CHAPTER XXIV.
THE ORIGIN OF “THE REFORMATION:”—EXTRAORDINARY DOINGS OF THE SAINTS.
The popular idea of Mormonism is that the peculiar feature which distinguishes it from all other Christian sects is Polygamy. To a certain extent this is, of course, true; but it is only a partial statement of the truth. If Polygamy were to be relinquished, it would still be found that Mormonism had really very little in common with other sects, and very much that was completely antagonistic to them.
The confession of faith published by Joseph Smith during his lifetime would certainly deceive an uninitiated person; and it was in consequence of the ambiguity of that very document that so many unsuspecting persons were from the beginning of Mormonism led astray by the teachings of the Missionaries. The convert was told that the Mormon faith proclaimed the existence of one true God, but he was not told that Father Adam was that deity, and that he is “like a well-to-do farmer.” He was told that Christ was the Son of God, but he was not taught that the Virgin Mary was “the lawful wife of God the Father,” and that “He intended after the resurrection to take her again, as one of His own wives, to raise up immortal spirits in eternity. He was told of faith in a Saviour, he was not told that men were the only saviours of their wives, and that unless a woman pleased her husband, and was obedient and was saved by him, she could not be saved at all. He was told that the Saints believed in the Holy Ghost, but he was not told that “The Holy Ghost is a man; he is one of the sons of our Father and our God.... You think our Father and our God is not a lively, sociable, and cheerful man; He is one of the most lively men that ever lived!”
And yet, although such fearful and shocking blasphemy was, of course, hidden from the convert whom it was desirable to impress with the idea that Mormonism was only a development of Christianity, it was openly taught in the sermons in the Tabernacle before thousands of people, and inculcated in the writings of the highest authorities. The passages which I have just quoted, were preached in public, were taken down in shorthand were revised under the superintendence of Brigham Young or one of the chief leaders, were then printed and published in Salt Lake City, and afterwards reprinted in another form.
The verbal repetition of such blasphemy as this would be simply painful and disgusting to any right-minded person. I shall therefore endeavour to give an idea of some of these outrageous doctrines without entering too closely into details. Should the reader, however, wish to search and see for him self, I refer him to the Journals of Discourses, the files of the Church papers, and the publications of the Mormon writers generally.
One of the first innovations upon the received faith of ordinary Christians was the doctrine of Polytheism. There can be no doubt that, even in Joseph’s time, that doctrine was taught, although, as in the case of Polygamy, all knowledge of it was kept from every one but the initiated—the “strong men” who could be entrusted with the inner secrets of the church leaders. That such a doctrine, however, was beginning, even then, to form part of the faith of the Saints, may be seen in the following lines upon the occasion of the Prophet’s murder:—
“Unchanged in death, with a Saviour’s love,
He pleads their cause in the courts above.
His home’s in the sky, he dwells with the Gods,
Far from the furious rage of mobs!