The Seventy's Course in Theology

Fifth Year

Divine Immanence and the Holy Ghost

By B. H. ROBERTS

Of the First Council of Seventy

"He comprehendeth all things, and all things are before him, and all things are round about him: and he is above all things, and in all things, and is through all things, and is round about all things; and all things are by him, and of him, even God, for ever and ever."—Doc. and Cov., Sec. 88.

"I have always declared God to be a distinct personage, Jesus Christ a separate and distinct personage from God the Father, and that the Holy Ghost was a distinct personage and a Spirit."—Joseph Smith, (June 16th, 1842.)

Salt Lake City

1912

Introduction.

I. THE CLOSE OF THE SEVENTY'S SPECIAL COURSE IN THEOLOGY.

[Footnote: It is suggested that this Introduction be treated in the class as a lesson.]

This Introduction is intended to serve two purposes: an Introduction to the treatise which follows; and a valedictory to the "Seventy's Course in Theology." The latter has reached a period, for the present at least, as arrangements are being made to have prepared one course of study in successive annual manuals for the three quorums of the Melchizedek Priesthood, the Seventies, High Priests, and Elders Quorums. The reasons for making this change are that the "Gospel is one;" that the duty of becoming acquainted with it rests equally upon High Priests, Seventies, and Elders; that which will qualify one of these quorums to preach this one gospel abroad, will qualify the others for preaching it at home; and vice versa. Each of these quorums, where there is a sufficient number in each to form a good, strong class, will still continue, as now, in their separate classes, though studying the same manual. Where the quorums in the smaller wards are not strong enough in numbers to assure a good class separately, they can meet conjointly for class work and under such circumstances, having the same text book, will be a very great advantage. The plan will also economize both time and money in the matter of publishing manuals; for it is patent that one text book can more readily be produced than three, and at less expense.

These considerations, it is hoped, will outweigh any feeling of disappointment which but for them might arise over the discontinuance of the Seventy's special course in Theology; and then, undoubtedly, when the new and united course shall be opened, we may reasonably expect that its lines will be laid on a much larger ground plan, and in its development there will be employed brethren of such scholarship and talent as shall warrant the expectation of the very best text books that can be produced on the great theme of which they will treat—the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.

II. SUBJECT OF THE PRESENT YEAR BOOK.

So much for the "valedictory" part of this Introduction; and now as to the subject of the present Year Book. We have here the consideration of a theme in some respects the loftiest and mightest that the mind of man can be led to contemplate: God Immanent in the world; and God in union with men through the medium of the Holy Ghost. Confessedly the subject is one around which much of mystery gathers; and there are not wanting those who, on that account, are in favor of leaving it so, without attempting an exposition of the nature or offices of the Spirit Immanent in the world, and the Spirit Witness to the soul of man. I think no one can be more conscious of human limitations to understand divine things than I am. And I doubt if any one can have greater appreciation of the need of being careful to keep within the limits of what God has revealed upon these subjects; for it is only what he has revealed that can rightly instruct men in the things of God. Moreover in no department is the frank and honest confession "I don't know," more imperative than in Theology; and when it is given as an actual confession of having reached the limits of our knowledge, it is worthy of all praise. But if it becomes tainted with the spirit of "I don't care," then I have no respect for it.

III. MENTAL EFFORT REQUIRED TO MASTER THE THINGS OF GOD.

There is another phase in which the same thing occurs. It requires striving—intellectual and spiritual—to comprehend the things of God—even the revealed things of God. In no department of human endeavor is the aphorism "no excellence without labor"—more in force than in acquiring knowledge of the things of God. The Lord has placed no premium upon idleness or indifference here—"seek and ye shall find;" "knock and it shall be opened unto you;" "seek ye diligently and teach one another words of wisdom; yea, seek ye out of the best books words of wisdom; seek learning even by study and also by faith"—such the admonitions God gives in reference to our pursuit of knowledge of divine things.

Oliver Cowdery thought the work of translating from the Nephite plates would be easy. He sought the privilege of translating and was given an opportunity. He, it appears, believed that all that would be necessary would be for him to ask God, and without giving further thought the translation would be given him. His expectation in this was disappointed. He failed to translate. Then the Lord said: "You supposed that I would give it [i. e., the power to translate] unto you, when you took no thought save it was to ask me; but behold, I say unto you, that you must study it out in your mind; then you must ask me if it be right, and if it is right I will cause that your bosom shall burn within you; therefore you shall feel that it is right." (Doc. and Cov. Sec. 9.)

The incident illustrates the truth here contended for—achievement in divine things, progress in the knowledge of them, comes only with hard striving, earnest endeavor, determined seeking.

IV. THE PLEA OF "THUS FAR, BUT NO FURTHER."

Mental laziness is the vice of men, especially with reference to divine things. Men seem to think that because inspiration and revelation are factors in connection with the things of God, therefore the pain and stress of mental effort are not required; that by some means these elements act somewhat as Elijah's ravens and feed us without effort on our part. To escape this effort, this mental stress to know the things that are, men raise all too readily the ancient bar—"Thus far shalt thou come, but no farther." Man cannot hope to understand the things of God, they plead, or penetrate those things which he has left shrouded in mystery. "Be thou content with the simple faith that accepts without question. To believe, and accept the ordinances, and then live the moral law will doubtless bring men unto salvation; why then should man strive and trouble himself to understand? Much study is still a weariness of the flesh." So men reason; and just now it is much in fashion to laud "the simple faith;" which is content to believe without understanding, or even without much effort to understand. And doubtless many good people regard this course as indicative of reverence—this plea in bar of effort—"thus far and no farther." "There is often a great deal of intellectual sin concealed under this old aphorism," remarks Henry Drummond. "When men do not really wish to go farther they find it an honorable convenience sometimes to sit down on the outmost edge of the 'holy ground' on the pretext of taking off their shoes." "Yet," he continues, "we must be certain that, making a virtue of reverence, we are not merely excusing ignorance; or under the plea of 'mystery' evading a truth which has been stated in the New Testament a hundred times, in the most literal form, and with all but monotonous repetition." (Spiritual Law, pp. 89, 90.)

This sort of "reverence" is easily simulated, and is of such flattering unction, and so pleasant to follow—"soul take thine ease"—that without question it is very often simulated; and falls into the same category as the simulated humility couched in "I don't know," which so often really means "I don't care, and do not intend to trouble myself to find out."

V. THE PRAISE OF SIMPLE FAITH.

I maintain that "simple faith"—which is so often ignorant and simpering acquiescence, and not faith at all—but simple faith taken at its highest value, which is faith without understanding of the thing believed, is not equal to intelligent faith, the faith that is the gift of God, supplemented by earnest endeavor to find through prayerful thought and research a rational ground for faith—for acceptance of truth; and hence the duty of striving for a rational faith in which the intellect as well as the heart—the feeling—has a place and is a factor.

But, to resume: This plea in bar of effort to find out the things that are, is as convenient for the priest as it is for the people. The people of "simple faith," who never question, are so much easier led, and so much more pleasant every way—they give their teachers so little trouble. People who question because they want to know, and who ask adult questions that call for adult answers, disturb the ease of the priests. The people who question are usually the people who think—barring chronic questioners and cranks, of course—and thinkers are troublesome, unless the instructors who lead them are thinkers also; and thought, eternal, restless thought, that keeps out upon the frontiers of discovery, is as much a weariness to the slothful, as it is a joy to the alert and active and noble minded. Therefore one must not be surprised if now and again he finds those among religious teachers who give encouragement to mental laziness under the pretense of "reverence;" praise "simple faith" because they themselves, forsooth, would avoid the stress of thought and investigation that would be necessary in order to hold their place as leaders of a thinking people.

VI. THE INCENTIVES TO, AND THE GLORY OF, KNOWLEDGE IN THE NEW DISPENSATION.

Against all the shams of simulated humility and false reverence which are but pleas to promote and justify mental laziness, I launch the mighty exhortations and rebukes of the New Dispensations of the Gospel of the Christ—the Dispensation of the Fulness of Times, in which God has promised "to gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth; even in him." They are as follows:

"The glory of God is Intelligence." (Doc. and Cov. Sec. 93.)

"It is impossible for a man to be saved in Ignorance." (Doc. and Cov. Sec. 131.)

"Whatever principles of intelligence we attain unto in this life, it will rise with us in the resurrection." (Doc. and Cov. Sec. 130.)

"If a person gains more knowledge and intelligence in this life through his diligence and obedience than another, he will have so much the advantage in the world to come." (Doc. and Cov. Sec. 130.)

"A man is saved no faster than he gets knowledge, for if he does not get knowledge, he will be brought into captivity by some evil power in the other world, as evil spirits will have more knowledge, and consequently more power, than many men who are on the earth." (Joseph Smith—History of the Church, Vol. IV., p. 588.)

"Knowledge saves a man; and in the world of spirits no man can be exalted but by knowledge; so long as a man will not give heed to the commandments he must abide without salvation. If a man has knowledge he can be saved; although he has been guilty of great sins, he will be punished for them. But when he consents to obey the Gospel, whether here or in the world of Spirits, he is saved." (Joseph Smith—Minutes of the General Conference of the Church, April, 1844. "Improvement Era," Jan., 1909, p. 186.)

"Seek ye diligently and teach one another words of wisdom; yea, seek ye out of the best books words of wisdom: seek learning even by study, and also by faith." (Doc. and Cov. Sec. 88:118.)

"I give unto you a commandment, that you teach one another the doctrine of the Kingdom."

"Teach ye diligently and my grace shall attend you, that you may be instructed more perfectly in theory, in principle, in doctrine, in the law of the gospel, in all things that pertain unto the kingdom of God, that are expedient for you to understand;

"Of things both in heaven and in the earth, and under the earth; things which have been, things which are, things which must shortly come to pass; things which are at home, things which are abroad; the wars and the perplexities of the nations, and the judgments which are on the land, and a knowledge also of countries and of kingdoms,

"That ye may be prepared in all things when I shall send you again to magnify the calling whereunto I have called you, and the mission with which I have commissioned you." (Doc. and Cov. Sec. 88:79-90.)

"It is important that we should understand the reasons and causes of our exposure to the vicissitudes of life and of death, and the designs and purposes of God in our coming into the world, our sufferings here, and our departure hence. What is the object of our coming into existence, then dying and falling away, to be here no more? It is but reasonable to suppose that God would reveal something in reference to the matter, and it is a subject we ought to study more than any other. We ought to study it day and night, for the world is ignorant in reference to their true condition and relation. If we have any claim on our Heavenly Father for anything, it is for knowledge on this important subject." (Joseph Smith—History of the Church, Vol. VI., p. 50.)

"God shall give unto you (the saints) knowledge by his Holy Spirit, yea by the unspeakable gift of the Holy Ghost, that has not been revealed since the world was until now: which our forefathers have waited with anxious expectation to be revealed in the last times, which their minds were pointed to, by the angels, as held in reserve for the fullness of their glory; a time to come in the which nothing shall be withheld, whether there be one God or many Gods, they shall be manifest; all thrones and dominions, principalities and powers, shall be revealed and set forth upon all who have endured valiantly for the gospel of Jesus Christ; and also if there be bounds set to the heavens, or to the seas; or to the dry land, or to the sun, moon, or stars; all the times of their revolutions; all the appointed days, months, and years, and all the days of their days, months, and years, and all their glories, laws, and set times, shall be revealed, in the days of the dispensation of the fulness of times, according to that which was ordained in the midst of the Council of the Eternal God of all other Gods, before this world was, that should be reserved unto the finishing and the end thereof, when every man shell enter into his eternal presence, and into his immortal rest. How long can rolling waters remain impure? What power shall stay the heavens? As well might man stretch forth his puny arm to stop the Missouri river in its decreed course, or to turn it up stream, as to hinder the Almighty from pouring down knowledge from heaven, upon the heads of the Latter-day Saints" (Doc. and Cov. Sec. 121, 26-33.)

VII. NECESSARY ATTITUDE OF THE CHURCH IN THE MATTER OF MENTAL ACTIVITY AND INTELLECTUAL DEVELOPMENT.

Surely, in the presence of this array of incentives, instructions and commandments to seek for knowledge, taken from the revelations and other forms of instruction by the Prophet of the New Dispensation—taking into account also the scope of the field of knowledge we are both persuaded and commanded to enter—whatever position other churches and their religious teachers may take, the Church of Jesus Christ in the New Dispensation can do no other than to stand for mental activity, and earnest effort to come to a knowledge of truth up to the very limit of man's capacity to find it, and the goodness and wisdom of God to reveal it.

The New Dispensation having opened with such a wonderful revelation respecting God, making known as the very first step in that revealed knowledge not only the being of God but the kind of beings both the Father and the Son are—its representatives may not now attempt to arrest the march of inquiry and plead "mystery" or "humility" or "reverence" as a bar to entrance into those very fields of knowledge God has commanded us to enter, and reap in, and of which he gives us assurance that our harvest shall be abundant.

VIII. THE LIMITS OF OUR INQUIRIES.

Let me not be misunderstood. Again I say, I am aware that there are limits to man's capacity to understand things that are. That God also in his wisdom has not yet revealed all things, especially respecting the Godhead; and that where his revelations have not yet cast their rays of light on such subjects, it is becoming in man to wait upon the Lord, for that "line upon line, and precept upon precept" method by which he, in great wisdom, unfolds in the procession of the ages the otherwise hidden treasures of his truths. All this I agree to; but all this does not prevent us from a close perusal and careful study of what God has revealed upon any subject, especially when that study is perused reverently, with constant remembrance of human limitations, and with an open mind, which ever stands ready to correct the tentative conclusions of today by the increased light that may be shed upon the subject on the morrow. Which holds as greater than all theories and computations the facts—the truth. These are the principles by which I have sought to be guided in these five Year Books of the Seventy's Course in Theology, and in some more than in the one herewith presented.

But some would protest against investigation lest it threaten the integrity of accepted formulas of truth—which too often they confound with the truth itself, regarding the scaffolding and the building as one and the same thing. The effective answer to that may be given in the words of Sir Oliver Lodge: "A faith dependent on blinkers and fetters for its maintenance is not likely in a progressive age to last many generations.(Science and Immortality, p. 130.) "From age to age, our knowledge is growing from more to more," remarks John Fiske, in his "Century of Science." "By this enlarged experience our minds are affected from day to day and from year to year, in more ways than we can detect or enumerate. It opens our minds to some notions, and makes them incurably hostile to others; so that, for example, new truths well nigh beyond comprehension, like some of those connected with the luminiferous ether are accepted, and old beliefs once universal like witchcraft, are scornfully rejected. Vast changes in mental attitude are thus wrought before it is generally realized." ("Century of Science," p. 145.) This holds good in theology as in science. Not that the universal and fundamental truths in theology which God has revealed change, but that men's method of viewing them and expounding them changes, and, let us hope, changes for the better, for the more clear and perfect understanding and development of them—else there would be no progress in theology—while in all things else there is progress. But here let me conclude Fiske's noble passage:

"In this inevitable struggle [between vanishing old ideas and incoming new ones] there has always been more or less pain, and hence free thought has not usually been popular. It has come to our life-feast as a guest unbidden and unwelcome; but it has come to stay with us, and already proves more genial than was expected. Deadening, cramping finality has lost its" charm for him who has tasted of the ripe fruit of the tree of knowledge. In this broad universe of God's wisdom and love, not leashes to restrain us are needed, but wings to sustain our flight. Let bold but reverent thought go on and probe creation's mysteries, till faith and knowledge "make one music as before, but vaster."

IX. THE RIGHT TO SEEK KNOWLEDGE ASIDE FROM REVEALED KNOWLEDGE.

One other thing: Such subjects as are treated in this Year Book necessarily rest on what God has revealed—that is, for the data, the facts involved; but that does not necessarily hold as to illustration and argument for development of the truth and making clear the revealed things of God. Here one may do as it is said Clement of Alexandrea did in urging men to strive for a knowledge of Christian truth, rather than a mere belief of it; "such instruction was to come primarily from the 'Divine Word'; but everything in the range of human learning was to be welcomed as co-operating with him. For Clement gratefully acknowledged truth wherever found, whether among heathens or heretics." It should be observed, however, "that while constantly confirming his propositions from his Greek writers, he ever turns for a final appeal to the scriptures"—that, too, must be our course.

So much by way of presenting the spirit in which I have pursued my own studies upon the high themes of these Seventy's Year Books, and this present one in particular.

X. JUSTIFICATION FOR USING DOUBLE TITLE.

The subject of Divine Immanence and the Holy Ghost should be considered together because there are such relations and apparent contrasts subsisting between them—such a likeness and such apparent differences, that they may properly be understood only when so considered—that is, conjointly.

The conception of God immanent in the world, not in bodily presence, of course, but by his spirit—a divine power, carrying with it everywhere the influence of God—proceeding forth from the presence of God to fill the immensity of space; the light which lighteth every man that cometh into the world—to which all men have access whether following the light of nature or of revelation, the light which is in all things and the power by which all things are sustained and in which they live and move and have their being—this conception, with the conception of the Holy Ghost as a Spirit-personage, union with whom and companionship with whom can only be secured by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel, is a conception that will correct some errors of argumentation that have here and there obtained in the literature of the subject, and leads to an understanding of things at once rational and uplifting, because it is a development of the truth as God has revealed it. This is the purpose of the treatise—The Divine Immanence, and the Holy Ghost.

WORKS OF REFERENCE.

Relative to works of reference I would remind the student that outside of the scriptures accepted by the Church the works that may be cited to assist one in studying the subject of this treatise are very scarce, since the doctrine of the Church on the subject is so radically different from that of the world. I can therefore only recommend as helpful the following brief list.

The Seventy's Library, viz.:

The Bible,

The Book of Mormon,

The Doctrine and Covenants,

The Pearl of Great Price, containing the Book of Moses, the Book of Abraham, and some of the Writings of Joseph Smith.

The above books are certainly indispensable to every Seventy, and should be owned by every member of our quorums. The First Council in their recommendations, added to the above list, "Richards and Little's Compendium of the Doctrines of the Gospel," and called the set the "Seventy's Indispensable Library."

Elder James E. Talmage's Articles of Faith,

Orson Pratt's Works—Kingdom of God.

Rays of Living Light, by President Charles W. Penrose.

Scientific Aspects of Mormonism, N. L. Nelson.

The Gospel, Roberts.

The Mormon Doctrine of Deity, Roberts.

The Seventy's Year Books, a complete set. There is constant reference made in the present number to previous numbers; and the student who is not in possession of those numbers is by so much deprived of the opportunity to complete his inquiry on the division of the subject he may have in hand, and as this number completes at present the set of Seventy's Year Books, each member of the respective quorums, we think, should be anxious to obtain the complete set.

After enumerating the above books, published by writers in the Church, I suggest as in a way helpful to an understanding of the trend of modern thinking, somewhat along the lines of spiritual and scientific thought with which the Seventies of the Church ought to be acquainted, the following:

Natural Law in the Spiritual World, Henry Drummond, 1893.

Studies in Religion, Fiske.

A Century of Science, Fiske.

Reconstruction of Religious Beliefs, Mallock.

The Religious Conceptions of the World, Rogers.

Science and Immortality, Sir Oliver Lodge.

All the books enumerated in the above list of works of reference may be obtained at the Deseret Sunday School Union Book Store, Salt Lake City.

The Seventy's Course in Theology.

FIFTH YEAR

PART I

Divine Immanence.

LESSON I.

(Scripture Reading Exercise.)

IMMANENCE OF GOD.

ANALYSIS. | REFERENCES.
I. Definition of "Immanent." | Any of the standard dictionaries. The Scripture passages cited in the "Discussion" of this lesson.
II. Distinction Between "Omnipresence" and "Immanence."
III. Revelation commits the Church to the Doctrine of Divine Immanence.

SPECIAL TEXT: "The Light which now shineth, which giveth you light, is through him who enlighteneth your eyes, which is the same light that quickeneth your understandings; which Light proceedeth forth from the presence of God to fill the immensity of space." (Doc. and Cov. Sec. lxxxviii:11, 12.)

DISCUSSION.

1. Definition of Immanent: The word "Immanent" means "indwelling," "remaining within;" "opposed to transient," or "transitive."[A] Such the definition of the adjective. The noun, "Immanence," is defined as "the state of being immanent," "a permanent abiding within"—"indwelling."[B] As applied to God it conveys the idea of essential and permanent Divine presence in all the universe. It excludes the idea of movement or transition from one place to another in order for the Deity to be at a given place, since immanence conveys the idea of Divine presence being already and constantly at every point in the universe; hence movement conceived as necessary to presence is not essential, but is excluded from the conception of immanence.

[Footnote A: The Standard Dictionary, Funk and Wagnalls.]

[Footnote B: See both Standard and Century Dictionaries.]

2. Distinction Between Omnipresence and Immanence: It may be thought that "immanence" is but the restatement in another form, of the attribute of omnipresence in Deity—simply an affirmation of his every-whereness; and it must be admitted that there is at least a close resemblance if not identity between the two things for which the two terms stand. And yet there is a difference between immanence and omnipresence. The latter means merely the every-whereness of God, "present in all places and at the same time."[A]

[Footnote A: Century Dictionary.]

Immanence means that, too; but it means more than that. It means presence accompanied by power; or presence plus power; presence accompanied by doing, or act, leading to manifestations of God's power. In modern philosophy the word is applied to the operations of a Creator conceived of as in organic connection with the creation;[A] and we shall see presently that this is as true in theology as it is in philosophy.

[Footnote A: Century Dictionary. Joseph Le Conte, Professor of Geology and Natural History in the University of California, discussing what belief in God would be for rational philosophy, says: "It is the belief in a God not far away beyond our reach, who once long ago enacted laws and created forces which continue of themselves to run the machine we call nature, but a God immanent, a God resident in Nature, at all times and in all places directing every event and determining every phenomenon; a God in whom in the most literal sense not only we but all things have their being, in whom all things consist, through whom all things exist, and without whom there would be and could be nothing. According to this view the phenomena of Nature are naught else than objectified modes of divine thought, the forces of Nature naught else than different forms of one omnipresent, divine energy or will; the laws of Nature naught else than the regular modes of operation of that divine will, invariable because he is unchangeable. According to this view the law of gravitation is naught else than the mode of operation of the divine energy in sustaining the cosmos—the divine method of sustentation." ("Evolution and Its Relation to Religious Thought"—1902—pp. 300, 301.)]

3. Does Revelation Teach Immanence of God: Here we may as well consider the question whether or not the scriptures teach the doctrine of immanence as defined above. Of the doctrine of God's omnipresence there can be no question at all. David states it beautifully:

"Whither shall I go from thy spirit, or whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me. If I say surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me. Yea the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee."[A]

[Footnote A: Psalms cxxxix:7-12.]

Jeremiah is equally as clear in a statement of the same truth, even if less poetical:

"Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the Lord. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the Lord."[A]

[Footnote A: Jeremiah xxiii:24.]

Solomon said of God:

"The heaven, and heaven of heavens cannot contain thee, how much less this house that I have builded?"[A]

[Footnote A: I Kings viii:27.]

Paul declares that God is "not far from every one of us; for in him we live and move and have our being."[A]

[Footnote A: Acts xvii:26-28.]

4. Limitations of Foregoing Revelations to Omnipresence: These declarations go at least as far as to establish the omnipresence of God, not of his bodily, but of his spiritual presence; but they do not quite express the conception presented in the word immanence which I have said equals the attribute of omnipresence plus divine power, and act. It was left for our modern revelations to present that idea. This is done in the revelation which first declares that "the elements"—having reference to the elements of the material world—"are eternal;" that "spirit and element inseparably connected receive a fulness of joy;" that "the elements are the tabernacle of God."[A] That is, in some way, God is immanent, ever present and everywhere present, in the universe.[B]

[Footnote A: Doc. and Cov., Sec. xciii:33-35.]

[Footnote B: The Universe: It may be well to bring before the mind of the student a brief definition of this term "universe," in which we are saying that God is immanent, in order that we may appreciate somewhat at least the largeness of things with which we are dealing. I take the definition from Haeckel:

"(a) The extent of the universe is infinite and unbounded; it is empty in no part, but everywhere filled with substance.

"(b) The duration of the world (i. e. Universe) is equally infinite and unbounded; it has no end; it is eternity." (Riddle of the Universe, p. 242.) And in this infinite and eternal universe, God, in some way, is everywhere present and potentially or actually active—immanent.]

5. God Not Only Everywhere Present, But Power and Act: Our theology recognizes Jesus Christ as not only divine but Deity;[A] and this Immanence of God in the world is in some of our modern revelations spoken of as the "Light of Christ:"[B]

[Footnote A: Seventy's Year Book No. III, Lessons XXXIII and XXXIV.]

[Footnote B: A near equivalent to this phrase, "the light of Christ," is also used in the New Testament in connection with the idea of its being a vital as well as an intelligent principle—the life and the light of the world: "In him [the Christ, see context] was life; and the life was the light of men; and the light shineth in the darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not." John was sent to bear witness of that light: "That was the true light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name." (St. John's Gospel i:1-12.) See also Doc. and Cov., Sec. lxxxiv:45-47.]

"He that ascended up on high, as also he descended below all things; in that he comprehended all things, that he might be in all and through all things, the light of truth;

"Which truth shineth. This is the light of Christ. As also he is in the sun, and the light of the sun, and the power thereof by which It was made;

"As also he is in the moon, and is the light of the moon, and the power thereof by which it was made.

"As also the light of the stars, and the power thereof by which they were made.

"And the earth also, and the power thereof; even the earth upon which you stand.

"And the light which now shineth, which giveth you light, is through him who enlighteneth your eyes, which is the same light that quickeneth your understandings;

"Which light proceedeth forth from the presence of God to fill the immensity of space.

"The light which is in all things; which giveth life to all things; which is the law by which all things are governed: even the power of God who sitteth upon his throne, who is in the bosom of eternity, who is in the midst of all things."[A]

[Footnote A: Doc. and Cov., Sec. lxxxviii:6-13.]

And later in the same Revelation it is said:

"Judgment goeth before the face of him who sitteth upon the throne [God], and governeth and executeth all things;

"He comprehendeth all things, and all things are before him, and all things are round about him: and he is above all things, and in all things, and is through all things, and is round about all things; and all things are by him, and of him, even God, for ever and ever.

"And again, verily I say unto you, he hath given a law unto all things by which they move in their times and their seasons;

"And their courses are fixed; even the courses of the heavens and the earth, which comprehend the earth and all the planets;

"And they give light to each other in their times and in their seasons, in their minutes, in their hours, in their days, in their weeks, in their months, in their years: all these are one year with God, but not with man.

"The earth rolls upon her wings, and the sun giveth his light by day, and the moon giveth her light by night, and the stars also give their light, as they roll upon their wings in their glory, in the midst of the power of God.

"Unto what shall I liken these kingdoms, that ye may understand?

"Behold, all these are kingdoms, and any man who hath seen any or the least of these, hath seen God moving in his majesty and power.

"I say unto you, he hath seen him; nevertheless, he who came unto his own was not comprehended.

"The light shineth in darkness, and the darkness comprehendeth it not; nevertheless, the day shall come when you shall comprehend even God; being quickened in him and by him.

"Then shall ye know that ye have seen me, that I am, and that I am the true light that is in you, and that you are in me, otherwise ye could not abound."[A]

[Footnote A: Ibid. Sec. lxxxviii:41-50.]

A more complete or thorough-going statement of the ever-whereness of God in the world, accompanied with the idea of power—God immanent, dynamic, as well as present,—I do not remember to have seen.

LESSON II.

(Scripture Reading Exercise.)

NATURE AND POWERS OF THE DIVINE IMMANENCE.

ANALYSIS. | REFERENCES.
I. Relationship of the Immanent Spirit to the Christ. | The passages of scripture and other works cited in the "Discussion" of this lesson.

II. Powers of the Immanent Spirit:

(a) Creative power;

(b) Sustaining power;

(c) Vital power;

(d) Intelligence-inspiring power.

III. The Relationship of the Immanent Spirit to an Eternal Race of Divine Beings.

SPECIAL TEXT: "H. that ascended up on high, as also he descended below all things; in that he comprehended all things, that he might be in all and through all things, the light of truth; which truth shineth. This is the Light of Christ the light which is in all things; which giveth life to all things: which is the law by which all things are governed: even the power of God who sitteth upon his throne, who is in the bosom of eternity, who is in the midst of all things." (Doc. and Cov. sec. lxxxviii:6, 7, 13.)

DISCUSSION.

1. The Immanent Spirit as Related to the Christ: It is to be observed that Immanence of God as set forth in the preceding lesson is associated with a personality; in the passages of scripture quoted in the preceding lesson, the Immanence is directly associated with the personality of the Christ. It is "The Light of Christ" that is immanent in the world.[A]

[Footnote A: Doc. and Cov., Sec. lxxxviii:7.]

2. Creative Power of the Immanent God: It is "The Light of Christ" that is "in the sun, and the light of the sun, and the power thereof by which it was made."[A] It is "The Light of Christ" that is "in the moon, and is the light of the moon, and the power thereof by which it was made; as also the light of the stars and the power thereof by which, they were made; and the earth also, and the power thereof, even the earth on which you stand."[B]

[Footnote A: Ibid.]

[Footnote B: Ibid, verses 8-10.]

3. Sustaining Power of the Immanent God: This "light which proceeded forth from the presence of God to fill the immensity of space," "The Light of Christ," is also the sustaining power of the world as well as the creative power—"the light which is in all things; which giveth life to all things: which is the law [i. e. power] by which all things are governed: even the power of God."[A]

[Footnote A: Doc. and Cov., Sec. lxxxviii:13. "The law and power by which all things are governed," is the late Elder Orson Pratt's foot note on the passage. See foot note "k" from verse 13.]

"The earth rolls upon her wings, and the sun giveth his light by day, and the moon giveth her light by night, and the stars also give their light, as they roll upon their wings in their glory, in the midst of the power of God. * * * Behold all these are kingdoms, and any man who hath seen any or the least of these, has seen God moving in his majesty and power"—a manifestation of God in the orderly movement of the planetary systems of the world.

4. Vital Force of the Immanent God: This "Light of Christ"—which "fills the immensity of space," is also a vital, or life-giving force or spirit—"The Light which is in all things; which giveth life to all things."[A] "I am the light of the world," said Jesus, "he that followed me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life."[B] "In him [the Christ] was life; and the life was the light of men."[C]

[Footnote A: Doc. and Cov., Sec. lxxxviii:3.]

[Footnote B: St. John viii:12.]

[Footnote C: Ibid i:4.]

5. Intelligence-Inspiring Power of the Immanent God: Nor is this "Light of Christ," immanent in the world, creative, sustaining and vital power only; but also it has a power of giving intelligence; it inspires intelligence; it is the inspiration of God which gives to the spirit of man understanding:[A] "The light which now shined," said the Lord to his servants, "which giveth you light, is through him [the Christ] who enlightened your eyes, which is the same light that quickened your understandings; which light proceedeth forth from the presence of God to fill the immensity of space."[B]

[Footnote A: There is a spirit in man; and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth them understanding; (Job xxxiii:8.)]

[Footnote B: Doc. and Cov., Sec. lxxxviii:11, 12.]

Again, and this from another revelation:

"For the word of the Lord is truth, and whatsoever is truth is light, and whatsoever is light is Spirit, even the Spirit of Jesus Christ;

"And the Spirit giveth light to every man that cometh into the world; and the Spirit enlighteneth every man through the world, that hearkeneth to the voice of the Spirit;

"And every one that hearkeneth to the voice of the Spirit, cometh unto God, even the Father;"[A]

[Footnote A: Doc. and Cov., Sec. lxxxiv:45-47. See also St. John i:3-12.]

6. The Immanent Spirit's Relationship to a Race of Divine, Exalted Intelligences: We may now say from the analysis of the scriptures so far developed that God Immanent in the world—"The Light of Christ"—the "Spirit of Christ"—is the power creative; the sustaining power; the life-giving power; and the intelligence-inspiring power. It is the active principle in all these respects; and is omnipresent.

As observed in the opening paragraph of this lesson, however, God immanent in the world is associated with a personality; it is directly associated with the personality of Christ. It is called "The Light of Christ"—it "proceedeth forth from the presence of God to fill the immensity of space." It is not then a personality in itself, that is in the sense of being of individual form, but proceeds forth from a personality; it is a presence rather than a person; an influence, a spiritual atmosphere, a power proceeding from another, and therefore is dependent on that other for its existence rather than being an independent existence; but as that "Other" on which it depends is eternal, so too this that proceeds forth from the personal presence to fill the immensity of space "is likewise eternal."[A]

[Footnote A: From the nature of things one has to develop his subject gradually, "line upon line," and the writer suggests that the student, if he finds the statement not fully established as here made, that he await its fuller statement in later pages.]

Again: This God Immanent, as we have seen, is called the "Light of Christ," "The Spirit of Christ." For which reason I have said above that the God Immanent is associated with the personality of the Christ. But if the God Immanent may be associated with the Christ, may it not also be associated with God, the Father, as well as with God the son? If God the Son has a spiritual influence, a light, an holy atmosphere radiating forth from him into space, in some manner analogous to the manner in which rays of light radiate from luminous suns in the physical world—may it not be reasonably concluded that God, the Father, also has such an influence, such a spiritual atmosphere proceeding forth from him? And if Father and Son have such a spiritual light proceeding forth from their presence, may it not be that all divine Intelligences have, similarly proceeding forth from their presence, such divine "light"?

7. The Spirit Atmosphere of Men: Our discussion may be helped here by an appeal to a matter of common experience. We know that every man and woman has an individual influence, a personal atmosphere extending beyond the personal self, more or less pronounced, according to the strength or weakness of his individuality. So generally is this conceded to be true that we designate its kind, or dominating character; as good or bad; refined or coarse; intellectual or boorish; spiritual or carnal. If, then, one may argue, the intelligences we know as men possess this atmosphere of personal influence extending beyond the personal self, how much more angels, arch-angels, and the higher Intelligences who have taken on, or participated in, the Divine Nature and entered into their exaltation and glory with other innumerable Divine Intelligences whom we call Gods—with how much more reason may we expect that these may have such spiritual influence proceeding forth from their presence?

8. The Identity of Spirit Influence Proceeding from all Divine Beings: From the scriptures we learn of the perfect oneness subsisting between God, the Father, and God, the Son. "I and my Father are one," is the oft repeated declaration of the Christ.[A] "I in thee, and thou in me,"[B] is the emphasis he lays upon the oneness of himself and the Father. Granting this moral and spiritual oneness—not physical oneness, for physically our theology holds Father and Son to be distinct and separate individuals[C]—but granting this moral, intellectual and spiritual alikeness—then it must follow that the spiritual influence of each, the intellectual and moral atmosphere of each, will be the same. "The Light of Christ" will be the same or identical with the light of the Father; and with the light of all Intelligences who have participated in the divine nature and become one with the Father and the Son. So that it might be properly held that the God Immanent is as much the "Light of the Father" as "The Light of Christ;" and since that light would be identical with the light of all perfected and holy beings, participating in the Divine nature, it could receive a name that would generalize it—the "Divine Spirit, Immanent in the Universe;" or, "God, the Spirit of the Gods,[D] Immanent in the Universe;" any of these characterizations would doubtless be admissible; but since it is through the Christ that the Divine nature and spirit is manifested in our world, it is but proper that this Divine Light which lighteth every man into the world—which is creative, sustaining, vital, and intelligence-inspiring power, should bear the name of Christ—and henceforth we shall recognize it as our modern revelations do, primarily, as "The Light of Christ." But there has always been a race of divine beings in existence, an eternal race, from whom such a divine influence or atmosphere has proceeded forth to "fill the immensity of space;" and that is what I meant a few paragraphs back when I said that as the source whence the God Immanent proceeded is eternal, so too is the immanence eternal, has always existed, and will always exist by whatsoever name it might have been or may be known.

[Footnote A: St. John x:30; xvii:22, et seq.]

[Footnote B: Ibid, verse 21.]

[Footnote C: Seventy's Year Book III, Lesson XXXV.]

[Footnote D: I have so treated it in my Mormon Doctrine of Deity, pp. 166-169; also in the Seventy's Year Book No. III, Lesson XXXV.]

9. Being Whom We Call God: This is that Spirit which men call God, but "know no more;" that "something sacred and sublime," which men recognize as moving "wool-shod" behind the worlds; this that Spirit that permeates all space; that makes all presence bright; all motion guides; the Power "unchanged through Time's all-devastating flight"—God Immanent, the Spirit proceeding from all Divine Intelligences intermingled and harmonized into one Spirit. This the true light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world; the light of which John the Baptist was the witness; and of which Jesus, to us men, was the manifestation,[A] and to which all men have access—"The Light of Christ."

[Footnote A: St. John i:4-12.]

10. Brigham Young on Object of Existence: "We are created for the express purpose of increase, there is nothing within us but that which can increase, from the birth to old age; what is there that is not ordained after eternal law of existence, for it is the Deity within us that causes increase. Doth this idea startle you? Are you ready to exclaim, what! the supreme in you? Yes, he is in every person upon the face of the earth. The elements that every individual is made of, and lives in, possesses a portion of the Deity, this you cannot now understand, but you will hereafter. The Deity within us, is the great principle that causes men and women to increase and to grow in grace and truth. The operation once begun, strict obedience to the requirements of heaven is necessary to obtain the end for which we were created, but if we never commence to propagate our species, and keep the commandments of God we cannot attain to the end in view."[A]

[Footnote A: Discourse by Pres. Brigham Young, June 13, 1852. Deseret News, Vol. 4, No. 6.]

LESSON III.

(Scripture Reading Exercise.)

MORAL AND SPIRITUAL VALUE IN THE CONCEPTION OF THE DIVINE IMMANENCE.

ANALYSIS. | REFERENCES.
I. Of the Possibility of the Existence of all the Divine Attributes in the Immanent Spirit. | The Scriptures and other works cited in the text of the lesson.
II. Christ the Revelation of the Immanent Spirit, as well as of God, the Father.
III. Moral and Spiritual Effect in the Sense of the Nearness of God in the Doctrine of Divine Immanence.

SPECIAL TEXT: "Am I a God at hand, saith the Lord, and not a God afar off? Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the Lord. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the Lord" (Jeremiah xxiii:23, 24.)

DISCUSSION.

1. Possible Attributes of the Immanent Spirit: So far I have refrained from ascribing any attributes, quality, or characteristic to the Immanent God not directly warranted by the phraseology of the modern revelations which teach the doctrine of immanence; creative and sustaining power; vital force, and intelligence-inspiring power.[A] Yet if the Immanent God is the spirit proceeding from the presence of Divine Beings, to fill the immensity of space, and called for us men "the Light of Christ," it may well be regarded as true that the Spirit carries with it the whole nature of God, and in some way, reflects all characteristics and attributes of Deity, the moral attributes of wisdom, holiness, truth, justice, love, and mercy as well as the four powers before noted.

[Footnote A: See the revelations quoted in preceding lesson.]

2. The Mission of the Christ: Manifestation of the Immanent Spirit: It was part of the mission of the Christ to manifest this Immanent God, as well as God the Father. He came to reveal the whole of the divine nature. He was God manifested in the flesh;[A] in him dwelt all the fullness of the Godhead bodily;[B] it pleased the Father that in him should all fullness dwell;[C] he was the brightness of the Father's glory and the express image of his person.[D] But he was also the manifestation of, "the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world."[E] Light of Christ, the God Immanent; the invisible made visible; the "Unknown God" of the Greeks made known in Jesus Christ through the preaching of Paul unto them; for whom they ignorantly worshiped declared he unto them by preaching Christ; saying that God whom he preached was not afar off—"not far from every one of us: for in him we live, and move, and have our being,"[F] making direct reference to that Spirit which fills the immensity of space, the "Unknown God" of the Greeks—the God Immanent, now manifested by the Christ whom Paul was preaching—from whose presence David could not flee; and to whom the darkness was the same as the light—to whom the night shineth as the day.[G]

[Footnote A: Tim iii:16 and marginal rendering of "manifest" in Oxford Bible.]

[Footnote B: Col. ii:9.]

[Footnote C: Col. i:19.]

[Footnote D: Heb. i:3.]

[Footnote E: St. John i:9.]

[Footnote F: Acts xvii:22-28.]

[Footnote G: Psalms cxxxix.]

3. Moral Effect of the Conception of Immanence, Negatively Expressed: The conception of God as Immanent in the world is of utmost importance both as a religious and a philosophical truth. Its effect upon the mind as establishing a sense of nearness of God is most salutary in its moral effects, and uplifting in its spiritual power. To sense that one lives in the presence of the Divine Consciousness—that known unto God are all his thoughts and all his doings; to dwell with One from whom the darkness and the light are both alike; from whom there is no fleeing; for if one ascend into heaven, lo, He is there; if one make his bed in hell, behold, He is there; if one would take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the earth or of the sea—there also is this Immanent Spirit.[A] To live thus in a consciousness of the Divine Presence and Power, makes for righteousness of life. For where may sin and wickedness hide themselves? There is no refuge for them—no escape. If one shall say—"surely the darkness shall cover me," even the night shall be light about him.[B] Iniquity may not hide itself, and as sin loves not the light, negatively the moral force of consciously living in the presence of God is very great.

[Footnote A: Psalms cxxxix.]

[Footnote B: Ibid.]

4. Moral Effect of the Doctrine of Immanence, Affirmatively Expressed: Affirmatively expressed, the conception and the result of it are even greater, both morally and spiritually. To live consciously in the presence of God must be a source of annoyance and vexation to evil disposed men; and even to men inclined to virtue, an embarrassment, at times, when they recall their many failures to live in harmony with their ideals.[A] But, on the other hand, for these of the latter class, when they realize that the Divine Presence is sympathetic; that He knows, not only "what's done," but also "what's resisted;" that He knows of the struggle for the attainment of virtue—the hungering and the thirsting after righteousness; that He knows the strength of the temptation, and the weakness of the tempted; that He knows the heart, "each chord, its various tone; each spring, its various bias;" and He will judge, not after the sight of the eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of the ears, but with righteousness shall He judge, and reprove with equity;[B] judging, "not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment."[C] Men can be assured of a correct registration and truthful report of their deeds, and a judgment upon them neither partial nor prejudiced; which, while it may cause the wicked to tremble, to men conscious of the uprightness of their intentions, and of honest effort in right directions, as God gives them vision to see the right—what encouragement to earnest striving this conception of living in the very presence of God must bring! What calmness it must bring in the midst of conflict! what peace! what assurance of triumph notwithstanding failures, and losses, and the sad exhibitions of human weakness—the outgrowth of a fallen human nature!

[Footnote A: Professor Joseph Le Conte, Professor of Geology and Natural History in the University of California, answering a supposed objection that one might not live and work effectively in the presence of the Immanent Deity, said: "It may alas! be true that this view [Immanence of God in the world] brings us too near Him in our sense of spiritual nakedness and short-coming. It may, indeed, be that we can not live and work in the continual realized presence of the Infinite. It may, indeed, be that we must still wear the evil of a practical materialism on our hearts and minds. It may, indeed, be that in our practical life and scientific work we must still continue to think of natural forces as efficient agents. But, if so, let us at least remember that this attitude of mind must be regarded only as our ordinary work-clothes—necessary work-clothes it may be of our outer lower life—to be put aside when we return home to our inner higher life, religious and philosophical. (Evolution in Its Relation to Religious Thought"—1902—pp. 302-3.)]

[Footnote B: Isaiah xi:3, 4.]

[Footnote C: St. John vii:24.]

5. The Helpfulness that Comes from the Sense of the Nearness of God—His Immanence: Moreover, if the view point of this treatise be the true one, and all the attributes of the Divine nature are carried over into the Divine Spirit that proceeds forth from the presence of God to fill the immensity of space—being the God Immanent—then one may be assured that living at all times and in all places in the presence of the Immanent Spirit, he resides in the atmosphere, at least, of the wisdom, the love, and the mercy of God; which can but add to his comfort, to his assurance, to his strength. Such an one with David can say—

"Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my thoughts: and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting."[A]

[Footnote A: Psalms, cxl:23, 24.]

And else he may say—

"Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for thou are near me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort mc."[A]

[Footnote A: Psalm, xxiii:24.]

Under this sense of nearness, which springs from the doctrine of Immanence, one may again say with David:

"Behold, the eye of the Lord is upon them that fear him, upon them that hope in his mercy;

"To deliver their soul from death, and to keep them alive in famine.

"Our soul waiteth for the Lord: he is our help and our shield."[A]

[Footnote A: Psalms xxxiii:18-20.]

And yet again:

"The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.

"Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the Lord delivereth him out of them all."[A]

[Footnote A: Psalms xxxiv:18, 19.]

Also:

"God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.

"Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea;

"Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof.

"There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the most high.

"God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved: God shall help her, and that right early.

"The heathen raged, the kingdoms were moved; he uttered his voice, the earth melted.

"The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge."[A]

[Footnote A: Psalms xlvi:1-7.]

All which loving trust comes from that blessed sense of nearness of God born of the great doctrine of Immanence—God resident in the world, here and now—a dynamic power in the world—that makes for righteousness, and of which the Christ was and is the manifestation, the Revealer; and the Immanent Spirit is "the Light of Christ."

LESSON IV.

(Scripture Reading Exercise.)

THE PHILOSOPHICAL VALUE OF THE DOCTRINE OF IMMANENCE.

ANALYSIS. | REFERENCES.
I. The Immanence Conception a Result of Modern Thinking. | The Scripture passages and works cited in the lesson text.
II. Philosophical Values in Immanence.
III. Immanence Conversely—"The World Immanent in God."
IV. Immanence Equal—Manifestation Unequal.

SPECIAL TEXT: "Thou, God, seest me." (Gen. xvi:13.)

DISCUSSION.

1. Modern Revival of the Doctrine of Immanence: On the philosophical side of this conception of the Immanence of God, we are assured that it is the result of the modern world's (i.e. post Kantian) thinking.[A] Of its value to human thinking and to religion itself, John Fiske—after pointing out the fact that both Clement and Athanasius among the early Christian fathers had held somewhat to the doctrine of immanence as conceived in more modern philosophy, viz—"God Immanent in the universe, and eternally creative"—says:

[Footnote A: "One can securely say that nothing of crucial import has come forward in the interest of human freedom [i.e. freedom of the human will—man as a free moral agent] since Kant started the inspiring but hitherto little fruitful conception of moral autonomy. Instead, as we have seen, the world's thinking has been absorbed in questions that thus far have ended in a persuasion of the immanence of the eternal in all things—at best the all-pervasive presence of an immanent spirit." Howison, "Conceptions of God," Introductions p. 32.]

"Once really adopt the conception of an ever-present God, without whom not a sparrow falls to the ground, and it becomes self-evident that the law of gravitation is but an expression of a particular mode of divine action. And what is thus true of one law is true of all laws. The thinker in whose mind divine action is thus identified with orderly action and to whom a really irregular phenomenon would seem like a manifestation of sheer diabolism, forsees in every possible extension of knowledge a fresh confirmation of his faith in God. From his point of view there can be no antagonism between our duty as inquirers and our duty as worshipers. To him no part of the universe is godless. In the swaying to and fro of molecules and the ceaseless pulsations of ether, in the secular shiftings of planetary orbits, in the busy work of frost and raindrop, in the mysterious sprouting of the seed, in the everlasting tale of death and life renewed, in the dawning of the babe's intelligence, in the varied deeds of men from age to age, he finds that which awakens the soul to reverential awe; and each act of scientific explanation but reveals an opening through which shines the glory of the Eternal Majesty."[A]

[Footnote A: Fiske-Studies in Religion, pp. 167-3, Works Vol. IX]

2. The World Immanent in God: Still one other thought from the philosophical side of the conception of Immanence is that it enables one to see not only God in nature, but as a necessary corollary, nature in God—"Divine immanence in the world, and the reciprocal immanence of the world in God."[A] That is to say, in one view, God's presence and power penetrates and pervades nature—the universe; in another view, nature is received into the all-including spiritual presence of God: as the One indwells in the other; so the other dwells in the One.

[Footnote A: Howison—"The Conception of God." p. 96.]

Before now the student has doubtless looked into the clear depths of a crystal-like spring of water; and has seen on the sandy floor of the spring the sunlight that tells him that the sun penetrates the water, in-dwells in the water, or, in poetic terms—

  "The sunshine in water lies sleeping."

And as the sunlight penetrates the water so does the water receive and hold the sunlight. As it is in the crystal spring, so is it in the ocean. And so in the universe with the immanence of God and the reciprocal immanence of the world in God. As saith the revelation:

"Judgment goeth before the face of him who sitteth upon the throne, and governeth and executeth all things. He comprehendeth all things, and all things are before him, and all things are round him; and he is above all things, and in all things, and is through all things, and is round about all things; and all things are by nim, and of him, even God forever and forever."[A]

[Footnote A: Doc. and Cov., Sec. lxxxviii:41.]

The chief value of this statement of the case—apart from the fact of it as a truth—is, it helps one to understand the completeness of the presence of God in the world; so complete is it, that the world is also in God! Also it helps one to an understanding of the more restricted view of the same principle announced in St. John, the declaration of the Christ: "Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me"; and that he and the Father are one[A]—i.e., the divine nature and spirit are one. One nature participated in by both Father and Son and finally to be participated in by those who are the disciples of the Christ; for in his prayer immediately preceding the hour of his passion—the most pathetic and soul-moving prayer preserved in human language—referring to his disciples he said:

[Footnote A: St. John xiv:11; also xvii.]

"Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou has given me, that they may be one as we are. Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; that they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us, and the glory which thou gavest me, I have given them, that they may be one, even as we are one: I in them and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one. * * * I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it; that the love wherewith thou hast loved me, may be in them, and I am them."[A]

[Footnote A: St. John xvii. Paul doubtless refers to the same principle when he says: "For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named; that he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his spirit in the inner man; that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in Jove, may be able to comprehend with all Saints what is the breadth and length and depth, and height; and to know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge, that ye may be filled with all the fullness of God." (Eph. iii:14-19.)

And also when he said:

"Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus: who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God." (Philippians ii:5, 6.)]

3. One Divine Nature in Many Persons: One divine nature, then, is the conclusion; but a divine nature in manifold persons, many, though indeed one, because harmonized into unity of purpose, and will; one divine spirit, rising from one divine nature—though participated in by many; a spirit rising from all Intelligences who have attained to the divine nature and unity in all and through all, manifesting God in his splendor and glory, as creating, sustaining, and guiding power in the universe—both Immanent and personal.

Elsewhere I have said on this subject: One cannot help being profoundly impressed with the great truth that creation, throughout its whole extent, bears evidence of being one system: that it presents at every point unity of design, and harmony in its government. Nor am I unmindful of the force there is in the deduction usually drawn from these premises, viz., that the Creator and Governor of the universe, must necessarily be One. But I am also profoundly impressed by another fact that comes within the experience of man, at least to a limited extent, viz.: the possibility of intelligences arriving at perfect agreement, so as to act in absolute unity. We see manifestations of this principle in human governments, and other human associations of various kinds. And this, too, is observable, viz., that the greater and more perfect the individual intelligence, the more perfect can the unity of purpose and of effort become for the community of intelligences; so that one need only conceive the existence of perfect intelligences to operate together in order to secure perfect oneness; then shall come the one system evident in the universe, exhibiting at every point unity of design, and perfect harmony in its government. In other words, "oneness" can be the result of perfect agreement among many intelligences as surely as it can be the result of the existence of One Only Intelligence. Also, the decrees and purposes of the perfectly united Many can be as absolute as the decrees and purposes of the One Only Intelligence. One is also confronted with the undeniable fact that inclines him to the latter view as the reasonable explanation of the "Oneness" that is evidently in control of the universe—the fact that there are in existence many Intelligences, and, endowed as they are with free will, it cannot be denied that they influence, to some extent, the course of events and the conditions that obtain. Moreover, it will be found, on careful inquiry, that the explanation of the "Oneness" controlling in the universe, on the theory that it results from perfect agreement or unity of Many Intelligences, is more in harmony with the revelations of God on the subject than the theory that there is but One Only Intelligence that enters into its government.[A]

[Footnote A: Mormon Doctrine of Deity, pp. 137-8.]

John Stuart Mill, in his Essay on Theism, in speaking of the evident unity in nature, which suggests that nature is governed by One Being, comes very near stating the exact truth in an alternative proposition to his first remark, viz.: "A. least, if a plurality be supposed, it is necessary to assume so complete a concert of action and unity of will among them, that the difference is for most purposes immaterial between such a theory and that of the absolute unity of the Godhead."[A]

[Footnote A: Essays on Religion; Theism p. 133.]

4. Immanence and Manifestation: We must believe from the scriptures previously considered in these lessons that God by his spirit is everywhere and equally present, but it does not follow that the manifestation of God is everywhere and equally the same. There are doubtless persons, conditions, and places, that present more favorable natures and conditions to the manifestation of this universal presence than others. Undoubtedly, if the assumption of this treatise be the right one, viz., that the God Immanent, for us men in the kingdom of the universe we inhabit known as "the Light of Christ"—carries with it the divine attributes of truth, wisdom, justice, holiness, and love, with the rest, then it follows, since like his affinity[A] to like, that there may be, as said above, persons, conditions and places more congenial to manifestation of the divine spirit than others. There are individual men and perhaps races of men more responsive to the Divine Presence and the divine attributes of which that presence is the atmosphere, than others; and where this is the case there will be the larger manifestation of God. Hence the difference observable among individuals and races and at variant times and places. Those who draw near to God, he draws near to them in manifestations of his presence and power; those who love darkness rather than light, because their deeds are evil, receive not the light; the manifestation of God in them either in presence or power is not possible because the conditions which attend upon that manifestation are not there.

[Footnote A: "For intelligence cleaveth unto intelligence; wisdom receiveth wisdom; truth embraceth truth; virtue loveth virtue; light cleaveth unto light; mercy hath compassion on mercy, and claimeth its own; judgment goeth before the face of him who sitteth upon the throne, and governeth and executeth all things." (Doc. & Cov. Sec. lviii:37-40.)]

6. The Law of Manifestation of the Immanent Spirit: "Draw nigh unto God, and he will draw nigh to you,"[A] is the law of divine manifestation. Christ, the Revealer of the Divine, Immanent Spirit, as well as of the person, character, brightness, and glory of the Father—the manifestation of all that is divine—"Came unto his own, but his own received him not; but unto as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believed on his name.[B] He that believeth on him (i. e. the Christ) is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God."

[Footnote A: James iv:8.]

[Footnote B: St. John i:11, 12.]

"And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.

"For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.

"But he that doeth truth, cometh to the light, that his deeds may be manifest, that they are wrought in God."[A]

[Footnote A: St. John iii:18-21.]

LESSON V.

(Scripture Reading Exercise.)

DIFFICULTIES INVOLVED IN THE DOCTRINE OF IMMANENCE.

ANALYSIS. | REFERENCES.
I. Incompatibility of the Existence of Evil in the World, and the Immanence of God. | The Scripture passages and works cited in the lesson text.
II. Reason for the Existence of Moral Evil.[A]
III. Difficulties that Arise from a Partial View of Man's Life.
IV. The Golden Age Promised—the Millennium.
V. The Lessons from Broken Harmonies—a World wherein Reigns Evils.

SPECIAL TEXT: "Thou [God] are of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity: wherefore lookest thou upon them that deal treacherously and holdest thy tongue when the wicked devoureth the man that is more righteous than he?" (Habakkuk i:13.)

[Footnote A: Under this subdivision of the lesson should be considered especially the matter in note m, this lesson, and the lessons cited from Year Books II and IV above and a review of the lessons cited from former Year Books in note.]

DISCUSSION.

1. Incompatibility of Immanence and Evil Stated: It is conceded that the conception of God Immanent in the universe—everywhere existing and everywhere dynamic power, though not everywhere equally manifested, carries with it many and great difficulties that attend upon all forms of human thinking when seeking the harmony that one feels must exist in the things that are—in truth.

For example: one naturally would say, as soon as the conception of the Immanence of God takes firm lodgment in his mind,—"why, then, if God is in his world everywhere present, and everywhere, not only powerful, but all-powerful; not only knowing, but all-knowing; not only good but all-good, holy in fact, and cannot look upon sin with the least degree of allowance[A]—why then is there evil in the world, physical suffering, and moral wrong, injustice, cruelty?[B] Why is the sum of human misery so great?[C] Why is the sum of human happiness so small?[D] Why do the good suffer adversity? Why does prosperity so frequently, in this world at least, attend upon the wicked? In the words of the Hebrew prophet addressed to God: "Wherefore lookest thou upon them that deal treacherously, and holdest thy tongue, when the wicked devoureth the man that is more righteous than he"?[E] Why do the sins of the wicked involve the innocent—why are the innocent made to suffer with the guilty?[F] Why does truth make such tardy appearance in the world, and why of so partial rather than of universal distribution? How can freedom co-exist, that is, the freedom of man as a free moral agent, co-exist with the Sovereign will of the All-Powerful and Immanent God?[G]

[Footnote A: Doc. and Cov., Sec. i:31. Also Habakkuk i:13 and Psalms v:4-6.]

[Footnote B: "We cry out for some explanation—for some philosophy which shall show us how evil is consistent with the infinite goodness." (Le Conte, "Conceptions of God," p. 71.)]

[Footnote C: "How terribly large is the proportion of evil? comparing the number of those who are or have been happy, with the number of those who are or have been unhappy, can we say that the great pessimist was very far wrong in calling this the worst possible—he did not say the worst conceivable—world". (Goldwin Smith, discussing "Evolution, Immortality, and Christianity," in North American Review, October, 1907, p. 196.)]

[Footnote D: "The great quest of humanity is happiness. But was the world created to make us happy? I've studied people in all places and conditions and everywhere I've found, when you get below the surface, that it's mostly the insincere individual who says, 'I am a happy man.'" (Thomas A. Edison, the great American Inventor in a Vienna-Austria Interview on "Success in Life," reported in New York World, October 25. 1911.)]

[Footnote E: Habakkuk i:13.]

[Footnote F: See Seventy's Year Book II, Lessons III and IX. Also Year Book IV, Lessons IV and VII and VIII.]

[Footnote G: In order that it may be seen that this is regarded really as doubtful by some powerful minds, and also as a question of grave importance, I quote the following presentation of it by Professor Howison, and which he prints in italics in the work from which I quote it: "Can the reality of human free-agency, of moral responsibility and universal moral aspiration, of unlimited spiritual hope for every soul,—can this be made out, can it even be held, consistently with the theory of an Immanent God? This, for a few awakened minds at least, now becomes the 'burning question.' * * * At all events, the time has come when the question whether this is not so should be raised with all emphasis, and examined to the end. For if our genuine freedom is to disappear when we accept the religion whose God is the Immanent Spirit, then the new religion is in truth a decline from the highest conceptions of the historic faith, and in this regard has no advantage over the religion of the 'Unknowable.'" ("Conceptions of God," p. 30.)]

Professor Le Conte has a valuable passage apropos these questions which I consider too valuable to omit at this point, though it makes rather an extended quotation. On the great question of moral evil, its nature, its origin, its reason—a question inseparably connected with the conception of God, he says:

"In a general way I agree with his [Professor Royce's] explanation of the dark problem of evil. Evil cannot be the true meaning and real outcome of the universe; on the contrary, it means the necessary means of the highest good. * * * Our moral and religious nature is just as fundamental and essential as our scientific and rational nature. As science is not simply passionless acquisition of knowledge, but also enthusiasm for truth, so morality is not passionless rules of best conduct, but impassioned love of righteousness. And this last is what we call religion; for religion is morality touched and vivified with noble emotion. Now, the necessary postulate of science, without which scientific activity would be impossible, is a rational order of the universe; and, similarly, the necessary postulate of religion, without such religious activity would be impossible, is a moral order of the universe. As science postulates the final triumph of reason, so religion must postulate the final triumph of righteousness. Science believes in the rational order, or in law, in spite of apparent confusion; she knows that disorder is only apparent, only the result of ignorance; and her mission is, to show this by reducing all appearances, all phenomena, to law. So also religion is right in her unshakable belief in the moral order, in spite of apparent disorder or evil; she knows that evil is only apparent, the result of our ignorance and our weakness; and her mission is, to show this by helping on the triumph of moral order over disorder. We may, if we like,—as many indeed do,—reject the faith in the Infinite Goodness, and thereby paralyze our religious activity; but then, to be consistent, we must also reject the faith in the Infinite Reason, and thereby paralyze our scientific activity.

So much for a rational justification of the indestructible faith religion has in the Infinite Righteousness, even in the presence of abounding evil. It is founded on the same ground as our indestructible faith in the reign of law in the natural world, and is just as reasonable. Why is it, then, it may be asked, that every one is willing to admit the postulate of science, while so many doubt that of religion? I answer: partly because of feebleness of our moral life in comparison with our physical life; but mainly because the steady advance of science, with its progressive conquest of chaos, and its extension of the domain of order and law, is a continual verification of the postulate of science, and justification of our faith therein; while, on the contrary, the progress of morality and religion is uncertain and often unrecognized, the increase of righteousness and decrease of evil doubtful and even denied. In the presence of such uncertainty, our faith is often sorely tried. We cry out for some explanation—for some philosophy which shall show us how evil is consistent with the Infinite Goodness. We know it is, for that is a necessary postulate. But—how?"[A]

[Footnote A: The Conception of God—Le Conte's paper, pp. 70-71.]

This philosophy so earnestly asked for I trust is found in the New Dispensation of the Gospel, the light from the revelations in which, I believe, warrant the conclusions in the above paragraph of the Lesson text, and also the conclusions reached in the lessons of previous Year Books cited in note f. Then Professor Le Conte himself gives a reasonably good explanation for the existence of moral evil, which it is only just should be given here since I have quoted him up to the question of why evil exists. This is his answer: "It is that the existence or at least the possibility of a moral being like that of man [should exist]. There are some things which God himself cannot do, viz., such things as are contrary to his essential nature, and such things as are a contradiction in terms and therefore absurd and unthinkable. Such a thing would be a moral being without freedom to choose right or wrong. God could not make man eternally and of necessity sinless, for then he would not be man at all. To make him incapable of virtue, of righteousness, of holiness, for he must acquire these for himself by free choice, by struggle and conquest."[A]

[Footnote A: The Conception of God, p. 72.]

2. Things Seen and Known but in Part: One may not find the complete answer to all the questions of the second paragraph of this lesson, which make up largely the sum of difficulties for the theist, who believes in God Immanent in the world; but they are somewhat lessened by remembering that here on our plane of human life we know things but in fragments—"We know in part:" We see as through a glass, darkly; not face to face; and will have to await the time of more perfect knowing and seeing before we shall comprehend things as they are in their entirety.

A fine illustration of the mistaken conclusions men form by judging of things seen only in part is to be found in the Prophet Malachi:

"Your words have been stout against me, saith the Lord. Yet ye say, What have we spoken so much against thee?

"Ye have said, It is vain to serve God: and what profit is it that we have kept his ordinance, and that we have walked mournfully before the Lord of hosts?

"And now we call the proud happy; yea, they that work wickedness are set up; yea, they that tempt God are even delivered.

"Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another: and the Lord hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the Lord, and that thought upon his name.

"And they shall be mine, saith the Lord of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him.

"Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not"[A]

[Footnote A: Mal. iii:13-18.]

All which tends to establish the thought that this world is the scene of struggle and trial for man, not the place of his full triumph and reward. "In this world your joy is not full [saith the Lord], but in me your joy is full. Therefore care not for the body, neither the life of the body; but care for the soul, and for the life of the soul; and seek the face of the Lord, always, that in patience ye may possess your souls, and ye shall have eternal life."[A]

[Footnote A: Doc. and Cov., Sec. ci:36-38.]

3. Amid Broken Harmonies: We may be helped somewhat in our present earth-view of things, by holding in consciousness the fact that we live at present in our world amid broken harmonies, under the effects of "the fall," for a wise purpose in God; in a sphere of trial and test; in a purposely arranged department of God's great university for the instruction of the spirits of men in certain all-important matters,[M] involving also our union with earth elements, leading to a fulness of joy, and without which union men cannot receive a fulness of joy.[B] Therefore we may say that in our earth-life things are not in a normal state; but in confusion; under stress of special trial and development that shall ultimate in higher and better things—in the golden age of the earth and of humanity, predicted by sages and poets—the millennium of the seers and prophets of God, and the apostles of the Christ—these all bid us hope for higher and better things than we have known on our present plane of existence—a world where we shall no longer see as through a glass darkly, "but face to face;" when we shall no longer know only in part, but know even as we are known; when that which is in part "shall be done away," and that "which is perfect is come."[C]

[Footnote M: "Religion accounts for the existence of evil as probationary, resistence to the evil being a training of humanity to good." (Goldwin Smith in "North American Review," October, 1907. In connection with this statement see Seventy's Year Book II, Lesson III; also Lesson VIII, IX, X, which deal with "The Fall," "The Purpose of Man's Earth Life," and the "Problem of Evil.")]

[Footnote B: Doc. and Cov., Sec. xciii:32-35.]

[Footnote C: I Cor. xiii.]

There remaineth then a rest for the people of God.[A] They may look for a city "which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God."[B] The vision of St. John, in which he saw descending out of heaven the New Jerusalem, is yet to be realized in fact. Also what he heard proclaimed by "a great voice"—

[Footnote A: Heb. iv:9.]

[Footnote B: Heb. xi:10.]

"Behold the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.

"And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.

"And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful."[A]

[Footnote A: Revelation xxi; also xxii.]

LESSON VI.

(Scripture Reading Exercise.)

DOCTRINE OF DIVINE IMMANENCE IN THE NEW DISPENSATION: RECONCILIATION OF DIFFICULTIES.

ANALYSIS. | REFERENCES.
I. Difficulty of Regarding the Infinite Power of the Universe as Both Immanent and Personal. | The Scriptures and other works in the text of the lesson.
II. Revelation Represents the Infinite Power of the Universe as Personal.
III. The Nature of Man Requires the Infinite Power to be a Personal Intelligence.
IV. Reconciliation of Difficulties in Doctrine of Immanence as taught in the New Dispensation.

SPECIAL TEXT: "I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth; and though after my skin worms shall destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God: whom I shall see for myself and mine eyes shall behold, and not another: though my veins be consumed within me." (Job xix:25-28.)

DISCUSSION.

1. Immanence and Personality—a Difficulty: The view here presented of the Immanence of God in the world doubtless contributes in a helpful way to the advanced thought of the modern world in striving to arrive at a knowledge of things as they are, as they have been, and as they shall be—the truth.[A]

[Footnote A: Doc. and Cov., Sec. xciii:24.]

Modern thought has forced the conclusion upon men's minds that there is a power immanent in the world—here and now, and always has been; and so far as man can see there always will be; it is eternal—"both ways"—to use a phrase of Professor Le Conte's, looking forward as well as backward, when using that word "eternal." It is the eternal cause of things, variously named "energy," "force," "spirit," or simply "power," used in some cases with the prefix "mechanical" or "infinite" or "Divine" or the "Unknowable" according to the view point of the speaker or writer; but by most philosophers recognized as "the infinite and eternal energy from which all things proceed," and "which is the same power that in ourselves wells up under the form of consciousness;"[A] and which by theists of all classes is recognized as God. But those who long to conceive and in their lives feel the need of conceiving of this universal "power" or "spirit" or "force" or "energy"—"the infinite and eternal energy from which all things proceed"—meet with the difficulty of forming the conception of a "power, infinite, and all pervasive," and at the same time personal, since it is held by philosophers of high authority—and deservedly so—that "personality and infinity are terms expressive of ideas which are mutually incompatible."[B] How then shall this difficulty be overcome? Professor Le Conte, a most conscientious man of science, and also a most devout Theist, says, "The only rational view is to accept both immanence and personality, even though we cannot reconcile them."[C] This, however, from the standpoint of modern philosophers and orthodox theologians who identify or confound the immanent power absolutely as God himself—and the only Deity with whom we have to deal—is a somewhat forcing of the human understanding—a case of "the heart breathing defiance to the intellect." "Not that the spirit cannot do this * * * but that doing it does not amount to philosophy."[D] I doubt if it amounts to religion either: for religion no less than philosophy requires harmony in things; and is necessarily a concern of the intellect as well as of the heart. Its conceptions must appeal to the understanding as well as to the emotions. As remarked by Mr. Fiske: "Our reason demands that there shall be a reasonableness in the constitution of things. This demand is a fact of our psychical [spiritual] nature as positive and irrepressible as our aceptance of geometrical axioms, and our rejection of whatever controverts such axioms. No ingenuity of argument can bring us to believe that the infinite Sustainer of the Universe will put us to permanent intellectual confusion." That is in regard of spiritual or religious matters; any more than in other matters. "Our belief," he continues, "in what we call the evidences of our senses is less strong than our faith that in the orderly sequence of events there is a meaning which our minds could fathom were they only vast enough."[E]

[Footnote A: Fiske, "Studies in Religion," p. 104; Works, Vol. IX. The parts within single quotation marks are from Spencer, and quoted by Fiske.]

[Footnote B: Fiske Cosmic Philosophy, Vol. IV, p. 227. Also Professor Le Conte says: "No one, we admit, can form a clear conception of how immanence of Deity is consistent with personality." ("Evolution and Its Relation to Religious Thought," p. 337.)]

[Footnote C: "Evolution and Its Relation to Religious Thought," 1902, p. 337. The context is also worthy of being brought into view: "No one, we admit, can form a clear conception of how immanence of Deity is consistent with personality, and yet we must accept both, because we are irresistibly led to each of these by different lines of thought. Science, following one line of thought, uncorrected by a wider philosophy, is naturally led toward the one extreme of pantheistic immanence; the devout worshiper, following the wants of his religious nature, is naturally led toward the other extreme of anthropomorphic personality. The only rational view is to accept both immanence and personality, even though we can not clearly reconcile them, i. e., immanence without pantheism, and personality without anthropomorphism."]

[Footnote D: Professor Howison in "Conception of God"—Introduction, p. 35.

The situation is well represented in the respective attitudes of Mr. Henry L. Mansel, a church of England minister, Dean of St. Paul's in fact, and author of the somewhat celebrated Brampton Lectures on "Limits of Religious Thought"—1875—; and Mr. Herbert Spencer, author of the Synthetic Philosophy. Mr. Mansel in his second lecture, after dealing with the difficulties attending upon finite minds dealing with questions of the "absolute," "infinite" and "first cause;" declares that there is a contradiction in the conception of the infinite as personal (pp. 84-85): and yet in the third lecture he says, "It is our duty to think of God as personal; and it is our duty to believe that he is infinite"; notwithstanding, as Mr. Mansel admits, "we cannot reconcile these two representations with each other, as our conception of personality involves attributes apparently contradictory to the notion of infinity." (p. 106):

Commenting upon this very passage Mr. Spencer says: "That this is not the conclusion here adopted (i.e., by himself) needs hardly be said. If there be any meaning in the foregoing argument, duty requires us neither to affirm nor deny personality. Our duty is to submit ourselves with all humility to the established limits of our intelligence: and not perversely to rebel against them. Let those who can, believe that there is eternal war set between our intellectual faculties and our moral obligations. I for one admit no such radical vice in the constitution of things." "First Principles" p. 111.]

[Footnote E: Studies in Religion, p. 189. Works Vol. IX.]

2. Revelation Presents a Personal Deity as the Object of Man's Faith and Worship: The Old Testament's revelation of God presents him to the world most emphatically as a personal being. "God is referred to as Almighty, All-Wise, All-Holy, the Eternal Creator, Sustainer, and Moral Governor of the universe. He is represented as entering into special relations with his highest creature, man, who is created in his image, after his likeness,[A] to be his vicegerent on earth,[B] and to increase in sympathy and fellowship with himself."[C]

[Footnote A: Gen. 1:26, 27.]

[Footnote B: Gen. 1:26-28.]

[Footnote C: "Belief in God"—Drummelow Bible Commentary, p. 49. See also The Index in both the Oxford and Cambridge Teacher's Bible Helps, under "God" and especially under the subdivision of "Attributes" in the former.]

"When we sum up the impressions and teachings about the God of the ancient Hebrews," says Professor Francis Brown, of Union Theological seminary, "the general result is very definite. We find a personal Being of great majesty, dignity and power, the Creator and Ruler of men, a being of holiness and transcendence; a being of righteousness, who promotes righteousness in others and punishes every breach of it; whose government is a moral government and from whose decisions there is no appeal; a being of kindness, tenderness and helpfulness, with gracious care for those who confide in him, whose plans are at length to be worked out and his desires realized in the unity of men under his benevolent sway amid the exhibition of the divine glories of righteousness and universal peace."[A]

[Footnote A: The passage is from "The Christian Point of View"—1902—Prof. Brown's passage represents only that view of God revealed in the Old Testament that he asserts is not inconsistent with the New. For he immediately adds to the above paragraph: "With every stroke of this drawing the New Testament picture is in accord. To this extent the spirit and teaching of Jesus Christ indorses the older revelation." (Ibid above). He then proceeds to show that some conceptions of God presented in the Old Testament, as he apprehends them, are not in harmony with the New Testament. I use the passage from Professor Brown, merely to show that other believers in the Old and New Testament revelation of God, as well as the Latter-day Saints, regard those revelations as presenting God to human consciousness as a personal being.]

If anything was lacking in the Old Testament revelation of God as a personal being, in closest relationship to man, then assuredly it would be supplied in the New Testament revelation of God through the person and character of Jesus Christ. For in the New Testament, in the most emphatic manner, the Christ is represented as "God manifested in the flesh."[A] He, under the direction of the Father, is Creator of the world; he is the brightness of the Father's glory; "and the express image" of the Father's person.[B] He so completely represented the Father that he declared that those who had seen him had seen the Father;[C] also after his resurrection he declared that all power in heaven and in earth had been given unto him, and in the full glory of that God-Power he sent forth his disciples to teach all nations and to baptize them in the name of the distinct persons of the God-head.[D] All that Jesus was and is, God is; for the Christ was God manifested in the flesh. Emphatically God is revealed as a personal being.

[Footnote A: I Tim. iii:16.]

[Footnote B: Hebrews i. See also Discourse by the writer, "Jesus Christ the Revelation of God," in Mormon Doctrine of Deity, Ch. IV, also chapter I, same work.]

[Footnote C: St. John, xiv:8-11.]

[Footnote D: Matt. xxviii:18-20.]

To all this may be added the account of the greatest revelation of all given to man respecting God, in which both Father and Son are revealed to be not only persons but each a separate and distinct individual —the unveiling of both God the Father and God the Son to Joseph Smith; "I saw," said he, "two personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description, standing above me in the air. One of them spake unto me, calling me by name, and said, pointing to the other—

"This my beloved son, hear him."[A]

[Footnote A: Writings of Joseph Smith, Pearl of Great Price, p 85.]

Needless to say these personages in form were as men. The whole volume of revelation, the Old Testament, and the New, and all modern revelation, both in the Book of Mormon and in the Doctrine and Covenants; as well also in the discourses and conversations of the Prophet Joseph Smith, God is represented as a person—of whom Jesus Christ is the express image, and explicit manifestation; and hence believers in revelation are bound to regard God as a personal being, in whose image man was created.

3. The Nature of Man Requires a Personal God: The necessity of conceiving the being whom men call God as personal, also arises from the nature of man. As it is inconceivable that God should "love gases,"[A] so, too, is it impossible for man to love, revere, or worship mere force, or energy; or regard himself as holding any moral relationship whatsoever to it, though it be proclaimed infinite and eternal. It is soul that responds to soul; like responds to like; love to love. Soul of man cries out for "soul" in the "Infinite Power" to make rational a universe which otherwise is irrational, empty and void of meaning—mechanical merely, signifying nothing. The central idea of religion, consists of certain relationships that exist between men and the power recognized as God, involving the thought of duties and of rights.[B] Man knows himself as a person—an intelligence; conscious of certain existences, of self-existence, and conscious of a great number of things not self. He is capable of many and wonderful intellectual and emotional experiences. He deliberates; he compares things, contrasts things; he measures and weighs things, he sets values upon them; he prizes one more than another. He is capable of rising from the particular to the general, from the concrete to the abstract; from the things of sense-perception to objects of thought, ideas; until at last "I think," he cries, "Therefore I am."[C]

[Footnote A: The impressive thought is Sir Robert Ball's, see Defense of the Faith and the Saints, Vol. II. p. 500.]

[Footnote B: See Seventy's Year Book IV, Lesson I. The central and real meaning of the Christian religion, in which the self-consciousness of the Wests finds its true expression, and which thus far has found no home except in the West, lies exactly in the faith that the Creator and the creature are reciprocally and equally real, not identical; that there is Fatherhood of God and brotherhood of men; that God recognizes rights in the creature and acknowledges duties toward him; and that men are accordingly both unreservedly and also indestructibly real, both free and immortal. In that religion alone, I venture to assert, is the union of this triad of faiths to be found—in God, in freedom, in immortality—faiths that, while three, are inseparably one, since neither can be stated except in terms of the other two. ("Conceptions of God"—Howison, p. 94.)]

[Footnote A: Such Descartes formula, and the strength of it as a truth, and its value as an initial point in philosophy, has not been shaken in the two and three quarters of a century since it was first published. See Descartes' Meditations. In the Universal Classics Library edition of Descartes, there is in the Introduction by Frank Sewell, A. M., a very fine and exhaustive discussion of the above principle, "The Cogito Ergo Sum—Its Nature and Meaning." Subdivision III and IV of the Introduction. The Meditations were first published in Paris 1641, A.D.]

4. The Wonders of Man's Mind-Power: But not only does man think, and from consciousness of the fact deduce his own existence, but he passes judgment upon things, determining that this is a better thing, or state, or condition than that. He chooses between and among things, states, and conditions. He is conscious of a power within himself also to will this or that, and can become a true cause of certain and very many things within his experience, especially as concerns his individual movements and conduct.

He is equally conscious of certain emotions that pertain to himself. He fears, is awed; he experiences sorrow, hate, joy, and, best of all, love. And, certain abnormal individuals aside, man loves what he conceives to be the beautiful, the true, the good. In this, too, he is capable of rising in conception from the concrete to the abstract; from the relative to the absolute; from the finite to the infinite. He loves the truth of his experience; but he knows it is limited, relative, and he longs for the Absolute Truth. He loves the good of his experience, but again he knows the good of his experience to be relative, finite, and he longs for and could love, and love supremely, the Infinitely Good. He aspires to relationship with it, to fellowship, to union, to one-ship with it.

In order to attain to such relationship, however, it is obvious that the Infinite Power, the Infinitely Beautiful and the Infinitely Good must be some thing more than mechanical force. It must be even more than an "Unknown"; something more than a "Mystery," a mere "Incomprehensible," an "Inscruitable," if man is to stand in any sympathetic relationship to it: for the "Infinite Power" as an admittedly "Unknown," or as "Inscruitable Mystery," leaves that power as incapable of reciprocal, moral and spiritual relations with man as the "Power" conceived as mere mechanical force is.[A]

[Footnote A: These remarks are made in view of what Mr. Herbert Spencer says of the value of "A Mystery ever pressing for an interpretation," as an "ultimate religious truth of the highest possible certainty"; but which, if analyzed, will be discovered to be of no more religious value than the conception of the "Infinite Power" as mechanical force. Yet Mr. Spencer thus speaks of it: "And thus the mystery which all religions recognize, turns out to be far more transcendent mystery than any of them suspect—not a relative, but an absolute mystery. Here, then, is an ultimate religious truth of the highest possible certainty—a truth in which religions in general are at one with each other, and with a philosophy antagonistic to their special dogmas. And this truth, respecting which there is a latent agreement among all mankind from the fetish-worshiper to the most stoical critic of human creeds, must be the one we seek. If Religion and Science are to be reconciled, the basis of reconciliation must be this deepest, widest, and most certain of all facts—that the Power which the Universe manifests to us Is utterly inscrutable." "First Principles," pp. 47, 48.]

5. The Immanence of the New Dispensation—Reconciliation of Difficulties: The Immanence of God, as we have seen, and as that conception is commonly held, presents a difficulty. The difficulty of regarding the Immanent Power as being at once immanent in the world and at the same time personal. But that difficulty is overcome in the theology of the New Dispensation by the fact that the Immanent God is conceived as Spirit or Spiritual Light—"the Light of Christ," for us men—which "proceedeth forth from the presence of God to fill the immensity of space. The light which is in all things; which giveth life to all things; which is the law by which all things are governed: even the Power of God."[A] And which is, according to the testimony of St. John "the true light which lighteth every man that cometh into the world,"[B] and according to the word of the Lord to Joseph Smith is, "the light which now shineth, which giveth you light, is through him who enlighteneth your eyes, which is the same light that quickeneth your understandings."[C]

[Footnote A: Doc. & Cov., Sec. lxxxviii:12,13.]

[Footnote B: St. John, i:9.]

[Footnote C: Doc. & Cov., Sec. lxxxviii:11.]

Also, as we have seen (ante-Lesson III), not only is the Immanent Spirit the Divine Power, but that spirit carries with it into the immensity of space which it pervades, at least certain attributes of the Divine Intelligence from whom it proceeds, and becomes the inspiration to intelligence in men, and the atmosphere of wisdom, holiness, truth, and of love. Also the Immanent Spirit is a means of union for man, if he desires it, if he seeks to make it so by drawing nigh unto God, that God may draw nigh unto him—a means of union with the Divine Intelligences from whom the spiritual light proceeds, and of whom the Christ is the type, and with whom man is destined, ultimately, to associate, living in the physical presence of such Intelligences as well as in their spiritual presence, on terms of intimate friendship—face to face communion; personal association in councils; personal cooperation in the divine purposes, in creation, in sustentation; in redemptive processes, and, in a word, in all the Divine activities, until man shall be satisfied to the uttermost with his fellowship and perfect union with God, finding in the free harmony of Divine Intelligences, that "City of God," that moral order, that expression of the "Absolute," that completeness, which seems necessary to a rational universe for man.

PART II.

The Godhead.

THE HOLY TRINITY.[A]

(Scripture Reading Exercise).

THE HOLY TRINITY.

ANALYSIS. | REFERENCES.
I. The Oneness of the Trinity: its Nature. | Mormon Doctrine of Deity, ch. IV; Seventy's Year Book No. III, lessons xxxiii, xxxiv and xxxv; and all the Scriptures cited in the body of the "Discussion."
II. Distinctiveness of the Father as a Personage.
III. The Distinctiveness of the Son—Divinity of the Son.

SPECIAL TEXT: "And Jesus when he was baptized went straightway out of the water; and lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God, descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: and lo, a voice from heaven saying, This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased." (Matt. iii:16, 17.)

[Footnote A: This subject is treated more at length in Seventy's Year Book No. III, also in the writer's "Mormon Doctrine of Deity," Ch. IV, Lesson XXXI, to which the student is referred. Its treatment here is merely to get the idea of the relationship that the Holy Ghost sustains to the other two personages of the Trinity.]

DISCUSSION.

1. Belief in the Godhead: "We believe in God the Eternal Father, and in his Son Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost."[A]

[Footnote A: "Articles of Faith"—Joseph Smith, from the Wentworth Letter 1842, Hist. of the Church, Vol. IV, p. 535 et Seq.]

Such is the authoritative declaration of the Church as to its faith in the Godhead. Such is the Godhead of the New Testament Scriptures—the Christian Trinity.

2. Scripture Proof of the Trinity: In four separate ways is this made apparent: (1) at the baptism of Jesus. As Jesus, who is God, the Son, came forth from his baptism at the hands of John, a manifestation of the presence of God the Holy Ghost, was given in the sign of the Dove, which rested upon Jesus; while, lo, a voice from heaven, the voice of God, the Father, was heard, saying—-"This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased";[A] (2) in the commission given to the apostles to teach all nations: "and Jesus came and spake unto them saying, all power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go, therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you."[B] (3) in the vision of Stephen; the mob rushed upon Stephen—"But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked steadfastly into heaven, and saw the Glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God."[C] (4) in the apostolic benediction, viz., "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all."[D]

[Footnote A: Matt. iii:16, 17.]

[Footnote B: Matt. xxviii:18, 19.]

[Footnote C: Acts vii:55, 56.]

[Footnote D: II Cor. xiii:14.]

This Godhead of three divine persons is emphatically proclaimed in the Book of Mormon: They shall be "arraigned before the bar of Christ, the Son, and God the Father, and the Holy Spirit, which is one Eternal God, to be judged according to their works."[A] "And after this manner shall ye baptize in my name [this after giving the baptismal formula—I baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, see context], for verily I say unto you, that the Father and the Son, and the Holy Ghost are one"—Jesus.[B] "The Father, and I and the Holy Ghost are one."—Jesus.[C]

[Footnote A: Alma xi:44.]

[Footnote B: II Nephi xi:24, 27.]

[Footnote C: Ibid ver. 36. See also III Nephi xxxiii:10; and Mormon vii:7.]

3. The Doctrine of the Trinity Formulated in the Early Christian Church: To these scriptural groupings of the three persons into a holy trinity, may be added that earliest of post apostolic symbols known commonly as the "Apostles' Creed," because of the tradition that it was formulated by the apostles immediately before their dispersion into the world to fulfill the commission given to them by the Christ to teach all nations; but which notion is now very generally discredited, and the truer notion is held to be that this noted summary of Christian faith "arose from small beginnings, and was gradually enlarged as occasion required in order to exclude new errors from the Church."[A] But, however, and whoever constructed this so-called Apostles' Creed, this much must be said of it, viz., that it represents the almost universal belief of the early Christian Church in a Godhead consisting of three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost; that this is in harmony with the New Testament scriptures, and is the symbol[B] of Christian faith that grew out of efforts to express the essentials of Christianity. The creed, in English, follows:

[Footnote A: In acknowledging that it has no claim to that venerable title (i. e., the Apostles' Creed), "we must guard against the common assumption," says Dr. Philip Smith, "that it is the oldest, as well as the simplest creed of the Catholic Church. True—as we have seen—it may be traced, in its most essential elements, from an early post-apostolic age; but, its development belongs solely to the Western Church, and its formal adoption, as a written creed, is later than the Nicene. It was the ancient baptismal creed as used in the Church of Rome, and was known as the Symbolum Romanum, or simply Symbolum, before it received the epithet of Apostolorum. Its forms were different in different churches; the earlier forms variously omitting the articles of the "descent into hell," "the communion of saints," "the life everlasting," and the epithet "catholic" before "church."]

[Footnote B: "These creeds obtained also the name of Symbols." Students' Ecclesiastical History, Dr. Philip Smith, Vol I, p. 234.]

THE "APOSTLES' CREED."

"I believe in God, the Father, Almighty; and in Jesus Christ, his only begotten son, our Lord, who was born of the Virgin Mary by the Holy Ghost, was crucified under Pontius Pilate, buried, arose from the dead on the third day, ascended to the heavens, and sits at the right hand of the Father; whence he will come to judge the living and the dead; and in the Holy Spirit; the holy church; the remission of sins; and the resurrection of the body."[A]

[Footnote A: Mosheim's Ecclesiastical Institutes, Vol. I, p. 80, Murdock's translation. The above form, is as it stood in the fourth century, a few centuries later it attained in the Romish Church its ampler form, in which it has since been adopted by most Protestant churches, as follows:

"I believe in God, the Father, almighty, maker of heaven and earth; and in Jesus Christ, his only son, our Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried, he descended into hell, the third day he arose again from the dead, ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of God, the Father, almighty; from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead. I believe in the Holy Ghost, the holy Catholic church, the Communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen." In this form it is called the "Symbolum Roman—Roman Symbol."]

4. Man's Allegiance to the Godhead: This holy Trinity of Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, the Godhead, constitutes for the Christian the creating, sustaining, redeeming, witnessing power of the universe—the supreme God. In this Godhead righteousness, and holiness, and truth, and knowledge, and wisdom and power, and glory, and justice, and mercy and love, and all that we do or can recognize as belonging to the divine nature abound in their perfection. This Godhead is the source of spiritual power and light and glory; to whom man owes first allegiance; who is the true and only object—but singularly as well as in unity—of man's worship; to whom man submits his mind and his will for guidance—for in such submission alone is true worship.

LESSON VIII.

(Scripture Reading Exercise).

THE UNITY AND THE DISTINCTIVENESS OF THE PERSONAGES OF THE GODHEAD.

ANALYSIS. | REFERENCES.
I. The Oneness of the Trinity: its Nature. | Mormon Doctrine of Deity, ch. IV; Seventy's Year Book No. III, lessons xxxiii, xxxiv and xxxv; and all the Scriptures cited in the body of the Discussion.
II. Distinctiveness of the Father as a Personage.
III. The Distinctiveness of the Son--Divinity of the Son.

SPECIAL TEXT: "The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost be with you all. Amen." (II Cor. xiii:14.)

DISCUSSION.

1. The Unity of Father, Son and Holy Ghost: While conceiving these three Divine Personages, as constituting an organized unit, a body or Divine Council, it should be remembered that their oneness consist in moral unity, not physical unity, or identity of substance or essence. In other words, they are distinct and separate personages, in the sense of being three separate and distinct individuals, a unity only in agreement of purpose, and unity of will for the accomplishment of certain definite ends,[A] to bring to pass the immortality and eternal progress of man.[B]

[Footnote A: The Three Personagess. "Everlasting covenants was made between three personages before the organization of this earth, and relates to their dispensation of things to men on the earth: these personages, according to Abraham's record, are called God the first, the Creator; God the second, the Redeemer; and God the third, the Witness or Testator."—Little & Richards' Compendium—Gems from the Prophet's Teachings—p. 289.]

[Footnote B: Doc. & Cov., Sec. xciii:26-35. Book of Moses, Pearl of Great Price, ch. iii., II Nephi ch. ii; also New Witnesses for God, Vol III, ch xl. where the matter is discussed at great length.]

Jesus himself taught that he and his Father were one,[A] that whosoever had seen him had seen the Father also;[B] that it was part of his mission to reveal God, the Father, through his own personality; for as was the Son, so too was the Father;[C] hence Jesus was God manifested in the flesh, a revelation of God to the world;[D] a revelation not only of the being of God, but of the kind of being God is.

[Footnote A: John x:30; xvii:11-22.]

[Footnote B: John xiv:9.]

[Footnote C: John xiv:1-9; John 1:8.]

[Footnote D: I Tim. iii:16.]

[Footnote: Eph iii:14-19.]

Jesus also prayed—and in so doing showed in what the oneness of himself and the Father consisted—that the disciples might be one with him, and also with each other, as he and the Father were one. Not one in person, not all merged into one individual, and all distinctions of personality lost; but one in mind, in knowledge, in love, in will; one by reason of the indwelling in all of the one spirit, even as the mind and will of God, the Father, was also in Jesus Christ.[A]

[Footnote A: John xiv:10, 11, 19, 20.]

2. The Separate Individual Existence of the Father: The existence of God, the Father, both Jesus and the Apostles accepted as a reality. Jesus nowhere attempts to prove God's existence. He assumes that and proceeds from that basis with his doctrine. He declares the fact that God was his Father and frequently calls himself the Son of God, and prays to the Father in that capacity: "As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father. * * * Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life for the sheep. * * * This commandment have I received of my Father. * * * The works that I do in my Father's name, they bear witness of me. * * * For which of those do ye stone me? The Jews answered him. * * * Because that that thou being a man makest thyself God. * * * Say ye of him, whom the Father hath sanctified, and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest; because I said I am the Son of God? If I do not the works of my Father, believe me not."[A]

[Footnote A: St. John x.]

The statement of Jesus when instituting the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper: "I will not drink hence forth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom."[A]

[Footnote A: Matt xxvi:29.]

The prayer of Jesus in Gethsemane: "O my Father if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt." And again: "O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, thy will be done."[A]

[Footnote A: Ibid, verses 39, 42.]

John represents Jesus as saying in Gethsemane: "Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee. * * * And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self, with the glory which I had with thee before the world was. * * * Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one as we are. * * * That they all may be one: as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee. * * * O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee; but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me."[A]

[Footnote A: St. John xvii.]

Then, after the resurrection of Jesus, he meets Mary of Magdala and said to her, when she in her joy was about to lay hold of him: "Touch me not; for I have not yet ascended to my Father; but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God and your God."[A]

[Footnote A: St. John xx.]

The separate and distinct individual existence of God the Father could not be more emphatically represented than in these scriptures.

3. The Separate and Individual Existence of the Son: The scriptures which teach the separate existence of the Father, teach also the separate and individual existence of the Son; but the question may arise, Was Jesus, the Son of God, also God? The passage already considered, in which Jesus is given equal rank with the Father and with the Holy Ghost, strongly implies that he is Divine, that he is Deity. In the Seventy's Year Book No. III, Lesson xxxiii, in treating at length upon the subject of the divinity of Jesus, the conclusion that Jesus, as well as the Father, is God, is worked out from the fact that Jesus is called God in the Scriptures;[A] that Jesus declares himself to be God—the Son of God;[B] that Jesus is to be worshiped—hence God;[C] that Jesus, under the Father's direction, is the Creator, hence God;[D] that Jesus Christ is declared to be equal with God the Father, hence God.[E] All these declarations are sustained by the scriptures and reasoned out in detail in the lesson of Year Book III cited above, and to that work the student is referred. Here it will be only necessary to cite the scriptures which sustain these several specific declarations concerning Jesus, the Christ, which I have done by giving them in the margin.[F]

[Footnote A: Isaiah vii:14; Matt. i:23; Isaiah ix:6.]

[Footnote B: John x:33; Matt. xxvii:63, 64; Matt. xxviii:18, 19; Heb. i:8.]

[Footnote C: Rev. xix;10 c. f; Heb. i:5, 6; Phil. ii:9, 10.]

[Footnote D: St. John i:1-4; Col. i:12-17; Heb. i:2.]

[Footnote E: Matt. xxviii:18, 19; Phil. iii:6; Heb. iii:3; Col. i:19: ii:9; II. Nephi xxvi:12.]

[Footnote F: The student will also find an elaborate discussion on the subject in the writer's "Mormon Doctrine of Deity," chapter iv. And also in his "Introduction to the History of the Church," Vol. I, pp. 81-89.]

Jesus, then, is separate and distinct from God, the Father; but is nevertheless not only divine, but Deity, equally so with the Father; for God so declares it, through his revelation to the world; but he is united with the Father in moral union of mind and will, and purpose.

LESSON IX.

(Scripture Reading Exercise.)

UNITY AND DISTINCTIVENESS OF THE PERSONAGES OF THE GODHEAD (Continued).

ANALYSIS. | REFERENCES.
IV. The Distinctiveness of the Holy Ghost. | All the scriptures cited in the body of the lesson.
V. The Divinity of the Holy Ghost.
VI. Unity and Distinction.

SPECIAL TEXT: "Whoso believeth in me, believeth in the Father also, and unto him will the Father bear record of me; for he will visit him with fire, and with the Holy Ghost. And thus will the Father bear record of me, and the Holy Ghost will bear record unto him of the Father and me: for the Father and I and the Holy Ghost are one." (III Nephi xi:35, 36.)

DISCUSSION.

1. The Separate and Individual Existence of the Holy Ghost: The proofs which set off the Father and Son as separate and distinct personalities, which present them to us as two separate individuals, also presents the Holy Ghost as a separate and distinct personality. For whether we contemplate these divine personages when the three are represented together, as at the baptism of the Christ,[A] in the vision of St. Stephen,[B] in the baptismal formula,[C] or in the apostolic benediction,[D] they are always presented in a manner that implies distinctiveness as persons, however closely united in purpose.

[Footnote A: Matt. iii:16, 17.]

[Footnote B: Acts vii:54-56.]

[Footnote C: Matt. xxviii:19.]

[Footnote D: II Cor. xiii:12, 14.]

Jesus clearly ascribes to the Holy Ghost a distinct personality. He represents the Holy Ghost as proceeding from the Father;[A] as sent forth in the name of the Son;[B] as abiding;[C] as teaching and as bearing witness;[D] as reproving the world of sin, and of righteousness and of judgment;[E] as guiding into all truth, and revealing the things of God to men.[F]

[Footnote A: St. John xvi:26.]

[Footnote B: St. John xiv:26.]

[Footnote C: St. John xiv:16.]

[Footnote D: St. John xiv:26 and xv:26, 27.]

[Footnote E: St. John xvi:8.]

[Footnote F: Ibid, verses 13-15.]

The apostles also refer to the Holy Ghost in much the same manner: Peter represents the Holy Ghost as speaking by the mouth of David concerning the treachery of Judas;[A] he also represents Ananias as having lied to the Holy Ghost;[B] also he represents the Holy Ghost as bearing witness with himself and his fellow apostle, John, to the divinity of the Christ;[C] also the Holy Ghost is represented as sending forth men to the ministry: "The Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them * * * so they being sent forth by the Holy Ghost, departed unto Seleucia."[D]

[Footnote A: II Acts i:16, 17; c. f. Psalms xli:9.]

[Footnote B: Acts v:3.]

[Footnote C: Acts v:29-32.]

[Footnote D: Acts xiii:2-4.]

The Holy Ghost is represented as forbidding Paul and Timothy preaching in Asia, and Bithynia.[A]

[Footnote A: Acts xvi:6-8: "After they were gone through Phrygia and the region of Galatia and were forbidden of the Holy Ghost to preach in Asia, after they were come to Mysia, they assayed to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit suffered them not."]

The fruit of the Spirit (the Holy Ghost) is said to be "love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance;" and as these things can only proceed from a being possessed of attributes that produce them, we must needs think of the Holy Ghost as loving, as merciful, as patient, as meek, as temperate, as gentle. All which with the other things preceding here said of him, clearly established personality for the third person of the Godhead.

2. The Holy Spirit Distinct from the Father and the Son, Both in Substance and Personal Action: On this subject Elder Orson Pratt has the following very valuable passage: "That the substance of the Holy Ghost is not identical with that of the Father and the Son, is evident from the whole tenor of scripture." Jesus says, "When the Comforter is come whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me."[A] This Comforter could not be the Father, because he "proceedeth from the Father." He could not be the Son, because he is sent by the Son. Again, he could not be the Father, because it is contrary to the order of heaven for Jesus to send the Father. And furthermore, he could not be the Son, because he is represented as "another Comforter," to be with the disciples, in the absence of Jesus. "If I go not away," says our Savior, "the Comforter will not come unto you, but if I depart I will send him unto you."[B] The persons of the Father and Son were to be in one place while the Comforter was to be in another, and therefore, the Comforter must necessarily be a distinct substance from the Father and Son."

[Footnote A: John xv:26.]

[Footnote B: John xvi:7.]

"That the Holy Spirit is something more than the mere power or influence exerted by the Father, is evident from his possessing an understanding, a will, and a power of distinct operation. Jesus says, concerning the Comforter, "Howbeit, when he, the Spirit of truth is come, he will guide you into all truth; for he shall not speak for himself, but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak; and he will show you things to come. He shall glorify me; for he shall receive of mine, and shall show it unto you."[A] Here the Holy Spirit is represented as a hearer—a speaker—a guide, receiving and showing what is received. Now such acts can only be the acts of a substance, possessing understanding and a will. That this substance is distinct from the Father is evident from his not speaking of himself, but only speaking what he hears, which shows, most plainly, a separate individuality. If the Holy Spirit were the Father, would it be reasonable to say, that he does not speak of himself? Does not the Father speak of himself? If the Holy Spirit be only a power or influence from the Father, what absurdity would run through the whole of the above passage! What nonsense would it be to say a power or influence hears—a power or influence speaks—a power or influence receives and shows! Yet this is the absurdity embraced by the Socinians. We can only think of speaking, and hearing, and willing, as applicable to a perceptive substance, and not to a quality. Again, the Spirit is represented as making intercession for the Saints. "Likewise," says Paul, "the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities; for we know not what we should pray for as we ought; but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered."[B] How could a power or influence of the Father intercede with the Father? How could a power or influence groan with groanings unutterable? Would the Father intercede with himself? The absurdity of supposing the Holy Spirit to be a mere property or influence of the Father, instead of being an intelligent agent of himself, is so great, that we do not feel disposed to bring further evidence or proof to establish the distinct identity of the two."[C]

[Footnote A: John xvi:13, 14.]

[Footnote B: Rom. viii:26.]

[Footnote C: Mill. Star, Vol. XII, pp. 306-7.]

3. The Divinity of the Holy Ghost: There remains to be considered the question, Is the Holy Ghost God? Undoubtedly. The proof is in the fact that he is a member of the Holy Trinity.[A] Also in the fact that Jesus makes blasphemy against the Holy Ghost a greater sin than blasphemy against himself.[B] This could not be unless the Holy Ghost were Deity, and in some peculiar way so related to man that makes this sin of blasphemy against him especially heinous.

[Footnote A: This subject is to be worked out in greater detail in a subsequent lesson.]

[Footnote B: "All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men, but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men. * * * Whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him, but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come." (Matt. xii:31; also Mark iii:28, 29.)]

"Why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost," said Peter to Ananias, when the latter had dealt deceitfully in the sale of his land and the gift he had made to the Church. "Thou hast not lied unto men," said the chief Apostle, "but to God!"[A]

[Footnote A: Acts v:1-14.]

From which it is to be concluded that to lie to the Holy Ghost is to lie to God, because the Holy Ghost is God.

I may not more fittingly close this and the two preceding lessons on the Godhead than by quoting a passage upon the subjects of which they treat from the writings of the late venerable Apostle, Orson Pratt, who upon both the oneness and the distinctiveness of the three personages of the Holy Trinity made the following observations:

4. The Persons of the Godhead One Council: "The Godhead may be illustrated by a council, consisting of three men—all possessing equal wisdom, knowledge, and truth, together with equal qualifications in every respect. Each person would be a separate distinct person or substance from the other two, and yet the three would form but one council. Each alone possesses, by supposition, the same wisdom and truth that the three united or the one council possesses. The union of the three men in one council would not increase the knowledge or wisdom of either. Each man would be one part of the council when reference is made to his person; but the wisdom and truth of each man would be the whole wisdom and truth of the council, and not a part. If it were possible to divide truth, and other qualities of a similar nature into fractions, so that the Father should have the third part of truth, the third part of wisdom, the third part of knowledge, the third part of love, while the Son and the Holy Spirit possessed the other two-thirds of these qualities or affections, then neither of these persons could make 'one God, but only a part of a God.' But because the divisibility of wisdom, truth, or love is impossible, the whole of these qualities dwells in the Father—the whole dwells in the Son—the whole is possessed by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is one part of the Godhead in essence; but the whole of God in wisdom, truth, and other similar qualities. * * * The oneness of the Godhead, as described in the scriptures, never was intended to apply to the essence, but only to the perfections and other attributes."[A]

[Footnote A: Orson Pratt's Works, "Absurdities of Immaterialism," p. 30.]

LESSON X.

(Scripture Reading Exercise.)

SPECIAL OFFICES OF THE PERSONAGE OF THE HOLY TRINITY.

ANALYSIS. | REFERENCES.
I. Distinctiveness Among Divine Beings. | The works and passages cited in the body of this lesson.
II. Special Characteristic and Office of the First Personage of the Trinity.
III. Father and "Fathering"—Creating and "Sustaining"—"Directing the Creation to Glorious Ends."

SPECIAL TEXT: "Go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend to my Father and your Father; and to my God and your God." (Jesus—St. John xx:17.)

DISCUSSION.

1. Alikeness and Diversity in the Nature of Divine Beings: Whatever may be said in the scriptures of the union in knowledge, mercy, love, power, and will—in a word, whatever may be said of the alikeness of these holy and divine Personages of the trinity, it should be so understood as to allow of the thought of some difference in office; and of some one or more distinctions in their relations to each other, and in their relationship towards men; and even in their physical natures when compared one with another. I feel encouraged to make this avowal, unusual though it may be, because in nature we may observe both a unity and a diversity. Though a given species of grass may have general characteristics in which all the varieties of grasses are alike, yet men have not yet found two blades of grass precisely alike. In all the leaves of the forest, there have not yet been found two leaves exactly alike; among all the hordes of men—the millions living and the millions dead—no two have yet been found one of which is a precise counterpart of the other. It is so everywhere you look in nature; in animal or plant life; in mountains, rivers or valleys; in the sands or among the shells of the sea shore—everywhere unity of kind, of groups, but infinite variety of individuals. That being the general truth taught throughout nature, may it not hold in reference to Divine Personages as well? Without absolutely insisting upon it, I shall venture to say I think so; and that in some way—in office, in function, in appointment, in some respects even in physical nature also—there are distinctive characteristics in the three divine Personages of the Godhead.

Setting forth, and in profoundest reverence, the Personages of the Godhead with reference to their chief functions as each stands related to man, they appear as God, the Father; God, the Son, Redeemer of man; God, the Holy Ghost, Witness to man of truth, of all truth.

Let us consider each in these capacities respectively.

2. God, the Father: With this conception of God as "Father" there is associated the larger—but not higher—idea of "Creator."

There exists, I think, a real difference between the idea of "father" and "creator," and yet one feels, from our use of terms, and even from the terminology of holy scripture, that each idea may include the other. But first as to the distinctions between "father" and "creator." The term "father" carries with it the notion of generation, begetting from one's own person, springing from one's own nature, and partaking of one's own physical and mental qualities and perhaps likeness, but the term "creator" does not necessarily convey that notion, since a created thing may be external to the nature of the being who created it; as, for example, when God created the heaven and the earth.[A] In this case the heaven and the earth did not bear the image of God; nor was it made in his likeness, as the result was when God said, "Let us make man in our image, and after our likeness." So in relation to man; he begets a son or a daughter by act of generation; he is a father; and also, in a sense, a creator.[B]

[Footnote A: Gen. i.]

[Footnote B: Athanasius makes the following distinction between "begotten" and "created," which I believe to be true and of great importance as a truth. "Let it be repeated," he says, "that a created thing is external to the nature of the being who creates it; but a generation, (a begetting, as a father begets a son) is the proper off-spring of the nature." (Quoted in Shedd's Hist, of Christian Doctrine, Vol. I, p. 322.)]

He gathers materials and builds a house; or with various colored pigments, brushes, and stretched canvas he paints a landscape, or from some rude block of marble with mallet and chisel he hews out the image of a man; he is a creator. Creator of the house, the painted landscape, the statue; and also, in a certain sense, after our manner of speech, we could say the father of them. So that in the terms "father" and "creator" there is both a distinction and a sameness.

3. The Dual Idea of "Father" and "Creator:" I said a moment since that scripture terminology justified this dual idea that goes with the use of "father" and "creator." Now to the proof: In Hebrews we find this passage: "We have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: Shall we not much rather be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live?"[A] From this it is learned that God is the "Father" of the spirits of men—from which circumstance comes the title—"God, the Father." In the Book of Moses, the Lord, following an account of the creation, says: "I, the Lord God, created all things of which I have spoken spiritually, before they were naturally upon the face of the earth. * * * And I, the Lord God, had created all the children of men; and not yet a man to till the ground; for in heaven created I them. * * * And I, the Lord God, formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul, the first flesh upon the earth, the first man also; nevertheless all things were before created; but spiritually were they created and made according to my word."[B]

[Footnote A: Heb. xii:9.]

[Footnote B: Book of Moses (Pearl of Great Price), ch. iii:5, c. f. Doc. and Cov. Sec. xxix:30-34; also Book of Abraham, ch. iii:23. Gen. i:26-27; c. f. Gen. ii:5-7.]

Here we have God saying that he had "created all the children of men," and yet there was not a man to till the earth; "for in heaven I created them," that is, uniting this statement with Paul's passage, he had become the "Father of spirits;" and "Father" and Creator are seen to be used synonymously. Conversely: Nothing is clearer than that God, in the Scriptures, is proclaimed the "Creator:" "Creator of heaven and earth and all things that in them are." And now comes one of our Book of Mormon writers, saying: "and they [i. e., Father and Son, see context] are one God, yea, the very eternal Father of heaven and of earth."[A] Which can only be understood as "creator of heaven and earth."

[Footnote A: Mosiah xv:4.]

Again: "Is the Son of God the very eternal Father? * * * Yea, he is the very eternal Father of heaven and of earth, and all things which in them is."[A] In the quotation following the terms are used in combination. Samuel, the Lamanite prophet, was sent unto the people of a certain city, that they "might know of the coming of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Father of heaven and of earth, the Creator of all things, from the beginning."[B] From these passages it is evident that the term "father" is made to include the idea of "Creator."

[Footnote A: Alma xi:38, 39.]

[Footnote B: Helaman xiv:12. Wherein Jesus is referred to as the Creator, the "Father of heaven and earth," it should be understood that he is so under the direction of the God, the Father; "God * * * hath * * * spoken to us by his Son, by whom also he (God the Father) made the worlds" (Hebrews i:3). "To us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things,—and we in him: and one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him" (I. Cr. viii:6) " * * * God, who created all things by Jesus Christ" (Eph. iii:9). So that while Jesus was the immediate creator of things he did so under and by the Father's direction, so that the Father may still be regarded as the first mover in the creation drama, Jesus the agency through whom he acted.]

4. "Father" and "Fathering:" The chief characteristic, of the First Personage of the Godhead, then, appears to be that of "Father," "Creator." And with this goes the extended idea inseparably associated with the notion of "Father," viz., "fathering"—caring for, sustaining, upholding. We contemplate this Holy First Personage, then, not only as "Father of spirits;" but one anxious for their welfare, for their progress. And he himself has declared "this is my work and my glory—to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man."[A] And in the creation drama we have God, the "Father of the spirits," standing among them and planning for their advancement. God said unto those who were with him: "We will go down, for there is space there, and we will take of these materials, and we will make an earth whereon these may dwell; and we will prove them herewith, to see if they will do all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them; and they who keep their first estate shall be added upon; and they who keep not their first estate shall not have glory in the same kingdom with those who keep their first estate, and they who keep their second estate shall have glory added upon their heads for ever and ever. And the Lord said: Whom shall I send? And one answered like unto the Son of man: Here a. I, send me. And another answered and said: Here am I, send me. And the Lord said: I will send the first."[B]

[Footnote A: Book of Moses, ch. i:39.]

[Footnote B: Book of Abraham, ch. iii:24-27.]

And so the second personage of the Godhead was chosen for his office of Savior of men. But the first Personage was proposing the plan for "adding upon" these spirits of heaven. He was planning for their increase in honor and glory for ever and ever; and that through development; though increasing their intelligence, knowledge, wisdom and spiritual power; by experiences to be obtained in earth-life among broken harmonies, when fidelity to truth and virtue and God should be tested, where men should find themselves. He was "fathering" them. Just as in being "Creator" he not only creates—causes to exist—but he cares for the "creation," he sustains it; upholds it; guides it to some definite end, to the achievement of some beneficent purpose.

Such must be our thought of this all glorious First Personage of the Godhead-Father, Creator; also Sustaining, Guiding, Loving Power of the Universe.

LESSON XI.

(Scripture Reading Exercise.)

SPECIAL OFFICE OF THE PERSONAGES OF THE HOLY TRINITY (Continued).

ANALYSIS. | REFERENCES.
IV. Special Office of the Second Personage of the Trinity—Redeemer. | The citations in the body of this lesson.
V. Special Office of the Third Personage of the Trinity—Witness.
VI. The Three in Union.

SPECIAL TEXT: "But Christ being come an High Priest of good things to come * * * through the Eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God." (Hebrews ix:11, 14.)

