[114] See Note 6.
[115] Exo. xx, 3.
=30.= It has been stated that man possesses an instinct for worship, that he craves and will find some object of adoration. When man fell into the darkness of continued transgression, and forgot the Author of his being, and the G.o.d of his fathers, he sought for other deities.
Some among men came to regard the sun as the type of the supreme, and before that luminary they prostrated themselves in supplication.
Others selected for adoration earthly phenomena; they marvelled over the mystery of fire, and, recognizing the beneficent effects of that phenomenon, they worshiped the flame. Some saw, or thought they saw, in water the emblem of the pure and the good, and they rendered their devotions by running streams. Others, awed into reverence by the grandeur of towering mountains, repaired to these natural temples, and worshiped the altar instead of Him in whose honor and by whose power it had been raised. Another cla.s.s, more strongly imbued with a reverence for the emblematic, sought to create for themselves artificial objects of adoration. They made images and worshiped them; they hewed uncouth figures from tree trunks, and chiseled strange forms in stone, and to these they bowed.[116]
"Nations, ignorant of G.o.d, Contrive a wooden one."
=31.= Idolatrous practices in some of their phases came to be a.s.sociated with rites of horrible cruelties, as in the custom of sacrificing children to Moloch, and, among the Hindoos, to the Ganges; as also in the wholesale slaughtering of human beings, under Druidical tyranny. The G.o.ds that human-kind have set up for themselves are heartless, pitiless, cruel.[117]
[116] See Note 7.
[117] See Note 8.
=32.= Atheism, as before stated, is the denial of the existence of G.o.d; in a milder form it may consist in the mere ignoring of Deity.
But the professed atheist, in common with his believing fellow-mortals, is subject to man"s universal pa.s.sion for worship; though he refuse to acknowledge the true and the living G.o.d, he consciously or unconsciously deifies some law, some principle, some pa.s.sion of the human soul, or perchance some material creation; and to this he turns, to seek, in contemplation of the unworthy object, a semblance of the comfort which the believer finds in rich abundance before the throne of his Father and G.o.d. I doubt the existence of a thorough atheist,--one who with the sincerity of a settled conviction denies in his heart the existence of an intelligent Supreme Power. The idea of G.o.d is an essential characteristic of the human soul. The philosopher recognizes the necessity of such an element in his theories of being. He may shrink from the open acknowledgment of a personal Deity, yet he a.s.sumes the existence of a "governing power,"
of a "great unknown," of the "unknowable," the "illimitable," the "unconscious." Oh, man of learning though not of wisdom! why reject the privileges extended to you by the omnipotent, omniscient Being to whom you owe your life, yet whose name you will not acknowledge? No mortal can approach Him while contemplating His perfections and might with aught but awe and speechless reverence; regarding Him only as Creator and G.o.d, we are abashed in thought of Him; but He has given us the right to approach Him as His children, to call upon Him by the endearing name of Father! And even the atheist feels, in the more solemn moments of his life, a yearning of the soul toward a spiritual Parent, as naturally as his human affections turn toward the father who gave him mortal life. The atheism of to-day is but a species of idolatry after all.
=33. Sectarian View of the G.o.dhead.=--The consistent, simple, and authentic doctrine respecting the character and attributes of G.o.d, such as was taught by Christ and the apostles, gave way as revelation ceased, and as the darkness incident to the absence of authority fell upon the world, after the apostles and their priesthood had been driven from the earth; and in its place there appeared numerous theories and dogmas of men, many of which are utterly incomprehensible in their mysticism and inconsistency. In the year 325 A.D., the Council of Nice was convened by the emperor Constantine, who sought through this body to secure a declaration of Christian belief which would be received as authoritative, and be the means of arresting the increasing dissension incident to the general disagreement regarding the nature of the G.o.dhead, and other theological subjects. The Council condemned some of the theories then current; among them that of Arius, which a.s.serted a separate individuality for each member of the Trinity; and promulgated a new code of belief known as the Nicene Creed. A statement of this doctrine, supposedly as announced by Athanasius, is as follows:--"We worship one G.o.d in trinity, and trinity in unity; neither confounding the persons, nor dividing the substance. For there is one person of the Father, another of the Son, and another of the Holy Ghost. But the G.o.dhead of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, is all one; the glory equal, the majesty co-eternal. Such as the Father is, such is the Son, and such is the Holy Ghost. The Father uncreate, the Son uncreate, and the Holy Ghost uncreate. The Father incomprehensible, the Son incomprehensible, and the Holy Ghost incomprehensible. The Father eternal, the Son eternal, and the Holy Ghost eternal. And yet there are not three eternals, but one eternal.
