Footnotes
[1]. For further particulars of the epileptic theory, see Woodbridge Riley's book, "The Founder of Mormonism," and Robert C. Webb's admirable answer thereto in Chapter 26 of "The Real Mormonism."
[2]. Hist. Ch. Vol. 1, p. 132. 1 Nephi 13:35, 40.
[3]. Isa. 29:4.
[4]. Ezek. 37:16-19.
ARTICLE ELEVEN.
The God Story.
Greater than it Appears.—"Mormonism" is a much bigger thing than Catholic scholars or Episcopal bishops imagine. It is only a nickname for the Everlasting Gospel, restored to earth in the nineteenth century, that it might be preached "to every nation and kindred and tongue and people,"[[1]] as a warning to the world that the end of wickedness is nigh, that the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand, and that the Lord whom the righteous seek is about to "come suddenly to his Temple."[[2]]
The Antiquity of the Gospel.—The Gospel originated in the heavens before this earth was formed, and was revealed from God out of Eternity at the very beginning of Time. It was the means whereby our great ancestor, Adam, after his expulsion from Eden, regained the Divine Presence from which he had been banished; and it is the means whereby his posterity, such as are obedient to the Gospel's requirements, may follow him into the Celestial Kingdom. The same ladder that he climbed, until beyond the reach of the fatal consequences of his transgression, the whole human race, inheriting from him the effects of the fall, must also climb, or they will never see the face of God in eternal glory.
The Path to Perfection.—But the Gospel is more than a means of escape from impending ills. To all good Christians it is as a life-boat, or a fire-escape, a way out of a perilous situation. To the Latter-day Saints, it is all this and more. A divine plan for human progress, the foreordained Pathway to Perfection—such is Christ's Gospel, as revealed to and proclaimed by Joseph the Seer.