The Vitality of "Mormonism": An Address

by James E. Talmage

To this portentous scripture a very narrow exposition was accorded in the dogmatic exegesis of the earlier commentaries, and the dictum of a heaven and a hell was scarcely shaken thereby. Belief in graded conditions in the hereafter is widespread today, and in this rational substitution of ennobling truth for degrading error, "Mormonism" is again the world's teacher. Joseph Smith avowed that in February 1832 he received a Divine revelation, in which conditions in the hereafter were shown to be the direct result of the individual life in mortality, and by which the existence of distinct kingdoms of glory, each with its own numerous gradations, was made plain. These are called in descending order the Celestial, the Terrestrial and the Telestial. Far below the lowest of these is the state prepared for the hopelessly unregenerate, those who have sinned against light and knowledge, those who, having learned the laws of righteousness and having received the testimony of the Christ have ruthlessly trodden the priceless pearls into the mire, those few who are fit companions for the devil and his angels throughout eternity, those who are known by the awful name "sons of perdition." Of them the revelation last referred to avers:

"Thus saith the Lord, concerning all those who know my power, and have been made partakers thereof, and suffered themselves, through the power of the devil, to be overcome, and to deny the truth and defy my power They are they who are the sons of perdition, of whom I say that it had been better for them never to have been born, For they are vessels of wrath, doomed to suffer the wrath of God, with the devil and his angels in eternity; Concerning whom I have said there is no forgiveness in this world nor in the world to come, Having denied the Holy Spirit after having received it, and having denied the Only Begotten Son of the Father having crucified him unto themselves, and put him to an open shame. These are they who shall go away into the lake of fire and brimstone, with the devil and his angels, And the only ones on whom the second death shall have any power; Yea, verily, the only ones who shall not be redeemed in the due time of the Lord, after the sufferings of his wrath." (Doctrine and Covenants 76:31-38.)

In immeasurable contrast is the state of those who attain not only salvation but exaltation in the Celestial kingdom. We read:

"They are they who received the testimony of Jesus, and believed on his name and were baptized after the manner of his burial, being buried in the water in his name, and this according to the commandment which he has given, That by keeping the commandments they might be washed and cleansed from all their sins, and receive the Holy Spirit by the laying on of the hands of him who is ordained and sealed unto this power. And who overcome by faith, and are sealed by the Holy Spirit of promise, which the Father sheds forth upon all those who are just and true. They are they who are the church of the First Born. They are they into whose hands the Father has given all things—They are they who are Priests and Kings, who have received of his fullness, arid of his glory, And are Priests of the Most High, after the order of Melchizedek, which was after the order of Enoch, which was after the order of the Only Begotten Son; Wherefore, as it is written, they are Gods, even the sons of God Wherefore all things are theirs, whether life or death, or things present, or things to come, all are theirs and they are Christ's and Christ is God's. And they shall overcome all things; Wherefore let no man glory in man, but rather let him glory in God, who shall subdue all enemies under his feet—These shall dwell in the presence of God and his Christ for ever and ever. These are they whom he shall bring with him, when he shall come in the clouds of heaven, to reign on the earth over his people. These are they who shall have part in the first resurrection. These are they who shall come forth in the resurrection of the just." (Verses 51-65.)

Of those who attain the lesser glory of the Terrestrial it is written:

"And again, we saw the terrestrial world, and behold and lo, these are they who are of the terrestrial, whose glory differs from that of the church of the First Born, who have received the fullness of the Father, even as that of the moon differs from the sun in the firmament. Behold, these are they who died without law, And also they who are the spirits of men kept in prison, whom the Son visited, and preached the gospel unto them, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, Who received not the testimony of Jesus in the flesh, but afterwards received it. These are they who are honorable men of the earth, who were blinded by the craftiness of men. These are they who receive of his glory, but not of his fullness. * * * These are they who are not valiant in the testimony of Jesus; wherefore they obtain not the crown over the kingdom of our God." (Verses 71-76, 79.)

And of the inhabitants of the Telestial:

"And again, we saw the glory of the telestial, which glory is that of the lesser, even as the glory of the stars differs from that of the glory of the moon in the firmament. These are they who received not the gospel of Christ, neither the testimony of Jesus. These are they who deny not the Holy Spirit. These are they who are thrust down to hell. These are they who shall not be redeemed from the devil, until the last resurrection, until the Lord, even Christ the Lamb shall have finished his work. * * * And the glory of the telestial is one, even as the glory of the stars is one, for as one star differs from another star in glory, even so differs one from another in glory in the telestial world; For these are they who are of Paul, and of Apollos, and of Cephas. These are they who say they are some of one and some of another some of Christ and some of John, and some of Moses, and some of Elias, and some of Esaias, and some of Isaiah, and some of Enoch; But received not the gospel, neither the testimony of Jesus, neither the prophets, neither the everlasting covenant. Last of all, these all are they who will not be gathered with the saints, to be caught up unto the church of the First Born, and received into the cloud. These are they who are liars, and sorcerers, and adulterers, and whoremongers, and whosoever loves and makes a lie. * * * These are they who are cast down to hell and suffer the wrath of Almighty God, until the fullness of times when Christ shall have subdued all enemies under his feet, and shall have perfected his work, * * * But behold, and lo, we saw the glory and the inhabitants of the telestial world, that they were as innumerable as the stars in the firmament of heaven, or as the sand upon the sea shore, And heard the voice of the Lord, saying these all shall bow the knee, and every tongue shall confess to him who sits upon the throne for ever and ever; For they shall be judged according to their works, and every man shall receive according to his own works, his own dominion, in the mansions which are prepared, And they shall be servants of the Most High, but where God and Christ dwell they cannot come, worlds without end." (Verses 81-85, 98-103, 106, 109-112.)

"Mormonism" proclaims the possibility of eternal advancement within the several kingdoms provided in the hereafter and teaches that even repentance is possible beyond the grave. It utters solemn warning, however, against procrastination and wilful neglect here, holding that this life is strictly a probationary period given unto men for repentance and valiant service, and that to neglect is to lose the ability to repent. It repudiates what it regards as a strained and irrelevant exposition of a certain isolated passage from the Preacher of old: "If the tree fall toward the south, or toward the north, in the place where the tree falleth, there it shall be." (Eccles. 11:3.) This we do not believe was ever intended to mean that as the man is when he dies so shall he be eternally; nor do we admit that the tenor of Holy Writ supports any such inference. Neglect, wilful procrastination, evil life here shall surely be a handicap to eternal progress; but however far behind his more faithful fellows a sinner may fall, he shall yet advance if he will but repent and try. Is it empty assumption to say that such doctrine as this, given to the world through the Book of Mormon in 1830, is more vital than the dogmas of neverending torment and eternal damnation?

(C) It was long taught that the body is a hindrance and a burden to the spirit, a thing to be contemned and despised. Carried to its inevitable extreme this belief led to the abnormalities of asceticism, monastic isolation, celibacy, and resultant evils. The spirit of this age impels to healthful living, to the preservation of the body and the conservation of its God-given functions, to the prudent observances of sanitation and hygiene, to abstinence from intoxicants, narcotics and stimulants generally. As early as February the Lord gave a revelation to the Church touching matters of hygiene and diet. "The Word of Wisdom" it has been rightly called; and its precepts are now proclaimed by the teachers of men. Hear it: