revealed upon any subject, especially when that study is
perused reverently, with constant remembrance of human limitations, and
with an open mind, which ever stands ready to correct the tentative
conclusions of today by the increased light that may be shed upon the
subject on the morrow. Which holds as greater than all theories and
computations the facts--the truth. These are the principles by which
I have sought to be guided in these five Year Books of the Seventy's
Course in Theology, and in some more than in the one herewith presented.
But some would protest against investigation lest it threaten the
integrity of accepted formulas of truth--which too often they confound
with the truth itself, regarding the scaffolding and the building as
one and the same thing. The effective answer to that may be given in
the words of Sir Oliver Lodge: "A faith dependent on blinkers and
fetters for its maintenance is not likely in a progressive age to last
many generations.(Science and Immortality, p. 130.) "From age to age,
our knowledge is growing from more to more," remarks John Fiske, in
his "Century of Science." "By this enlarged experience our minds are
affected from day to day and from year to year, in more ways than we
can detect or enumerate. It opens our minds to some notions, and makes
them incurably hostile to others; so that, for example, new truths
well nigh beyond comprehension, like some of those connected with the
luminiferous ether are accepted, and old beliefs once universal like
witchcraft, are scornfully rejected. Vast changes in mental attitude
are thus wrought before it is generally realized." ("Century of
Science," p. 145.) This holds good in theology as in science. Not that
the universal and fundamental truths in theology which God has revealed
change, but that men's method of viewing them and expounding them
changes, and, let us hope, changes for the better, for the more clear
and perfect understanding and development of them--else there would be
no progress in theology--while in all things else there is progress.
But here let me conclude Fiske's noble passage:
"In this inevitable struggle [between vanishing old ideas and incoming
new ones] there has always been more or less pain, and hence free
thought has not usually been popular. It has come to our life-feast
as a guest unbidden and unwelcome; but it has come to stay with us,
and already proves more genial than was expected. Deadening, cramping
finality has lost its" charm for him who has tasted of the ripe fruit
of the tree of knowledge. In this broad universe of God's wisdom and
love, not leashes to restrain us are needed, but wings to sustain
our flight. Let bold but reverent thought go on and probe creation's
mysteries, till faith and knowledge "make one music as before, but
vaster."
IX. THE RIGHT TO SEEK KNOWLEDGE ASIDE FROM REVEALED KNOWLEDGE.
One other thing: Such subjects as are treated in this Year Book
necessarily rest on what God has revealed--that is, for the data, the
facts involved; but that does not necessarily hold as to illustration
and argument for development of the truth and making clear the revealed
things of God. Here one may do as it is said Clement of Alexandrea did
in urging men to strive for a knowledge of Christian truth, rather than
a mere belief of it; "such instruction was to come primarily from the
'Divine Word'; but everything in the range of human learning was to be
welcomed as co-operating with him. For Clement gratefully acknowledged
truth wherever found, whether among heathens or heretics." It should be
observed, however, "that while constantly confirming his propositions
from his Greek writers, he ever turns for a final appeal to the
scriptures"--that, too, must be our course.
So much by way of presenting the spirit in which I have pursued my own
studies upon the high themes of these Seventy's Year Books, and this
present one in particular.
X. JUSTIFICATION FOR USING DOUBLE TITLE.
The subject of Divine Immanence and the Holy Ghost should be considered
together because there are such relations and apparent contrasts
subsisting between them--such a likeness and such apparent differences,
that they may properly be understood only when so considered--that is,
conjointly.
The conception of God immanent in the world, not in bodily presence, of
course, but by his spirit--a divine power, carrying with it everywhere
the influence of God--proceeding forth from the presence of God to
fill the immensity of space; the light which lighteth every man that
cometh into the world--to which all men have access whether following
the light of nature or of revelation, the light which is in all things
and the power by which all things are sustained and in which they live
and move and have their being--this conception, with the conception of
the Holy Ghost as a Spirit-personage, union with whom and companionship
with whom can only be secured by obedience to the laws and ordinances
of the Gospel, is a conception that will correct some errors of
argumentation that have here and there obtained in the literature of
the subject, and leads to an understanding of things at once rational
and uplifting, because it is a development of the truth as God has
revealed it. This is the purpose of the treatise--The Divine Immanence,
and the Holy Ghost.
WORKS OF REFERENCE.
Relative to works of reference I would remind the student that outside
of the scriptures accepted by the Church the works that may be cited to
assist one in studying the subject of this treatise are very scarce,
since the doctrine of the Church on the subject is so radically
different from that of the world. I can therefore only recommend as
helpful the following brief list.
The Seventy's Library, viz.:
_The Bible,_
_The Book of Mormon,_
_The Doctrine and Covenants,_
_The Pearl of Great Price,_ containing the _Book of Moses,_
the _Book of Abraham,_ and some of the _Writings of Joseph
Smith._
The above books are certainly indispensable to every Seventy, and
should be owned by every member of our quorums. The First Council
in their recommendations, added to the above list, _"Richards and
Little's Compendium of the Doctrines of the Gospel,"_ and called the
set the "Seventy's Indispensable Library."
Elder James E. Talmage's _Articles of Faith,_
Orson Pratt's Works--_Kingdom of God._
_Rays of Living Light,_ by President Charles W. Penrose.
_Scientific Aspects of Mormonism,_ N. L. Nelson.
_The Gospel,_ Roberts.
_The Mormon Doctrine of Deity,_ Roberts.
The Seventy's Year Books, a complete set. There is constant reference
made in the present number to previous numbers; and the student who
is not in possession of those numbers is by so much deprived of the
opportunity to complete his inquiry on the division of the subject he
may have in hand, and as this number completes at present the set of
Seventy's Year Books, each member of the respective quorums, we think,
should be anxious to obtain the complete set.
After enumerating the above books, published by writers in the Church,
I suggest as in a way helpful to an understanding of the trend of
modern thinking, somewhat along the lines of spiritual and scientific
thought with which the Seventies of the Church ought to be acquainted,
the following:
_Natural Law in the Spiritual World,_ Henry Drummond, 1893.
_Studies in Religion,_ Fiske.
_A Century of Science,_ Fiske.
_Reconstruction of Religious Beliefs,_ Mallock.
_The Religious Conceptions of the World,_ Rogers.
_Science and Immortality,_ Sir Oliver Lodge.
All the books enumerated in the above list of works of reference may be
obtained at the Deseret Sunday School Union Book Store, Salt Lake City.
The Seventy's Course in Theology.
FIFTH YEAR
PART I
Divine Immanence.
LESSON I.
(Scripture Reading Exercise.)
IMMANENCE OF GOD.
ANALYSIS.
I. Definition of "Immanent."
II. Distinction Between "Omnipresence" and "Immanence."
III. Revelation commits the Church to the Doctrine of Divine Immanence.
REFERENCES.
Any of the standard dictionaries.
The Scripture passages cited in the "Discussion" of this lesson.
_SPECIAL TEXT: "The Light which now shineth, which giveth you light, is
through him who enlighteneth your eyes, which is the same light that
quickeneth your understandings; which Light proceedeth forth from the
presence of God to fill the immensity of space." (Doc. and Cov. Sec.
lxxxviii:11, 12.)_
DISCUSSION.
_1. Definition of Immanent:_ The word "Immanent" means
"indwelling," "remaining within;" "opposed to transient," or
"transitive."[A] Such the definition of the adjective. The noun,
"Immanence," is defined as "the state of being immanent," "a permanent
abiding within"--"indwelling."[B] As applied to God it conveys the
idea of essential and permanent Divine presence in all the universe. It
excludes the idea of movement or transition from one place to another
in order for the Deity to be at a given place, since immanence conveys
the idea of Divine presence being already and constantly at every point
in the universe; hence movement conceived as necessary to presence is
not essential, but is excluded from the conception of immanence.
[Footnote A: The Standard Dictionary, Funk and Wagnalls.]
[Footnote B: See both Standard and Century Dictionaries.]
_2. Distinction Between Omnipresence and Immanence:_ It may be
thought that "immanence" is but the restatement in another form, of
the attribute of omnipresence in Deity--simply an affirmation of his
every-whereness; and it must be admitted that there is at least a
close resemblance if not identity between the two things for which
the two terms stand. And yet there is a difference between immanence
and omnipresence. The latter means merely the every-whereness of God,
"present in all places and at the same time."[A]
[Footnote A: Century Dictionary.]
Immanence means that, too; but it means more than that. It means
_presence accompanied by power_; or presence plus power; presence
accompanied by doing, or act, leading to manifestations of God's
power. In modern philosophy the word is applied to the operations of a
Creator conceived of as in organic connection with the creation;[A]
and we shall see presently that this is as true in theology as it is in
philosophy.
[Footnote A: Century Dictionary. Joseph Le Conte, Professor of Geology
and Natural History in the University of California, discussing what
belief in God would be for rational philosophy, says: "It is the belief
in a God not far away beyond our reach, who once long ago enacted laws
and created forces which continue of themselves to run the machine
we call nature, but a God immanent, a God resident in Nature, at all
times and in all places directing every event and determining every
phenomenon; a God in whom in the most literal sense not only we but all
things have their being, in whom all things consist, through whom all
things exist, and without whom there would be and could be nothing.
According to this view the phenomena of Nature are naught else than
objectified modes of divine thought, the forces of Nature naught else
than different forms of one omnipresent, divine energy or will; the
laws of Nature naught else than the regular modes of operation of
that divine will, invariable because he is unchangeable. According
to this view the law of gravitation is naught else than the mode of
operation of the divine energy in sustaining the cosmos--the divine
method of sustentation." ("Evolution and Its Relation to Religious
Thought"--1902--pp. 300, 301.)]
_3. Does Revelation Teach Immanence of God:_ Here we may as well
consider the question whether or not the scriptures teach the doctrine
of immanence as defined above. Of the doctrine of God's omnipresence
there can be no question at all. David states it beautifully:
"Whither shall I go from thy spirit, or whither shall I flee from thy
presence? If I ascend up into heaven thou art there: if I make my bed
in hell, behold, thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning
and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; even there shall thy
hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me. If I say surely the
darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me. Yea
the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day:
the darkness and the light are both alike to thee."[A]
[Footnote A: Psalms cxxxix:7-12.]
Jeremiah is equally as clear in a statement of the same truth, even if
less poetical:
"Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith
the Lord. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the Lord."[A]
[Footnote A: Jeremiah xxiii:24.]
Solomon said of God:
"The heaven, and heaven of heavens cannot contain thee, how much less
this house that I have builded?"[A]
[Footnote A: I Kings viii:27.]
Paul declares that God is "not far from every one of us; for in him we
live and move and have our being."[A]
[Footnote A: Acts xvii:26-28.]
_4. Limitations of Foregoing Revelations to Omnipresence:_ These
declarations go at least as far as to establish the omnipresence of
God, not of his bodily, but of his spiritual presence; but they do
not quite express the conception presented in the word immanence
which I have said equals the attribute of omnipresence plus divine
power, and act. It was left for our modern revelations to present that
idea. This is done in the revelation which first declares that "the
elements"--having reference to the elements of the material world--"are
eternal;" that "spirit and element inseparably connected receive a
fulness of joy;" that "the elements are the tabernacle of God."[A] That
is, in some way, God is immanent, ever present and everywhere present,
in the universe.[B]
[Footnote A: Doc. and Cov., Sec. xciii:33-35.]
[Footnote B: The Universe: It may be well to bring before the mind of
the student a brief definition of this term "universe," in which we are
saying that God is immanent, in order that we may appreciate somewhat
at least the largeness of things with which we are dealing. I take the
definition from Haeckel:
"(a) The extent of the universe is infinite and unbounded; it is empty
in no part, but everywhere filled with substance.
"(b) The duration of the world (i. e. Universe) is equally infinite and
unbounded; it has no end; it is eternity." (Riddle of the Universe, p.
242.) And in this infinite and eternal universe, God, in some way, is
everywhere present and potentially or actually active--immanent.]
_5. God Not Only Everywhere Present, But Power and Act:_ Our
theology recognizes Jesus Christ as not only divine but Deity;[A] and
this Immanence of God in the world is in some of our modern revelations
spoken of as the "Light of Christ:"[B]
[Footnote A: Seventy's Year Book No. III, Lessons XXXIII and XXXIV.]
[Footnote B: A near equivalent to this phrase, "the light of Christ,"
is also used in the New Testament in connection with the idea of its
being a vital as well as an intelligent principle--the life and the
light of the world: "In him [the Christ, see context] was life; and
the life was the light of men; and the light shineth in the darkness,
and the darkness comprehended it not." John was sent to bear witness
of that light: "That was the true light, which lighteth every man that
cometh into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made by
him, and the world knew him not. He came unto his own, and his own
received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to
become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name." (St.
John's Gospel i:1-12.) See also Doc. and Cov., Sec. lxxxiv:45-47.]
"He that ascended up on high, as also he descended below all things; in
that he comprehended all things, that he might be in all and through
all things, the light of truth;
"Which truth shineth. _This is the light of Christ_. As also he is in
the sun, and the light of the sun, and the power thereof by which It
was made;
"As also he is in the moon, and is the light of the moon, and the power
thereof by which it was made.
"As also the light of the stars, and the power thereof by which they
were made.
"And the earth also, and the power thereof; even the earth upon which
you stand.
"And the light which now shineth, which giveth you light, is through
him who enlighteneth your eyes, which is the same light that quickeneth
your understandings;
"Which light proceedeth forth from the presence of God to fill the
immensity of space.
"The light which is in all things; which giveth life to all things;
which is the law by which all things are governed: even the power of
God who sitteth upon his throne, who is in the bosom of eternity, who
is in the midst of all things."[A]
[Footnote A: Doc. and Cov., Sec. lxxxviii:6-13.]
And later in the same Revelation it is said:
"Judgment goeth before the face of him who sitteth upon the throne
[God], and governeth and executeth all things;
"He comprehendeth all things, and all things are before him, and all
things are round about him: and he is above all things, and in all
things, and is through all things, and is round about all things; and
all things are by him, and of him, even God, for ever and ever.
"And again, verily I say unto you, he hath given a law unto all things
by which they move in their times and their seasons;
"And their courses are fixed; even the courses of the heavens and the
earth, which comprehend the earth and all the planets;
"And they give light to each other in their times and in their seasons,
in their minutes, in their hours, in their days, in their weeks, in
their months, in their years: all these are one year with God, but not
with man.
"The earth rolls upon her wings, and the sun giveth his light by day,
and the moon giveth her light by night, and the stars also give their
light, as they roll upon their wings in their glory, in the midst of
the power of God.
"Unto what shall I liken these kingdoms, that ye may understand?
"Behold, all these are kingdoms, and any man who hath seen any or the
least of these, hath seen God moving in his majesty and power.
"I say unto you, he hath seen him; nevertheless, he who came unto his
own was not comprehended.
"The light shineth in darkness, and the darkness comprehendeth it not;
nevertheless, the day shall come when you shall comprehend even God;
being quickened in him and by him.
"Then shall ye know that ye have seen me, that I am, and that I am the
true light that is in you, and that you are in me, otherwise ye could
not abound."[A]
[Footnote A: Ibid. Sec. lxxxviii:41-50.]
A more complete or thorough-going statement of the ever-whereness of
God in the world, accompanied with the idea of power--God immanent,
dynamic, as well as present,--I do not remember to have seen.
LESSON II.
(Scripture Reading Exercise.)
NATURE AND POWERS OF THE DIVINE IMMANENCE.
ANALYSIS.
I. Relationship of the Immanent Spirit to the Christ.
II. Powers of the Immanent Spirit:
(a) Creative power;
(b) Sustaining power;
(c) Vital power;
(d) Intelligence-inspiring power.
III. The Relationship of the Immanent Spirit to an Eternal Race of
Divine Beings.
REFERENCES.
The passages of scripture and other works cited in the "Discussion" of
this lesson.
_SPECIAL TEXT: "H. that ascended up on high, as also he descended below
all things; in that he comprehended all things, that he might be in all
and through all things, the light of truth; which truth shineth. This
is the Light of Christ the light which is in all things; which giveth
life to all things: which is the law by which all things are governed:
even the power of God who sitteth upon his throne, who is in the bosom
of eternity, who is in the midst of all things." (Doc. and Cov. sec.
lxxxviii:6, 7, 13.)_
DISCUSSION.
_1. The Immanent Spirit as Related to the Christ:_ It is to be
observed that Immanence of God as set forth in the preceding lesson is
associated with a personality; in the passages of scripture quoted in
the preceding lesson, the Immanence is directly associated with the
personality of the Christ. It is "The Light of Christ" that is immanent
in the world.[A]
[Footnote A: Doc. and Cov., Sec. lxxxviii:7.]
_2. Creative Power of the Immanent God:_ It is "The Light of
Christ" that is "in the sun, and the light of the sun, and the power
thereof by which it was made."[A] It is "The Light of Christ" that is
"in the moon, and is the light of the moon, and the power thereof by
which it was made; as also the light of the stars and the power thereof
by which, they were made; and the earth also, and the power thereof,
even the earth on which you stand."[B]
[Footnote A: Ibid.]
[Footnote B: Ibid, verses 8-10.]
_3. Sustaining Power of the Immanent God:_ This "light which
proceeded forth from the presence of God to fill the immensity of
space," "The Light of Christ," is also the sustaining power of the
world as well as the creative power--"the light which is in all things;
which giveth life to all things: which is the law [i. e. power] by
which all things are governed: even the power of God."[A]
[Footnote A: Doc. and Cov., Sec. lxxxviii:13. "The law and power by
which all things are governed," is the late Elder Orson Pratt's foot
note on the passage. See foot note "k" from verse 13.]
"The earth rolls upon her wings, and the sun giveth his light by day,
and the moon giveth her light by night, and the stars also give their
light, as they roll upon their wings in their glory, in the midst of
the power of God. * * * Behold all these are kingdoms, and any man who
hath seen any or the least of these, has seen God moving in his majesty
and power"--a manifestation of God in the orderly movement of the
planetary systems of the world.
_4. Vital Force of the Immanent God:_ This "Light of
Christ"--which "fills the immensity of space," is also a vital, or
life-giving force or spirit--"The Light which is in all things; _which
giveth life to all things_."[A] "I am the light of the world," said
Jesus, "he that followed me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have
the _light of life_."[B] "In him [the Christ] was life; and the life
was the light of men."[C]
[Footnote A: Doc. and Cov., Sec. lxxxviii:3.]
[Footnote B: St. John viii:12.]
[Footnote C: Ibid i:4.]
_5. Intelligence-Inspiring Power of the Immanent God:_ Nor is
this "Light of Christ," immanent in the world, creative, sustaining
and vital power only; but also it has a power of giving intelligence;
it inspires intelligence; it is the inspiration of God which gives
to the spirit of man understanding:[A] "The light which now shined,"
said the Lord to his servants, "which giveth you light, is through him
[the Christ] who enlightened your eyes, which is the same light that
quickened your understandings; which light proceedeth forth from the
presence of God to fill the immensity of space."[B]
[Footnote A: There is a spirit in man; and the inspiration of the
Almighty giveth them understanding; (Job xxxiii:8.)]
[Footnote B: Doc. and Cov., Sec. lxxxviii:11, 12.]
Again, and this from another revelation:
"For the word of the Lord is truth, and whatsoever is truth is light,
and whatsoever is light is Spirit, even the Spirit of Jesus Christ;
"And the Spirit giveth light to every man that cometh into the
world; and the Spirit enlighteneth every man through the world, that
hearkeneth to the voice of the Spirit;
"And every one that hearkeneth to the voice of the Spirit, cometh unto
God, even the Father;"[A]
[Footnote A: Doc. and Cov., Sec. lxxxiv:45-47. See also St. John
i:3-12.]
_6. The Immanent Spirit's Relationship to a Race of Divine, Exalted
Intelligences:_ We may now say from the analysis of the scriptures
so far developed that God Immanent in the world--"The Light of
Christ"--the "Spirit of Christ"--is the power creative; the sustaining
power; the life-giving power; and the intelligence-inspiring power. It
is the active principle in all these respects; and is omnipresent.
As observed in the opening paragraph of this lesson, however, God
immanent in the world is associated with a personality; it is directly
associated with the personality of Christ. It is called "The Light of
Christ"--it "proceedeth forth from the presence of God to fill the
immensity of space." It is not then a personality in itself, that is
in the sense of being of individual form, but proceeds forth from a
personality; it is a presence rather than a person; an influence, a
spiritual atmosphere, a power proceeding from another, and therefore
is dependent on that other for its existence rather than being an
independent existence; but as that "Other" on which it depends is
eternal, so too this that proceeds forth from the personal presence to
fill the immensity of space "is likewise eternal."[A]
[Footnote A: From the nature of things one has to develop his subject
gradually, "line upon line," and the writer suggests that the student,
if he finds the statement not fully established as here made, that he
await its fuller statement in later pages.]
Again: This God Immanent, as we have seen, is called the "Light of
Christ," "The Spirit of Christ." For which reason I have said above
that the God Immanent is associated with the personality of the Christ.
But if the God Immanent may be associated with the Christ, may it not
also be associated with God, the Father, as well as with God the son?
If God the Son has a spiritual influence, a light, an holy atmosphere
radiating forth from him into space, in some manner analogous to
the manner in which rays of light radiate from luminous suns in the
physical world--may it not be reasonably concluded that God, the
Father, also has such an influence, such a spiritual atmosphere
proceeding forth from him? And if Father and Son have such a spiritual
light proceeding forth from their presence, may it not be that all
divine Intelligences have, similarly proceeding forth from their
presence, such divine "light"?
_7. The Spirit Atmosphere of Men:_ Our discussion may be helped
here by an appeal to a matter of common experience. We know that every
man and woman has an individual influence, a personal atmosphere
extending beyond the personal self, more or less pronounced, according
to the strength or weakness of his individuality. So generally is
this conceded to be true that we designate its kind, or dominating
character; as good or bad; refined or coarse; intellectual or boorish;
spiritual or carnal. If, then, one may argue, the intelligences we know
as men possess this atmosphere of personal influence extending beyond
the personal self, how much more angels, arch-angels, and the higher
Intelligences who have taken on, or participated in, the Divine Nature
and entered into their exaltation and glory with other innumerable
Divine Intelligences whom we call Gods--with how much more reason may
we expect that these may have such spiritual influence proceeding forth
from their presence?
_8. The Identity of Spirit Influence Proceeding from all Divine
Beings:_ From the scriptures we learn of the perfect oneness
subsisting between God, the Father, and God, the Son. "I and my Father
are one," is the oft repeated declaration of the Christ.[A] "I in
thee, and thou in me,"[B] is the emphasis he lays upon the oneness of
himself and the Father. Granting this moral and spiritual oneness--not
physical oneness, for physically our theology holds Father and Son
to be distinct and separate individuals[C]--but granting this moral,
intellectual and spiritual alikeness--then it must follow that the
spiritual influence of each, the intellectual and moral atmosphere
of each, will be the same. "The Light of Christ" will be the same or
identical with the light of the Father; and with the light of all
Intelligences who have participated in the divine nature and become one
with the Father and the Son. So that it might be properly held that
the God Immanent is as much the "Light of the Father" as "The Light of
Christ;" and since that light would be identical with the light of all
perfected and holy beings, participating in the Divine nature, it could
receive a name that would generalize it--the "Divine Spirit, Immanent
in the Universe;" or, "God, the Spirit of the Gods,[D] Immanent
in the Universe;" any of these characterizations would doubtless
be admissible; but since it is through the Christ that the Divine
nature and spirit is manifested in our world, it is but proper that
this Divine Light which lighteth every man into the world--which is
creative, sustaining, vital, and intelligence-inspiring power, should
bear the name of Christ--and henceforth we shall recognize it as our
modern revelations do, primarily, as "The Light of Christ." But there
has always been a race of divine beings in existence, an eternal race,
from whom such a divine influence or atmosphere has proceeded forth to
"fill the immensity of space;" and that is what I meant a few paragraphs
back when I said that as the source whence the God Immanent proceeded
is eternal, so too is the immanence eternal, has always existed, and
will always exist by whatsoever name it might have been or may be known.
[Footnote A: St. John x:30; xvii:22, et seq.]
[Footnote B: Ibid, verse 21.]
[Footnote C: Seventy's Year Book III, Lesson XXXV.]
[Footnote D: I have so treated it in my Mormon Doctrine of Deity, pp.
166-169; also in the Seventy's Year Book No. III, Lesson XXXV.]
_9. Being Whom We Call God:_ This is that Spirit which men call
God, but "know no more;" that "something sacred and sublime," which
men recognize as moving "wool-shod" behind the worlds; this that
Spirit that permeates all space; that makes all presence bright; all
motion guides; the Power "unchanged through Time's all-devastating
flight"--God Immanent, the Spirit proceeding from all Divine
Intelligences intermingled and harmonized into one Spirit. This the
true light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world; the
light of which John the Baptist was the witness; and of which Jesus,
to us men, was the manifestation,[A] and to which all men have
access--"The Light of Christ."
[Footnote A: St. John i:4-12.]
_10. Brigham Young on Object of Existence:_ "We are created for
the express purpose of increase, there is nothing within us but that
which can increase, from the birth to old age; what is there that
is not ordained after eternal law of existence, for it is the Deity
within us that causes increase. Doth this idea startle you? Are you
ready to exclaim, what! the supreme in you? Yes, he is in every person
upon the face of the earth. The elements that every individual is made
of, and lives in, possesses a portion of the Deity, this you cannot
now understand, but you will hereafter. The Deity within us, is the
great principle that causes men and women to increase and to grow in
grace and truth. The operation once begun, strict obedience to the
requirements of heaven is necessary to obtain the end for which we were
created, but if we never commence to propagate our species, and keep
the commandments of God we cannot attain to the end in view."[A]
[Footnote A: Discourse by Pres. Brigham Young, June 13, 1852. Deseret
News, Vol. 4, No. 6.]
LESSON III.
(Scripture Reading Exercise.)
MORAL AND SPIRITUAL VALUE IN THE CONCEPTION OF THE DIVINE IMMANENCE.
ANALYSIS.
I. Of the Possibility of the Existence of all the Divine Attributes in
the Immanent Spirit.
II. Christ the Revelation of the Immanent Spirit, as well as of God,
the Father.
III. Moral and Spiritual Effect in the Sense of the Nearness of God in
the Doctrine of Divine Immanence.
REFERENCES.
The Scriptures and other works cited in the text of the lesson.
_SPECIAL TEXT: "Am I a God at hand, saith the Lord, and not a God
afar off? Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see
him? saith the Lord. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the Lord"
(Jeremiah xxiii:23, 24.)_
DISCUSSION.
_1. Possible Attributes of the Immanent Spirit:_ So far I have
refrained from ascribing any attributes, quality, or characteristic
to the Immanent God not directly warranted by the phraseology of the
modern revelations which teach the doctrine of immanence; creative and
sustaining power; vital force, and intelligence-inspiring power.[A]
Yet if the Immanent God is the spirit proceeding from the presence of
Divine Beings, to fill the immensity of space, and called for us men
"the Light of Christ," it may well be regarded as true that the Spirit
carries with it the whole nature of God, and in some way, reflects
all characteristics and attributes of Deity, the moral attributes of
wisdom, holiness, truth, justice, love, and mercy as well as the four
powers before noted.
[Footnote A: See the revelations quoted in preceding lesson.]
_2. The Mission of the Christ:_ Manifestation of the Immanent
Spirit: It was part of the mission of the Christ to manifest this
Immanent God, as well as God the Father. He came to reveal the whole
of the divine nature. He was God manifested in the flesh;[A] in him
dwelt all the fullness of the Godhead bodily;[B] it pleased the Father
that in him should all fullness dwell;[C] he was the brightness of
the Father's glory and the express image of his person.[D] But he was
also the manifestation of, "the true Light, which lighteth every man
that cometh into the world."[E] Light of Christ, the God Immanent; the
invisible made visible; the "Unknown God" of the Greeks made known in
Jesus Christ through the preaching of Paul unto them; for whom they
ignorantly worshiped declared he unto them by preaching Christ; saying
that God whom he preached was not afar off--"not far from every one
of us: for in him we live, and move, and have our being,"[F] making
direct reference to that Spirit which fills the immensity of space, the
"Unknown God" of the Greeks--the God Immanent, now manifested by the
Christ whom Paul was preaching--from whose presence David could not
flee; and to whom the darkness was the same as the light--to whom the
night shineth as the day.[G]
[Footnote A: Tim iii:16 and marginal rendering of "manifest" in Oxford
Bible.]
[Footnote B: Col. ii:9.]
[Footnote C: Col. i:19.]
[Footnote D: Heb. i:3.]
[Footnote E: St. John i:9.]
[Footnote F: Acts xvii:22-28.]
[Footnote G: Psalms cxxxix.]
_3. Moral Effect of the Conception of Immanence, Negatively
Expressed:_ The conception of God as Immanent in the world is of
utmost importance both as a religious and a philosophical truth. Its
effect upon the mind as establishing a sense of nearness of God is most
salutary in its moral effects, and uplifting in its spiritual power. To
sense that one lives in the presence of the Divine Consciousness--that
known unto God are all his thoughts and all his doings; to dwell with
One from whom the darkness and the light are both alike; from whom
there is no fleeing; for if one ascend into heaven, lo, He is there; if
one make his bed in hell, behold, He is there; if one would take the
wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the earth or
of the sea--there also is this Immanent Spirit.[A] To live thus in a
consciousness of the Divine Presence and Power, makes for righteousness
of life. For where may sin and wickedness hide themselves? There is
no refuge for them--no escape. If one shall say--"surely the darkness
shall cover me," even the night shall be light about him.[B] Iniquity
may not hide itself, and as sin loves not the light, negatively the
moral force of consciously living in the presence of God is very great.
[Footnote A: Psalms cxxxix.]
[Footnote B: Ibid.]
_4. Moral Effect of the Doctrine of Immanence, Affirmatively
Expressed:_ Affirmatively expressed, the conception and the
result of it are even greater, both morally and spiritually. To live
consciously in the presence of God must be a source of annoyance and
vexation to evil disposed men; and even to men inclined to virtue,
an embarrassment, at times, when they recall their many failures to
live in harmony with their ideals.[A] But, on the other hand, for
these of the latter class, when they realize that the Divine Presence
is sympathetic; that He knows, not only "what's done," but also
"what's resisted;" that He knows of the struggle for the attainment of
virtue--the hungering and the thirsting after righteousness; that He
knows the strength of the temptation, and the weakness of the tempted;
that He knows the heart, "each chord, its various tone; each spring,
its various bias;" and He will judge, not after the sight of the eyes,
neither reprove after the hearing of the ears, but with righteousness
shall He judge, and reprove with equity;[B] judging, "not according to
the appearance, but judge righteous judgment."[C] Men can be assured
of a correct registration and truthful report of their deeds, and a
judgment upon them neither partial nor prejudiced; which, while it
may cause the wicked to tremble, to men conscious of the uprightness
of their intentions, and of honest effort in right directions, as God
gives them vision to see the right--what encouragement to earnest
striving this conception of living in the very presence of God must
bring! What calmness it must bring in the midst of conflict! what
peace! what assurance of triumph notwithstanding failures, and losses,
and the sad exhibitions of human weakness--the outgrowth of a fallen
human nature!
[Footnote A: Professor Joseph Le Conte, Professor of Geology and
Natural History in the University of California, answering a supposed
objection that one might not live and work effectively in the presence
of the Immanent Deity, said: "It may alas! be true that this view
[Immanence of God in the world] brings us too near Him in our sense of
spiritual nakedness and short-coming. It may, indeed, be that we can
not live and work in the continual realized presence of the Infinite.
It may, indeed, be that we must still wear the evil of a practical
materialism on our hearts and minds. It may, indeed, be that in our
practical life and scientific work we must still continue to think
of natural forces as efficient agents. But, if so, let us at least
remember that this attitude of mind must be regarded only as our
ordinary work-clothes--necessary work-clothes it may be of our outer
lower life--to be put aside when we return home to our inner higher
life, religious and philosophical. (Evolution in Its Relation to
Religious Thought"--1902--pp. 302-3.)]
