These Are the Mormons (1960)

THESE are the

MORMONS RICHARD L. EVANS

These Are The Mormons There are living today some seventhgeneration "Mormons" - "Mormons" being a nickname for members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The forebears of many of them were converts who came to the valley of the Great Salt Lake, Utah. more than a century ago. The message of the "Restoration" which they heard from "Mormon" missionaries brought conviction to their souls and peace and purpose to their lives.

In the century and nearly a third since the "Restoration, " The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has shown some remarkable fruits in the lives of millions of men and women. world-wide. and would seem to have earned the right to be looked at in present perspective. away from the tensions and misunderstandings of the 19th Century.

In its earnest advocacy of freedom and in its emphasis on education, the "Mormon" Church has produced eminent men in science. art, industry. government, education. financial affairs. the professions. When the "Mormon¡¡ Pioneers. in their poverty. entered the valley of the Great Salt Lake. the second official legislative act of the provisional Territory of Deseret was the chartering of a universitynow the University of Utah. oldest state university west of the Missouri River.

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Some years ago, Dr. Edward L. Thorndike of Columbia University made a study of all the states for the Carnegie Foundation, to see where "men of science" came from. His study showed that Utah (where The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is predominant) was first among the states, per capita, in producing men of science (some 30 per cent higher than the second-place state) .

In another study of the same researcher , similar results for " men of achievement" were found.

Other studies by educators and institutions have shown Utah high among the states, per capita, in school attendance , in numbers graduating from college and in educational accomplishment.

This emphasis on education , this freedom for the search, is not a coincidence, but comes from basic Latter-day Saint beliefs, among them these: "The glory of God is intelligence, or . . . light and truth. " (Doctrine & Covenants 93:36) .

"It is impossible for a man to be saved in ignorance " (Doctrine & Covenants 131:6) .

"Whateve r principle of intelligence we attain unto in this life, it will rise with us in the resurrection" (Doctrine & Covenants 130: 18) .

"Our religion is simply the truth," said Brigham Young. "It is all said in this one expression - it embraces all truth, wherever found in all the works of God and man. . . .''

Since the Latter-day Saints literally believe that truth and intelligence and personality are

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eternally perpetuated. since they believe that they can take it with them. education - the search for truth - becomes both an opportunity and an obligation. and willful ignorance becomes something of a sin.

The "Mormons" are an informed people with a simple and satisfying faith. with much of travel. much of the learning of languages. an acquaintance with places and people worldwide. an awareness that all men have much in common and respect for the beliefs of others.

And with a century and a third to show the fruits of his faith. the Latter-day Saint may wonder why there has been much of misunderstanding.

For example. not infrequently one hears the question : "Are Mormons Christians?" The answer is. unequivocally yes. The name of the Church says so - The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints - and so does the heart and soul of every Latter-day Saint, as expressed in this first Article of Faith: '¡'We believe in God. the Eternal Father. and in His Son. Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost."

Acceptance of the divinity of the Lord Jesus Christ and of His redeeming and atoning mission among men, is the very foundation of "Mormon" faith . This includes our Savior's real relationship to God. as " the only begotten of the Father" in the flesh. and the scripturally recorded facts pertaining to His birth, His death and the literal reality of His resurrection.

The Latter-day Saints accept Jesus the Christ as the "one mediator between God and Man" (I Timothy 2:5) , pray to the Father in His name and believe that He will come again and reign on earth (Acts 1:9-11) .

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As to the Godhead , the Latter-day Saints turn to literal scriptural language. where they find a loving, understanding Father who made His children in "His own image" (Genesis 1:27) ; Jesus. His son, our Saviour, who is "in the express image of his [Father's] person" (Hebrews 1:3) and is one with the Father in purpose, but physically separate from the Father; and the Holy Ghost, a personage of spirit (Acts 7:55, etc.) .

It is God, the Father, and His Son. Jesus the Christ whom the Latter-day Saints worship, with the Holy Ghost bearing witness of them and their eternal truth.

Where did this church come from? The name itself is significant - The Church of Jesus Christ, with the appendage "of Latterday Saints" to distinguish it from the Church of Jesus Christ in former days. established when our Lord and Master walked among men.

The Latter-day Saints believe that God's great Gospel plan was known in the heavens, to all of us - to all our Father's children before we came here; that the Gospel came to earth with Adam but that men have modified and remade it from time to time through various periods of departure and apostasy (as in the days of Noah) , and that it has had to be "restored" in various "dispensations" (as through Abraham, Moses and others) .

To a point, the Latter-day Saints accept the position that the "Protestors" and "Reformers" and historians of the post-apostolic period have taken - that there was a depart-

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ure from the principles and practices of the Primitive Church after our Saviour and His Apostles left the earth. But the Protestors and Reformers, sincere though they were, could not give what they didn't have. And so the world had to wait for a " Restoration" of what was lost.

