Daniel Tyler on the Gospel Principles

Today I'm going to begin the process of reprinting a series of brief articles that appeared in the LDS youth periodical The Juvenile Instructor in 1878. These were written by Daniel Tyler, who became LDS in 1833, served as a sergeant in the Mormon Battalion, and was a mission president for Italy and Switzerland. He died in 1906. The initial installment here, I found as Daniel Tyler, "The Gospel Principles", The Juvenile Instructor 13/01 (1 January 1878): 4-5:

Some months since I wrote several articles on the Book of Mormon for the benefit of young readers of the Instructor, which I hope were read and understood by them. I tried to write in plain and simple language, so as to convey my full meaning. If the children read and understood those articles I think they will also be able to comprehend what I now write on the principles of the gospel. To understand them properly they should carefully read them all.

First among these principles is faith. I suppose my readers will naturally ask, "What is faith?"

St. Paul, the greatest Apostle to the Gentiles, says it is "the substance (or assurance) of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." It is not a belief in a mere statement that carries no weight of truth with it; but it is the evidence of something you have heard or read of (or it may be impressed upon your minds by the Holy Spirit) which you never saw. Evidence means a strong conviction of truth. Testimony which is not convincing to the mind is not evidence.

To illustrate I will say that but few who read this article ever saw the prophet Joseph Smith, yet you have, perhaps, read his history, and been told by your parents and others that they have seen and conversed with him; hence you have it firmly fixed in your minds that such a man as Joseph Smith really lived. You have no doubt of it. This conviction of truth is faith. You have read the revelations which were given through him to the Elders and to the Church. You have an inward conviction of their truth. Everything goes to prove to your minds that they are the words of the great Redeemer. That strong impression of truth is faith.

You have read and heard that there is a God who created all things that exist, both in heaven and on the earth. You have seen thousands of living creatures. You know they could not have created themselves. When you behold them you ask how the first ones came, and you are told that God made them, and that He made the world and all other worlds. Then you ask who is God, and what is He like.

Your parents, being Latter-day Saints, tell you that He is a pure, holy being; that He is immortal, that is, not subject to death, and has all power to do whatever He pleases for the good of His children, of whom we form a portion. They also tell you that we were created in His image and likeness, or form, and that He is our Father in Heaven; that is, the father of our spirits.

This looks reasonable to you. You think a great deal about it, and it is firmly settled in your minds that it is as they have told you. You believe it with all your hearts. This belief is faith.

You are also told by your parents and by the Elders that Jesus, the son of God, will come in a few years, to reign on the earth a thousand years; and that all the faithful Saints, whether they are now living or dead, will reign with Him. You have no doubt about it – you mean to be numbered with them. That strong evidence is faith.

You sow or plant grain. You are confident if you attend it well you will have a good crop. That assurance in your minds is faith.

Faith is the prompter, or moving cause, of all our actions, both spiritual and temporal. By faith the sick are and were healed, the dead were and will be raised to life. By faith God made the worlds and keeps them in their proper order and places. By faith He does and always will exist. By faith and obedience to His laws we may dwell eternally with Him in the heavens.

Book of Mormon Geography: A Perspective from 1878

While glancing through an issue of The Juvenile Instructor, I found a little lesson for children, presented in Q&A format, dealing in part with Book of Mormon geography. I doubt very much that the author ever imagined that a time would come when his or her answers would be viewed as controversial within LDS circles! The following is taken from "Questions and Answers on the Book of Mormon: Lesson XXXIV", The Juvenile Instructor 13/02 (15 January 1878): 16.

