Scrap Book of Mormon Literature (Vol. 1 of 2): Religious Tracts
Religion
Scrap Book of Mormon Literature (Vol. 1 of 2): Religious Tracts
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints -- Doctrines; Latter Day Saint churches -- Doctrines; Latter Day Saints
Thus the work accomplished through the Prophet Joseph effects two
worlds--the spiritual world as well as the one in which we dwell; and
already the work in the former exceeds that which has been done in the
latter. Salvation has been carried to those who sit in darkness in the
spirit world; their hearts have been made glad and have been turned
to their children, who can administer in the ordinance of salvation
for them. A perfect flood of light has been thrown upon the sentence
uttered by one of the prophets of old, who in speaking of the fathers,
said: "They without us cannot be made perfect."
Nor must we omit to mention the new light which the Prophet shed upon
the relationship of husband and wife. Under the darkness of an apostate
Christianity, men and women were content to be united together, as
husband and wife, until death did them part; but the Prophet Joseph
brought forth the principle that the union of man and wife was designed
in the economy of God to be eternal; that it was the means through
which the race of the Gods was {145} multiplied and new kingdoms added
to the dominions of the great Eloheim; and that as long as there was
room in infinite space, or elements in the exhaustless store-house of
nature, or as long as the bosom of the Gods glowed with affection,
just so long would new worlds be created and peopled with the ever
increasing offspring of the righteous.[A]
[Footnote A: The substance of the latter part of this paragraph is
taken from P. P. Pratt's Key to Theology.]
Nor did he merely teach this principle as a theory; a beautiful thing
to be contemplated at a distance; but qualified with the possession
of that God-given power which binds on earth and in heaven, and so
directed of the Lord, he established this order of marriage in the
Church--an order in which tens of thousands rejoice, as they look
forward with joyful anticipation, to an eternal union, with the
families they have raised up in this life, in the midst of hopes and
fears, poverty and toil, sickness and tears.
Such are the chief things accomplished by this great Prophet. We have
given but an outline of his work. A volume would scarce suffice to
point out its importance, or trace out its relationship to the general
designs of the Lord in respect to the redemption of our earth and its
inhabitants. It cannot be expected that we shall undertake it in this
brief article. Let it be sufficient here to say that even our imperfect
enumeration of what he did will prove what was claimed in the outset,
viz.: That Joseph Smith, despised as he was by the world, has done more
than any other man, save Jesus Christ, for the salvation of our race.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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