DISCUSSION.

1. God, the Son, Redeemer: We have found the chief office or function of the first Personage of the Godhead, so may we find the chief office and function of the second, and much more briefly. More briefly because one Year Book of the Seventy's course in Theology has already been devoted to him and his work. He is the Redeemer of men. To be such was his appointment in heaven, as incidentally, we have seen in Lesson IX; and as it is abundantly declared in the scriptures.

2. Scripture Declaration of the Office of the Christ: "And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life."[A]

[Footnote A: St. John iii:14.]

"Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us."[A]

[Footnote A: I John iii:16.]

"God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish but have everlasting life."[A]

[Footnote A: St. John iii:16.]

"For Christ hath also once suffered for sin, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God," being put to death in the flesh but quickened by the Spirit.[A]

[Footnote A: I Peter iii:16.]

"When we were yet without strength in due time Christ died for us. * * * Being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. * * * When we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son."[A]

[Footnote A: Rom. v:6-10.]

"It hath also been made known unto me, by the power of the Holy Ghost, wherefore I know if there should be no atonement made, all mankind must be lost."[A]

[Footnote A: Jacob, Book of Mormon, vii:12.]

"Behold, he suffereth the pains of all men; yea, the pains of every living creature both men and women and children, who belong to the family of Adam;"[A]

[Footnote A: II Nephi ix:21.]

"Surely every man must repent or suffer [i. e. eternal consequence of sin]. . . . For behold, I God, 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 God, 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."[A]

[Footnote A: Doc. and Cov., Sec. xix:16-18.]

3. The Offering of the Christ Voluntary: The chief office, then, of the Christ is that of Savior, Redeemer. In that work is revealed the love of God. "God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth on him should not perish but have everlasting life."[A] And Christ so loved men that he voluntarily made the sacrifice: "As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep [i. e. for men]. . . . Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself."[B]

[Footnote A: St. John iii:14-18.]

[Footnote B: St. John x:15-18.]

"Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels? [i. e. for his deliverance from those who had taken him for the crucifix]. But how then shall the scripture be fulfilled, that thus it must be?"[A]

[Footnote A: Matt. xxvi:52-54.]

Though in the shadow of the cross he could have found deliverance from his voluntarily accepted mission had he so elected; but thanks be to God, he endured and fulfilled his mission to menward. And in that office of Savior, Redeemer, one recognizes the devotion of the brother and the friend of man; and in this he made manifest the love of God for the world; even also as he manifested the brightness of God's glory, and the express image of his person, being indeed the full and complete revelation of God to the world—"God manifested in the flesh."

4. Christ the Mediator: In this second Personage of the Godhead, then, one may see not only the Redeemer, the Savior, the Revealer of God; but through those offices one may also see the Brother and Friend of man. The Mediator, the one who brings God close to man; the one who brings men close to God. The one who reflects God into the world. The one who banishes the terror which men have had of God, and reveals the love of God, and the mercy and compassion of the Father—the one whom the ages longed for—the need of the world as Mediator between man and violated law—Herald of grace—Christ the Son of God, by way of pre-eminence; Christ, the Brother and Friend of Man.

5. God the Holy Ghost—Witness in the Godhead; Spirit of Truth and Revealer of Truth:[A] "I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed; and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord but by the Holy Ghost,"—Paul.[B]

[Footnote A: As this Divine Personage of the Holy Trinity is to be the subject of several lessons, and the central thought in this whole treatise here only so much is said of him as will suggest his relationship to the other two personages of the Godhead, and indicate his special office.]

[Footnote B: I Cor. xii:3.]

"Then are ye in the straight and narrow path * * * and ye have received the Holy Ghost, which witnesses of the Father and of the Son."[A]

[Footnote A: II Nephi xxxi:18.]

"When the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of Truth which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me."[A]

[Footnote A: St. John xv:26.]

"Howbeit, when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.

"He shall glorify me; for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you.

"All things that the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall shew it unto you."[A]

[Footnote A: St. John xvi:13, 15.]

"But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance whatsoever I have said unto you."[A]

[Footnote A: St. John xiv:26.]

In these scriptures we have presented the chief office of the Third Person of the Holy Trinity. The Holy Ghost by way of pre-eminence is the Witness of God, and for the truth of God. The Father's witness; the Son's witness; the Truth's witness; and because of this—as the outgrowth of it—the Guide into all truth; the Comforter, the Assurer, the universal Voice to soul of man of certainty; the universal Eye to the spirit of man, that can and does show him things to come. The Seer Power in the Souls of men. The Witness for God; who is also God, Deity; and the bond of union and communion between God and Souls of men. Spirit Personage of the Godhead; one in moral and spiritual union with God, the Father, and God, the Son, and the cause and special power of union between God, and those who receive the truth.

PART III.

The Holy Ghost.

LESSON XII.

(Scripture Reading Exercise.)

NATURE AND FORM.

ANALYSIS. | REFERENCES.
I. The Holy Ghost Distinctive in Physical Nature from the Father and the Son. | Scripture and works cited in the body of this lesson.
II. Spirit Substance.
III. "Person" and "Personage" Defined.

SPECIAL TEXT: "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus." (Phil. ii:5 c. f. Acts x:38.)

DISCUSSION.

1. As Heretofore Considered: I have already considered the Holy Ghost as a member of the Trinity; as a separate Personage in that Trinity; and have spoken to a limited extent of his special office as a Witness of the truth. But all that has been said has been to present a view of him in association with the other Personages of the Godhead. It is now proposed to consider him by himself, alone—his nature, his office, the principles upon which men may unite their lives with his life, and thus attain perfect spiritual life.

2. The Spirit of the Inquiry: Most reverently, and rather reluctantly, do I address myself to this task. Certainly no one could approach it lightly, much less arrogantly, as knowing all about it, when really, after all, one knows and can know so little about it; and that only which it has pleased God to reveal in his word, and inspired his prophets to teach. Beyond what is of record in these revelations, the writer may claim no knowledge of the subject. It is merely to set forth what may be learned from these sources, grouping the facts as they may be learned by all in that manner which appeals to him as being most orderly and clear, and that will make for a reverent attitude towards this holy Personage of the Godhead.

3. Distinctions in Nature: It appears that the Holy Ghost differs from the other personages of the Godhead, in this; that while "the Father has a body of flesh and bones as tangible as man's, the Son also;[A] * * * * the Holy Ghost has not a body of flesh and bones, but is a personage of spirit. Were it not so the Holy Ghost could not dwell in us."[B]

[Footnote A: For collected evidence of this truth, and the doctrine that as the Son is, so is the Father, see Seventy's Year Book, No. III, Lesson xxiii, notes 7, 8, 11.]

[Footnote B: Doc. and Cov., sec. 130:22.]

Such the declaration of Joseph, the Prophet, in some instruction given to the Church at Ramus, Illinois, April 2nd, 1843;[A] and admitted into the body of the Doctrine and Covenants as doctrine of the Church.

[Footnote A: Hist. of the Church—the Journal History of the Prophet—Vol. V, p. 325.]

With this also, of course, the teaching of President Young agrees: "The Holy Ghost is the Spirit of the Lord, and issues forth from himself, and may properly be called God's minister to execute his will in immensity; being called to govern by his influence and power; but he is not a person of tabernacle as we are and as our Father in heaven and Jesus Christ are."[A]

[Footnote A: Journal of Discourses, Vol. I, p. 50.]

4. "Spirit," Its Substantive[A] Nature: To aid in a proper understanding of the meaning of the Prophet in the passage just quoted, it is necessary to ascertain what is meant by him in using the terms "spirit" and "personage." At Ramus, Illinois, 17th of May, 1843, the Prophet, "speaking of Eternal Duration of Matter," said: "There is no such thing as immaterial matter. All spirit is matter, but is more fine or pure, [i. e. than gross matter] and can only be discerned by purer eyes. We can not see it, but when our bodies are purified, we shall see that it is all matter."[B] "In tracing the thing to foundation," said the Prophet in an editorial of the Times and Seasons, April, 1842, "and looking at it philosophically, we shall find a very material difference between the body and the spirit; the body is supposed to be organized matter, and the spirit, by many, is thought to be immaterial, without substance. With this latter statement we should beg leave to differ, and state that spirit is a substance; that it is a material, but that it is more pure, elastic and refined matter than the body; that it existed before the body, can exist in the body; and will exist separate from the body, when the body will be mouldering in the dust; and will in the resurrection, be again united with it."[C]

[Footnote A: Substantive (2) "Having substance or reality." Example of use: "The mind is a substantive existence, possessing a uniform structure of character, however fundamentally different from the bodily structure." G. T. Curtis, Creation and Evolution, p. 470.]

[Footnote B: "History of the Church," Vol. V, p. 393. The passage, except the introductory sentence, is admitted into the body of the Doctrine and Covenants (sec. cxxxi:7, 8).]

[Footnote C: Hist. Ch, Vol. IV, p. 575.]

From this, one is justified in concluding that because the Prophet refers to the Holy Ghost as a "spirit," he does not thereby mean an immaterial being, or personage; a being not matter; but a being, a personage of finer and more subtle material than flesh and bone, else the Holy Ghost could not dwell in us.[A]

[Footnote A: An important truth hinges upon this doctrine and is considered later.]

5. Substantive Existence of the Holy Ghost: Upon this line of thought, that is, as to immateriality of spirit, the late Elder Orson Pratt has a most enlightening passage, which I here give at length:

"Some have supposed the Holy Spirit to be merely a power or influence, and not a substance; these are the views of Unitarians: they do not believe that there is a substantive Holy Spirit, but that the Holy Spirit is only a quality or attribute of the Father's substance. We shall first show that the Holy Spirit can have no existence as a mere attribute, or quality, without some substance to which such quality appertains. It is an admitted principle in all sound philosophy, that all qualities or powers must be the qualities or powers of something. Abstract qualities or powers are inconceivable. Motion implies a substance capable of moving or being moved. Force implies a substance capable of exerting a power on itself, or on something external to itself. The various colors of the prism imply a substance capable of producing the sensations of color upon the optic nerve. Sound implies a substance in a certain state or condition, affecting the organ of hearing. Taste implies a substance, exciting its appropriate sensation. As all these qualities and properties imply substance to which they belong, so do wisdom, knowledge, power, goodness, love, and such like qualities, imply substances to which they adhere. And as we cannot conceive of motion, force, color, or sound existing without a substrate, so we cannot conceive of wisdom, knowledge, goodness, or virtue subsisting without a substantive being to which these qualities belong.

"Some writers who have obtained a degree of celebrity among the speculative philosophers of modern times, have advocated a theory (if indeed, it may be called a theory), that power, forces, etc., in the abstract constitute the whole universe. Boscovich and his disciples maintained this idea, and contended that there was no such thing as substance in existence—that the universe was made up, not of substance, but of an infinitude of mathematical points, attracting, repelling, and combining with each other according to certain laws. According to this theory it is assumed that repulsions of a certain degree of intensity produce solidity—that those of less intensity produce liquidity, and that the various degrees of rarity or density depend, not upon substance, but upon the attractions and repulsions of points in different degrees of proximity. A celebrated writer of our own day—Isaac Taylor—is inclined to this theory. After suggesting the idea that substance was not necessary in the constitution of the universe, he says, 'The visible and palpable world then, according to this theory, is motion, constant and uniform, emanating from infinite centres, and springing, during every instant of its continuance from the Creative Energy.' (Isaac Taylor's Physical Theory of Another Life, p. 238.)

"According to this theory, attractions and repulsions must exist without anything to be attracted or rexpelled—motion must exist without anything being moved—there must be 'a springing' from 'infinite centres' continuing 'every instant' without anything to be sprung. Here are energies, forces, and motion, ascribed not to a substance, but to empty space, or nothing. The latter writer, it is true, admits a 'Creative Energy.' What he means by this is, that all those varieties of motions were created. But if there is no substance, there can be nothing but empty space; but space is not capable of motion, therefore, 'Creative Energy' could not create a motion, until there was something in space to be moved. Therefore, to speak of motion where nothing exists is an absurdity, only equaled by the absurdity of the notion of a 'God without body or parts.'

"As it is impossible for motion to exist without a substance, so it is equally impossible and absurd for wisdom, knowledge, goodness, love, power, will, or any other similar attribute or quality to exist separate and apart from substance; hence the 'Creative Energy' itself could not exist unless a substance existed to which it appertained. The most eminent philosophers of modern times, with very few exceptions, have considered substance necessary to the existence of every quality. These were the views of that great master spirit—the renowned Sir Isaac Newton. In the Scholium, at the end of the 'Principia,' when speaking of God, he says, 'He is omnipresent, not by means of his virtue alone, but also by his substance, for virtue cannot subsist without substance.' The Holy Spirit, therefore, is a substance, and must, like all other substances, have parts, bearing relation to space and duration."[A]

[Footnote A: Millennial Star, Vol. XII, No. 20.]

Then as to "personage:" The Prophet used this term always in the sense of meaning an individual, including bodily form, with all that belongs to it; never in the subtle and vague sense of the philosophers or school men, mediaeval or modern.[A] This is evident from use of the term in describing his first vision: "I saw two personages whose brightness and glory defy all description."[B] These two "personages" were the Father and the Son, of the holy Trinity, and whom in later years, as already seen, the Prophet declares to possess bodies of flesh and bone as tangible as man's, and in form like man's. It follows, then, that describing the Holy Ghost as a "personage of Spirit," means only that the Holy Ghost differs from the other glorious personages of the Godhead in the nature of the substance of which, for want of a better term, we may say he subsists, but not necessarily different in form; and of which we can only say—that is, of his substance—he is not flesh and bone as are the tabernacles of the Father and the Son.

[Footnote A: Never, for example, as Calvin uses it: "What I denominate a person is a subsistence of the divine essence which is related to the others and yet is distinguished from them by an incommunicable property." Calvin's Institutes i:13; or as the philosophers use it, where consciousness, thought and will seem to be the essentials of "personality," without any reference to form. (See Evolution in Relation to Religious Thought, Dr. Jos. Le Conte, p. 339.)]

[Footnote B: Pearl of Great Price, Writings of Joseph Smith, ch. ii.]

LESSON XIII.

(Scripture Reading Exercise.)

NATURE AND FORM (Continued).

ANALYSIS. | REFERENCES.
IV. A Spiritual Personage Revealed. | The Scriptures and works cited in the body of this lesson.
V. The Holy Ghost in Person Revealed
VI. Personality of the Holy Ghost Revealed in Described Activities.
VII. The mode of Union Between the Holy Ghost and Men.

SPECIAL TEXT: "I beheld that he was in the form of a man; yet, nevertheless, I knew that it was the Spirit of the Lord, and he spake unto me as a man speaketh with another." (II Nephi xi:)

DISCUSSION.

1. A Personage of Spirit Revealed: The Holy Ghost may be as the pre-existent spirit of the Christ was, before the incarnation; and of which we have at least one enlightening revelation in the Book of Mormon.

The brother of Jared having by faith come into the presence of the Christ, that spirit personage, said to him:

"Behold I am he who was prepared from the foundation of the world to redeem my people; * * * and never have I showed myself unto man whom I have created, for never has man believed in me as thou hast. Seest thou that ye are created after mine own image [likeness]. Yea, even all men were created in the beginning after mine own image. Behold this body which ye now behold, is the body of my spirit; and man have I created after the body of my spirit; and even as I appear unto thee to be in the spirit, will I appear unto my people in the flesh."[A]

[Footnote A: Book of Ether, ch. iii.]

I do not say that the spirit-personage of this passage and the "personage of spirit," the Holy Ghost, is declared to be by the Prophet Joseph Smith, of like essence or substance, or even that they are similar in the nature of their substances; they may be very different. But the passage in Ether informs us what a spirit-personage may be. He may be as Jesus was, a spirit in the form of a man.

2. The Holy Ghost Revealed: In his "Articles of Faith," Elder James E. Talmage says:

"That the Holy Ghost is capable of manifesting himself in the true form and figure of God, after which image man is shaped, is indicated by the wonderful interview between the Spirit and Nephi, in which he revealed himself to the Prophet, questioned him concerning his desires and belief, instructed him in the things of God, speaking face to face with the man. 'I spake unto him,' says Nephi, 'as a man speaketh; for I beheld that he was in form of a man, yet nevertheless I knew that it was the Spirit of the Lord; and he spake unto me as a man speaketh to another.'"[A]

[Footnote A: Articles of Faith, p. 164; and I Nephi xi:22. Elder Orson Pratt refers to the same passage in 1850, and makes the following comment: "Whether this Spirit that Nephi saw 'in the form or a man' was the person of the Holy Spirit, or the personal Spirit of Jesus, which, about six hundred years afterwards took upon himself flesh, is not definitely stated. The brother of Jared, some two thousand years before Christ, saw the personal Spirit of Christ, which was in the form of a man. Nephi might have seen the same; but we are rather inclined to believe from the context, that he saw the personage of the Holy Spirit; if so, this establishes, beyond doubt, the personality of the Holy Spirit."]

Of this evidence for the personality and even the individuality of the Holy Ghost, in human form, it might be said that since the pre-existent spirit of the Christ, and doubtless the spirits of all men, existed in human form, some one of these of sufficient excellence and holiness could by appointment have ministered unto Nephi, and be called the "Spirit of the Lord." But a close consideration of the context of the quoted passage will, I think, dispel that idea and leave established the view of the author of the "Articles of Faith," and that view to which Elder Orson Pratt more especially inclined, viz.: that on the above occasion there was given to the Prophet Nephi a view of the spirit-personage of the Holy Trinity, known to us in the word of God as the Holy Ghost. The considerations which lead me to that conclusion are that in the chapter preceding the one in which it is declared that the "Spirit of the Lord" was "in the form of a man," Nephi had expressed his desire to see and hear, and know of these things by the power of the Holy Ghost, "which is the gift of God unto all those who diligently seek him."[A] Then in a subsequent verse he remarks: "And the Holy Ghost giveth authority that I should speak these things, and deny them not."[B] Then follows the narrative in which occurs the statement that the "spirit of the Lord," which conversed with Nephi, was "in the form of a man" This juxtaposition of the terms "Holy Ghost" and the "Spirit of the Lord," "in the form of a man," is too significant to doubt of identity of personage.

[Footnote A: I Nephi x:17.]

[Footnote B: Ibid 18.]

3. The New Testament on the Personality of the Holy Ghost: It is also clear from the New Testament scriptures that the Holy Ghost is a "spiritual personage" in the sense presented in this lesson, for the reason that he is referred to as a personage, and as doing those things which only a personage, in the sense of that personage being an individual, would do. In these scriptures the Holy Ghost is quite generally "HE" rather than "IT." "I will pray to the Father," said Jesus, "and he will give you another Comforter, * * * even the Spirit of Truth whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him; but ye know him, for he dwelleth with you and shall be in you."[A] "But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, * * * he shall teach you all things;"[B] "* * * He shall testify of me."[C] He will guide you into all truth; for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear that shall he speak, and he will show you things to come. He shall glorify me for he shall receive of mine and shall show it unto you."[D] "And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness and of judgment."[E]

[Footnote A: John xiv:16, 17.]

[Footnote B: John xiv:26.]

[Footnote C: John xv:26.]

[Footnote D: John xvi:13, 14.]

[Footnote E: John xvi:8.]

Moreover, as we have seen in a previous lesson, the Holy Ghost does those things, performs those offices which may be done only by a "person" in the sense here considered, viz. He is represented as proceeding from the Father; as sent forth in the name of the Son; as abiding; as teaching; as bearing witness; as reproving the world; as guiding; and revealing.[A]

[Footnote A: See Lesson viii, this treatise where citation to scripture for all these things is given.]

It is, however, proper that attention should be called to the fact that in some cases the Holy Ghost is represented by the neuter pronoun "It" and "Itself." "The spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit."[A] John calls the Holy Spirit "the anointing;" "But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you; but as the same anointing teach you all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught, ye shall abide in him."[B] Here we see that the neuter pronoun "it" is applied to the Spirit which "teacheth all things."[C] "That this anointing," says Orson Pratt, "referred to the Holy Spirit is evident, not only from its 'teaching all things,' but the word is so applied by Peter: 'God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power.'"[D] Elder Pratt also cites the following instances from the Book of Mormon: "The Book of Mormon in two places uses the neuter pronoun 'it' when speaking of the Holy Ghost. Nephi says, 'Behold, there are many that harden their hearts against the Holy Spirit, that it hath no place in them.' And again, he says, 'If ye will enter in by the way, and receive the Holy Ghost, it will show unto you all things what we should do.' In another place the Book of Mormon represents the Spirit of the Lord as a person. Nephi says of this spirit, 'I spake unto him as a man speaketh; for I beheld that he was in the form of a man; yet, nevertheless, I knew that it was the Spirit of the Lord; and he spake unto me as a man speaketh with another.'"

[Footnote A: Rom, viii:16.]

[Footnote B: I John ii:27.]

[Footnote C: Acts x:38.]

[Footnote D: Mill. Star, Vol. XII, p. 307.]

It is, in his described activities, however, that one may find the best idea of the nature of the personal quality of the Holy Ghost, and these activities can only obtain, as we hope is abundantly set forth in these lessons, in connection with a personality, and in the sense of that personality being an individual spirit.

4. Mode of Union Between the Holy Ghost and Men: The question will be asked, however, how the doctrine of the personality of the Holy Ghost, in the sense of his being a spirit-personage, in the form of man, is to be made compatible with the idea that the Holy Ghost operates simultaneously upon the minds of many persons; in fact becomes an indwelling influence and power in them. "Receive ye the Holy Ghost," is said to all those who accept the ordinances of the gospel—both the first and second part of the Christian baptism; and the theory is that though these become an innumerable host, such as no man can number, there would still be for each a personal relationship with the Holy Ghost. Each would receive him; each would be baptized of the Spirit; and that which each would receive would be his bond of fellowship with God, his union with the divine life, his re-established communion with God, hitherto severed by sin. To each the Holy Ghost would be his special source of knowledge, as we have seen, of God the Father, and Jesus the Son;[A] the Holy Ghost would be the life of God in the life of each; the power by which he would be conformed to the very image and likeness of God—inducted in fact into the divine nature. How can all this be if the Holy Ghost be regarded as a personage, in the sense of his being an individual; and necessarily limited by the laws of form and substance? That is to say, that as a personage, he is not everywhere present; as a personage, not capable of being in two places at the same moment of time; as a personage, limited as to the amount of substance or spiritual essence of which he subsists; as a personage, not of unlimited or inexhaustible substance, extending throughout the universe. These conclusions are inevitable from the nature of beings, however refined of substance or essence, or however exalted in office and power, or however glorious, if to them we ascribe form; or if God in his word prescribes form to them, as in this case. These conclusions are inevitable where form is the mode of existence.

[Footnote A: No man can say that Jesus is the Lord but by the Holy Ghost. I Cor. xii:3. "I bear record of the Father, and the Father beareth record of me, and the Holy Ghost beareth record of the Father and me." III Nephi xi:32.]

Happily the task does not devolve upon the writer to advance a positive theory with reference to this difficulty. Frankly he confesses himself inadequate to such a task. If the Son of God, so far the Master Teacher in this world, felt it necessary to say, "The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth; so is every one that is born of the Spirit"[A]—if the Master Teacher said this, surely it is becoming in this writer not to attempt in any positive way to give an exposition of that which our Lord saw proper to leave in the above status. Still, reverently, and subject to correction that may come with the further unfolding of God's revealed word, one may without presumption suggest how conception of the Holy Ghost as a personal spirit may not be incompatible with effectual, personal contact with each one that shall obey the commandment to be born both of the water and of the Spirit; and how the Holy Ghost may become an indwelling power in each of such persons regardless of numbers.

[Footnote A: St. John iii:8.]

In Lesson II of this treatise I discussed the immanence of God in the world, and developed the thought, I trust clearly, that there was both with human and divine persons an influence radiating forth from them. And that so far as divine persons were concerned, since they had attained to participation in the divine nature, which is essentially one, their influence was one, with others likewise so developed, and divine; and that so blended into one spiritual atmosphere this influence or "Spirit of God" became the Immanent Deity, the Light which lighteth every man that cometh into the world, and through which God is everywhere present and a power in his creations, throughout the immensity of space.[A]

[Footnote A: It is suggested that the student refresh his mind by reading again Lesson II.]

The point to be made here by reference to the discussion in Lesson II is, that if other Divine Intelligences radiate a spiritual influence and power, is it not conformable to reason to think that the Holy Ghost will also radiate a spiritual influence and power from himself that will be all sufficient to bring him in personal contact with the soul of every man who obeys the gospel—the conditions essential to fellowship with the Holy Ghost? And may it not be, and indeed from the nature of the revealed knowledge we have of this Spirit, are we not under the necessity of believing that such is his peculiar nature—wholly spiritual, as we have seen—that he acts more immediately, and more powerfully upon the consciousness and soul of man than any other spiritual power whatsoever? And is not this the explanation of the fact that he who sins against the testimony which union with the Holy Ghost gives, is under greater condemnation than for any other sin whatsoever?[A]

[Footnote A: "He that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness." (St. Mark iii:28.) "It is impossible for those who were once enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, and have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, if they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame." (Hebrew vi:6).]

Illustration; Analogy: Let us see if analogy will not help us here. We know that self-luminous bodies send forth vibrations that in turn produce light waves; and these acting upon the organs of sight render visible the objects from which the vibrations proceed. The sun is such a luminous body; and though its material body is some 92,000,000 of miles distant, yet to us men it is a glorious earth-presence, this sun, flooding the earth with light and warmth and life-giving power, without which all life would languish and die. And it is possible, and to this writer's thought very probable, that not only to the planet earth of our solar system, but to some of the other major planets of the system, though by many hundreds of millions of miles more distant from the sun than our earth, the sun may perform the same kindly office for them, not only in the matter of giving them light, which we know to be the case, but also the warmth and vital energy essential to their forms of life. But with this we need not concern ourselves now.

The analogy I suggest is this, and I press it no further than illustration: If a physical, luminous body can send forth from its presence an energy into such immense space depths, as we know our sun does, and conveys its essential qualities of light and heat and vital force to planets at least so distant as our earth is from the sun; may it not be that a spirit of such dignity and power as we have a right from what is revealed of him to believe the Holy Ghost is, cannot he, more abundantly, and even to infinity, give forth spiritual energy that shall unite to himself all those who are born again—those who obey the gospel? And as one may not separate the ray of light from the luminous object whence it proceeds, so one may not, or so it would seem—fail to be completely united with the spirit-personage of the Holy Ghost by the direct spiritual energy proceeding forth from his divine presence.

This conclusion is not given, be it remembered, as a positive dictum as to the mode of union of man with God through the fellowship or possession of the Holy Ghost. It is only a tentative suggestion as to a possible mode of that union, to meet the question as to how it can be possible to regard the Holy Ghost as a spirit-personage in the sense of his being an individual—a conclusion forced upon the understanding by the revelations of God which present him to us—and at the same time accept the notion—also forced upon the understanding by what is revealed of the Holy Ghost—that he is in conscious union with unnumbered millions of minds who have been brought into fellowship with God through the spiritual birth. But for the matter itself, as to any dogmatizing about it—"The wind bloweth where it listeth, * * * * ye know not whence it cometh, nor whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit."

LESSON XIV.

(Scripture Reading Exercise.)

OFFICES (I. E., FUNCTIONS) OF THE HOLY GHOST.

ANALYSIS | REFERENCES.
I. Chief Office—Witness for Father and the Son. | The Scripture passages cited in the body of this lesson.
II. Comforter.
III. Teacher.
IV. Remembrancer.

SPECIAL TEXT: "When the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me." (St John xv.26.)

DISCUSSION.

1. Review of Former Statement: It has already been pointed out in Lesson X, when considering the Holy Ghost in association with the Father and the Son in the Godhead, that his chief office, in the sense of function, is to be a witness for the two other divine personages of the Godhead, and for the truth of God—for the whole volume of it. That description of his office, however, was merely incidental, as explained in a footnote at the time, and followed only so far as was necessary to indicate merely the chief work of this divine Spirit.

