The Articles of Faith Part 8

[188] Pearl of Great Price: Moses i 39; see Note 7.

=30.= Eve was fulfilling the foreseen purposes of G.o.d by the part she took in the great drama of the Fall; yet she did not partake of the forbidden fruit with that object in view, but with the intent to violate the Divine command, being deceived by the sophistries of the serpent-fiend. Satan also, for that matter, furthered the purposes of the Creator, in tempting Eve; yet his design was to thwart the Lord's plan. We are definitely told that "he knew not the mind of G.o.d, wherefore he sought to destroy the world."[189] Yet, his diabolical effort, far from being the initiatory step toward destruction, contributed to the plan of man's eternal exaltation. Adam's part in the great event was essentially different from that of his wife; he was not deceived; on the contrary he deliberately decided to do as Eve desired, that he might carry out the purposes of his Maker with respect to the race of men, whose first patriarch he was ordained to be.

[189] Pearl of Great Price: Moses iv, 6.

=31.= Even the transgressions of man may be turned to the accomplishment of high purposes. As will be shown, the sacrifice of Christ was ordained from before the foundation of the world,[190] yet Judas who betrayed, and the blood-thirsty Jews who brought about the crucifixion of the Son of G.o.d, are none the less guilty of the awful crime.

[190] See Lecture iv, p. 76.

=32.= It has become a common practice with mankind to heap reproaches upon the progenitors of the family, and to picture the supposedly blessed state in which we would be living but for the Fall; whereas our first parents are ent.i.tled to our deepest grat.i.tude for their legacy to posterity,--the means of winning glory, exaltation, and eternal lives, on the battlefield of mortality. But for the opportunity thus given, the spirits of G.o.d's offspring would have remained forever in a state of innocent childhood; sinless through no effort of their own; negatively saved, not from sin, but from the opportunity of meeting sin; incapable of winning the honors of victory because prevented from taking part in the battle. As it is, they are heirs to the birthright of Adam's descendants,--mortality, with its immeasurable possibilities and its G.o.d-given freedom of action. From Father Adam we have inherited all the ills to which flesh is heir; but such are necessarily incident to the knowledge of good and evil, by the proper use of which knowledge man may become even as the G.o.ds.[191]

[191] See Note 5.

NOTES.

=1. Man's Agency is G.o.d-given.=--The following is an extract from a discourse delivered by President Brigham Young, July 5, 1855.

(See Journal of Discourses of that date, and Millennial Star, vol. xx, p. 43.) "What is the foundation of the rights of man?

The Lord Almighty has organized man for the express purpose of becoming an independent being like unto Himself, and has given him his individual agency. Man is made in the likeness of his Creator, the great archetype of the human species, who bestowed upon him the principles of eternity, planting immortality within him, and leaving him at liberty to act in the way that seemeth good unto him;--to choose or refuse for himself, to be a Latter-day Saint or a Wesleyan Methodist, to belong to the Church of England, the oldest daughter of the Mother Church, to the old Mother herself, to her sister the Greek Church, or to be an infidel and belong to no church. When the kingdom of G.o.d is fully set up and established on the face of the earth, and takes the pre-eminence over all other nations and kingdoms, it will protect the people in the enjoyment of all their rights, no matter what they believe, what they profess, or what they worship."

=2. The Nature of Sin.=--The English word "sin" represents a very great variety of terms occurring in the original languages, the literal translation of which bear to one another a very great similarity. Thus, in the Old Testament, the following terms among others occur:--_setim_ (referred to in Psalms ci, 3), signifying "to deviate from the way;" _shegagah_ (Lev. iv, 2; Num. xv, 27), "to err in the way;" _avon_, "the crooked, or perverted;" _avel_, "to turn aside." In the New Testament we find, _hemartia_, "the missing of a mark;" _parabasis_, "the transgressing of a line;"

_parakoe_, "disobedience to a voice;" _paraptoma_, "falling from uprightness; "_agnoema_, "unjustifiable ignorance;" _hettema_, "giving only partial measure;" _anomia_, "non-observance of law;"

