Show I elafiion hip i P of lYOrmonim to fi ri i fiianifi r f Discourse Cellvered In the Tabernacle Salt Lake City Sunday Attsr n noon April 29th 1894 by I 3 ELDER B H ROBERTS I 1 = = = = = = i 1 uroul1J hY AUIiVIl WIlTU s When requested l by the brethren presiding pre-siding In this meeting to address you I pressed l a dread of the talk It seems to me that I feel more at home speaking to those who have no faith 1 in the Gospel became then I know that the principal I thine to do It to Indtc Ieli nct tl filth I in I thrlr I minds 1 happened I to re 1 member also that this congregation IIi II-i r ed hear the servants of God privileged to t I ono are peculiarly blessed both with I natural endowments snit with the Spirit of the lord which enable them to Instruct In-struct and l encourage jou In your duties lloueter I 11m I persuaded that anything which Increase the faith of the people 1 peo-ple I Is profitable lo be considered for not only Is I It the object of preaching lo create faith In the hearts of those who do not believe but Its purpose Is also to strengthen the faith In the hearts cf those airs already believe I think It profitable for Lalter day I Saints to consider the relationship which Mormonism sustains to the rest of the religious world as well as to try and 1 comprehend the separate principles of i which it Is t composed and by becoming acquainted with that relationship learn Its importance and its grandeur and by becoming acquainted with its Importance I Import-ance and grandeur learn lo love It TuIt It I eb and by learning to love It learn to live In harmony with Its requirements For 1 it seems to me that the only Incentive needful to create devotion and love for the I work uf Cod Is simply to t know II and that kl love If pure amt undefiled Kill lead one to obey Its requirements The world I solar hit failed I to read altogether ho deep meaning of this religious phenomenon called MormonIsm Mormon-Ism but while It has not clearly understood under-stood Its meaning It has nevertheless struck at It It has a wonderful message lo bear to the world this Mormonism III Is a marvel and a wonder just us one of the ancient prophets said It would be III Is a bold works for It declares the whole modern Christian world In error sod apostasy To understand tine relationship tlonship il dne ldw t rle tionship 1 which this I wonderful work sustains sus-tains to modern Christianity It will be necessary to refer briefly to the views = = entertained of the Christian religion by the great illusions of Christendom It Is I believed by the Roman Catholics that bt t Peter before I eon close of the II first century established the church at Rome and from his scat of authority In that city governed the whole Church of Christ They contend that to tins Apostle and In that they are right there was a certain Ol primacy accorded by his fellow Apostles that unto him had been given the keys of the kingdom of heaven with the power to bind on earth and have It bound In beaten and 10 loose on earth and to have It loosed In 11 beaten and that the other Apostles 11 ArlIe fd thence were sublect t to his presidency 11 nice their theory Is that the church which he founded and over which I I he nl Immediate ly presided also hi da certain primacy which should command the respect of nil the other branches of the church and be recognized as the head of the Clinic tiara societies Catholic tradition tells us that there succeeded to letter 1 one Inus 1 I and after Linus Anaclclus and alter him I Clement ol Home and so they will read you A list of the bishops who hate succeeded to the presidency of the Church of Home Irorn Peter to Leo Mil who now occupies the chair of St Ieler succeeding lo that primacy allowed to Ieler t by hga Apostles Thus they I insist I tint rt there has been n continuous contin-uous and unbroken line ol authority from the days of Peter until now Running Run-ning parallel with that line I of divine authority has come also a continuation opine Gospel ol Jesus Christ In all Us essentials to salvation And if there have been additions of rites and ceremonies cere-monies they have sprung from seeds I sown In apostolic days additions which contribute to a more succcslul worship ol Deity and an Increase of spiritual lllo and morality In the church This I understand to be the contention of the Catholic Church and the claims chIt ch-It makes that the Catholic Church ot today Is Identical with In fact a con llnujtlonof the church founded I by the labors of the divinely appointed Apostles of Jesus Christ And though the church may nut always have been healthy It has at least continued to live Die position ol Irotestant Christendom Christen-dom Is radically ditlcrent to that of the Catholic Church Protestants agree with Catholics that Jesus establshed Ills Church that lie brought life and immortality lo light I through the Gospel Gos-pel that He divinely commissioned eWIcOG dlo Apostles lo preach tine Gospel and evangelize the world They believe Iheie messengers of salvation visited man parts oft the earth and carried the I light of the Gospel with them where they went Hut alter of ever e a lapse lime I abuses crept Into the Church corruption cor-ruption abounded the simple form of Church government was transformed into a most splendid hierarchy but one that was > s corrupt as It was splendid Idolatry erect Into the Church