[Footnote B: Isaiah xi:3, 4.]
[Footnote C: St. John vii:24.]
_5. The Helpfulness that Comes from the Sense of the Nearness of
God--His Immanence:_ Moreover, if the view point of this treatise be
the true one, and all the attributes of the Divine nature are carried
over into the Divine Spirit that proceeds forth from the presence
of God to fill the immensity of space--being the God Immanent--then
one may be assured that living at all times and in all places in the
presence of the Immanent Spirit, he resides in the atmosphere, at
least, of the wisdom, the love, and the mercy of God; which can but add
to his comfort, to his assurance, to his strength. Such an one with
David can say--
"Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my thoughts:
and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way
everlasting."[A]
[Footnote A: Psalms, cxl:23, 24.]
And else he may say--
"Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear
no evil; for thou are near me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort
mc."[A]
[Footnote A: Psalm, xxiii:24.]
Under this sense of nearness, which springs from the doctrine of
Immanence, one may again say with David:
"Behold, the eye of the Lord is upon them that fear him, upon them that
hope in his mercy;
"To deliver their soul from death, and to keep them alive in famine.
"Our soul waiteth for the Lord: he is our help and our shield."[A]
[Footnote A: Psalms xxxiii:18-20.]
And yet again:
"The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such
as be of a contrite spirit.
"Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the Lord delivereth him
out of them all."[A]
[Footnote A: Psalms xxxiv:18, 19.]
Also:
"God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
"Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though
the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea;
"Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains
shake with the swelling thereof.
"There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God,
the holy place of the tabernacles of the most high.
"God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved: God shall help
her, and that right early.
"The heathen raged, the kingdoms were moved; he uttered his voice, the
earth melted.
"The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge."[A]
[Footnote A: Psalms xlvi:1-7.]
All which loving trust comes from that blessed sense of nearness of
God born of the great doctrine of Immanence--God resident in the
world, here and now--a dynamic power in the world--that makes for
righteousness, and of which the Christ was and is the manifestation,
the Revealer; and the Immanent Spirit is "the Light of Christ."
LESSON IV.
(Scripture Reading Exercise.)
THE PHILOSOPHICAL VALUE OF THE DOCTRINE OF IMMANENCE.
ANALYSIS.
I. The Immanence Conception a Result of Modern Thinking.
II. Philosophical Values in Immanence.
III. Immanence Conversely--"The World Immanent in God."
IV. Immanence Equal--Manifestation Unequal.
REFERENCES.
The Scripture passages and works cited in the lesson text.
_SPECIAL TEXT: "Thou, God, seest me." (Gen. xvi:13.)_
DISCUSSION.
_1. Modern Revival of the Doctrine of Immanence:_ On the
philosophical side of this conception of the Immanence of God, we
are assured that it is the result of the modern world's (i.e. _post
Kantian_) thinking.[A] Of its value to human thinking and to religion
itself, John Fiske--after pointing out the fact that both Clement and
Athanasius among the early Christian fathers had held somewhat to the
doctrine of immanence as conceived in more modern philosophy, viz--"God
Immanent in the universe, and eternally creative"--says:
[Footnote A: "One can securely say that nothing of crucial import has
come forward in the interest of human freedom [i.e. freedom of the
human will--man as a free moral agent] since Kant started the inspiring
but hitherto little fruitful conception of moral autonomy. Instead, as
we have seen, the world's thinking has been absorbed in questions that
thus far have ended in a persuasion of the immanence of the eternal in
all things--at best the all-pervasive presence of an immanent spirit."
Howison, "Conceptions of God," Introductions p. 32.]
"Once really adopt the conception of an ever-present God, without whom
not a sparrow falls to the ground, and it becomes self-evident that
the law of gravitation is but an expression of a particular mode of
divine action. And what is thus true of one law is true of all laws.
The thinker in whose mind divine action is thus identified with orderly
action and to whom a really irregular phenomenon would seem like a
manifestation of sheer diabolism, forsees in every possible extension
of knowledge a fresh confirmation of his faith in God. From his point
of view there can be no antagonism between our duty as inquirers and
our duty as worshipers. To him no part of the universe is godless. In
the swaying to and fro of molecules and the ceaseless pulsations of
ether, in the secular shiftings of planetary orbits, in the busy work
of frost and raindrop, in the mysterious sprouting of the seed, in
the everlasting tale of death and life renewed, in the dawning of the
babe's intelligence, in the varied deeds of men from age to age, he
finds that which awakens the soul to reverential awe; and each act of
scientific explanation but reveals an opening through which shines the
glory of the Eternal Majesty."[A]
[Footnote A: Fiske-Studies in Religion, pp. 167-3, Works Vol. IX]
_2. The World Immanent in God:_ Still one other thought from the
philosophical side of the conception of Immanence is that it enables
one to see not only God in nature, but as a necessary corollary, nature
in God--"Divine immanence in the world, and the reciprocal immanence of
the world in God."[A] That is to say, in one view, God's presence and
power penetrates and pervades nature--the universe; in another view,
nature is received into the all-including spiritual presence of God: as
the One indwells in the other; so the other dwells in the One.
[Footnote A: Howison--"The Conception of God." p. 96.]
Before now the student has doubtless looked into the clear depths of a
crystal-like spring of water; and has seen on the sandy floor of the
spring the sunlight that tells him that the sun penetrates the water,
in-dwells in the water, or, in poetic terms--
"The sunshine in water lies sleeping."
And as the sunlight penetrates the water so does the water receive
and hold the sunlight. As it is in the crystal spring, so is it in
the ocean. And so in the universe with the immanence of God and the
reciprocal immanence of the world in God. As saith the revelation:
"Judgment goeth before the face of him who sitteth upon the throne,
and governeth and executeth all things. He comprehendeth all things,
and all things are before him, and all things are round him; and he is
above all things, and in all things, and is through all things, and is
round about all things; and all things are by nim, and of him, even God
forever and forever."[A]
[Footnote A: Doc. and Cov., Sec. lxxxviii:41.]
The chief value of this statement of the case--apart from the fact of
it as a truth--is, it helps one to understand the completeness of the
presence of God in the world; so complete is it, that the world is also
in God! Also it helps one to an understanding of the more restricted
view of the same principle announced in St. John, the declaration of
the Christ: "Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in
me"; and that he and the Father are one[A]--i.e., the divine nature
and spirit are one. One nature participated in by both Father and Son
and finally to be participated in by those who are the disciples of
the Christ; for in his prayer immediately preceding the hour of his
passion--the most pathetic and soul-moving prayer preserved in human
language--referring to his disciples he said:
[Footnote A: St. John xiv:11; also xvii.]
"Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou has given
me, that they may be one as we are. Neither pray I for these alone, but
for them also which shall believe on me through their word; that they
all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they
also may be one in us, and the glory which thou gavest me, I have given
them, that they may be one, even as we are one: I in them and thou in
me, that they may be made perfect in one. * * * I have declared unto
them thy name, and will declare it; that the love wherewith thou hast
loved me, may be in them, and I am them."[A]
[Footnote A: St. John xvii. Paul doubtless refers to the same principle
when he says: "For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our
Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is
named; that he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory,
to be strengthened with might by his spirit in the inner man; that
Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and
grounded in Jove, may be able to comprehend with all Saints what is
the breadth and length and depth, and height; and to know the love of
Christ which passeth knowledge, that ye may be filled with all the
fullness of God." (Eph. iii:14-19.)
And also when he said:
"Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus: who being
in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God."
(Philippians ii:5, 6.)]
_3. One Divine Nature in Many Persons:_ One divine nature, then,
is the conclusion; but a divine nature in manifold persons, many,
though indeed one, because harmonized into unity of purpose, and will;
one divine spirit, rising from one divine nature--though participated
in by many; a spirit rising from all Intelligences who have attained to
the divine nature and unity in all and through all, manifesting God in
his splendor and glory, as creating, sustaining, and guiding power in
the universe--both Immanent and personal.
Elsewhere I have said on this subject: One cannot help being profoundly
impressed with the great truth that creation, throughout its whole
extent, bears evidence of being one system: that it presents at
every point unity of design, and harmony in its government. Nor am I
unmindful of the force there is in the deduction usually drawn from
these premises, _viz._, that the Creator and Governor of the universe,
must necessarily be One. But I am also profoundly impressed by another
fact that comes within the experience of man, at least to a limited
extent, _viz._: the possibility of intelligences arriving at perfect
agreement, so as to act in absolute unity. We see manifestations of
this principle in human governments, and other human associations of
various kinds. And this, too, is observable, viz., that the greater
and more perfect the individual intelligence, the more perfect can
the unity of purpose and of effort become for the community of
intelligences; so that one need only conceive the existence of perfect
intelligences to operate together in order to secure perfect oneness;
then shall come the one system evident in the universe, exhibiting at
every point unity of design, and perfect harmony in its government. In
other words, "oneness" can be the result of perfect agreement among
many intelligences as surely as it can be the result of the existence
of One Only Intelligence. Also, the decrees and purposes of the
perfectly united Many can be as absolute as the decrees and purposes of
the One Only Intelligence. One is also confronted with the undeniable
fact that inclines him to the latter view as the reasonable explanation
of the "Oneness" that is evidently in control of the universe--the fact
that there are in existence many Intelligences, and, endowed as they
are with free will, it cannot be denied that they influence, to some
extent, the course of events and the conditions that obtain. Moreover,
it will be found, on careful inquiry, that the explanation of the
"Oneness" controlling in the universe, on the theory that it results
from perfect agreement or unity of Many Intelligences, is more in
harmony with the revelations of God on the subject than the theory that
there is but One Only Intelligence that enters into its government.[A]
[Footnote A: Mormon Doctrine of Deity, pp. 137-8.]
John Stuart Mill, in his Essay on Theism, in speaking of the evident
unity in nature, which suggests that nature is governed by One Being,
comes very near stating the exact truth in an alternative proposition
to his first remark, viz.: "A. least, if a plurality be supposed, it is
necessary to assume so complete a concert of action and unity of will
among them, that the difference is for most purposes immaterial between
such a theory and that of the absolute unity of the Godhead."[A]
[Footnote A: Essays on Religion; Theism p. 133.]
_4. Immanence and Manifestation:_ We must believe from the
scriptures previously considered in these lessons that God by his
spirit is everywhere and equally present, but it does not follow
that the _manifestation_ of God is everywhere and equally the same.
There are doubtless persons, conditions, and places, that present
more favorable natures and conditions to the manifestation of this
universal presence than others. Undoubtedly, if the assumption of
this treatise be the right one, _viz._, that the God Immanent, for
us men in the kingdom of the universe we inhabit known as "the Light
of Christ"--carries with it the divine attributes of truth, wisdom,
justice, holiness, and love, with the rest, then it follows, since like
his affinity[A] to like, that there may be, as said above, persons,
conditions and places more congenial to manifestation of the divine
spirit than others. There are individual men and perhaps races of men
more responsive to the Divine Presence and the divine attributes of
which that presence is the atmosphere, than others; and where this
is the case there will be the larger manifestation of God. Hence the
difference observable among individuals and races and at variant
times and places. Those who draw near to God, he draws near to them
in manifestations of his presence and power; those who love darkness
rather than light, because their deeds are evil, receive not the light;
the manifestation of God in them either in presence or power is not
possible because the conditions which attend upon that manifestation
are not there.
[Footnote A: "For intelligence cleaveth unto intelligence; wisdom
receiveth wisdom; truth embraceth truth; virtue loveth virtue; light
cleaveth unto light; mercy hath compassion on mercy, and claimeth
its own; judgment goeth before the face of him who sitteth upon the
throne, and governeth and executeth all things." (Doc. & Cov. Sec.
lviii:37-40.)]
_6. The Law of Manifestation of the Immanent Spirit:_ "Draw nigh
unto God, and he will draw nigh to you,"[A] is the law of divine
manifestation. Christ, the Revealer of the Divine, Immanent Spirit,
as well as of the person, character, brightness, and glory of the
Father--the manifestation of all that is divine--"Came unto his own,
but his own received him not; but unto as many as received him, to them
gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believed
on his name.[B] He that believeth on him (i. e. the Christ) is not
condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he
hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God."
[Footnote A: James iv:8.]
[Footnote B: St. John i:11, 12.]
"And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and
men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
"For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the
light, lest his deeds should be reproved.
"But he that doeth truth, cometh to the light, that his deeds may be
manifest, that they are wrought in God."[A]
[Footnote A: St. John iii:18-21.]
LESSON V.
(Scripture Reading Exercise.)
DIFFICULTIES INVOLVED IN THE DOCTRINE OF IMMANENCE.
ANALYSIS.
I. Incompatibility of the Existence of Evil in the World, and the
Immanence of God.
II. Reason for the Existence of Moral Evil.[A]
III. Difficulties that Arise from a Partial View of Man's Life.
IV. The Golden Age Promised--the Millennium.
IV. The Lessons from Broken Harmonies--a World wherein Reigns Evils.
REFERENCES.
The Scripture passages and works cited in the lesson text.
_SPECIAL TEXT: "Thou [God] are of purer eyes than to behold evil, and
canst not look on iniquity: wherefore lookest thou upon them that deal
treacherously and holdest thy tongue when the wicked devoureth the man
that is more righteous than he?" (Habakkuk i:13.)_
[Footnote A: Under this subdivision of the lesson should be considered
especially the matter in note m, this lesson, and the lessons cited
from Year Books II and IV above and a review of the lessons cited from
former Year Books in note.]
DISCUSSION.
_1. Incompatibility of Immanence and Evil Stated:_ It is conceded
that the conception of God Immanent in the universe--everywhere
existing and everywhere dynamic power, though not everywhere equally
manifested, carries with it many and great difficulties that attend
upon all forms of human thinking when seeking the harmony that one
feels must exist in the things that are--in truth.
For example: one naturally would say, as soon as the conception of
the Immanence of God takes firm lodgment in his mind,--"why, then,
if God is in his world everywhere present, and everywhere, not only
powerful, but all-powerful; not only knowing, but all-knowing; not
only good but all-good, holy in fact, and cannot look upon sin with
the least degree of allowance[A]--why then is there evil in the world,
physical suffering, and moral wrong, injustice, cruelty?[B] Why is the
sum of human misery so great?[C] Why is the sum of human happiness so
small?[D] Why do the good suffer adversity? Why does prosperity so
frequently, in this world at least, attend upon the wicked? In the
words of the Hebrew prophet addressed to God: "Wherefore lookest thou
upon them that deal treacherously, and holdest thy tongue, when the
wicked devoureth the man that is more righteous than he"?[E] Why do the
sins of the wicked involve the innocent--why are the innocent made to
suffer with the guilty?[F] Why does truth make such tardy appearance in
the world, and why of so partial rather than of universal distribution?
How can freedom co-exist, that is, the freedom of man as a free moral
agent, co-exist with the Sovereign will of the All-Powerful and
Immanent God?[G]
[Footnote A: Doc. and Cov., Sec. i:31. Also Habakkuk i:13 and Psalms
v:4-6.]
[Footnote B: "We cry out for some explanation--for some philosophy
which shall show us _how_ evil is consistent with the infinite
goodness." (_Le Conte_, "Conceptions of God," p. 71.)]
[Footnote C: "How terribly large is the proportion of evil? comparing
the number of those who are or have been happy, with the number of
those who are or have been unhappy, can we say that the great pessimist
was very far wrong in calling this the worst possible--he did not say
the worst conceivable--world". (Goldwin Smith, discussing "Evolution,
Immortality, and Christianity," in North American Review, October,
1907, p. 196.)]
[Footnote D: "The great quest of humanity is happiness. But was the
world created to make us happy? I've studied people in all places and
conditions and everywhere I've found, when you get below the surface,
that it's mostly the insincere individual who says, 'I am a happy man.'"
(Thomas A. Edison, the great American Inventor in a Vienna-Austria
Interview on "Success in Life," reported in New York World, October 25.
1911.)]
[Footnote E: Habakkuk i:13.]
[Footnote F: See Seventy's Year Book II, Lessons III and IX. Also Year
Book IV, Lessons IV and VII and VIII.]
[Footnote G: In order that it may be seen that this is regarded really
as doubtful by some powerful minds, and also as a question of grave
importance, I quote the following presentation of it by Professor
Howison, and which he prints in italics in the work from which I quote
it: "Can the reality of human free-agency, of moral responsibility
and universal moral aspiration, of unlimited spiritual hope for every
soul,--can this be made out, can it even be held, consistently with the
theory of an Immanent God? This, for a few awakened minds at least,
now becomes the 'burning question.' * * * At all events, the time has
come when the question whether this is not so should be raised with
all emphasis, and examined to the end. For if our genuine freedom is
to disappear when we accept the religion whose God is the Immanent
Spirit, then the new religion is in truth a decline from the highest
conceptions of the historic faith, and in this regard has no advantage
over the religion of the 'Unknowable.'" ("Conceptions of God," p. 30.)]
Professor Le Conte has a valuable passage _apropos_ these questions
which I consider too valuable to omit at this point, though it makes
rather an extended quotation. On the great question of moral evil, its
nature, its origin, its reason--a question inseparably connected with
the conception of God, he says:
"In a general way I agree with his [Professor Royce's] explanation of
the dark problem of evil. Evil cannot be the true meaning and real
outcome of the universe; on the contrary, it means the necessary means
of the highest good. * * * Our moral and religious nature is just as
fundamental and essential as our scientific and rational nature. As
science is not simply passionless acquisition of knowledge, but also
enthusiasm for truth, so morality is not passionless rules of best
conduct, but impassioned love of righteousness. And this last is what
we call religion; for religion is morality touched and vivified with
noble emotion. Now, the necessary postulate of science, without which
scientific activity would be impossible, is a rational order of the
universe; and, similarly, the necessary postulate of religion, without
such religious activity would be impossible, is a moral order of
the universe. As science postulates the final triumph of reason, so
religion must postulate the final triumph of righteousness. Science
believes in the rational order, or in law, in spite of apparent
confusion; she knows that disorder is only apparent, only the result
of ignorance; and her mission is, to show this by reducing all
appearances, all phenomena, to law. So also religion is right in her
unshakable belief in the moral order, in spite of apparent disorder or
evil; she knows that evil is only apparent, the result of our ignorance
and our weakness; and her mission is, to show this by helping on the
triumph of moral order over disorder. We may, if we like,--as many
indeed do,--reject the faith in the Infinite Goodness, and thereby
paralyze our religious activity; but then, to be consistent, we must
also reject the faith in the Infinite Reason, and thereby paralyze our
scientific activity.
So much for a rational justification of the indestructible faith
religion has in the Infinite Righteousness, even in the presence of
abounding evil. It is founded on the same ground as our indestructible
faith in the reign of law in the natural world, and is just as
reasonable. Why is it, then, it may be asked, that every one is
willing to admit the postulate of science, while so many doubt that
of religion? I answer: partly because of feebleness of our moral life
in comparison with our physical life; but mainly because the steady
advance of science, with its progressive conquest of chaos, and its
extension of the domain of order and law, is a continual verification
of the postulate of science, and justification of our faith therein;
while, on the contrary, the progress of morality and religion is
uncertain and often unrecognized, the increase of righteousness and
decrease of evil doubtful and even denied. In the presence of such
uncertainty, our faith is often sorely tried. We cry out for some
explanation--for some philosophy which shall show us how evil is
consistent with the Infinite Goodness. We know it is, for that is a
necessary postulate. But--how?"[A]
[Footnote A: The Conception of God--Le Conte's paper, pp. 70-71.]
This philosophy so earnestly asked for I trust is found in the New
Dispensation of the Gospel, the light from the revelations in which, I
believe, warrant the conclusions in the above paragraph of the Lesson
text, and also the conclusions reached in the lessons of previous
Year Books cited in note f. Then Professor Le Conte himself gives a
reasonably good explanation for the existence of moral evil, which
it is only just should be given here since I have quoted him up to
the question of why evil exists. This is his answer: "It is that the
existence or at least the possibility of a moral being like that of
man [should exist]. There are some things which God himself cannot
do, viz., such things as are contrary to his essential nature, and
such things as are a contradiction in terms and therefore absurd and
unthinkable. Such a thing would be a moral being without freedom
to choose right or wrong. God could not make man eternally and of
necessity sinless, for then he would not be man at all. To make him
incapable of virtue, of righteousness, of holiness, for he must acquire
these for himself by free choice, by struggle and conquest."[A]
[Footnote A: The Conception of God, p. 72.]
_2. Things Seen and Known but in Part:_ One may not find the
complete answer to all the questions of the second paragraph of this
lesson, which make up largely the sum of difficulties for the theist,
who believes in God Immanent in the world; but they are somewhat
lessened by remembering that here on our plane of human life we know
things but in fragments--"We know in part:" We see as through a glass,
darkly; not face to face; and will have to await the time of more
perfect knowing and seeing before we shall comprehend things as they
are in their entirety.
A fine illustration of the mistaken conclusions men form by judging of
things seen only in part is to be found in the Prophet Malachi:
"Your words have been stout against me, saith the Lord. Yet ye say,
What have we spoken so much against thee?
"Ye have said, It is vain to serve God: and what profit is it that we
have kept his ordinance, and that we have walked mournfully before the
Lord of hosts?
"And now we call the proud happy; yea, they that work wickedness are
set up; yea, they that tempt God are even delivered.
"Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another: and the
Lord hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written
before him for them that feared the Lord, and that thought upon his
name.
"And they shall be mine, saith the Lord of hosts, in that day when I
make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son
that serveth him.
"Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the
wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not"[A]
[Footnote A: Mal. iii:13-18.]
All which tends to establish the thought that this world is the scene
of struggle and trial for man, not the place of his full triumph and
reward. "In this world your joy is not full [saith the Lord], but in
me your joy is full. Therefore care not for the body, neither the life
of the body; but care for the soul, and for the life of the soul; and
seek the face of the Lord, always, that in patience ye may possess your
souls, and ye shall have eternal life."[A]
[Footnote A: Doc. and Cov., Sec. ci:36-38.]
_3. Amid Broken Harmonies:_ We may be helped somewhat in our
present earth-view of things, by holding in consciousness the fact
that we live at present in our world amid broken harmonies, under the
effects of "the fall," for a wise purpose in God; in a sphere of trial
and test; in a purposely arranged department of God's great university
for the instruction of the spirits of men in certain all-important
matters,[M] involving also our union with earth elements, leading to a
fulness of joy, and without which union men cannot receive a fulness
of joy.[B] Therefore we may say that in our earth-life things are not
in a normal state; but in confusion; under stress of special trial
and development that shall ultimate in higher and better things--in
the golden age of the earth and of humanity, predicted by sages and
poets--the millennium of the seers and prophets of God, and the
apostles of the Christ--these all bid us hope for higher and better
things than we have known on our present plane of existence--a world
where we shall no longer see as through a glass darkly, "but face to
face;" when we shall no longer know only in part, but know even as we
are known; when that which is in part "shall be done away," and that
"which is perfect is come."[C]
[Footnote M: "Religion accounts for the existence of evil as
probationary, resistence to the evil being a training of humanity to
good." (Goldwin Smith in "North American Review," October, 1907. In
connection with this statement see Seventy's Year Book II, Lesson III;
also Lesson VIII, IX, X, which deal with "The Fall," "The Purpose of
Man's Earth Life," and the "Problem of Evil.")]
[Footnote B: Doc. and Cov., Sec. xciii:32-35.]
[Footnote C: I Cor. xiii.]
There remaineth then a rest for the people of God.[A] They may look for
a city "which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God."[B] The
vision of St. John, in which he saw descending out of heaven the New
Jerusalem, is yet to be realized in fact. Also what he heard proclaimed
by "a great voice"--
[Footnote A: Heb. iv:9.]
[Footnote B: Heb. xi:10.]
"Behold the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with
them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them,
and be their God.
"And God 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 passed away.
"And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new.
And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful."[A]
[Footnote A: Revelation xxi; also xxii.]
LESSON VI.
(Scripture Reading Exercise.)
DOCTRINE OF DIVINE IMMANENCE IN THE NEW DISPENSATION: RECONCILIATION OF
DIFFICULTIES.
ANALYSIS.
I. Difficulty of Regarding the Infinite Power of the Universe as Both
Immanent and Personal.
II. Revelation Represents the Infinite Power of the Universe as
Personal.
III. The Nature of Man Requires the Infinite Power to be a Personal
Intelligence.
IV. Reconciliation of Difficulties in Doctrine of Immanence as taught
in the New Dispensation.
REFERENCES.
The Scriptures and other works in the text of the lesson.
_SPECIAL TEXT: "I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand
at the latter day upon the earth; and though after my skin worms shall
destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God: whom I shall see
for myself and mine eyes shall behold, and not another: though my veins
be consumed within me." (Job xix:25-28.)_
DISCUSSION.
_1. Immanence and Personality--a Difficulty:_ The view here
presented of the Immanence of God in the world doubtless contributes in
a helpful way to the advanced thought of the modern world in striving
to arrive at a knowledge of things as they are, as they have been, and
as they shall be--the truth.[A]
[Footnote A: Doc. and Cov., Sec. xciii:24.]
Modern thought has forced the conclusion upon men's minds that there
is a power immanent in the world--here and now, and always has been;
and so far as man can see there always will be; it is eternal--"both
ways"--to use a phrase of Professor Le Conte's, looking forward as
well as backward, when using that word "eternal." It is the eternal
cause of things, variously named "energy," "force," "spirit," or
simply "power," used in some cases with the prefix "mechanical" or
"infinite" or "Divine" or the "Unknowable" according to the view point
of the speaker or writer; but by most philosophers recognized as
"the infinite and eternal energy from which all things proceed," and
"which is the same power that in ourselves wells up under the form of
consciousness;"[A] and which by theists of all classes is recognized
as God. But those who long to conceive and in their lives feel the
need of conceiving of this universal "power" or "spirit" or "force"
or "energy"--"the infinite and eternal energy from which all things
proceed"--meet with the difficulty of forming the conception of a
"power, infinite, and all pervasive," and at the same time personal,
since it is held by philosophers of high authority--and deservedly
so--that "personality and infinity are terms expressive of ideas
which are mutually incompatible."[B] How then shall this difficulty
be overcome? Professor Le Conte, a most conscientious man of science,
and also a most devout Theist, says, "The only rational view is to
accept both immanence and personality, even though we cannot reconcile
them."[C] This, however, from the standpoint of modern philosophers
and orthodox theologians who identify or confound the immanent power
absolutely as God himself--and the only Deity with whom we have to
deal--is a somewhat forcing of the human understanding--a case of "the
heart breathing defiance to the intellect." "Not that the spirit cannot
do this * * * but that doing it does not amount to philosophy."[D]
I doubt if it amounts to religion either: for religion no less than
philosophy requires harmony in things; and is necessarily a concern
of the intellect as well as of the heart. Its conceptions must appeal
to the understanding as well as to the emotions. As remarked by Mr.
Fiske: "Our reason demands that there shall be a reasonableness in
the constitution of things. This demand is a fact of our psychical
[spiritual] nature as positive and irrepressible as our aceptance
of geometrical axioms, and our rejection of whatever controverts
such axioms. No ingenuity of argument can bring us to believe that
the infinite Sustainer of the Universe will put us to permanent
intellectual confusion." That is in regard of spiritual or religious
matters; any more than in other matters. "Our belief," he continues,
"in what we call the evidences of our senses is less strong than our
faith that in the orderly sequence of events there is a meaning which
our minds could fathom were they only vast enough."[E]
[Footnote A: Fiske, "Studies in Religion," p. 104; Works, Vol. IX. The
parts within single quotation marks are from Spencer, and quoted by
Fiske.]
[Footnote B: Fiske Cosmic Philosophy, Vol. IV, p. 227. Also Professor
Le Conte says: "No one, we admit, can form a clear conception of how
immanence of Deity is consistent with personality." ("Evolution and Its
Relation to Religious Thought," p. 337.)]
[Footnote C: "Evolution and Its Relation to Religious Thought,"
1902, p. 337. The context is also worthy of being brought into view:
"No one, we admit, can form a clear conception of how immanence of
Deity is consistent with personality, and yet we must accept both,
because we are irresistibly led to each of these by different lines of
thought. Science, following one line of thought, uncorrected by a wider
philosophy, is naturally led toward the one extreme of pantheistic
immanence; the devout worshiper, following the wants of his religious
nature, is naturally led toward the other extreme of anthropomorphic
personality. The only rational view is to accept both immanence and
personality, even though we can not clearly reconcile them, i. e.,
immanence without pantheism, and personality without anthropomorphism."]
[Footnote D: Professor Howison in "Conception of God"--Introduction, p.
35.
The situation is well represented in the respective attitudes of Mr.
Henry L. Mansel, a church of England minister, Dean of St. Paul's
in fact, and author of the somewhat celebrated Brampton Lectures on
"Limits of Religious Thought"--1875--; and Mr. Herbert Spencer, author
of the Synthetic Philosophy. Mr. Mansel in his second lecture, after
dealing with the difficulties attending upon finite minds dealing with
questions of the "absolute," "infinite" and "first cause;" declares
that there is a contradiction in the conception of the infinite as
personal (pp. 84-85): and yet in the third lecture he says, "It is our
duty to think of God as personal; and it is our duty to believe that
he is infinite"; notwithstanding, as Mr. Mansel admits, "we cannot
reconcile these two representations with each other, as our conception
of personality involves attributes apparently contradictory to the
notion of infinity." (p. 106):
Commenting upon this very passage Mr. Spencer says: "That this is not
the conclusion here adopted (i.e., by himself) needs hardly be said.
If there be any meaning in the foregoing argument, duty requires us
neither to affirm nor deny personality. Our duty is to submit ourselves
with all humility to the established limits of our intelligence: and
not perversely to rebel against them. Let those who can, believe
that there is eternal war set between our intellectual faculties and
our moral obligations. I for one admit no such radical vice in the
constitution of things." "First Principles" p. 111.]
[Footnote E: Studies in Religion, p. 189. Works Vol. IX.]
2. Revelation Presents a Personal Deity as the Object of Man's Faith
and Worship: The Old Testament's revelation of God presents him to
the world most emphatically as a personal being. "God is referred to
as Almighty, All-Wise, All-Holy, the Eternal Creator, Sustainer, and
Moral Governor of the universe. He is represented as entering into
special relations with his highest creature, man, who is created in his
image, after his likeness,[A] to be his vicegerent on earth,[B] and to
increase in sympathy and fellowship with himself."[C]
[Footnote A: Gen. 1:26, 27.]
[Footnote B: Gen. 1:26-28.]
[Footnote C: "Belief in God"--Drummelow Bible Commentary, p. 49. See
also The Index in both the Oxford and Cambridge Teacher's Bible Helps,
under "God" and especially under the subdivision of "Attributes" in the
former.]
"When we sum up the impressions and teachings about the God of the
ancient Hebrews," says Professor Francis Brown, of Union Theological
seminary, "the general result is very definite. We find a personal
Being of great majesty, dignity and power, the Creator and Ruler of
men, a being of holiness and transcendence; a being of righteousness,
who promotes righteousness in others and punishes every breach of
it; whose government is a moral government and from whose decisions
there is no appeal; a being of kindness, tenderness and helpfulness,
with gracious care for those who confide in him, whose plans are at
length to be worked out and his desires realized in the unity of men
under his benevolent sway amid the exhibition of the divine glories of
righteousness and universal peace."[A]
[Footnote A: The passage is from "The Christian Point of
View"--1902--Prof. Brown's passage represents only that view of God
revealed in the Old Testament that he asserts is not inconsistent
with the New. For he immediately adds to the above paragraph: "With
every stroke of this drawing the New Testament picture is in accord.
To this extent the spirit and teaching of Jesus Christ indorses the
older revelation." (Ibid above). He then proceeds to show that some
conceptions of God presented in the Old Testament, as he apprehends
them, are not in harmony with the New Testament. I use the passage
from Professor Brown, merely to show that other believers in the Old
and New Testament revelation of God, as well as the Latter-day Saints,
regard those revelations as presenting God to human consciousness as a
personal being.]