As also there are not three incomprehensibles, nor three uncreated; but one uncreated, and one incomprehensible. So likewise the Father is almighty, the Son almighty, and the Holy Ghost almighty, and yet there are not three Almighties, but one Almighty. So the Father is G.o.d, the Son is G.o.d, and the Holy Ghost is G.o.d, and yet there are not three G.o.ds, but one G.o.d." It would be difficult to conceive of a greater number of inconsistencies and contradictions, expressed in words as few.
=34.= The Church of England teaches the present orthodox view of G.o.d as follows:--"There is but one living and true G.o.d, everlasting, without body, parts, or pa.s.sions; of infinite power, wisdom, and goodness." The immateriality of G.o.d as a.s.serted in these declarations of sectarian faith is entirely at variance with the scriptures, and absolutely contradicted by the revelations of G.o.d"s person and attributes, as shown by the citations already made.
=35.= We affirm that to deny the materiality of G.o.d"s person is to deny G.o.d; for a thing without parts has no whole, and an immaterial body cannot exist.[118] The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints proclaims against the incomprehensible G.o.d, devoid of "body, parts, and pa.s.sions," as a thing impossible of existence, and a.s.serts its belief in and allegiance to the true and living G.o.d of scripture and revelation.
[118] See Note 9.
NOTES.
=1. Natural to Believe in a G.o.d.=--"The great and primary truth "that there is a G.o.d" has obtained among men almost universally and in all ages; so that the holy scriptures, which speak of G.o.d in every page, and which advert to the sentiments of mankind for the period of about four thousand years, always a.s.sume this truth as admitted. In the early ages of the world, indeed, there is no positive evidence that speculative theism had any advocates; and if, at a subsequent period, the "fool said in his heart, There is no G.o.d," the sentiment appears more prominent in his affections than in his judgment; and, withal, had so feeble an influence over the minds of men, that the sacred writers never deemed it necessary to combat the error, either by formal arguments, or by an appeal to miraculous operations. Polytheism, not atheism, was the prevailing sin; and therefore the aim of inspired men was not so much to prove the existence of one G.o.d, as the non-existence of others,--to maintain His authority, to enforce His laws, to the exclusion of all rival pretenders."...
