A String of Pearls: Second Book of the Faith-Promoting Series. Designed for the Instruction and Encouragement of Young Latter-day Saints — John Shaqi
A String of Pearls: Second Book of the Faith-Promoting Series. Designed for the Instruction and Encouragement of Young Latter-day SaintsVarious
Religion
A String of Pearls: Second Book of the Faith-Promoting Series. Designed for the Instruction and Encouragement of Young Latter-day Saints
Various
Latter Day Saint churches; Sunday school literature
Shortly after our arrival, the meeting was opened in the usual way,
by the minister, the Rev. Mr. Mourning, the leading preacher of that
denomination. He arose and read his text from the Song of Solomon,
8th chapter and 8th verse: "We have a little sister, and she hath no
breasts," etc., after which, the preacher launched out in a discourse
made up from abuse and slander of other denominations.
First he commenced a tirade against the Methodists, by saying:
"There is the Methodist church; I do not read in the Bible of the
Methodist church; therefore, that church cannot be the true church.
Neither do I read of the Presbyterian church; it is, therefore, not
God's church. Nor do I read anything in the good book about the
Lutheran church; nor does the scriptures say anything about the
Campbellite church, nor the Catholic church, nor the Quaker church."
Thus he went on, mentioning all the leading sects of the present day,
saying none of these could possibly be the true church, because the
Bible was silent as to their names.
He seemed to take some pains to save the "Mormons" till the last, so
as to be thoroughly warmed up, that he might be the better able to do
justice to their case.
After awhile, getting all the steam on--mustering all his force,
he opened his battery upon the "Mormon" Church, saying the "Mormon"
Church was not mentioned anywhere in the scriptures, nor the "Mormon"
religion; neither the "Mormon Bible," nor "Joe" Smith, nor Brigham
Young, not even the word "Mormon" was mentioned there.
He finished up his abuse of the "Mormons" by saying they were the most
dangerous, and altogether the worst of the whole bad lot.
"But," said he, referring to the Baptist church, "ours is the Primitive
Baptist church--a Bible name. Ours is a Bible church, a Bible
religion," etc.
"Sometimes," he added, "we are called 'Iron Jackets,' sometimes, 'Hard
Shells,' but these are nicknames. Our true Bible name is 'Primitive
Baptists.'"
By this time he had been talking an hour, and had not once referred
to the text. But having apparently satisfied himself and a few of his
hearers in abusing other denominations in general, and the "Mormons" in
particular, he suddenly assumed the old "Hard Shell" wail, or preaching
tune, and drawled out:
"But my dear friends and breethring-ah, we have a little sister-ah,
and she hath no breasts-ah. I am very much afraid, my dear friends and
breethring-ah, that in that great day when we shall be spoken for-ah,
that some of us will be brought into that awful presence-ah, and there
find we have no breasts-ah. And oh, my dear friends and breethring-ah,
will not this be an awful condition to be found in-ah?"
Honestly, this is no exaggeration! Thus he held forth for an hour
longer, expressing no two sentences without the phrase, "my dear
friends and breethring-ah," being sandwiched in between.
I am very sorry I cannot give my readers the music, for it would be a
rich treat.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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