If anything was lacking in the Old Testament revelation of God as a
personal being, in closest relationship to man, then assuredly it
would be supplied in the New Testament revelation of God through the
person and character of Jesus Christ. For in the New Testament, in the
most emphatic manner, the Christ is represented as "God manifested
in the flesh."[A] He, under the direction of the Father, is Creator
of the world; he is the brightness of the Father's glory; "and the
express image" of the Father's person.[B] He so completely represented
the Father that he declared that those who had seen him had seen the
Father;[C] also after his resurrection he declared that all power in
heaven and in earth had been given unto him, and in the full glory of
that God-Power he sent forth his disciples to teach all nations and to
baptize them in the name of the distinct persons of the God-head.[D]
All that Jesus was and is, God is; for the Christ was God manifested in
the flesh. Emphatically God is revealed as a personal being.
[Footnote A: I Tim. iii:16.]
[Footnote B: Hebrews i. See also Discourse by the writer, "Jesus Christ
the Revelation of God," in Mormon Doctrine of Deity, Ch. IV, also
chapter I, same work.]
[Footnote C: St. John, xiv:8-11.]
[Footnote D: Matt. xxviii:18-20.]
To all this may be added the account of the greatest revelation of all
given to man respecting God, in which both Father and Son are revealed
to be not only persons but each a separate and distinct individual
--the unveiling of both God the Father and God the Son to Joseph Smith;
"I saw," said he, "two personages, whose brightness and glory defy all
description, standing above me in the air. One of them spake unto me,
calling me by name, and said, pointing to the other--
_"This my beloved son, hear him."_[A]
[Footnote A: Writings of Joseph Smith, Pearl of Great Price, p 85.]
Needless to say these personages in form were as men. The whole
volume of revelation, the Old Testament, and the New, and all modern
revelation, both in the Book of Mormon and in the Doctrine and
Covenants; as well also in the discourses and conversations of the
Prophet Joseph Smith, God is represented as a person--of whom Jesus
Christ is the express image, and explicit manifestation; and hence
believers in revelation are bound to regard God as a personal being, in
whose image man was created.
_3. The Nature of Man Requires a Personal God:_ The necessity
of conceiving the being whom men call God as personal, also arises
from the nature of man. As it is inconceivable that God should "love
gases,"[A] so, too, is it impossible for man to love, revere, or
worship mere force, or energy; or regard himself as holding any moral
relationship whatsoever to it, though it be proclaimed infinite and
eternal. It is soul that responds to soul; like responds to like; love
to love. Soul of man cries out for "soul" in the "Infinite Power" to
make rational a universe which otherwise is irrational, empty and void
of meaning--mechanical merely, signifying nothing. The central idea of
religion, consists of certain relationships that exist between men and
the power recognized as God, involving the thought of duties and of
rights.[B] Man knows himself as a person--an intelligence; conscious of
certain existences, of self-existence, and conscious of a great number
of things not self. He is capable of many and wonderful intellectual
and emotional experiences. He deliberates; he compares things,
contrasts things; he measures and weighs things, he sets values upon
them; he prizes one more than another. He is capable of rising from the
particular to the general, from the concrete to the abstract; from the
things of sense-perception to objects of thought, ideas; until at last
"I think," he cries, "Therefore I am."[C]
[Footnote A: The impressive thought is Sir Robert Ball's, see Defense
of the Faith and the Saints, Vol. II. p. 500.]
[Footnote B: See Seventy's Year Book IV, Lesson I. The central and real
meaning of the Christian religion, in which the self-consciousness of
the Wests finds its true expression, and which thus far has found no
home except in the West, lies exactly in the faith that the Creator and
the creature are reciprocally and equally real, not identical; that
there is Fatherhood of God and brotherhood of men; that God recognizes
rights in the creature and acknowledges duties toward him; and that
men are accordingly both unreservedly and also indestructibly real,
both free and immortal. In that religion alone, I venture to assert,
is the union of this triad of faiths to be found--in God, in freedom,
in immortality--faiths that, while three, are inseparably one, since
neither can be stated except in terms of the other two. ("Conceptions of
God"--Howison, p. 94.)]
[Footnote A: Such Descartes formula, and the strength of it as a truth,
and its value as an initial point in philosophy, has not been shaken in
the two and three quarters of a century since it was first published.
See Descartes' Meditations. In the Universal Classics Library edition
of Descartes, there is in the Introduction by Frank Sewell, A. M.,
a very fine and exhaustive discussion of the above principle, "The
Cogito Ergo Sum--Its Nature and Meaning." Subdivision III and IV of the
Introduction. The Meditations were first published in Paris 1641, A.D.]
_4. The Wonders of Man's Mind-Power:_ But not only does man think,
and from consciousness of the fact deduce his own existence, but he
passes judgment upon things, determining that this is a better thing,
or state, or condition than that. He chooses between and among things,
states, and conditions. He is conscious of a power within himself
also to will this or that, and can become a true cause of certain and
very many things within his experience, especially as concerns his
individual movements and conduct.
He is equally conscious of certain emotions that pertain to himself.
He fears, is awed; he experiences sorrow, hate, joy, and, best of
all, love. And, certain abnormal individuals aside, man loves what he
conceives to be the beautiful, the true, the good. In this, too, he is
capable of rising in conception from the concrete to the abstract; from
the relative to the absolute; from the finite to the infinite. He loves
the truth of his experience; but he knows it is limited, relative, and
he longs for the Absolute Truth. He loves the good of his experience,
but again he knows the good of his experience to be relative, finite,
and he longs for and could love, and love supremely, the Infinitely
Good. He aspires to relationship with it, to fellowship, to union, to
one-ship with it.
In order to attain to such relationship, however, it is obvious that
the Infinite Power, the Infinitely Beautiful and the Infinitely
Good must be some thing more than mechanical force. It must be
even more than an "Unknown"; something more than a "Mystery," a
mere "Incomprehensible," an "Inscruitable," if man is to stand in
any sympathetic relationship to it: for the "Infinite Power" as an
admittedly "Unknown," or as "Inscruitable Mystery," leaves that power
as incapable of reciprocal, moral and spiritual relations with man as
the "Power" conceived as mere mechanical force is.[A]
[Footnote A: These remarks are made in view of what Mr. Herbert Spencer
says of the value of "A Mystery ever pressing for an interpretation,"
as an "ultimate religious truth of the highest possible certainty";
but which, if analyzed, will be discovered to be of no more religious
value than the conception of the "Infinite Power" as mechanical force.
Yet Mr. Spencer thus speaks of it: "And thus the mystery which all
religions recognize, turns out to be far more transcendent mystery
than any of them suspect--not a relative, but an absolute mystery.
Here, then, is an ultimate religious truth of the highest possible
certainty--a truth in which religions in general are at one with each
other, and with a philosophy antagonistic to their special dogmas. And
this truth, respecting which there is a latent agreement among all
mankind from the fetish-worshiper to the most stoical critic of human
creeds, must be the one we seek. If Religion and Science are to be
reconciled, the basis of reconciliation must be this deepest, widest,
and most certain of all facts--that the Power which the Universe
manifests to us Is utterly inscrutable." "First Principles," pp. 47,
48.]
_5. The Immanence of the New Dispensation--Reconciliation of
Difficulties:_ The Immanence of God, as we have seen, and as that
conception is commonly held, presents a difficulty. The difficulty of
regarding the Immanent Power as being at once immanent in the world
and at the same time personal. But that difficulty is overcome in the
theology of the New Dispensation by the fact that the Immanent God is
conceived as Spirit or Spiritual Light--"the Light of Christ," for us
men--which "proceedeth forth from the presence of God to fill the
immensity of space. The light which is in all things; which giveth
life to all things; which is the law by which all things are governed:
even the Power of God."[A] And which is, according to the testimony of
St. John "the true light which lighteth every man that cometh into the
world,"[B] and according to the word of the Lord to Joseph Smith is,
"the light which now shineth, which giveth you light, is through him
who enlighteneth your eyes, which is the same light that quickeneth
your understandings."[C]
[Footnote A: Doc. & Cov., Sec. lxxxviii:12,13.]
[Footnote B: St. John, i:9.]
[Footnote C: Doc. & Cov., Sec. lxxxviii:11.]
Also, as we have seen (ante-Lesson III), not only is the Immanent
Spirit the Divine Power, but that spirit carries with it into the
immensity of space which it pervades, at least certain attributes
of the Divine Intelligence from whom it proceeds, and becomes the
inspiration to intelligence in men, and the atmosphere of wisdom,
holiness, truth, and of love. Also the Immanent Spirit is a means of
union for man, if he desires it, if he seeks to make it so by drawing
nigh unto God, that God may draw nigh unto him--a means of union with
the Divine Intelligences from whom the spiritual light proceeds,
and of whom the Christ is the type, and with whom man is destined,
ultimately, to associate, living in the physical presence of such
Intelligences as well as in their spiritual presence, on terms of
intimate friendship--face to face communion; personal association in
councils; personal cooperation in the divine purposes, in creation,
in sustentation; in redemptive processes, and, in a word, in all the
Divine activities, until man shall be satisfied to the uttermost with
his fellowship and perfect union with God, finding in the free harmony
of Divine Intelligences, that "City of God," that moral order, that
expression of the "Absolute," that completeness, which seems necessary
to a rational universe for man.
PART II.
The Godhead.
THE HOLY TRINITY.[A]
(Scripture Reading Exercise).
THE HOLY TRINITY.
ANALYSIS.
I. Faith of the Church in God.
II. Scripture Evidence of the Trinity.
III. The Early Christian Conception of the Holy Trinity. The Apostles'
Creed.
IV. Worship of the Godhead.
REFERENCES.
The Scripture passages and works cited in the "Discussion" of this
lesson.
_SPECIAL TEXT: "And Jesus when he was baptized went straightway out of
the water; and lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the
Spirit of God, descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: and lo,
a voice from heaven saying, This is my beloved Son in whom I am well
pleased." (Matt. iii:16, 17.)_
[Footnote A: This subject is treated more at length in Seventy's Year
Book No. III, also in the writer's "Mormon Doctrine of Deity," Ch. IV,
Lesson XXXI, to which the student is referred. Its treatment here is
merely to get the idea of the relationship that the Holy Ghost sustains
to the other two personages of the Trinity.]
DISCUSSION.
_1. Belief in the Godhead:_ "We believe in God the Eternal Father,
and in his Son Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost."[A]
[Footnote A: "Articles of Faith"--Joseph Smith, from the Wentworth
Letter 1842, Hist. of the Church, Vol. IV, p. 535 et Seq.]
Such is the authoritative declaration of the Church as to its faith in
the Godhead. Such is the Godhead of the New Testament Scriptures--the
Christian Trinity.
_2. Scripture Proof of the Trinity:_ In four separate ways is
this made apparent: (1) at the baptism of Jesus. As Jesus, who is
God, the Son, came forth from his baptism at the hands of John, a
manifestation of the presence of God the Holy Ghost, was given in the
sign of the Dove, which rested upon Jesus; while, lo, a voice from
heaven, the voice of God, the Father, was heard, saying---"This is my
beloved Son in whom I am well pleased";[A] (2) in the commission given
to the apostles to teach all nations: "and Jesus came and spake unto
them saying, all power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go,
therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the
Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe
all things whatsoever I have commanded you."[B] (3) in the vision of
Stephen; the mob rushed upon Stephen--"But he, being full of the Holy
Ghost, looked steadfastly into heaven, and saw the Glory of God, and
Jesus standing on the right hand of God."[C] (4) in the apostolic
benediction, viz., "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of
God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all."[D]
[Footnote A: Matt. iii:16, 17.]
[Footnote B: Matt. xxviii:18, 19.]
[Footnote C: Acts vii:55, 56.]
[Footnote D: II Cor. xiii:14.]
This Godhead of three divine persons is emphatically proclaimed in the
Book of Mormon: They shall be "arraigned before the bar of Christ, the
Son, and God the Father, and the Holy Spirit, which is one Eternal
God, to be judged according to their works."[A] "And after this manner
shall ye baptize in my name [this after giving the baptismal formula--I
baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son, and of the Holy
Ghost, see context], for verily I say unto you, that the Father and the
Son, and the Holy Ghost are one"--Jesus.[B] "The Father, and I and the
Holy Ghost are one."--Jesus.[C]
[Footnote A: Alma xi:44.]
[Footnote B: II Nephi xi:24, 27.]
[Footnote C: Ibid ver. 36. See also III Nephi xxxiii:10; and Mormon
vii:7.]
_3. The Doctrine of the Trinity Formulated in the Early Christian
Church:_ To these scriptural groupings of the three persons into
a holy trinity, may be added that earliest of post apostolic symbols
known commonly as the "Apostles' Creed," because of the tradition that
it was formulated by the apostles immediately before their dispersion
into the world to fulfill the commission given to them by the Christ to
teach all nations; but which notion is now very generally discredited,
and the truer notion is held to be that this noted summary of Christian
faith "arose from small beginnings, and was gradually enlarged as
occasion required in order to exclude new errors from the Church."[A]
But, however, and whoever constructed this so-called Apostles' Creed,
this much must be said of it, viz., that it represents the almost
universal belief of the early Christian Church in a Godhead consisting
of three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost; that this is
in harmony with the New Testament scriptures, and is the symbol[B] of
Christian faith that grew out of efforts to express the essentials of
Christianity. The creed, in English, follows:
[Footnote A: In acknowledging that it has no claim to that venerable
title (i. e., the Apostles' Creed), "we must guard against the common
assumption," says Dr. Philip Smith, "that it is the oldest, as well
as the simplest creed of the Catholic Church. True--as we have
seen--it may be traced, in its most essential elements, from an early
post-apostolic age; but, its development belongs solely to the Western
Church, and its formal adoption, as a written creed, is later than the
Nicene. It was the ancient baptismal creed as used in the Church of
Rome, and was known as the Symbolum Romanum, or simply Symbolum, before
it received the epithet of Apostolorum. Its forms were different in
different churches; the earlier forms variously omitting the articles
of the "descent into hell," "the communion of saints," "the life
everlasting," and the epithet "catholic" before "church."]
[Footnote B: "These creeds obtained also the name of Symbols."
Students' Ecclesiastical History, Dr. Philip Smith, Vol I, p. 234.]
THE "APOSTLES' CREED."
"I believe in God, the Father, Almighty; and in Jesus Christ, his only
begotten son, our Lord, who was born of the Virgin Mary by the Holy
Ghost, was crucified under Pontius Pilate, buried, arose from the dead
on the third day, ascended to the heavens, and sits at the right hand
of the Father; whence he will come to judge the living and the dead;
and in the Holy Spirit; the holy church; the remission of sins; and the
resurrection of the body."[A]
[Footnote A: Mosheim's Ecclesiastical Institutes, Vol. I, p. 80,
Murdock's translation. The above form, is as it stood in the fourth
century, a few centuries later it attained in the Romish Church its
ampler form, in which it has since been adopted by most Protestant
churches, as follows:
"I believe in God, the Father, almighty, maker of heaven and earth;
and in Jesus Christ, his only son, our Lord; who was conceived by the
Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, dead, and buried, he descended into hell, the third day
he arose again from the dead, ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the
right hand of God, the Father, almighty; from thence he shall come to
judge the quick and the dead. I believe in the Holy Ghost, the holy
Catholic church, the Communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the
resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen." In this form
it is called the "Symbolum Roman--Roman Symbol."]
_4. Man's Allegiance to the Godhead:_ This holy Trinity of Father,
Son, and Holy Ghost, the Godhead, constitutes for the Christian the
creating, sustaining, redeeming, witnessing power of the universe--the
supreme God. In this Godhead righteousness, and holiness, and truth,
and knowledge, and wisdom and power, and glory, and justice, and
mercy and love, and all that we do or can recognize as belonging to
the divine nature abound in their perfection. This Godhead is the
source of spiritual power and light and glory; to whom man owes first
allegiance; who is the true and only object--but singularly as well as
in unity--of man's worship; to whom man submits his mind and his will
for guidance--for in such submission alone is true worship.
LESSON VIII.
(Scripture Reading Exercise).
THE UNITY AND THE DISTINCTIVENESS OF THE PERSONAGES OF THE GODHEAD.
ANALYSIS.
I. The Oneness of the Trinity: its Nature.
II. Distinctiveness of the Father as a Personage.
III. The Distinctiveness of the Son--Divinity of the Son.
REFERENCES.
Mormon Doctrine of Deity, ch. IV; Seventy's Year Book No. III, lessons
xxxiii, xxxiv and xxxv; and all the Scriptures cited in the body of the
"Discussion."
_SPECIAL TEXT: "The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God,
and the communion of the Holy Ghost be with you all. Amen." (II Cor.
xiii:14.)_
DISCUSSION.
_1. The Unity of Father, Son and Holy Ghost:_ While conceiving
these three Divine Personages, as constituting an organized unit, a
body or Divine Council, it should be remembered that their oneness
consist in moral unity, not physical unity, or identity of substance
or essence. In other words, they are distinct and separate personages,
in the sense of being three separate and distinct individuals, a unity
only in agreement of purpose, and unity of will for the accomplishment
of certain definite ends,[A] to bring to pass the immortality and
eternal progress of man.[B]
[Footnote A: The Three Personagess. "Everlasting covenants was made
between three personages before the organization of this earth, and
relates to their dispensation of things to men on the earth: these
personages, according to Abraham's record, are called God the first,
the Creator; God the second, the Redeemer; and God the third, the
Witness or Testator."--Little & Richards' Compendium--Gems from the
Prophet's Teachings--p. 289.]
[Footnote B: Doc. & Cov., Sec. xciii:26-35. Book of Moses, Pearl of
Great Price, ch. iii., II Nephi ch. ii; also New Witnesses for God, Vol
III, ch xl. where the matter is discussed at great length.]
Jesus himself taught that he and his Father were one,[A] that whosoever
had seen him had seen the Father also;[B] that it was part of his
mission to reveal God, the Father, through his own personality; for as
was the Son, so too was the Father;[C] hence Jesus was God manifested
in the flesh, a revelation of God to the world;[D] a revelation not
only of the being of God, but of the kind of being God is.
[Footnote A: John x:30; xvii:11-22.]
[Footnote B: John xiv:9.]
[Footnote C: John xiv:1-9; John 1:8.]
[Footnote D: I Tim. iii:16.]
[Footnote: Eph iii:14-19.]
Jesus also prayed--and in so doing showed in what the oneness of
himself and the Father consisted--that the disciples might be one with
him, and also with each other, as he and the Father were one. Not one
in person, not all merged into one individual, and all distinctions of
personality lost; but one in mind, in knowledge, in love, in will; one
by reason of the indwelling in all of the one spirit, even as the mind
and will of God, the Father, was also in Jesus Christ.[A]
[Footnote A: John xiv:10, 11, 19, 20.]
_2. The Separate Individual Existence of the Father:_ The
existence of God, the Father, both Jesus and the Apostles accepted as
a reality. Jesus nowhere attempts to prove God's existence. He assumes
that and proceeds from that basis with his doctrine. He declares the
fact that God was his Father and frequently calls himself the Son of
God, and prays to the Father in that capacity: "As the Father knoweth
me, even so know I the Father. * * * Therefore doth my Father love me,
because I lay down my life for the sheep. * * * This commandment have I
received of my Father. * * * The works that I do in my Father's name,
they bear witness of me. * * * For which of those do ye stone me? The
Jews answered him. * * * Because that that thou being a man makest
thyself God. * * * Say ye of him, whom the Father hath sanctified, and
sent into the world, Thou blasphemest; because I said I am the Son of
God? If I do not the works of my Father, believe me not."[A]
[Footnote A: St. John x.]
The statement of Jesus when instituting the Sacrament of the Lord's
Supper: "I will not drink hence forth of this fruit of the vine, until
that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom."[A]
[Footnote A: Matt xxvi:29.]
The prayer of Jesus in Gethsemane: "O my Father if it be possible, let
this cup pass from me; nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt."
And again: "O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except
I drink it, thy will be done."[A]
[Footnote A: Ibid, verses 39, 42.]
John represents Jesus as saying in Gethsemane: "Father, the hour is
come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee. * * * And
now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self, with the glory
which I had with thee before the world was. * * * Holy Father, keep
through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be
one as we are. * * * That they all may be one: as thou, Father, art in
me, and I in thee. * * * O righteous Father, the world hath not known
thee; but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent
me."[A]
[Footnote A: St. John xvii.]
Then, after the resurrection of Jesus, he meets Mary of Magdala
and said to her, when she in her joy was about to lay hold of him:
"Touch me not; for I have not yet ascended to my Father; but go to my
brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father;
and to my God and your God."[A]
[Footnote A: St. John xx.]
The separate and distinct individual existence of God the Father could
not be more emphatically represented than in these scriptures.
_3. The Separate and Individual Existence of the Son:_ The
scriptures which teach the separate existence of the Father, teach also
the separate and individual existence of the Son; but the question
may arise, Was Jesus, the Son of God, also God? The passage already
considered, in which Jesus is given equal rank with the Father and with
the Holy Ghost, strongly implies that he is Divine, that he is Deity.
In the Seventy's Year Book No. III, Lesson xxxiii, in treating at
length upon the subject of the divinity of Jesus, the conclusion that
Jesus, as well as the Father, is God, is worked out from the fact that
Jesus is called God in the Scriptures;[A] that Jesus declares himself
to be God--the Son of God;[B] that Jesus is to be worshiped--hence
God;[C] that Jesus, under the Father's direction, is the Creator, hence
God;[D] that Jesus Christ is declared to be equal with God the Father,
hence God.[E] All these declarations are sustained by the scriptures
and reasoned out in detail in the lesson of Year Book III cited
above, and to that work the student is referred. Here it will be only
necessary to cite the scriptures which sustain these several specific
declarations concerning Jesus, the Christ, which I have done by giving
them in the margin.[F]
[Footnote A: Isaiah vii:14; Matt. i:23; Isaiah ix:6.]
[Footnote B: John x:33; Matt. xxvii:63, 64; Matt. xxviii:18, 19; Heb.
i:8.]
[Footnote C: Rev. xix;10 c. f; Heb. i:5, 6; Phil. ii:9, 10.]
[Footnote D: St. John i:1-4; Col. i:12-17; Heb. i:2.]
[Footnote E: Matt. xxviii:18, 19; Phil. iii:6; Heb. iii:3; Col. i:19:
ii:9; II. Nephi xxvi:12.]
[Footnote F: The student will also find an elaborate discussion on the
subject in the writer's "Mormon Doctrine of Deity," chapter iv. And
also in his "Introduction to the History of the Church," Vol. I, pp.
81-89.]
Jesus, then, is separate and distinct from God, the Father; but is
nevertheless not only divine, but Deity, equally so with the Father;
for God so declares it, through his revelation to the world; but he is
united with the Father in moral union of mind and will, and purpose.
LESSON IX.
(Scripture Reading Exercise.)
UNITY AND DISTINCTIVENESS OF THE PERSONAGES OF THE GODHEAD (Continued).
ANALYSIS.
IV. The Distinctiveness of the Holy Ghost.
V. The Divinity of the Holy Ghost.
VI. Unity and Distinction.
REFERENCES.
All the scriptures cited in the body of the lesson.
_SPECIAL TEXT: "Whoso believeth in me, believeth in the Father also,
and unto him will the Father bear record of me; for he will visit him
with fire, and with the Holy Ghost. And thus will the Father bear
record of me, and the Holy Ghost will bear record unto him of the
Father and me: for the Father and I and the Holy Ghost are one." (III
Nephi xi:35, 36.)_
DISCUSSION.
_1. The Separate and Individual Existence of the Holy Ghost:_
The proofs which set off the Father and Son as separate and distinct
personalities, which present them to us as two separate individuals,
also presents the Holy Ghost as a separate and distinct personality.
For whether we contemplate these divine personages when the three are
represented together, as at the baptism of the Christ,[A] in the vision
of St. Stephen,[B] in the baptismal formula,[C] or in the apostolic
benediction,[D] they are always presented in a manner that implies
distinctiveness as persons, however closely united in purpose.
[Footnote A: Matt. iii:16, 17.]
[Footnote B: Acts vii:54-56.]
[Footnote C: Matt. xxviii:19.]
[Footnote D: II Cor. xiii:12, 14.]
Jesus clearly ascribes to the Holy Ghost a distinct personality. He
represents the Holy Ghost as proceeding from the Father;[A] as sent
forth in the name of the Son;[B] as abiding;[C] as teaching and as
bearing witness;[D] as reproving the world of sin, and of righteousness
and of judgment;[E] as guiding into all truth, and revealing the things
of God to men.[F]
[Footnote A: St. John xvi:26.]
[Footnote B: St. John xiv:26.]
[Footnote C: St. John xiv:16.]
[Footnote D: St. John xiv:26 and xv:26, 27.]
[Footnote E: St. John xvi:8.]
[Footnote F: Ibid, verses 13-15.]
The apostles also refer to the Holy Ghost in much the same manner:
Peter represents the Holy Ghost as speaking by the mouth of David
concerning the treachery of Judas;[A] he also represents Ananias as
having lied to the Holy Ghost;[B] also he represents the Holy Ghost
as bearing witness with himself and his fellow apostle, John, to the
divinity of the Christ;[C] also the Holy Ghost is represented as
sending forth men to the ministry: "The Holy Ghost said, Separate me
Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them * * * so
they being sent forth by the Holy Ghost, departed unto Seleucia."[D]
[Footnote A: II Acts i:16, 17; c. f. Psalms xli:9.]
[Footnote B: Acts v:3.]
[Footnote C: Acts v:29-32.]
[Footnote D: Acts xiii:2-4.]
The Holy Ghost is represented as forbidding Paul and Timothy preaching
in Asia, and Bithynia.[A]
[Footnote A: Acts xvi:6-8: "After they were gone through Phrygia and
the region of Galatia and were forbidden of the Holy Ghost to preach in
Asia, after they were come to Mysia, they assayed to go into Bithynia,
but the Spirit suffered them not."]
The fruit of the Spirit (the Holy Ghost) is said to be "love,
joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness,
temperance;" and as these things can only proceed from a being
possessed of attributes that produce them, we must needs think of the
Holy Ghost as loving, as merciful, as patient, as meek, as temperate,
as gentle. All which with the other things preceding here said of him,
clearly established personality for the third person of the Godhead.
2. The Holy Spirit Distinct from the Father and the Son, Both in
Substance and Personal Action: On this subject Elder Orson Pratt has
the following very valuable passage: "That the substance of the Holy
Ghost is not identical with that of the Father and the Son, is evident
from the whole tenor of scripture." Jesus says, "When the Comforter
is come whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of
truth which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me."[A]
This Comforter could not be the Father, because he "proceedeth from the
Father." He could not be the Son, because he is sent by the Son. Again,
he could not be the Father, because it is contrary to the order of
heaven for Jesus to send the Father. And furthermore, he could not be
the Son, because he is represented as "another Comforter," to be with
the disciples, in the absence of Jesus. "If I go not away," says our
Savior, "the Comforter will not come unto you, but if I depart I will
send him unto you."[B] The persons of the Father and Son were to be in
one place while the Comforter was to be in another, and therefore, the
Comforter must necessarily be a distinct substance from the Father and
Son."
[Footnote A: John xv:26.]
[Footnote B: John xvi:7.]
"That the Holy Spirit is something more than the mere power or
influence exerted by the Father, is evident from his possessing an
understanding, a will, and a power of distinct operation. Jesus says,
concerning the Comforter, "Howbeit, when he, the Spirit of truth
is come, he will guide you into all truth; for he shall not speak
for himself, but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak; and
he will show you things to come. He shall glorify me; for he shall
receive of mine, and shall show it unto you."[A] Here the Holy
Spirit is represented as a hearer--a speaker--a guide, receiving and
showing what is received. Now such acts can only be the acts of a
substance, possessing understanding and a will. That this substance
is distinct from the Father is evident from his not speaking of
himself, but only speaking what he hears, which shows, most plainly,
a separate individuality. If the Holy Spirit were the Father, would
it be reasonable to say, that he does not speak of himself? Does not
the Father speak of himself? If the Holy Spirit be only a power or
influence from the Father, what absurdity would run through the whole
of the above passage! What nonsense would it be to say a power or
influence hears--a power or influence speaks--a power or influence
receives and shows! Yet this is the absurdity embraced by the
Socinians. We can only think of speaking, and hearing, and willing,
as applicable to a perceptive substance, and not to a quality. Again,
the Spirit is represented as making intercession for the Saints.
"Likewise," says Paul, "the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities; for
we know not what we should pray for as we ought; but the Spirit itself
maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered."[B]
How could a power or influence of the Father intercede with the Father?
How could a power or influence groan with groanings unutterable? Would
the Father intercede with himself? The absurdity of supposing the Holy
Spirit to be a mere property or influence of the Father, instead of
being an intelligent agent of himself, is so great, that we do not feel
disposed to bring further evidence or proof to establish the distinct
identity of the two."[C]
[Footnote A: John xvi:13, 14.]
[Footnote B: Rom. viii:26.]
[Footnote C: Mill. Star, Vol. XII, pp. 306-7.]
_3. The Divinity of the Holy Ghost:_ There remains to be
considered the question, Is the Holy Ghost God? Undoubtedly. The proof
is in the fact that he is a member of the Holy Trinity.[A] Also in the
fact that Jesus makes blasphemy against the Holy Ghost a greater sin
than blasphemy against himself.[B] This could not be unless the Holy
Ghost were Deity, and in some peculiar way so related to man that makes
this sin of blasphemy against him especially heinous.
[Footnote A: This subject is to be worked out in greater detail in a
subsequent lesson.]
[Footnote B: "All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto
men, but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven
unto men. * * * Whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of Man, it
shall be forgiven him, but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost it
shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world
to come." (Matt. xii:31; also Mark iii:28, 29.)]
"Why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost," said
Peter to Ananias, when the latter had dealt deceitfully in the sale of
his land and the gift he had made to the Church. "Thou hast not lied
unto men," said the chief Apostle, "but to God!"[A]
[Footnote A: Acts v:1-14.]
From which it is to be concluded that to lie to the Holy Ghost is to
lie to God, because the Holy Ghost is God.
I may not more fittingly close this and the two preceding lessons on
the Godhead than by quoting a passage upon the subjects of which they
treat from the writings of the late venerable Apostle, Orson Pratt, who
upon both the oneness and the distinctiveness of the three personages
of the Holy Trinity made the following observations:
_4. The Persons of the Godhead One Council:_ "The Godhead may
be illustrated by a council, consisting of three men--all possessing
equal wisdom, knowledge, and truth, together with equal qualifications
in every respect. Each person would be a separate distinct person or
substance from the other two, and yet the three would form but one
council. Each alone possesses, by supposition, the same wisdom and
truth that the three united or the one council possesses. The union of
the three men in one council would not increase the knowledge or wisdom
of either. Each man would be one part of the council when reference
is made to his person; but the wisdom and truth of each man would be
the whole wisdom and truth of the council, and not a part. If it were
possible to divide truth, and other qualities of a similar nature into
fractions, so that the Father should have the third part of truth, the
third part of wisdom, the third part of knowledge, the third part of
love, while the Son and the Holy Spirit possessed the other two-thirds
of these qualities or affections, then neither of these persons could
make 'one God, but only a part of a God.' But because the divisibility
of wisdom, truth, or love is impossible, the whole of these qualities
dwells in the Father--the whole dwells in the Son--the whole is
possessed by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is one part of the
Godhead in essence; but the whole of God in wisdom, truth, and other
similar qualities. * * * The oneness of the Godhead, as described in the
scriptures, never was intended to apply to the essence, but only to the
perfections and other attributes."[A]
[Footnote A: Orson Pratt's Works, "Absurdities of Immaterialism," p.
30.]
LESSON X.
(Scripture Reading Exercise.)
SPECIAL OFFICES OF THE PERSONAGE OF THE HOLY TRINITY.
ANALYSIS.
I. Distinctiveness Among Divine Beings.
II. Special Characteristic and Office of the First Personage of the
Trinity.
III. Father and "Fathering"--Creating and "Sustaining"--"Directing the
Creation to Glorious Ends."
REFERENCES.
The works and passages cited in the body of this lesson.
_SPECIAL TEXT: "G. to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend to my
Father and your Father; and to my God and your God." (Jesus--St. John
xx:17.)_
DISCUSSION.