2. Chief Function of the Holy Ghost—Witness for God: It was there emphasized, however, that the chief function of the Holy Ghost was to be Witness for God the Father, and for Jesus Christ:

"Ye have received the Holy Ghost, which witnesses of the Father and of the Son."[A] "No man can say that Jesus is the Lord but by the Holy Ghost"[B]

[Footnote A: II Nephi xxxi:18.]

[Footnote B: I Cor. xii.]

"But when the Comforter is come ... he shall testify of me."[A]

[Footnote A: St. John v;26.]

These passages were relied upon to emphasize that conclusion; and to these the following may be added: "I bear record of the Father," said Jesus to the Nephites, "and the Father beareth record of me, and the Holy Ghost beareth record of the Father and me." "Whoso believeth in me, believeth in the Father also, and unto him will the Father bear record of me: for he will visit him with fire and with the Holy Ghost. And thus will the Father bear record of me and the Holy Ghost will bear record unto him of the Father and me; for the Father, and I and the Holy Ghost are one."[A]

[Footnote A: III Nephi xi:32-36.]

This chief office of the Holy Ghost established, we may now proceed to the consideration of other functions of this Divine Personage.

3. Comforter: As the time drew near for Jesus to make his great sacrifice, and then depart from the immediate presence of his disciples, he manifested a great desire to comfort them, and this he did by promising to send to them from the Father, the Holy Ghost, that he (the Holy Ghost) might abide with them forever.

"If ye love me, keep my commandments. And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; even the Spirit of Truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you."[A]

[Footnote A: St. John xiv:16, 17. It will doubtless be of interest to note in this connection another promise following immediately upon this one relative to the Holy Ghost as a Comforter, and very generally overlooked even by Christians, namely, a promise that both the Father and Son would also take up their abode with those who keep the commandments. "I will not leave you comfortless," said the Christ in the verse following the one given in the text above, "I will come unto you. Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me: because I live, ye shall live also. At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you. He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him. Judas saith unto him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world? Jesus answered and said unto him. If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him." When Orson Hyde gave a "spiritual interpretation" to the last statement, to the effect that it is "our privilege to have the Father and Son dwelling in our hearts," the Prophet Joseph answered: "When the Savior shall appear, we shall see him as he is. We shall see that he is a man like ourselves, and that the same sociality which exists among us here will exist among us there, only it will be coupled with eternal glory, which glory we do not now enjoy. The appearing of the Father and the Son, in that verse (John xiv:23) is a personal appearance; and the idea that the Father and the Son dwell in a man's heart is an old sectarian notion, and is false." (Doc. and Cov., Sec. cxxx.)]

4. The Holy Ghost as Teacher: Continuing his discourse on the Comforter, Jesus said:

"But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you."[A]

[Footnote A: John xiv:26.]

In continuation of his remarks on this subject, to the disciples, he told them he had many things to say unto them, but they could not bear them at that time. "Howbeit," said he, "when he, the Spirit of Truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will show you things to come. He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall show it unto you. All things that the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall show it unto you."[A]

[Footnote A: John xvi:13-15.]

From these passages four important things are learned respecting the powers of the Holy Ghost:

(1) That he will teach all things; and, what is equivalent, "guide into all truth." (2) He will bring all things to remembrance, that is, whatsoever things have been stored in the mind. (3) He will show things to come. (4) He will take of the things of God and reveal them unto men.

Of the excellence and importance of these several powers it is scarcely needful to speak, since their excellence is evident upon the mere enumeration of them, yet one cannot refrain from looking at them more in detail. How excellent a thing it is to have a teacher competent to teach "all things," and "guide into all truth." In view of the fact that the saints possessed the Holy Ghost, and that the Holy Ghost has these powers, one can understand the reasonableness of John's remarks to the saints, in which he says:

"But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things. * * * The anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him."[A]

[Footnote A: John ii;20, 27.]

Moreover, to the extent that a man is guided into all truth, he is preserved from all error. There is no danger of his being deceived, or led astray by every wind of doctrine, or the cunning craftiness of false teachers, so long as he is in possession of that Spirit which guides into all truth. So taught Isaiah, who, in speaking of the time when the house of Israel should possess this Spirit, said:

"And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity, and the water of affliction, yet shall not thy teachers be removed into a corner any more, but thine eyes shall see thy teachers;

"And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left."[A]

[Footnote A: Isaiah xxx:20, 21.]

5. The Holy Ghost as Remembrancer: As to the second power enumerated, viz.: the power to bring all things to remembrance; it is a most practical and important function, as it would be impossible for man to live the law of the Gospel without some such grace being conferred upon him by the Lord. The law of the Gospel requires men not only to do good to those who do good to them, but to do good to those who despitefully use them; not only to lend to those who lend to them, but to lend to those of whom they may not hope to receive anything in return; to revile not those who may revile them—in a word, the law of the Gospel is summed up in this: "Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good."[A]

[Footnote A: Romans xii:21. See also Matt. v, vi.]

However fine this may be in theory, to carry it practically into the affairs of life is difficult. When reviled it seems but natural to answer railing with railing, blows with blows, and for injury inflicted, return as much in kind as is within one's power to inflict. And unless in possession of this grace bestowed by the Holy Ghost, viz., having brought to one's recollection the things of Christ's Gospel, being reminded in the very moment of temptation of these laws—when smarting under a sense of injustice, or suffering under wrongs heaped upon one—it would be difficult if not impossible to live up to these heaven-given precepts. But by having the Holy Spirit as one's prompter in the moments of temptation, and by cultivating the Christian virtue of patience, this law of the Gospel, so contravening the natural disposition of man, may be complied with, and the follower of Christ, like his Master, may be able to say for those who inflict injury upon him, "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do."

6. President Brigham Young on the Same: Along this line of thought the late President Brigham Young left on record, in a discourse delivered on the 28th of August, 1852, [Journal of Discourses, Vol. I], a very choice deliverance, in which he urged righteousness upon the ministry of the Church everywhere and at all times, through constant possession of the Holy Ghost. The passage follows:

"When I heard the brethren exhorting those who are going on missions, I wished them to impress one thing upon the minds of the elders, for it is necessary that it should be uppermost there, which may be the means of preserving them from receiving stains on their characters from which very probably they may never recover. If we get a blight on our characters before the Lord, or in other words, lose ground and backslide by transgression, or in any other way, so that we are not up even with the brethren, as we are now, we never can come up with them again. But this principle must be carried out by the elders wherever they go, whatever they do, or wherever they are. One thing must be observed and be before them all the time in their meditations, and in their practice, and that is, clean hands and pure hearts, before God, angels, and men. If the elders cannot go with clean hands and pure hearts, they had better stay here, and wash a little longer; don't go thinking when you arrive at the Missouri river, at the Mississippi, at the Ohio, or at the Atlantic, that then you will purify yourselves, but start from here with clean hands and pure hearts, and be pure from the crown of your heads to the soles of your feet, then live so every hour. Go in that manner, and in that manner labor, and return again as clean as a piece of pure, white paper. This is the way to go, and if you do not do that, your hearts will ache.

"How can you do it? Is there a way? Yes! Do the elders understand that way? They do. You cannot keep your hands clean, and your hearts pure, without the help of the Lord; neither will he keep you pure without your own help. Will you be liable to fall into temptation and be overtaken in sin? Yes, unless you live so as to have the revelation of Jesus Christ continually, not only to live in it today, or while you are preaching in a prayer meeting, or in a conference; but when you are out of the meetings. You must have the Holy Spirit all the time, on Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, and every day through the week, and from year to year, from the time you leave home until you return, so that when you come back, you may not be afraid if the Lord Almighty should come into the midst of the Saints and reveal all the acts and doings and designs of your hearts in your missions, but be found clean like a piece of white paper; that is the way for the elders to live in their ministry at home and abroad."

LESSON XV.

(Scripture Reading Exercise.)

OFFICE (I. E., FUNCTIONS) OF THE HOLY GHOST (Continued).

ANALYSIS. | REFERENCES.
V. The Revealer: The Spirit of Prophecy. | The works and Scripture passages cited in the body of the lesson.
VI. Miscellaneous Gifts and Powers.
VII. Personal Graces Imparted.

SPECIAL TEXT: "Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come. He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you." (St. John xvi:13, 14.)

DISCUSSION.

1. The Holy Ghost the Spirit of Prophecy and of Revelation: "He will show you things to come." In other words, the Holy Ghost is the spirit of prophecy, for by it the future has been unfolded to the minds of the prophets; and by it the scriptures were given. In proof of this I quote the apostle Peter: "Prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved upon by the Holy Ghost."[A] And that which they spake was written and became scripture.

[Footnote A: II Peter i:21.]

When an angel visited John on Patmos and that apostle fell at his feet to worship him, the angel said: "See thou do it not. I am they fellow servant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus [which is the Holy Ghost]: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy."[A]

[Footnote A: Rev. xix:10. These facts will exhibit the inconsistency, nay, I may say, the absolutely erroneous position of those who insist that while the Holy Ghost has continued with men, prophecy and revelation have ceased.]

The very fact, as stated in the fourth item taken from these passages under consideration [Lesson XIV, subdivision 4], viz., that the Holy Ghost will take of the things of the Lord and show them unto men, also proves that this Spirit is one of revelation, and is in harmony with the scripture which saith:

"But as it is written, eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit; for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned."[A]

[Footnote A: I Cor. ii:9-14.]

2. Joseph Smith on the "Spirit of Revelation:" The spirit of revelation is in connection with these blessings [i. e. receiving the Holy Ghost, see context of discourse]. A person may profit by noticing the first intimation of the spirit of revelation; for instance, when you feel pure intelligence flowing into you, it may give you sudden strokes of ideas, so that by noticing it, you may find it fulfilled the same day or soon; [i. e.] those things that were presented unto your minds by the Spirit of God will come to pass; and thus by learning the Spirit of God and understanding it, you may grow into the principle of revelation, until you become perfect in Christ Jesus.[A]

[Footnote A: Joseph Smith in a discourse to the Twelve, 27th June, 1839, History of the Church, Vol. III, p. 381.]

He also teaches, in the same discourse, that there are two comforters: one the Holy Ghost, whom he calls the First Comforter; the other, Jesus Christ, whom he calls the Second Comforter, in explanation of St. John xiv:12-23. (See also note e, Lesson XIV.)

"There are two comforters spoken of. One is the Holy Ghost, the same as given on the day of Pentecost, and that all Saints receive after faith, repentance and baptism. Their First Comforter or Holy Ghost has no other effect than pure intelligence. It is more powerful in expanding the mind, enlightening the understanding, and storing the intellect with present knowledge, of a man who is of the literal seed of Abraham, than one that is a Gentile, though it may not have half as much visible effect upon the body; for as the Holy Ghost falls upon one of the literal seed of Abraham, it is calm and serene; and his whole soul and body are only exercised by the pure spirit of intelligence; while the effect of the Holy Ghost upon a Gentile, is to purge out the old blood, and make him actually of the seed of Abraham. That man that has none of the blood of Abraham [naturally] must have a new creation by the Holy Ghost. In such a case, there may be more of a powerful effect upon the body, and visible to the eye, than upon an Israelite, while the Israelite at first might be far before the Gentile in pure intelligence.[A]

[Footnote A: The Other Comforter: This subject, in part, was treated in footnote e, in Lesson XIV. I quote what the Prophet said further upon the subject in this foot note: "The Other Comforter spoken of is a subject of great interest, and perhaps understood by few of this generation. After a person has faith in Christ, repents of his sins, and is baptized for the remission of his sins and receives the Holy Ghost, by the laying on of hands, which is the first Comforter, then let him continue to humble himself before God, hungering and thirsting after righteousness, and living by every word of God, and the Lord will soon say unto him, Son, thou shalt be exalted. When the Lord has thoroughly proved him, and finds that the man is determined to serve Him at all hazards, then the man will find his calling and his election made sure, then it will be his privilege to receive the other Comforter, which the Lord hath promised the Saints, as is recorded in the testimony of St. John, in the 14th chapter, from the 12th to the 27th verses. * * * Now what is this other Comforter? It is no more nor less than the Lord Jesus Christ himself; and this is the sum and substance of the whole matter; that when any man obtains this last Comforter, he will have the personage of Jesus Christ to attend him, or appear unto him from time to time, and even he will manifest the Father unto him, and they will take up their abode with him, and the visions of the heavens will be opened unto him, and the Lord will teach him face to face, and he may have a perfect knowledge of the mysteries of the Kingdom of God; and this is the state and place the ancient Saints arrived at when they had such glorious visions—Isaiah, Ezekiel, John upon the Isle of Patmos, St. Paul in the three heavens, and all the Saints who held communion with the general assembly, and the Church of the First Born." (History of the Church, Vol. III, pp. 380-1).]

3. Miscellaneous Gifts and Powers Imparted by the Holy Ghost: In addition to these special powers of the Holy Ghost, there are a number of gifts and powers enumerated, as one may say, in mass in the scriptures, and yet of highest importance. Paul says:

"Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I would not have you ignorant. Ye know that ye were Gentiles carried away unto these dumb idols, even as ye were led. Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed: and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost. Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal. For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit; to another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit; to another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues; but all these worketh that one and the selfsame spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will. For as the body is one, and hath many members and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body; so also is Christ. For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit."[A]

[Footnote A: I Cor. xii:1-13.]

4. President Young on the Effect of the Holy Ghost Upon the Mind of Man: "The Holy Ghost takes of the Father, and of the Son, and shows it to the disciples. It shows them things past, present, and to come. It opens the vision of the mind, unlocks the treasures of wisdom, and they begin to understand the things of God; their minds are exalted on high; their conceptions of God and His creations are dignified, and "Hallelujah to God and the Lamb in the highest," is the constant language of their hearts. They comprehend themselves and the great object of their existence. They also comprehend the designs of the wicked one, and the designs of those who serve him; they comprehend the designs of the Almighty in forming the earth; and mankind upon it, and the ultimate purpose of all His creations. It leads them to drink at the fountain of eternal wisdom, justice, and truth; they grow in grace, and in the knowledge of the truth as it is in Jesus Christ, until they see as they are seen and know as they are known."[A]

[Footnote A: Journal of Discourses, Vol. I, p. 241.]

5. Personal Graces Imparted by the Holy Ghost: In addition to these several spiritual gifts enumerated by Paul, he also gives—in his letter to the Galatians—in like mass, an enumeration of what I think may be called "personal graces," as the "fruit of the Spirit," having references to the Holy Ghost, since he is directing his remarks to those who have accepted the Gospel of Christ.[A] The enumeration of these "graces"—"fruit of the Spirit"—will gain something in beauty and strength if placed, as the apostle himself places it, in contrast with the "works of the flesh."

[Footnote A: See the Epistle to the Galatians, passim.]

"For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another. For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: Thou shalt love they neighbor as thyself. But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another. This I say then, walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. But i. ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these: Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the Kingdom of God.

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit."[A]

[Footnote A: Gal. v:13-25.]

LESSON XVI.

(Scripture Reading Exercise.)

THE PROMISE OF THE HOLY GHOST.

ANALYSIS. | REFERENCES.
I. The Holy Ghost Promised by the Forerunner of the Christ. | The works and Scriptures cited in the body of the lesson.
II. Promised by Messiah.
III. Promised by Apostolic Authority Universal.
IV. The Insignia of the Holy Ghost—"The Sign of a Dove."

SPECIAL TEXT: "Wait for the Promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me. For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence."—Jesus (Acts 1:4-5.)

DISCUSSION.

1. John the Baptist's Promise of the Holy Ghost: When John the Baptist came with his message of "Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand"; he also said:

"I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire."[A]

[Footnote A: Matt. iii:11; also Mark i:7-9.]

Afterwards John bore record that Jesus of Nazareth was he of whom he spake. "I saw," said he, "the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him (Jesus). And I knew him not: but he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost. And I saw, and bear record that this is the Son of God."[A]

[Footnote A: John i:32-34, in connection with verse 29-31.]

2. The Premise of the Christ: Jesus himself made frequent allusion to this baptism of the Holy Ghost; and, as we have seen in previous lessons, expounded 'the functions and powers of that Spirit. Finally, after his death and resurrection, and just previous to his departure from among his disciples in Judea, he said to them:

"Wait for the promise of the Father, which * * * ye have heard of me. For John, truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence."[A]

[Footnote A: Acts i:4, 5.]

The reference to the promise made through John the Baptist is obvious; and the disciples who had anxiously looked for its accomplishment were now informed that its fulfillment was not many days hence.

The promise was fulfilled, for in about seven days[A] after the Messiah's ascension, on the day of Pentecost, the disciples being assembled with one accord, in one place, "Suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance."[B]

[Footnote A: Pentecost came fifty days after the Passover, (reckoning from the second day of the Passover—the 16th of the Month Nisan) on which day the Lord Jesus was crucified. Allowing that he laid three days in the tomb, and was with his disciples forty days after his resurrection (Acts i:3), forty-three days of the fifty between Passover and Pentecost was accounted for, leaving but seven between his ascension and the day of Pentecost, when the promise of the baptism of the Spirit was fulfilled.]

[Footnote B: Acts ii 2-4.]

Peter, under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, so abundantly given to himself and companions on that day, preached a discourse which convinced thousands that Jesus was both Lord and Christ, the Savior of the world; and in answering the question of the multitude as to what they should do, after telling them to repent, and to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of their sins, he added: "And ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call."[A]

[Footnote A: Acts ii:38,39.]

I call attention to the universality of this promise. It was made to those who were listening to the apostles; but not to them alone, it extended to their children, to them also that were afar off—to those who were a hundred years off, or five hundred, or five or ten thousand years off; the promise was to them; and as if this was not sufficiently universal, the apostle adds, "even to as many as the Lord our God shall call"—call to what? to as many, of course, as are called to yield obedience to the gospel—to all such the promise extends.

4. Special Promise of the Holy Ghost in the New Dispensation of the Gospel: As the promise made by John was repeated and emphasized by the Savior, so, likewise, has this general promise made by the Apostle Peter been repeated and emphasized by the Lord, in restoring the gospel to the earth in this dispensation in which we live. To the first elders of the Church in our day, he said:

As I said unto mine apostles, even so I say unto you, for ye are mine apostles. * * * Therefore, * * * I say unto you again, that every soul who believeth on your words, and is baptized by water for the remission of sins, shall receive the Holy Ghost.[A]

[Footnote A: Dov. and Cov. Sec. lxxxiv:65, 64.]

So to those who have faith in the revelations which the Lord has given through the Prophet Joseph Smith, the promise of the Holy Ghost is repeated, and assurance is made doubly sure.

5. Sign of the Holy Ghost: The descent of the Holy Ghost upon Jesus and its abiding with him, was to be John's sign that he it was who would baptize with the Holy Ghost and with fire. He knew not who that divine person was in Israel until this sign should be given to him. Hence we have him saying, after the sign had designated Jesus as the one who would baptize with the Holy Ghost—"I knew him not; but he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, 'Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending and remaining on him, the same is he which baptized with the Holy Ghost; and I saw and bear record that this is the Son of God."[A]

[Footnote A: St. John i:32, 34.]

In the Holy Ghost thus designating Jesus of Nazareth, we are informed, according to John's testimony, that he "saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him";[A] and to this the other evangelists agree, except that St. Luke emphasizes the account by adding "in bodily form." "The Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon him."[B] The incident has been the occasion of much and varied comment. Can it be that the Holy Ghost takes on varied and really physical forms? And is that "spiritual personage," such as we have represented the Holy Ghost to be in these Lessons, really a permanent, personal spirit-personage, or is he an evanescent one? Appearing now in this form, now in that? Now, perhaps, as "burning bush"; now as a "dove"; now as "cloven tongues as of fire"; and now "in form of a man?" It is more in keeping with the dignity of this Divine Personage, as I conceive the revelations describing him, to think of him as a spirit-personage, permanent as to his spirit, individual form; which would lead us necessarily to the conclusion that these other forms of "dove" and "cloven tongues as of fire," were but manifestations of his presence only, not really he, himself; these other forms were but insignia of him.

[Footnote A: St. John i:32.]

[Footnote B: St. Luke iii:22. The International Revision Commentary on the New Testament, says of the passage: "This statement, in which all four evangelists agree, is to be understood literally. A temporary embodiment of the Holy Spirit occurred to inaugurate our Lord as the Messiah."

"In bodily shape;" "that is," says the Commentary of Jamieson-Fausset-Brown, on the passage in Matthew iii:16—"that is, the blessed Spirit, assuming the corporeal form of a dove, descended thus upon his sacred head." "And in this form because the emblem of chastity, purity, meekness, gentleness, beauteousness," Dummelow's Commentary says: "As he (the Christ) rises from the baptismal waters, the Holy Ghost, the living bond of love and unity in the Godhead descends. The appearance of the Holy Ghost in the form of a dove was a symbolic vision, and, as spiritual things are spiritually discerned, the vision was probably seen only by our Lord and the Baptist. The dove is the type of the Spirit because of its innocence, gentleness and affection. (Dummelow Commentary, p. 632).]

To this conclusion one is helped by the teaching of the Prophet of the New Dispensation. Joseph Smith, in a discourse at the Nauvoo Temple, on the 29th day of January, 1843, said—and his remarks were especially prepared as he was answering some doctrinal questions about the mission of John, the Baptist, the greatness of it—"He was entrusted with the important mission to baptize the Son of Man," said the Prophet; "Whoever had the honor of doing that? Whoever had so great a privilege and glory? Whoever led the Son of God into the waters of baptism, and had the privilege of beholding the Holy Ghost descend in the form of a dove, or rather in the sign of the dove, in witness of that administration? The sign of the dove was instituted before the creation of the world, a witness for the Holy Ghost, and the devil cannot come in the sign of a dove. The Holy Ghost is a personage, and is in the form of a personage. It does not confine [conform?] itself to the form of a dove, but in sign of the dove. The Holy Ghost cannot be transformed into a dove; but the sign of a dove was given to John to signify the truth of the deed, as the above is an emblem or token of truth and innocence."[A]

[Footnote A: History of the Church, Vol. V, pp. 260, 261.]

That exposition, as it excels all other attempts at exposition in beauty and rationality, so does it make it possible to hold to the thought of the Holy Ghost as a Spirit-Personage in form like man—nay, rather, like his two associates of the holy Trinity as to form—the most perfect in beauty and stately grandeur of all forms living—although differing in substantive nature, as spirit matter differs from spirit matter united with tabernacles of flesh and bone.

LESSON XVII.

(Scripture Reading Exercise.)

WHO MAY RECEIVE THE HOLY GHOST.

ANALYSIS. | REFERENCES.
I. Preparation for Union. | Works and the Scriptures cited in the body of the lesson.
II. Holy Temples for Indwelling Holy Spirit.
III. The World and Holy Spirit Incompatible.
IV. The Case of Cornelius.

SPECIAL TEXT: "Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in yon? If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are." (Doc. and Cov. iii:16, 17.)

DISCUSSION.

1. Preparation for Union With the Holy Ghost: It will be remembered that John the Baptist was sent to preach repentance and baptism before the coming of him who was to baptize with the Holy Ghost. It will also be observed, in the teachings of Peter on the day of Pentecost, after his arguments and the power of the Spirit by which he spake had aroused belief in the minds of the people, that he required them to repent and to be baptized for the remission of their sins before he gave them the promise of the Holy Ghost.[A]

[Footnote A: Acts ii:38.]

If we turn to the account given in the Acts of the Apostles of the conversion of the people of Samaria, we shall find the same order observed. Philip went down to that city, taught them the word, which they believed, they repented of their sins, and were baptized; then Peter and John came and conferred upon them the Holy Ghost.[A]

[Footnote A: Acts viii.]

Then, again, when Paul found a number of men in Ephesus, who claimed to have been baptized unto John's baptism, yet had not so much as heard of the Holy Ghost, Paul was careful to rebaptize them—since there seemed to be some doubt as to the validity of their first baptism—before he conferred upon them the Holy Ghost.[A]

[Footnote A: Acts xix.]

It appears from these circumstances that faith, repentance, and baptism, precede the reception of, or the baptism of, the Holy Ghost, and are, in fact, prerequisites to a reception of it. This order, in respect of these principles and ordinances, is further sustained by other passages of scripture.

The Holy Ghost dwells not in unholy temples. Therefore man, as a prospective temple of the Holy Ghost, must receive preparatory cleansing before he can hope to become a temple of God, temple of the Holy Ghost.

In writing to the Corinthian Saints who had received the Holy Ghost, Paul says: "What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God."[A]

[Footnote A: I. Cor. vi:19.]

And again: "Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy. For the temple of God is holy which temple ye are."[A]

[Footnote A: I. Cor. iii:16, 17.]

From these passages this much is learned: That the man who receives the Holy Ghost becomes a temple thereof, even the temple of God; and since it is decreed that if a man defiles the temple of God him will God destroy, it may be reasonably inferred that the Holy Ghost dwells not in unholy temples; hence, through faith in God, sincere repentance of all sins, and baptism for the remission of them, man cleanses the prospective temple of the Holy Ghost, his body, that it may be a fit place for the indwelling of the Divine Spirit.

3. The World Cannot Receive the Holy Ghost: Just previous to his crucifixion, Jesus said to the apostles: "I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; even the Spirit of Truth, whom the world cannot receive because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him."[A]

[Footnote A: John xiv:16, 17.]

It is evident from this that the world cannot receive the Holy Ghost. And now, who are the world? I answer, those who have not yet put on Christ; or, in other words, those who have not yet entered into the Kingdom of God, through faith in God and Christ, repentance and baptism. They are the world; and, according to the word of the Master, they cannot receive the Holy Ghost.

Again: When Peter and other apostles were brought before the senate of the Jews, accused with intent to bring the blood of Messiah upon them, Peter answered: "The God of our Fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew and hanged on a tree. Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Savior for to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. And we are his witnesses of these things; and so is also the Holy Ghost, whom God hath given to them that obey him."[A]

[Footnote A: Acts v:30-32.]

Not, mark you, to them who have not obeyed him. This is in harmony with the statement that the world cannot receive the Holy Ghost, and also with the other cases we cited above where the order in presenting the gospel to the people was faith in God and Christ, repentance, baptism for the remission of sins, and then the reception of the Holy Ghost.

4. Distinction Between "Immanent Spirit" and the Holy Ghost: At this point we may note and justify the course followed in this treatise in making a distinction between the "Spirit" or "Light," which "lighteth every man that cometh into the world," and the Holy Ghost. The first "Spirit," or "light," "lighteth every man that cometh into the world." The Holy Ghost is given to those who obey God, that is, to those who obey the Gospel. The world cannot receive the Holy Ghost; but the "Light which lighteth every man that cometh into the world" seems not so restricted in its contact with men and things; since besides being the "light which lighteth every man that cometh into the world," this "light of Christ,"[A] is also a universal, vital spirit, that "proceedeth forth from the presence of God to fill the immensity of space. The light which is in all things; which giveth life to all things; which is the law by which all things are governed: even the power of God."[B] Which spirit or "light is in the sun, and the light of the sun, and the power thereof by which it was made; as also he is in the moon, and is the light of the moon and the power thereof by which it was made";[C] and so with reference to earth and stars. But from what we learn in the Word of God, as already set forth in this treatise, the Holy Ghost is a special spirit-witness for God the Father, and of God the Son, to those who are especially prepared to receive him by faith in, and obedience to, the gospel of Jesus Christ; who have repented of their sins and received baptism in water for the remission of them, thus giving evidence of faith in God and acceptance of the Atonement of the Christ by receiving the symbols thereof.[D] To those thus especially prepared, and to such only, is witness and union with the Holy Ghost possible; while no such especial preparation for contact with and even enjoyment of the all-immanent Spirit is anywhere insisted upon; although, as we have seen in a previous lesson,[E] those who are most in harmony with righteousness, who hunger and thirst after it, and who seek to draw near to God, will undoubtedly, by the great law of spiritual affinity, enjoy closer union with the Spirit of God—the Immanent Spirit—than those who have no such longings for the pure and the good.

