A New Witness for God (Volume 1 of 3)Roberts, B. H. (Brigham Henry)
Religion
A New Witness for God (Volume 1 of 3)
Roberts, B. H. (Brigham Henry)
Latter Day Saint churches
What a change had come to the lad in one brief hour! He was no longer
struggling with doubts or troubled with perplexities as to which of
the sects was right. He had gone to that place of prayer plagued with
uncertainty, now no one among the children of men so well assured as
he of the course to pursue. He had proved the correctness of James'
doctrine--men may ask God for wisdom, receive liberally and not
be upbraided. He knew that the religious creeds of the world were
untrue; that they taught for doctrine the commandments of men; that
religionists observed a form of godliness, but in their hearts denied
the power of God; that they drew near to the Lord with their lips,
but their hearts were far from him. He knew that God, the Father,
lived, for he had both seen him and heard his voice; he knew that
Jesus lived and was the Son of God, for he had been introduced to him
by the Father, conversed with him in heavenly vision and had received
instruction and a promise that the fullness of the gospel should yet be
made known to him. Up to that time his life had been uneventful, and
of a character to make him of no particular consequence in the world;
now he stood as God's WITNESS among the children of men. Henceforth he
must bear witness to the great truths he had learned. His testimony
will arouse the wrath of men, and with unrelenting fury they will
pursue him. Slander, outright falsehood and misrepresentation will play
havoc with his reputation. Everywhere his name will be held up as evil.
Derision will laugh at his testimony, Ridicule mock it. On every hand
he will be met with the cry of "False prophet! false prophet!" Chains
and the dungeon's gloom await him; mobs with murderous hate will assail
him again and again; and at the last, while under the protection of the
law, and the honor of a great commonwealth pledged for his safety, he
will be murdered in cold blood for the word of God and the testimony of
Jesus!
How little that fair-haired boy, standing there in the unpruned forest,
with the sunlight stealing through the trees about him, realized
the burden placed upon his shoulders that morning by reason of the
visitation he received in answer to his prayer!
Here is not the place for argument, that is to come later; but let
us consider the wide-sweeping effect of this boy's vision upon the
accepted theology of Christendom.
First, it was a flat contradiction to the assumption that revelation
had ceased, that God had no further communication to make to man.
Second, it reveals the errors into which men had fallen concerning the
personages of the Godhead. It makes it manifest that God is not an
incorporeal being without body, or parts; on the contrary he appeared
to the Prophet in the form of a man, as he did to the ancient prophets.
Thus after centuries of controversy the simple truth of the scriptures
which teach that man was created in the likeness of God--hence God must
be the same in form as man--was re-affirmed.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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