Part 11
But the individual seldom, if ever, lives alone. While it is true that the individual must be right if the community is to be right, yet the individual is after all not the center of influence in community life. That center is to be found rather in the home. There, two are bound together by sacred ties of love and worship; and others, by endearing bands of kinship. In the home, the spiritual conditions of the father and the mother--the directing individuals of a community in miniature--determine in large measure the lives of the children. As these children are trained in the home--nay, as the father and mother hold sacred the marriage relation--so will the family wield an influence for good or evil in the whole community life. This truth was recognized by the prophets of old. And when the Gospel came to be restored, we should expect to find revealed wonderful, sublime truths concerning the sanctity of the family relationship.
It is not to be wondered at if Joseph Smith began early to consider the question of family life and marriage. In the years 1830 and 1831, very soon after the Church was organized, he began the inspired "translation" of the Scriptures. He met there the histories of the ancient patriarchs and prophets. He observed in these histories--as in that of Jacob and his twelve sons, for example--how the family life was held sacred, and the family relationship in honor. Naturally, in this case as in so many others in the story of the Restoration, questions were aroused in the mind of the Prophet. What is the nature of the marriage relationship in the sight of God? What will be the condition of men and women in the future life? Of what importance is the family relationship either here or hereafter?
There is abundant evidence that the Prophet Joseph Smith received probably as early as 1831 revelations on these important questions. Because, however, the people were not yet prepared to receive the great truths that had been revealed to him, the revelations were withheld for many years. In a revelation of the year 1831, the Prophet said only, concerning marriage, "that whoso forbiddeth to marry is not ordained of God, for marriage is ordained of God unto man; wherefore it is lawful that he should have one wife, and they twain shall be one flesh, and all this that the earth might answer the end of its creation."[B]
[Footnote B: Doc. and Cov. 49:15-17.]
It was not until July 12, 1843,[C] that the glorious truths concerning the sanctity and eternity of the marriage covenant--long before revealed to the Prophet Joseph Smith--were committed to writing and read by his friends. Even then, not all that had been given to him was revealed to his followers. But in the publication of as much as he gave, another step in the great drama of the Restoration was enacted. Owing to the persecutions to which the early Saints were subjected, the revelation was not officially published until 1852, five years after the wearisome tramp across the plains to the Rocky Mountains.
[Footnote C: At the conference held August 17, 1835, in which the Book of Doctrine and Covenants was adopted, an article on marriage was read by William W. Phelps. This article was accepted by the vote of the conference and was printed in the Book of Doctrine and Covenants. The article was not a revelation, however, nor indeed was it so received by the general assembly of the Priesthood. The Prophet Joseph Smith knew nothing of the article. He was absent, in Canada, when it was accepted by the conference.]
And what is this famous Section 132 of the Book of Modern Scripture? On analysis the revelation falls into twelve distinct parts, as follows:
(a.) The introduction. The revelation is given in response to inquiry. The Lord is about to reveal a new and everlasting covenant. Verses 1 to 6.
(b.) The New and Everlasting Covenant is defined. Marriage is not only for time but for all eternity. Verses 7 to 14.
(c.) An illustration. The condition of those married by civil authority only, is explained. Verses 15 to 18.
(d.) An illustration. The condition of those married by the authority of the Holy Priesthood, is explained. Verses 19 to 20.
(e.) A warning. Those who do not observe this law of the Priesthood cannot attain a fulness of God's glory. The unpardonable sin is defined. Verses 21 to 27.
(f.) The acts of Abraham and other patriarchs of old are justified. Verses 28 to 39.
(g.) The sin of adultery is defined. Verses 40 to 45.
(h.) The sealing power of the Priesthood is explained. Verses 46 to 50.
(i.) Special instructions are given to Emma Smith, the wife of the Prophet. Verses 51 to 57.
(j.) The law of the Priesthood respecting plurality of wives is stated. Verses 58 to 64.
(k.) The duty of the husband to the wife, and the wife to the husband in this law of the Priesthood is explained. Verses 64 to 65.
(l.) Conclusion. More will be revealed hereafter. Verse 66.
It will be observed that the basic thought in this revelation is that marriage shall be, not only for a time, but for all eternity. This is the principle of the New and Everlasting Covenant. "All covenants, contracts, bonds, obligations, oaths, vows, performances, connections, associations, or expectations, that are not made, and entered into, and sealed, by the Holy Spirit of promise, of him who is anointed, both as well for time and for all eternity--are of no efficacy, virtue or force in and after the resurrection from the dead; for all contracts that are not made unto this end, have an end when men are dead."[D] Applied to the doctrine of marriage, this statement means that when two are united in marriage outside of the authority of the Church, their union can last only till death parts them. They are then not bound by any law when they are out of the world. And in that other world which is to come, they will be appointed angels, or ministering servants, to those who are worthy of a greater glory. The marriage ceremony belongs to this earth and must be accomplished here.