Q. What three colonies does the Book of Mormon mention, as having settled on this American continent?
A. That led by Jared and his brother from the Tower of Babel, that led by Lehi and Nephi, and that led by Mulek, the son of King Zedekiah.
Q. By what names were they known?
A. The first was called Jaredites, the second Nephites and Lamanites, and the third the people of Zarahemla.
Q. What part of the continent did the Jaredites principally occupy?
A. North America, though it is probable that they spread over all the land.
Q. Were the other colonies confined to any particular place of North or South America?
A. No; they spread over all the land.
Q. In the beginning where did they principally live?
A. The Nephites and Lamanites first lived in South America, afterwards in Central America and then in North America.
Q. Where was the Jaredite nation destroyed?
A. At the hill Ramah.
Q. Where was the Nephite nation destroyed?
A. At the hill Cumorah.
Q. Are these two names for the same hill?
A. Yes; it was called Ramah by the Jaredites, and Cumorah by the Nephites.
Q. In what part of the land is this hill?
A. Between Palmyra and Manchester, Oneida County, in the State of New York.
Q. Do you know where Joseph Smith the prophet found the records of the Book of Mormon?
A. He found them in the hill Cumorah.

Orson Whitney's "Home"

I'm dedicating this post to Kirk and Kari, and also to any of my readers who might happen to actually live in Utah, or simply love the place. I hope very much to go one day - though in the meantime, as I think would also please the author of this piece, I'm striving to simply appreciate the beauty of my own native home while I still can. I here present Orson F. Whitney's poem "Home", found in The Poetical Works of Orson F. Whitney (Salt Lake City, UT: Juvenile Instructor Office, 1889), 106-108.

Ye who would brave the bounding billow,
To view the wonders of the world,
And magnify with vain devotion,
The scenes in foreign climes unfurled!

Have ye ne'er dreamed of nearer splendors,
Than beautify an alien strand -
The glorious legacies of nature
Bequeathed unto your native land?

Hast never thought, whilst rapt admiring
The distant starlight overhead,
There may be flowers of beauty blushing
Neglected 'neath thy careless tread?

Ne'er has it been my lot to wander
O'er Orient sands or Alpine snows,
To linger in the vine-clad valleys
Where Rhine's clear, winding water flows;

I ne'er have watched the sun declining
Along the classic Grecian hills,
Nor pressed the plains of Palestina,
Nor mused beside Olympian rills.

But I have stood amidst the thunders,
When shook the towering granite height,
And trembled where the vivid lightnings
Blazed on the angry brow of night.

I've seen the headlong torrent leaping
From crag to cloven gulf beneath,
And caught the snow-slide's whelming terrors
Descending on the wings of death.

Oh, tell me not that grander tempests
Reverberate with louder roar,
On Switzerland's historic summits,
Than on the Rocky Mountains hoar;

That fiercer rolls lauwine, thundering,
Than the snow-slide's fatal thrall,
Or lovelier the Alpine cascade
Than the Wasatch waterfall.

Say not the shores of limpid Leman
Their cultured charms unrivalled hold;
When lakes that lie in yonder mountains
Are rife with beauty unextolled.

Nor praise the skies of soft Italia,
Where suns in glory rise and set,
Till thou hast seen them bathe with brightness
The matchless hills of Deseret.

Sing not of Erin's famed Killarney,
Laud not the wave of Galilee,
For I have sailed the buoyant waters
Of Utah's wondrous saline sea.

I've climbed her everduring mountains,
I've rested in her peaceful vales,
I've quaffed her pure and sparkling streamlets,
I've breathed her life-renewing gales.

I love the land that gave me being;
Her features aye shall seem to me,
More beautiful than boasted marvels
Of all the realms beyond the sea.

The Nature of the Beast: A Guest Post on Ministry in Utah

A fellow-seminarian and close friend of mine, Kirk, of the blog Kuriakos, has spent a significant amount of time working with Evangelical churches in Utah over the past two summers. In exchange for driving him to the airport, I managed to extort convince him to write a guest post reflecting his experiences there. (Supplement the following with this post he wrote as he prepared to depart Utah again this past August.) What follows is, I repeat, a guest post by my friend Kirk. Without further ado....

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"If you want to be ignored by more people than you ever thought possible, come pastor a church in Utah."