It is the position of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, that such " Restoration" did occur in the early 19th Century, with the opening of the heavens and the restoring of the keys of the kingdom ~y those who had held them in dispensations of the past. And thus " the dispensation of the fulness of times" (Ephesians 1: 10) was ushered in . (A fuller account of the "Restoration" is given in the pamphlet, Joseph Smith Tells His Own Story.)

As to Joseph Smith: The Latter-day Saints look upon him as a pmphet in the same literal sense as they look upon other prophets of Old and New Testament times - and they also accept Joseph Smith's successors as prophets.

Should it seem strange, the Latter-day Saint would ask, that God's Church should be led by prophets in the present, as it was in the past? Does this generation have fewer problems, or less need of Divine guidance, or does God, in this day, love His children less? "We believe all that God has revealed, all that He does now reveaL and . . . that He will yet reveal many great and important things pertaining to the Kingdom of God." Divine direction is needed in every age.

As to faith and works: "We believe that through the atonement of Christ, all mankind may be saved, by obedience to the laws

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and ordinances of the Gospel. " This is both faith and works.

"Salvation" is universal in the sense that

everyone will be raised from the dead in a

literal resurrection. As Paul said. "For as in Adam all die. even so in Christ shall all be made alive." " But every man in his own order . . . " (I Corinthians 15:22~23). This itali~ cized phrase is one of much meaning. The Saviour referred to "many mansions" (John 14:2) . Paul observed that there are different "degrees of glory" (I Corinthians 15:40. 41 .

42; II Corinthians 12:2) . and while "salvation" is universal. the highest eternal oppor~ tunities must be merited by work. by service. by obedience. by complying with the requirements and commandments of the Kingdom.

As to all men's arriving at the same destination by their separate and several ways: of course, all good is rewarded. Of course. our Father loves all His children. and is just and compassionate and merciful and will take all things into account. as any kind father would.

But no earthly father can, for example, give his son the qualifications for acquiring an academic degree unless the son is willing to meet the requirements and pay the price.

There are laws and requirements of the Kingdom - whether we understand them or not.

And those who wish to realize .their highest eternal opportunities will have to do so in the way God has prescribed.

When our Saviour said. for example. "Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit. he cannot enter into the kingdom of God" (John 3:5) . He must have meant it. and it must have applied to all men.

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But where is the justice in this, for obvious-ly all men of all times have not known the laws and commandments and requirements of the "Kingdom" ? The Latter-day Saints believe that a just God will give to all who have ever lived an opportunity to hear and accept the Gospel and its required earthly ordinances.

In the words of Peter: "For, for this cause was the gospel preached also to them that are dead ... " (I Peter 4:6) . This is, in part, the purpose of "Mormon" Temples, wherein the essential Gospel ordinances - including baptism - are "vicariously" performed for those who have died without an adequate opportunity to receive them for themselves. Ancient knowledge of this principle and practice is suggested by Paul: " . . . if the dead rise not at all? why are they then baptized for the dead?" (I Corinthians 15:29) .

What of marriage and family life among the "Mormons"? Some years ago in a book on Immortality. a painting depicting the meeting of the family in heaven was impressively reproduced. There an artist had portrayed the literal reunion of loved ones, with parents and children again gathering together in a blessed place, reaching out for each other with open arms.

The Latter-day Saint believes there could be no happiness¡ for him, no heaven in the highest sense, without his family. His Church teaches him to enter into a marriage covenant that lasts not only until "death do us part," but which continues for "time and eternity." (" . .. neither is the man without the woman, neither the woman without the man, in the Lord," I Corinthians 11 : 11) .

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Such marriages are performed in " Mormon" temples. with a belief in the literal validity of what our Saviour said to His Apostles: ". . . whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven" (Matthew 16: 19) .

This everlasting relationship of life - including family and friends - is basic to " Mormon" belief. A man may be more mindful of his marriage when it is a thing of eternal continuance.

Polygamy. or plural marriage. was at one period practiced by a small part of the "Mormon" people. As scripture records. polygamy was also practiced. with Divine sanction. at some periods of the past, by Abraham and others. It would appear that at some times and under some circumstances it has been approved, under others it has not. The small percentage of "Mormons" who did enter into plural marriage did so. as a New York Times book review recently remarked, "with Puritan discipline." They honored their wives and families. and did what they did with a conviction that it was Divinely sanctioned, as it sometimes was among the patriarchs of the past. Federal laws prohibiting this practice were questioned as an infringement of religious liberty. In 1890, after the constitutionality of these laws had been reaffirmed by the Supreme Court of the United States. Wilford Woodruff. then President of the Church. issued a manifesto which, as accepted by the Church, proscribed further plural marriage.

Thus the practice of polygamy was revoked by the same authority by which it had been sanctioned. That was 70 years ago. Excom-

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munication is the penalty for practicing polyg~ amy today.