[Footnote A: See Lesson II.]

[Footnote B: Doc. & Cov. lxxxviii:12, 13.]

[Footnote C: Ibid, verses 7-10.]

[Footnote D: See Seventy's Year Book IV, Lesson XXI.]

[Footnote E: See Lesson IV this treatise, topic 3 Immanence and Manifestation.]

5. Inter-Changeability of Words: It would be well to remember also in this connection, and it may prevent some confusion in the minds of those who read the scriptures, that by metonymy the words "Spirit," "Holy Spirit," "Spirit of God," "Spirit of Christ," and even "God"-are sometimes used when the "Holy Ghost" is meant. In other words, these terms above given are used inter-changeably. And sometimes the influence of the Spirit or his powers or even his operations are spoken of as the Holy Ghost himself, and hence confusion in thought, and perhaps also in what is written in some of our books. This merely by way of parenthesis.

6. The Case of Cornelius: There is an exception, however, to this order of things in the New Testament: the case of Cornelius, the devout Gentile,[A] and for this exception there was a special reason. It seems that the apostles applied the narrow and contracted views of the Jews to the Gospel. They thought it was to be confined to the house of Israel—to those of the circumcision. They appeared slow to understand that in Jesus Christ all the nations and peoples of the earth were to be blessed, the Gentiles as well as the Jews. Consequently, when the time had come to send the Gospel to the Gentiles, the Lord opened the way by sending an angel to Cornelius to tell him that his prayers and alms had come up for a memorial before the Lord, and to direct him to send men to Joppa for Peter, who would tell him what he ought to do.[B] He at once obeyed the heavenly injunction.

[Footnote A: Some also note the case of Paul as an exception to the rule, but I think this an error. It is true Ananias, on entering the house where Paul was, put his hands on him and said: "The Lord, even Jesus that appeared unto thee in the way as thou earnest, hath sent me, that thou mightest receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost. And immediately," the historian tells us, "there fell from his eyes as it had been scales; and he received sight forthwith, and arose and was baptized." (Acts ix:17, 18.) But in all this I see nothing to warrant the assumption that he received the Holy Ghost prior to his baptism.]

[Footnote B: Acts x:1-8.]

Meantime the Lord prepared Peter to go to the Gentiles. In vision he beheld a great net lowered down from heaven, filled with all manner of beasts, and a voice cried unto him, "Rise, Peter, kill, and eat." But Peter said, "Not so, Lord; for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean," "What God hath cleansed, that call thou not common," said the voice.[A] This was done thrice, and before he had wholly concluded what the vision could mean, the messengers from Cornelius were at the gate—and the Spirit told him to go with them, for the Lord had sent them.

[Footnote A: Acts x:9-17.]

That Peter understood the import of this vision to be that the Gospel was for all mankind, for all races and nations, is evident from the fact that when on the following day he went with the messengers to the house of Cornelius, he said to him:

"Ye know how that it is an unlawful thing for a man that is a Jew to keep company, or come unto one of another nation; but God hath showed me that I should not call any man common or unclean. Therefore come I unto you without gainsaying, as soon as I was sent for."[A]

[Footnote A: Acts x:28.]

Cornelius related to him his vision and expressed himself as ready to receive the commandments of God. Then Peter preached to him Christ and him crucified, and that whosoever believed on him should have remission of sins. And "while Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word. And they of the circumcision which believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost. For they heard them speak with tongues, and magnify God. The answer Peter gave was, "Can any man forbid water, that these should not be baptized, which have received the Holy Ghost as well as we? And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord."[A]

[Footnote A: Acts x:44-48.]

Afterwards, when they of the circumcision complained of Peter for going to them who were uncircumcised, he related the whole matter to them, and testified that as he began to speak to Cornelius and his kindred, "the Holy Ghost fell on them, as on us at the beginning. * * * Forasmuch then as God gave them the like gift as he did unto us, who believed on the Lord Jesus Christ; what was I, that I could withstand God?"[A] When they heard this they held their peace, and the saying went abroad that God had also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life.

[Footnote A: Acts xi:15-17.]

The object for deviating from the order in which the principles and ordinances of the Gospel follow each other is obvious—it was that the Jews might have a witness from God that the Gospel was for the Gentiles as well as for their own nation. But according to the scriptures, and, I may say, according to the nature and relationship of these several principles and ordinances of the Gospel to each other, the reception of the Holy Ghost comes after faith, repentance, and baptism.

The Prophet Joseph, in a discourse delivered at Nauvoo, 20th of March, 1842, refers to this case of Cornelius, and offers the suggestion that there is "a difference between the Holy Ghost and the gift of the Holy Ghost." That is to say, judging from the whole tenor of the passage to be quoted—a difference between the special manifestation of the Holy Ghost in the case of Cornelius for a particular purpose, and the permanent possession of the Holy Ghost as a gift from God coupled with a right to the manifestations of his powers following after observance of those laws and ordinances which make the necessary preparation for the constant fellowship of the Holy Ghost with man. Resuming now the quotation:

"There is a difference between the Holy Ghost and the gift of the Holy Ghost. Cornelius received the Holy Ghost before he was baptized, which was the convincing power of God unto him of the truth of the Gospel, but he could not receive the gift of the Holy Ghost until after he was baptized. Had he not taken this sign or ordinance upon him, the Holy Ghost which convinced him of the truth of God, would have left him. Until he obeyed these ordinances and received the gift of the Holy Ghost, by the laying on of hands, according to the order of God, he could not have healed the sick or commanded an evil spirit to come out of a man, and it obey him; for the spirits might say unto him, as they did to the sons of Sceva: "Paul we know, and Jesus we know, but who are ye?"[A]

[Footnote A: History of the Church, Vol. IV, p. 555.]

LESSON XVIII.

(Scripture Reading Exercise.)

SPIRIT BAPTISM.

ANALYSIS. | REFERENCES.
I. Birth into the Kingdom: Water and Spirit Baptism. | The works and Scripture passages cited in the body of the lesson.
II. The Testimony of Enoch.
III. Purification by Spirit Baptism.

SPECIAL TEXT: "Except a man be born again he cannot see the kingdom of heaven. * * * Except a man be born of the water and of the Spirit he cannot enter the kingdom of God." (St. John iii:3,5.)

DISCUSSION.

1. The Birth of Water and of the Spirit: "There, cometh one mightier than I after me," said John the Baptist. "I have baptized you with water," he continued, "but he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost."[A] Jesus said to Nicodemus: "Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born again he cannot see the Kingdom of God." At this the Pharisees marveled, and enquired, "How can a man be born again when he is old? Can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born?" Then answered Jesus in way of explanation—"Except a man be born of the water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God."[B] This in plain allusion—it is universally conceded—to the baptism of water and of the Spirit essential to entrance into the Kingdom of God—into the Church of Christ.

[Footnote A: St. Mark i:7, 8.]

[Footnote B: St. John iii:3-5.]

2. The Testimony of Enoch to the Necessity of Water and Spirit Baptism: In the Pearl of Great Price occurs a very remarkable testimony of the necessity of water and spirit baptism; and indeed, of the whole Gospel plan of man's redemption, including an exposition of the Atonement and the relationship of the symbols of water and spirit baptism to the natural birth into the world. I quote it in extenso—the testimony is that of the Prophet Enoch, the seventh from Adam:

"And he said unto them [i. e., the people to whom he was preaching], Because that Adam fell, we are; and by his fall came death; and we are made partakers of misery and woe.

"Behold Satan hath come among the children of men, and tempteth them to worship him; and men have become carnal, sensual, and devilish, and are shut out from the presence of God.

"But God hath made known unto our fathers that all men must repent.

"And he called upon our father Adam by his own voice, saying: I am God; I made the world, and men before they were in the flesh.

"And he also said unto him: If thou wilt turn unto me, and hearken unto my voice, and believe, and repent of all thy transgressions, and be baptized, even in water, in the name of mine Only Begotten Son, who is full of grace and truth, which is Jesus Christ, the only name which shall be given under heaven, whereby salvation shall come unto the children of men, ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, asking all things in his name, and whatsoever ye shall ask, it shall be given you.

"And our father Adam spake unto the Lord, and said: Why is it that men must repent and be baptized in water? And the Lord said unto Adam: Behold I have forgiven thee thy transgression in the Garden of Eden.

"Hence came the saying abroad among the people, That the Son of God hath atoned for original guilt, wherein the sins of the parents cannot be answered upon the heads of children, for they are whole from the foundation of the world.

"And the Lord spake unto Adam, saying: Inasmuch as thy children are conceived in sin, even so when they begin to grow up, sin conceiveth in their hearts, and they taste the bitter, that they may know to prize the good.

"And it is given unto them to know good from evil; wherefore they are agents unto themselves, and I have given unto you another law and commandment.

"Wherefore teach it unto your children, that all men, everywhere, must repent, or they can in no wise inherit the Kingdom of God, for no unclean thing can dwell there, or dwell in his presence; for, in the language of Adam, Man of Holiness is his name, and the name of his Only Begotten is the Son of Man, even Jesus Christ, a righteous Judge, who shall come in the meridian of time.

"Therefore I give unto you a commandment, to teach these things freely unto your children saying:

"That by reason of transgression cometh the fall, which fall bringeth death, and inasmuch as ye were born into the world by water, and blood, and the spirit, which I have made, and so became of dust a living soul, even so ye must be born again into the kingdom of heaven, of water, and of the Spirit, and be cleansed by blood, even the blood of mine Only Begotten; that ye might be sanctified from all sin, and enjoy the words of eternal life in this world, and eternal life in the world to come, even immortal glory;

"For by the water ye keep the commandment; by the Spirit ye are justified, and by the blood ye are sanctified;

"Therefore it is given to abide in you; the record of heaven; the Comforter; the peaceable things of immortal glory; the truth of all things; that which quickeneth all things, which maketh alive all things; that which knoweth all things, and hath all power, according to wisdom, mercy, truth, justice, and judgment.

"And now, behold, I say unto you: This is the plan of salvation unto all men, through the blood of mine Only Begotten, who shall come in the meridian of time.

"And behold, all things have their likeness, and all things are created and made to bear record of me, both things which are temporal, and things which are spiritual; things which are in the heavens above, and things which are on the earth, and things which are in the earth, and things which are under the earth, both above and beneath: all things bear record of me.

"And it came to pass, when the Lord had spoken with Adam, our father, that Adam cried unto the Lord, and he was caught away by the Spirit of the Lord, and was carried down into the water, and was laid under the water, and was brought forth out of the water.

"And thus he was baptized, and the Spirit of God descended upon him, and thus he was born of the Spirit, and became quickened in the inner man.

"And he heard a voice out of the heaven, saying: Thou art baptized with fire, and with the Holy Ghost. This is the record of the Father, and the Son, from henceforth and forever.

"And thou art after the order of him who was without beginning of days or end of years, from all eternity to all eternity.

"Behold, thou art one in me, a son of God; and thus may all become my sons. Amen."[A]

[Footnote A: Book of Moses (Pearl of Great Price), ch. vi:48-68.]

3. One Faith and One Baptism—But Two Ordinances: The foregoing scriptures at once establish the absolute necessity for both water and Spirit baptism—being really but two phases of one fact—one baptism, but both phases essential to the one fact, the one baptism.[A] Without this baptism of water and of Spirit, it is evident, first, one cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven; and of course, outside of the kingdom of heaven there can be no salvation, nor perfect happiness; second, its necessity appears from the very nature of things.

[Footnote A: Eph. iv:4-6. "One Lord, one faith, one baptism." "I further believe in the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands. . . . . You might as well baptize a bag of sand as a man, if not done in view of the remission of sins and getting of the Holy Ghost. Baptism by water is but half a baptism, and is good for nothing without the other half—that is, the baptism of the Holy Ghost." (Joseph Smith's Discourse at Nauvoo, July 9th, 1843, History of the Church, Vol. V, p. 499.)]

Through water baptism is obtained a remission of past sins; but even after the sins of the past are forgiven, the one so pardoned will doubtless feel the force of sinful habits bearing heavily upon him. He who has been guilty of habitual untruthfulness, will at times find himself inclined, perhaps, to yield to that habit. He who has stolen may be sorely tempted, when opportunity arises, to steal again. While he who has indulged in licentious practices may again find himself disposed to give way to the seductive influence of the siren. So with drunkenness, malice, envy, covetousness, hatred, anger, and in short, all the evil dispositions that flesh is heir to.

There is an absolute necessity for some additional sanctifying grace that will strengthen poor human nature, not only to enable it to resist temptation, but also to root out from the heart concupiscence—the blind tendency or inclination to evil. The heart must be purified, every passion, every propensity made submissive to the will, and the will of man brought into subjection to the will of God.

4. Insufficiency of Man's Strength—Need of God's Grace: Man's natural powers are unequal to this task; so, I believe, all will testify who have made the experiment. Mankind stand in some need of a strength superior to any strength they possess of themselves to accomplish this work of rendering pure our fallen nature. Such strength, such power, such a sanctifying grace is conferred on man in being born of the Spirit—in receiving the Holy Ghost. Such, among other things, is its office, its work.

I do not draw such a conclusion directly from any one passage of scripture, but from the whole tenor of the teachings of the servants of God, in both ancient and modern times.

We have seen that it is this spirit which reproves the world of sin, of righteousness, and judgment,[A] that guides into all truth, takes of the things of the Father and reveals them unto the children of men, and testifies that Jesus is the Christ. These things increase knowledge and faith; and as the foundations of knowledge and faith are broadened and deepened so are the powers to work righteousness increased.

[Footnote A: John xvi:8-11.]

We have seen also that the fruits of the Spirit are goodness, righteousness, truth, love, joy, peace, and gentleness;[A] and as these things are increased in the soul, viciousness and impurity are rooted out, until the whole man is changed and in very deed becomes a new creature in Christ Jesus—is numbered among the pure in heart, and "blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see and dwell with God."

[Footnote A: Gal. v:22.]

LESSON XIX.

(Scripture Reading Exercises continued.)

SPIRIT BAPTISM (Continued.)

ANALYSIS. | REFERENCES.
IV. Manner of Spirit Baptism: (a) In the Apostolic Church; (b) In the Church of Post Apostolic days; | The works and Scripture cited in the body of the lesson.
V. Spirit Baptism in the New Dispensation.
VI. Philosophy in the Manner of Spirit Baptism.

SPECIAL TEXT: "Now when the apostles which were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent unto them Peter and John: who, when they were come dozen, prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Ghost: (for as yet he was fallen upon none of them: only they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.) Then laid they their hands on them, and they received the Holy Ghost." (Acts viii:14-17.)

DISCUSSION.

1. The Manner of Spirit Baptism: The manner in which the saints under the teachings of the apostles received the baptism of the Holy Ghost was through the laying on of hands. In proof of this I call attention once more to the labors of Philip in the city of Samaria.

It is already known how he taught them the gospel, how they believed it and were baptized; then we are informed that "when the apostles which were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent unto them Peter and John: who, when they were come down, prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Ghost (for as yet he was fallen on none of them: only they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus). Then laid they their hands on them, and they received the Holy Ghost."[A]

[Footnote A: Acts viii:14-17.]

Previous to the labors of Philip among the Samaritans one Simon Magus, a magician, had given it out that he himself was some great one, and his influence among the people was considerable. But he, too, became converted to the teachings of Philip, and was astonished at the power which attended his administrations, for the sick were healed, the lame were cured, and unclean spirits were cast out of those who were possessed of them. Afterwards, when the apostles Peter and John, came and conferred the Holy Ghost upon those whom Philip had baptized, Simon was present:

"And when Simon saw that through laying on of the apostles' hands the Holy Ghost was given, he offered them money, saying, Give me also this power, that on whomsoever I lay hands, he may receive the Holy Ghost. But Peter said unto him, Thy money perish with thee, because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money."[A]

[Footnote A: Acts viii:18-20.]

Paul, it will be remembered, found a number of men at Ephesus who claimed to have been baptized unto John's baptism, but when Paul questioned them as to the Holy Ghost, they had not heard even that there was such a Spirit. So doubting the validity of their baptism he rebaptized them; after which, "when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them; and they spake with tongues, and prophesied."[A]

[Footnote A: Acts xix:1-6.]

The same apostle, also, in writing to Timothy, exhorts him to stir up the gift of God which was in him, and which he had received by putting on of his (Paul's) hands, alluding, no doubt, to the time that Paul bestowed the Holy Ghost upon him by the laying on of hands.[A]

[Footnote A: II Tim. i:6.]

That this practice of laying on hands for the bestowal or baptism of the Holy Ghost continued in the primitive Christian Church for a long time—at least for three centuries—is evident from the following testimony:

6. Testimony of the Early Church to the Manner of Spirit Baptism: Of the rites and ceremonies of the third century Mosheim says:

"The effect of baptism was supposed to be the remission of sins: And it was believed that the bishop, by the imposition of hands and by prayer conferred those gifts of the Holy Spirit which were necessary for living a holy life."

[Footnote A: Mosheim's Church History (Murdock), Vol. I, p. 189.]

In a note on the foregoing question, Murdock, the most accurate translator of Dr. Mosheim's great work on church history, says:

This may be placed beyond all controversy by many passages from the fathers of this century. And as it will conduce much to an understanding of the theology of the ancients, which differed in many respects from ours, I will adduce a single passage from Cyprian. It is in his epistle. No. 73, p. 131: "It is manifest where and by whom the remission of sin conferred in baptism is administered. They who are presented to the rulers of the church, obtain by our prayers and imposition of hands the Holy Ghost."[A]

[Footnote A: Mosheim's Church History, Vol. I, p. 189.]

In another passage Cyprian writes:

"Our practice is that those who have been baptized into the Church should be presented, that by prayer and imposition of hands they may receive the Holy Ghost."

While Augustine, in the fourth century, says:

"We still do what the apostles did when they laid their hands on the Samaritans and caled down the Holy Ghost upon them."[A]

[Footnote A: Laying on hands was employed in the Church for other purposes than imparting the Holy Ghost. It was the manner of administering to the sick, (Mark xvi:18; Acts xxviii:8); and also of conferring authority or priesthood on men. (See Acts vi:5, 6; viii: 17; xiii:3); but as we here are only dealing with the ordinance as it relates to a means of imparting the Holy Ghost, I do not stop to discuss the other purposes for which it was employed.]

In subsequent centuries, however, this part of the gospel was lost, or neglected by some of the sects of Christendom, and when announced among them today, it is not unfrequently regarded as a new doctrine.[A] Yet it is not. We have seen that it was a doctrine practiced by the apostles and their immediate successors. Indeed, it is named directly as one of the principles of the doctrine of Christ by Paul. The following is the passage:

[Footnote A: It is a mistake to suppose all Christendom to have neglected the practice of this ordinance. The Catholics teach that "Confirmation (by the laying on of hands) is a sacrament instituted by our Lord, by which the faithful, who have already been made children of God by baptism, receive the Holy Ghost by prayer, unction (or anointing with holy oil called chrism), and the laying on of the hands of a bishop, the successor of the apostles. It is thus they are enriched with gifts, graces and virtues, especially with the virtue of fortitude, and made perfect Christians and valiant soldiers of Jesus Christ to stand through life the whole warfare of the world, the flesh and the devil. The first recorded instance of confirmation being administered to the faithful is in the eighth chapter of the Acts of the Apostles, where St. Peter and St. John confirmed the Samaritans who had been already baptized by St. Philip. 'They prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Ghost. . . . Then laid they their hands on them and they received the Holy Ghost.'" (Catholic Belief, Bruno, pp. 97, 98). The Church of England, and, of course, the Episcopal churches in the colonies and the United States, teach practically the same thing.]

"Therefore not leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God, of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead and of eternal judgment."[A]

[Footnote A: Heb. vi:1, 2.]

And here it may be well to call attention to the fact, that it is written that "Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God."[A] And since a large part of the religious world has lost sight of this important doctrine of the laying on of hands for imparting the Holy Ghost, it is one evidence, among many others, that they have not God; for the absence of this part of the gospel proves that they have not continued in the doctrine of Christ.

[Footnote A: II John 9.]

7. The Manner of Spirit Baptism in the New Dispensation: In restoring the gospel to earth in the present dispensation, it seems, from the frequency with which it is mentioned, that particular prominence is given to this doctrine and ordinance through which the Holy Ghost is imparted. Out of the many passages in the Doctrine and Covenants relating to the subject I select the following:

In April, 1830, the same month and year in which the Church of Christ in this dispensation was organized, the Lord in explaining the office and calling of an apostle, said:

"An apostle is an elder, and it is his calling to baptize. * * * And to confirm those who are baptized into the Church, by the laying on of hands for the baptism of fire and the Holy Ghost, according to the scriptures."[A]

[Footnote A: Doc. and Cov., Sec. xx:38, 41.]

In a revelation to James Covill, given in January, 1831, calling him to obedience to the gospel and appointing him to be God's servant, even a minister for Jesus Christ, the Lord said:

"And this is my gospel: repentance and baptism by water, and then cometh the baptism of fire and the Holy Ghost, even the Comforter, which showeth all things, and teacheth the peaceable things of the kingdom."

After calling him to be his servant, the Lord said:

"And again, it shall come to pass, that on as many as ye shall baptize with water, ye shall lay your hands, and they shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost."[A]

[Footnote A: Doc. and Cov., Sec. xxxix:6, 23.]

Then in a revelation given to Sidney Rigdon, Parley P. Pratt and Lemon Copley, through Joseph the Prophet, on the occasion of these men being sent with the Gospel to the Shakers, the Lord said:

"Go among this people and say unto them, like unto mine apostle of old, whose name was Peter; believe on the name of the Lord Jesus. * * * repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, according to the holy commandment, for the remission of sins; and whoso doeth this shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, by the laying on of the hands of the elders of this Church."[A]

[Footnote A: Doc. and Cov., Sec. xlix:11-14.]

As this last is a general law, I do not consider it necessary to cite further passages, though the revelations of the Lord contained in the Doctrine and Covenants are replete with them. Sufficient has been said to show that the doctrine has been made prominent in this dispensation.

8. The Philosophy of Spirit Baptism by Laying on of Hands: To my mind this ordinance is the most philosophical of any in the gospel. On one occasion as Jesus passed through a throng of people, a woman who had been troubled with an issue of blood for twelve years, and had spent all her living upon physicians, but received no benefit from them, came up behind him, saying in her heart, if I can but touch the hem of his garment I shall be healed. And it was so, even according to her faith; for pressing through the crowd she laid hold of his garment and was immediately made whole. "And Jesus said, who touched me?" When all denied, Peter and they that were with him said, "Master, the multitude throng thee and press thee, and sayest thou, Who touched me?" And Jesus said, "Somebody hath touched me; for I perceive that virtue is gone out of me."[A]

[Footnote A: Luke viii:43, 46.]

Now, what had happened? And why the expression—"Somebody hath touched me; for I perceive that virtue is gone out of me?" My answer would be that the person of Jesus, aye, and also the very garments he wore, were so charged with that divine influence—the holy Spirit, that when the woman with the issue of blood touched him, so much of that Spirit left him to heal her that it was perceptible to him, and he exclaimed, "Virtue is gone out of me."

So, when a servant of God, who has the companionship of the Holy Ghost, is filled with that Spirit, and possesses authority to act in the name of Jesus Christ, lays his hands upon one who has prepared himself through faith, repentance, and baptism, the Holy Spirit is conferred by the one who administers to him upon whom he lays his hands, and he is baptized of it. These are the laws by which the Holy Ghost is received; these are the conditions that must exist, in order that man may walk within the circle of his influence, and in the full and free enjoyment of his companionship. The transmission of the influence of the Holy Ghost from one person to another by an observance of the principles and ordinances of the Gospel we have now considered, is as natural and philosophical in the spiritual things of the universe, as it is for electricity or steam to perform the wonders which these forces are now made to enact in the commercial and mechanical worlds, when the laws upon which the manipulation of them depend are complied with; but which they will not perform unless the conditions by which their power is made available are complied with.

As stated by Elder Parley P. Pratt—whose language, however I slightly modify—to impart a portion of the influence of the Holy Spirit by the touch or by the laying on of hands; or to impart a portion of the element of life from one animal body to another by an authorized agent who acts in the name of God, and who is filled therewith, is as much in accordance with the laws of nature as for water to seek its own level; air its equilibrium; or heat and electricity their own mediums of conveyance. . . . An agent possessed of this heavenly influence cannot impart of the same to another, unless that other is qualified, washed, cleansed from all his impurities of heart, affections, habits or practices by the blood of the atonement, which is generally applied in connection with the baptism of remission. A man who continues in his sins, and who has no living faith in the Son of God, cannot receive the gift of the Holy Spirit through the ministration of any agent, however holy he may be. The impure spirit of such a one will repulse the pure influence, upon the natural laws of sympathetic affinity, or of attraction and repulsion.[A]

[Footnote A: Key to Theology, pp. 96, 97, 98.]

In other words, the Spirit of God will not dwell in unholy temples, hence sincere repentance and baptism for the remission of sins go before the baptism of the Spirit, that men may be cleansed from their sins, justified before God, and their bodies, by these means, made fit dwelling places for the Holy Ghost—the living temples of God.

CHAPTER XX.

(Scripture Reading Exercise.)

"LIFE FROM LIFE"—SPIRITUAL LIFE FROM SPIRIT.

ANALYSIS | REFERENCES
I. The Gospel Regarded as the Power of God. | Natural Law in the Spiritual World, Henry Drummond; and the Scripture passages cited in the body of the lesson.
II. Spiritual Life from Spiritual Life--"Ye Must Be Born Again."
III. Parallel between the Organic and Inorganic Worlds.
IV. Parallel between the Spiritual and Natural Worlds.
V. The Difference Between the Spiritual and the Natural Man.

SPECIAL TEXT: "But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned." (I Cor. ii:14.)

DISCUSSION.

1. The Gospel the Power of God Unto Salvation: We have now reached the place in the development of our theme where it takes on a strong personal interest. The gospel is the "power of God unto salvation."[A] It is so for us—for all men. "Ye must be born again; * * * except a man be born of water and of the Spirit he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God."[B] Is this new birth possible to all? We must needs think so if the Gospel is available to all; and that is a fact so patent to both justice and revelation that it requires no discussion. "God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth on him should not perish but have everlasting life." This alone sufficiently proclaims the universal right of men to the hopes and to the saving powers of the Gospel. "Ye must be born again!" "Born of the water and of the Spirit." Then with that new birth will there come new life? And what will that life be? "That which is born of the flesh, is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit, is Spirit,"[C] said the Christ. Spirit birth then is the aim of the Christian baptism—baptism of water and of the Spirit being the two parts of the one thing, the first being preparatory for and leading up to the second, its complement. And with this there draws tremendous consequences.

[Footnote A: Rom. i:16.]

[Footnote B: St. John iii:5.]

[Footnote C: St. John iii:6.]

2. Spiritual Biogenesis: Spirit Life from Spirit Life: Henry Drummond in his "Natural Law in the Spiritual World" has a chapter entitled "Biogenesis"—meaning thereby that life comes from life, and he holds that life can come in no other way than from life, and contravenes the theory that life comes of spontaneous generation. "So far as science can settle anything," he observes, "this question is settled. The attempt to get the living out of the dead has failed. Spontaneous generation has had to be given up. And it is now recognized on every hand that Life can only come from the touch of Life. Huxley categorically announces that the doctrines of Biogenesis, or life only from life, is "victorious along the whole line at the present day."[A] And even whilst confessing that he wishes the evidence were the other way, Tyndall is compelled to say, "I affirm that no shred of trustworthy experimental testimony exists to prove that life i our day has ever appeared independently of antecedent life."[B]

[Footnote A: "Critiques and Addresses." T. H. Huxley, F. R. S., p. 239.]

[Footnote B: Nineteenth Century Review, 1878, p. 507.]

Our author parallels this fact of "life from life" in the spiritual world, and holds it to be as rigidly true in the one world as in the other. "The Spiritual Life," he holds to be "the gift of the Living Spirit."