- A pastor in Utah

When I first went to Utah two summers ago to join Westlake Community Church for a summer as an intern, my knowledge of Mormon culture probably would not have filled one page of paper. I spent my first summer in Utah County staring out the windows of our car in amazement as we drove past countless wards and stake centers and seminary buildings. I couldn't get over the feeling that I was in some parallel American reality, where everything was exactly the same with one exception: all the churches had disappeared and been replaced by wards. For a kid who grew up in the church, who attended church two or three times a week his whole life, who went to a Christian university in the center of the Bible Belt in Oklahoma, the absence of churches on every street corner was very disconcerting for a while. But by the end of my first summer the shock had worn off. And when I returned this summer for a more serious and intensive internship in the church, I came with a new understanding of what ministry in Utah meant for churches in the Utah Valley like Westlake Community Church: survival.

Except for the few rare large churches in Salt Lake City, pretty much every church in Utah is just trying to survive. I suspect that the vast majority of these churches are operating on the edge of failure - all it would take would be one bad month of finances or the loss of two or three key members and the whole church might collapse. This leads to some high tensions between Christian churches in the Valley. The pastors at my church have reached out to the pastors at other churches in the area to partner with them in ministry, but any connections are coming together very slowly. Even in my church, other new church plants are looked at with some trepidation, because if this other new church really takes off, then how will we survive? I think most Christian churches operate under a "this country ain't big enough for the both of us" mentality, and so divisions remain as we try to reach a culture that prides itself on unity and has always been critical of the divisions in the Christian church. But, that's the nature of the beast, as my pastor always says when we talk about the challenge of ministry in Utah. It can be extremely frustrating sometimes, as it was the day my pastor said the quote at the beginning of this post. But in spite of the hard times, I have come to love ministry in Utah. I love living and working in the midst of the Mormon people, and I love the greater feeling of brotherhood with the Church universal that I have felt as I have been able to identify with what it is like to be a Christian outside the U.S. even though I haven't left its soil.

Westlake Community Church does not specifically target Mormons. (If we just did that, we probably would have closed a year ago.) No, we strive to be a Christ-centered, Bible-believing church that is a light to the whole community in Utah County. We exist to help our congregation grow in Christ and to share Christ with the whole city. It just happens that 95% of the people in the city are Mormon, so we can't help but be impacted by their presence. We just want to make sure they are impacted by ours as well. The amazing thing is that our church has brought in a vast spectrum of people, from people who have been in Christian churches their whole life to people who have never been religious at all, from people who left the LDS Church years ago to people who still call themselves Mormon. It is exciting to see everyone come together and worship on Sundays. We have days when we serve the community and days when we evangelize, but we are grateful to welcome whomever God gives to us. My pastor says we are good at doing two things: preaching the word and loving people. We try to keep our focus on doing these things well in the grace of God, and we trust he will continue to bless us and keep us standing.

I really have come to have a tender spot in my heart for the Mormon people. For one thing, they aren't all that different from me. It's not like I've learned to identify with a completely different culture and language that I met while on some foreign mission field. No, I'm ministering among people who are mostly white, conservative Americans just like me. I don't smoke or drink, so I fit in really well in Utah. I don't even drink coffee, and I rarely drink soda, so I wouldn't even have to make any big adjustments in life if I wanted to join the LDS Church. I see that they work hard to ensure that their families are provided for at the same kinds of jobs that Americans all across the country hold, at places like the Harley Davidson plant, car dealerships, universities, law offices, and fast food restaurants. They also work hard at ensuring their salvation, and they have to because their religion requires it. That's just the nature of their beast, I suppose. Temple requirements, mission trips, good standing in one's ward - all these things are required of a good Mormon, especially if they want to make their way into the Celestial Kingdom and life everlasting with Heavenly Father. (Sometimes Christian churches can load just as many rules and demands on their members' backs. I believe Jesus was protesting this type of religion in Matthew 23 when he scolded the Pharisees.) But I have seen how the Mormon people work so hard to make themselves perfect, to appear as if they have it all under control, to "endure to the end". I have watched how LDS teens are rebelling against traditional Mormon beliefs, chafing under the strict rules and becoming disillusioned by the extensive information available that casts doubt on their past and scriptures. And all these things break my heart.

It breaks my heart to see people so close to the truth and yet so far away from understanding what it means. It breaks my heart to see people proclaim salvation by grace through faith in Jesus who are unable to accept that free grace because their other scriptures tell them that part of their salvation is still up to them. It breaks my heart when I share with Mormons about the free grace I have found in Christ, how he has done for me everything I could have never done and left nothing for me to do, and they nod their heads in agreement while completely missing the point. (I sometimes question if it is a point that needs to be debated, but I am convinced that our dependence on Christ alone as our salvation is central to the Gospel message.) It really all comes down to Christ. Who he is and what he did cannot be devalued by making him like one of us.

These days I'm asking myself if I'm meant to have a long ministry in Utah. The answer: I don't know. I do know that my heart is strangely drawn to Utah and that I want to share the Gospel with the people and see Christ accepted by them for who he really is. I think I will be going back again, maybe for a summer or a year or a couple years. Maybe I will leave after a few years, or maybe I will stay there for good, but one thing I do know is that Utah needs Christians. It needs Christians who will go and stay, who will love the people and stand undaunted by the rejection. It needs pastors who will not seek large numbers or lots of money, but who will be satisfied with trusting God to provide for them every month because he has called them to be there. Utah needs Christians who will lay aside differences and egos and who will help each other succeed. I just want to be a part of it.

I'm Back

Hello, friends. I've been quite busy lately, and so unfortunately I've had to take a hiatus from blogging here. My apologies. I know I've missed out on quite a bit of activity in the world of Mormonism, from General Conference to the Jeffress controversy and so forth. There are a few things I've wanted to post, so perhaps now I'll have a chance to start working through some of that again.

In the meantime: before things got busy, I contributed a guest post to the blog The Door Swings Both Ways, run by ex-LDS blogger Greg Rockwell. In my guest post, I articulate 'briefly' and 'simply' (to the extent that I really grasp what those words mean to most people, at least) a kalam cosmological argument for God's existence. Greg was kind enough to host my piece and offer some very kind words about my blogging here. I hope soon, now that I've given responses to a number of folks on Facebook who offered various critiques when Greg linked to my blog, to also compose a reply to my interlocutor Gale, whose critical appraisal has also appeared at Greg's blog.

Four Kinds of Salvation

The following LDS article about salvation, written by Parley P. Pratt, first appeared in The Latter-Day Saints' Millennial Star 2/2 (June 1841): 21-22. It later appeared in the 8 March 1845 issue of the LDS periodical The Prophet, as well as in Orson Pratt's The Prophetic Almanac, for 1846: Being the Second After Bissextile or Leap Year (New York: New York Messenger Office, 1846), 15-16, this latter being the copy from which it is here reprinted. Afterwards, it was also reprinted in The Latter-day Saints' Millennial Star 38/40 (2 October 1876): 627-629, and again in Liahona The Elders' Journal 6/47 (8 May 1909): 1125-1126.

Salvation, as proposed to man in the Scripture, is of four kinds, viz: -

1. First, Salvation from original sin and its effects.
2. Secondly, Salvation from actual sin, or individual transgression.
3. Thirdly, Temporal Salvation.
4. Fourthly, Eternal Salvation.
   

We shall now proceed to set forth the nature of each of these salvations, and the conditions on which they are enjoyed by man.

Original sin and its effects came by the transgression of Adam and Eve, in the Garden of Eden. So "sin entered into the world, and death by sin."

This sin and death effected the whole family of man in a twofold point of view, banishment from the presence of the Lord, and the death of the body. And unless some means of salvation had been provided, the bodies of men must have slept in eternal silence, and their spirits dwelt in eternal banishment.

