39. So far has the word of revealed truth extended our knowledge regarding the destiny of the children of God. Beyond the regeneration of the earth, and the final judgment of the just and the wicked, we know little except that a plan of eternal progression has been provided.

NOTES.

1. Pagan Ignorance Concerning the Resurrection.—In connection with the statement that human knowledge of the resurrection is based on revelation, the following is of interest:—"Whatever heathen philosophers may have guessed as to the immortality of the soul, even admitting that this was really the result of their own speculations, and not at all due to the relics of tradition, it is certain that they never reached so far as the doctrine of a bodily resurrection. Pliny, when enumerating the things which it was not even in the power of God to do, specified these two—the endowment of mortals with an eternal existence, and the recalling of the departed from the grave (ii, c, vii). A similar opinion is enunciated by Æschylus in the 'Eumenides' (647, 648). The utmost to which they attained in their ethical speculations was a conception of the possible continuance of life, in some new forms and conditions, beyond the grave; but this was all. A resurrection in the scripture sense of the word they never imagined."—Cassell's Bible Dictionary, p. 936.

2. General Belief in a Resurrection.—"This great event of the future, like the doctrine of the resurrection of Christ, is so entirely a cardinal truth, that there never has been a time in which it has not been an article of the Christian creed, the only difference between the ancient creeds and our own, being that the latter has the phrase 'resurrection of the body' whereas the former invariably uses the form 'resurrection of the flesh.' The reason for the ancient mode of expression is stated by Jerome to be, that since there are spiritual bodies, some might readily accept a resurrection of the body in that sense, who would deny the actual resurrection of the flesh."—Cassell's Bible Dictionary, p. 935.

3. The Sadducees, when mentioned in the New Testament, are usually represented as being in opposition to the Pharisees, the two classes constituting the most influential of the sects existing among the Jews at the time of Christ. The two differed on many fundamental matters of belief and practice, including pre-existence of spirits; the reality of spiritual punishment and future retribution for sin; the necessity of self-denial in individual life; the immortality of the soul; and the resurrection from the dead; in all of which the Pharisees stood for the affirmative, while the Sadducees denied. Josephus says:—"The doctrine of the Sadducees is that the soul and body perish together; the law is all that they are concerned to observe" (Ant. xviii, 1, 4). The sect consisted mainly of members of the aristocracy. Special mention of the Sadducees here is suggested by their determined opposition to the doctrine of the resurrection, which they sought to assail by arrogant assumption or to belittle by ridicule. Cassell's Bible Dictionary gives place to the following:—"The Sadducees are never mentioned in John's Gospel. The only occasion on which they are spoken of in the Gospels of Mark and Luke is that referred to also by St. Matthew, on which they attempted to ridicule the doctrine of the resurrection, by asking our Lord's opinion as to whose wife a woman would be in the future world, who had been married to several in this world (Matt. xxii, 23-32; Mark xii, 18-27; Luke xx, 27-38). Their question proceeded on the assumption that the levirate law, as promulgated by Moses (Deut. xxv, 5-6), implied that the Jewish law-giver had no resurrection of the dead in view. Our Lord's answer explained the difficulty, affirmed the resurrection of the dead, and asserted the existence of angels, which the Sadducees also denied (Matt. xxii, 30; Mark xii, 25; Luke xx, 35, 36; compare with Acts xxiii, 8). He also quoted the divine announcement,—'I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob' (Exod. iii, 6, 15, 16), and founded thereon by inference an argument not only for immortality, but also for the resurrection. The words quoted must have been regarded by our Lord as implying that the patriarchs, as parties to the covenant, were still in a state of conscious relation to God."

4. Heathen in the First Resurrection.—The statement that the heathen dead will have place in the first resurrection is sustained by the word of scripture, and by a consideration of the principles of true justice according to which humanity is to be judged. Man will be accounted blameless or guilty, according to his deeds as interpreted in the light of the law under which he is required to live. It is inconsistent with our conception of a just God, to believe Him capable of inflicting condemnation upon any one for noncompliance with a requirement of which the person had no knowledge. Nevertheless, the laws of the Church will not be suspended even in the case of those who have sinned in darkness and ignorance; but it is reasonable to believe that the plan of redemption will afford such benighted ones an opportunity of learning the laws of God; and surely, as fast as they so learn, will obedience be required on pain of the penalty. Note the following passages in addition to the citations in the text:

"And if there was no law given if men sinned, what could justice do, or mercy either; for they would have no claim upon the creature?"—Alma xlii, 21.

"Wherefore he has given a law; and where there is no law given, there is no punishment; and where there is no punishment, there is no condemnation; and where there is no condemnation, the mercies of the Holy One of Israel have claim upon them, because of the atonement; for they are delivered by the power of him."—II Nephi ix, 25.

