Gospel Themes: A Treatise on Salient Features of "Mormonism"Whitney, Orson F. (Orson Ferguson)
Religion
Gospel Themes: A Treatise on Salient Features of "Mormonism"
Whitney, Orson F. (Orson Ferguson)
Latter Day Saint churches -- Doctrines
Advantage of Having a Body.--Our prophet likewise affirms: "At the
first organization in heaven we were all present, and saw the Savior
chosen and appointed, and the plan of salvation made, and we sanctioned
it. We came to this earth that we might have a body and present it pure
before God in the celestial kingdom. The great principle of happiness
consists in having a body. The devil has no body, and herein is his
punishment. He is pleased when he can obtain the tabernacle of man,
and when cast out by the Savior he asked to go into the herd of swine,
showing that he would prefer a swine's body to having none. All beings
who have bodies have power over those who have not" (Ibid, page 288).
Testimony of Moses.--The following passages from our sacred writings
will here find place:
"And I, the Lord God, spake unto Moses, saying: That Satan, whom thou
hast commanded in the name of mine Only Begotten, is the same which
was from the beginning, and he came before me, saying--Behold, here
am I, send me, I will be thy son, and I will redeem all mankind, that
one soul shall not be lost, and surely I will do it; wherefore give me
thine honor.
"But, behold, my Beloved Son, which was my Beloved and Chosen from the
beginning, said unto me--Father, thy will be done, and the glory be
thine forever.
"Wherefore, because that Satan rebelled against me, and sought to
destroy the agency of man, which I, the Lord God, had given him, and
also, that I should give unto him mine own power: by the power of mine
Only Begotten I caused that he should be cast down;
"And he became Satan, yea, even the devil, the father of all lies, to
deceive and to blind men, and to lead them captive at his will, even as
many as would not hearken unto my voice." (Moses 4:1-4.)
Testimony of Abraham.--Still more comprehensive are the appended
paragraphs of a similar glorious revelation:
"Now the Lord had shown unto me, Abraham, the intelligences that were
organized before the world was; and among all these there were many of
the noble and great ones;
"And God saw these souls that they were good, and he stood in the midst
of them, and he said: These I will make my rulers; for he stood among
those that were spirits, and he saw that they were good; and he said
unto me: Abraham, thou art one of them; thou wast chosen before thou
wast born.
"And there stood one among them that was like unto God, and he 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 forever and ever.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account