[Footnote D: Doc. and Cov. 132:7.]
If, however, a man marry a wife by the new and everlasting covenant--and is sealed to her and she to him by the authority of the holy priesthood--the covenant and contract between them will be of force worlds without end. Death may part them for a passing time, but it cannot separate them. In the resurrection they will meet again. In the life to come they will resume their happy, sacred relations as husband and wife. They will inherit the thrones and kingdoms, principalities and powers, promised to the faithful. And they will "pass by the angels, and the Gods, who are set there, to their exaltation and glory in all things, as hath been sealed upon their heads, which glory shall be a fulness and a continuation of the seeds for ever and ever."[E]
[Footnote E: Doc. and Cov. 132:19.]
It must be remembered, however, that these promises can be claimed only on the evidence of unimpeachable faithfulness. "The blasphemy against the Holy Ghost," says the Lord in one part of the revelation on marriage, "which shall not be forgiven in the world, nor out of the world, is in that ye commit murder, wherein ye shed innocent blood, and assent unto my death, after ye have received my new and everlasting covenant, saith the Lord God; and he that abideth not this law, can in no wise enter into my glory, but shall be damned, saith the Lord."[F]
[Footnote F: Doc. and Cov. 132:27.]
By the word of the Lord Himself, then, murder is placed as the most awful crime that a man who has entered into this covenant can commit. And coming close after it is the sin of infidelity to the marriage covenant. The new and everlasting covenant prescribes a perfectly moral and faithful relationship in marriage. The Lord defines the sin of adultery, and condemns it. Nor does He allow in the least a double standard of morality. The new and everlasting order of marriage prescribes purity of the home, and sacred fidelity to the marriage covenant. The great promises of future glory can be realized only through a faithful observance of the new and everlasting covenant.
No more sublime principle has ever been given to man than this of the sanctity and eternity of the marriage contract. Through it, the home becomes more than ever the center of community life. The father and the mother, if they continue faithful, are bound together by everlasting ties. And their children, too, become theirs throughout eternity. Death can have no fears for them. The grave has lost its victory. For they know they shall rise again from death and the grave; and then they shall mingle again as father and mother and children, and the relations so happily begun here will be continued forever there. In such a home may be found true happiness. But to gain such happiness, both parties to the marriage contract must have faith in the divine ordinance; it must be performed by the authority of the priesthood of God. If the ordinance be not so performed, neither the man nor the woman can attain the fulness of the glory of God. "In the celestial glory there are three heavens or degrees," we read in the revelation numbered section 131; "and in order to obtain the highest, a man must enter into this order of the Priesthood (meaning the New and Everlasting Covenant of marriage)."[G]
[Footnote G: Doc. and Cov. 131:1, 2.]
It will be observed, further, that the revelation on marriage contemplates a plurality of wives. The practice of plural marriage brought bitter persecution upon the Church, however. The Congress of the United States took action against the practice and demanded that it cease. Accordingly every effort has been put forth, and that strenuously, to suppress plural marriages. The solemnization of plural marriage in the Church has been entirely discontinued. The Lord has said that when we strive to do His will and our enemies prevent us, He will accept our endeavor.
Meanwhile, the basic principle of the sanctity and eternity of the marriage covenant remains unimpugned. It is still fundamental in the social organization of the Church. While the world goes on marrying and divorcing, and committing a thousand violations of the laws of both God and man, the children of the Latter-day Saints are born in purity, reared in holiness, and trained in the fear of God. They are taught that marriage is a sacred relationship; that the ordinance of uniting two in marriage should be performed in a sacred place with the sanction and by the authority of Almighty God; that then the marriage relationship does not end with this life, but continues through the countless ages yet unborn. How can children so reared look with the least degree of favor upon the social evil--divorce? How can they wink at even the mildest forms of immorality and vice so common in the world today? Their watchword is evermore:
"For I the Lord cannot look upon sin with the least degree of allowance."[H]
[Footnote H: Doc. and Cov. 1:31.]
XIX.
THE VISION OF GLORIES.
It is related by the Venerable Bede that, when King Edwin became persuaded by the Christian missionary, Paulinus, to adopt the new faith of the Christ, he called a council of his wise men and asked of every one what he thought of the new doctrine. One of the king's chief men, approving the king's actions, as also his words, said:
"The present life of man, O king, seems to me, in comparison of that time which is unknown to us, like to the swift flight of a sparrow through the room wherein you sit at supper in winter, with your commanders and ministers, and a good fire in the midst, whilst the storms of rain and snow prevail abroad; the sparrow, I say, flying in at one door, and immediately out at another, whilst he is within, is safe from the wintry storm; but after a short space of fair weather, he immediately vanishes out of your sight, into the dark winter from which he had emerged. So this life of man appears for a short space, but of what went before, or what is to follow, we are utterly ignorant. If, therefore, this new doctrine contains something more certain, it seems justly to deserve to be followed."[A]
[Footnote A: Bede's Ecclesiastical History, bk. II, ch. 3.]