_1. Alikeness and Diversity in the Nature of Divine Beings:_
Whatever may be said in the scriptures of the union in knowledge,
mercy, love, power, and will--in a word, whatever may be said of the
alikeness of these holy and divine Personages of the trinity, it
should be so understood as to allow of the thought of some difference
in office; and of some one or more distinctions in their relations to
each other, and in their relationship towards men; and even in their
physical natures when compared one with another. I feel encouraged
to make this avowal, unusual though it may be, because in nature we
may observe both a unity and a diversity. Though a given species of
grass may have general characteristics in which all the varieties of
grasses are alike, yet men have not yet found two blades of grass
precisely alike. In all the leaves of the forest, there have not yet
been found two leaves exactly alike; among all the hordes of men--the
millions living and the millions dead--no two have yet been found one
of which is a precise counterpart of the other. It is so everywhere
you look in nature; in animal or plant life; in mountains, rivers or
valleys; in the sands or among the shells of the sea shore--everywhere
unity of kind, of groups, but infinite variety of individuals. That
being the general truth taught throughout nature, may it not hold in
reference to Divine Personages as well? Without absolutely insisting
upon it, I shall venture to say I think so; and that in some way--in
office, in function, in appointment, in some respects even in physical
nature also--there are distinctive characteristics in the three divine
Personages of the Godhead.
Setting forth, and in profoundest reverence, the Personages of the
Godhead with reference to their chief functions as each stands related
to man, they appear as God, the Father; God, the Son, Redeemer of man;
God, the Holy Ghost, Witness to man of truth, of all truth.
Let us consider each in these capacities respectively.
_2. God, the Father:_ With this conception of God as "Father"
there is associated the larger--but not higher--idea of "Creator."
There exists, I think, a real difference between the idea of "father"
and "creator," and yet one feels, from our use of terms, and even from
the terminology of holy scripture, that each idea may include the
other. But first as to the distinctions between "father" and "creator."
The term "father" carries with it the notion of generation, begetting
from one's own person, springing from one's own nature, and partaking
of one's own physical and mental qualities and perhaps likeness, but
the term "creator" does not necessarily convey that notion, since a
created thing may be external to the nature of the being who created
it; as, for example, when God created the heaven and the earth.[A] In
this case the heaven and the earth did not bear the image of God; nor
was it made in his likeness, as the result was when God said, "Let us
make man in our image, and after our likeness." So in relation to man;
he begets a son or a daughter by act of generation; he is a father; and
also, in a sense, a creator.[B]
[Footnote A: Gen. i.]
[Footnote B: Athanasius makes the following distinction between
"begotten" and "created," which I believe to be true and of great
importance as a truth. "Let it be repeated," he says, "that a created
thing is external to the nature of the being who creates it; but a
generation, (a begetting, as a father begets a son) is the proper
off-spring of the nature." (Quoted in Shedd's Hist, of Christian
Doctrine, Vol. I, p. 322.)]
He gathers materials and builds a house; or with various colored
pigments, brushes, and stretched canvas he paints a landscape, or from
some rude block of marble with mallet and chisel he hews out the image
of a man; he is a creator. Creator of the house, the painted landscape,
the statue; and also, in a certain sense, after our manner of speech,
we could say the father of them. So that in the terms "father" and
"creator" there is both a distinction and a sameness.
_3. The Dual Idea of "Father" and "Creator:"_ I said a moment
since that scripture terminology justified this dual idea that
goes with the use of "father" and "creator." Now to the proof: In
Hebrews we find this passage: "We have had fathers of our flesh which
corrected us, and we gave them reverence: Shall we not much rather be
in subjection to the Father of spirits and live?"[A] From this it is
learned that God is the "Father" of the spirits of men--from which
circumstance comes the title--"God, the Father." In the Book of Moses,
the Lord, following an account of the creation, says: "I, the Lord God,
created all things of which I have spoken spiritually, before they were
naturally upon the face of the earth. * * * And I, the Lord God, had
created all the children of men; and not yet a man to till the ground;
for in heaven created I them. * * * And I, the Lord God, formed man
from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath
of life, and man became a living soul, the first flesh upon the earth,
the first man also; nevertheless all things were before created; but
spiritually were they created and made according to my word."[B]
[Footnote A: Heb. xii:9.]
[Footnote B: Book of Moses (Pearl of Great Price), ch. iii:5, c. f.
Doc. and Cov. Sec. xxix:30-34; also Book of Abraham, ch. iii:23. Gen.
i:26-27; c. f. Gen. ii:5-7.]
Here we have God saying that he had "created all the children of men,"
and yet there was not a man to till the earth; "for in heaven I created
them," that is, uniting this statement with Paul's passage, he had
become the "Father of spirits;" and "Father" and Creator are seen to be
used synonymously. Conversely: Nothing is clearer than that God, in the
Scriptures, is proclaimed the "Creator:" "Creator of heaven and earth
and all things that in them are." And now comes one of our Book of
Mormon writers, saying: "and they [i. e., Father and Son, see context]
are one God, yea, the very eternal Father of heaven and of earth."[A]
Which can only be understood as "creator of heaven and earth."
[Footnote A: Mosiah xv:4.]
Again: "Is the Son of God the very eternal Father? * * * Yea, he is
the very eternal Father of heaven and of earth, and all things which
in them is."[A] In the quotation following the terms are used in
combination. Samuel, the Lamanite prophet, was sent unto the people of
a certain city, that they "might know of the coming of Jesus Christ,
the Son of God, the Father of heaven and of earth, the Creator of all
things, from the beginning."[B] From these passages it is evident that
the term "father" is made to include the idea of "Creator."
[Footnote A: Alma xi:38, 39.]
[Footnote B: Helaman xiv:12. Wherein Jesus is referred to as the
Creator, the "Father of heaven and earth," it should be understood that
he is so under the direction of the God, the Father; "God * * * hath
* * * spoken to us by his Son, by whom also he (God the Father) made
the worlds" (Hebrews i:3). "To us there is but one God, the Father, of
whom are all things,--and we in him: and one Lord, Jesus Christ, by
whom are all things, and we by him" (I. Cr. viii:6) " * * * God, who
created all things by Jesus Christ" (Eph. iii:9). So that while Jesus
was the immediate creator of things he did so under and by the Father's
direction, so that the Father may still be regarded as the first mover
in the creation drama, Jesus the agency through whom he acted.]
_4. "Father" and "Fathering:"_ The chief characteristic, of the
First Personage of the Godhead, then, appears to be that of "Father,"
"Creator." And with this goes the extended idea inseparably associated
with the notion of "Father," viz., "fathering"--caring for, sustaining,
upholding. We contemplate this Holy First Personage, then, not only
as "Father of spirits;" but one anxious for their welfare, for their
progress. And he himself has declared "this is my work and my glory--to
bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man."[A] And in the
creation drama we have God, the "Father of the spirits," standing among
them and planning for their advancement. God said unto those who were
with him: "We will go down, for there is space there, and we will take
of these materials, and we will make an earth whereon these may dwell;
and we will prove them herewith, to see if they will do all things
whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them; and they who keep
their first estate shall be added upon; and they who keep not their
first estate shall not have glory in the same kingdom with those who
keep their first estate, and they who keep their second estate shall
have glory added upon their heads for ever and ever. And the Lord said:
Whom shall I send? And one answered like unto the Son of man: Here a.
I, send me. And another answered and said: Here am I, send me. And the
Lord said: I will send the first."[B]
[Footnote A: Book of Moses, ch. i:39.]
[Footnote B: Book of Abraham, ch. iii:24-27.]
And so the second personage of the Godhead was chosen for his office
of Savior of men. But the first Personage was proposing the plan for
"adding upon" these spirits of heaven. He was planning for their
increase in honor and glory for ever and ever; and that through
development; though increasing their intelligence, knowledge, wisdom
and spiritual power; by experiences to be obtained in earth-life among
broken harmonies, when fidelity to truth and virtue and God should be
tested, where men should find themselves. He was "fathering" them. Just
as in being "Creator" he not only creates--causes to exist--but he
cares for the "creation," he sustains it; upholds it; guides it to some
definite end, to the achievement of some beneficent purpose.
Such must be our thought of this all glorious First Personage of the
Godhead-Father, Creator; also Sustaining, Guiding, Loving Power of the
Universe.
LESSON XI.
(Scripture Reading Exercise.)
SPECIAL OFFICE OF THE PERSONAGES OF THE HOLY TRINITY (Continued).
ANALYSIS.
IV. Special Office of the Second Personage of the Trinity--Redeemer.
V. Special Office of the Third Personage of the Trinity--Witness.
VI. The Three in Union.
REFERENCES.
The citations in the body of this lesson.
_SPECIAL TEXT: "But Christ being come an High Priest of good things to
come * * * through the Eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to
God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God."
(Hebrews ix:11, 14.)_
DISCUSSION.
_1. God, the Son, Redeemer:_ We have found the chief office or
function of the first Personage of the Godhead, so may we find the
chief office and function of the second, and much more briefly. More
briefly because one Year Book of the Seventy's course in Theology has
already been devoted to him and his work. He is the Redeemer of men. To
be such was his appointment in heaven, as incidentally, we have seen in
Lesson IX; and as it is abundantly declared in the scriptures.
_2. Scripture Declaration of the Office of the Christ:_ "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 everlasting life."[A]
[Footnote A: St. John iii:14.]
"Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for
us."[A]
[Footnote A: I John iii:16.]
"God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that
whosoever believeth on him should not perish but have everlasting
life."[A]
[Footnote A: St. John iii:16.]
"For Christ hath also once suffered for sin, the just for the unjust,
that he might bring us to God," being put to death in the flesh but
quickened by the Spirit.[A]
[Footnote A: I Peter iii:16.]
"When we were yet without strength in due time Christ died for us. *
* * Being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath
through him. * * * When we were enemies we were reconciled to God by
the death of his Son."[A]
[Footnote A: Rom. v:6-10.]
"It hath also been made known unto me, by the power of the Holy Ghost,
wherefore I know if there should be no atonement made, all mankind must
be lost."[A]
[Footnote A: Jacob, Book of Mormon, vii:12.]
"Behold, he suffereth the pains of all men; yea, the pains of every
living creature both men and women and children, who belong to the
family of Adam;"[A]
[Footnote A: II Nephi ix:21.]
"Surely every man must repent or suffer [i. e. eternal consequence of
sin]. . . . For behold, I God, have suffered these things for all,
that they might not suffer if they would repent, but if they would not
repent, they must suffer even as I, which suffering caused myself, even
God, the greatest of all, to tremble because of pain, and to bleed at
every pore, and to suffer both body and spirit, and would that I might
not drink the bitter cup."[A]
[Footnote A: Doc. and Cov., Sec. xix:16-18.]
_3. The Offering of the Christ Voluntary:_ The chief office, then,
of the Christ is that of Savior, Redeemer. In that work is revealed the
love of God. "God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son
that whosoever believeth on him should not perish but have everlasting
life."[A] And Christ so loved men that he voluntarily made the
sacrifice: "As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I
lay down my life for the sheep [i. e. for men]. . . . Therefore doth my
Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again.
No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself."[B]
[Footnote A: St. John iii:14-18.]
[Footnote B: St. John x:15-18.]
"Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall
presently give me more than twelve legions of angels? [i. e. for his
deliverance from those who had taken him for the crucifix]. But how
then shall the scripture be fulfilled, that thus it must be?"[A]
[Footnote A: Matt. xxvi:52-54.]
Though in the shadow of the cross he could have found deliverance from
his voluntarily accepted mission had he so elected; but thanks be to
God, he endured and fulfilled his mission to menward. And in that
office of Savior, Redeemer, one recognizes the devotion of the brother
and the friend of man; and in this he made manifest the love of God for
the world; even also as he manifested the brightness of God's glory,
and the express image of his person, being indeed the full and complete
revelation of God to the world--"God manifested in the flesh."
_4. Christ the Mediator:_ In this second Personage of the Godhead,
then, one may see not only the Redeemer, the Savior, the Revealer of
God; but through those offices one may also see the Brother and Friend
of man. The Mediator, the one who brings God close to man; the one who
brings men close to God. The one who reflects God into the world. The
one who banishes the terror which men have had of God, and reveals the
love of God, and the mercy and compassion of the Father--the one whom
the ages longed for--the need of the world as Mediator between man
and violated law--Herald of grace--Christ the Son of God, by way of
pre-eminence; Christ, the Brother and Friend of Man.
_5. God the Holy Ghost--Witness in the Godhead; Spirit of Truth
and Revealer of Truth:_[A] "I give you to understand, that no man
speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed; and that no man
can say that Jesus is the Lord but by the Holy Ghost,"--Paul.[B]
[Footnote A: As this Divine Personage of the Holy Trinity is to be
the subject of several lessons, and the central thought in this
whole treatise here only so much is said of him as will suggest his
relationship to the other two personages of the Godhead, and indicate
his special office.]
[Footnote B: I Cor. xii:3.]
"Then are ye in the straight and narrow path * * * and ye have received
the Holy Ghost, which witnesses of the Father and of the Son."[A]
[Footnote A: II Nephi xxxi:18.]
"When the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father,
even the Spirit of Truth which proceedeth from the Father, he shall
testify of me."[A]
[Footnote A: St. John xv:26.]
"Howbeit, when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into
all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall
hear that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.
"He shall glorify me; for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it
unto you.
"All things that the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that he
shall take of mine, and shall shew it unto you."[A]
[Footnote A: St. John xvi:13, 15.]
"But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send
in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your
remembrance whatsoever I have said unto you."[A]
[Footnote A: St. John xiv:26.]
In these scriptures we have presented the chief office of the Third
Person of the Holy Trinity. The Holy Ghost by way of pre-eminence is
the Witness of God, and for the truth of God. The Father's witness;
the Son's witness; the Truth's witness; and because of this--as the
outgrowth of it--the Guide into all truth; the Comforter, the Assurer,
the universal Voice to soul of man of certainty; the universal Eye to
the spirit of man, that can and does show him things to come. The Seer
Power in the Souls of men. The Witness for God; who is also God, Deity;
and the bond of union and communion between God and Souls of men.
Spirit Personage of the Godhead; one in moral and spiritual union with
God, the Father, and God, the Son, and the cause and special power of
union between God, and those who receive the truth.
PART III.
The Holy Ghost.
LESSON XII.
(Scripture Reading Exercise.)
NATURE AND FORM.
ANALYSIS.
I. The Holy Ghost Distinctive in Physical Nature from the Father and
the Son.
II. Spirit Substance.
III. "Person" and "Personage" Defined.
REFERENCES.
Scripture and works cited in the body of this lesson.
_SPECIAL TEXT: "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ
Jesus." (Phil. ii:5 c. f. Acts x:38.)_
DISCUSSION.
_1. As Heretofore Considered:_ I have already considered the Holy
Ghost as a member of the Trinity; as a separate Personage in that
Trinity; and have spoken to a limited extent of his special office as
a Witness of the truth. But all that has been said has been to present
a view of him in association with the other Personages of the Godhead.
It is now proposed to consider him by himself, alone--his nature, his
office, the principles upon which men may unite their lives with his
life, and thus attain perfect spiritual life.
_2. The Spirit of the Inquiry:_ Most reverently, and rather
reluctantly, do I address myself to this task. Certainly no one could
approach it lightly, much less arrogantly, as knowing all about it,
when really, after all, one knows and can know so little about it; and
that only which it has pleased God to reveal in his word, and inspired
his prophets to teach. Beyond what is of record in these revelations,
the writer may claim no knowledge of the subject. It is merely to set
forth what may be learned from these sources, grouping the facts as
they may be learned by all in that manner which appeals to him as being
most orderly and clear, and that will make for a reverent attitude
towards this holy Personage of the Godhead.
_3. Distinctions in Nature:_ It appears that the Holy Ghost
differs from the other personages of the Godhead, in this; that while
"the Father has a body of flesh and bones as tangible as man's, the Son
also;[A] * * * * the Holy Ghost has not a body of flesh and bones, but
is a personage of spirit. Were it not so the Holy Ghost could not dwell
in us."[B]
[Footnote A: For collected evidence of this truth, and the doctrine
that as the Son is, so is the Father, see Seventy's Year Book, No. III,
Lesson xxiii, notes 7, 8, 11.]
[Footnote B: Doc. and Cov., sec. 130:22.]
Such the declaration of Joseph, the Prophet, in some instruction given
to the Church at Ramus, Illinois, April 2nd, 1843;[A] and admitted into
the body of the Doctrine and Covenants as doctrine of the Church.
[Footnote A: Hist. of the Church--the Journal History of the
Prophet--Vol. V, p. 325.]
With this also, of course, the teaching of President Young agrees: "The
Holy Ghost is the Spirit of the Lord, and issues forth from himself,
and may properly be called God's minister to execute his will in
immensity; being called to govern by his influence and power; but he is
not a person of tabernacle as we are and as our Father in heaven and
Jesus Christ are."[A]
[Footnote A: Journal of Discourses, Vol. I, p. 50.]
_4. "Spirit," Its Substantive[A] Nature:_ To aid in a proper
understanding of the meaning of the Prophet in the passage just quoted,
it is necessary to ascertain what is meant by him in using the terms
"spirit" and "personage." At Ramus, Illinois, 17th of May, 1843, the
Prophet, "speaking of Eternal Duration of Matter," said: "There is no
such thing as immaterial matter. All spirit is matter, but is more fine
or pure, [i. e. than gross matter] and can only be discerned by purer
eyes. We can not see it, but when our bodies are purified, we shall see
that it is all matter."[B] "In tracing the thing to foundation," said
the Prophet in an editorial of the Times and Seasons, April, 1842, "and
looking at it philosophically, we shall find a very material difference
between the body and the spirit; the body is supposed to be organized
matter, and the spirit, by many, is thought to be immaterial, without
substance. With this latter statement we should beg leave to differ,
and state that spirit is a substance; that it is a material, but that
it is more pure, elastic and refined matter than the body; that it
existed before the body, can exist in the body; and will exist separate
from the body, when the body will be mouldering in the dust; and will
in the resurrection, be again united with it."[C]
[Footnote A: Substantive (2) "Having substance or reality." Example
of use: "The mind is a substantive existence, possessing a uniform
structure of character, however fundamentally different from the bodily
structure." G. T. Curtis, Creation and Evolution, p. 470.]
[Footnote B: "History of the Church," Vol. V, p. 393. The passage,
except the introductory sentence, is admitted into the body of the
Doctrine and Covenants (sec. cxxxi:7, 8).]
[Footnote C: Hist. Ch, Vol. IV, p. 575.]
From this, one is justified in concluding that because the Prophet
refers to the Holy Ghost as a "spirit," he does not thereby mean an
immaterial being, or personage; a being not matter; but a being, a
personage of finer and more subtle material than flesh and bone, else
the Holy Ghost could not dwell in us.[A]
[Footnote A: An important truth hinges upon this doctrine and is
considered later.]
_5. Substantive Existence of the Holy Ghost:_ Upon this line of
thought, that is, as to immateriality of spirit, the late Elder Orson
Pratt has a most enlightening passage, which I here give at length:
"Some have supposed the Holy Spirit to be merely a power or influence,
and not a substance; these are the views of Unitarians: they do not
believe that there is a substantive Holy Spirit, but that the Holy
Spirit is only a quality or attribute of the Father's substance. We
shall first show that the Holy Spirit can have no existence as a mere
attribute, or quality, without some substance to which such quality
appertains. It is an admitted principle in all sound philosophy, that
all qualities or powers must be the qualities or powers of something.
Abstract qualities or powers are inconceivable. Motion implies a
substance capable of moving or being moved. Force implies a substance
capable of exerting a power on itself, or on something external to
itself. The various colors of the prism imply a substance capable
of producing the sensations of color upon the optic nerve. Sound
implies a substance in a certain state or condition, affecting the
organ of hearing. Taste implies a substance, exciting its appropriate
sensation. As all these qualities and properties imply substance to
which they belong, so do wisdom, knowledge, power, goodness, love, and
such like qualities, imply substances to which they adhere. And as we
cannot conceive of motion, force, color, or sound existing without a
substrate, so we cannot conceive of wisdom, knowledge, goodness, or
virtue subsisting without a substantive being to which these qualities
belong.
"Some writers who have obtained a degree of celebrity among the
speculative philosophers of modern times, have advocated a theory (if
indeed, it may be called a theory), that power, forces, etc., in the
abstract constitute the whole universe. Boscovich and his disciples
maintained this idea, and contended that there was no such thing
as substance in existence--that the universe was made up, not of
substance, but of an infinitude of mathematical points, attracting,
repelling, and combining with each other according to certain laws.
According to this theory it is assumed that repulsions of a certain
degree of intensity produce solidity--that those of less intensity
produce liquidity, and that the various degrees of rarity or density
depend, not upon substance, but upon the attractions and repulsions of
points in different degrees of proximity. A celebrated writer of our
own day--Isaac Taylor--is inclined to this theory. After suggesting
the idea that substance was not necessary in the constitution of the
universe, he says, 'The visible and palpable world then, according to
this theory, is motion, constant and uniform, emanating from infinite
centres, and springing, during every instant of its continuance from
the Creative Energy.' (Isaac Taylor's Physical Theory of Another Life,
p. 238.)
"According to this theory, attractions and repulsions must exist
without anything to be attracted or rexpelled--motion must exist
without anything being moved--there must be 'a springing' from
'infinite centres' continuing 'every instant' without anything to
be sprung. Here are energies, forces, and motion, ascribed not to a
substance, but to empty space, or nothing. The latter writer, it is
true, admits a 'Creative Energy.' What he means by this is, that all
those varieties of motions were created. But if there is no substance,
there can be nothing but empty space; but space is not capable of
motion, therefore, 'Creative Energy' could not create a motion, until
there was something in space to be moved. Therefore, to speak of motion
where nothing exists is an absurdity, only equaled by the absurdity of
the notion of a 'God without body or parts.'
"As it is impossible for motion to exist without a substance, so it
is equally impossible and absurd for wisdom, knowledge, goodness,
love, power, will, or any other similar attribute or quality to exist
separate and apart from substance; hence the 'Creative Energy' itself
could not exist unless a substance existed to which it appertained. The
most eminent philosophers of modern times, with very few exceptions,
have considered substance necessary to the existence of every quality.
These were the views of that great master spirit--the renowned Sir
Isaac Newton. In the Scholium, at the end of the 'Principia,' when
speaking of God, he says, 'He is omnipresent, not by means of his
virtue alone, but also by his substance, for virtue cannot subsist
without substance.' The Holy Spirit, therefore, is a substance, and
must, like all other substances, have parts, bearing relation to space
and duration."[A]
[Footnote A: Millennial Star, Vol. XII, No. 20.]
Then as to "personage:" The Prophet used this term always in the
sense of meaning an individual, including bodily form, with all that
belongs to it; never in the subtle and vague sense of the philosophers
or school men, mediaeval or modern.[A] This is evident from use of
the term in describing his first vision: "I saw two personages whose
brightness and glory defy all description."[B] These two "personages"
were the Father and the Son, of the holy Trinity, and whom in later
years, as already seen, the Prophet declares to possess bodies of flesh
and bone as tangible as man's, and in form like man's. It follows,
then, that describing the Holy Ghost as a "personage of Spirit," means
only that the Holy Ghost differs from the other glorious personages
of the Godhead in the nature of the substance of which, for want of a
better term, we may say he subsists, but not necessarily different in
form; and of which we can only say--that is, of his substance--he is
not flesh and bone as are the tabernacles of the Father and the Son.
[Footnote A: Never, for example, as Calvin uses it: "What I denominate
a person is a subsistence of the divine essence which is related to
the others and yet is distinguished from them by an incommunicable
property." Calvin's Institutes i:13; or as the philosophers use it,
where consciousness, thought and will seem to be the essentials
of "personality," without any reference to form. (See Evolution in
Relation to Religious Thought, Dr. Jos. Le Conte, p. 339.)]
[Footnote B: Pearl of Great Price, Writings of Joseph Smith, ch. ii.]
LESSON XIII.
(Scripture Reading Exercise.)
NATURE AND FORM (Continued).
ANALYSIS.
IV. A Spiritual Personage Revealed.
V. The Holy Ghost in Person Revealed
VI. Personality of the Holy Ghost Revealed in Described Activities.
VII. The mode of Union Between the Holy Ghost and Men.
REFERENCES.
The Scriptures and works cited in the body of this lesson.
_SPECIAL TEXT: "I beheld that he was in the form of a man; yet,
nevertheless, I knew that it was the Spirit of the Lord, and he spake
unto me as a man speaketh with another." (II Nephi xi:)_
DISCUSSION.
_1. A Personage of Spirit Revealed:_ The Holy Ghost may be as the
pre-existent spirit of the Christ was, before the incarnation; and
of which we have at least one enlightening revelation in the Book of
Mormon.
The brother of Jared having by faith come into the presence of the
Christ, that spirit personage, said to him:
"Behold I am he who was prepared from the foundation of the world to
redeem my people; * * * and never have I showed myself unto man whom I
have created, for never has man believed in me as thou hast. Seest thou
that ye are created after mine own image [likeness]. Yea, even all men
were created in the beginning after mine own image. Behold this body
which ye now behold, is the body of my spirit; and man have I created
after the body of my spirit; and even as I appear unto thee to be in
the spirit, will I appear unto my people in the flesh."[A]
[Footnote A: Book of Ether, ch. iii.]
I do not say that the spirit-personage of this passage and the
"personage of spirit," the Holy Ghost, is declared to be by the Prophet
Joseph Smith, of like essence or substance, or even that they are
similar in the nature of their substances; they may be very different.
But the passage in Ether informs us what a spirit-personage may be. He
may be as Jesus was, a spirit in the form of a man.
_2. The Holy Ghost Revealed:_ In his "Articles of Faith," Elder
James E. Talmage says:
"That the Holy Ghost is capable of manifesting himself in the true
form and figure of God, after which image man is shaped, is indicated
by the wonderful interview between the Spirit and Nephi, in which he
revealed himself to the Prophet, questioned him concerning his desires
and belief, instructed him in the things of God, speaking face to face
with the man. 'I spake unto him,' says Nephi, 'as a man speaketh; for
I beheld that he was in form of a man, yet nevertheless I knew that it
was the Spirit of the Lord; and he spake unto me as a man speaketh to
another.'"[A]
[Footnote A: Articles of Faith, p. 164; and I Nephi xi:22. Elder Orson
Pratt refers to the same passage in 1850, and makes the following
comment: "Whether this Spirit that Nephi saw 'in the form or a man'
was the person of the Holy Spirit, or the personal Spirit of Jesus,
which, about six hundred years afterwards took upon himself flesh, is
not definitely stated. The brother of Jared, some two thousand years
before Christ, saw the personal Spirit of Christ, which was in the form
of a man. Nephi might have seen the same; but we are rather inclined to
believe from the context, that he saw the personage of the Holy Spirit;
if so, this establishes, beyond doubt, the personality of the Holy
Spirit."]
Of this evidence for the personality and even the individuality of the
Holy Ghost, in human form, it might be said that since the pre-existent
spirit of the Christ, and doubtless the spirits of all men, existed in
human form, some one of these of sufficient excellence and holiness
could by appointment have ministered unto Nephi, and be called the
"Spirit of the Lord." But a close consideration of the context of the
quoted passage will, I think, dispel that idea and leave established
the view of the author of the "Articles of Faith," and that view to
which Elder Orson Pratt more especially inclined, viz.: that on the
above occasion there was given to the Prophet Nephi a view of the
spirit-personage of the Holy Trinity, known to us in the word of God as
the Holy Ghost. The considerations which lead me to that conclusion are
that in the chapter preceding the one in which it is declared that the
"Spirit of the Lord" was "in the form of a man," Nephi had expressed
his desire to see and hear, and know of these things by the power of
the Holy Ghost, "which is the gift of God unto all those who diligently
seek him."[A] Then in a subsequent verse he remarks: "And the Holy
Ghost giveth authority that I should speak these things, and deny them
not."[B] Then follows the narrative in which occurs the statement that
the "spirit of the Lord," which conversed with Nephi, was "in the form
of a man" This juxtaposition of the terms "Holy Ghost" and the "Spirit
of the Lord," "in the form of a man," is too significant to doubt of
identity of personage.
[Footnote A: I Nephi x:17.]
[Footnote B: Ibid 18.]
_3. The New Testament on the Personality of the Holy Ghost:_ It
is also clear from the New Testament scriptures that the Holy Ghost
is a "spiritual personage" in the sense presented in this lesson, for
the reason that he is referred to as a personage, and as doing those
things which only a personage, in the sense of that personage being
an individual, would do. In these scriptures the Holy Ghost is quite
generally "HE" rather than "IT." "I will pray to the Father," said
Jesus, "and he will give you another Comforter, * * * even the Spirit
of Truth whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth _him_ not,
neither knoweth _him_; but ye know _him_, for _he_ dwelleth with you
and shall be in you."[A] "But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost,
* * * _he_ shall teach you all things;"[B] "* * * _He_ shall testify
of me."[C] _He_ will guide you into all truth; for _he_ shall not
speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear that shall _he_ speak,
and _he_ will show you things to come. _He_ shall glorify me for _he_
shall receive of mine and shall show it unto you."[D] "And when _he_ is
come, _he_ will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness and of
judgment."[E]
[Footnote A: John xiv:16, 17.]
[Footnote B: John xiv:26.]
[Footnote C: John xv:26.]
[Footnote D: John xvi:13, 14.]
[Footnote E: John xvi:8.]
Moreover, as we have seen in a previous lesson, the Holy Ghost does
those things, performs those offices which may be done only by a
"person" in the sense here considered, viz. He is represented as
proceeding from the Father; as sent forth in the name of the Son; as
abiding; as teaching; as bearing witness; as reproving the world; as
guiding; and revealing.[A]
[Footnote A: See Lesson viii, this treatise where citation to scripture
for all these things is given.]
It is, however, proper that attention should be called to the fact that
in some cases the Holy Ghost is represented by the neuter pronoun "It"
and "Itself." "The spirit _itself_ beareth witness with our spirit."[A]
John calls the Holy Spirit "the anointing;" "But the anointing which ye
have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach
you; but as the same anointing teach you all things, and is truth, and
is no lie, and even as it hath taught, ye shall abide in him."[B] Here
we see that the neuter pronoun "_it_" is applied to the Spirit which
"teacheth all things."[C] "That this anointing," says Orson Pratt,
"referred to the Holy Spirit is evident, not only from its 'teaching
all things,' but the word is so applied by Peter: 'God anointed Jesus
of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power.'"[D] Elder Pratt also
cites the following instances from the Book of Mormon: "The Book of
Mormon in two places uses the neuter pronoun 'it' when speaking of
the Holy Ghost. Nephi says, 'Behold, there are many that harden their
hearts against the Holy Spirit, that it hath no place in them.' And
again, he says, 'If ye will enter in by the way, and receive the Holy
Ghost, it will show unto you all things what we should do.' In another
place the Book of Mormon represents the Spirit of the Lord as a person.
Nephi says of this spirit, 'I spake unto him as a man speaketh; for I
beheld that he was in the form of a man; yet, nevertheless, I knew that
it was the Spirit of the Lord; and he spake unto me as a man speaketh
with another.'"
[Footnote A: Rom, viii:16.]
[Footnote B: I John ii:27.]
[Footnote C: Acts x:38.]
[Footnote D: Mill. Star, Vol. XII, p. 307.]
It is, in his described activities, however, that one may find the best
idea of the nature of the personal quality of the Holy Ghost, and these
activities can only obtain, as we hope is abundantly set forth in these
lessons, in connection with a personality, and in the sense of that
personality being an individual spirit.
