The Strength of the "Mormon" PositionWhitney, Orson F. (Orson Ferguson)
Religion
The Strength of the "Mormon" Position
Whitney, Orson F. (Orson Ferguson)
Latter Day Saint churches
"The earth and other planets of a like order have their inward or
spirit spheres, as well as their outward or temporal. The one is
peopled by temporal tabernacles, and the other by spirits. In this
spirit world there are all the varieties and grades of intellectual
beings which exist in the present world. For instance, Jesus Christ
and the thief on the cross both went to the same place, and found
themselves associated in the spirit world."
Jesus, it will be borne in mind, had been crucified between two
thieves, one of whom derided him, insulting his dying agonies. The
other, being penitent, prayed: "Lord, remember me when thou comest
into thy kingdom." To him the Savior said: "To-day thou shalt be
with me in Paradise." Because of this utterance, well meaning though
uninspired minds have jumped to the conclusion that the penitent
thief was promised immediate heavenly exaltation, for repenting at
the last moment and professing faith in the Redeemer. And this notion
is still entertained. The criminal who has forfeited his life and is
under sentence of death because unfit to dwell among his fallen fellow
creatures, is made to believe that by confessing Christ even upon the
scaffold, he is fitted at once for the society of Gods and Angels, and
will be wafted to eternal bliss. Jesus never taught such a doctrine,
nor did any authorized servant of God. It is a man-made theory, based
upon faulty inference and misinterpretation. The Bible plainly teaches
that men will be judged according to their works. (Rev. 20:12-13.)
It was best for the thief, of course, to repent even at the eleventh
hour; but he could not be exalted until prepared for it, if it took a
thousand years. Jesus Christ and the thief both went to the world of
spirits, a place of rest for the righteous, a place of correction for
the wicked. Parley goes on to say:
"But the One was there in all the intelligence, happiness, benevolence
and charity which characterized a teacher, a messenger anointed to
preach glad tidings to the meek, to bind up the broken-hearted, to
comfort those who mourned, to preach deliverance to the captive,
and open the prison to those who were bound; or, in other words, to
preach the Gospel to the spirits in prison, that they might be judged
according to men in the flesh; while the other was there as a thief,
who had expired on the cross for crime, and who was guilty, ignorant,
uncultivated, and unprepared for resurrection, having need of remission
of sins and to be instructed in the science of salvation.
"In the world of spirits there are Apostles, Prophets, Elders, and
members of the Church of the Saints, holding keys of priesthood, and
power to teach, comfort, instruct and proclaim the Gospel to their
fellow spirits, after the pattern of Jesus Christ.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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