| Show SAYING SAVING opportunities BEYOND THE GRAVE a friend of the NEWS made inquiry of an e eastern astern publishing firm regarding some genealogical literature hed he desired estred to obtain in rep replying iving to his communication these publishers ask our friend by letter why he be took an interest in matters pertaining to family pedigrees pedigreed grees he sent a written explanation and as the subject of the application of the plan and principles of the gospel to the dead who departed without obeying it is one of both general and special interest we herewith present the abe greater portion of the entlemann gent ent lemans exposition of the sublime theme the basis of ncy iry interest in the sub loot in question IP iia that I 1 am a member g of the church of jesus jesua christ of latter day saints commonly known as the abe mormon l church it becomes necessary now to explain u why this church membership should cause me to take an interest in family genealogies to make this matter clear altar involves a sa cement 1 f some of W the aromi prominent dent features of the faith of the saints paints the latter claim to have the same ame organization and doctrines as those hose which characterized the church established by jesco on the eastern hemisphere hence their body includes apostles and prophets prophet high priests seventies elders ak priests Pr iesta teachers deacons and all other officers and authorities of which the new testament makes mention these are organized into quorums qu three high priests constituting the pint first presidency being at the head bead with the twelve apostles ranking next in order and so on od the duties of 1 v each oh grade are clearly and specifically defined so as to operate in unbroken harmony each with all the others in relation to doctrine it may be ivald ald that it embraces truth wherever found 29 2 9 and so wide a range will only admit of a limited explanation however faith in the atonement of jesus christ may be regarded as the basic principle and in a general way it may toe be stated that the faith of the saints demands obedience to the teachings of the savior mind and all his inspired ser IV rants ancient and modern hence it includes the doctrines of faith repent ance anoe of sin min baptism by immersion in water for the remission of sins sine and the laying on of the hands of the authorized servants of god for the imparting P to the honest seeker after salvation of the holy ghost thus having laid ald the foundation for a godly life aided by the divine spirit they are required it to press rem forward to the perfect day ado X do not suppose that any person familiar with the scriptures will have the temerity to dispute the claim that these are scriptural doctrines but bui they involve points which could not dot be established without new revelation a divine authority can only be imparted through that channel he who acts as an agent for god must be authorized to assume that position otherwise what be does in the name of the divine master will stand in danger of being repudiated as can be sustained readily by analogical reason ing associated with human statys divine concerns are much more sacred than those that are merely human and they must be much more closely guarded zuar ded it is claimed by the saints that a prophet joseph smith was raised up in modern times to establish anew the true church of christ in its fullness ull full nees of organization ordinance principle and power I 1 do not expect that hat you will believe this but I 1 am not writing the belief of th se who may peruse this statement hut but the faith of myself and my co religionists you may ask what all this hs his to u d i with my interest in genealogy I 1 will shortly show that what is already bated is merely preliminary to the main point of my explanation which will follow the church with which I 1 am identified claims that the plan of redemption was nt devised in the divine mind for the benefit of any one or more classes clashes of f mankind but for the salvation Ral of the race as a whole such stich a position flon could not be main maintained bained if its saving effects and blessings should be confined to those who have opportunities of embracing its principles in this life myrinda myriads pass through the human or probationary state without ever having heard the name of christ uttered to bring them under condemnation be cause they did not comply with conditions of which they never hearl heard would be a parody on common not to say aay divine justice notwithstanding ahles this it to is evident that salvation according to the true christian standpoint can only be obtained through belief in christ and obedience to his laws and commandments this includes conformity by tha believer to the outward ordinances As an instance the savior said to nicodemus except a man be born of water and of the spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of god here is a rule which admits of no exception justice therefore demands that provision be made for the dead who died without a know knowledge ladge of christ and his loc doctrine trine this comprehensive application of the principles of redemption la is to some extent elucidated in the scripture la in I 1 peter third chapter and the sixth verse of the fol following lowin 9 chapter P the apostle explains that while the body of christ lay in the tomb his disembodied spirit was engaged lu in preaching to the spirits of men who had lived on earth and passed way the object of this preaching was to enable those who heard him to live according to god in the spirit 9 and be judged as men are the flesh but suppose the spirits of men should be converted by preaching in the sphere