Mr. Durant of Salt Lake City, "That Mormon"Rich, Ben. E. (Benjamin Erastus)
Religion
Mr. Durant of Salt Lake City, "That Mormon"
Rich, Ben. E. (Benjamin Erastus)
Latter Day Saints -- Fiction; Salt Lake City (Utah) -- Fiction
Whether a truth be found with professed infidels, or with
Universalists, or the Church of Rome, or the Methodists, the Church of
England, the Presbyterians, the Baptists, the Quakers, the Shakers,
or any other of the various and numerous different sects and parties,
all of whom have more or less truth, it is the business of the Elders
of this Church (Jesus, their elder brother, being at their head,) to
gather up all the truths in the world pertaining to life and salvation,
to the gospel we preach, to mechanism of every kind, to the sciences,
and to philosophy, wherever it may be found in every nation, kindred,
tongue, and people, and bring it to Zion. The people upon this earth
have a great many errors, and they have also a great many truths.
This statement is not only true of the nations termed civilized those
who profess to worship the true God, but is equally applicable to
pagans of all countries, for in their religious rites and ceremonies
may be found a great many truths which we will also gather home to
Zion. All truth is for the salvation of the children of men--for their
benefit and learning for their furtherance in the principles of divine
knowledge.--J. of D., Vol. VII., p. 283.
The Latter-day Saints understand the Bible as it reads, but the
generality of modern Christians disagree with us, and say it needs
interpreting. They cannot believe our Lord means what He says in the
16th chapter of Mark, when He tells His Apostles to "go into all the
world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth
and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be
damned. And these signs shall follow them that believe," etc. "Now,"
say they, "we cannot believe that as it is written, but we have a
very pretty interpretation which suits us much better than the plain
text. And furthermore we have a sweeping argument that will destroy
all your system from beginning to end, and prove there is to be no
more revelation." Let us look at the passage here referred to. John,
while upon the Isle of Patmos, had a revelation which, he wrote, and
he concluded the same by saying, "For I testify unto every man that
heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, if any man shall add
unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written
in this book; and if any man shall take away from the words of the
book of this prophecy, God shall take away His part out of the book of
life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written
in this book." When this book, the Bible, was compiled, it was selected
by the council of Carthage from a pile of books more than this pulpit
could hold, which has been printed, and bound in almost all shapes and
sizes, and called the Bible. John's revelation was one of the many
books destined by that council to form the Bible. And the saying which
we have quoted, and which constitutes the sweeping argument of modern
Christians against new revelation, only alludes to this particular
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.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account