_plemmeleia_, "a discord." The above ill.u.s.trations are taken mainly from Muller and French. In all these expressions, the predominant idea is that of departure from the way of G.o.d, of separation from His companionship by opposition to the Divine requirements. Sin was introduced into the world from without; it was not a natural product of earth. The seed of disobedience was planted in the mind of Eve by the arch-fiend: that seed took root; and much fruit, of the nature that we, with unguarded words, call calamity, is the result. From these thorns and thistles of mortality, a Savior has been prepared to deliver us.

=3. Eden.=--In the Hebrew tongue, from which our word "Eden" is taken, this term signifies something particularly delightful,--a place of pleasantness; the place is also called "the garden of the Lord." One particular spot in the land of Eden was prepared by the Lord as a garden; this was situated eastward in Eden. From the garden, the parents of the race were expelled after the Fall, though it is reasonable to suppose that they still dwelt in the land or region of Eden. We read that at a later date, Cain, the first murderer, "went out from the presence of the Lord, and dwelt in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden" (Gen. iv, 16).

Though there is no uniform belief among Christian scholars as to the geographical location of Eden, the majority claim that it was in Persia; however, the most radical among the advocates of this view fail to prove any marked resemblance between the region at present and the place described in the Bible. The Latter-day Saints have more exact knowledge on the matter, a revelation having been given through Joseph Smith, at Spring Hill, Mo., May 19, 1838, in which that place is named by the Lord "Adam-ondi-Ahman, because, said he, it is the place where Adam shall come to visit his people, or the Ancient of Days shall sit, as spoken of by Daniel the prophet" (Doc. and Cov. cxvi). From another revelation we learn (Doc. and Cov. cvii, 52-53) that three years before his death, Adam called together in the valley of Adam-ondi-Ahman those of his sons who had been made High Priests, together with the rest of his righteous posterity, and there bestowed upon them his patriarchal blessings, the event being marked by special manifestations from the Lord (see also Doc. and Cov. cxvii, 8). The Lord has pointed out in this day the exact location of the altar upon which Adam offered sacrifices after his expulsion from the Garden (see Contributor, Vol. vii, page 314). There is no authentic record of the human race having inhabited the Eastern Hemisphere until after the flood. The Western Continent, called now the New World, comprises indeed the oldest inhabited regions of earth. The west, not the east, is the "cradle of nations."

=4. The Serpent=, as stated, having aided the purposes of Satan, received from the Lord a special curse (see Genesis iii, 13, 15, and the Pearl of Great Price, p. 16). The creature was doomed to a life of degradation. Even from the standpoint of anatomy, the serpent is a degraded type. Though a vertebrate,--a member of the highest sub-kingdom of animals, it is devoid even of external limbs, and its means of locomotion are of no higher order than are those of the worm and the caterpillar. In the scriptures, the serpent is made the symbol of craft, subtlety, cunning, and danger.

=5. Mortality Essential.=--President John Taylor, after discussing the succession of events leading up to the Fall, says--"Thus it would appear that if any of the links of this great chain had been broken, it would have interfered with the comprehensive plan of the Almighty pertaining to the salvation and eternal exaltation of those spirits who were His sons, and for whom princ.i.p.ally the world was made: that they, through submission to the requirements of the eternal principle and law governing those matters, might possess bodies, and those bodies united with the spirits might become living souls, and being the sons of G.o.d, and made in the image of G.o.d, they through the atonement might be exalted, by obedience to the law of the Gospel, to the G.o.dhead."--_Mediation and Atonement_, p. 135.

=6. Beneficent Results of the Fall.=--"'Honor thy father and thy mother.' This was one of the ten special commandments given to Israel, during a grand display of G.o.d's power and glory on Mount Sinai. In the past centuries of darkness it appears to have lost its significance with the Christian world. They do not appear to realize that honor is due to the first parents of the human race.