Certainly, Christianity had something more satisfying concerning both the herebefore and the hereafter than had the pagan worship of the barbarous tribes of England. Those tribes became Christian, therefore; and as they became Christian, so the whole civilized world has become Christian.
But the question raised by the king's chief man of old is little better answered now than it was then. To a multitude of Christian men, life is still as the flight of a sparrow from the outer storm and darkness, through a lighted hall, and out into the unknowable darkness again. True, Christianity explained originally both what was before and what was to come. But much of what was first taught has been lost. The word of the Lord to Jeremiah, "Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee, and before thou earnest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee; I have appointed thee a prophet unto the nations,"[B]--is a dark saying to the world. So also is the word of Jesus, "In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you."[C]
[Footnote B: Jeremiah 1:5.]
[Footnote C: John 14:2.]
These questions are now again clearly answered in the story of the Restoration. As early as June, 1830, only two months after the Church was organized, the question of the previous state of man was clearly answered by the Prophet Joseph Smith. It was then that he received the revelation known as the "Visions of Moses." The Prophet was told that God created all things spiritually before they were formed naturally upon the earth; that the spirits of all men were present with God from the beginning, and convened in council with Him to consider the creation of the earth; and that the children of God shouted for joy when the earth was formed, and given shape, and appointed to become the home of man.[D] In like manner, the Book of Abraham, translated by the power of God, teaches the same divine truths. There, too, God is represented as standing in the midst of the spirits of heaven. Some of them are great and noble. These, the Father selects to become prophets, kings, and leaders to him, in the earth-life.[E] Thus, are the dark sayings of the Jewish scriptures, referring to a pre-existent state made plain.
[Footnote D: Pearl of Great Price, Book of Moses, chs. 1-5.]
[Footnote E: Pearl of Great Price, Book of Abraham, chs. 3, 4, 5.]
The earth-life, then, is no longer like the flight of a sparrow from an unknown outer darkness into a lighted hall. We know whence we came. Our advent here is but the process of graduation, or promotion, from a lower life to a higher. There, we had progressed in the experience of the spirit. To advance further, we must pass from the spiritual state to the temporal state, and gain experiences unattainable there. The present life is in continuation of the life before. And there is yet to come in continuation a life hereafter.
As the Prophet Joseph Smith revealed the condition of man in the life before this, so he revealed also the condition of man when this life shall be ended. Early in the year 1832, the Prophet had attended a conference of the Church held at Amherst. On his return home from that conference, he resumed the translation of the Scriptures, which had occupied him for nearly two years. Undoubtedly, many questions arose in his mind as the work progressed. Among others came to him also the question of man's future state.
"From sundry revelations which had been received," he writes, "it was apparent that many important points touching the salvation of man, had been taken from the Bible, or lost before it was compiled. It appeared self-evident from what truths were left that if God rewarded every one according to the deeds done in the body the term 'Heaven' as intended for the Saints' eternal home, must include more kingdoms than one."[F]
[Footnote F: "History of the Church," Vol. I, p. 245.]
On February 16, 1832, the word of the Lord came with power. Joseph was accompanied this time by Sidney Rigdon. Suddenly the visions of heaven opened before them, and they were permitted to see both the damnation and the exaltation of men hereafter. They were commanded to write the vision as they saw it. It forms now Section 76 of the Doctrine and Covenants. As a revelation, it is one of the noblest sections in the sacred Book of Today. Analyzed, the section falls naturally into eleven parts.
1. The introduction. The Lord will reveal His mysteries to the faithful. Verses 1 to 10.
2. Explanation. The circumstances under which the vision was given are stated. Verses 11 to 18.
3. The beginning of the vision. Joseph and Sidney behold the glory of the Son on the right hand of God. Verses 19 to 24.
4. Lucifer, a Son of the Morning, is cast out of heaven. The Elders are commanded to write the vision. Verses 25 to 30.
5. The vision of the sons of perdition. They are they who crucify Christ unto themselves. The special mission of the Christ is explained. Verses 31 to 49.
6. The resurrection of the just. The condition of those who come forth in this resurrection is explained. The celestial glory. Verses 50 to 70.
7. Terrestrial world. The condition of those who attain the second glory is described. Verses 71 to 80.
8. The glory of the telestial. The condition of those who attain the telestial is described. Verses 81 to 89.
9. A summary. The degrees of glory are compared. Verses 90 to 98.
10. The glory of the telestial. The condition of those who attain the third glory is further described. Verses 99 to 113.