But says the Apostle, "AS in Adam ALL DIE, even SO in Christ shall ALL be made ALIVE."

Jesus Christ, then has paid the debt which Adam contracted, and through his death and resurrection has redeemed ALL men from the fall, and from death, and from every thing which Adam's transgression entailed upon them.

This salvation is UNIVERSAL, that is, it applies to all the race of Adam, without any regard to the deeds done in the body. The death and condemnation came by one (Adam), and passed upon all men without any act or agency of their own.

So the redemption comes by one man (Jesus Christ) and will be effectually applied to all men, without any conditions whatever on their part.

It is free grace alone, without works, which redeems man from the fall, and from the death which came by reason of the fall. The most hardened sinner, who sinks to endless woe, will go there as free from Adam's fall as if it had never been.

Hence Christ said, "Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not, for of such is the kingdom of heaven."

All little children (being redeemed by Jesus Christ) are saved and counted holy, without any faith, repentance, baptism, or any thing else.

Hence the doctrine of little children being "desperately wicked, deceitful, depraved, &c., and that they must be born again, changed, be converted, experience religion, be regenerated, &c.," is a doctrine of devils, or of foolish and inconsiderate man.

We come now to speak of the second salvation, viz.: salvation from personal transgression. This salvation is the gospel which was to be preached to sinners, "It is not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance."

This salvation is promised on conditions made known in the gospel, "He that believes and is baptised shall be SAVED." "Repent and be baptised every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost."

"SAVE yourselves from this untoward generation." "Arise and be baptised, and wash away your sins." "The like figure whereunto even baptism doth now SAVE US."

"Ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you; being then made free from sin, ye became servants of righteousness." The foregoing texts all go to show that sinners experience a present salvation from sin on condition of faith in Jesus Christ, repentance towards God, and baptism for remission of sins. They were saved then and there; - they were saved that very hour, that is justified, forgiven, and free from sin.

This gospel salvation pertains to sinners only. Little children could have no part in it.

We next proceed to the third salvation, viz.: temporal salvation.

This varies in different ages and under different circumstances. In the days of Noah it was salvation from the flood, and the ark was the means.

In the days of Lot, it was salvation from fire, and fleeing from Sodom to Zoar was the means.

In the days of Jacob it was salvation from famine, and revelation to lay up corn was the means. In the days of Moses it was salvation from Egyptian bondage. In the days of Esther it was salvation from the decree of Haman. In the days of Ezra it was salvation from seventy years' captivity in Babylon, by a restoration to Jerusalem. In case of Paul's shipwreck, it was salvation from the watery grave, by the soldiers and sailors abiding in the ship according to Paul's directions. But in the days of Josephus it was salvation from the sword, famine, and pestilence, which befel the Jews. This salvation was accomplished by fleeing to the mountains, according as the Saviour forewarned his disciples, "When ye see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then let him who is in Judea, flee to the mountains."

So in these last days, salvation is needed from famine, earthquake, war, pestilence, and flame of devouring fire, which must overtake the wicked world and all that remain among them. "But in Mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, shall be deliverance, and in the remnant whom the Lord our God shall call." So in fulfillment of this, the Lord has provided the western wilds of America and the land of Palestine, places of deliverance for his own peculiar people. And will gather his sheep out of all countries where the false shepherds have preyed upon them, and will "cause them to dwell safely in the wilderness, and sleep in the woods." - (See Ezekiel, 34.) This temporal salvation comes by revelation in these last days, as in days of old, and therefore can only come to those who are governed and led by revelation, viz.: the Latter Day Saints.

We must now speak of the fourth state of salvation, viz.: eternal salvation. This can only be enjoyed in the immortal state, after the resurrection of the body, and its re-union with the soul.

All those who are redeemed from Adam's fall will enjoy this eternal salvation, if they die before they come to years of accountability, so as to be capable of committing sin.

All sinners will enjoy eternal life and salvation, on conditions of faith, repentance, and baptism, and endurance to the end.