They have been long taught that Adam and Eve were great transgressors, and have mourned over the fact that they partook of the forbidden fruit and brought death into the world. There is no possibility that the fall of man was an accident or chance, any more than was his creation. If an accident, then why was Christ prepared from before the foundation of the world as a propitiation for sin, and to open up the way for man to immortality? Christ's mediation was a sequence of the fall" (see Acts v, 31). "Without the fall there would have been no broken law, and therefore nothing to repent of; and there could be no forgiveness of sin without the atonement of Christ. The Book of Mormon makes this subject very plain: 'And now, behold, if Adam had not transgressed, he would not have fallen; but he would have remained in the Garden of Eden. And all things which were created, must have remained in the same state which they were after they were created; and they must have remained forever, and had no end. And they would have had no children; wherefore they would have remained in a state of innocence, having no joy, for they knew no misery; doing no good, for they knew no sin' (II Nephi ii, 22-23).... We, the children of Adam, have no right to bring accusations against the Patriarch of the race. But rather, we should rejoice with them, that through their fall and the atonement of Jesus Christ, the way of eternal life has been opened up to us."--_A Compendium of the Doctrines of the Gospel_: F. D. Richards and J. A. Little, pp. 3-4.

=7. The Fall Fore-known.=--"'Mormonism' accepts the doctrine of the Fall, and the account of the transgression in Eden, as set forth in Genesis; but it affirms that none save Adam shall ever have to account for Adam's disobedience; that mankind in general are absolutely absolved from the responsibility for that 'original sin,' and that each shall answer for his own transgressions alone. That the Fall was foreknown of G.o.d,--that it was the accepted means by which the necessary condition of mortality should be inaugurated; and that a Redeemer was provided before the world was. That general salvation, in the sense of redemption from the effects of the Fall, comes to all without their seeking it; but that individual salvation or rescue from the effects of personal sins is to be acquired by each for himself, by faith and good works through the redemption wrought by Jesus Christ."--_The Philosophy of Mormonism_: The Author; Improvement Era, Vol. IV, pp. 465-466.

=8. The Fall a Process of Physical Degeneracy.=--For a concise treatment of this topic see "Jesus the Christ," pp. 19 and 29.

LECTURE IV.

THE ATONEMENT, AND SALVATION.

=Article 3.=--We believe that through the atonement of Christ, all mankind may be saved, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the gospel.

THE ATONEMENT.

=1. The Atonement of Christ= is taught as a leading doctrine by all sects professing Christianity. The expression is so common a one, and the essential point of its signification is so generally admitted, that definitions may appear to be superfluous; nevertheless, there is a peculiar importance attached to the use of the word atonement, in a theological sense. The doctrine of the atonement comprises proof of the divinity of Christ's earthly ministry; and the vicarious nature of His death, as a fore-ordained and voluntary sacrifice, intended for and efficacious as a propitiation for the sins of mankind, thus becoming the means whereby salvation may be obtained.

=2.= The New Testament, which is properly regarded as the scripture of Christ's mission among men, is imbued throughout with the doctrine of salvation through the work of atonement wrought by the Savior; and yet the word atonement, occurs but once in the whole record; and in that single instance, according to the opinion of most biblical authorities, it is confessedly misused. The instance referred to is found in the words of Paul addressed to the saints at Rome:--"But we also joy in G.o.d through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement."[192] The marginal rendering gives, instead of atonement, reconciliation, and of this word a related form is used in the preceding verse. A consistent translation, giving a full agreement between the English and the Greek, would make the verse quoted, and that immediately preceding it, read in this way:--"For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to G.o.d by the death of his Son; much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. And not only so, but we also joy in G.o.d through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the reconciliation."[193] The term atonement occurs repeatedly in the Old Testament, and with marked frequency in three of the books of the Pentateuch, viz.: Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers; and the sense in which it is employed is invariably that of a sacrifice of propitiation, usually a.s.sociated with the death of an acceptable victim, whereby reconciliation was to be effected between G.o.d and His creatures.

[192] Romans v, 11.

[193] Romans v, 10-11.

=3.= The structure of the word in its present form is suggestive of this, the true meaning; it is literally _at-one-ment_, "denoting reconciliation, or the bringing into agreement of those who have been estranged."[194] And such is the significance of the saving sacrifice of the Redeemer, whereby He expiated the transgression of the Fall, through which came death into the world, and provided ready and efficient means for man's attainment of immortality through reconciliation with G.o.d.

[194] Standard Dictionary, under _propitiation_.

=4. Nature of the Atonement.=--The atonement wrought by Jesus Christ is a necessary sequence of the transgression of Adam; and, as the infinite foreknowledge of G.o.d made clear to Him the one even before Adam was placed on earth, so the Father's boundless mercy prepared a Savior for mankind before the world was framed. Through the Fall, Adam and Eve have entailed the conditions of mortality upon their descendants; therefore all beings born of earthly parents are subject to bodily death. The sentence of banishment from the presence of G.o.d was in the nature of a spiritual death; and that penalty, which was visited upon our first parents in the day of their transgression, has likewise followed as the common heritage of humanity. As this penalty came into the world through an individual act, it would be manifestly unjust to cause all to eternally suffer therefrom, without a chance of deliverance. Therefore was the promised sacrifice of Jesus Christ ordained as a propitiation for broken law, whereby Justice could be fully satisfied, and Mercy be left free to exercise her beneficent influence over the souls of mankind.[195] All the details of the glorious plan, by which the salvation of the human family is a.s.sured, may not lie within the understanding of man; but surely man has learned, from his futile attempts to fathom the primary cause of the phenomena of nature, that his powers of comprehension are limited; and he will admit, that to deny an effect because of his inability to elucidate its cause, would be to forfeit his claims as an observing and reasoning being.

[195] See Note 1.

=5.= Simple as is the plan of redemption in its general features, it is confessedly a mystery to the finite mind in detail. President John Taylor has written in this wise:--"In some mysterious, incomprehensible way, Jesus a.s.sumed the responsibility which naturally would have devolved upon Adam; but which could only be accomplished through the mediation of Himself; and by taking upon Himself their sorrows, a.s.suming their responsibilities, and bearing their transgressions or sins. In a manner to us incomprehensible and inexplicable, He bore the weight of the sins of the whole world, not only of Adam, but of his posterity; and in doing that, opened the kingdom of heaven, not only to all believers and all who obeyed the law of G.o.d, but to more than one half of the human family who die before they come to years of maturity, as well as to the heathen, who, having died without law, will through His mediation be resurrected without law, and be judged without law, and thus partic.i.p.ate, according to their capacity, works, and worth, in the blessings of His atonement."[196]

[196] Pres. John Taylor, Mediation and Atonement, pp. 148-149.

=6.= But, however incomplete may be our comprehension of the scheme of redemption through Christ's vicarious sacrifice in all its parts, we cannot reject it without becoming infidel; for it stands as the fundamental doctrine of all scripture, the very essence of the spirit of prophecy and revelation, the most prominent of all the declarations of G.o.d unto man.

=7. The Atonement a Vicarious Sacrifice.=--It is to many a matter of surpa.s.sing wonder that the voluntary sacrifice of a single being could be made to operate as a means of ransom for the rest of mankind. In this, as in other things, the scriptures are explicable only by the spirit of scriptural interpretation. The sacred writings of ancient times, the words of modern prophets, the traditions of mankind, the rites of sacrifice, and even the sacrileges of heathen idolatries, involve the idea of vicarious atonement. G.o.d has never refused to accept an offering made by one who is authorized on behalf of those who are in any way incapable of doing the required service themselves.