11. Conclusion. Many things revealed which cannot be written. Verses 114 to 119.
It appears from the doctrine of this revelation that all God's children will ultimately be saved, except the sons of perdition. Fortunately it is not easy to become a son of perdition. To become a son of perdition, one must deny the fulness of the light of the everlasting Gospel after having experienced it; one must defy the power of God after having known it and partaken of it; one must deny the Holy Spirit after having received it; one must consent to the crucifixion of the only Begotten Son of the Father, and to the putting of Him to open shame. On such a one only shall the second death have power. "For all the rest shall be brought forth by the resurrection of the dead, through the triumph and the glory of the Lamb, who was slain, who was in the bosom of the Father, before the worlds were made."[G]
[Footnote G: Doc. and Cov. 76:39.]
However, "all the rest" shall not come forth to equal glory. As there are three degrees of brilliancy in the heavens, represented figuratively by the sun, the moon, and the stars, so there are three degrees of glory in the future life; and as the stars in heaven differ in magnitude, so do the degrees of exaltation within the glories differ the one from the other. "In my Father's house," said Jesus, "are many mansions." Each of the children of God will be assigned in the future life to the mansion for which he has qualified. In other words, men will be judged by the deeds done while in the body, and will be rewarded according to their works.
Thus, those only will attain the celestial glory who have been faithful in all things. They have kept the commandments of God, and have been sealed by the Holy Spirit of promise. They are the Church of the First Born; they are priests and kings who receive of the fulness of His glory. "They are Gods, even the sons of God" and "shall dwell in the presence of God and His Christ for ever and ever."
The terrestrial world, however, consists of those who have not been valiant in the testimony of Jesus, as have those of the celestial. They are those who died without law, "who received not the testimony of Jesus in the flesh, but afterwards received it." They are honorable men of the earth, who could not see the light for the craftiness of men. They are men who were not valiant in the testimony of Jesus; therefore, they could not obtain the crown over the kingdom of God. These receive the presence of the Son, but do not receive the fulness of the Father.
Finally, even those who have violated the commandments of God will be saved in the telestial glory, so only they have not committed the unpardonable sin. These are men who did not receive the everlasting Gospel when the opportunity was at hand, but who did not deny the Holy Spirit. They are sinners and breakers of the law, and are cast in punishment to the depths of hell. Thence they can be redeemed only at the last resurrection. But in the end they will be saved, and exalted according to their merits, in the telestial kingdom. There they do not receive the administration of the Father or the Son, "but of the Holy Spirit through the ministration of the terrestrial." Theirs is the lowest order of salvation.
Every man, then, will receive the reward for which he qualifies. Either we shall be lost, with the sons of perdition, or we shall be saved in one of the kingdoms of glory. And if we are saved we may continue further to grow. As in this life we must go either forward or backward, so in the future life, we must either advance or retrograde. There is no such thing as standing still. There is no level plain, the summit of all things, above which ascend no heights. There is no end to advancement. Eternal progression is the principle upon which the gospel is based. Eternal progression was an active principle when the words began; it is active still; it will continue to be active worlds without end. When we shall be graduated, then, from this life into the future one, we shall not pass merely from a field of endeavor and profitable activity into one of lethargic idleness. There will be work for us still to do. We shall find our time happily occupied. The principle of eternal progression will require of us all eternal, ceaseless activity.
These principles, together with those in the previous chapters, are among the most noble ever given to man. The announcement of them places Joseph Smith far and away above the heads of the philosophers of the world. It is a crowning act in the great drama of the Restoration.
XX.
IN THE MOUTHS OF WITNESSES.
It is wonderful how the Lord of heaven has safe-guarded every act in the story of the Restoration, that there may be no question as to its actuality. That Joseph Smith was a great prophet there can be no question. He will remain forever the divinely appointed leader of the dispensation of the fulness of times. His work is sufficient to establish his claim as a prophet. The far-reaching results that have followed his ministry are sufficient evidence of his divine inspiration. Founded in the midst of the age of science and progress, the system he introduced is "a marvelous work and a wonder." There are, however, enemies innumerable to the restoration who do not hesitate to cast doubt upon it. "How shall we know," ask the opponents of the Prophet, "that he really saw a vision, or that he received authority from heaven? Is it not possible that he was himself deceived about those things? Or is it not possible even that he lied deliberately about them? The word of the Prophet alone may be sufficient for you who have been converted to believe in him; but to us who do not believe in him, what evidence can be given to us that we may know that he was neither deceived nor deceiving?" The question is fair, and to it can be made a fair answer:--Not a single important step in the progress of the restoration was taken without corroborative testimony or the presence of witnesses.