"So clear, full, and overpowering is the evidence of G.o.d"s existence, that it has commanded general belief in all ages and countries,--the only exceptions being a few savage tribes of a most degraded type, among whom the idea of G.o.d has faded and disappeared with every vestige of civilization; and a few eccentric would-be philosophers who affect to doubt everything which others believe, and question the truth of their own intuitions, so that the general a.s.sent to the being of a G.o.d might be added as a testimony of no small weight in this argument."--_Ca.s.sell"s Bible Dictionary; article "G.o.d."_
=2. Importance of Belief in G.o.d.=--"The existence of a Supreme Being is, without doubt, the sublimest conception that can enter the human mind, and, even as a scientific question, can have no equal, for it a.s.sumes to furnish the cause of causes, the great ultimate fact in philosophy, the last and sublimest generalization of scientific truth. Yet this is the lowest demand it presents for our study; for it lies at the very foundation of morality, virtue, and religion; it supports the social fabric, and gives cohesion to all its parts; it involves the momentous question of man"s immortality and responsibility to supreme authority, and is inseparably connected with his brightest hopes and highest enjoyments. It is, indeed, not only a fundamental truth, but the grand central truth of all other truths. All other truths in science, ethics, and religion radiate from this. It is the source from which they all flow, the center to which they all converge, and the one sublime proposition to which they all bear witness. It has, therefore, no parallel in its solemn grandeur and momentous issues."--_The same._
=3. Belief in G.o.d, Natural and Necessary.=--Dr. Joseph Le Conte, Professor of Geology and Natural History in the University of California, and a scientist of world-wide renown, has spoken as follows:--"_Theism_, or a belief in G.o.d or in G.o.ds, or in a supernatural agency of some kind, controlling the phenomena around us, is the fundamental basis and condition of all religion, and is therefore universal, necessary, and intuitive. I will not, therefore, attempt to bring forward any proof of that which lies back of all proof, and is already more certain than anything can be made by any process of reasoning. The ground of this belief lies in the very nature of man; it is the very foundation and groundwork of reason. It is this and this only which gives significance to Nature; without it, neither religion nor science, nor indeed human life, would be possible. For, observe what is the characteristic of man in his relation to external Nature. To the brute, the phenomena of Nature are nothing but sensuous phenomena; but man, just in proportion as he uses his human faculties, instinctively ascends from the phenomena to their cause. This is inevitable by a law of our nature, but the process of ascent is different for the cultured and uncultured races. The uncultured man, when a phenomenon occurs, the cause of which is not immediately perceived, pa.s.ses by one step from the sensuous phenomenon to the first cause; while the cultured, and especially the scientific man, pa.s.ses from the sensuous phenomena through a chain of secondary causes to the first cause. The region of second causes, and this only, is the domain of science. Science may, in fact, be defined, as the _study of the modes of operation of the first cause_. It is evident, therefore, that the recognition of second causes cannot preclude the idea of the existence of G.o.d.... Thus, Theism is necessary, intuitive, and therefore universal. We cannot get rid of it if we would. Push it out, as many do, at the front door, and it comes in again, perhaps unrecognized, at the back door.
Turn it out in its _n.o.bler forms_ as revealed in Scripture, and it comes in again in its _ign.o.ble forms_, it may be as magnetism, electricity, or gravity, or some other supposed efficient agent controlling Nature. In some form, n.o.ble or ign.o.ble, it will become a guest in the human heart. I therefore repeat, _Theism neither requires nor admits of proof_. But in these latter times, there is a strong tendency for Theism to take the form of _Pantheism_, and thereby religious belief is robbed of all its power over the human heart. It becomes necessary, therefore, for me to attempt to show, not the existence indeed, but the _personality of Deity_.... Among a certain cla.s.s of cultivated minds, and especially among scientific men, there is a growing sentiment, sometimes openly expressed, sometimes only vaguely felt, that what we call G.o.d is only a universal, all-pervading principle animating Nature,--a general principle of evolution--an unconscious, impersonal life-force under which the whole cosmos slowly develops. Now, this form of Theism may possibly satisfy the demands of a purely speculative philosophy, but cannot satisfy the cravings of the human heart.... The argument for the personality of Deity is derived from the evidences of intelligent contrivance and design in Nature, or in the adjustment of parts for a definite, and an intelligent purpose. It is usually called "_the argument from design_." The force of this argument is felt at once intuitively by all minds, and its effect is irresistible and overwhelming to every plain, honest mind, unplagued by metaphysical subtleties."--Prof. Joseph Le Conte: in _Religion and Science_, pp. 12-14.
=4. G.o.d in Nature.=--Sir Isaac Newton, one of the most critical of scientific workers, in writing to his friend Dr. Bentley in 1692, said in reference to the natural universe: "To make such a system, with all its motions, required a Cause which understood and compared together the quant.i.ties of matter in the several bodies of the sun and planets, and the gravitating powers resulting from them, the several distances of the primary planets from the sun, and of the secondary ones from Saturn, Jupiter, and the earth; and the velocities with which these planets could revolve about those quant.i.ties of matter in the central bodies; and to compare and adjust all these things together in so great a variety of bodies argues the Cause to be not blind and fortuitous, but very well skilled in mechanics and geometry."
=5. Natural Indications of G.o.d"s Existence.=--"It may not be, it is not likely, that G.o.d can be found with microscope and scalpel, with test-tube or flask, with goniometer or telescope; but with such tools, the student earnestly working, cannot fail to recognize a power beyond his vision, yet a power of which the pulses and the motions are unmistakable. The extent of our solar system once seemed to man more limited than it does at present; and the discovery of the most distant of the planetary family was due to a recognition of an attractive force inexplicable except on the supposition of the existence of another planet. The astronomer, tracing known bodies along their orbital paths, could feel the pull, could see the wire that drew them from a narrower course; he saw not Neptune as he piled calculations sheet on sheet; but the existence of that orb was clearly indicated, and by heeding such indications he sought for it, and it was found.
Theory alone could never have revealed it, though theory was incomplete, unsatisfactory without it; but the practical search, instigated by theory, led to the great demonstration. And what is all science but theory compared to the practical influence of prayerful reliance on the a.s.sistance of an omnipotent, omniscient power? Disregard not the indications of your science work,--the trembling of the needle that reveals the magnetic influence; the instinct within that speaks of a life and a Life-Giver, far beyond human power of explanation or comprehension. As you sit beneath the canopied vault, pondering in the silence of night over the perturbations, the yearnings which the soul cannot ignore, turn in the direction indicated by those impulses, and with the penetrating, s.p.a.ce-annihilating, time-annulling gla.s.s of prayer and faith, seek the source of that pervading force."--The Author in _Baccalaureate Sermon_, Utah University Quarterly, Sept., 1895.
=6. Theism; Atheism, etc.=--According to current usage, _Theism_ signifies a belief in G.o.d,--the acceptance of one living and eternal Being who has revealed Himself to man. _Deism_ implies a professed belief in G.o.d, but denies to Deity the power to reveal Himself, and a.s.serts a disbelief in Christianity; the term is used in different senses, prominent among which are:--(1) belief in G.o.d as an intelligent and eternal Being, with a denial of all providential care: (2) belief in G.o.d, with denial of a future state of the soul: (3) as advocated by Kant, denial of a personal G.o.d, while a.s.serting belief in an infinite force, inseparably a.s.sociated with matter, and operating as the first great cause.
_Pantheism_ regards matter and mind as one, embracing everything finite and infinite, and calls this universal existence G.o.d. In its philosophical aspect, pantheism "has three generic forms with variations: (1) _one-substance pantheism_ which ascribes to the universal being the attributes of both mind and matter, thought and extension, as in Spinoza"s system: (2) _materialistic pantheism_ which ascribes to it only the attributes of matter, as in the system of Strauss: (3) _idealistic pantheism_ which ascribes to it only the existence of mind as in Hegel"s system."
In its doctrinal aspect, pantheism comprises "the worship of nature and humanity founded on the doctrine that the entire phenomenal universe, including man and nature, is the ever-changing manifestation of G.o.d." _Polytheism_ is the doctrine of a plurality of G.o.ds, who are usually regarded as personifications of forces or phenomena of nature. _Monotheism_ is the doctrine that there is but one G.o.d. _Atheism_ signifies disbelief in G.o.d, or the denial of G.o.d"s existence; _dogmatic atheism_ denies, while _negative atheism_ ignores, the existence of a G.o.d. _Infidelity_ is sometimes used as synonymous with atheism, though specifically the term signifies a milder form of unbelief, manifesting itself in scepticism on matters religious, a disbelief in the religion of the Bible, and of course a rejection of the doctrines of Christianity. _Agnosticism_ holds that G.o.d is unknown and unknowable; that His existence can neither be proved nor disproved; it neither affirms nor denies the existence of a personal G.o.d; it is the doctrine of "We do not know."--_See Standard Dictionary._
=7. Idolatrous Practices in General.=--The soul of man, once abandoned to depravity, is strongly p.r.o.ne to depart from G.o.d and his inst.i.tutions. "Hence," says Burder, "have arisen the altars and demons of heathen antiquity, their extravagant fictions, and abominable orgies. Hence we find among the Babylonians and Arabians, the adoration of the heavenly bodies, the earliest forms of idolatry; among the Canaanites and Syrians, the worship of Baal, Tammuz, Magog, and Astarte; among the Phoenicians, the immolation of children to Moloch; among the Egyptians, divine honors bestowed on animals, birds, insects, leeks, and onions; among the Persians, religious reverence offered to fire; and among the polished Greeks, the recognition in their system of faith of thirty thousand G.o.ds. Hence, moreover, we find at the present time, among most Pagan tribes, the deadliest superst.i.tions, the most cruel and b.l.o.o.d.y rites, and the most shocking licentiousness and vice, practiced under the name of religion."--_History of all Religions_, p. 12.