The scape-goat,[197] and the altar victim[198] of ancient Israel, if offered with repentance and contrition, were accepted by the Lord in mitigation of the sins of the people. It is interesting to note, that while the ceremonies of sacrifice formed so large and so essential a part of the Mosaic requirements, these rites long ante-dated the establishment of Israel as a distinct people; for, as already shown, altar sacrifice was rendered by Adam.[199] The symbolism of the sacrificing of animals as a prototype of the great sacrifice to follow on Calvary was thus inst.i.tuted with the beginning of human history.

[197] Lev. xvi, 20-22.

[198] Lev. iv.

[199] See page 70.

=8.= The many kinds of sacrifice prescribed by the Mosaic law are clearly cla.s.sified under the headings b.l.o.o.d.y and bloodless. Offerings of the first order only, involving the infliction of death, were acceptable in propitiation or atonement for sin, and the victim had to be clean, healthy, and without spot or blemish. And so for the great sacrifice, the effects of which were to be infinite, only an innocent subject could be accepted. It was Christ's right, as the only sinless Being on earth, and as the Only Begotten of the Father, and above all as the One ordained to this mission in the heavens, to be the Redeemer of mankind; and though the exercise of this right involved a sacrifice, the extent of which man cannot comprehend, yet Christ made that sacrifice willingly and voluntarily. To the last He had the means of terminating the tortures of His persecutors, by a simple exercise of His powers as one of the G.o.dhead.[200] In some way, though that way may be inexplicable to us, Christ took upon Himself the sins of mankind. The means may be to our finite minds a mystery, yet the results are our salvation.

[200] Matt. xxvi, 53-54; John x, 17-18.

=9.= Something of the Savior's agony as He groaned under this load of guilt, which to Him, as a type of purity, must have been in itself repulsive, He has told us through the prophet's words in this day: "For behold, I, G.o.d, have suffered these things for all, that they might not suffer if they would repent; but if they would not repent they must suffer even as I, which suffering caused myself, even G.o.d, the greatest of all, to tremble because of pain, and to bleed at every pore, and to suffer both body and spirit; and would that I might not drink the bitter cup, and shrink:--Nevertheless, glory be to the Father, and I partook and finished my preparations unto the children of men."[201] Further instances of the validity of vicarious service are found in the ordinances of baptism for the dead[202] as taught in apostolic and modern times, and in the inst.i.tution of other temple ceremonies[203] in the present dispensation.

[201] Doc. and Cov. xix, 16-19. See "Jesus the Christ," pp.

610-614.

[202] I Cor. xv, 29. See Lectures vi and vii.

[203] Doc. and Cov. cxxvii, 4-9; cxxviii.

=10. Christ's Sacrifice was Voluntary and Love-inspired.=--We have noted in pa.s.sing that Christ gave His life willingly and voluntarily for the redemption of mankind. He offered Himself, in the great Council of the G.o.ds, as the subject of the atoning sacrifice made necessary by the fore-seen transgression of the first man; and the free agency shown and exercised in this, the early stage of His saving mission, was retained to the very last of the agonizing fulfillment of the accepted plan. Though He lived on earth a man in every particular that concerns us in our regard for Him as an example of G.o.dliness in humanity, yet it is to be remembered that, though born of a mortal mother, he was begotten by an immortal Sire; and so had combined within His being the capacity to die, and the power to set death at defiance. He gave His life; it was not taken from Him. Note the significance of His own declaration:--"Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again."[204] On another occasion Jesus testified of Himself in this way:--"For as the Father hath life in himself, so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself; and hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man."[205] And then amid the tragic scenes of the betrayal, when one who had been a professed follower and friend gave Him with a traitorous kiss to His persecutors, when Peter, with a rashness prompted by righteous zeal, drew and used the sword in His defence, the Master said:--"Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels? But how then shall the scriptures be fulfilled, that thus it must be?"[206] And on to the bitter end, marked by the expiring though triumphant cry "It is finished," the incarnated G.o.d held in subjection within Himself the power to thwart His murderers, had He so willed.

[204] John x, 17-18. See "Jesus the Christ," pp. 22, 23, 81, 418.