Hence, a man may be saved from Adam's fall by free grace, and from his own sins by belief and baptism, and also, partake of temporal salvation, by obeying the warnings which God sends by revelation; and being saved in this threefold sense, he may neglect to endure to the end in keep the requirements of Jesus Christ; and so at last be damned.

Here then is a condition to be fulfilled by the creature, in order to the enjoyment of eternal salvation, which is not absolutely necessary to either of the salvations, viz.: endurance to the end. - That is, a person must continue in well-doing and keep the commandments of Jesus, from the time he is baptised into Christ till the end of this life of probation.

Having now shown clearly and distinctly the nature of salvation as revealed and proposed by the Heavenly Father to his children in different ages, we leave the subject, with a sincere hope that all those who love the truth may be led to work out their own salvation with fear and trembling.

1845 LDS Article on Heaven

The following article, "Heaven", is taken from Orson Pratt, The Prophetic Almanac, for 1846: Being the Second After Bissextile or Leap Year (New York: New York Messenger Office, 1846), 3-5. It earlier appeared in The Latter-day Saints' Millennial Star 6/6 (1 September 1845): 85-86. I presume that one of the Pratt brothers is the author, probably Parley Pratt.

A planetary system where there is no death, sickness, pain, want, misery, oppression, ignorance, error, doubt, fear, sin or sorrow; where the inhabitants enjoy eternal life, and live in love and union with each other. Where each bosom is a mirror, where eternal truth is reflected, and from which emanates the purest affections, without any mixture of falsehood, hatred, selfishness, jealousy, pride or envy.

Where is such a planet located?

At present, no doubt, there are many such worlds among those shining orbs on high; for instance the planet where Jesus has gone to dwell; and where Enoch, Elijah, and all those who have been translated or raised from the dead have their present home.

But our earth is destined eventually to be redeemed from death, sin, and the curse, and to be regenerated, melted, purified, by fire, and renewed in such a manner as to constitute a celestial kingdom, or in other words a heaven of immortal felicity. When this comes to pass, there will be no more death, no more pain, or sorrow. Man will then live on this earth for ever. And even those who are gone from it for a season, will then return and dwell here forever in the flesh.

Job will then see his Redeemer in the flesh, and dwell with him on the earth.

Adam and Eve will then hold the dominion committed to them at the first.

Abraham will then come into his everlasting inheritance in the land of Canaan, and will dwell there with Isaac and Jacob, and all their children, and thus the promises will be fulfilled, which have been spoken by all the holy prophets since the world began, in relation to the promised inheritance to the chosen seed.

Then the inhabitants of the earth will be governed by apostles and prophets, instead of their pretended successors, under the name of popes, bishops and clergy. And instead of contentions about the succession to the 'Chair of Peter', Peter will be here to fill his own chair, as it is written, 'Ye that have followed me, shall, in the regeneration, when the Son of man shall come in his glory, sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

When death, sickness, pain and sorrow are banished from the earth; when sin and all its cursed effects have ceased to operate; when darkness, ignorance and error shall pass away; when Jesus Christ shall be King, and the patriarchs, prophets and Apostles of old become kings, governors, magistrates, judges, and civil rulers; when the mountains are thrown down, and the valleys exalted; when the crooked places become straight and the rough places smooth; when cities are built, and houses and temples reared and furnished in the most durable and elegant manner, with a word; when gold is used for paving streets; when men walk in pure white linen, and eat and drink of the fruits of the earth only, instead of flesh; when flowers bloom in eternal spring, and fruits ripen in profuse succession every month of the year; when children are born without pain, and reared without sin; when Rebecca lives again on the earth, and becomes the mother of thousands of millions according to the blessings and good wishes of her friends, when she went to become the wife of Isaac. When life and law eternal reigns, and God and his tabernacle are with man on the earth forever. Then will earth be heaven and heaven be earth. And then shall man know and understand that nothing was made in vain, but that all things were created for the glory and pleasure of God, and the enjoyment of his creatures.