=8. Examples of Atrocious Idolatry.=--The worship of Moloch is generally cited as an example of the cruelest and most abhorrent idolatry known to man. Moloch, called also Molech, Malcham, Milcom, Baal-melech, etc., was an Ammonite idol: it is mentioned in scripture in connection with its cruel rites (Lev. xviii, 21; xx, 2-5; see also I Kings xi, 5, 7, 33; II Kings xxiii, 10, 13; Amos v, 26; Zephaniah i, 5; Jeremiah x.x.xii, 35). Keil and Delitzsch describe the idol as being "represented by a brazen statue which was hollow, and capable of being heated, and formed with a bull"s head, and with arms stretched out to receive the children to be sacrificed." While the worship of this idol did not invariably include human sacrifice, it is certain that such hideous rites were characteristic of this abominable shrine. The authors last quoted say: "From the time of Ahaz, children were slain at Jerusalem in the valley of Ben-Hinnom, and then sacrificed by being laid in the heated arms and burned." (II Kings xxiii, 10; xvi, 3; xvii, 17; xxi, 6; Jer. x.x.xii, 35; Ezek. xvi, 20, 21; xx, 31; compare Psalms cvi, 37, 38.) Many authorities state that the sacrifice of children to this hideous monster long ante-dated the time of Ahaz. "The offering of living victims was probably the climax of enormity in connection with this system, and it is said that Tophet, where it was to be witnessed, was so named from the beating of drums to drown the shrieks and groans of those who were burned to death. The same place was called the Valley of Hinnom, and the horrible a.s.sociations connected with it led to both Tophet and Gehenna ("valley of Hinnom") being adopted as names and symbols of future torment." For foregoing facts, and others, _see "The Pentateuch" by Keil and Delitzsch, and Ca.s.sell"s Bible Dictionary_.
Scarcely less horrible were the practices of voluntary suicide under the car of the idol Juggernaut, and the drowning of children in the sacred Ganges as found among the Hindoos.
According to Burder ("History of all Religions"), the ponderous and hideous image Juggernaut, was, on festival days, usually placed on a movable tower resting on wheels; and, thus mounted, was drawn through the streets by enthusiastic worshipers. As the car moved along, some of the most zealous of the devotees threw themselves under the wheels and were crushed to death; and such acts were "hailed with the acclamations of the mult.i.tude as the most acceptable sacrifices." The same author thus describes the rite of child-sacrifice to the sacred river, as formerly practiced in India:--"People in some parts of India, particularly the inhabitants of Orissa, and of the eastern parts of Bengal, frequently offer their children to the G.o.ddess Gunga. The following reason is a.s.signed for this practice: When a woman has been long married, and has no children, it is common for the man, or his wife, or both of them, to make a vow to the G.o.ddess Gunga, that if she will bestow the blessing of children upon them, they will devote the firstborn to her. If, after this vow, they have children, the eldest is nourished till a proper age, which may be three, four, or more years, according to circ.u.mstances when, on a particular day, appointed for bathing in any part of the river, they take the child with them and offer it to the G.o.ddess: the child is encouraged to go farther and farther into the water, till it is carried away by the stream, or is pushed off by its inhuman parents."--_History of all Religions_, pp. 745-746.