_4. Mode of Union Between the Holy Ghost and Men:_ The question
will be asked, however, how the doctrine of the personality of the
Holy Ghost, in the sense of his being a spirit-personage, in the form
of man, is to be made compatible with the idea that the Holy Ghost
operates simultaneously upon the minds of many persons; in fact becomes
an indwelling influence and power in them. "Receive ye the Holy Ghost,"
is said to all those who accept the ordinances of the gospel--both the
first and second part of the Christian baptism; and the theory is that
though these become an innumerable host, such as no man can number,
there would still be for each a personal relationship with the Holy
Ghost. Each would receive him; each would be baptized of the Spirit;
and that which each would receive would be his bond of fellowship with
God, his union with the divine life, his re-established communion with
God, hitherto severed by sin. To each the Holy Ghost would be his
special source of knowledge, as we have seen, of God the Father, and
Jesus the Son;[A] the Holy Ghost would be the life of God in the life
of each; the power by which he would be conformed to the very image
and likeness of God--inducted in fact into the divine nature. How
can all this be if the Holy Ghost be regarded as a personage, in the
sense of his being an individual; and necessarily limited by the laws
of form and substance? That is to say, that as a personage, he is not
everywhere present; as a personage, not capable of being in two places
at the same moment of time; as a personage, limited as to the amount of
substance or spiritual essence of which he subsists; as a personage,
not of unlimited or inexhaustible substance, extending throughout the
universe. These conclusions are inevitable from the nature of beings,
however refined of substance or essence, or however exalted in office
and power, or however glorious, if to them we ascribe form; or if God
in his word prescribes form to them, as in this case. These conclusions
are inevitable where form is the mode of existence.
[Footnote A: No man can say that Jesus is the Lord but by the Holy
Ghost. I Cor. xii:3. "I bear record of the Father, and the Father
beareth record of me, and the Holy Ghost beareth record of the Father
and me." III Nephi xi:32.]
Happily the task does not devolve upon the writer to advance a positive
theory with reference to this difficulty. Frankly he confesses himself
inadequate to such a task. If the Son of God, so far the Master Teacher
in this world, felt it necessary to say, "The wind bloweth where it
listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence
it cometh, and whither it goeth; so is every one that is born of the
Spirit"[A]--if the Master Teacher said this, surely it is becoming in
this writer not to attempt in any positive way to give an exposition
of that which our Lord saw proper to leave in the above status. Still,
reverently, and subject to correction that may come with the further
unfolding of God's revealed word, one may without presumption suggest
how conception of the Holy Ghost as a personal spirit may not be
incompatible with effectual, personal contact with each one that shall
obey the commandment to be born both of the water and of the Spirit;
and how the Holy Ghost may become an indwelling power in each of such
persons regardless of numbers.
[Footnote A: St. John iii:8.]
In Lesson II of this treatise I discussed the immanence of God in the
world, and developed the thought, I trust clearly, that there was
both with human and divine persons an influence radiating forth from
them. And that so far as divine persons were concerned, since they had
attained to participation in the divine nature, which is essentially
one, their influence was one, with others likewise so developed,
and divine; and that so blended into one spiritual atmosphere this
influence or "Spirit of God" became the Immanent Deity, the Light which
lighteth every man that cometh into the world, and through which God
is everywhere present and a power in his creations, throughout the
immensity of space.[A]
[Footnote A: It is suggested that the student refresh his mind by
reading again Lesson II.]
The point to be made here by reference to the discussion in Lesson
II is, that if other Divine Intelligences radiate a spiritual
influence and power, is it not conformable to reason to think that
the Holy Ghost will also radiate a spiritual influence and power from
himself that will be all sufficient to bring him in personal contact
with the soul of every man who obeys the gospel--the conditions
essential to fellowship with the Holy Ghost? And may it not be, and
indeed from the nature of the revealed knowledge we have of this
Spirit, are we not under the necessity of believing that such is his
peculiar nature--wholly spiritual, as we have seen--that he acts more
immediately, and more powerfully upon the consciousness and soul of
man than any other spiritual power whatsoever? And is not this the
explanation of the fact that he who sins against the testimony which
union with the Holy Ghost gives, is under greater condemnation than for
any other sin whatsoever?[A]
[Footnote A: "He that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never
forgiveness." (St. Mark iii:28.) "It is impossible for those who were
once enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made
partakers of the Holy Ghost, and have tasted the good word of God, and
the powers of the world to come, if they shall fall away, to renew them
again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God
afresh, and put him to an open shame." (Hebrew vi:6).]
_Illustration; Analogy:_ Let us see if analogy will not help us
here. We know that self-luminous bodies send forth vibrations that
in turn produce light waves; and these acting upon the organs of
sight render visible the objects from which the vibrations proceed.
The sun is such a luminous body; and though its material body is
some 92,000,000 of miles distant, yet to us men it is a glorious
earth-presence, this sun, flooding the earth with light and warmth and
life-giving power, without which all life would languish and die. And
it is possible, and to this writer's thought very probable, that not
only to the planet earth of our solar system, but to some of the other
major planets of the system, though by many hundreds of millions of
miles more distant from the sun than our earth, the sun may perform
the same kindly office for them, not only in the matter of giving them
light, which we know to be the case, but also the warmth and vital
energy essential to their forms of life. But with this we need not
concern ourselves now.
The analogy I suggest is this, and I press it no further than
illustration: If a physical, luminous body can send forth from its
presence an energy into such immense space depths, as we know our sun
does, and conveys its essential qualities of light and heat and vital
force to planets at least so distant as our earth is from the sun; may
it not be that a spirit of such dignity and power as we have a right
from what is revealed of him to believe the Holy Ghost is, cannot he,
more abundantly, and even to infinity, give forth spiritual energy that
shall unite to himself all those who are born again--those who obey the
gospel? And as one may not separate the ray of light from the luminous
object whence it proceeds, so one may not, or so it would seem--fail to
be completely united with the spirit-personage of the Holy Ghost by the
direct spiritual energy proceeding forth from his divine presence.
This conclusion is not given, be it remembered, as a positive dictum
as to the mode of union of man with God through the fellowship or
possession of the Holy Ghost. It is only a tentative suggestion as to a
possible mode of that union, to meet the question as to how it can be
possible to regard the Holy Ghost as a spirit-personage in the sense
of his being an individual--a conclusion forced upon the understanding
by the revelations of God which present him to us--and at the same
time accept the notion--also forced upon the understanding by what
is revealed of the Holy Ghost--that he is in conscious union with
unnumbered millions of minds who have been brought into fellowship with
God through the spiritual birth. But for the matter itself, as to any
dogmatizing about it--"The wind bloweth where it listeth, * * * * ye
know not whence it cometh, nor whither it goeth: so is every one that
is born of the Spirit."
LESSON XIV.
(Scripture Reading Exercise.)
OFFICES (I. E., FUNCTIONS) OF THE HOLY GHOST.
ANALYSIS
I. Chief Office--Witness for Father and the Son.
II. Comforter.
III. Teacher.
IV. Remembrancer.
REFERENCES.
The Scripture passages cited in the body of this lesson.
_SPECIAL TEXT: "When the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you
from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the
Father, he shall testify of me." (St John xv.26.)_
DISCUSSION.
_1. Review of Former Statement:_ It has already been pointed out
in Lesson X, when considering the Holy Ghost in association with the
Father and the Son in the Godhead, that his chief office, in the sense
of function, is to be a witness for the two other divine personages of
the Godhead, and for the truth of God--for the whole volume of it. That
description of his office, however, was merely incidental, as explained
in a footnote at the time, and followed only so far as was necessary to
indicate merely the chief work of this divine Spirit.
_2. Chief Function of the Holy Ghost--Witness for God:_ It was
there emphasized, however, that the chief function of the Holy Ghost
was to be Witness for God the Father, and for Jesus Christ:
"Ye have received the Holy Ghost, which witnesses of the Father and of
the Son."[A] "No man can say that Jesus is the Lord but by the Holy
Ghost"[B]
[Footnote A: II Nephi xxxi:18.]
[Footnote B: I Cor. xii.]
"But when the Comforter is come ... he shall testify of me."[A]
[Footnote A: St. John v;26.]
These passages were relied upon to emphasize that conclusion; and to
these the following may be added: "I bear record of the Father," said
Jesus to the Nephites, "and the Father beareth record of me, and the
Holy Ghost beareth record of the Father and me." "Whoso believeth in
me, believeth in the Father also, and unto him will the Father bear
record of me: for he will visit him with fire and with the Holy Ghost.
And thus will the Father bear record of me and the Holy Ghost will bear
record unto him of the Father and me; for the Father, and I and the
Holy Ghost are one."[A]
[Footnote A: III Nephi xi:32-36.]
This chief office of the Holy Ghost established, we may now proceed to
the consideration of other functions of this Divine Personage.
_3. Comforter:_ As the time drew near for Jesus to make his
great sacrifice, and then depart from the immediate presence of his
disciples, he manifested a great desire to comfort them, and this he
did by promising to send to them from the Father, the Holy Ghost, that
he (the Holy Ghost) might abide with them forever.
"If ye love me, keep my commandments. And I will pray the Father, and
he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for
ever; even the Spirit of Truth; whom the world cannot receive, because
it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth
with you, and shall be in you."[A]
[Footnote A: St. John xiv:16, 17. It will doubtless be of interest to
note in this connection another promise following immediately upon
this one relative to the Holy Ghost as a Comforter, and very generally
overlooked even by Christians, namely, a promise that both the Father
and Son would also take up their abode with those who keep the
commandments. "I will not leave you comfortless," said the Christ in
the verse following the one given in the text above, "I will come unto
you. Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me:
because I live, ye shall live also. At that day ye shall know that I am
in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you. He that hath my commandments,
and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall
be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to
him. Judas saith unto him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that thou wilt
manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world? Jesus answered and
said unto him. If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father
will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with
him." When Orson Hyde gave a "spiritual interpretation" to the last
statement, to the effect that it is "our privilege to have the Father
and Son dwelling in our hearts," the Prophet Joseph answered: "When the
Savior shall appear, we shall see him as he is. We shall see that he is
a man like ourselves, and that the same sociality which exists among us
here will exist among us there, only it will be coupled with eternal
glory, which glory we do not now enjoy. The appearing of the Father
and the Son, in that verse (John xiv:23) is a personal appearance; and
the idea that the Father and the Son dwell in a man's heart is an old
sectarian notion, and is false." (Doc. and Cov., Sec. cxxx.)]
_4. The Holy Ghost as Teacher:_ Continuing his discourse on the
Comforter, Jesus said:
"But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send
in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your
remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you."[A]
[Footnote A: John xiv:26.]
In continuation of his remarks on this subject, to the disciples, he
told them he had many things to say unto them, but they could not bear
them at that time. "Howbeit," said he, "when he, the Spirit of Truth,
is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of
himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will
show you things to come. He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of
mine, and shall show it unto you. All things that the Father hath are
mine: therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall show it
unto you."[A]
[Footnote A: John xvi:13-15.]
From these passages four important things are learned respecting the
powers of the Holy Ghost:
(1) That he will teach all things; and, what is equivalent, "guide
into all truth." (2) He will bring all things to remembrance, that is,
whatsoever things have been stored in the mind. (3) He will show things
to come. (4) He will take of the things of God and reveal them unto men.
Of the excellence and importance of these several powers it is scarcely
needful to speak, since their excellence is evident upon the mere
enumeration of them, yet one cannot refrain from looking at them more
in detail. How excellent a thing it is to have a teacher competent to
teach "all things," and "guide into all truth." In view of the fact
that the saints possessed the Holy Ghost, and that the Holy Ghost has
these powers, one can understand the reasonableness of John's remarks
to the saints, in which he says:
"But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things. * *
* The anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye
need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you
of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught
you, ye shall abide in him."[A]
[Footnote A: John ii;20, 27.]
Moreover, to the extent that a man is guided into all truth, he is
preserved from all error. There is no danger of his being deceived,
or led astray by every wind of doctrine, or the cunning craftiness of
false teachers, so long as he is in possession of that Spirit which
guides into all truth. So taught Isaiah, who, in speaking of the time
when the house of Israel should possess this Spirit, said:
"And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity, and the water of
affliction, yet shall not thy teachers be removed into a corner any
more, but thine eyes shall see thy teachers;
"And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way,
walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the
left."[A]
[Footnote A: Isaiah xxx:20, 21.]
_5. The Holy Ghost as Remembrancer:_ As to the second power
enumerated, viz.: the power to bring all things to remembrance; it is
a most practical and important function, as it would be impossible
for man to live the law of the Gospel without some such grace being
conferred upon him by the Lord. The law of the Gospel requires men not
only to do good to those who do good to them, but to do good to those
who despitefully use them; not only to lend to those who lend to them,
but to lend to those of whom they may not hope to receive anything in
return; to revile not those who may revile them--in a word, the law of
the Gospel is summed up in this: "Be not overcome of evil, but overcome
evil with good."[A]
[Footnote A: Romans xii:21. See also Matt. v, vi.]
However fine this may be in theory, to carry it practically into
the affairs of life is difficult. When reviled it seems but natural
to answer railing with railing, blows with blows, and for injury
inflicted, return as much in kind as is within one's power to inflict.
And unless in possession of this grace bestowed by the Holy Ghost,
viz., having brought to one's recollection the things of Christ's
Gospel, being reminded in the very moment of temptation of these
laws--when smarting under a sense of injustice, or suffering under
wrongs heaped upon one--it would be difficult if not impossible to
live up to these heaven-given precepts. But by having the Holy Spirit
as one's prompter in the moments of temptation, and by cultivating the
Christian virtue of patience, this law of the Gospel, so contravening
the natural disposition of man, may be complied with, and the follower
of Christ, like his Master, may be able to say for those who inflict
injury upon him, "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do."
_6. President Brigham Young on the Same:_ Along this line of
thought the late President Brigham Young left on record, in a discourse
delivered on the 28th of August, 1852, [Journal of Discourses, Vol. I],
a very choice deliverance, in which he urged righteousness upon the
ministry of the Church everywhere and at all times, through constant
possession of the Holy Ghost. The passage follows:
"When I heard the brethren exhorting those who are going on missions,
I wished them to impress one thing upon the minds of the elders, for
it is necessary that it should be uppermost there, which may be the
means of preserving them from receiving stains on their characters
from which very probably they may never recover. If we get a blight
on our characters before the Lord, or in other words, lose ground and
backslide by transgression, or in any other way, so that we are not up
even with the brethren, as we are now, we never can come up with them
again. But this principle must be carried out by the elders wherever
they go, whatever they do, or wherever they are. One thing must be
observed and be before them all the time in their meditations, and in
their practice, and that is, clean hands and pure hearts, before God,
angels, and men. If the elders cannot go with clean hands and pure
hearts, they had better stay here, and wash a little longer; don't go
thinking when you arrive at the Missouri river, at the Mississippi, at
the Ohio, or at the Atlantic, that then you will purify yourselves, but
start from here with clean hands and pure hearts, and be pure from the
crown of your heads to the soles of your feet, then live so every hour.
Go in that manner, and in that manner labor, and return again as clean
as a piece of pure, white paper. This is the way to go, and if you do
not do that, your hearts will ache.
"How can you do it? Is there a way? Yes! Do the elders understand that
way? They do. You cannot keep your hands clean, and your hearts pure,
without the help of the Lord; neither will he keep you pure without
your own help. Will you be liable to fall into temptation and be
overtaken in sin? Yes, unless you live so as to have the revelation of
Jesus Christ continually, not only to live in it today, or while you
are preaching in a prayer meeting, or in a conference; but when you
are out of the meetings. You must have the Holy Spirit all the time,
on Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, and every day through the week, and from
year to year, from the time you leave home until you return, so that
when you come back, you may not be afraid if the Lord Almighty should
come into the midst of the Saints and reveal all the acts and doings
and designs of your hearts in your missions, but be found clean like a
piece of white paper; that is the way for the elders to live in their
ministry at home and abroad."
LESSON XV.
(Scripture Reading Exercise.)
OFFICE (I. E., FUNCTIONS) OF THE HOLY GHOST (Continued).
ANALYSIS.
V. The Revealer: The Spirit of Prophecy.
VI. Miscellaneous Gifts and Powers.
VII. Personal Graces Imparted.
REFERENCES.
The works and Scripture passages cited in the body of the lesson.
_SPECIAL TEXT: "Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he
will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but
whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you
things to come. He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and
shall shew it unto you." (St. John xvi:13, 14.)_
DISCUSSION.
_1. The Holy Ghost the Spirit of Prophecy and of Revelation:_ "He
will show you things to come." In other words, the Holy Ghost is the
spirit of prophecy, for by it the future has been unfolded to the minds
of the prophets; and by it the scriptures were given. In proof of this
I quote the apostle Peter: "Prophecy came not in old time by the will
of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved upon by the Holy
Ghost."[A] And that which they spake was written and became scripture.
[Footnote A: II Peter i:21.]
When an angel visited John on Patmos and that apostle fell at his feet
to worship him, the angel said: "See thou do it not. I am they fellow
servant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus [which is
the Holy Ghost]: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit
of prophecy."[A]
[Footnote A: Rev. xix:10. These facts will exhibit the inconsistency,
nay, I may say, the absolutely erroneous position of those who insist
that while the Holy Ghost has continued with men, prophecy and
revelation have ceased.]
The very fact, as stated in the fourth item taken from these passages
under consideration [Lesson XIV, subdivision 4], viz., that the Holy
Ghost will take of the things of the Lord and show them unto men, also
proves that this Spirit is one of revelation, and is in harmony with
the scripture which saith:
"But as it is written, eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have
entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for
them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit;
for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. For
what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is
in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of
God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit
which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given
to us of God. Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's
wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual
things with spiritual. But the natural man receiveth not the things of
the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he
know them, because they are spiritually discerned."[A]
[Footnote A: I Cor. ii:9-14.]
_2. Joseph Smith on the "Spirit of Revelation:"_ The spirit of
revelation is in connection with these blessings [i. e. receiving the
Holy Ghost, see context of discourse]. A person may profit by noticing
the first intimation of the spirit of revelation; for instance, when
you feel pure intelligence flowing into you, it may give you sudden
strokes of ideas, so that by noticing it, you may find it fulfilled the
same day or soon; [i. e.] those things that were presented unto your
minds by the Spirit of God will come to pass; and thus by learning the
Spirit of God and understanding it, you may grow into the principle of
revelation, until you become perfect in Christ Jesus.[A]
[Footnote A: Joseph Smith in a discourse to the Twelve, 27th June,
1839, History of the Church, Vol. III, p. 381.]
He also teaches, in the same discourse, that there are two comforters:
one the Holy Ghost, whom he calls the First Comforter; the other, Jesus
Christ, whom he calls the Second Comforter, in explanation of St. John
xiv:12-23. (See also note e, Lesson XIV.)
"There are two comforters spoken of. One is the Holy Ghost, the same
as given on the day of Pentecost, and that all Saints receive after
faith, repentance and baptism. Their First Comforter or Holy Ghost
has no other effect than pure intelligence. It is more powerful in
expanding the mind, enlightening the understanding, and storing the
intellect with present knowledge, of a man who is of the literal seed
of Abraham, than one that is a Gentile, though it may not have half as
much visible effect upon the body; for as the Holy Ghost falls upon one
of the literal seed of Abraham, it is calm and serene; and his whole
soul and body are only exercised by the pure spirit of intelligence;
while the effect of the Holy Ghost upon a Gentile, is to purge out the
old blood, and make him actually of the seed of Abraham. That man that
has none of the blood of Abraham [naturally] must have a new creation
by the Holy Ghost. In such a case, there may be more of a powerful
effect upon the body, and visible to the eye, than upon an Israelite,
while the Israelite at first might be far before the Gentile in pure
intelligence.[A]
[Footnote A: The Other Comforter: This subject, in part, was treated
in footnote e, in Lesson XIV. I quote what the Prophet said further
upon the subject in this foot note: "The Other Comforter spoken of is
a subject of great interest, and perhaps understood by few of this
generation. After a person has faith in Christ, repents of his sins,
and is baptized for the remission of his sins and receives the Holy
Ghost, by the laying on of hands, which is the first Comforter, then
let him continue to humble himself before God, hungering and thirsting
after righteousness, and living by every word of God, and the Lord
will soon say unto him, Son, thou shalt be exalted. When the Lord
has thoroughly proved him, and finds that the man is determined to
serve Him at all hazards, then the man will find his calling and his
election made sure, then it will be his privilege to receive the other
Comforter, which the Lord hath promised the Saints, as is recorded in
the testimony of St. John, in the 14th chapter, from the 12th to the
27th verses. * * * Now what is this other Comforter? It is no more
nor less than the Lord Jesus Christ himself; and this is the sum and
substance of the whole matter; that when any man obtains this last
Comforter, he will have the personage of Jesus Christ to attend him, or
appear unto him from time to time, and even he will manifest the Father
unto him, and they will take up their abode with him, and the visions
of the heavens will be opened unto him, and the Lord will teach him
face to face, and he may have a perfect knowledge of the mysteries of
the Kingdom of God; and this is the state and place the ancient Saints
arrived at when they had such glorious visions--Isaiah, Ezekiel, John
upon the Isle of Patmos, St. Paul in the three heavens, and all the
Saints who held communion with the general assembly, and the Church of
the First Born." (History of the Church, Vol. III, pp. 380-1).]
_3. Miscellaneous Gifts and Powers Imparted by the Holy Ghost:_
In addition to these special powers of the Holy Ghost, there are a
number of gifts and powers enumerated, as one may say, in mass in the
scriptures, and yet of highest importance. Paul says:
"Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I would not have you
ignorant. Ye know that ye were Gentiles carried away unto these dumb
idols, even as ye were led. Wherefore I give you to understand, that
no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed: and
that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost.
Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there
are differences of administrations, but the same Lord. And there are
diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all
in all. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to
profit withal. For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to
another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit; to another faith by
the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit;
to another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another
discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another
the interpretation of tongues; but all these worketh that one and the
selfsame spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will. For as
the body is one, and hath many members and all the members of that one
body, being many, are one body; so also is Christ. For by one Spirit
are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles,
whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one
Spirit."[A]
[Footnote A: I Cor. xii:1-13.]
_4. President Young on the Effect of the Holy Ghost Upon the Mind of
Man:_ "The Holy Ghost takes of the Father, and of the Son, and shows
it to the disciples. It shows them things past, present, and to come.
It opens the vision of the mind, unlocks the treasures of wisdom, and
they begin to understand the things of God; their minds are exalted
on high; their conceptions of God and His creations are dignified,
and "Hallelujah to God and the Lamb in the highest," is the constant
language of their hearts. They comprehend themselves and the great
object of their existence. They also comprehend the designs of the
wicked one, and the designs of those who serve him; they comprehend the
designs of the Almighty in forming the earth; and mankind upon it, and
the ultimate purpose of all His creations. It leads them to drink at
the fountain of eternal wisdom, justice, and truth; they grow in grace,
and in the knowledge of the truth as it is in Jesus Christ, until they
see as they are seen and know as they are known."[A]
[Footnote A: Journal of Discourses, Vol. I, p. 241.]
_5. Personal Graces Imparted by the Holy Ghost:_ In addition to
these several spiritual gifts enumerated by Paul, he also gives--in
his letter to the Galatians--in like mass, an enumeration of what I
think may be called "personal graces," as the "fruit of the Spirit,"
having references to the Holy Ghost, since he is directing his remarks
to those who have accepted the Gospel of Christ.[A] The enumeration of
these "graces"--"fruit of the Spirit"--will gain something in beauty
and strength if placed, as the apostle himself places it, in contrast
with the "works of the flesh."
[Footnote A: See the Epistle to the Galatians, passim.]
"For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty
for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another. For all
the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: Thou shalt love they
neighbor as thyself. But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed
that ye be not consumed one of another. This I say then, walk in the
Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh
lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these
are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that
ye would. But i. ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law.
Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these: Adultery,
fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred,
variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings,
murders, drunkenness, revellings and such like: of the which I tell you
before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such
things shall not inherit the Kingdom of God.
"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering,
gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there
is no law. And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the
affections and lusts. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the
Spirit."[A]
[Footnote A: Gal. v:13-25.]
LESSON XVI.
(Scripture Reading Exercise.)
THE PROMISE OF THE HOLY GHOST.
ANALYSIS.
I. The Holy Ghost Promised by the Forerunner of the Christ.
II. Promised by Messiah.
III. Promised by Apostolic Authority Universal.
IV. The Insignia of the Holy Ghost--"The Sign of a Dove."
REFERENCES.
The works and Scriptures cited in the body of the lesson.
_SPECIAL TEXT: "Wait for the Promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye
have heard of me. For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be
baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence."--Jesus (Acts 1:4-5.)_
DISCUSSION.
_1. John the Baptist's Promise of the Holy Ghost:_ When John the
Baptist came with his message of "Repent for the kingdom of heaven is
at hand"; he also said:
"I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh
after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he
shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire."[A]
[Footnote A: Matt. iii:11; also Mark i:7-9.]
Afterwards John bore record that Jesus of Nazareth was he of whom he
spake. "I saw," said he, "the Spirit descending from heaven like a
dove, and it abode upon him (Jesus). And I knew him not: but he that
sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou
shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same is he
which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost. And I saw, and bear record that
this is the Son of God."[A]
[Footnote A: John i:32-34, in connection with verse 29-31.]
_2. The Premise of the Christ:_ Jesus himself made frequent
allusion to this baptism of the Holy Ghost; and, as we have seen in
previous lessons, expounded 'the functions and powers of that Spirit.
Finally, after his death and resurrection, and just previous to his
departure from among his disciples in Judea, he said to them:
"Wait for the promise of the Father, which * * * ye have heard of me.
For John, truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the
Holy Ghost not many days hence."[A]
[Footnote A: Acts i:4, 5.]
The reference to the promise made through John the Baptist is obvious;
and the disciples who had anxiously looked for its accomplishment were
now informed that its fulfillment was not many days hence.
The promise was fulfilled, for in about seven days[A] after the
Messiah's ascension, on the day of Pentecost, the disciples being
assembled with one accord, in one place, "Suddenly there came a sound
from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house
where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues
like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were filled
with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the
Spirit gave them utterance."[B]
[Footnote A: Pentecost came fifty days after the Passover, (reckoning
from the second day of the Passover--the 16th of the Month Nisan)
on which day the Lord Jesus was crucified. Allowing that he laid
three days in the tomb, and was with his disciples forty days after
his resurrection (Acts i:3), forty-three days of the fifty between
Passover and Pentecost was accounted for, leaving but seven between his
ascension and the day of Pentecost, when the promise of the baptism of
the Spirit was fulfilled.]
[Footnote B: Acts ii 2-4.]
Peter, under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, so abundantly given
to himself and companions on that day, preached a discourse which
convinced thousands that Jesus was both Lord and Christ, the Savior of
the world; and in answering the question of the multitude as to what
they should do, after telling them to repent, and to be baptized in the
name of Jesus Christ for the remission of their sins, he added: "And ye
shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you,
and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the
Lord our God shall call."[A]
[Footnote A: Acts ii:38,39.]
I call attention to the universality of this promise. It was made to
those who were listening to the apostles; but not to them alone, it
extended to their children, to them also that were afar off--to those
who were a hundred years off, or five hundred, or five or ten thousand
years off; the promise was to them; and as if this was not sufficiently
universal, the apostle adds, "even to as many as the Lord our God shall
call"--call to what? to as many, of course, as are called to yield
obedience to the gospel--to all such the promise extends.
_4. Special Promise of the Holy Ghost in the New Dispensation of the
Gospel:_ As the promise made by John was repeated and emphasized by
the Savior, so, likewise, has this general promise made by the Apostle
Peter been repeated and emphasized by the Lord, in restoring the gospel
to the earth in this dispensation in which we live. To the first elders
of the Church in our day, he said:
As I said unto mine apostles, even so I say unto you, for ye are mine
apostles. * * * Therefore, * * * I say unto you again, that every soul
who believeth on your words, and is baptized by water for the remission
of sins, shall receive the Holy Ghost.[A]
[Footnote A: Dov. and Cov. Sec. lxxxiv:65, 64.]
So to those who have faith in the revelations which the Lord has given
through the Prophet Joseph Smith, the promise of the Holy Ghost is
repeated, and assurance is made doubly sure.
_5. Sign of the Holy Ghost:_ The descent of the Holy Ghost upon
Jesus and its abiding with him, was to be John's sign that he it was
who would baptize with the Holy Ghost and with fire. He knew not who
that divine person was in Israel until this sign should be given to
him. Hence we have him saying, after the sign had designated Jesus as
the one who would baptize with the Holy Ghost--"I knew him not; but he
that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, 'Upon whom
thou shalt see the Spirit descending and remaining on him, the same is
he which baptized with the Holy Ghost; and I saw and bear record that
this is the Son of God."[A]
[Footnote A: St. John i:32, 34.]
In the Holy Ghost thus designating Jesus of Nazareth, we are informed,
according to John's testimony, that he "saw the Spirit descending from
heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him";[A] and to this the other
evangelists agree, except that St. Luke emphasizes the account by
adding "in bodily form." "The Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape
like a dove upon him."[B] The incident has been the occasion of much
and varied comment. Can it be that the Holy Ghost takes on varied
and really physical forms? And is that "spiritual personage," such
as we have represented the Holy Ghost to be in these Lessons, really
a permanent, personal spirit-personage, or is he an evanescent one?
Appearing now in this form, now in that? Now, perhaps, as "burning
bush"; now as a "dove"; now as "cloven tongues as of fire"; and now
"in form of a man?" It is more in keeping with the dignity of this
Divine Personage, as I conceive the revelations describing him, to
think of him as a spirit-personage, permanent as to his spirit,
individual form; which would lead us necessarily to the conclusion
that these other forms of "dove" and "cloven tongues as of fire," were
but manifestations of his presence only, not really he, himself; these
other forms were but insignia of him.
[Footnote A: St. John i:32.]
[Footnote B: St. Luke iii:22. The International Revision Commentary
on the New Testament, says of the passage: "This statement, in which
all four evangelists agree, is to be understood literally. A temporary
embodiment of the Holy Spirit occurred to inaugurate our Lord as the
Messiah."
"In bodily shape;" "that is," says the Commentary of
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown, on the passage in Matthew iii:16--"that is,
the blessed Spirit, assuming the corporeal form of a dove, descended
thus upon his sacred head." "And in this form because the emblem of
chastity, purity, meekness, gentleness, beauteousness," Dummelow's
Commentary says: "As he (the Christ) rises from the baptismal waters,
the Holy Ghost, the living bond of love and unity in the Godhead
descends. The appearance of the Holy Ghost in the form of a dove was a
symbolic vision, and, as spiritual things are spiritually discerned,
the vision was probably seen only by our Lord and the Baptist. The dove
is the type of the Spirit because of its innocence, gentleness and
affection. (Dummelow Commentary, p. 632).]
To this conclusion one is helped by the teaching of the Prophet of
the New Dispensation. Joseph Smith, in a discourse at the Nauvoo
Temple, on the 29th day of January, 1843, said--and his remarks were
especially prepared as he was answering some doctrinal questions
about the mission of John, the Baptist, the greatness of it--"He was
entrusted with the important mission to baptize the Son of Man," said
the Prophet; "Whoever had the honor of doing that? Whoever had so great
a privilege and glory? Whoever led the Son of God into the waters of
baptism, and had the privilege of beholding the Holy Ghost descend in
the form of a dove, or rather in the sign of the dove, in witness of
that administration? The sign of the dove was instituted before the
creation of the world, a witness for the Holy Ghost, and the devil
cannot come in the sign of a dove. The Holy Ghost is a personage, and
is in the form of a personage. It does not confine [conform?] itself to
the form of a dove, but in sign of the dove. The Holy Ghost cannot be
transformed into a dove; but the sign of a dove was given to John to
signify the truth of the deed, as the above is an emblem or token of
truth and innocence."[A]
[Footnote A: History of the Church, Vol. V, pp. 260, 261.]
That exposition, as it excels all other attempts at exposition in
beauty and rationality, so does it make it possible to hold to
the thought of the Holy Ghost as a Spirit-Personage in form like
man--nay, rather, like his two associates of the holy Trinity as to
form--the most perfect in beauty and stately grandeur of all forms
living--although differing in substantive nature, as spirit matter
differs from spirit matter united with tabernacles of flesh and bone.
LESSON XVII.
(Scripture Reading Exercise.)
WHO MAY RECEIVE THE HOLY GHOST.
