Salvation Universal

by Joseph Fielding Smith

[Footnote O: History of the Church, Jan. 20, 1844.]

These passages emphasize the importance of the work for the dead, for we cannot be saved without them, nor can they be saved without us. Our salvation cannot be accomplished unless the fathers and the children are joined together, bound, sealed in perfect family order. Husbands must be united by authority to their wives; children to their parents, until there is one grand family composed of all the faithful from the beginning to the end of time, with Adam, our progenitor standing in his calling as the father of us all.

How great is the responsibility of the Latter-day Saints! No wonder the theme occupied the prophet's mind so constantly, just before his death, for upon the Saints devolves the labor of this universal redemption! Is not this the greatest, most glorious duty in the world? How terrible would be the consequences should we fail! The earth would be smitten with a curse, and utterly wasted. The work of all the dispensations would be lost, the dead as well as the living would be denied salvation. Anarchy, confusion, even chaos, would reign supreme: for this salvation must come by our endeavors, and we cannot fail. Individuals may fail to do their part, and be rejected for their failure, but the work of the Lord shall go on and increase from day to day, until redemption of the dead shall be accomplished.

If all the righteous blood from the days of Abel to the days of Zacharias, was required of the Jews in the days of Christ, because they neglected to do their duty in this regard, is it unreasonable to suppose that the blood of all the righteous from the beginning to the present day will be required of this generation? For our privileges are greater than those of the Jews in the meridian of time. Therefore it behooves each one of us to rid our garments of the blood of this generation by performing all our duties required in the gospel.

If this work must be performed for the dead from the beginning to the end of time, how is it to be done? It is an exceptional case when a family record can be traced beyond the fifteenth century with any degree of accuracy, and most all of those that can, merely give the name of the Father and first-born son, or the name of the one inheriting the estate. In extent of time three or four hundred years is but a moment. What, then, are we to do for the great multitudes of our kindred who antedate the fifteenth or sixteenth centuries, whose records were never kept, and consequently we cannot obtain? Will the Lord hold us accountable for these dead, and punish us for not doing their work, when we are powerless to act? Not in the least. The Lord requires of us that we do all we can, no more than that. He will assist us if we will try, and the way will be opened before us, as has been the case in innumerable instances, so that we can accomplish a great deal more than we at first think we can. There is enough that we can do for the dead, from the records which can be obtained today, to fill a hundred temples daily, and then we would not be through, at the rate we are working, before Christ will come to reign.

We are expected to save as many as we possibly can with the knowledge we possess, and when the Redeemer comes to reign on earth, there will be a closer communication between the mortal and the resurrected Saints who will work hand in hand in the redemption of the dead. Those who have passed beyond will then be in a position to furnish to their mortal kin all necessary names for temple work; and thus the labor for their salvation will be facilitated and more accurately done than it possibly can be done today.

Even now hundreds of thousands of records have been prepared, the names of many millions of souls have been published and are accessible to the members of the Church. Each year new genealogical records are being prepared in vast numbers more rapidly than we can do the work. And the Saints with all their diligence, are not doing all that could be done. Comparatively, we are few in numbers, and the capacity of our temples, limited; but we should increase the work by increasing the number of workers. When the present temples will not accommodate all who desire to attend, the Lord will require that other temples be erected.

There are in the Church today (1910) over forty-one thousand seven hundred men holding the Melchizedek Priesthood, and every faithful elder has access to the temples. Suppose that each of the forty-one thousand seven hundred elders should go to one of the temples one day each month—and where they cannot go, they might send and have the work done for them—what would be the result? The work would be done for five hundred thousand each year. If an equal number of sisters would do the same, there would be one million souls endowed every year. If we spent one day each month in the temples saving our dead, just twelve days out of the three hundred and sixty-five of the year, brethren and sisters, would any of us be doing more than our share? Could we even feel that we were doing our full duty, when the responsibility given us is so great, and the Saints have not too much time to save and redeem their dead and gather together their living relatives, that they may be saved also before the earth will be smitten, and the consummation decreed falls upon the world? Suppose we did all this each year, in the course of a century we would have endowed one hundred million souls, which is about the present population of the United States, and a very small part of the work for those whose records we may now obtain. In the library of the Genealogical Society of Utah—which society was organized in 1894 as an aid to the Saints who desire to do temple work—situated in the Church Office Building, Salt Lake City, we have on file thousands of records, containing millions of names that have been collected from the parish registers and other records both in the United States and Europe. These are accessible, and many are obtaining from them the names of their dead and performing in the temples the work that will merit them a place in the Kingdom of God.

Again, suppose each one of us should fill out one baptismal blank of twenty names, and send it to the temple every month, it would mean that over twenty million, sixteen thousand baptisms would be performed each twelve months. Suppose we sent such a list but twice a year, we would then baptize three million, three hundred and thirty-six thousand souls each year. Is this more than we ought to do? Is it more than we are capable of doing? It certainly is a great deal more than we are doing; and, too, there are many individuals who are baptizing more than twenty every month. If a few can do it, why can not more? The fact is, this question has not appealed to many of us, we have been so busy in other pursuits, principally in the accumulation of worldly goods that we cannot carry with us, that we have had no time or inclination to do the work for our dead. If one hundredth part of the energy expended by the members of the Church in other ways were directed in the channels of temple work where it properly belongs, we could accomplish a great deal more work than we are now doing for the salvation of the dead.

But one will say: "I have done the work for all my ancestors of whom I have any knowledge. My genealogy can only be traced to my great grandfather, beyond that all is dark. How can I be baptized each year for twenty, forty, sixty, or more of my dead when we haven't their records?" To such a person I reply: If you have done the work for all your known dead, and your record cannot be traced but one or two generations, you still have the privilege of assisting your neighbor who lacks sufficient help and therefore cannot do the work for all his dead. Assist him and assist the temples with your financial as well as your moral support, and the way may be opened before you that you can obtain more knowledge of your own dead.