The practices of Druidism among the ancient Britons furnish another example of degradation in religion through the absence of authoritative guidance and the light of revelation. The Druids professed a veneration for the oak, and performed most of their distinctive ceremonies in sacred groves. Human sacrifices were offered as a feature of their system. Of their temples, some, e.g. Stonehenge on Salisbury Plain, Wiltshire, and others in Kent, still remain. These circular enclosures, which were open to the sky, were called _doom-rings_: near the center of each was an altar (_dolmen_) on which victims were sacrificed. The horrible ceremonies included on special occasions the burning alive of large numbers of human beings, enclosed in immense cages of wicker-work.
=9. Immaterialists are Atheists.=--"There are two cla.s.ses of atheists in the world. One cla.s.s denies the existence of G.o.d in the most positive language; the other denies his existence in duration or s.p.a.ce. One says "There is no G.o.d;" the other says "G.o.d is not _here_ or _there_, any more than he exists _now_ and _then_." The infidel says "G.o.d does not exist anywhere." The immaterialist says "He exists _nowhere_." The infidel says "There is no such substance as G.o.d." The immaterialist says "There is such a substance as G.o.d, but it is _without parts_." The atheist says "There is no such substance as _spirit_." The immaterialist says "A spirit, though he lives and acts, occupies no room, and fills no s.p.a.ce in the same way and in the same manner as matter, not even so much as does the minutest grain of sand." The atheist does not seek to hide his infidelity; but the immaterialist, whose declared belief amounts to the same thing as the atheist"s, endeavors to hide his infidelity under the shallow covering of a few words.... The immaterialist is a religious atheist; he only differs from the other cla.s.s of atheists by clothing an indivisible unextended _nothing_ with the powers of a G.o.d. One cla.s.s believes in no G.o.d; the other believes that _Nothing_ is G.o.d and worships it as such."--Orson Pratt, in pamphlet _Absurdities of Immaterialism_, p. 11.
=10. Atheism, a Fatal Belief.=--"During the Reign of Terror, the French were declared by the National a.s.sembly to be a nation of atheists; but a brief experience convinced them that a nation of atheists could not long exist. Robespierre then "proclaimed in the convention, that belief in the existence of G.o.d was necessary to those principles of virtue and morality upon which the republic was founded; and on the 7th of May, the national representatives, who had so lately prostrated themselves before the G.o.ddess of Reason, voted by acclamation that the French people acknowledged the existence of the Supreme Being, and the immortality of the soul.""--_Students" France, xxvii, 6_; quoted by Rev. Charles E. Little, in _Historical Lights_, pp. 280-281.
=11. The Trinity.=--""Mormonism" affirms its unqualified belief in the G.o.dhead as the Holy Trinity, comprising Father, Son, and Holy Ghost; each of the three a separate and individual personage; the Father and the Son each a personage of spirit and of immortalized body; the Holy Ghost a personage of spirit. The unity of the G.o.dhead is accepted in the literal fulness of scriptural declaration--that the Three are one in purpose, plan, and method; alike in all their G.o.dly attributes; one in their Divine omniscience and omnipotence; yet as separate and distinct in their personality as are any three inhabitants of earth.
"Mormonism" claims that scripture pa.s.sages declaring the oneness of the Trinity admit of this interpretation; that such indeed is the natural interpretation, and that the conception is in accord with reason."--_The Philosophy of "Mormonism_," by The Author: Improvement Era, vol. iv, p. 463.
=12. The Father and the Son.=--In the treatment of the "Personality of Each Member of the G.o.dhead" (p. 41) and "Divine Attributes" (p. 42) no attempt has been made to segregate the references made to The Father and to The Son. It is to be remembered that the Personage most generally designated in the Old Testament as G.o.d or the LORD, is He who in the mortal state was known as Jesus Christ, and in the antemortal state as Jehovah. See the author"s work, "Jesus the Christ," chap. iv.