to which they go pending the resurrection of the body how are they to comply with the universal rule of admittance into the kingdom of god baptism by immersion in water and the reception of the holy spirit paul 1 I 1 cor chap hap gave some explicit views on t the e resurrection of tho the body after insisting upon the validity of this doctrine be exclaims fine else what shall they do which are baptized for the dead this introduces the doctrine of the vicarious application in behalf or of the dead of the ordinance of baptism by immersion for the remission of sins if it to is admissible in relation to baptism so may it be with regard to 10 every other out ward ordinance of the G the claim of the latter day saints is that joseph smith the funder founder of our C church was raised up to establish fullness the fullness of the gospel anew in this age and that when he was martyred marty red by a merciless mob he entered the cirit world mud and as christ did in his mission opened up a dispensation amoni among the spirits of the departed it I 1 la held that in accordance with the last IX words of the old testament those of malachi elijah who was translated apte appeared sred to joseph smith in the temple built by the saints at kirtland obio and a nd gave him tho the keys of power to turn the hearte of the children to the be fathers and the hearts of the fathers to the children beare his death he be hao bai inaugurate 1 the labor of performing vicarious work tor for thedeas the dead and thus turned the hearts of the ivlow eving toward their deceased progeny tors aud and those who accept him as a prophet have no doubt as to his bis having opened a similar dispensation in the spirit world the living and dead noting acting in concert in this connection it may be well to consider that the basis upon which the whole structure of christianity rests reeta to is vicarious the sacrifice and atonement atou ement of christ for the human raze ra ae this department of the religious labors of the latter day saints vicarious ordinance work for the deau dead is regarded by them as being specially sacred and must according to the revelations given to the church be performed in holy places hence the erection by them of temples temple which are dedicated unto the most high goj god the first structure of this character ere erected acted by them was built in kirtland ohio and ana the second in nauvoo hancock ancock li county illinois of the possession of these they were deprived by the action of ruthless and murderous mob knobf pour four have been reared in utah and are being used for the purposes f for 0 r which they were designed one in st george washington county another in mantl manti sanpete county and the remaining two located respectively in logan loean cache county anil and salt Like L ike city the last mentioned is one of the most beautiful buildings in the united states and its furnishings are in unison with aits nits exterior magnificence immediately previous to its dedication hundreds of people not connected with the church were invited to pass through this remarkable structure and the universal verdict of those visitors was so far as aa known that it is one of the most moat attractive mud and interesting buildings they ever entered the honesty and devotion of the saints in relation to the performance of work which they deem necessary to be done for and in behalf of their dead kindred bas been shown by the fact that their temples temple lave have cost coat many m allons of dollars and much of the work in constructing and equipping them has been beed while these people were in penury enduring hardships that no pen however gifted is in capable of adequately describing this interest bee bag also been exhibited by their efforts to gather up genealogy genea logi val al data concerning their progenitors in this pursuit many of them have traveled thousands of miles by sea gea and land visiting churches offices of registration depositories repositories deposit ories of records libraries and many other available sources of information this research has baa been greatly aided by the publication during the last half cent century ury oi of genealogical books and articled arti clen cleb relating to early american families many of which have lineal descendants in the church of jesus christ of latter jay saints hence you will see why I 1 am interested in literature ot of this character the vicarious work to which I 1 have alluded as an important feature of the faith of the saints Is from the standpoint of the latter purely beneficent and benevolent and even from the point of view of those who have no belief in its efficacy it must appear to be of that character so far as relates to the sincerity and devotion of those who enga goin it it has involved an amount of labor and a degree of expenditure of which those not familiar with it can form only a meager conception the foregoing tore going explanation will perhaps be sufficient to show that the faith of the mormon people peaple to is not contracted tr hue but rests upon a sublimely comprehensive basis one kae of the burnine religious questions of the day ls is whether or not the dead who departed without a knowledge of the gospel will under toe ane banner of christ have bave a chance of salvation after death such innovators as dr brigge support the aari affi amative side of this subject and are therefore said to be leading out from the petrified religious dogmas which have hampered human buman thought and action lor or centuries but as you will perhaps vb observe serve even these modera image imae breakers must take a seat beat more than half bait a century in the rear of the mormon prophet and IS people eople |