ANALYSIS.
I. Preparation for Union.
II. Holy Temples for Indwelling Holy Spirit.
III. The World and Holy Spirit Incompatible.
IV. The Case of Cornelius.
REFERENCES.
Works and the Scriptures cited in the body of the lesson.
_SPECIAL TEXT: "Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the
Spirit of God dwelleth in yon? If any man defile the temple of God, him
shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are."
(Doc. and Cov. iii:16, 17.)_
DISCUSSION.
_1. Preparation for Union With the Holy Ghost:_ It will be
remembered that John the Baptist was sent to preach repentance and
baptism before the coming of him who was to baptize with the Holy
Ghost. It will also be observed, in the teachings of Peter on the
day of Pentecost, after his arguments and the power of the Spirit by
which he spake had aroused belief in the minds of the people, that he
required them to repent and to be baptized for the remission of their
sins before he gave them the promise of the Holy Ghost.[A]
[Footnote A: Acts ii:38.]
If we turn to the account given in the Acts of the Apostles of the
conversion of the people of Samaria, we shall find the same order
observed. Philip went down to that city, taught them the word, which
they believed, they repented of their sins, and were baptized; then
Peter and John came and conferred upon them the Holy Ghost.[A]
[Footnote A: Acts viii.]
Then, again, when Paul found a number of men in Ephesus, who claimed to
have been baptized unto John's baptism, yet had not so much as heard of
the Holy Ghost, Paul was careful to rebaptize them--since there seemed
to be some doubt as to the validity of their first baptism--before he
conferred upon them the Holy Ghost.[A]
[Footnote A: Acts xix.]
It appears from these circumstances that faith, repentance, and
baptism, precede the reception of, or the baptism of, the Holy Ghost,
and are, in fact, prerequisites to a reception of it. This order, in
respect of these principles and ordinances, is further sustained by
other passages of scripture.
The Holy Ghost dwells not in unholy temples. Therefore man, as a
prospective temple of the Holy Ghost, must receive preparatory
cleansing before he can hope to become a temple of God, temple of the
Holy Ghost.
In writing to the Corinthian Saints who had received the Holy Ghost,
Paul says: "What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy
Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God."[A]
[Footnote A: I. Cor. vi:19.]
And again: "Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the
Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple of God,
him shall God destroy. For the temple of God is holy which temple ye
are."[A]
[Footnote A: I. Cor. iii:16, 17.]
From these passages this much is learned: That the man who receives
the Holy Ghost becomes a temple thereof, even the temple of God; and
since it is decreed that if a man defiles the temple of God him will
God destroy, it may be reasonably inferred that the Holy Ghost dwells
not in unholy temples; hence, through faith in God, sincere repentance
of all sins, and baptism for the remission of them, man cleanses the
prospective temple of the Holy Ghost, his body, that it may be a fit
place for the indwelling of the Divine Spirit.
_3. The World Cannot Receive the Holy Ghost:_ Just previous to his
crucifixion, Jesus said to the apostles: "I will pray the Father, and
he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for
ever; even the Spirit of Truth, whom the world cannot receive because
it seeth him not, neither knoweth him."[A]
[Footnote A: John xiv:16, 17.]
It is evident from this that the world cannot receive the Holy Ghost.
And now, who are the world? I answer, those who have not yet put
on Christ; or, in other words, those who have not yet entered into
the Kingdom of God, through faith in God and Christ, repentance and
baptism. They are the world; and, according to the word of the Master,
they cannot receive the Holy Ghost.
Again: When Peter and other apostles were brought before the senate of
the Jews, accused with intent to bring the blood of Messiah upon them,
Peter answered: "The God of our Fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew
and hanged on a tree. Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a
Prince and a Savior for to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of
sins. And we are his witnesses of these things; and so is also the Holy
Ghost, whom God hath given to them that obey him."[A]
[Footnote A: Acts v:30-32.]
Not, mark you, to them who have not obeyed him. This is in harmony with
the statement that the world cannot receive the Holy Ghost, and also
with the other cases we cited above where the order in presenting the
gospel to the people was faith in God and Christ, repentance, baptism
for the remission of sins, and then the reception of the Holy Ghost.
_4. Distinction Between "Immanent Spirit" and the Holy Ghost:_
At this point we may note and justify the course followed in this
treatise in making a distinction between the "Spirit" or "Light," which
"lighteth every man that cometh into the world," and the Holy Ghost.
The first "Spirit," or "light," "lighteth every man that cometh into
the world." The Holy Ghost is given to those who obey God, that is, to
those who obey the Gospel. The world cannot receive the Holy Ghost;
but the "Light which lighteth every man that cometh into the world"
seems not so restricted in its contact with men and things; since
besides being the "light which lighteth every man that cometh into the
world," this "light of Christ,"[A] is also a universal, vital spirit,
that "proceedeth forth from the presence of God to fill the immensity
of space. The light which is in all things; which giveth life to all
things; which is the law by which all things are governed: even the
power of God."[B] Which spirit or "light is in the sun, and the light
of the sun, and the power thereof by which it was made; as also he
is in the moon, and is the light of the moon and the power thereof
by which it was made";[C] and so with reference to earth and stars.
But from what we learn in the Word of God, as already set forth in
this treatise, the Holy Ghost is a special spirit-witness for God the
Father, and of God the Son, to those who are especially prepared to
receive him by faith in, and obedience to, the gospel of Jesus Christ;
who have repented of their sins and received baptism in water for the
remission of them, thus giving evidence of faith in God and acceptance
of the Atonement of the Christ by receiving the symbols thereof.[D] To
those thus especially prepared, and to such only, is witness and union
with the Holy Ghost possible; while no such especial preparation for
contact with and even enjoyment of the all-immanent Spirit is anywhere
insisted upon; although, as we have seen in a previous lesson,[E] those
who are most in harmony with righteousness, who hunger and thirst
after it, and who seek to draw near to God, will undoubtedly, by the
great law of spiritual affinity, enjoy closer union with the Spirit of
God--the Immanent Spirit--than those who have no such longings for the
pure and the good.
[Footnote A: See Lesson II.]
[Footnote B: Doc. & Cov. lxxxviii:12, 13.]
[Footnote C: Ibid, verses 7-10.]
[Footnote D: See Seventy's Year Book IV, Lesson XXI.]
[Footnote E: See Lesson IV this treatise, topic 3 Immanence and
Manifestation.]
_5. Inter-Changeability of Words:_ It would be well to remember
also in this connection, and it may prevent some confusion in the
minds of those who read the scriptures, that by metonymy the words
"Spirit," "Holy Spirit," "Spirit of God," "Spirit of Christ," and even
"God"-are sometimes used when the "Holy Ghost" is meant. In other
words, these terms above given are used inter-changeably. And sometimes
the influence of the Spirit or his powers or even his operations are
spoken of as the Holy Ghost himself, and hence confusion in thought,
and perhaps also in what is written in some of our books. This merely
by way of parenthesis.
_6. The Case of Cornelius:_ There is an exception, however, to
this order of things in the New Testament: the case of Cornelius,
the devout Gentile,[A] and for this exception there was a special
reason. It seems that the apostles applied the narrow and contracted
views of the Jews to the Gospel. They thought it was to be confined
to the house of Israel--to those of the circumcision. They appeared
slow to understand that in Jesus Christ all the nations and peoples
of the earth were to be blessed, the Gentiles as well as the Jews.
Consequently, when the time had come to send the Gospel to the
Gentiles, the Lord opened the way by sending an angel to Cornelius
to tell him that his prayers and alms had come up for a memorial
before the Lord, and to direct him to send men to Joppa for Peter, who
would tell him what he ought to do.[B] He at once obeyed the heavenly
injunction.
[Footnote A: Some also note the case of Paul as an exception to the
rule, but I think this an error. It is true Ananias, on entering the
house where Paul was, put his hands on him and said: "The Lord, even
Jesus that appeared unto thee in the way as thou earnest, hath sent
me, that thou mightest receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy
Ghost. And immediately," the historian tells us, "there fell from his
eyes as it had been scales; and he received sight forthwith, and arose
and was baptized." (Acts ix:17, 18.) But in all this I see nothing to
warrant the assumption that he received the Holy Ghost prior to his
baptism.]
[Footnote B: Acts x:1-8.]
Meantime the Lord prepared Peter to go to the Gentiles. In vision he
beheld a great net lowered down from heaven, filled with all manner
of beasts, and a voice cried unto him, "Rise, Peter, kill, and eat."
But Peter said, "Not so, Lord; for I have never eaten anything that
is common or unclean," "What God hath cleansed, that call thou not
common," said the voice.[A] This was done thrice, and before he had
wholly concluded what the vision could mean, the messengers from
Cornelius were at the gate--and the Spirit told him to go with them,
for the Lord had sent them.
[Footnote A: Acts x:9-17.]
That Peter understood the import of this vision to be that the Gospel
was for all mankind, for all races and nations, is evident from the
fact that when on the following day he went with the messengers to the
house of Cornelius, he said to him:
"Ye know how that it is an unlawful thing for a man that is a Jew to
keep company, or come unto one of another nation; but God hath showed
me that I should not call any man common or unclean. Therefore come I
unto you without gainsaying, as soon as I was sent for."[A]
[Footnote A: Acts x:28.]
Cornelius related to him his vision and expressed himself as ready to
receive the commandments of God. Then Peter preached to him Christ and
him crucified, and that whosoever believed on him should have remission
of sins. And "while Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell
on all them which heard the word. And they of the circumcision which
believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because that on
the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost. For they
heard them speak with tongues, and magnify God. The answer Peter gave
was, "Can any man forbid water, that these should not be baptized,
which have received the Holy Ghost as well as we? And he commanded them
to be baptized in the name of the Lord."[A]
[Footnote A: Acts x:44-48.]
Afterwards, when they of the circumcision complained of Peter for going
to them who were uncircumcised, he related the whole matter to them,
and testified that as he began to speak to Cornelius and his kindred,
"the Holy Ghost fell on them, as on us at the beginning. * * * Forasmuch
then as God gave them the like gift as he did unto us, who believed on
the Lord Jesus Christ; what was I, that I could withstand God?"[A] When
they heard this they held their peace, and the saying went abroad that
God had also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life.
[Footnote A: Acts xi:15-17.]
The object for deviating from the order in which the principles and
ordinances of the Gospel follow each other is obvious--it was that the
Jews might have a witness from God that the Gospel was for the Gentiles
as well as for their own nation. But according to the scriptures, and,
I may say, according to the nature and relationship of these several
principles and ordinances of the Gospel to each other, the reception of
the Holy Ghost comes after faith, repentance, and baptism.
The Prophet Joseph, in a discourse delivered at Nauvoo, 20th of March,
1842, refers to this case of Cornelius, and offers the suggestion that
there is "a difference between the Holy Ghost and the gift of the Holy
Ghost." That is to say, judging from the whole tenor of the passage
to be quoted--a difference between the special manifestation of the
Holy Ghost in the case of Cornelius for a particular purpose, and the
permanent possession of the Holy Ghost as a gift from God coupled with
a right to the manifestations of his powers following after observance
of those laws and ordinances which make the necessary preparation for
the constant fellowship of the Holy Ghost with man. Resuming now the
quotation:
"There is a difference between the Holy Ghost and the gift of the Holy
Ghost. Cornelius received the Holy Ghost before he was baptized, which
was the convincing power of God unto him of the truth of the Gospel,
but he could not receive the gift of the Holy Ghost until after he was
baptized. Had he not taken this sign or ordinance upon him, the Holy
Ghost which convinced him of the truth of God, would have left him.
Until he obeyed these ordinances and received the gift of the Holy
Ghost, by the laying on of hands, according to the order of God, he
could not have healed the sick or commanded an evil spirit to come out
of a man, and it obey him; for the spirits might say unto him, as they
did to the sons of Sceva: "Paul we know, and Jesus we know, but who are
ye?"[A]
[Footnote A: History of the Church, Vol. IV, p. 555.]
LESSON XVIII.
(Scripture Reading Exercise.)
SPIRIT BAPTISM.
ANALYSIS.
I. Birth into the Kingdom: Water and Spirit Baptism.
II. The Testimony of Enoch.
III. Purification by Spirit Baptism.
REFERENCES.
The works and Scripture passages cited in the body of the lesson.
_SPECIAL TEXT: "Except a man be born again he cannot see the kingdom of
heaven. * * * Except a man be born of the water and of the Spirit he
cannot enter the kingdom of God." (St. John iii:3,5.)_
DISCUSSION.
_1. The Birth of Water and of the Spirit:_ "There, cometh one
mightier than I after me," said John the Baptist. "I have baptized you
with water," he continued, "but he shall baptize you with the Holy
Ghost."[A] Jesus said to Nicodemus: "Verily, verily, I say unto thee,
except a man be born again he cannot see the Kingdom of God." At this
the Pharisees marveled, and enquired, "How can a man be born again when
he is old? Can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and
be born?" Then answered Jesus in way of explanation--"Except a man be
born of the water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the Kingdom
of God."[B] This in plain allusion--it is universally conceded--to
the baptism of water and of the Spirit essential to entrance into the
Kingdom of God--into the Church of Christ.
[Footnote A: St. Mark i:7, 8.]
[Footnote B: St. John iii:3-5.]
_2. The Testimony of Enoch to the Necessity of Water and Spirit
Baptism:_ In the Pearl of Great Price occurs a very remarkable
testimony of the necessity of water and spirit baptism; and indeed, of
the whole Gospel plan of man's redemption, including an exposition of
the Atonement and the relationship of the symbols of water and spirit
baptism to the natural birth into the world. I quote it in extenso--the
testimony is that of the Prophet Enoch, the seventh from Adam:
"And he said unto them [i. e., the people to whom he was preaching],
Because that Adam fell, we are; and by his fall came death; and we are
made partakers of misery and woe.
"Behold Satan hath come among the children of men, and tempteth them to
worship him; and men have become carnal, sensual, and devilish, and are
shut out from the presence of God.
"But God hath made known unto our fathers that all men must repent.
"And he called upon our father Adam by his own voice, saying: I am God;
I made the world, and men before they were in the flesh.
"And he also said unto him: If thou wilt turn unto me, and hearken
unto my voice, and believe, and repent of all thy transgressions, and
be baptized, even in water, in the name of mine Only Begotten Son, who
is full of grace and truth, which is Jesus Christ, the only name which
shall be given under heaven, whereby salvation shall come unto the
children of men, ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, asking
all things in his name, and whatsoever ye shall ask, it shall be given
you.
"And our father Adam spake unto the Lord, and said: Why is it that men
must repent and be baptized in water? And the Lord said unto Adam:
Behold I have forgiven thee thy transgression in the Garden of Eden.
"Hence came the saying abroad among the people, That the Son of God
hath atoned for original guilt, wherein the sins of the parents cannot
be answered upon the heads of children, for they are whole from the
foundation of the world.
"And the Lord spake unto Adam, saying: Inasmuch as thy children are
conceived in sin, even so when they begin to grow up, sin conceiveth in
their hearts, and they taste the bitter, that they may know to prize
the good.
"And it is given unto them to know good from evil; wherefore they are
agents unto themselves, and I have given unto you another law and
commandment.
"Wherefore teach it unto your children, that all men, everywhere, must
repent, or they can in no wise inherit the Kingdom of God, for no
unclean thing can dwell there, or dwell in his presence; for, in the
language of Adam, Man of Holiness is his name, and the name of his Only
Begotten is the Son of Man, even Jesus Christ, a righteous Judge, who
shall come in the meridian of time.
"Therefore I give unto you a commandment, to teach these things freely
unto your children saying:
"That by reason of transgression cometh the fall, which fall bringeth
death, and inasmuch as ye were born into the world by water, and blood,
and the spirit, which I have made, and so became of dust a living soul,
even so ye must be born again into the kingdom of heaven, of water, and
of the Spirit, and be cleansed by blood, even the blood of mine Only
Begotten; that ye might be sanctified from all sin, and enjoy the words
of eternal life in this world, and eternal life in the world to come,
even immortal glory;
"For by the water ye keep the commandment; by the Spirit ye are
justified, and by the blood ye are sanctified;
"Therefore it is given to abide in you; the record of heaven; the
Comforter; the peaceable things of immortal glory; the truth of all
things; that which quickeneth all things, which maketh alive all
things; that which knoweth all things, and hath all power, according to
wisdom, mercy, truth, justice, and judgment.
"And now, behold, I say unto you: This is the plan of salvation unto
all men, through the blood of mine Only Begotten, who shall come in the
meridian of time.
"And behold, all things have their likeness, and all things are created
and made to bear record of me, both things which are temporal, and
things which are spiritual; things which are in the heavens above, and
things which are on the earth, and things which are in the earth, and
things which are under the earth, both above and beneath: all things
bear record of me.
"And it came to pass, when the Lord had spoken with Adam, our father,
that Adam cried unto the Lord, and he was caught away by the Spirit of
the Lord, and was carried down into the water, and was laid under the
water, and was brought forth out of the water.
"And thus he was baptized, and the Spirit of God descended upon him,
and thus he was born of the Spirit, and became quickened in the inner
man.
"And he heard a voice out of the heaven, saying: Thou art baptized with
fire, and with the Holy Ghost. This is the record of the Father, and
the Son, from henceforth and forever.
"And thou art after the order of him who was without beginning of days
or end of years, from all eternity to all eternity.
"Behold, thou art one in me, a son of God; and thus may all become my
sons. Amen."[A]
[Footnote A: Book of Moses (Pearl of Great Price), ch. vi:48-68.]
_3. One Faith and One Baptism--But Two Ordinances:_ The foregoing
scriptures at once establish the absolute necessity for both water and
Spirit baptism--being really but two phases of one fact--one baptism,
but both phases essential to the one fact, the one baptism.[A] Without
this baptism of water and of Spirit, it is evident, first, one cannot
enter into the kingdom of heaven; and of course, outside of the kingdom
of heaven there can be no salvation, nor perfect happiness; second, its
necessity appears from the very nature of things.
[Footnote A: Eph. iv:4-6. "One Lord, one faith, one baptism." "I
further believe in the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of
hands. . . . . You might as well baptize a bag of sand as a man, if not
done in view of the remission of sins and getting of the Holy Ghost.
Baptism by water is but half a baptism, and is good for nothing without
the other half--that is, the baptism of the Holy Ghost." (Joseph
Smith's Discourse at Nauvoo, July 9th, 1843, History of the Church,
Vol. V, p. 499.)]
Through water baptism is obtained a remission of past sins; but even
after the sins of the past are forgiven, the one so pardoned will
doubtless feel the force of sinful habits bearing heavily upon him.
He who has been guilty of habitual untruthfulness, will at times find
himself inclined, perhaps, to yield to that habit. He who has stolen
may be sorely tempted, when opportunity arises, to steal again. While
he who has indulged in licentious practices may again find himself
disposed to give way to the seductive influence of the siren. So with
drunkenness, malice, envy, covetousness, hatred, anger, and in short,
all the evil dispositions that flesh is heir to.
There is an absolute necessity for some additional sanctifying grace
that will strengthen poor human nature, not only to enable it to resist
temptation, but also to root out from the heart concupiscence--the
blind tendency or inclination to evil. The heart must be purified,
every passion, every propensity made submissive to the will, and the
will of man brought into subjection to the will of God.
_4. Insufficiency of Man's Strength--Need of God's Grace:_ Man's
natural powers are unequal to this task; so, I believe, all will
testify who have made the experiment. Mankind stand in some need
of a strength superior to any strength they possess of themselves
to accomplish this work of rendering pure our fallen nature. Such
strength, such power, such a sanctifying grace is conferred on man in
being born of the Spirit--in receiving the Holy Ghost. Such, among
other things, is its office, its work.
I do not draw such a conclusion directly from any one passage of
scripture, but from the whole tenor of the teachings of the servants of
God, in both ancient and modern times.
We have seen that it is this spirit which reproves the world of sin, of
righteousness, and judgment,[A] that guides into all truth, takes of
the things of the Father and reveals them unto the children of men,
and testifies that Jesus is the Christ. These things increase knowledge
and faith; and as the foundations of knowledge and faith are broadened
and deepened so are the powers to work righteousness increased.
[Footnote A: John xvi:8-11.]
We have seen also that the fruits of the Spirit are goodness,
righteousness, truth, love, joy, peace, and gentleness;[A] and as
these things are increased in the soul, viciousness and impurity are
rooted out, until the whole man is changed and in very deed becomes a
new creature in Christ Jesus--is numbered among the pure in heart, and
"blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see and dwell with God."
[Footnote A: Gal. v:22.]
LESSON XIX.
(Scripture Reading Exercises continued.)
SPIRIT BAPTISM (Continued.)
ANALYSIS.
IV. Manner of Spirit Baptism:
(a) In the Apostolic Church;
(b) In the Church of Post Apostolic days;
V. Spirit Baptism in the New Dispensation.
VI. Philosophy in the Manner of Spirit Baptism.
REFERENCES.
The works and Scripture cited in the body of the lesson.
_SPECIAL TEXT: "Now when the apostles which were at Jerusalem heard
that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent unto them Peter
and John: who, when they were come dozen, prayed for them, that they
might receive the Holy Ghost: (for as yet he was fallen upon none of
them: only they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.) Then laid
they their hands on them, and they received the Holy Ghost." (Acts
viii:14-17.)_
DISCUSSION.
_1. The Manner of Spirit Baptism:_ The manner in which the saints
under the teachings of the apostles received the baptism of the Holy
Ghost was through the laying on of hands. In proof of this I call
attention once more to the labors of Philip in the city of Samaria.
It is already known how he taught them the gospel, how they believed it
and were baptized; then we are informed that "when the apostles which
were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they
sent unto them Peter and John: who, when they were come down, prayed
for them that they might receive the Holy Ghost (for as yet he was
fallen on none of them: only they were baptized in the name of the Lord
Jesus). Then laid they their hands on them, and they received the Holy
Ghost."[A]
[Footnote A: Acts viii:14-17.]
Previous to the labors of Philip among the Samaritans one Simon Magus,
a magician, had given it out that he himself was some great one, and
his influence among the people was considerable. But he, too, became
converted to the teachings of Philip, and was astonished at the power
which attended his administrations, for the sick were healed, the
lame were cured, and unclean spirits were cast out of those who were
possessed of them. Afterwards, when the apostles Peter and John, came
and conferred the Holy Ghost upon those whom Philip had baptized, Simon
was present:
"And when Simon saw that through laying on of the apostles' hands the
Holy Ghost was given, he offered them money, saying, Give me also this
power, that on whomsoever I lay hands, he may receive the Holy Ghost.
But Peter said unto him, Thy money perish with thee, because thou hast
thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money."[A]
[Footnote A: Acts viii:18-20.]
Paul, it will be remembered, found a number of men at Ephesus who
claimed to have been baptized unto John's baptism, but when Paul
questioned them as to the Holy Ghost, they had not heard even that
there was such a Spirit. So doubting the validity of their baptism
he rebaptized them; after which, "when Paul had laid his hands upon
them, the Holy Ghost came on them; and they spake with tongues, and
prophesied."[A]
[Footnote A: Acts xix:1-6.]
The same apostle, also, in writing to Timothy, exhorts him to stir up
the gift of God which was in him, and which he had received by putting
on of his (Paul's) hands, alluding, no doubt, to the time that Paul
bestowed the Holy Ghost upon him by the laying on of hands.[A]
[Footnote A: II Tim. i:6.]
That this practice of laying on hands for the bestowal or baptism of
the Holy Ghost continued in the primitive Christian Church for a long
time--at least for three centuries--is evident from the following
testimony:
_6. Testimony of the Early Church to the Manner of Spirit
Baptism:_ Of the rites and ceremonies of the third century Mosheim
says:
"The effect of baptism was supposed to be the remission of sins: And it
was believed that the bishop, by the imposition of hands and by prayer
conferred those gifts of the Holy Spirit which were necessary for
living a holy life."
[Footnote A: Mosheim's Church History (Murdock), Vol. I, p. 189.]
In a note on the foregoing question, Murdock, the most accurate
translator of Dr. Mosheim's great work on church history, says:
This may be placed beyond all controversy by many passages from
the fathers of this century. And as it will conduce much to an
understanding of the theology of the ancients, which differed in many
respects from ours, I will adduce a single passage from Cyprian. It
is in his epistle. No. 73, p. 131: "It is manifest where and by whom
the remission of sin conferred in baptism is administered. They who
are presented to the rulers of the church, obtain by our prayers and
imposition of hands the Holy Ghost."[A]
[Footnote A: Mosheim's Church History, Vol. I, p. 189.]
In another passage Cyprian writes:
"Our practice is that those who have been baptized into the Church
should be presented, that by prayer and imposition of hands they may
receive the Holy Ghost."
While Augustine, in the fourth century, says:
"We still do what the apostles did when they laid their hands on the
Samaritans and caled down the Holy Ghost upon them."[A]
[Footnote A: Laying on hands was employed in the Church for other
purposes than imparting the Holy Ghost. It was the manner of
administering to the sick, (Mark xvi:18; Acts xxviii:8); and also of
conferring authority or priesthood on men. (See Acts vi:5, 6; viii:
17; xiii:3); but as we here are only dealing with the ordinance as
it relates to a means of imparting the Holy Ghost, I do not stop to
discuss the other purposes for which it was employed.]
In subsequent centuries, however, this part of the gospel was lost,
or neglected by some of the sects of Christendom, and when announced
among them today, it is not unfrequently regarded as a new doctrine.[A]
Yet it is not. We have seen that it was a doctrine practiced by the
apostles and their immediate successors. Indeed, it is named directly
as one of the principles of the doctrine of Christ by Paul. The
following is the passage:
[Footnote A: It is a mistake to suppose all Christendom to have
neglected the practice of this ordinance. The Catholics teach that
"Confirmation (by the laying on of hands) is a sacrament instituted by
our Lord, by which the faithful, who have already been made children
of God by baptism, receive the Holy Ghost by prayer, unction (or
anointing with holy oil called chrism), and the laying on of the
hands of a bishop, the successor of the apostles. It is thus they are
enriched with gifts, graces and virtues, especially with the virtue
of fortitude, and made perfect Christians and valiant soldiers of
Jesus Christ to stand through life the whole warfare of the world, the
flesh and the devil. The first recorded instance of confirmation being
administered to the faithful is in the eighth chapter of the Acts of
the Apostles, where St. Peter and St. John confirmed the Samaritans who
had been already baptized by St. Philip. 'They prayed for them that
they might receive the Holy Ghost. . . . Then laid they their hands on
them and they received the Holy Ghost.'" (Catholic Belief, Bruno, pp.
97, 98). The Church of England, and, of course, the Episcopal churches
in the colonies and the United States, teach practically the same
thing.]
"Therefore not leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us
go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance
from dead works, and of faith toward God, of the doctrine of baptisms,
and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead and of
eternal judgment."[A]
[Footnote A: Heb. vi:1, 2.]
And here it may be well to call attention to the fact, that it is
written that "Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine
of Christ, hath not God."[A] And since a large part of the religious
world has lost sight of this important doctrine of the laying on of
hands for imparting the Holy Ghost, it is one evidence, among many
others, that they have not God; for the absence of this part of the
gospel proves that they have not continued in the doctrine of Christ.
[Footnote A: II John 9.]
_7. The Manner of Spirit Baptism in the New Dispensation:_ In
restoring the gospel to earth in the present dispensation, it seems,
from the frequency with which it is mentioned, that particular
prominence is given to this doctrine and ordinance through which the
Holy Ghost is imparted. Out of the many passages in the Doctrine and
Covenants relating to the subject I select the following:
In April, 1830, the same month and year in which the Church of Christ
in this dispensation was organized, the Lord in explaining the office
and calling of an apostle, said:
"An apostle is an elder, and it is his calling to baptize. * * * And
to confirm those who are baptized into the Church, by the laying on
of hands for the baptism of fire and the Holy Ghost, according to the
scriptures."[A]
[Footnote A: Doc. and Cov., Sec. xx:38, 41.]
In a revelation to James Covill, given in January, 1831, calling him to
obedience to the gospel and appointing him to be God's servant, even a
minister for Jesus Christ, the Lord said:
"And this is my gospel: repentance and baptism by water, and then
cometh the baptism of fire and the Holy Ghost, even the Comforter,
which showeth all things, and teacheth the peaceable things of the
kingdom."
After calling him to be his servant, the Lord said:
"And again, 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."[A]
[Footnote A: Doc. and Cov., Sec. xxxix:6, 23.]
Then in a revelation given to Sidney Rigdon, Parley P. Pratt and Lemon
Copley, through Joseph the Prophet, on the occasion of these men being
sent with the Gospel to the Shakers, the Lord said:
"Go among this people and say unto them, like unto mine apostle of
old, whose name was Peter; believe on the name of the Lord Jesus. * *
* repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, according to the
holy commandment, for the remission of sins; and whoso doeth this shall
receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, by the laying on of the hands of
the elders of this Church."[A]
[Footnote A: Doc. and Cov., Sec. xlix:11-14.]
As this last is a general law, I do not consider it necessary to cite
further passages, though the revelations of the Lord contained in the
Doctrine and Covenants are replete with them. Sufficient has been said
to show that the doctrine has been made prominent in this dispensation.
_8. The Philosophy of Spirit Baptism by Laying on of Hands:_ To
my mind this ordinance is the most philosophical of any in the gospel.
On one occasion as Jesus passed through a throng of people, a woman
who had been troubled with an issue of blood for twelve years, and had
spent all her living upon physicians, but received no benefit from
them, came up behind him, saying in her heart, if I can but touch the
hem of his garment I shall be healed. And it was so, even according to
her faith; for pressing through the crowd she laid hold of his garment
and was immediately made whole. "And Jesus said, who touched me?"
When all denied, Peter and they that were with him said, "Master, the
multitude throng thee and press thee, and sayest thou, Who touched me?"
And Jesus said, "Somebody hath touched me; for I perceive that virtue
is gone out of me."[A]
[Footnote A: Luke viii:43, 46.]
Now, what had happened? And why the expression--"Somebody hath touched
me; for I perceive that virtue is gone out of me?" My answer would be
that the person of Jesus, aye, and also the very garments he wore,
were so charged with that divine influence--the holy Spirit, that when
the woman with the issue of blood touched him, so much of that Spirit
left him to heal her that it was perceptible to him, and he exclaimed,
"Virtue is gone out of me."
So, when a servant of God, who has the companionship of the Holy Ghost,
is filled with that Spirit, and possesses authority to act in the name
of Jesus Christ, lays his hands upon one who has prepared himself
through faith, repentance, and baptism, the Holy Spirit is conferred by
the one who administers to him upon whom he lays his hands, and he is
baptized of it. These are the laws by which the Holy Ghost is received;
these are the conditions that must exist, in order that man may walk
within the circle of his influence, and in the full and free enjoyment
of his companionship. The transmission of the influence of the Holy
Ghost from one person to another by an observance of the principles
and ordinances of the Gospel we have now considered, is as natural and
philosophical in the spiritual things of the universe, as it is for
electricity or steam to perform the wonders which these forces are now
made to enact in the commercial and mechanical worlds, when the laws
upon which the manipulation of them depend are complied with; but which
they will not perform unless the conditions by which their power is
made available are complied with.
As stated by Elder Parley P. Pratt--whose language, however I slightly
modify--to impart a portion of the influence of the Holy Spirit by
the touch or by the laying on of hands; or to impart a portion of the
element of life from one animal body to another by an authorized agent
who acts in the name of God, and who is filled therewith, is as much
in accordance with the laws of nature as for water to seek its own
level; air its equilibrium; or heat and electricity their own mediums
of conveyance. . . . An agent possessed of this heavenly influence
cannot impart of the same to another, unless that other is qualified,
washed, cleansed from all his impurities of heart, affections, habits
or practices by the blood of the atonement, which is generally applied
in connection with the baptism of remission. A man who continues in his
sins, and who has no living faith in the Son of God, cannot receive
the gift of the Holy Spirit through the ministration of any agent,
however holy he may be. The impure spirit of such a one will repulse
the pure influence, upon the natural laws of sympathetic affinity, or
of attraction and repulsion.[A]
[Footnote A: Key to Theology, pp. 96, 97, 98.]
