24. The only real punishment which is within the power of the church to inflict is to disfellowship or excommunicate its members. In the former case the offender is merely suspended from the privileges of church communion; this punishment may be inflicted by the bishop, until satisfaction is made by the offender. In the latter case—excommunication—the person absolutely loses his membership in the church, together with all the priesthood he holds; and if he ever regains a standing it will be by baptism and confirmation as at the first.
25. Of course to those who hold lightly their standing in the church, suspension of fellowship, or excommunication has no especial terror; but to the man of faith, whose full hopes of eternal life with all its advantages stand or fall with his standing in the church of Christ, no greater punishment can threaten him. He remembers that the Lord hath said: "Wo unto them who are cut off from my church, for the same are overcome of the world."[[140]] And, again: "Inasmuch as ye are cut off by transgressions, ye cannot escape the buffetings of Satan, until the day of redemption."[[141]] The punishment, then, of excommunication is a serious one in the estimation of the faithful; and since man in his imperfect state is influenced to righteousness by his fear of punishment, as well as by his hope of reward, the punishment of excommunication has a wholesome effect in preserving the discipline of the church.
26. Conferences of the Church.—There are two general conferences of the church each year, one convening on the 6th of April, and the other on the 6th of October. Conferences are convened every three months in all the stakes of Zion; and in the respective wards once a year. The chief purposes of holding these conferences, aside from the giving of instructions by the general authorities, who are usually present, is to sustain by vote the officers of the church. The principle of common consent operating in the church government has already been explained;[[142]] and it only remains to say that the means by which this "common" consent is expressed—voting to sustain those proposed for the several offices—virtually amounts to an election. The elective principle in government or in societies, is not only carried out by direct means; it may be carried out by indirect means. It is just as much a fact under the form of popular acceptance as of popular choice.[[143]] It is in the form of popular acceptance that the elective principle exists in the church.
27. Reflections.—If a good system for the organization and administration of authority, and an equally good system for the security of liberty is the test of a good plan of government, then this ecclesiastical government we have described must be recognized as of the very highest order. It is elaborate in organization, but simple in its operations. There is in it a most excellent assemblage of means to transmit the will of the central power into all departments of the society; and, on the other hand, an equally efficient assemblage of means for transmitting the response of the society to the central organized power. And as the whole government exists by the common consent of the church members, and elections by popular acceptance are frequent, the liberties of the people composing the church are secured. Where these facts exist, the highest order of government must result. And we may say, in conclusion, that the formation of a free ecclesiastical government on so extensive a scale is one of the most interesting problems of humanity. "It requires such refined prudence [to form such a government], such comprehensive knowledge, and such perspicacious sagacity, united with such almost illimitable powers of combination, that it is nearly in vain to hope for qualities so rare to be congregated in a solitary mind."[[144]] Indeed it is in vain to hope for these powers in an uninspired mind. It is a task too difficult for mere human ingenuity. And when it is remembered that Joseph Smith's knowledge of government and history in his early life was exceedingly limited; and that this system of church government was given piece-meal—as will be seen by its gradual development as portrayed in this work[[145]]—it is absurd to accredit it to a boy's native ingenuity. It was not a system marked out in theory and then organized. On the contrary, line was given upon line, precept upon precept. An officer was given today and his duties explained; another given at another time, when the development of the work required his services, and his duties explained. After a lapse of years men began to discover that these fragments of government constituted a most elaborate yet simple system—a consistent whole, based on the highest and truest principles of government; a system that while it was suited to the conditions of the church in the earlier years of its existence, yet is capable of answering the needs of the organization should it be so expanded as to fill the earth. This is a fact as astonishing to the world as it is gratifying to the Saints. The church is its own witness that the mind which fashioned it is divine. It is too great in its organization, and yet too simple in its administration to be the creation of an uninspired mind, especially of a mind so narrow in its knowledge and inexperienced in affairs related to government as that of Joseph Smith. No, neither the hand of man nor the mind of man created it; it came from God, and bears the impress of its divine creation.
REVIEW.
1. What is priesthood?
2. What is the spirit of the government by the priesthood?
3. For what was the church instituted?
4. What powers and authority appertains unto it?
5. How is the priesthood divided?