The Seventy's Course in Theology, Second Year: Outline History of the Dispensations of the GospelRoberts, B. H. (Brigham Henry)
Religion
The Seventy's Course in Theology, Second Year: Outline History of the Dispensations of the Gospel
Roberts, B. H. (Brigham Henry)
Latter Day Saint churches -- Doctrines
the Christ, that the gospel is the power of God unto Salvation; and by
thus increasing the evidence the foundation for faith was enlarged; and
by establishing faith in the hearts of men the seed of obedience was
planted. For faith is the incentive to action, the cause of obedience,
and the foundation of all righteousness. When the work reached that
stage of development that men could be taught repentance, and receive
baptism for the remission of sins, who so qualified or who with more
propriety could be sent to deliver the keys of the priesthood that is
especially appointed to cry repentance and administer baptism than the
teacher of repentance and the Baptists? Or, when the time came for the
restoration of the apostleship, who could restore it save those who
last held the keys of it on earth--Peter, James and John? Who so fit
to restore the keys of the gathering of Israel and leading the ten
tribes back from the north as Moses, the great prophet of Israel? Who
so fitting to restore the keys of the priesthood which should turn
the hearts of the fathers and children, towards each other as Elijah,
of whom it was prophesied that he would do that work? Thus throughout
there was a fitness in the development of the great work of God in
the last days--an appropriateness to be observed in the personages
employed to restore the keys of authority which opened up the several
departments of the great dispensation. And it is to be observed, too,
that this fitness of things as here pointed out was not the result of
working to a well-matured plan in the mind of Joseph Smith; he was too
young and too inexperienced to preconceive it all and then set himself
at work to unfold it in such beautiful order. It was of course working
to a well-matured plan, but the plan existed in the mind of God; and
it was given to Joseph Smith piece-meal--incident followed incident
without an apparent suspicion in his mind that each incident was a step
in the progress of the mighty march of events matured in the mind of
God--each key of authority, or part of the gospel but a fragment of a
mighty and consistent whole that God was unfolding. The consistency and
appropriateness of the development Joseph Smith never spoke of; it was
left for others to note these things after the work was well advanced
in he course of its development. The Prophet received the messengers
God sent to him, and under their instruction proceeded with the
unfoldment of the purposes of the Lord, and left it to others to admire
the work and note the evidences of God's directing hand in the order of
the events and the appropriateness of the parties entrusted with the
introduction of the various departments of it." (New Witness for God,
p. 219-222.)
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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