That Jesus Christ or Jehovah is designated in certain scriptures as the Father in no wise justifies an a.s.sumption of ident.i.ty between Him and His Father, Elohim. This matter has been explained in a publication dated June 30, 1916, ent.i.tled "The Father and The Son; a Doctrinal Exposition by the First Presidency and the Twelve." This appeared in _Improvement Era_, August, 1916, and in a pamphlet of earlier issue. Excerpts therefrom follow: "The term "Father" as applied to Deity occurs in sacred writ with plainly different meanings. Each of the four significations specified in the following treatment should be carefully segregated.
"1. _"Father" as Literal Parent._... Jesus Christ is the Son of Elohim both as spiritual and bodily offspring; that is to say, Elohim is literally the Father of the spirit of Jesus Christ and also of the body in which Jesus Christ performed His mission in the flesh....
"2. _"Father" as Creator._ A second scriptural meaning of "Father" is that of Creator, e.g. in pa.s.sages referring to any one of the G.o.dhead as "The Father of the heavens and of the earth."... With this meaning, as the context shows in every case, Jehovah, who is Jesus Christ the Son of Elohim, is called "the Father."...
"3. _Jesus Christ the "Father" of those who abide in His Gospel"._ See Doc. and Cov. x.x.xiv, 1-3; x.x.xv, 1, 2; x.x.xix, 1-4; Mosiah xv, 10-13.
"4. _Jesus Christ the "Father" by Divine Invest.i.ture of Authority"._ See John x. 30; xvii, 11, 22; compare xiv. 28; see further v, 43; x, 26; III Nephi xx, 35; xxviii, 10; and Doc. and Cov. 1, 43.
LECTURE III.
TRANSGRESSION AND THE FALL.
=Article 2.=--We believe that men will be punished for their own sins, and not for Adam"s transgression.
TRANSGRESSION AND ITS RESULTS.
=1. Man"s Free Agency.=--The Church holds and teaches as a strictly scriptural doctrine, that man has inherited among the inalienable rights conferred upon him by his divine Father, absolute freedom to choose the good or the evil in life as he may elect. This right cannot be guarded with more jealous care than is bestowed upon it by G.o.d Himself; for in all His dealings with man, He has left the mortal creature free to choose and to act, with no semblance of compulsion or restraint, beyond the influences of paternal counsel and loving direction.[119] True, He has given commandments, and has established statutes, with promises of blessings for compliance and dire penalties for infraction; but in the choice of these, G.o.d"s children are untrammeled. In this respect, man is no less free than are the angels and the G.o.ds, except as he has fettered himself with the bonds of sin, and forfeited his power of will and force of soul. The individual has as full a measure of liberty to violate the laws of health, the requirements of nature, and the commandments of G.o.d in matters both temporal and spiritual, as he has to obey all such; in the one case he brings upon himself the sure penalties that belong to the broken law; as in the other he inherits the specific blessings and the added freedom that attend a law-abiding life. Obedience to law is the habit of the free man; "tis the transgressor who fears the law, for he brings upon himself deprivation and restraint, not because of the law, which would have protected him in his freedom, but because of his antagonism to law.
[119] See Note 1.
=2.= The predominant attribute of justice, recognized as part of the Divine nature, forbids the thought that man should receive promises of reward for righteousness, and threats of punishment for evil deeds, if he possessed no power of independent action. It is no more a part of G.o.d"s plan to compel men to work righteousness, than it is His purpose to permit evil powers to force His children into sin. In the days of Eden, the first man had placed before him commandment and law,[120]
with an explanation of the penalty which would follow a violation of that law. No law could have been given him in righteousness had he not been free to act for himself. "Nevertheless thou mayest choose for thyself, for it is given unto thee, but remember that I forbid it,"[121] said the Lord G.o.d to Adam. Concerning His dealings with the first patriarch of the race, G.o.d has declared in this day, "Behold, I gave unto him that he should be an agent unto himself."[122]
[120] Genesis ii, 17; Pearl of Great Price, Moses ii, 27-29; iii, 15-17.
[121] Pearl of Great Price, Moses iii, 17.