What about the Bible? The Bible is basic to "Mormon" belief? The King James version is officially used and accepted "as fa r as it is translated correctly." The Book of Mormon is not the "Mormon Bible." But the "Mor~ mon" does not believe that all the revelations of God were confined to ancient Israel. He does not believe that a loving Father would confine His communication to one small part of His family, to one small place or to one period of the past.

As the Bible is to ancient Israel so The Book of Mormon is to ancient America. It is part of a sacred and secular record of prophets and people who were among the ancestors of the American "Indians," and covers princi~ pally the period from about 600 B.C. to 421 A.D. These peoples were of Asiatic origin. of the House of Israel. and brought with them certain Old Testament texts. Their historians and prophets kept records of important events in their own history in the Western World.

Mormon was the name of one of the later prophets of this period from whom the Book of Mormon takes its title. The Book of Mor~ mon witnesses that, after His ascension, Jesus the Christ visited the inhabitants of the West~ ern Hemisphere as some of His "other sheep" (John 10: 16) .

What of the "Mormon" missionary? The missionary system of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter~day Saints has been operative since the early 1830's in an endeavor to carry the message of the "Restoration" "to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people"

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(Revelation 14:6) . This is not new. In ancient times. as well as now. dedicated men have gone forth to teach and bear witness of eternal truths. And today "Mormon" missionaries - mostly young men in their early twenties - go out to serve and live at their own expense (or assisted by families or friends) . giving two or more years of their time, with no monetary remuneration. Some labor near home. Some go to other countries.

Many learn foreign languages. They leave college; they leave work ; they leave loved ones; they come from all walks of life - with the earnest conviction that they have something to share which they cannot, in good conscience. selfishly keep.

In their religion. the Latter-day Saints have been characterized as being a practical people.

To this they agree. Religion to the Latter-day Saint is concerned with seven days of the week - and with both time and eternity. This life is, after all. only part of an endless eternal opportunity. What lies beyond is personal and literal and real and everlasting - and the physical and spiritual and mental and moral aspects of men are in some ways inseparable.

Typical of this "practical" approach is what is called "The Word of Wisdom." This code of health was given in 1833, more than a century before the case against tobacco had shaped up as it now has. "The Word of Wisdom" says simply that " tobacco is not good for man." It counsels against alcoholic beverages and "hot drinks, " implies the wisdom of abstinence from all injurious substances and suggests that man should enjoy all the wholesome things of the earth "with prudence

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and thanksgiving" (Doctrine & Covenants 89) .

A further aspect of this "practicality" is a voluntary Church Welfare Plan which discourages the taking of unearned benefits from public or other sources, provides for the unfortunate and infirm and encourages every man to work as long and fully as he can.

The Church sponsors and encourages the arts, drama, arhletics (including the largest basketball league in the world) and wholesome dancing and recreation. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints established a committee on Scouting in 1913 and was the first church to adopt, as a body, the program of the Boy Scouts of America and to integrate it closely to its own program for boys. There are activities and teachings to develop and qualify all for responsibility from the earliest years of youth. A boy or girl of very young years may occupy a pulpit for a brief talk.

All are expected to participate and to perform some service.

The Latter-day Saint is taught to know what he believes and to accept responsibility for his own actions. There is no "professional" clergy. The Priesthood is conferred upon every qualified man and not confined to a few. Any worthy male member may be called to be a bishop or to fill any other priesthood office and still continue his daily profession or occupation.

The Latter-day Saint believes that the free agency of every man is essential to the soul's salvation and that the right of choice is a God-given principle of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Fervently he cites this Article of Faith

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which declares freedom for himself and all others: "We claim the privilege of worshiping Almighty God according to the dictates of our own conscience. and allow all men the same privilege. let them worship how. where, or what they may. " All men have a right to search. to read. to think. to decide for¡¡ themselves. The early members of the restored Church left homes and farms and all earthly possessions. for freedom to seek truth and to live according to conscience.

But along with freedom comes law. "We believe in being subject to kings. presidents, rulers, and magistrates, in obeying. honoring. and sustaining the law." The Latter-day Saint honors and defends his country in war and in peace, in all lands. wherever his loyalties may be, and his record for military service has frequently been cited by official sources.

"Mormons" are a happy people. They read in The Book of Mormon. "Adam fell that men might be; and men are. that they might have joy" (II Nephi 2:25) . Believing in happiness as an essential ingredient of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. the Latter-day Saint finds peace and purpose in life. and the answers to "Whence?" and "Why?" and "Whither?" that men so earnestly seek. He finds freedom and great meaning in his faith. and seeks to share it.

"We believe in being honest. true. chaste. benevolent, virtuous. and in doing good to all men; indeed, we may say that we follow the admonition of Paul: We believe all things. we hope all things. we have endured many things.

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and hope to be able to endure all things. If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things."

Reprinted from The Christian Herald ovember 1960

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