The Restoration of the GospelWidtsoe, Osborne J. P.
Religion
The Restoration of the Gospel
Widtsoe, Osborne J. P.
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
Now, if an impostor possessed the capability of successfully producing
a work so complicated as the Book of Mormon, and of foisting upon the
world a system of philosophy so nearly perfect as "Mormonism," and
further, of effecting a Church organization far more perfect than that
of the German army,--is it credible that he would throw into the face
of the world a test of his labors so simple, and yet so infallible, as
that contained in section sixty-seven of the Doctrine and Covenants?
Consider again the fact that Joseph Smith was an unlettered man, that
he had little skill in literary art. Remember further, that many of
his followers, in his own day, were far more highly gifted in the
way of the world than he. Would he then dare these men of superior
literary ability to write a single revelation equal to the least of
his? Remember also that we of today have better educational advantages
than even the most favorably situated of Joseph's day. Would then
an impostor, so farsighted as Joseph Smith seems to have been, have
left on record a challenge for all succeeding generations to write
a single revelation equal to the least of his? Would not, rather,
an intelligent impostor refrain from calling undue attention to his
purported revelations? Would he not certainly exercise the utmost care
not to prescribe any test whereby those revelations might be detected
as false? And if by chance some foolish test had been allowed to creep
into the would-be sacred word, would not the impostor or his friends
eagerly seize the first opportunity to expunge that test, and even the
whole revelation in which it was contained? Certainly, a man who had
planned his work so well as Joseph Smith--were he an impostor--planned
his, would not be guilty of so gross an oversight as to leave among his
printed revelations so easy a test as that in section sixty-seven.
The conclusion of the whole matter has, of course, been long
self-evident. We are grateful to Joseph Smith for fearlessly giving
the unbelieving world a test that may be applied to his work at any
time. But the fair-minded man will see that an application of the
test is unnecessary. The very fearlessness of Joseph's assertion that
no uninspired man can write a revelation equal to the least of his,
is evidence of his good faith and of his divine assurance. No mere
impostor would dare place so unqualified a challenge before all the
world.
XXIII.
THE TESTIMONY OF MARTYRDOM.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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