The analysis given by Rev. Dr. R. G. McNiece, of Salt Lake City, in the Presbyterian Review, April, 1881, seems to be more correct, and about as near the real truth as any one, perhaps, can come. He says: “Let Paganism, Judaism, Mohammedanism, Jesuitism, Protestantism, and Diabolism be shaken up together, and the result is Mormonism; for from Paganism comes its idea of God; from Judaism its theory of the priesthood and special revelation; from Mohammedanism its plural wife notions, and its sensual ideas of heaven; from Jesuitism its cunning and arbitrary form of government, in which the end is continually made to justify the means; from Protestantism its talk about faith in Christ and the guidance of the Holy Spirit; and its general policy from the devil, as any intelligent man will have to confess after a careful study of its cunning, devilish ways and means.” From this analysis it is seen that its great strength lies in the shrewd way in which it has blended Christian truth with heathen error.
The reasons of its growth and tenacity are many. It is especially adapted to the intellectual capacities of the masses. To these are offered just what they are sure to hunger after—bold assumption and boundless assertion, together with great show of authority. For the superstitious it has miracles, ecstasies, visions, and revelations. The secrecy of the endowments, too, has a charm. The minds of the ignorant delight in prodigies. “Omne ignotum, pro mirifico.” For the lovers of prophecy there is promised the New Jerusalem, an actual reign of the Saints, and an equality with the Redeemer. The gross see charms in its sensual paradise, and listen eagerly to the announcement that a conversation with their spiritual ruler, or a journey on a mission while facing a frowning world, will immediately clear them from their iniquities. These are all elements in the system, which have led to its growth, and now keep it from falling to pieces.
But its chief source of strength is its recognition of many of the truths of the Bible. If its strength came from its heathenish doctrines and practices, then it would naturally follow that its converts would be gathered mainly from heathendom, whereas ninety-nine proselytes in every hundred have been obtained from Christian churches.
About thirty years ago swarms of Mormon missionaries were sent to China, Japan, India, Australia, South Africa, South America, and the Society and Sandwich Islands, and they fondly hoped that many converts would be gathered; but in less than five years they had all returned, completely baffled and disgusted. They reported that the devil was far too lively in those lands, and that, among the Hindoos especially, stupidity and awful depravity were universal. Since then we hear of no more attempts to evangelize the pagan world. A few hundred Sandwich Islanders and New Zealanders have been baptized, but only after American and English missionaries had first brought them to a knowledge of Gospel truth.
And it is said that no Roman Catholic has ever been brought into the Mormon fold, Protestantism furnishing Mormonism its entire supplies. Yes, the fact is that Mormonism has grown in strength and power by the addition of those once members of Protestant Christian churches, or those very near the entrance. Perhaps eight out of every ten who have come to Utah were of that class; and it cannot well be questioned that hundreds of so-called Mormons, though laboring under a great delusion and greatly misled by the hierarchy, are still sincere believers in Christ and His Gospel. Rev. Dr. McNiece says in the Presbyterian Review, April, 1881: “It is only just to say that scattered all through the Mormon ranks are hundreds of devout, worthy, kind-hearted, hospitable people, who came from England, Scotland, and the Scandinavian countries, bringing their Bibles and Christian sentiments with them, and who, although nominally Mormons, have never been persuaded to embrace these odious pagan doctrines, which are the distinctive features of Mormonism.”
Besides, the Mormons believe in the Old and New Testaments as inspired, and in the “Book of Mormon” itself there is much that is taken directly from the Bible—as the Decalogue, the Sermon on the Mount, and other teachings of our Lord; and in their “Catechism for Children,” published in 1877, one finds mingled with many false teachings such sound biblical propositions as these: that our first parents, having fallen under the influence of Satan, “had not the least power to recover themselves from the effects of that fall;” that in this condition “the justice of God required a sacrifice to atone for the broken law, and our first parents being subject, through transgression, to the penalty of the law, could not make this sacrifice;” that to meet such a state of things, “God sent His only begotten Son, who knew no sin, to die for the sins of the world, and thus to satisfy divine justice;” that “this redemption by Jesus Christ is the only one,” and that it is available to all mankind, “but only on conditions of obedience;” that these conditions are “as unchangeable as their Author,” and include faith, which is described as “a principle of power” within the soul, and repentance, which is defined as a “forsaking of sin, with full purpose of heart to work righteousness;” and that even little children are “considered sinners in the sight of God,” and as such are “redeemed solely through the atonement of Christ,” and are therefore to be taught to repent and believe.
In reading such statements, and seeing them corroborated continually by quotations from Scripture, it is not hard to imagine ourselves studying the catechism of some Christian sect, differing from other sects in detail and expression, but agreeing with them in the essentials of the common Christianity. How far such truths are proclaimed by the Mormon teachers and missionaries, or how far they still remain as vital convictions in the breasts of thousands who once professed them in other communions, or who have been taught them catechetically in the Mormon fold, it is very difficult to determine.
In the Mormon Articles of Faith there is very little but what could be subscribed to by some Christian denomination. It is presumed that these Articles comprise all the essential beliefs of Mormonism. They are what their missionaries constantly teach, and what the Mormons always give forth as their creed. They are just one third the number of the Thirty-nine Articles of the Church of England. They are as follows:
“1. We believe in God, the Eternal Father, and in His Son, Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost.
“2. We believe that men will be punished for their own sins, and not for Adam’s transgression.