"And moreover, I say unto you, that the time shall come, when the knowledge of a Savior shall spread throughout every nation, kindred, tongue, and people. And behold, when that time cometh, none shall be found blameless before God, except it be little children, only through repentance and faith on the name of the Lord God Omnipotent."—Mos. iii, 20-21. See also Helaman xv, 14-15.

5. The Intermediate State of the Soul; Paradise.—The condition of the spirits of men between death and the resurrection is a subject of great interest, and one concerning which much dispute has arisen. The scriptures prove, that at the time of man's final judgment he will stand before the bar of God, clothed in his resurrected body, and this, irrespective of his condition of purity or guilt. While awaiting the time of their coming forth, disembodied spirits exist in an intermediate state, of happiness and rest or of suffering and suspense, according to their works in mortality. The prophet Alma said:—"Now concerning the state of the soul between death and the resurrection. Behold, it has been made known unto me, by an angel, that the spirits of all men, as soon as they are departed from this mortal body; yea, the spirits of all men, whether they be good or evil, are taken home to that God who gave them life. And then shall it come to pass that the spirits of those who are righteous are received into a state of happiness, which is called paradise; a state of rest; a state of peace, where they shall rest from all their troubles and from all care, and sorrow, etc. And then shall it come to pass, that the spirits of the wicked, yea, who are evil; for behold, they have no part nor portion of the Spirit of the Lord; for behold, they chose evil works rather than good; therefore the spirit of the devil did enter into them, and take possession of their house; and these shall be cast out into outer darkness; there shall be weeping, and wailing, and gnashing of teeth; and this because of their own iniquity; being led captive by the will of the devil. Now this is the state of the souls of the wicked; yea, in darkness, and a state of awful, fearful looking, for the fiery indignation of the wrath of God upon them; thus they remain in this state, as well as the righteous in paradise until the time of their resurrection."—Alma xl, 11-14.

Reference to paradise, as a place prepared for righteous spirits while awaiting the resurrection, is made also by the first Nephi (II Nephi ix, 13), by a later prophet of the same name (IV Nephi 14), and by Moroni (Moroni x, 34). New Testament mention supports the same (Luke xxiii, 43; II Cor. xii, 4; Rev. ii, 7). Paradise, then, is not the place of final glory; for such the thief who died with Christ was assuredly not prepared, yet we cannot doubt the fulfillment of our Lord's promise that the penitent malefactor should be with Him in paradise that day; and, moreover, the declaration of the risen Savior to Mary Magdalene, three days later, that He had not at that time ascended to His Father, is proof of His having spent the intermediate time in paradise.

The word "paradise," by its derivation through the Greek from the Persian, signifies a pleasure ground.

[LECTURE XXII.]

RELIGIOUS LIBERTY AND TOLERATION.

Article 11.—We claim the privilege of worshiping Almighty God according to the dictates of our own conscience, and allow all men the same privilege, let them worship how, where, or what they may.

1. Man's Right to Freedom in Worship.—The Latter-day Saints proclaim their unqualified allegiance to the principles of religious liberty and religious toleration. Freedom to worship Almighty God as the conscience may dictate, they claim as one of the inherent and inalienable rights of humanity. The inspired framers of our charter of national independence proclaimed to the world, as a self-evident truth, that the common birthright of humanity gives to every man a claim to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Happiness is foreign, liberty but a name, and life a disappointment to him who is denied the freedom to worship as he may desire. No person possessing a regard for Deity and a sense of duty toward that power Divine, can be happy if he be restricted in the performance of the highest duty of his existence. Could one be happy, though he were housed in a palace, surrounded with all material comforts and provided with every facility for intellectual enjoyment, if he were cut off from communion with the being whom he loved the most? To the man who has learned to know his Divine Father, freedom of worship is preferable even to life.

2. What is Worship?—The derivation of the term suggests an answer. It comes to us as the lineal descendant of a pair of Anglo-Saxon words (weorth, meaning worthy, and scipe, the old form of ship, signifying condition or state), and conveys the thought of worthy-ship. The worship of which one is capable depends upon his comprehension of the worthiness characterizing the object of his reverence. Man's capacity for worship is a measure of his comprehension of God. The fuller the acquaintance, the closer the communion between the worshiper and his Deity, the more thorough and sincere will be his homage. When we say of one, in figurative speech, that he is a worshiper of the good, the beautiful, the true, we affirm that he possesses a deeper and a more complete conception of worth in the object of his adoration, than has another whose perception does not lead him to reverence those ennobling qualities.