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Show Two Proofs That Joseph Smith Was Divinely Galled '.El 1 hi Lj( : Radio Address Delivered Sunday, Evening Septe mbe? 27, 1931, by Dr Joteph F. Merrrill, Commis sioner of Education, Chu rch of Jesus Christ of Latter-da- y Saint. No zti i i ihow days. II In Minsourf lj than eiiriht year afn? th Jiubix-aatiOil th UdhJc of Morilufa the Saintw withdrew from him I thflir feliowHhib and ht was fxcomtnuni rated from the Church. beeajjrien memy ti th IVpphet and moved from amjon the poople whd had euaialnedl and fttmortKi hiid. &it he deniedi hie t nxrj aftran absence of fffinexfr, year fron f,h hurth Olivov re turned toi it a hnmtle penitent )n Oitoh(r, more thaniifroar th j rophet year doi reaffirinel hl leatl-die- d mariyt in I860 in fcnh-"ur- i, mony, an Mx mond in the home of hla brothj law, atid The iatie wrote yf him, Whitmepr, Ntlitht Olios1 Co w il r - nor Murtm Ha rri ever at any tlmt nied hie tc They both, died reaffirmln H the truth of thm vine kuth mf the Hook of Mornton, I was present at (the death-be- d of diver CowderyJ and hie laet nurds were, Brother! be true to vur testimony In the Book of Mormon. , , . Many witnesses yet liva in Richmond, who Will testify to the truth Of these facts as wen as to the good character cf Olive- Cowdery., IMWtd Whltmcf, a Witness. how let us turn to David In Student, friendi'and others: closed ou talk last Sunday Blgbr with This Testimony of Three Witness who solemnly declared t h or , Ini answer to united and ftrvent pra)-e- r for a witness, an an eel of dot) appeared before them with she tylatfk froni which the Book of Mormon was translated. 'turned the leaves ope by one, exhibiting the engrovingM, thereon, and that (lie voice of) Hod from tho midst of a brilliant above declared unto them that the plates had been translated Ay the gift and poweV of God. Jpt ois the Prophet Joseph had claimed, further, thesen witnesses asserted, the voice (fed them to' bcr record of what they had been seen and beagd it marvjloua in our eyes." thcyxwrotli Nd one will dispute thus statemi ht i Who bellevaa they truthfully testified of what they had healljjt rtCm and heard. Tho quextloi 3jJ,rnIf eoiirke, on the truth Chinese bft hieir testimony. If In fact they saw and heard the things of 'which they gravely tlfy, then a very wonderful miracle occurred And the coming forth of the Book of Mormon was accompanied by'a floodi of brilliant light in which cross Arrofs, of human misunderstanding relative to the person and personality of God and of Jesua Cfhrtst, of tho reality of a literal resurrection of! the dead, of the actual existence af Maty n and him imps, land manv other flagrant errors of religious IbMtcfs completef ly disappear, Testimony of PJgtitl'M it mM itf In this cbnnectlpn must not be fo rgotten that every elition of the hook of'Mormorp hart parried, tiv' addition to The Tfatobmyi of Three ) Witnesses, f that iof, bight olherrt who testified as fdlpwe: . . , That Joseph Smith, Ju n the translator of this' work, has shown unto us the plates i of whfch hath been spoken, which have the appearance of gold; and as many of the' leaves as the said Smith has translated wo did handle with j our hands and we also saw thoj engravings thereon- - all of which has tho apt poarance of ancient work, and of curious workmanship And this WO bear record with words of soberness, that the said Smith has shown unto US, for we have seen and heftedf and know of a surety that the said Smith has got the plates of which wo hove spoken: And ws glvo our names unto the world, to witness; unto the world that which 'we hake seen. And we lie not, God bearing witness of It. I (Signed)' CHRISTIAN WHITHER, JACOB WHITMKR, PETER WHITMER, JUN JOHN WHITMER, W lht i page. I hiram JOSEF SEN. SMITH) SMITH, - SAMUEL, H. SMITH, paced with these testimonies testlmonlca of reputable men, all ol them, men who Would have been accepted as witnesses In any trial court in American how can wo doubt that, Joseph Smith had tho and that .were plates trans-- l th" theyand power of Oodr Am f hot justified in asking you young and all bth-- i oro for that collegians, matter, to ive answer! to the testimonies! of these honest, men for such were reputed to ho by all whothey Rnew them before you cast end, word of doubt! upon the