A Voice of Warning, Parley P. Pratt [classic books for 11 year olds txt] 📗

shown that it required apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers; together with the gifts of prophecy, miracles, healing, and all other gifts, to compose the church, or body of Christ, in any age, whether Jew or Gentile, bond or free; and having utterly forbidden any of the members ever to say, of any of these gifts: "We have no need of thee," He declares the body never could be perfected without all of them, and that if they were done away, there would be no body, that is, no church of Christ in existence. Having shown all these things clearly, he exhorts them to covet earnestly the best gifts. And in the thirteenth chapter, exhorts them to faith, hope, and charity, without which all these gifts would avail them nothing: and in the fourteenth chapter repeats the exhortation: "Follow after charity, and desire spiritual gifts, but rather that ye may prophesy." Again, in Ephesians, i, 17, Paul prays that the Lord would give unto the church the Spirit of WISDOM and of REVELATION, in the KNOWLEDGE of God. Again, in Ephesians, iv, he tells them there is one body and one Lord, one Spirit, one faith, and one baptism; and that Christ ascended up on high, led captivity captive, and gave gifts to men. And He gave some apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers. And if the reader inquire what these gifts or offices were for, let him read the twelfth verse: "For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ." And if he inquire how long these were to continue, the thirteenth verse says: "Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ." And if he still inquire what further object Christ had in giving these gifts, let him read the fourteenth verse: "That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive."

Now, without these gifts and offices, first, the saints cannot be perfected; second, the work of the ministry cannot proceed; third, the body of Christ cannot be edified; and fourth, there is nothing to prevent them from being carried about with every wind of doctrine. Now, I boldly declare that the cause of all the division, confusion, jars, discord, and animosities; and the fruitful source of so many faiths, lords, baptisms, and spirits; and of the understanding being darkened; and of men being alienated from the life of God, through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their hearts, is, because they have neither apostles, prophets, nor gifts, inspired from on high, to whom they give heed; for, if they had such gifts, and would give heed unto them, they would be built up in one body, in the pure doctrine of Christ, having one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and one hope of their calling; yea, they would be edified, built up unto Christ in all things, in whom the whole body, fitly joined together, would grow into an holy temple in the Lord.

But so long as the cunning craftiness of men can persuade them that they have no need of these things, so long they can toss them about with every wind of doctrine, just as they please.

Now, reader, I have done our examination of the kingdom of God, as it existed in the Apostles' days; and we cannot look at it in any other age, until renewed again in the last days, for it never did, nor never will exist, without apostles and prophets, and all the other gifts of the Spirit.

Were we to take a view of the churches, from the days that inspiration ceased until now, we should see nothing like the kingdom which we have been viewing with such admiration and delight. But instead of apostles and prophets, we should see false teachers, whom men had heaped to themselves; and instead of the gifts of the Spirit, we should see the wisdom of men; and instead of the Holy Ghost, many false spirits; instead of the ordinances of God, commandments of men; instead of knowledge, opinion; guess work, instead of revelation; division, instead of union; doubt, instead of faith; despair, instead of hope; hatred, instead of charity; a physician, instead of the laying on of hands for the healing of the sick; fables, instead of truth, evil for good, good for evil; darkness for light, light for darkness, and in a word, anti-Christ instead of Christ; the powers of earth having made war with the saints, and overcome them, until the words of God should be fulfilled.

O my God, shut up the vision! for my heart sickens while I gaze; and let the day hasten on when the earth shall be cleansed by fire from such awful pollutions; but first, let Thy promise be fulfilled, which Thou didst make by the mouth of Thy servant John, that Thou wouldst call Thy people out of her, saying: "Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues;" and then, O Lord, when Thou hast called Thy people out from the midst of her, by the fishers and hunters whom Thou hast promised to send in the last days to gather Israel; yea, when Thine everlasting covenant has been renewed, and Thy people established thereby; then let her plagues come in one day, death, mourning, and famine; let her be burned with fire; that the holy Apostles and Prophets, and all that fear Thy name, small and great, may rejoice, because Thou hast avenged the blood of Thy saints upon her. I ask these things in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

CHAPTER IV. THE BOOK OF MORMON—ORIGIN OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS, ETC.

    Ye gloomy scenes, far hence, intrude no more!
    Sublimer themes invite the muse to soar
    In loftier strains, while scenes both strange and new
    Burst on the sight, and open to the view.

    Lo! from the opening heavens, in bright array
    An angel comes—to earth he bends his way:
    Reveals to man, in power, as at the first,
    The fulness of the Gospel long since lost.

    See earth, obedient, from its bosom yield
    The sacred truth it faithfully concealed.
    The wise, confounded, startle at the sight,
    The proud and haughty tremble with affright.

    The hireling priests against the truth engage,
    While hell beneath stands trembling, filled with rage;
    False are their hopes, and all their struggles vain;
    Their craft must fall, and with it all their gain;
    The deaf must hear, the meek their joy increase;
    The poor be glad, and their oppression cease.

While darkness covered the earth, and gross darkness the people, every man walking in his own way, and looking for gain from his quarter, the Lord having for a long time held His peace, and the people having fondly flattered themselves that the voice of inspiration would never again sound in the ears of mortals, to disturb or molest them in their sinful career; while a few were looking for the consolation of Israel, and crying to God for the ushering in of that long-expected day, when an angel should fly through the midst of heaven, having the everlasting Gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth— suddenly, a voice is heard from the wilderness, a cry salutes the ears of mortals, a testimony is heard among them, piercing to the inmost recesses of their hearts, when all at once the heathen begin to rage, and the people to imagine a vain thing; the clergy lift a warning voice, crying impostor, false prophets, beware of delusion, etc.; while the professor of religion, the drunkard, the swearer, the learned, and the ignorant soon catch the sound and reiterate it again and again. Thus it re-echoes from one end of our country to the other, for a long time, and if any one should be so fortunate as to retain his sober senses, and should candidly inquire, "What is the matter?" the reply is: "We hardly know anything about it, but suffice it to say, some fellows have made their appearance, Paul like, who testify something about the ministering of angels, or some revelation or inspiration, just as though the religion of ancient days, and the faith once delivered to the saints, were returning to the earth in this enlightened age; so that not only this our craft is in danger, but our modern systems of religion, built upon the wisdom and learning of men, without direct inspiration, are like to be spoken against, and their great magnificence despised, though worshiped by all the world." And then all again cry with a loud voice, saying: "Great is the wisdom of man; great are the systems of modern divinity; great is the wisdom of uninspired priests, who come unto us with excellency of speech, and with man's wisdom, determined to know nothing among us save opinions and creeds of their own; and their speech, and their preaching, are with enticing words of man's wisdom, not in demonstration of the Spirit, and of power, for that is done away, that our faith should not stand in the power of God, but in the wisdom of man."

In the midst of the noise and clamor, and prejudice of an opposing world, it is difficult to get the people to understand the facts of the case, in relation to one of the most important subjects ever presented to the consideration of mankind.

The Book of Mormon has perhaps been less understood, and more misrepresented, by the world at large, than any other publication which has ever appeared.

America and England have, as it were, been flooded with publications against the said book; and many of them written by those who had never seen the book, or by those who had only read a page or two in it, or slightly looked it through with a biased mind, and a determination to find fault. By some of these it has been represented as a romance; by others, as a new Bible, calculated to displace the Bible, or do away with it. Some have pronounced it a "silly mess of stuff," not worth the perusal; and others, the most ingenious literary work ever put together. Some have found fault with it for being so much like the Bible, and agreeing with it; and others have condemned it for not being sufficiently like the Bible, and for disagreeing with it. Some have denounced it as notoriously corrupt, immoral, and blasphemous in its principles; and others have condemned it for being so exceedingly pure and moral in its principles, as to be just calculated to deceive. One clergyman, in particular, in a tract of sixty pages on this book, condemns it for being "a strange mixture of faith and works, of the mercy of God and the obedience of the creature." Some literary persons have pronounced it as altogether ancient in its style, language, and subjects, and as bearing great internal evidence of its own antiquity; while others have condemned it, as bearing every mark of being a modern production. Some have said that there were no definite predictions of the future contained in it, by the fulfilment or failure of which its prophetic merits might be tested; and others have quoted largely from its most plain and pointed predictions, which relate to circumstances about to be fulfilled, and have condemned it on account of its plainness.

In the midst of all these jarring statements, it now becomes our duty to show, as far as possible, what the Book of Mormon really is.

When the Lord confounded the languages at Babel, he led forth a colony from thence to the Western Continent, which is now called America. This colony, after crossing the ocean in eight vessels, and landing in that country, became, in process of time, a great nation—they inhabited America for some fifteen hundred years. They were at length destroyed for their wickedness, about six hundred years before Christ. A prophet by the name of Ether wrote their history, and an account of their destruction.

Ether lived to witness their entire destruction, and deposited his record where it was afterwards found by a colony of Israelites, who came from Jerusalem six hundred years before Christ, and re-peopled America. This last colony were the descendants of the tribe of Joseph; they grew and multiplied, and finally gave rise to two mighty nations. One of these nations was called Nephites—one Nephi being their founder; the other was called Lamanites, after a leader of the name Laman.

The Lamanites became a dark and benighted people, of whom the