A Rational Theology, as Taught by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints

by John Andreas Widtsoe

The Great Plan provided that man should come upon earth with the memory of his past taken from him, so that, beginning his earth-life as a child, he might repeat on earth the efforts that earned for him progress in the pre-existent life. Even Adam and Eve forgot the details of their previous lives, for it was necessary that all be under the same law, and that no improper strength be derived, by anyone, from the pre-existent experiences.

**Adam Hears the Gospel.** The only rational thing that could be done to spirits so placed on earth was to teach them fully the story of man's origin and destiny and the meaning and duties of the earth-life. The plea of ignorance would not then be valid. Consequently, soon after the first parents had been driven out of the Garden of Eden, an angel appeared and taught Adam the story of man from the first to the last day. The plan of salvation, including the atoning sacrifice of Jesus, the organized Church, the purpose and powers of the priesthood and the rights and duties of man upon earth, whether within or without the Church, was fully unfolded. Adam, the first earth-pupil of God, was taught, as his first lesson, the great philosophy overshadowing the existence of man. When Adam had been taught all this, and had accepted the truth, he was baptized, even as men are baptized today, and he entered into all the other ordinances of the Gospel and was given full authority through the Priesthood conferred upon him to officiate in God's name in all matters pertaining, under the Great Plan, to the welfare of man.

**The First Dispensation.** As children and children's children came to Adam he taught them carefully all that had been taught him, so that the knowledge of the law might remain upon the earth. The ordinances of the Gospel were practiced, the righteous were organized into the Church, even as today, and the authority of the Priesthood was transmitted by Adam to his children, and by them to their children, so that the precious gift might not be lost. In those days the Church was probably fully organized, according to the patriarchal order; at least in the days of Enoch, the seventh from Adam, it seems quite clear that the Church was established with all of its essential parts. The activity in behalf of the Gospel which began with Adam and continued until Noah, at the time of the great flood, is ordinarily known as the first dispensation of the Gospel.

**The First Apostasy.** From the beginning of his earth-career, Adam retained his free agency. God, directly or through agents, might teach and command, but Adam, a free agent, had the right to accept or reject as seemed him best. Adam's children, likewise, though taught by the patriarch of the race of the way of righteousness, could accept or reject for themselves whatever was taught them. Free agency was with man in that early day as it is now.

The descendants of Adam soon began to exercise their free agency, some for, and many against, the Great Plan. Cain exercised his free agency in the murder of Abel. As time went on, large numbers departed from the truth concerning man's place in the universe as taught by Adam, and refused to accept the Gospel. Concurrently with the establishment of the Church in the first dispensation there was, therefore, a first great apostasy. It is ever so, it has ever been so, and will ever be so, that in a world of intelligent beings, possessing free agency, some will accept and some will reject the truth. No doubt, in the process of time, truth will triumph, and all may be brought to understand the will of God, but the conquest is attended by many temporary departures from the truth. Nevertheless, Adam and those who remained true to his teachings, continued, faithfully, to teach to others the eternal truth, so that they might perchance be made to return to the great truth which they had so lightly cast aside.

**The Later Dispensations.** The first apostasy culminated in the flood, which was sent because of the violence of the first apostasy and the corruption of men. As far as known, only Noah and his immediate family were preserved. In them, however, was represented all the blood of the world. To the new race Noah explained fully that the flood was due, entirely, to the wicked hardness of the hearts of the people, and their refusal to accept eternal truth or to respect the authority of God, and that it was necessary, should calamity be avoided, to live in accordance with the Great Plan. To them all, the Gospel was taught in its purity. Nevertheless, it was only a short time before apostasy again occurred among many. The free agency of man can not be curbed. Yet, probably, there has not been, since the flood, such utter corruption as prevailed during the first apostasy.

From the days of the flood, God or his messengers have appeared on earth, at various times, to restore the truth or to keep it alive in the hearts of the faithful, so that man might possess a full knowledge of the Gospel and that the earth might never need to be without the story of the Great Plan and the authority of the Priesthood. For instance, Melchizedek, the high priest, possessed a full measure of the authority of the holy priesthood. To Abraham, God and his angels appeared, and endowed him with the authority of God. So on, down the course of time, there are numerous instances of the appearance of God to men to help the children of men to a perfect understanding of the great truths that must be understood and obeyed, if men are to continue in their progressive development. It is not known how many men and women at various times have received such visitations, but it is probable that hosts of men and women at various times, even when the Church has not been organized, have received and used the truth of life as embodied in the Great Plan.

**The Dispensation of the Meridian of Time.** In the course of human history and in accordance with the Great Plan, Jesus the Son of God, appeared on earth, to atone for the act of Adam and Eve, who "fell" that men might be. This is called the dispensation of the meridian of time. Jesus did live on earth, and gave his life so that mortal bodies may rise from the grave and pass into an eternal existence, beyond the reach of corruption. During the sojourn of Jesus on earth, he devoted himself to a restatement of the Gospel, including the story of the past and the present and the hope of the future. At no time since the days of Adam, had the Gospel been so fully taught and made so simply clear to the understanding as in the days of Jesus. Under the teachings of the Savior, the Church was re-established in order and completeness.

**The Great Apostasy.** After the ascension of Jesus, the Church remained, for some time, fully organized. Thousands flocked to it, and the people lived in accordance with the doctrines taught by the Savior. Soon, however, history repeated itself. In the right of their free agency, men refused, in many cases, to obey the laws and ordinances of the Gospel, and more often changed them to suit their own convenience. Such departures from the truth became more numerous and more flagrant as time wore on, until error permeated the whole Church. At last, about six hundred years after Christ, the Gospel laws and ordinances had become so completely warped that it was as if the Church had departed from the earth. The authority of the Priesthood no longer remained with the Church. This was the great apostasy. From that time, complete darkness reigned for many centuries. In those days, however, many honest men could see that the truth was not upon the earth, and hoped that the simple principles of the Gospel might again be correctly practiced by man. Among such men were Luther and many others, who used their best endeavors to show the people that error ruled. At last many were awakened, and the days of the Reformation began. The Reformation was a period of preparation for the last restoration of the Gospel on earth. Many years were required before the darkness of centuries could be lifted from the souls of men.

**The Restoration.** Finally, as men broke through the darkness, as intelligence became diffused among all men, and as liberality of thought grew and became respected, the world was ready for the eternal truth. Again the Gospel was restored with the authority of the Priesthood and the organization of the Church. On an early spring day, in the year 1820, in the woods of western New York, God the Father, and God the Son, appeared to a fourteen-year-old boy named Joseph Smith, who had faithfully asked for divine help. Through the instrumentality of this boy, guided constantly by God, the Church was re-established, the authority of the Priesthood again conferred upon many men, and a fulness of knowledge pertaining to man's place in the universe offered to all who would listen. In time the Church was organized precisely as was the primitive Church, and more fully than at any other time in the history of the world. This was the great restoration.