In other words, the Spirit of God will not dwell in unholy temples,
hence sincere repentance and baptism for the remission of sins go
before the baptism of the Spirit, that men may be cleansed from their
sins, justified before God, and their bodies, by these means, made fit
dwelling places for the Holy Ghost--the living temples of God.
CHAPTER XX.
(Scripture Reading Exercise.)
"LIFE FROM LIFE"--SPIRITUAL LIFE FROM SPIRIT.
ANALYSIS
I. The Gospel Regarded as the Power of God.
II. Spiritual Life from Spiritual Life--"Ye Must Be Born Again."
III. Parallel between the Organic and Inorganic Worlds.
IV. Parallel between the Spiritual and Natural Worlds.
V. The Difference Between the Spiritual and the Natural Man.
REFERENCES
"Natural Law in the Spiritual World," Henry Drummond; and the Scripture
passages cited in the body of the lesson.
_SPECIAL TEXT: "But the natural man receiveth not the things of the
Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know
them, because they are spiritually discerned." (I Cor. ii:14.)_
DISCUSSION.
_1. The Gospel the Power of God Unto Salvation:_ We have now
reached the place in the development of our theme where it takes on
a strong personal interest. The gospel is the "power of God unto
salvation."[A] It is so for us--for all men. "Ye must be born again;
* * * except a man be born of water and of the Spirit he cannot enter
into the Kingdom of God."[B] Is this new birth possible to all? We
must needs think so if the Gospel is available to all; and that is
a fact so patent to both justice and revelation that it requires no
discussion. "God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son
that whosoever believeth on him should not perish but have everlasting
life." This alone sufficiently proclaims the universal right of men
to the hopes and to the saving powers of the Gospel. "Ye must be born
again!" "Born of the water and of the Spirit." Then with that new birth
will there come new life? And what will that life be? "That which is
born of the flesh, is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit,
is Spirit,"[C] said the Christ. Spirit birth then is the aim of the
Christian baptism--baptism of water and of the Spirit being the two
parts of the one thing, the first being preparatory for and leading up
to the second, its complement. And with this there draws tremendous
consequences.
[Footnote A: Rom. i:16.]
[Footnote B: St. John iii:5.]
[Footnote C: St. John iii:6.]
_2. Spiritual Biogenesis: Spirit Life from Spirit Life:_ Henry
Drummond in his "Natural Law in the Spiritual World" has a chapter
entitled "Biogenesis"--meaning thereby that life comes from life,
and he holds that life can come in no other way than from life, and
contravenes the theory that life comes of spontaneous generation. "So
far as science can settle anything," he observes, "this question is
settled. The attempt to get the living out of the dead has failed.
Spontaneous generation has had to be given up. And it is now recognized
on every hand that Life can only come from the touch of Life. Huxley
categorically announces that the doctrines of Biogenesis, or life
only from life, is "victorious along the whole line at the present
day."[A] And even whilst confessing that he wishes the evidence were
the other way, Tyndall is compelled to say, "I affirm that no shred of
trustworthy experimental testimony exists to prove that life i our day
has ever appeared independently of antecedent life."[B]
[Footnote A: "Critiques and Addresses." T. H. Huxley, F. R. S., p. 239.]
[Footnote B: Nineteenth Century Review, 1878, p. 507.]
Our author parallels this fact of "life from life" in the spiritual
world, and holds it to be as rigidly true in the one world as in the
other. "The Spiritual Life," he holds to be "the gift of the Living
Spirit."
The theory opposed to this is "that a man may become gradually better
and better until in the course of the process he reaches that quality
of religious nature known as 'Spiritual Life.' This Life is not
something added as extra to the natural man; it is the normal and
appropriate development of the natural man." This theory parallels the
theory of spontaneous generation in natural life. To this Drummond
opposes "Biogenesis"--the law of life from life in the spiritual
world. "The spiritual man is no mere development of the natural man.
He is a New Creation born from above. As well expect a hay infusion to
become gradually more and more living until in course of the process
it reached vitality, as expect a man by becoming better and better to
attain the Eternal Life."
Our author then draws a strong parallel between the natural and
spiritual kingdoms on this subject of biogenesis--"life from life."
_3. The Law of Biogenesis in the Natural World:_ "Let us first
place vividly in our imagination the picture of the two great kingdoms
of nature, the inorganic and organic, as these now stand in the light
of the Law of Biogenesis. What essentially is involved in saying
that there is no Spontaneous Generation of Life? It is meant that
the passage from the mineral world to the plant or animal world is
hermetically sealed on the mineral side. This inorganic world is staked
off from the living world by barriers which have never yet been crossed
from within. No change of substance, no modification of environment, no
chemistry, no electricity, nor any form of energy, nor any evolution
can endow any single atom of the mineral world with the attribute of
Life. Only by the bending down into this dead world of some living
form can these dead atoms be gifted with the properties of vitality,
without this preliminary contact with Life they remain fixed in the
inorganic sphere for ever. It is a very mysterious Law which guards in
this way the portals of the living world. And if there is one thing in
Nature more worth pondering for its strangeness it is the spectacle of
this vast helpless world of the dead cut off from the living by the
Law of Biogenesis and denied for ever the possibility of resurrection
within itself. So very strange a thing, indeed, is this broad line in
Nature that Science has long and urgently sought to obliterate it.
Biogenesis stands in the way of some forms of Evolution with such stern
persistency that the assaults upon this Law for number and thoroughness
have been unparalleled. But, as we have seen, it has stood the test.
Nature, to the modern eye, stands broken in two. The physical Laws may
explain the inorganic world: the biological Laws may account for the
development of the organic. But of the point where they meet, of that
strange borderland between the dead and the living. Science is silent.
It is as if God had placed everything in earth and heaven in the hands
of Nature, but reserved a point at the genesis of Life for His direct
appearing.
"The power of the analogy, for which we are laying the foundations, to
seize and impress the mind, will largely depend on the vividness with
which one realizes the gulf which Nature places between the living and
the dead. But those who, in contemplating Nature, have found their
attention arrested by this extraordinary dividing-line severing the
visible universe eternally into two: those who in watching the progress
of science have seen barrier after barrier disappear--barrier between
plant and plant, between animal and animal, and even between animal and
plant--but this gulf yawning more hopelessly wide with every advance
of knowledge, will be prepared to attach a significance to the Law of
Biogenesis and its analogies more profound perhaps than to any other
fact or law in Nature. If, as Pascal says, Nature is an image of grace;
if the things that are seen are in any sense the images of the unseen,
there must lie in this great gulf fixed, this most unique and startling
of all natural phenomena, a meaning of peculiar moment."
_4. The Law of Biogenesis in the Spiritual World:_ "Where now in
the Spiritual spheres shall we meet a companion phenomenon to this?
What in the Unseen shall be likened to this deep dividing-line, or
where in human experience is another barrier which never can be crossed?
"There is such a barrier. In the dim but not inadequate vision of the
Spiritual World presented in the Word of God, the first thing that
strikes the eye is a great gulf fixed. The passage from the Natural
World to the Spiritual World is hermetically sealed on the natural
side. The door from the inorganic to the organic is shut, no mineral
can open it; so the door from the natural to the spiritual is shut,
and no man can open it. This world of natural men is staked off from
the Spiritual World by barriers which have never yet been crossed from
within. No organic change, no modification of environment, no mental
energy, no moral effort, no evolution of character, no progress of
civilization can endow any single human soul with the attribute of
spiritual life. The spiritual world is guarded from the world next in
order beneath it by a law of Biogenesis--except a man be born again * *
* except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter the
Kingdom of God.
"It is not said, in this enunciation of the Law, that if the condition
be not fulfilled the natural man will not enter the Kingdom of God. The
word is cannot. For the exclusion of the spiritually inorganic from
the kingdom of the spiritually organic is not arbitrary. Nor is the
natural man refused admission on unexplained grounds. His admission is
a scientific impossibility. Except a mineral be born "from above"--from
the kingdom just above it--it cannot enter the kingdom just above it
And except a man be born "from above," by the same law, he cannot enter
the kingdom just above him. There being no passage from one kingdom to
another, whether from inorganic to organic, or from organic [natural]
to spiritual, the intervention of Life is a scientific necessity if a
stone or a plant or an animal or a man is to pass from a lower to a
higher sphere. The plant stretches down to the dead world beneath it,
touches its minerals and gases with its mystery of life, and brings
them up ennobled and transformed to the living sphere. The breath of
God, blowing where it listeth, touches with its mystery of Life the
dead souls of men, bears them across the bridgeless gulf between the
natural and the spiritual, between the spiritually inorganic and the
spiritually organic, endows them with its own high qualities, and
develops within them these new and secret faculties, by which those who
are born again are said to see the Kingdom of God.
_5. Distinction Between the Natural and the Spiritual Man:_
"Our author next proceeds with the application of his principle by
drawing the distinction between the Christian and the non-Christian
man--between one "born of the Spirit," and one not "born of the Spirit."
"What now, let us ask specifically, distinguishes a Christian man from
a non-Christian man? Is it that he has certain mental characteristics
not possessed by the other? Is it that certain faculties have
been trained in him, that morality assumes special and higher
manifestations, and character a nobler form? Is the Christian merely
an ordinary man who happens from birth to have been surrounded with a
peculiar set of ideas? Is his religion merely that peculiar quality
of the moral life defined by Mr. Matthew Arnold as "morality touched
by emotion?" And does the possession of a high ideal, benevolent
sympathies, a reverent spirit, and a favorable environment account for
what men call his Spiritual Life?
"The distinction between them is the same as that between the organic
and the inorganic, the living and the dead. What is the difference
between a crystal and an organism, a stone and a plant. They have much
in common. Both are made of the same atoms. Both display the same
properties of matter. Both are subject to the physical laws. Both may
be very beautiful. But besides possessing all that the crystal has, the
plant possesses something more--a mysterious something called life.
This life is not something which existed in the crystal only in a less
developed form. There is nothing at all like it in the crystal. There
is nothing like the first beginning of it in the crystal, not a trace
or symptom of it. This plant is tenanted by something new, an original
and unique possession added over and above all the properties common
to both. When from vegetable life we rise to animal life, here again
we find something original and unique--unique at least as compared
with the mineral. From animal life we ascend again to spiritual life.
And here also is something new, something still more unique. He who
lives the spiritual life has a distinct kind of life added to all the
other phases of life which he manifests--a kind of life infinitely
more distinct than is the active life of a plant from the inertia of
a stone. The spiritual man is more distinct in point of fact than
is the plant from the stone. This is the one possible comparison in
nature, for it is the widest distinction in nature; but compared with
the difference between the natural and the spiritual the gulf which
divides the organic from the inorganic is a hair's breadth. The natural
man belongs essentially to this present order of things. He is endowed
simply with a high quality of the natural animal life. But it is life
of so poor a quality that it is not life at all. He that hath not
the Son hath not life; but he that hath the Son hath life--a new and
distinct and supernatural endowment. He is not of this world. He is of
the timeless state, of eternity. It doth not yet appear what he shall
be.
"The difference then between the spiritual man and the natural man
is not a difference of development, but of generation. It is a
distinction of quality, not of quantity. A man cannot rise by any
natural development from "morality touched by emotion," to "morality
touched by life." Were we to construct a scientific classification,
science would compel us to arrange all natural men, moral or immoral,
educated or vulgar, as one family. One might be high in the family
group, another low; yet, practically, they are marked by the same set
of characteristics--they eat, sleep, work, think, live, die. But the
spiritual man is removed from this family so utterly by the possession
of an additional characteristic that a biologist, fully informed of
the whole circumstances, would not hesitate a moment to classify him
elsewhere. And if he really entered into these circumstances it would
not be in another family but in another kingdom. It is an old fashioned
theology which divides the world in this way--which speaks of men as
Living and Dead, lost and saved--a stern theology all but fallen into
disuse. This difference between the living and the dead in souls is so
unproved by casual observation, so impalpable in itself, so startling
as a doctrine, that schools of culture have ridiculed or denied the
grim distinction. Nevertheless the grim distinction must be retained.
It is a scientific distinction. "He that hath not the Son hath not
Life."[A]
[Footnote A: He that has not spiritually been born is not spiritually
alive.]
"Now it is this great law which finally distinguishes Christianity from
all other religions. It places the religion of Christ upon a footing
altogether unique. There is no analogy between the Christian religion
and, say, Buddhism or the Mohammedan religion. There is no true sense
in which a man can say. He that hath Buddha hath life. Buddha has
nothing to do with life. He may have something to do with morality.
He may stimulate, impress, teach, guide, but there is no distinct
new thing added to the souls of those who profess Buddhism. These
religions may be developments of the natural, mental, or moral man. But
Christianity professes to be more. It is the mental or moral man plus
something else or some One else. It is the infusion into the spiritual
man of a new life, of a quality unlike anything else in nature. This
constitutes the separate Kingdom of Christ, and gives to Christianity
alone of all the religions of mankind the strange mark of divinity.
CHAPTER XXI.
(Scripture Reading Exercise.)
"LIFE FROM LIFE"--SPIRITUAL LIFE FROM SPIRIT (Continued).
ANALYSIS.
VI. Fundamental Elements in the Spiritual Man that are Absent in the
Natural Man.
VII. Terms Used to Express Elements in Spiritual Man.
VIII. Process of Regeneration in the Individual Man.
IX. Insignificance of the Time Element.
REFERENCES.
The works and Scripture cited in the body of this lesson.
_SPECIAL TEXT: "Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not
yet appear what we shall he: but we know that, when he shall appear, we
shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is." (I John iii:2, 3.)_
DISCUSSION.
_1. The Spiritual Man Contrasted with the Natural:_ If it shall be
asked what it is that constitutes the difference between the natural
man and the spiritual man, the answer, though necessarily brief, can
take on various forms; but in the last analysis it will be found to
consist in one thing: One has been "born again"--"born of the Spirit;"
the other has not. One has received the Holy Ghost; the other has not.
One has the power to "know that Jesus is the Christ," the other has no
such power.[A]
[Footnote A: "No man can say that Jesus is the Lord but by the Holy
Ghost." I Cor. xii:3.]
The body of one is the temple of the Holy Ghost, which is in him, which
he has of God, and he is God's, in body and in Spirit;[A] the other is
in no such relationship to God.
[Footnote A: I Cor. vi:19, 20.]
One through aceptance of the atonement of the Christ has "access by one
Spirit unto the Father,"[A] the other has not.
[Footnote A: Ephesians ii:18, and context.]
One is "strengthened with might by his [God's] spirit in the inner
man,"[A] the other is not.
[Footnote A: Ibid iii:16.]
One has received the sanctification of the spirit and belief of the
truth;[A] the other has not.
[Footnote A: II Thess. ii:13.]
One knows that he dwells in God and God in him, because God hath given
him of his Spirit;[A] the other has no such witness.
[Footnote A: I John iv:13.]
One is under "the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus," is made
"free from the law of sin and death;" the other is not; "for they that
are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh, but they that are
after the Spirit, the things of the Spirit; for to be carnally minded
is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace."
Paul runs the parallel between the spiritual man and the carnal or
natural man much further and beautifully: "The carnal mind is enmity
against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed
can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. But ye
are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of
God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is
none of his. And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin;
but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of
him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised
up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his
Spirit that dwelleth in you. Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not
to the flesh, to live after the flesh. For if ye live after the flesh,
ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the
body, ye shall live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they
are the sons of God. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage
again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we
cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit,
that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of
God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him,
that we may be also glorified together."[A]
[Footnote A: Romans viii:1-17.]
_2. The Terms Used to Express the Contrast:_ I have chosen to put
the distinction between the natural man and the spiritual man--the
man unbaptized of the Spirit and the one born of the Spirit--in terms
that include direct reference to the Holy Ghost. It may be put into
terms that refer directly to the Christ, such, for example, as "know
ye not your own selves how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be
reprobates?" This said to those who had received the Gospel.[A] "Your
bodies are members of Christ."[B] "At that day ye shall know that I am
in the Father, and ye in me, and I in you."[C] "I am the vine, ye are
the branches."[D] "I am crucified with Christ nevertheless I live; yet
not I, but Christ liveth in me."[E]
[Footnote A: II Cor. xii:5.]
[Footnote B: I Cor. vi:15.]
[Footnote C: St. John xiv:10.]
[Footnote D: St. John xv:4.]
[Footnote E: Gal. ii:20.]
All which, however, amounts to the same thing; viz.,--those born of the
spirit live in God, and God in them. They have received something that
the spiritually unborn have not received; and though they may carry
that precious thing in earthen vessels, yet is it there. There has come
down into such spirit-baptized men a spirit-life which has touched
their souls, and left there a spirit life that is deathless, and will
grow until it conforms the man receiving it to its own image, and
likeness, and quality, unless sinned against to the point of blasphemy.
Of which more later.
_3. The Process of Regeneration:_ "What can be gathered on the
surface as to the process of regeneration in the individual soul,"
asks Henry Drummond. "From the analogies of biology," he continues,
"we should expect three things: First, that the new life should dawn
suddenly; second, that it should come "without observation;" third,
that it should develop gradually. On two of these points there can
be little controversy. The gradualness of growth is a characteristic
which strikes the simplest observer. Long before the word Evolution was
coined Christ applied it in this very connection--"First the blade,
then the ear, then the full corn in the ear." It is well known also to
those who study the parables of nature that there is an ascending scale
of slowness as we rise in the scale of life. Growth is most gradual in
the highest forms. Man attains his maturity after a score of years; the
monad completes its humble cycle in a day. What wonder if development
be tardy in the Creature of Eternity? A Christian's sun has sometimes
set, and a critical world has seen as yet no corn in the ear. As
yet? "As yet," in this long life, has not begun. Grant him the years
proportionate to his place in the scale of life. 'The time of harvest
is not yet!'"
"Again, in addition to being slow, the phenomena of growth are secret.
Life is invisible. When the New Life manifests itself it is a surprise.
Thou canst not tell whence it cometh or whither it goeth. When the
plant lives whence has the life come? When it dies whither has it gone?
Thou canst not tell; * * * so is every one that is born of the Spirit.
"Yet once more--and this is a point of strange and frivolous dispute
--this life comes suddenly. This is the only way in which life can
come. Life cannot come gradually--health can, structure can, but
not life. A new theology has laughed at the doctrine of conversion.
Sudden conversion especially has been ridiculed as untrue to
philosophy and impossible to human nature. We may not be concerned
in buttressing any theology because it is old. But we find that this
old theology is scientific. There may be cases--they are probably in
the majority--where the moment of contact with the living spirit,
though sudden, has been obscure. But the real moment and the conscious
moment are two different things. Science pronounces nothing as to the
conscious moment. If it did it would probably say that that was seldom
the real moment--just as in the natural life the conscious moment is
not the real moment. The moment of birth in the natural world is not
a conscious moment--we do not know we are born till long afterward.
Yet there are men to whom the origin of the new life in time has
been no difficulty. To Paul, for instance, Christ seems to have come
at a definite period of time, the exact moment and second of which
could have been known. And this is certainly, in theory at least, the
normal origin of life, according to the principles of biology. The
line between the living and the dead is a sharp line. When the dead
atoms of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, are seized upon by life,
the organism at first is very lowly. It possesses few functions. It
has little beauty. Growth is the work of time. But life is not. That
comes in a moment. At one moment it was dead; the next it lived. This
is conversion, the "passing," as the Bible calls it, "from death unto
life." Those who have stood by another's side at the solemn hour of
this dread possession have been conscious sometimes of an experience
which words are not allowed to utter--a something like the sudden
snapping of a chain, the waking from a dream."[A] And as it is in
death, so it is in life--life comes suddenly; as at the last moment it
departs suddenly.
[Footnote A: "Natural Law in the Spiritual World," pp. 91-94.]
_4. Conformity to Type:_ The Spiritual life of God once
established in man--what then? What is to come of it? "Beloved," said
one of old, "now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear
what we shall be: but we know that when he shall appear, we shall be
like him; for we shall see him as he is. And every man who has this
hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure."[A] "But we all,
with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are
changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit
of the Lord."[B] "And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is
the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints
according to the will of God. * * * For whom he did fore know, he
also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his son." All
which means that man receiving into his soul spirit-life from God,
that spirit-life will conform and transform the man receiving it to
itself, until man is brought into perfect union with God.[C] If it
were expressed in terms of biology one would say that the spirit life
imparted to man would conform to its type, making man's spirit conform
to God's spirit, to the type of the Christ.
[Footnote A: I John iii:2, 3.]
[Footnote B: II Cor. iii:18.]
[Footnote C: On this head the Prophet of the New Dispensation of the
Gospel, Joseph Smith, has a fine passage: "If you wish to go where
God is, you must be like God, or possess the principles which God
possesses, for it we are not drawing towards God in principle, we are
going from Him, and drawing towards the devil. . . . A man is saved no
faster than he gets knowledge, for if he does not get knowledge, he
will be brought into captivity by some evil power in the other world,
as evil spirits will have more knowledge, and consequently more power
than many men who are on the earth. Hence it needs revelation to assist
us, and give us knowledge of the things of God." (Minutes of April
Conference, 1842. History of the Church, Vol. IV, p. 588.)]
_5. The Analogy in Natural Life:_ Speaking of this analogy between
the natural and spiritual worlds, in the matter of different kinds of
life conforming to the type, Mr. Drummond says: (But before quoting
let me call attention to what I have before said of using a variant
phraseology on the part of Christian writers whose ideas, in part at
least, we can accept, and the phraseology we of the new dispensation
would use. I have said in subdivision 2 of this Lesson, that the idea
of being born of the spirit may be put in various terms, in terms that
have direct reference to the Holy Ghost, or terms may be used that
refer to the Christ, or the Christ-life, it is in this last form that
Mr. Drummond expresses the idea of the spirit-life in man):
"What goes on then in the animal kingdom is this--the bird-life seizes
upon the bird-germ and builds it up into a bird, the image of itself.
The reptile-life seizes upon another germinal speck, assimilates
surrounding matter, and fashions it into a reptile. The reptile-life
thus simply makes an incarnation of itself. The visible bird is simply
an incarnation of the invisible bird-life.
"Now we are nearing the point where the spiritual analogy appears. It
is a very wonderful analogy, so wonderful that one almost hesitates
to put it into words. Yet Nature is reverent; and it is her voice to
which we listen. These lower phenomena of life, she says, are but
an allegory. There is another kind of life of which science as yet
has taken little cognizance. It obeys the same laws. It builds up an
organism into its own form. It is the Christ-life. As the bird-life
builds up a bird, the image of itself, so the Christ-Life builds up a
Christ, the image of Himself, in the inward nature of man. When a man
becomes a Christian the natural process is this: The living Christ
enters into his soul. Development begins. The quickening life seizes
upon the soul, assimilates surrounding elements, and begins to fashion
it. According to the great law of conformity to type this fashioning
takes a specific form. It is that of the Artist who fashions. And all
through life this wonderful, mystical, glorious, yet perfectly definite
process, goes on "until Christ be formed" in it.
"The Christian life is not a vague effort after righteousness--an
ill-defined pointless struggle for an ill-defined pointless end.
Religion is no disheveled mass of aspiration, prayer, and faith. There
is no more mystery in Religion as to its processes than in Biology.
There is much mystery in Biology. We know all but nothing of life yet,
nothing of development. There is the same mystery in the spiritual
life. But the great lines are the same, as decided, as luminous; and
the laws of natural and spiritual are the same as unerring, as simple.
Will everything else in the natural world unfold its order, and yield
to science more and more a vision of harmony, and religion, which
should complement and perfect all, remain a chaos? From the standpoint
of revelation no truth is more obscure than conformity to type. If
science can furnish a companion phenomenon from an every-day process
of the natural life, it may at least throw this most mystical doctrine
of Christianity into thinkable form. Is there any fallacy in speaking
of the embryology of the new life? Is the analogy invalid? Are there
not vital processes in the spiritual as well as in the natural world?
The bird being an incarnation of the bird-life, may not the Christian
be a spiritual incarnation of the Christ-life? And is there not a real
justification in the processes of the new birth for such a parallel?
"Let us appeal to the record of these processes.
"In what terms does the New Testament describe them? The answer is
sufficiently striking. It uses everywhere the language of biology. It
is impossible that the New Testament writers should have been familiar
with these biological facts. It is impossible that their views of this
great truth should have been as clear as science can make them now.
But they had no alternative. There was no other way of expressing this
truth. It was a biological question. So they struck out unhesitatingly
into the new field of words, and, with an originality which commands
both reverence and surprise, stated their truth with such light, or
darkness, as they had. They did not mean to be scientific, only to be
accurate, and their fearless accuracy has made them scientific.
"What could be more original, for instance, than the Apostle's
reiteration that the Christian was a new creature, a new man, a babe?
Or that this new man was "begotten of God," God's workmanship? And what
could be a more accurate expression of the law of conformity to type
than this: 'Put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the
image of Him that created him?' Or this, 'we are changed into the same
image from glory to glory?' And elsewhere we are expressly told by the
same writer that this conformity is the end and goal of the Christian
life. To work this type in us is the whole purpose of God for man.
'Whom He did foreknow He also did predestinate to be conformed to the
image of his Son.'"[A]
[Footnote A: "Natural Law in the Spiritual World," pp. 293-6.]
_6. The End of the Matter--We Shall Be Like Him--Conformed to the
Divine Image:_ That is the end then, for the spiritually born
man--he will be conformed into the image of God--conformed to the type
of the Spirit-life that has taken up his abode in him. How long shall
it take? Who knows? And what shall it matter? The important thing is
that it shall be done. The important thing for us men is that the
spirit-birth takes place; that union with God be formed; the ages may
wait upon the growth, and full fruitage of that event. It may take
aeons of time to make a man, longer to make Super-man; but the eternal
years are his who is born of the Spirit; and again I say the important
thing for us men is to have that Spirit-birth, and then are we sons of
God; and while it doth hot appear what we shall be, for the height and
glory of that is beyond our human vision, ultimately we shall be like
him, and see him as he is, and be conformed to the Christ image, that
is to say, to the Divine nature--unless one shall sin against the Holy
Ghost.
LESSON XXII.
(Scripture Reading Exercise.)
THE SIN AGAINST THE HOLY GHOST.
ANALYSIS.
I. Possibility and Enormity of the Sin.
II. The Word of the Christ on the Sin--"Hath Never Forgiveness."
III. "The Sin unto Death"--St. John.
IV. Nature of the Offense--Sin Against Truth and Light--St. Paul.
V. All Sin Dangerous Since it Leads Towards Spiritual Death.
VI. The Punishment and the Sin--High Treason Against God--Spirit-Murder.
REFERENCES.
The works and Scriptures cited in the body of the lesson.
_SPECIAL TEXT: "It is impossible for those who were once enlightened,
* * * if they shall fall away, to renew them again to repentance."
(Hebrews v:4, 6.)_
DISCUSSION.
_1. Possibility and Enormity of the Sin:_ It is possible to so
sin against the Holy Ghost as to forfeit the spiritual life which his
presence in the human soul gives, and that conformation to the Divine
type which his effectual working would otherwise bring to pass. That
being true, the sin against the Holy Ghost must be the most appalling
act that can enter into human experience. Perhaps the most heinous
crime known to human law is the crime of murder, wherein innocent blood
is shed. But that sin which effectually kills spirit-life, which has
for its victim not a human being but a divine being--that overtops in
atrocity any possible physical murder. In this concluding chapter of
our treatise let us contemplate this awful sin--this master crime. And
first let us be sure from the word of God that there is such a sin.
_2. The Teaching of the Christ Upon the Subject:_ According to St.
Matthew Jesus said:
"Wherefore I say unto you, all manner of sin and blasphemy shall be
forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not
be forgiven unto men. And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of
Man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy
Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world neither in
the world to come."[A]
[Footnote A: St. Matt, xii:31, 32.]
St. Mark puts it in this form: "Verily I say unto you, all sins shall
be forgiven unto the sons of men, and blasphemies wherewith soever they
shall blaspheme: but he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost
hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation."[A] St.
Luke's version is--"Whosoever shall speak a word against the Son of man
it shall be forgiven him: but unto him that blasphemeth against the
Holy Ghost it shall not be forgiven."[B]
[Footnote A: St. Mark iii:28, 29.]
[Footnote B: St. Luke xii:10.]
_3. St. John on the Sin Unto Death:_ This represents practical
unanimity in the testimony of these three evangelists upon the subject.
And although St. John has nothing directly upon the subject in his
Gospel, yet in his epistle he has a passage which brings him into
harmony with the others upon the subject: "If a man see his brother
sin a sin which is not unto death, he shall ask, and he shall give
life for them that sin not unto death. There is a sin unto death:[A]
I do not say that he shall pray for that. All unrighteousness is sin
[transgression of the law, ch. iii:4] and there is a sin not unto
death;"[B] but also, as above stated, there is a sin unto death.
[Footnote A: That is, doubtless, a sin which kills the spiritual life
in man; that breaks this union with God--the sin against the Holy Ghost
which men have of God, and they become spiritually dead--and it is
impossible to revive them to life again. (See Heb. vi:6.)]
[Footnote B: John v:16, 17.]
_4. Nature of the Sin--St. Paul:_ Paul in his exposition of this
doctrine, throws some light on the nature of this sin: "Let us go on
unto perfection," is the Apostle's admonition. "Not laying again the
foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God, of
the doctrine of baptism and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection
of the dead and eternal judgment. And this will we do if God permit.
For," glancing back upon some whe had received these fundamental
principles and ordinances, sinned against them and would fain be
repeating them--"it is impossible for those who were once enlightened,
and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the
Holy Ghost, and have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of
the world to come, if they shall fall away, to renew them again unto
repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh,
and put him to an open shame. For the earth which drinketh in the rain
that cometh oft upon it, and bringeth forth herbs meet for them by whom
it is dressed, receive the blessing from God: but that which beareth
thorns and briers is rejected, and is nigh unto cursing; whose end is
to be burned."[A]
[Footnote A: Hebrews vi:1-8.]
From this it appears that the sin against the Holy Ghost is sin against
that enlightenment to the human soul which possession of the Holy Ghost
brings. Sin against knowledge of truth which knowledge was produced in
the very soul of man by witness of the Holy Ghost--is a sin against
light and truth. And "if we sin wilfully after that we have received
the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sin,
but a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation,
which shall devour the adversaries. He that despised Moses' law
died without mercy under two or three witnesses; of how much sorer
punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden
under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant,
wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite
unto the Spirit of grace? For we know him that hath said, vengeance
belongeth unto me, I will recompense, saith the Lord. And again, the
Lord shall judge his people. It is a fearful thing to fall into the
hands of the living God."[A]
[Footnote A: Heb. x:26, 31.]
_5. The Path of Danger:_ The "wilful sin" here condemned is, of
course, the "sin unto death," not every sin that one might commit,
though every sin that man commits, small as well as great, is along
the path of danger, and in the direction of, and may lead to, the sin
unto death. The path of safety from the sin unto death lies in the
other direction; not in the way of sinful dalliance, but in a stern
battle for righteousness and against sin. Headed that way, there is no
danger of the "sin unto death;" but every transgression of the law of
righteousness--which is sin[A]--though not a sin unto death, leads
towards the death of the spirit life planted in the soul by the Holy
Ghost--hence to be avoided, shunned. Man must not, even as God does
not, look upon sin with the least degree of allowance in himself,
always it must be abhorred and resisted. In that course and in that
course alone lies safety.
[Footnote A: I John iii:4.]
_6. Joseph Smith on the Sin Against the Holy Ghost:_ The Prophet
Joseph in a discourse at the General Conference of the Church, held at
Nauvoo in 1844, upon this subject of sinning against the Holy Ghost,
said:
"What has Jesus said? All sins, and all blasphemies, and every
transgression, except one, that man can be guilty of, may be forgiven;
and there is a salvation for all men, either in this world or the world
to come, who have not committed the unpardonable sin, there being a
provision either in this world or the world of spirits. Hence God
hath made a provision that every spirit in the eternal world can be
ferreted out and saved unless he has committed that unpardonable sin
which cannot be remitted to him either in this world or the world of
spirits. * * * I said, no man can commit the unpardonable sin after
the dissolution of the body, nor in this life, until he receives the
Holy Ghost; but they must do it in this world. * * * All sins shall
be forgiven, except the sin against the Holy Ghost; for Jesus will
save all except the sons of perdition. What must a man do to commit
the unpardonable sin? He must receive the Holy Ghost, have the heavens
opened unto him, and know God, and then sin against him. After a man
has sinned against the Holy Ghost, there is no repentance for him. He
has got to say that the sun does not shine while he sees it; he has got
to deny Jesus Christ when the heavens have been opened unto him, and
to deny the plan of salvation with his eyes open to the truth of it;
and from that time he begins to be an enemy. This is the case with many
apostates of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints."[A]
[Footnote A: Improvement Era, Vol. XII, 1909, pp. 185-7.]
_7. The Punishment and the Sin:_ This is in strict harmony with
one of the revelations of the New Dispensation, portraying the future
estates of man in the varying degrees of glory in the Kingdom of God.
Elsewhere[A] I have presented the following digest:[B]
[Footnote A: Outlines of Ecclesiastical History, pp. 419-421, 3rd
edition.]
[Footnote B: The Revelation is in Doc. and Cov., Sec. lxxvi:25-49.]
There is a class of souls with whom the justice of God must deal, which
will not and cannot be classified in the celestial, terrestrial, or
telestial glories. They are the sons of perdition. But though they will
not be assigned a place in either of these grand divisions of glory,
the revelation from which we draw our information respecting man's
future state, describes the condition of these sons of perdition so far
as it is made known unto the children of men. It also informs us as to
the nature of the crime which calls for such grievous punishment.
The sons of perdition are they of whom God hath said that it had been
better for them never to have been born; for they are vessels of wrath,
doomed to suffer the wrath of God, with the devil and his angels in
eternity. Concerning whom he hath said there is no forgiveness in this
world nor in the world to come. These are they who shall go away into
everlasting punishment, with the devil and his angels, and the only
ones on whom the second death shall have any power; the only ones who
will not be redeemed in the due time of the Lord, after the sufferings
of his wrath. He saves all the works of his hands except these sons of
perdition; but they go away to reign with the devil and his angels in
eternity, where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched,
which is their torment. The end thereof, the place thereof no man
knoweth. It has not been revealed, nor will it be revealed unto man,
except to them who are made partakers thereof. It has been partially
shown to some in vision, and may be shown again in the same partial
manner to others; but the end, the height, the depth, and the misery
thereof, they understand not, nor will anyone but those who receive the
terrible condemnation.
Such the punishment, now as to the crime that merits it. It is the
crime of high treason to God, which pulls down on men this fearful
doom. It falls upon men who know the power of God and who have been
made partakers of it, and then permit themselves to be so far overcome
of the devil that they deny the truth that has been revealed to them
and defy the power of God. They deny the Holy Ghost after having
received him. They deny the Only Begotten Son of the Father after the
Father hath revealed him, and in this crucify him unto themselves anew,
and put him to an open shame. They commit the same act of high treason
that Lucifer in the rebellion of heaven did, and hence are worthy of
the same punishment with him.
They have crucified not the body of the Lord Jesus, but a spirit which
united with man's spirit which unhindered in its work, would have
conformed man to the Divine image--now, after the sin against the Holy
Ghost, impossible. Spirit murder has been committed--a divinity slain
and the guilty one hath no forgiveness. Thank God the number who commit
that fearful crime is but few. It is only those who attain to a very
great knowledge of the things of God that are capable of committing
it, and the number among such are few indeed who become so recklessly
wicked as to rebel against and defy the power of God. But when such
characters do fall, they fall like Lucifer, never to rise again; they
get beyond the power of repentance or the hope of forgiveness.
APPENDIX.
The next two Lessons I place under the head of "Appendix," because they
open up anew many things treated in the body of the work; and which I
would not again refer to only because of the associations given to them
in the discourses of the great Apostle of the Gentiles, and the greater
Apostle of the New Dispensation. I throw the "Appendix" into the form
of lessons, in the hope that the topics of the respective discourses
will be all the more emphasized and appreciated.
LESSON XXIII.
(Scripture Reading Exercise.)
PAUL, THE APOSTLE, ON SPIRITUAL GIFTS IN THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
ANALYSIS
I. Unity of Spirit, but Diversity of Gifts.
II. The Church as an Organism Entitled to the Manifestation of All the
Gifts.
III. Pre-eminence of Charity Over All Other Gifts.
IV. The Gift of Prophecy Preferable to the Gift of Tongues.
V. Decency and Order to Be Observed in All Things.
REFERENCES.
These three chapters in Paul's First Epistle to the Corinthians
(Chapters xii, xiii, xiv), and the New Testament, passim, for what
others have said on Spiritual Gifts.
_SPECIAL TEXT: "Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels
and have not charity I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling
cymbal." (I Cor. viii:1.)_
DISCUSSION.
_1. The Holy Ghost, the Source of Knowledge of the Christ:_ "Now
concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I would not have you ignorant. Ye
know that ye were Gentiles, carried away unto these dumb idols, even as
ye were led. Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking
by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed: and that no man can say
that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost.
_2. Diversity of Manifestation, but One Spirit:_ "Now there are
diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are differences
of administrations, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of
operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all. But the
manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal.
For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another
the word of knowledge by the same Spirit; to another faith by the
same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit; to
another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another
discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another
the interpretation of tongues: but all these worketh that one and the
selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will."
_3. The Oneness of the Church, Though Made Up of Many Members:_
"For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members
of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ. For by
one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or
Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink
into one Spirit. For the body is not one member, but many. If the
foot shall say, Because I am not the hand, I am not of the body; is
it therefore not of the body? And if the ear shall say, Because I am
not the eye, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body? If
the whole body were an eye, where were the hearing? If the whole were
hearing where were the smelling? But now hath God set the members every
one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him. And if they were all
one member, where were the body? But now are they many members, yet
but one body. And the eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need
of thee: nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you. Nay,
much more those members of the body, which seem to be more feeble, are
necessary: And those members of the body, which we think to be less
honorable, upon these we bestow more abundant honor; and our uncomely
parts have more abundant comeliness. For our comely parts have no need:
but God hath tempered the body together, having given more abundant
honor to that part which lacked: That there should be no schism in the
body; but that the members should have the same care one for another.
And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one
member be honored, all the members rejoice with it. Now ye are the body
of Christ, and members in particular. And God hath set some in the
church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after
that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities
of tongues. Are all apostles? are all prophets? are all teachers? are
all workers of miracles? have all the gifts of healing? do all speak
with tongues? do all interpret? But covet earnestly the best gifts: and
yet shew I unto you a more excellent way."
_4. The Vanity of Gifts Without Charity:_ "Though I speak with
the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as
sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. And though I have the gift of
prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I
have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity,
I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and
though I give my body to be turned, and have not charity, it profiteth
me nothing."
_5. The Excellence and Qualities of Charity:_ "Charity suffereth
long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is
not puffed up, doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own,
is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; rejoiceth not in iniquity,
but rejoiceth in the truth; beareth all things, believeth all things,
hopeth all things, endureth all things. Charity never faileth: but
whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues,
they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away.
For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. But when that which is
perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away. When
I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought
as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things. For
now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I
know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known. And now
abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is
charity."
_6. The Gift of Prophecy More Excellent than the Gift of Tongues:_
"Follow after charity, and desire spiritual gifts, but rather that ye
may prophesy. For he that speaketh in an unknown tongue speaketh not
unto men, but unto God: for no man understandeth him; howbeit in the
spirit he speaketh mysteries. But he that prophesieth speaketh unto men
to edification, and exhortation, and comfort. He that speaketh in an
unknown tongue edifieth himself; but he that prophesieth edifieth the
church."
_7. The Uncertainty of Tongues:_ "I would that ye all spake
with tongues but rather that ye prophesied: for greater is he that
prophesieth than he that speaketh with tongues, except he interpret,
that the church may receive edifying. Now, brethren, if I come unto you
speaking with tongues, what shall I profit you, except I shall speak
to you either by revelation, or by knowledge, or by prophesying, or by
doctrine? And even things without life giving sound, whether pipe or
harp, except they give a distinction in the sounds, how shall it be
known what is piped or harped? For if the trumpet give an uncertain
sound, who shall prepare himself to the battle?"
_8. Paul's Choice of Gifts:_ "So likewise ye, except ye utter by
the tongue words easy to be understood, how shall it be known what
is spoken? for ye shall speak into the air. There are, it may be,
so many kinds of voices in the world, and none of them is without
signification. Therefore if I know not the meaning of the voice, I
shall be unto him that speaketh a barbarian, and he that speaketh shall
be a barbarian unto me. Even so ye, forasmuch as ye are zealous of
spiritual gifts, seek that ye may excel to the edifying of the church.
Wherefore let him that speaketh in an unknown tongue pray that he may
interpret. For if I pray in an unknown tongue, my spirit prayeth, but
my understanding is unfruitful. What is it then? I will pray with the
spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also: I will sing with
the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also. Else when thou
shalt bless with the spirit, how shall he that occupieth the room of
the unlearned say Amen at thy giving of thanks, seeing he understandeth
not what thou sayest? For thou verily givest thanks well, but the other
is not edified. I thank my God, I speak with tongues more than ye all:
Yet in the church I had rather speak five words with my understanding,
that by my voice I might teach others also, than ten thousand words in
an unknown tongue."
_9. Confusion Likely to Come of the Gift of Tongues:_ "Brethren,
be not children in understanding: howbeit in malice be ye children, but
in understanding be men. In the law it is written, With men of other
tongues and other lips will I speak unto this people; and yet for all
that will they not hear me, saith the Lord. Wherefore tongues are for
a sign, not to them that believe, but to them that believe not: but
prophesying serveth not for them that believe not, but for them which
believe. If therefore the whole church be come together into one place,
and all speak with tongues, and there come in those that are unlearned,
or unbelievers, will they not say that ye are mad? But if all prophesy,
and there come in one that believeth not, or one unlearned, he is
convinced of all, he is judged of all: And thus are the secrets of his
heart made manifest; and so falling down on his face he will worship
God, and report that God is in you of a truth."
_10. The Things that Make for Edification:_ "How is it then,
brethren? when ye come together, every one of you hath a psalm, hath
a doctrine, hath a tongue, hath a revelation, hath an interpretation.
Let all things be done unto edifying. If any man speak in an unknown
tongue, let it be by two, or at the most by three, and that by course;
and let one interpret. But if there be no interpreter, let him keep
silence in the church; and let him speak to himself, and to God. Let
the prophets speak two or three, and let the other judge. If any thing
be revealed to another that sitteth by, let the first hold his peace.
For ye may all prophesy one by one, that all may learn, and all may be
comforted. And the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets.
For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace..."
_11. Decency and Order Enjoined:_ "If any man think himself to
be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that
I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord. But if any man be
ignorant, let him be ignorant. Wherefore, brethren, covet to prophesy,
and forbid not to speak with tongues. Let all things be done decently
and in order."
LESSON XXIV.
(Scripture Reading Exercise.)
THE PROPHET JOSEPH SMITH ON THE GIFTS OF THE HOLY GHOST.[A]
ANALYSIS.
I. Conflicting Opinions of Men on the Subject, Due to the Absence of
Revelation.
II. Extravagant Expectations Reproved.
III. All the Gifts Distributed Within the Church.
IV. Manifestation of Spiritual Gifts Not Always Outwardly Discernable.
V. Admonition as to Seeking Spiritual Gifts.
REFERENCES.
The citations of Scripture in the body of this lesson.
_SPECIAL TEXT: "Follow after charity, desire spiritual gifts, but
rather that ye prophesy." (Paul--I Cor. xiv:1.)_
[Footnote A: The matter used in the "Discussion" is an editorial from
the Times and Seasons of the 15th of June, 1842; and if not written by
the Prophet was at least published with his sanction and approval. In
his Journal History, the Prophet introduces the article as follows:
"Issued an editorial on the 'Gift of the Holy Ghost,' as follows."
(History of the Church, Vol. V, p. 26, et seq.) The side headings are
not part of the original editorial.]
DISCUSSION.
_1. Not Every Supernatural Manifestation of God:_ "Various and
conflicting are the opinions of men in regard to the gift of the Holy
Ghost. Some people have been in the habit of calling every supernatural
manifestation the effects of the Spirit of God, whilst there are others
that think there is no manifestation [i. e., of God] connected with it
at all; and that it is nothing but a mere impulse of the mind, or an
inward feeling, impression, or secret testimony or evidence, which men
possess, and that there is no such a thing as an outward manifestation.
"It is not to be wondered at that men should be ignorant, in a great
measure, of the principles of salvation, and more especially of the
nature, office, power, influence, gifts, and blessings of the gift
of the Holy Ghost; when we consider that the human family have been
enveloped in gross darkness and ignorance for many centuries past,
without revelation, or any just criterion [by which] to arrive at a
knowledge of the things of God, which can only be known by the Spirit
of God. Hence it not infrequently occurs, that when the Elders of this
Church preach to the inhabitants of the world, that if they obey the
Gospel they shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, that the people
expect to see some wonderful manifestation, some great display of
power, or some extraordinary miracle performed; and it is often the
case that young members of this Church for want of better information,
carry along with them their old notions of things, and sometimes fall
into egregious errors. We have lately had some information concerning a
few members that are in this dilemma, and for their information make a
few remarks upon the subject.
_2. Priesthood and Church Organization Ineffective without the Holy
Ghost:_ "We believe in the gift of the Holy Ghost being enjoyed now,
as much as it was in the Apostles' days; we believe that it [the gift
of the Holy Ghost] is necessary to make and to organize the Priesthood,
that no man can be called to fill any office in the ministry without
it;[A] we also believe in prophecy, in tongues, in visions, and in
revelations, in gifts, and in healings; and that these things cannot be
enjoyed without the gift of the Holy Ghost. We believe that the holy
men of old spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost, and that holy
men in these days speak by the same principle; we believe in its being
a comforter and a witness bearer, that it brings things past to our
remembrance, leads us into all truth, and shows us of things to come;
we believe that 'no man can know that Jesus is the Christ, but by the
Holy Ghost.' We believe in it [this gift of the Holy Ghost] in all its
fullness, and power, and greatness, and glory; but whilst we do this,
we believe in it rationally, consistently, and scripturally, and not
according to the wild vagaries, foolish notions and traditions of men.
[Footnote A: See Book of Moroni chapter iii. "And after this manner did
they ordain priests and teachers, according to the gifts and callings
of God unto men; and they ordained them by the power of the Holy Ghost
which was in them."]
_3. Man's Inclination to Run to Extremes:_ "The human family
are very apt to run to extremes, especially in religious matters,
and hence people in general, either want some miraculous display, or
they will not believe in the gift of the Holy Ghost at all. If an
Elder lays his hands upon a person, it is thought by many that the
person must immediately rise and speak in tongues and prophesy; this
idea is gathered from the circumstance of Paul laying his hands upon
certain individuals who had been previously [as they stated] baptized
unto John's baptism; which when he had done, they 'spake in tongues
and prophesied.' Philip also, when he had preached the Gospel to the
inhabitants of the city of Samaria, sent for Peter and John, who when
they came laid their hands upon them for the gift of the Holy Ghost;
for as yet he was fallen upon none of them; and when Simon Magus saw
that through the laying on of the Apostles' hands the Holy Ghost was
given, he offered them money that he might possess the same power.
[Acts viii.] These passages are considered by many as affording
sufficient evidence for some miraculous, visible manifestation,
whenever hands are laid on for the gift of the Holy Ghost.
_4. Diversity of Gifts:_ "We believe that the Holy Ghost is
imparted by the laying on of hands of those in authority, and that the
gift of tongues, and also the gift of prophesy are gifts of the Spirit,
and are obtained through that medium; but then to say that men always
prophesied and spoke in tongues when they had the imposition of hands,
would be to state that which is untrue, contrary to the practice of
the Apostles, and at variance with holy writ; for Paul says, 'To one
is given the gift of tongues, to another the gift of prophecy, and
to another the gift of healing;" and again: 'Do all prophesy? do all
speak with tongues? do all interpret?' evidently showing that all did
not possess these several gifts; but that one received one gift, and
another received another gift--all did not prophesy, all did not speak
in tongues, all did not work miracles; but all did receive the gift
of the Holy Ghost; sometimes they spake in tongues and prophesied in
the Apostles' days, and sometimes they did not. The same is the case
with us also in our administrations, while more frequently there is no
manifestation at all; that is visible to the surrounding multitude;
this will appear plain when we consult the writings of the apostles,
and notice their proceedings in relation to this matter. Paul, in I
Cor. xii, says, 'Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I would
not have you ignorant;' it is evident from this, that some of them
were ignorant in relation to these matters, or they would not need
instruction.
_5. Spiritual Gifts to be Sought After:_ "Again, in chapter xiv,
he says, 'Follow after charity and desire spiritual gifts, but rather
that ye may prophesy.' It is very evident from these Scriptures that
many of them had not spiritual gifts, for if they had spiritual gifts
where was the necessity of Paul telling them to follow after them,
and it is as evident that they did not all receive those gifts by the
imposition of the hands; for they as a Church had been baptized and
confirmed by the laying on of hands--and yet to a Church of this kind,
under the immediate inspection and superintendency of the Apostles,
it was necessary for Paul to say, 'Follow after charity, and desire
spiritual gifts, but rather that ye may prophesy,' evidently showing
that those gifts were in the Church, but not enjoyed by all in their
outward manifestations.
"But suppose the gifts of the Spirit were immediately, upon the
imposition of hands, enjoyed by all, in all their fullness and power;
the skeptic would still be as far from receiving any testimony except
upon a mere casualty as before, for all the gifts of the Spirit are not
visible to the natural vision, or understanding of man: indeed very
few of them are. We read that 'Christ ascended into heaven and gave
gifts unto men; and Me gave some Apostles, and some Prophets, and some
Evangelists, and some Pastors and Teachers.' [Eph. iv.]
_6. Diversity of Spiritual Gifts:_ "The Church is a compact body
composed of different members, and is strictly analogous to the human
system, and Paul, after speaking of the different gifts, says, 'Now ye
are the body of Christ and members in particular; and God hath set some
in the Church, first Apostles, secondarily Prophets, thirdly Teachers,
after that miracles, then gifts of healing, helps, governments,
diversities of tongues. Are all Teachers? Are all workers of miracles?
Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret?' It is evident that they
do not; yet are they all members of one body. All members of the
natural body are not the eye, the ear, the head or the hand--yet the
eye cannot say to the ear I have no need of thee, nor the head to the
foot, I have no need of thee; they are all so many component parts in
the perfect machine--the one body; and if one member suffer, the whole
of the members suffer with it: and if one member rejoice, all the rest
are honored with it.
"These, then, are all gifts; they come from God; they are of God; they
are all the gifts of the Holy Ghost; they are what Christ ascended
into heaven to impart; and yet how few of them could be known by the
generality of men. Peter and John were Apostles, yet the Jewish court
scourged them as imposters. Paul was both an Apostle and Prophet, yet
they stoned him and put him into prison. The people knew nothing about
it, although he had in his possession the gift of the Holy Ghost Our
Savior was 'anointed with the oil of gladness above his fellows,' yet
so far from the people knowing Him, they said He was Beelzebub, and
crucified Him as an imposter. Who could point out a Pastor, a Teacher,
or an Evangelist by their appearance, yet had they the gift of the Holy
Ghost?
_7. Spiritual Gifts Not Always Outwardly Discernible:_ "But to
come to the other members of the Church, and examine the gifts as
spoken of by Paul, and we shall find that the world can in general
know nothing about them, and that there is but one or two that
could be immediately known, if they were all poured out immediately
upon the imposition of hands. In I Cor. xii, Paul says, 'There are
diversities of gifts yet the same spirit, and there are differences
of administrations but the same Lord; and there are diversities of
operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all. But the
manifestations of the Spirit is given unto every man to profit withal.
For to one is given, by the Spirit, the word of wisdom, to another,
the word of knowledge by the same Spirit; to another faith, by the
same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing, by the same Spirit; to
another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another the
discerning of spirits; to another divers kind of tongues; to another
the interpretation of tongues. But all these worketh that one and the
self same spirit, dividing to each man severally as he will.'
"There are several gifts mentioned here, yet which of them all could
be known by an observer at the imposition of hands? The word of
wisdom, and the word of knowledge, are as much gifts as any other, yet
if a person possessed both of these gifts, or received them by the
imposition of hands, who would know it? Another might receive the gift
of faith, and they would be as ignorant of it. Or suppose a man had
the gift of healing or power to work miracles, that would not then be
known; it would require time and circumstances to call these gifts into
operation. Suppose a man had the discerning of spirits, who would be
the wiser for it? Or if he had the interpretation of tongues, unless
someone spoke in an unknown tongue, he of course would have to be
silent; there are only two gifts that could be made visible--the gift
of tongues and the gift of prophecy. These are things that are the most
talked about, and yet if a person spoke in an unknown tongue, according
to Paul's testimony, he would be a barbarian to those present. They
would say that it was gibberish; and if he prophesied they would call
it nonsense. The gift of tongues is the smallest gift perhaps of the
whole, and yet it is one that is the most sought after.
"So that according to the testimony of Scripture and the manifestations
of the Spirit in ancient days, very little could be known about it by
the surrounding multitude, except on some extraordinary occasion, as on
the day of Pentecost.
"The greatest, the best, and the most useful gifts would be known
nothing about by an observer. It is true that a man might prophesy,
which is a great gift, and one that Paul told the people--the
Church--to seek after and to covet, rather than to speak in tongues;
but what does the world know about prophesying? Paul says that it
'serveth only to those that believe.' But does not the Scriptures
say that they spake in tongues and prophesied? Yes; but who is it
that writes these Scriptures? Not the men of the world or mere casual
observers, but the Apostles--men who knew one gift from another, and
of course were capable of writing about it; if we had the testimony of
the Scribes and Pharisees concerning the outpouring of the Spirit on
the day of Pentecost, they would have told us that it was no gift, but
that the people were 'drunken with new wine,' and we shall finally have
to come to the same conclusion that Paul did--'No man knows the things
of God but by the Spirit of God;' for with the great revelations of
Paul when he was caught up into the third heaven and saw things that
were not lawful to utter, no man was apprised of it until he mentioned
it himself fourteen years after: and when John had the curtains of
heaven withdrawn, and by vision looked through the dark vista of future
ages, and contemplated events that should transpire throughout every
subsequent period of time, until the final winding up scene--while he
gazed upon the glories of the eternal world, saw an innumerable company
of angels and heard the voice of God--it was in the Spirit, on the
Lord's day, unnoticed and unobserved by the world.
"The manifestations of the gift of the Holy Ghost, the ministering of
angels, or the development of the power, majesty or glory of God were
very seldom manifested publicly, and that generally to the people of
God, as to the Israelites; but most generally when angels have come,
or God has revealed Himself, it has been to individuals in private, in
their chamber; in the wilderness or fields, and that generally without
noise or tumult. The angel delivered Peter out of prison in the dead
of night; came to Paul unobserved by the rest of the crew; appeared to
Mary and Elizabeth without the knowledge of others; spoke to John the
Baptist whilst the people around were ignorant of it.
"When Elisha saw the chariots of Israel and the horsemen thereof,
it was unknown to others. When the Lord appeared to Abraham it was
at his tent door; when the angels went to Lot, no person knew them
but himself, which was the case probably with Abraham and his wife;
when the Lord appeared to Moses, it was in the burning bush, in the
tabernacle, or in the mountain top; when Elijah was taken in a chariot
of fire, it was unobserved by the world; and when he was in a cleft
of rock, there was loud thunder, but the Lord was not in the thunder;
there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; and
then there was a still small voice, which was the voice of the Lord,
saying, 'What doest thou hear, Elijah?'
_8. An Admonition to Righteousness:_ "The Lord cannot always be
known by the thunder of His voice, by the display of His glory or by
the manifestation of His power; and those that are the most anxious to
see these things, are the least prepared to meet them, and were the
Lord to manifest His power as He did to the children of Israel, such
characters would be the first to say, 'Let not the Lord speak any more,
lest we His people die.'
"We would say to the brethren, seek to know God in your closets, call
upon him in the fields. Follow the directions of the Book of Mormon,
and pray over, and for your families, your cattle, your flocks, your
herds, your corn, and all things that you possess; ask the blessing
of God upon all your labors, and everything that you engage in. Be
virtuous and pure; be men of integrity and truth; keep the commandments
of God; and then you will be able more perfectly to understand the
difference between right and wrong--between the things of God and the
things of men; and your path will be like that of the just, which
shineth brighter and brighter unto the perfect day.
"Be not so curious about tongues, do not speak in tongues except
there be an interpreter present; the ultimate design of tongues is to
speak to foreigners, and if persons are very anxious to display their
intelligence, let them speak to such in their own tongues. The gifts of
God are all useful in their place, but when they are applied to that
which God does not intend, they prove an injury, a snare and a curse
instead of a blessing."
End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Seventy's Course in Theology
(Fifth Year), by B. H. Roberts
*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SEVENTY'S COURSE--THEOLOGY (5TH YEAR) ***
***** This file should be named 60492.txt or 60492.zip *****
This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
http://www.gutenberg.org/6/0/4/9/60492/
Produced by the Mormon Texts Project
(https://mormontextsproject.org/), with thanks to Rachel
Helps and BYU Transcribe
Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will
be renamed.
Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright
law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works,
so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United
States without permission and without paying copyright
royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part
of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project
Gutenberg-tm electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm
concept and trademark. Project Gutenberg is a registered trademark,
and may not be used if you charge for the eBooks, unless you receive
specific permission. If you do not charge anything for copies of this
eBook, complying with the rules is very easy. You may use this eBook
for nearly any purpose such as creation of derivative works, reports,
performances and research. They may be modified and printed and given
away--you may do practically ANYTHING in the United States with eBooks
not protected by U.S. copyright law. Redistribution is subject to the
trademark license, especially commercial redistribution.
START: FULL LICENSE
THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE
PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK
To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free
distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work
(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project
Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full
Project Gutenberg-tm License available with this file or online at
www.gutenberg.org/license.
Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project
Gutenberg-tm electronic works
1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm
electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to
and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property
(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all
the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or
destroy all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your
possession. If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a
Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound
by the terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the
person or entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph
1.E.8.
1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be
used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who
agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few
things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works
even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See
paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project
Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this
agreement and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm
electronic works. See paragraph 1.E below.
1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the
Foundation" or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection
of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual
works in the collection are in the public domain in the United
States. If an individual work is unprotected by copyright law in the
United States and you are located in the United States, we do not
claim a right to prevent you from copying, distributing, performing,
displaying or creating derivative works based on the work as long as
all references to Project Gutenberg are removed. Of course, we hope
that you will support the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting
free access to electronic works by freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm
works in compliance with the terms of this agreement for keeping the
Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with the work. You can easily
comply with the terms of this agreement by keeping this work in the
same format with its attached full Project Gutenberg-tm License when
you share it without charge with others.
1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern
what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are
in a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States,
check the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this
agreement before downloading, copying, displaying, performing,
distributing or creating derivative works based on this work or any
other Project Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no
representations concerning the copyright status of any work in any
country outside the United States.
1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg:
1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other
immediate access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear
prominently whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work
on which the phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the
phrase "Project Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed,
performed, viewed, copied or distributed:
This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and
most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no
restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it
under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this
eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the
United States, you'll have to check the laws of the country where you
are located before using this ebook.
1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is
derived from texts not protected by U.S. copyright law (does not
contain a notice indicating that it is posted with permission of the
copyright holder), the work can be copied and distributed to anyone in
the United States without paying any fees or charges. If you are
redistributing or providing access to a work with the phrase "Project
Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the work, you must comply
either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 or
obtain permission for the use of the work and the Project Gutenberg-tm
trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted
with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution
must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any
additional terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms
will be linked to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works
posted with the permission of the copyright holder found at the
beginning of this work.
1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm
License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this
work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm.
1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this
electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without
prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with
active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project
Gutenberg-tm License.
1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary,
compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including
any word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access
to or distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format
other than "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official
version posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site
(www.gutenberg.org), you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense
to the user, provide a copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means
of obtaining a copy upon request, of the work in its original "Plain
Vanilla ASCII" or other form. Any alternate format must include the
full Project Gutenberg-tm License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1.
1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying,
performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works
unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing
access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works
provided that
* You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from
the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method
you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is owed
to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he has
agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the Project
Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments must be paid
within 60 days following each date on which you prepare (or are
legally required to prepare) your periodic tax returns. Royalty
payments should be clearly marked as such and sent to the Project
Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the address specified in
Section 4, "Information about donations to the Project Gutenberg
Literary Archive Foundation."
* You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies
you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he
does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm
License. You must require such a user to return or destroy all
copies of the works possessed in a physical medium and discontinue
all use of and all access to other copies of Project Gutenberg-tm
works.
* You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of
any money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the
electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days of
receipt of the work.
* You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free
distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works.
1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project
Gutenberg-tm electronic work or group of works on different terms than
are set forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing
from both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and The
Project Gutenberg Trademark LLC, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm
trademark. Contact the Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below.
1.F.
1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable
effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread
works not protected by U.S. copyright law in creating the Project
Gutenberg-tm collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm
electronic works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may
contain "Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate
or corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other
intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or
other medium, a computer virus, or computer codes that damage or
cannot be read by your equipment.
1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right
of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project
Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project
Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project
Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all
liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal
fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT
LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE
PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE
TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE
LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR
INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH
DAMAGE.
1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a
defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can
receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a
written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you
received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium
with your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you
with the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in
lieu of a refund. If you received the work electronically, the person
or entity providing it to you may choose to give you a second
opportunity to receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If
the second copy is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing
without further opportunities to fix the problem.
1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth
in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS', WITH NO
OTHER WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT
LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE.
1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied
warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of
damages. If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement
violates the law of the state applicable to this agreement, the
agreement shall be interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or
limitation permitted by the applicable state law. The invalidity or
unenforceability of any provision of this agreement shall not void the
remaining provisions.
1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the
trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone
providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in
accordance with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the
production, promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm
electronic works, harmless from all liability, costs and expenses,
including legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from any of
the following which you do or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this
or any Project Gutenberg-tm work, (b) alteration, modification, or
additions or deletions to any Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any
Defect you cause.
Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm
Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of
electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of
computers including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It
exists because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations
from people in all walks of life.
Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the
assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's
goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will
remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project
Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure
and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future
generations. To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary
Archive Foundation and how your efforts and donations can help, see
Sections 3 and 4 and the Foundation information page at
www.gutenberg.org
Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation
The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit
501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the
state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal
Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification
number is 64-6221541. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg Literary
Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent permitted by
U.S. federal laws and your state's laws.
The Foundation's principal office is in Fairbanks, Alaska, with the
mailing address: PO Box 750175, Fairbanks, AK 99775, but its
volunteers and employees are scattered throughout numerous
locations. Its business office is located at 809 North 1500 West, Salt
Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887. Email contact links and up to
date contact information can be found at the Foundation's web site and
official page at www.gutenberg.org/contact
For additional contact information:
Dr. Gregory B. Newby
Chief Executive and Director
[email protected]
Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg
Literary Archive Foundation
Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide
spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of
increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be
freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest
array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations
($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt
status with the IRS.
The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating
charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United
States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a
considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up
with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations
where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To SEND
DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any particular
state visit www.gutenberg.org/donate
While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we
have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition
against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who
approach us with offers to donate.
International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make
any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from
outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff.
Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation
methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other
ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. To
donate, please visit: www.gutenberg.org/donate
Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works.
Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project
Gutenberg-tm concept of a library of electronic works that could be
freely shared with anyone. For forty years, he produced and
distributed Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of
volunteer support.
Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed
editions, all of which are confirmed as not protected by copyright in
the U.S. unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not
necessarily keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper
edition.
Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search
facility: www.gutenberg.org
This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm,
including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary
Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to
subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks.