and I iheCI enoi Image worship f usurped the services ol lIe true God The laws of the Gospel were disobeyed Its ofdlnances were g rI changed I and the Gospel was so far corrupted cor-rupted that the Master when le came to look upon the Church lie had founded could not recognize It Iro testants Insist that all sects all parties 1 all divisions or Christendom were sunk in abominable Idolatr and that for more than elht hundred > can Such Is the statement of the first great body of the Protestant sects the Church of ling and See Homily on Ierllsol Idolatry p 3 how Another It was that great the reformer Christians eiplahlng lost those spiritual gifts so characteristic of Ihe t Saints of r God In I New Testament times refuted the poor excuse that the reason rea-son Christians l why t miraculous In the third fl and fourth mc con tulles was because the whole world had become Christian and there was no lurther need of these extraordlnar I manifestations of the Holy Ghost He l call attention In his discourse upon this subject to the fact that not one tenth part of the world hid become I ihla r eor Christian t when these gifts and graces departed from the Church ana that those who 1 were converted in the main mf r bald were only nominally Christian i I he the reason why the gifts were no longer to be found In the Church was because the Christian had turned heathens again and only had n dead IV lor in left illi ttu John Vesleune of the first of Protestant reformers Wesleys Works sermon 89 I do not mean first unto the time In which he began his work but first as to the results re-sults which I followed his al labors hOI Pro teitints fetch then tint there has been a universal apostasy Irom line Gospel ol Christ and a destruction of the C lurch lie founded but ProtesUnts would broncos alma believe that In the Reform alien that occurred In the sixteenth century under the leadership of Martin Luther and his associates the errors of Rome were pushed aisde and that the Christian religion In all Its simplicity and Us beauty was restored lo men that I the Gospel r was rescued from absolute ab-solute destruction and a proclaimed l In power to the world and tint from that lime the sixteenth century until now the Gospel light I then burning dim and n low has TI lnll growing brighter and 1 spreading until the whole earth Is likely to be filled with Us glory That Is I their contention What I wish now Is I lo point out the relationship which Mormonlsm sustains lo this great controversy Nu one that Is acquainted with the history of the I llntI W I Church of Christ In the first centuries of Its existence can doubt for a moment that as Protestants claim abuses and corruptions crept Into turn church Grievous wolves had entered arts Hi lo d 1 not sparing the flock blc 1 I leathers arose by reason ol whom the way of truth was evil spoken of The people heaped to themselves teacher having Itching ears and they turned their ears away from Ihe truth unto fables here arose a power that became be-came exalted above all that Is called Gad or that Is I worshiped That power sal In line temple ol God showing Ln t the rIJet that ell was God loi ruled te unions with a rod uf Iron and Instead of that mild government in the Cliur 1 nol n-ol Christ which uses persuasion knowledge long suffering kludnus and 1 i love unfeigned as the sources of Its power It pushed aside these lorce of government and usurped tyrannical lumen and placed Its loot upon the I I necks of kings The beautiful religion founded by Jesus Christ was replaced by the splendid forms of worship that were Inaugurated to meet the demands I of a pagan multitude of conterts until > uu could no longer rccoinue the simple Gospel tw of the Lord eve > t I 1 The darkness u hlcli brooded over tines world the Ignorance and sinPer tine-s that abounded In the Dark AIM proclaim t beyond all successful contradiction contra-diction that the light l i ol the Gosp I had I been wllhdrawllirom the earth because ol corruptions of tho people 1 trims Is t the message which Moimonlsm beais to the world It proclaims a universal 1 apostasy front the true Christian religion reli-gion t And lo 1 the various divisions ol I Protestant Christendom Mormonism has this to say that ditlne authority I author-ity and the Goipel of Christ once having hav-ing been Irom the earthen there Is I but one way by which that divine au thorlty mid tl ros Gospel of Christ can be restored via by reopening the heavens and committing a new dispen satlon ol the Ooipel 1 and the priesthood thl to men Irnt Is what Mormonism claims to be a new dispensation ol the Gospel of Christ It Is I not a new religion reli-gion It Is I Ihe old religion brought gain to the earth It possesses all tine simplicity of primitive Christianity all Its ordinances all us gills and grace all Its hopes and aspirations and all Its certainties the I reality of and life assurance both here and concerning In the I life that Is to come That Is what Mormonism rt II i I monism Is That Is the relationship I I It bears to the religious I world and lo this I iOb lo great controversy between t Irolcstanls and Catholics Now is I lake It the task imposed upon the Latter day balms it to bear I testimony ol this great act to the world to extend a knowledge of Ibis gospel to all people that all the children ol I men may rejoice In the truths we have learned by accepting