The Mormon puzzle, and how to solve it

by R. W. Beers

All men lived before they were born. They existed for ages as spirits, waiting eagerly for fleshly tabernacles; and multitudes of these spirits are now waiting, desiring to come to earth; for it is only by the way of the flesh that they can reach the final bliss of their perfected being, and therefore it is a work of great benevolence to provide earthly bodies into which they may come to dwell.

4. The Doctrine of Polygamy springs naturally out of the two preceding doctrines. In the “Book of Mormon” this practice was forbidden; and in the earlier revelations of Joseph Smith it was distinctly condemned; but it was sanctioned in a revelation claimed to have been given to him at Nauvoo, July 12th, 1843, although it was not promulgated until the fall of 1852 in Salt Lake City by Brigham Young. This doctrine is a necessary sequence of their ideas with regard to the celestial world and the pre-existent life of the human soul. Mr. Pratt, in one of his sermons, says: “The spirit that dwells in each man and woman is, I venture to say, more than five thousand years old. The Lord has ordained that these spirits should come here and take tabernacles by a certain law and through a certain channel; and that law is the law of marriage. The Lord ordained marriage on this globe between Adam and Eve as eternal in its nature; hence we believe in marrying for eternity. Among these spirits in the heavens are many more noble, more intelligent, that were called the great and mighty ones, who were reserved till the fulness of time to come forth upon the face of the earth through a noble parentage, who shall train their tender minds in the truths of eternity, that they may be prophets, priests, and kings to the Most High God. Among the Saints is the most likely place for these spirits to take their tabernacles, to be trained up by that people that are the most righteous of any other people upon the earth. This is the reason that the Lord is sending them here, brethren and sisters. The Lord has not kept them in reserve for five or six thousand years, waiting for their bodies, to send them to the Hottentots, the Hindoos, or the negroes, but to the Saints of Zion. Then, is it not reasonable that the Lord should say unto his faithful and chosen servants: ‘Take unto yourselves more wives, that more of these noble spirits should come forth through these my faithful and chosen servants’?”

Thus do the Mormons have as one of the underlying principles of this abominable practice one of the grandest sentiments of humanity—self-sacrifice for the sake of others. It is that sentiment which has taken hold of the Mormon women and led them not only to submit in silence to what is entirely counter to their nature, but even to choose it and glory in it. Brigham Young told his people often that the world was rapidly hastening to a close, and there were multitudes of spirits waiting for honorable bodies. The Gentiles were corrupt, and the ethereal spirits were waiting anxiously for the favors of the Mormons. The women, he said, would be selfish if they could not endure the wandering affections of their husbands. It was their duty to make a self-sacrifice. Jesus had given His life to redeem; why could they not help to save? It is on that account that the women of Utah have made the sacrifice of the most vital principle of their souls.

The principle which has led the Mormon men to embrace this doctrine, which greatly increases their earthly cares and burdens, is ambition. In heaven they will rule over their posterity; and, consequently, the more wives they have, and the greater their posterity, the greater will be their rank in heaven. Orson Hyde, in one of his sermons, said: “The revelation of the Almighty to a man ... whom God designs to make a ruler and a governor in his eternal kingdom is that he may have more wives, that when he goes to another sphere he may still continue to perpetuate his species; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.” The Mormons declare that those who have no wives are the servants of those who rule. Therefore the object of the Mormon men in embracing polygamy, as they themselves set forth, is to raise up a numerous posterity here and in the world to come, that they may be exalted to the rank of “gods to reign upon thrones.” They believe that all the gods have many wives, and they rule over their descendants, who are constantly increasing in number and dominion; and in accordance with that belief, they teach that Jesus was a polygamist, and that Mary and Martha were his plural wives, with whom he is now living in marriage relations in the celestial world.

5. Another doctrine is that the Latter-Day Gospel must be preached to all men. Until that gospel is accepted, none can be saved; and so, from the earliest days, zeal for propagandism has been a marked feature of this sect. At the very soonest the world must be conquered by this gospel. This has from the first been their fixed design, and about three hundred missionaries are always in the field. The order is: first, offer salvation to the Gentiles till the Lord proclaims that their opportunity is past, and then turn to the Jews. Moreover, they believe there is need for hot haste; for these are the latter days, and the dread second coming of the Son of God is at hand. Many of the devout Mormons believe that when the great temple in Salt Lake City is finished, the Lord Jesus will descend to earth and reign with His Saints for a thousand years.

But not only can none be saved until the Mormon gospel is accepted; neither can any be condemned till it has been heard and rejected by him. And so, not only must the living hear the Latter-Day Gospel, but the same proclamation must be made through all the bounds of the great gathering-place of the dead. To these “spirits in prison,” whose sad misfortune it was to die before the Hill of Cummorah gave up its golden plates to the great Prophet, must be made the offer of faith and baptism. Hence, when Mormon missionaries die they go on preaching just as before—so great is the task, so distant the goal, set before this peculiar people.

6. They also believe in Baptismal Regeneration. They bless little children, but baptize none under the age of eight. They practice the mode of immersion, and they teach that it is able to wash away sins, and that it may be repeated for the remission of sins whenever it is needed. Consequently, when any of the Saints fall into heinous sins, they are taught that those sins can be washed away by their being rebaptized.

7. They also believe in Baptism for the Dead. They base this doctrine on Paul’s statement in the fifteenth chapter of the First Epistle to the Corinthians. They claim that since three things are essential to salvation—faith, repentance, and baptism—and the latter is not possible in the world of spirits, one in order to be saved after death must be baptized by proxy—i.e., some Saint on earth must be immersed in his behalf. It is claimed that here Mormonism is most unique, and performs its noblest service to the race. In this way the Mormons save their ancestors from everlasting punishment, and bring their souls within Zion; and this service is extended beyond relatives, too, and is given to the heroes and heroines of history. Washington, Franklin, and other famous men have thus been vicariously baptized into the Mormon Church. A writer on Mormonism has well said: “In fact, no one is safe from the clutches of Mormonism after death. You may be made a Mormon without desiring it for all eternity.”

It is said that in the summer of 1884 a wealthy Mormon, while on a visit to Boston, employed a young lady to look up his genealogy. Having learned the names of about two hundred of his ancestors, he had the rite of baptism performed for them all. And it is related that an old man, long a convert to Mormonism, residing in the southern part of Utah, went thirty miles distant to a place where the Saints were in conference for the purpose of saving nearly one hundred of his ancestors from everlasting destruction by being baptized for them. He made the journey in an ox-cart with his two sons. The baptism, of course, was immersion in a river; and the old man was dipped as many times as he could stand the operation, each dip representing an entrance into the Mormon paradise for some one of the otherwise lost hundred of his forefathers; and then his sons in turn were baptized, until the object of their visit was fully accomplished.

8. Another doctrine is that a priesthood duly authorized by God is absolutely essential to salvation. Without this no sacrament or rite is acceptable to God or of value to men. It is only through their preaching that sinners can repent and believe; and the remission of sins follows baptism only when priestly hands administer it; and this authority comes by no fancied apostolical succession, but from Joseph Smith as the sole source. Before him for a thousand years there was no authority, and to-day all is illegitimate outside the Mormon Church.