divinity, iof the Book of; HTRUM Mormon? p t jj i Mailing Away of the ThreJ WW--i us return foi a few! hw minutes to the three witnesses, Ol-- i Whltmer and ' They testified, to a mn1Harr marvelous occurrence, At fhS Efnc 11 mfkht rebdliy appear coliusion ,WM between lhmaits Smith. Martin ln nldU hac but the other men. None y?unt of thfui pone8sci much h of ooU of thi world, boor inaKuCould ttlvlT11,u more tory "tick .. put modern ex pres- - .u l.fnder'- tm! J,'ph !geZ' ,hir srhtrE1?? tho pla, nold, r,. only in Imagination. cursory view la dJspoMttmV o- - even t- if . Jm-vi- urdvhur t vulnerable- to infill ences, so prevalent and, powerful anti-Chur- ch testi-inni- i n when they were found in does anyone find on tho part, of tho Church any hesitancy in applying Us rule of discipline tof these men? Dp' not the very ft faiUI of estrangement and exeom- muniiatlon ' render wholly urtten- -' anti i the charge of collusion? that through nil the years following estrangement and living outside then pale of the Church eai.hi of these thr4 Imen remained l absolutely firm lu tho declaration Hint 'hi testiinony was trap. NOW may I veniofo to egpresa a pcinonal opitiiqn t It seems to me was 4 dlvUiity In tho esI the r trangement and apostasy of these Rut' for these facta, I witnesses; would it; not hava been difficult ' Io b lieverg in the Book rtf Mormons effectually to who cried the enouths of thosehaveftopped trane-gressio- d, - er. DaviR Whltmer icon to repeat his testimony to tth of tho Hook of Mormon and including the very, day' death.' Writes Ireoldent s in the Reyr Witnesses, And in this Volume f'Jav- Elder (Roberts continues: Jrt'am at Richmond. for matiy ing ! a Altssuut from I 3 to 1888. half ivis- lie was a ited tVall sorts of frequently people, and in la the .f his life' by gee yearn newspaper represeritiulvcs who come io 'Inquire tho tlestimOpy he had given fo the, world to the truth oftthe Book f Motmon. f For all these parties he had but one answer: My testimony Written in the Rook . of Mormon is true.? In his old age aorno of the enemies of the Church, in order to testidiscredit the unwavering mony bf David Whltmer. Were guilty gf misrepresenting hint in various ways; In, his defense, 32 of his friends published the "following certificate under data of March tS. 1831;: :lVe the under signed icitlrenjs f 'Richmond, Ray county Jj Missouri, j where Divid Whltmer has resided since the year A. D. .certify that we have been lopg and intimately acquainted with) him and know him io be a man ol the highest Intergrlty, and of undoubted truth, and Witnesses II, p. aeity." This was signed by Gen. 280) A. W. Doniphan, Judgea George W. Dunn and.C. J. Hughes. Editor T. C. Child of the Conservator,1 tankers H. 1 C. Garner, J. f 8. Hughe4fc. James Hugheg postmaster Cantwell,; Mayor George I. Wasson, Attorneys D P.JWJiit-me- r, Jas. W, Black, and others ,to the number of 22 In all i ' But here is an Ihteresilnk thing about David Whlttner. , He, like Oliver Cowdery, was excommunicated from the Church, and; about the Mima time, J. e. in 1 838.1 about eight years after the publication of And Elder , the BoSk of Mormon. Roberts writes: "But unlike GR- ver Cowdery, I he never returned, but remained .estranged from the Churchuo thej last day of his life. . , Btut while out of the Church as when In It, and certainly having no worldly purpose to serve by cona course, he steadtinuing in such fastly, as wo have seen, adhered to his testimony to the truth of tho XReW WitBook of Mormon. f 1 nesses, HI, p. 266.) j Now a few Words conternlng the third witness, IMartin Harris. He, too, separated himself from the Church,) refusing to follow it in i the move front Kirtland, Ohio. He became' estranged knd unfriendly to the Church .leadership. Re remained away for many years, but finally returned Inll87d and Migrated to Utah where he dledt ln m&. in his nlnetysecond year, at the home of his son in Clarkston, Cache iounty. In the New Witnesses. II. page 266, 'we read) Of him: "He nevertheless steadfastly held to the troth of his testimony to the Book of Mormon, I However vacillating in other matters, in this he vM firm and Immovdid able.' He did see an angel: he Aand the see the plates, v ttendant eaered things; he a glorious overshadowed by of which he light, from the midst heard tho voice of God sayintt that been translated tw the record had ower the gift and J never of God. This denied, but testimony he 'reaffirmed it oyer and oyer again. Oliver Cowdery, he Finally, like, Joined tho Orureh and died In the, a d. (on-cerni- of J , III k s t. J , 1 Jj , J faith. "v f Was There Collusion?! Now, friends, w hat think you about the charge of collusion between the prophet Joseph Smith , and. the Three Witnesses? Do Ue ? h isoni,' lf by Tewti- -j at entlon, s , I ago, tho testimony of reputable- - witnesses that ah trial courts Ip the land depend Nor convictions of criminals. It is upon w hat men and women of the past said gnd did that historians depend for the material out of which thetr, booka are written. T Now. however difficult it may he fort som Of us to believe In su- the fact pernatural occurrences, remains that some Of these occur- rentes are so well attested that personally J cannot see how any reasonable mind can reject them. In this class are the events that establish the divinity of the Book of Mdrmon And, an I said before, I think the .divine origin of the Church of J osua Christ of Skints stands op falls wRth the divinity of this boo. The divinity of the book and ft that pf the ChUrcR are Intlpnaleiy interconnected. Together they survive or perish, But they cannot perish for arc divine. Every fiber of they m soul responds to this derlara- ,lon friends am near the tRlk, which is he last one of t flirt Secies. Another speaker will fbllow me, beginning at this hour next Sunday evening. In the Mr words may X outline1 what I have tried toi do In these ) x'ressea? In tho flrrtt place I have imagined myself before a group of youngstanding college students, trained Id tho Methods of thrt college class room; These students are willing, I have assumed. to consider and discuss tho matters I have brought to them. To ji make i pro green, w have thought It decease r to bie non. our to ln be dogmatic statements, what they call reasonable )n our methods of discussion, i e, jto support by authority the propositions p regorged and then treat thm logically.' To wjiat degree I have been successful In the methods used X leave Jou to judge I) Wanted 1 to show, asIn you InoXr.t that-- ' a belief tho existence of God and in indmortality of the human soul was reasonable, and concluded that immortality io a necessary; consequence of the existence of God. Next we discussed the need of religion gud concluded that the safety of '.America the perpetuity of our form of government depends upon Ibis nntlun continuing to bo I; a I, j i ' I Call again to your rts 1 did several weeks fac that it ik upon the a Christian nation, in fact than in theory or fancy. A XMlerdij Baint IV' kl Next iwe entered a field charMormon, or better acteristically latter-da- y Saint, This Church makes some remarkable Claims. It not only believes in God. ln . the immortality of the soul and in the neeg of a practical religion that lifts humanity tO higher planes of thought, feeling land conduct, hut it believes that this Church wan divinely established through the instrumentality pf Joseph Smith an hla Yes. Jn very deed It believes that Joseph Smith was a Prophet of God. Now, Jt Js only natural that our group of students ask what evidence we can present to support the proposition that Joseph timith wan a prophet of God, f divinely called to establish the Church of Christ oh the earth. To ' answer this question, wel presented two evidences the revelations on the "Word of Wisdom" and the Book of Mormon. But I hasten, to say that these are not the only evidences we have to present of tho fact 'that Joseph Smith i was a prophet, lit seemed to me, howWell ever, that these two were suited to Investigation, using tho methods of science They are among the most outstanding physical evidences that I could present, Modern science, we concludconfirm tho teachings of the ed, "Word of Wisdom v But Joseph Smith, an unlearned young man, gave this document to the 'world in February, 1833, several decades before science was ready to speak otj most of the teachings of the document. So we the document as t proof presented that Joseph Smith was divinely inspired, Likewise very briefly we outlined how the Book of Mormon came forth, thus presenting a sec ond probf that the Prophet was in very ded. This hook