The Vitality of "Mormonism": An Address

An Address
JAMES E. TALMAGE OF THE COUNCIL OF THE TWELVE, CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER-DAY SAINTS
PUBLISHED BY THE CHURCH
Salt Lake City
1917
The following pages embody an address delivered by invitation at a meeting of the Denver Philosophical Society, at Denver, Colorado, December 14th, 1916, by Dr. James E. Talmage.
The address has already been printed through the daily press and in magazine pages; and it is presented herewith in convenient form, suitable for preservation.
The conciseness, clearness, and accuracy with which the subject is treated commend it to the attention of interested and studious readers.
THE PUBLISHERS.
Salt Lake City, Utah, January, 1917.
Why does Mormonism persist? Determined attempts were made both openly and by stealth to strangle the system at its birth, to destroy the mustard seed at the time of the planting; and, as the fact of its survival has become prominent the certainty of its impending demise has been announced time and again; the fall of the umbrageous tree, amidst whose branches the birds of search continue to find food and shelter, has been often predicted.
On the 6th of April, 1830, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was organized as a body corporate at Fayette in the State of New York; and the names of but six persons are of record as those of actual participants. True, by that time a few times six had identified themselves with the new and unprecedented movement; but, as the laws of the State specified six as the required number of incorporators, only that number took part in the legal procedure. And they, save one, were relatively unknown and in fact obscure.