the revelations revela-tions of God in i this New Diipeiisatiun We cannot claim that this trots Is ours In any selfish sense We cannot hug it to ourselves as being peculiarly our own That course Is the way lo lose It or at least to lose the sweetest and 1 best blessings that come from It I donut do-nut know that my thought l Is clear to you and perhaps I had better Illustrate I what I mean by repeating lo ou ona of the I legends common among the peasantry peas-antry of Russia a legend 1 l the 1 good fortune to hear Prince Serge Wol konsky of Uuula relate last summer It Is i said by this legend that a poor condemned iu torment woman condemned to eternal torment once saw an angel dying through the midst ol heaven and she called to him bo 1 bewailing and distressing wn her voice that the angel stopped In l his flight An5el OIfht In hear her complaint Said n she to him 1 U hen you gel to the Throne of rtG ld1 I wish you would tell Him Hint there Is a poor mortal down hero suffering more than she can endure and ask him lo give ma rellel At that the angel con tlnued his flight and when he came Into the presence of God he related how he had been arrested on Ills way by Ihe walling cry of a poor woman who was suflenng I more than she could endure Will said the Lord I return to her and ask her if in her lifetime she can remember to have done one good deed Tim angel returned alhll put the question to her The poor wonnn l was perplexed I rh oT had ol Indeed I led a irked life i For A long lime she struggled with recollection re-collection until at lat her face brightened bright-ened UV said she I have It I once gave a carrot to a hungry beggar I This was reported by the I angel lo the lurd I commanded him lo return and to lake a carrot and let her lake hold of one end ol It And said he 1 If It 11 strong enough to pull her ull uf her torment she snail be delivered The carrot accordingly was extended to the poor wonnn she laid hold I of it In I good earntst and the angel II commenced to pull To her Infinite u delight she found Out she began lo rise out of hell Some of her leliow sinner standing around and seeing that she was likely to escape ni laid l hold ol her garmentsand they too began to bo drawn out of torment tor-ment Others seeing this also laid hold until the poor woman began to be alarmed lest the carrot shout 1 breakS b le begun kicking and screaming and cried Iet go let I gal but they clung I the t lurder and seemed determined nut to miss this chance of escape 1 The poor woman at last In her desperation cried out iJlfO Hit ittrtl n mint And no sooner did she say 1 he carrot is mine I than It snapped and they l all sank back into hell Uehlnd I Ith this simple legend stands a great truth It illustrates t the thought i I want la carry home lo your hearts This g atCI truth t the futures of which Is I contained In the Gospel of Jesus Christ is not ours In any selfish sense We cannot cry It Is mine for the moment we do It selfishness creeps In and selfishness Is I the death knell of salsa lion In Die soul of nun Nrho truth Is Gods just as the good deed of the poor womans was Gous It is not lor us alone but for all the children of Deity Our first duty Is having lound the way of escape from the coast luen ccsof sin and hating mud born within our breasts aspirations that reads up lu God nnJ His Throne1 hold U to be ii fn first duly to ol proclilm I these glad tidings to all line world that our lalhera I children may lay hold ol the truths and by clinging loft be saved In Ihe King dom ol God The truth will not bieix It Is strong enough to bilng all the dn dren of our Father 1 In heaven Into That degree of glory that lltelr Intelligence Is capable of enjoying esus read aright IIhe truth when he salclAnd 1 If I be lifted up will draw all men unto t me The power of hh atonement and of the Gospel grow ing out of It is sufficient for rr ttll ttIla tt re all mankind And the favored few who are the first to put their feet upon the rounds the ladder of truth leading upward lo God should l look around and Induce as many to loin them as possible I In I the grand procession One of the I grand things about this New Dispensation I Is that U Is I a work In which I rtll may take pail I care not how humble their lives may be there Is not one but may join In the great work It Is not confined to the few gifted sons of Israel clothed with the Priesthood and called to travel In 1 the world I and cry repentance to the people proclaimIng proclaim-Ing the glad tidings el Hill the Goipel lo of Jesus Christ l has been restored One of the chief thoughts that came to me In connection with t completing i the temple that I stands on this bock was this It Is a sermon In stone a sermon that will aIled more people than the voice of any elder how ever successful he might be In the ministry It 1 Ise a sermon preached I by the whole people I rnJ Every man woman and child that has contributed a mile towards the erection ot that structure has a voice In the great ser mnn which It preaches In like dinner 3 II actions i ttnrh Individual actions may contributeto the character of jt people and Mormonism II re I will be Letter known 1 hereafter Iron the character of the whole Church and the work which the Church performs than by any Individual labor that will bee be-e In the war < of preaching the Gospel tletll tl hk dtl May the Lord bleu jou Amen |