prophet stands as a challenge to the world. Its coining forth is, of course, deeply Involved in the supernatural. For this reason many will have nothing to do with It, asserting that its claim to being associated with the supernatural at: once stamps It as a fraud. Needless to tell you. my friend, that uch a treatment of the hook is wholly unscientific. Is one of the essential qualities of the scientific spirit. Before being rejected. every claim is entitled to a careful examination, if the scientific - method la followed, And all that- believers In tho divinity of the Book of Mormon ag. or havo i t j i i currenoe. b Tltd Truth ilstabUsiiod ver-(Ne- w 1 te tu. I ll lil -- 'collusion ' But taking into account' all the filets, how cart any reasonable inlii'I bell. 'ip therC: was col lUHion ? Ruling out: this .eMpfiositlon we wra hift facthg thdl unimpeachable trstimonua ,of those men, all of them;I honorable add-gtiod to They tositfv,' it is ivery wondepfut things to super-- natural things. Alul, of course, there, are many! pliarite whd pro fess. they do not ibvllevo In anx- -' thing that Amackrt thoj aupw?of natural. They reject everything supernatural nature spoken of In the Bible the miracles of Christ including; hie resurrection, fop example. But, i. of course, the reality of a, think quite independent of rtuf belief or disbelief in it," Tho fact that Christ rose any from, the dead doe not jin' men way depend upon whether believe or dlabel i eve In this Ot- S! tApe-ciall- y, ' their neighborhood, eight r.puta-me- n wold okbecome party to the perpetration a fraud T Rot let us follow the! three' Oliver Cowdery became the Second Elder" ln the; Church. He was trusted1 and honored his ehlef. Joseph Smith, and wasbywillingly accepted by the Church Yet he was not inmembership.; . r-- in 4 . v it nesses that jhave briefly ootiincl give any nppor to the chaige? TWo of the excommunicated vpii nesses .were frojh the Church six years before the martyrdom jOf the Prophet. About the same time the third became estranged and unfriendly to hi4 Had there been collusion do vnu think the prophet would have dared to permit the exclommunf-litiP- n or t estrangement? Think laol What there was at stake!testiOf ad sh adhering to thOir monies, suppose .,j the three men tho hadj not only .denounced rj Prophet blitin deified their addition, ri vealed a and, oilusion f been Had there', Plot) would not this, und'r the, circumstances, have Insert the natural thing for fheso aWn to go? But a Jof-ph- corn-ma- -t" relative to the facs We ever asked. Is that Its claims be carefully and thoroughly examined. And ,so may I urge that you students, especially1 those of you who have been born and raised ln the Oh -- rch and havo become doubtful of Its claims to a divine origin, give careful: and prayerful study to1 the Book jof Mormon. In every case, before allowing yourselves to become jcMd toward tho Church, please give ansvyer1 to tho claims Tor this remarkable book. And now. In crtnlplusjdn. may I express to you, onkj sbd kll, my grateful appreciation for the attention you hove given me durlng these talks, for thel kind words and many of you have spoken others written, thus encouraging me greatly, and to assuijrt you that I pray humbly, ln the name of Jesus Christ, that God, the father Of us all will, by IJis fjplrit, be with ana gruid you always Good nighty and good-b- y f , Church Urges All Jobless Stay Home Church members generally peclally those who are employto reed, should 'he encouraged, main at home, rather tpar to go elsewhere seeing work, unless they are definitely1 assured of employment, say rcpdits from tho Presiding Bishops office, At home they are betjer knows, better protected and have much better opportunities toi get employment! and to obtain assistance ln case of need. When theX mjove away they lose their legal residence, and in case of need or trouble may he seriously embarrassed. Pitiful reports come lo us Of people who have moved into communities Where they are not known and have not established legal res ldence, suffering much privationr because of the conditions enumer, ated, We request staks presidencies. mission presidents and ward bUn-- o pries to advise all, members of tho Priesthood and 'the member in general to observe this counsel. the report 'States. nt |
