The Story of "Mormonism" eBook

James E. Talmage
This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 88 pages of information about The Story of "Mormonism".

The Story of "Mormonism" eBook

James E. Talmage
This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 88 pages of information about The Story of "Mormonism".

There is the celestial state provided for those who have lived the whole law, who have accepted the testimony of the Christ, who have complied with the required ordinances of the gospel, who have been valiant in the cause of virtue and truth.  Then there is the terrestrial state, comparable to the first as is the moon to the sun.  This shall be given to the less valiant, to many who are nevertheless among the worthy men of the earth, but who perchance have been deceived as to the gospel and its requirements.  The telestial state is for those who have failed to live according to the light given them; those who have had to suffer the results of their sins; those who have been of Moses, of Paul, of Apollos, and of any one of a multitude of others, but not of the Christ.

We hold that there is a wide difference between salvation and exaltation; that there are infinite gradations beyond the grave as there are here, and as there were in the state preceding this.

“Mormonism” is frequently spoken of as a new religion, and the Church as a new church, a mere addition of one to the many sects that have so long striven for recognition and ascendency among men.  It is new only as the springtime following the darkness and the cold of the year’s night is new.  The Church is a new one only as the ripening fruit is a new development in the course of the tree’s growth.  In a general and true sense, “Mormonism” is not new to the world.  It is founded on the gospel of Christ which antedates this earth.  The establishment of the Church in the present age was but a restoration.  True, the Church is progressive as it ever has been; it is therefore productive of more and greater things as the years link themselves into the centuries; but the living seed contains within its husk all the possibilities of the mature plant.

This so-called new, modern gospel is in fact the old one, the first one, come again.  It demands the organization and the authority characteristic of the Church in former days, when there was a Church of God upon the earth; it expects no more consideration, and scarcely hopes for greater popularity, than were accorded the primitive Church.  Opposition, persecution, and martyrdom have been its portion, but these tribulations it accepts, knowing well that to bear such has been the lot of the true Church in every age.

“Mormonism” is more than a code of morals; it claims a higher rank than that of an organization of men planned and instituted by the wisdom and philosophy of men, however worthy.  It draws a distinction between morality and religion; and affirms that human duty is not comprised in a mere avoidance of sin.  It regards the strictest morality as an indispensable feature of every religious system claiming in any degree divine recognition; and yet it looks upon morality as but the alphabet from which the words and sentences of a truly religious life may be framed.  However euphonious the words, however eloquent the periods, to make the writing of highest worth there must be present the divine thought; and this, man of himself cannot conceive.

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The Story of "Mormonism" from Project Gutenberg. Public domain.