The theory opposed to this is "that a man may become gradually better and better until in the course of the process he reaches that quality of religious nature known as 'Spiritual Life.' This Life is not something added as extra to the natural man; it is the normal and appropriate development of the natural man." This theory parallels the theory of spontaneous generation in natural life. To this Drummond opposes "Biogenesis"—the law of life from life in the spiritual world. "The spiritual man is no mere development of the natural man. He is a New Creation born from above. As well expect a hay infusion to become gradually more and more living until in course of the process it reached vitality, as expect a man by becoming better and better to attain the Eternal Life."

Our author then draws a strong parallel between the natural and spiritual kingdoms on this subject of biogenesis—"life from life."

3. The Law of Biogenesis in the Natural World: "Let us first place vividly in our imagination the picture of the two great kingdoms of nature, the inorganic and organic, as these now stand in the light of the Law of Biogenesis. What essentially is involved in saying that there is no Spontaneous Generation of Life? It is meant that the passage from the mineral world to the plant or animal world is hermetically sealed on the mineral side. This inorganic world is staked off from the living world by barriers which have never yet been crossed from within. No change of substance, no modification of environment, no chemistry, no electricity, nor any form of energy, nor any evolution can endow any single atom of the mineral world with the attribute of Life. Only by the bending down into this dead world of some living form can these dead atoms be gifted with the properties of vitality, without this preliminary contact with Life they remain fixed in the inorganic sphere for ever. It is a very mysterious Law which guards in this way the portals of the living world. And if there is one thing in Nature more worth pondering for its strangeness it is the spectacle of this vast helpless world of the dead cut off from the living by the Law of Biogenesis and denied for ever the possibility of resurrection within itself. So very strange a thing, indeed, is this broad line in Nature that Science has long and urgently sought to obliterate it. Biogenesis stands in the way of some forms of Evolution with such stern persistency that the assaults upon this Law for number and thoroughness have been unparalleled. But, as we have seen, it has stood the test. Nature, to the modern eye, stands broken in two. The physical Laws may explain the inorganic world: the biological Laws may account for the development of the organic. But of the point where they meet, of that strange borderland between the dead and the living. Science is silent. It is as if God had placed everything in earth and heaven in the hands of Nature, but reserved a point at the genesis of Life for His direct appearing.

"The power of the analogy, for which we are laying the foundations, to seize and impress the mind, will largely depend on the vividness with which one realizes the gulf which Nature places between the living and the dead. But those who, in contemplating Nature, have found their attention arrested by this extraordinary dividing-line severing the visible universe eternally into two: those who in watching the progress of science have seen barrier after barrier disappear—barrier between plant and plant, between animal and animal, and even between animal and plant—but this gulf yawning more hopelessly wide with every advance of knowledge, will be prepared to attach a significance to the Law of Biogenesis and its analogies more profound perhaps than to any other fact or law in Nature. If, as Pascal says, Nature is an image of grace; if the things that are seen are in any sense the images of the unseen, there must lie in this great gulf fixed, this most unique and startling of all natural phenomena, a meaning of peculiar moment."

4. The Law of Biogenesis in the Spiritual World: "Where now in the Spiritual spheres shall we meet a companion phenomenon to this? What in the Unseen shall be likened to this deep dividing-line, or where in human experience is another barrier which never can be crossed?

"There is such a barrier. In the dim but not inadequate vision of the Spiritual World presented in the Word of God, the first thing that strikes the eye is a great gulf fixed. The passage from the Natural World to the Spiritual World is hermetically sealed on the natural side. The door from the inorganic to the organic is shut, no mineral can open it; so the door from the natural to the spiritual is shut, and no man can open it. This world of natural men is staked off from the Spiritual World by barriers which have never yet been crossed from within. No organic change, no modification of environment, no mental energy, no moral effort, no evolution of character, no progress of civilization can endow any single human soul with the attribute of spiritual life. The spiritual world is guarded from the world next in order beneath it by a law of Biogenesis—except a man be born again * * * except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter the Kingdom of God.

"It is not said, in this enunciation of the Law, that if the condition be not fulfilled the natural man will not enter the Kingdom of God. The word is cannot. For the exclusion of the spiritually inorganic from the kingdom of the spiritually organic is not arbitrary. Nor is the natural man refused admission on unexplained grounds. His admission is a scientific impossibility. Except a mineral be born "from above"—from the kingdom just above it—it cannot enter the kingdom just above it And except a man be born "from above," by the same law, he cannot enter the kingdom just above him. There being no passage from one kingdom to another, whether from inorganic to organic, or from organic [natural] to spiritual, the intervention of Life is a scientific necessity if a stone or a plant or an animal or a man is to pass from a lower to a higher sphere. The plant stretches down to the dead world beneath it, touches its minerals and gases with its mystery of life, and brings them up ennobled and transformed to the living sphere. The breath of God, blowing where it listeth, touches with its mystery of Life the dead souls of men, bears them across the bridgeless gulf between the natural and the spiritual, between the spiritually inorganic and the spiritually organic, endows them with its own high qualities, and develops within them these new and secret faculties, by which those who are born again are said to see the Kingdom of God.

5. Distinction Between the Natural and the Spiritual Man: "Our author next proceeds with the application of his principle by drawing the distinction between the Christian and the non-Christian man—between one "born of the Spirit," and one not "born of the Spirit."

"What now, let us ask specifically, distinguishes a Christian man from a non-Christian man? Is it that he has certain mental characteristics not possessed by the other? Is it that certain faculties have been trained in him, that morality assumes special and higher manifestations, and character a nobler form? Is the Christian merely an ordinary man who happens from birth to have been surrounded with a peculiar set of ideas? Is his religion merely that peculiar quality of the moral life defined by Mr. Matthew Arnold as "morality touched by emotion?" And does the possession of a high ideal, benevolent sympathies, a reverent spirit, and a favorable environment account for what men call his Spiritual Life?

"The distinction between them is the same as that between the organic and the inorganic, the living and the dead. What is the difference between a crystal and an organism, a stone and a plant. They have much in common. Both are made of the same atoms. Both display the same properties of matter. Both are subject to the physical laws. Both may be very beautiful. But besides possessing all that the crystal has, the plant possesses something more—a mysterious something called life. This life is not something which existed in the crystal only in a less developed form. There is nothing at all like it in the crystal. There is nothing like the first beginning of it in the crystal, not a trace or symptom of it. This plant is tenanted by something new, an original and unique possession added over and above all the properties common to both. When from vegetable life we rise to animal life, here again we find something original and unique—unique at least as compared with the mineral. From animal life we ascend again to spiritual life. And here also is something new, something still more unique. He who lives the spiritual life has a distinct kind of life added to all the other phases of life which he manifests—a kind of life infinitely more distinct than is the active life of a plant from the inertia of a stone. The spiritual man is more distinct in point of fact than is the plant from the stone. This is the one possible comparison in nature, for it is the widest distinction in nature; but compared with the difference between the natural and the spiritual the gulf which divides the organic from the inorganic is a hair's breadth. The natural man belongs essentially to this present order of things. He is endowed simply with a high quality of the natural animal life. But it is life of so poor a quality that it is not life at all. He that hath not the Son hath not life; but he that hath the Son hath life—a new and distinct and supernatural endowment. He is not of this world. He is of the timeless state, of eternity. It doth not yet appear what he shall be.

"The difference then between the spiritual man and the natural man is not a difference of development, but of generation. It is a distinction of quality, not of quantity. A man cannot rise by any natural development from "morality touched by emotion," to "morality touched by life." Were we to construct a scientific classification, science would compel us to arrange all natural men, moral or immoral, educated or vulgar, as one family. One might be high in the family group, another low; yet, practically, they are marked by the same set of characteristics—they eat, sleep, work, think, live, die. But the spiritual man is removed from this family so utterly by the possession of an additional characteristic that a biologist, fully informed of the whole circumstances, would not hesitate a moment to classify him elsewhere. And if he really entered into these circumstances it would not be in another family but in another kingdom. It is an old fashioned theology which divides the world in this way—which speaks of men as Living and Dead, lost and saved—a stern theology all but fallen into disuse. This difference between the living and the dead in souls is so unproved by casual observation, so impalpable in itself, so startling as a doctrine, that schools of culture have ridiculed or denied the grim distinction. Nevertheless the grim distinction must be retained. It is a scientific distinction. "He that hath not the Son hath not Life."[A]

[Footnote A: He that has not spiritually been born is not spiritually alive.]

"Now it is this great law which finally distinguishes Christianity from all other religions. It places the religion of Christ upon a footing altogether unique. There is no analogy between the Christian religion and, say, Buddhism or the Mohammedan religion. There is no true sense in which a man can say. He that hath Buddha hath life. Buddha has nothing to do with life. He may have something to do with morality. He may stimulate, impress, teach, guide, but there is no distinct new thing added to the souls of those who profess Buddhism. These religions may be developments of the natural, mental, or moral man. But Christianity professes to be more. It is the mental or moral man plus something else or some One else. It is the infusion into the spiritual man of a new life, of a quality unlike anything else in nature. This constitutes the separate Kingdom of Christ, and gives to Christianity alone of all the religions of mankind the strange mark of divinity.

CHAPTER XXI.

(Scripture Reading Exercise.)

"LIFE FROM LIFE"—SPIRITUAL LIFE FROM SPIRIT (Continued).

ANALYSIS. | REFERENCES.
VI. Fundamental Elements in the Spiritual Man that are Absent in the Natural Man. | The works and Scripture cited in the body of this lesson.
VII. Terms Used to Express Elements in Spiritual Man.
VIII. Process of Regeneration in the Individual Man.
IX. Insignificance of the Time Element.

SPECIAL TEXT: "Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall he: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is." (I John iii:2, 3.)

DISCUSSION.

1. The Spiritual Man Contrasted with the Natural: If it shall be asked what it is that constitutes the difference between the natural man and the spiritual man, the answer, though necessarily brief, can take on various forms; but in the last analysis it will be found to consist in one thing: One has been "born again"—"born of the Spirit;" the other has not. One has received the Holy Ghost; the other has not.

One has the power to "know that Jesus is the Christ," the other has no such power.[A]

[Footnote A: "No man can say that Jesus is the Lord but by the Holy Ghost." I Cor. xii:3.]

The body of one is the temple of the Holy Ghost, which is in him, which he has of God, and he is God's, in body and in Spirit;[A] the other is in no such relationship to God.

[Footnote A: I Cor. vi:19, 20.]

One through aceptance of the atonement of the Christ has "access by one Spirit unto the Father,"[A] the other has not.

[Footnote A: Ephesians ii:18, and context.]

One is "strengthened with might by his [God's] spirit in the inner man,"[A] the other is not.

[Footnote A: Ibid iii:16.]

One has received the sanctification of the spirit and belief of the truth;[A] the other has not.

[Footnote A: II Thess. ii:13.]

One knows that he dwells in God and God in him, because God hath given him of his Spirit;[A] the other has no such witness.

[Footnote A: I John iv:13.]

One is under "the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus," is made "free from the law of sin and death;" the other is not; "for they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh, but they that are after the Spirit, the things of the Spirit; for to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace."

Paul runs the parallel between the spiritual man and the carnal or natural man much further and beautifully: "The carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you. Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together."[A]

[Footnote A: Romans viii:1-17.]

2. The Terms Used to Express the Contrast: I have chosen to put the distinction between the natural man and the spiritual man—the man unbaptized of the Spirit and the one born of the Spirit—in terms that include direct reference to the Holy Ghost. It may be put into terms that refer directly to the Christ, such, for example, as "know ye not your own selves how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?" This said to those who had received the Gospel.[A] "Your bodies are members of Christ."[B] "At that day ye shall know that I am in the Father, and ye in me, and I in you."[C] "I am the vine, ye are the branches."[D] "I am crucified with Christ nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me."[E]

[Footnote A: II Cor. xii:5.]

[Footnote B: I Cor. vi:15.]

[Footnote C: St. John xiv:10.]

[Footnote D: St. John xv:4.]

[Footnote E: Gal. ii:20.]

All which, however, amounts to the same thing; viz.,—those born of the spirit live in God, and God in them. They have received something that the spiritually unborn have not received; and though they may carry that precious thing in earthen vessels, yet is it there. There has come down into such spirit-baptized men a spirit-life which has touched their souls, and left there a spirit life that is deathless, and will grow until it conforms the man receiving it to its own image, and likeness, and quality, unless sinned against to the point of blasphemy. Of which more later.

3. The Process of Regeneration: "What can be gathered on the surface as to the process of regeneration in the individual soul," asks Henry Drummond. "From the analogies of biology," he continues, "we should expect three things: First, that the new life should dawn suddenly; second, that it should come "without observation;" third, that it should develop gradually. On two of these points there can be little controversy. The gradualness of growth is a characteristic which strikes the simplest observer. Long before the word Evolution was coined Christ applied it in this very connection—"First the blade, then the ear, then the full corn in the ear." It is well known also to those who study the parables of nature that there is an ascending scale of slowness as we rise in the scale of life. Growth is most gradual in the highest forms. Man attains his maturity after a score of years; the monad completes its humble cycle in a day. What wonder if development be tardy in the Creature of Eternity? A Christian's sun has sometimes set, and a critical world has seen as yet no corn in the ear. As yet? "As yet," in this long life, has not begun. Grant him the years proportionate to his place in the scale of life. 'The time of harvest is not yet!'"

"Again, in addition to being slow, the phenomena of growth are secret. Life is invisible. When the New Life manifests itself it is a surprise. Thou canst not tell whence it cometh or whither it goeth. When the plant lives whence has the life come? When it dies whither has it gone? Thou canst not tell; * * * so is every one that is born of the Spirit.

"Yet once more—and this is a point of strange and frivolous dispute —this life comes suddenly. This is the only way in which life can come. Life cannot come gradually—health can, structure can, but not life. A new theology has laughed at the doctrine of conversion. Sudden conversion especially has been ridiculed as untrue to philosophy and impossible to human nature. We may not be concerned in buttressing any theology because it is old. But we find that this old theology is scientific. There may be cases—they are probably in the majority—where the moment of contact with the living spirit, though sudden, has been obscure. But the real moment and the conscious moment are two different things. Science pronounces nothing as to the conscious moment. If it did it would probably say that that was seldom the real moment—just as in the natural life the conscious moment is not the real moment. The moment of birth in the natural world is not a conscious moment—we do not know we are born till long afterward. Yet there are men to whom the origin of the new life in time has been no difficulty. To Paul, for instance, Christ seems to have come at a definite period of time, the exact moment and second of which could have been known. And this is certainly, in theory at least, the normal origin of life, according to the principles of biology. The line between the living and the dead is a sharp line. When the dead atoms of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, are seized upon by life, the organism at first is very lowly. It possesses few functions. It has little beauty. Growth is the work of time. But life is not. That comes in a moment. At one moment it was dead; the next it lived. This is conversion, the "passing," as the Bible calls it, "from death unto life." Those who have stood by another's side at the solemn hour of this dread possession have been conscious sometimes of an experience which words are not allowed to utter—a something like the sudden snapping of a chain, the waking from a dream."[A] And as it is in death, so it is in life—life comes suddenly; as at the last moment it departs suddenly.

[Footnote A: "Natural Law in the Spiritual World," pp. 91-94.]

4. Conformity to Type: The Spiritual life of God once established in man—what then? What is to come of it? "Beloved," said one of old, "now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. And every man who has this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure."[A] "But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord."[B] "And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God. * * * For whom he did fore know, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his son." All which means that man receiving into his soul spirit-life from God, that spirit-life will conform and transform the man receiving it to itself, until man is brought into perfect union with God.[C] If it were expressed in terms of biology one would say that the spirit life imparted to man would conform to its type, making man's spirit conform to God's spirit, to the type of the Christ.

[Footnote A: I John iii:2, 3.]

[Footnote B: II Cor. iii:18.]

[Footnote C: On this head the Prophet of the New Dispensation of the Gospel, Joseph Smith, has a fine passage: "If you wish to go where God is, you must be like God, or possess the principles which God possesses, for it we are not drawing towards God in principle, we are going from Him, and drawing towards the devil. . . . A man is saved no faster than he gets knowledge, for if he does not get knowledge, he will be brought into captivity by some evil power in the other world, as evil spirits will have more knowledge, and consequently more power than many men who are on the earth. Hence it needs revelation to assist us, and give us knowledge of the things of God." (Minutes of April Conference, 1842. History of the Church, Vol. IV, p. 588.)]

5. The Analogy in Natural Life: Speaking of this analogy between the natural and spiritual worlds, in the matter of different kinds of life conforming to the type, Mr. Drummond says: (But before quoting let me call attention to what I have before said of using a variant phraseology on the part of Christian writers whose ideas, in part at least, we can accept, and the phraseology we of the new dispensation would use. I have said in subdivision 2 of this Lesson, that the idea of being born of the spirit may be put in various terms, in terms that have direct reference to the Holy Ghost, or terms may be used that refer to the Christ, or the Christ-life, it is in this last form that Mr. Drummond expresses the idea of the spirit-life in man):

"What goes on then in the animal kingdom is this—the bird-life seizes upon the bird-germ and builds it up into a bird, the image of itself. The reptile-life seizes upon another germinal speck, assimilates surrounding matter, and fashions it into a reptile. The reptile-life thus simply makes an incarnation of itself. The visible bird is simply an incarnation of the invisible bird-life.

"Now we are nearing the point where the spiritual analogy appears. It is a very wonderful analogy, so wonderful that one almost hesitates to put it into words. Yet Nature is reverent; and it is her voice to which we listen. These lower phenomena of life, she says, are but an allegory. There is another kind of life of which science as yet has taken little cognizance. It obeys the same laws. It builds up an organism into its own form. It is the Christ-life. As the bird-life builds up a bird, the image of itself, so the Christ-Life builds up a Christ, the image of Himself, in the inward nature of man. When a man becomes a Christian the natural process is this: The living Christ enters into his soul. Development begins. The quickening life seizes upon the soul, assimilates surrounding elements, and begins to fashion it. According to the great law of conformity to type this fashioning takes a specific form. It is that of the Artist who fashions. And all through life this wonderful, mystical, glorious, yet perfectly definite process, goes on "until Christ be formed" in it.

"The Christian life is not a vague effort after righteousness—an ill-defined pointless struggle for an ill-defined pointless end. Religion is no disheveled mass of aspiration, prayer, and faith. There is no more mystery in Religion as to its processes than in Biology. There is much mystery in Biology. We know all but nothing of life yet, nothing of development. There is the same mystery in the spiritual life. But the great lines are the same, as decided, as luminous; and the laws of natural and spiritual are the same as unerring, as simple. Will everything else in the natural world unfold its order, and yield to science more and more a vision of harmony, and religion, which should complement and perfect all, remain a chaos? From the standpoint of revelation no truth is more obscure than conformity to type. If science can furnish a companion phenomenon from an every-day process of the natural life, it may at least throw this most mystical doctrine of Christianity into thinkable form. Is there any fallacy in speaking of the embryology of the new life? Is the analogy invalid? Are there not vital processes in the spiritual as well as in the natural world? The bird being an incarnation of the bird-life, may not the Christian be a spiritual incarnation of the Christ-life? And is there not a real justification in the processes of the new birth for such a parallel?

"Let us appeal to the record of these processes.

"In what terms does the New Testament describe them? The answer is sufficiently striking. It uses everywhere the language of biology. It is impossible that the New Testament writers should have been familiar with these biological facts. It is impossible that their views of this great truth should have been as clear as science can make them now. But they had no alternative. There was no other way of expressing this truth. It was a biological question. So they struck out unhesitatingly into the new field of words, and, with an originality which commands both reverence and surprise, stated their truth with such light, or darkness, as they had. They did not mean to be scientific, only to be accurate, and their fearless accuracy has made them scientific.

"What could be more original, for instance, than the Apostle's reiteration that the Christian was a new creature, a new man, a babe? Or that this new man was "begotten of God," God's workmanship? And what could be a more accurate expression of the law of conformity to type than this: 'Put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of Him that created him?' Or this, 'we are changed into the same image from glory to glory?' And elsewhere we are expressly told by the same writer that this conformity is the end and goal of the Christian life. To work this type in us is the whole purpose of God for man. 'Whom He did foreknow He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son.'"[A]

[Footnote A: "Natural Law in the Spiritual World," pp. 293-6.]

6. The End of the Matter—We Shall Be Like Him—Conformed to the Divine Image: That is the end then, for the spiritually born man—he will be conformed into the image of God—conformed to the type of the Spirit-life that has taken up his abode in him. How long shall it take? Who knows? And what shall it matter? The important thing is that it shall be done. The important thing for us men is that the spirit-birth takes place; that union with God be formed; the ages may wait upon the growth, and full fruitage of that event. It may take aeons of time to make a man, longer to make Super-man; but the eternal years are his who is born of the Spirit; and again I say the important thing for us men is to have that Spirit-birth, and then are we sons of God; and while it doth hot appear what we shall be, for the height and glory of that is beyond our human vision, ultimately we shall be like him, and see him as he is, and be conformed to the Christ image, that is to say, to the Divine nature—unless one shall sin against the Holy Ghost.

LESSON XXII.

(Scripture Reading Exercise.)

THE SIN AGAINST THE HOLY GHOST.

ANALYSIS. | REFERENCES.
I. Possibility and Enormity of the Sin. | The works and Scriptures cited in the body of the lesson.
II. The Word of the Christ on the Sin—"Hath Never Forgiveness."
III. "The Sin unto Death"—St. John.
IV. Nature of the Offense—Sin Against Truth and Light—St. Paul.
V. All Sin Dangerous Since it Leads Towards Spiritual Death.
VI. The Punishment and the Sin—High Treason Against God—Spirit-Murder.

SPECIAL TEXT: "It is impossible for those who were once enlightened, * * * if they shall fall away, to renew them again to repentance." (Hebrews v:4, 6.)

DISCUSSION.

1. Possibility and Enormity of the Sin: It is possible to so sin against the Holy Ghost as to forfeit the spiritual life which his presence in the human soul gives, and that conformation to the Divine type which his effectual working would otherwise bring to pass. That being true, the sin against the Holy Ghost must be the most appalling act that can enter into human experience. Perhaps the most heinous crime known to human law is the crime of murder, wherein innocent blood is shed. But that sin which effectually kills spirit-life, which has for its victim not a human being but a divine being—that overtops in atrocity any possible physical murder. In this concluding chapter of our treatise let us contemplate this awful sin—this master crime. And first let us be sure from the word of God that there is such a sin.

2. The Teaching of the Christ Upon the Subject: According to St. Matthew Jesus said:

"Wherefore I say unto you, all manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men. And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world neither in the world to come."[A]

[Footnote A: St. Matt, xii:31, 32.]

St. Mark puts it in this form: "Verily I say unto you, all sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men, and blasphemies wherewith soever they shall blaspheme: but he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation."[A] St. Luke's version is—"Whosoever shall speak a word against the Son of man it shall be forgiven him: but unto him that blasphemeth against the Holy Ghost it shall not be forgiven."[B]

[Footnote A: St. Mark iii:28, 29.]

[Footnote B: St. Luke xii:10.]

3. St. John on the Sin Unto Death: This represents practical unanimity in the testimony of these three evangelists upon the subject. And although St. John has nothing directly upon the subject in his Gospel, yet in his epistle he has a passage which brings him into harmony with the others upon the subject: "If a man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto death, he shall ask, and he shall give life for them that sin not unto death. There is a sin unto death:[A] I do not say that he shall pray for that. All unrighteousness is sin [transgression of the law, ch. iii:4] and there is a sin not unto death;"[B] but also, as above stated, there is a sin unto death.

[Footnote A: That is, doubtless, a sin which kills the spiritual life in man; that breaks this union with God—the sin against the Holy Ghost which men have of God, and they become spiritually dead—and it is impossible to revive them to life again. (See Heb. vi:6.)]

[Footnote B: John v:16, 17.]

4. Nature of the Sin—St. Paul: Paul in his exposition of this doctrine, throws some light on the nature of this sin: "Let us go on unto perfection," is the Apostle's admonition. "Not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God, of the doctrine of baptism and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead and eternal judgment. And this will we do if God permit. For," glancing back upon some whe had received these fundamental principles and ordinances, sinned against them and would fain be repeating them—"it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, and have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, if they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame. For the earth which drinketh in the rain that cometh oft upon it, and bringeth forth herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed, receive the blessing from God: but that which beareth thorns and briers is rejected, and is nigh unto cursing; whose end is to be burned."[A]

[Footnote A: Hebrews vi:1-8.]

From this it appears that the sin against the Holy Ghost is sin against that enlightenment to the human soul which possession of the Holy Ghost brings. Sin against knowledge of truth which knowledge was produced in the very soul of man by witness of the Holy Ghost—is a sin against light and truth. And "if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sin, but a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries. He that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses; of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace? For we know him that hath said, vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense, saith the Lord. And again, the Lord shall judge his people. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God."[A]

[Footnote A: Heb. x:26, 31.]

5. The Path of Danger: The "wilful sin" here condemned is, of course, the "sin unto death," not every sin that one might commit, though every sin that man commits, small as well as great, is along the path of danger, and in the direction of, and may lead to, the sin unto death. The path of safety from the sin unto death lies in the other direction; not in the way of sinful dalliance, but in a stern battle for righteousness and against sin. Headed that way, there is no danger of the "sin unto death;" but every transgression of the law of righteousness—which is sin[A]—though not a sin unto death, leads towards the death of the spirit life planted in the soul by the Holy Ghost—hence to be avoided, shunned. Man must not, even as God does not, look upon sin with the least degree of allowance in himself, always it must be abhorred and resisted. In that course and in that course alone lies safety.

[Footnote A: I John iii:4.]

6. Joseph Smith on the Sin Against the Holy Ghost: The Prophet Joseph in a discourse at the General Conference of the Church, held at Nauvoo in 1844, upon this subject of sinning against the Holy Ghost, said:

"What has Jesus said? All sins, and all blasphemies, and every transgression, except one, that man can be guilty of, may be forgiven; and there is a salvation for all men, either in this world or the world to come, who have not committed the unpardonable sin, there being a provision either in this world or the world of spirits. Hence God hath made a provision that every spirit in the eternal world can be ferreted out and saved unless he has committed that unpardonable sin which cannot be remitted to him either in this world or the world of spirits. * * * I said, no man can commit the unpardonable sin after the dissolution of the body, nor in this life, until he receives the Holy Ghost; but they must do it in this world. * * * All sins shall be forgiven, except the sin against the Holy Ghost; for Jesus will save all except the sons of perdition. What must a man do to commit the unpardonable sin? He must receive the Holy Ghost, have the heavens opened unto him, and know God, and then sin against him. After a man has sinned against the Holy Ghost, there is no repentance for him. He has got to say that the sun does not shine while he sees it; he has got to deny Jesus Christ when the heavens have been opened unto him, and to deny the plan of salvation with his eyes open to the truth of it; and from that time he begins to be an enemy. This is the case with many apostates of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints."[A]

[Footnote A: Improvement Era, Vol. XII, 1909, pp. 185-7.]

7. The Punishment and the Sin: This is in strict harmony with one of the revelations of the New Dispensation, portraying the future estates of man in the varying degrees of glory in the Kingdom of God. Elsewhere[A] I have presented the following digest:[B]

[Footnote A: Outlines of Ecclesiastical History, pp. 419-421, 3rd edition.]

[Footnote B: The Revelation is in Doc. and Cov., Sec. lxxvi:25-49.]

There is a class of souls with whom the justice of God must deal, which will not and cannot be classified in the celestial, terrestrial, or telestial glories. They are the sons of perdition. But though they will not be assigned a place in either of these grand divisions of glory, the revelation from which we draw our information respecting man's future state, describes the condition of these sons of perdition so far as it is made known unto the children of men. It also informs us as to the nature of the crime which calls for such grievous punishment.

The sons of perdition are they of whom God hath said that it had been better for them never to have been born; for they are vessels of wrath, doomed to suffer the wrath of God, with the devil and his angels in eternity. Concerning whom he hath said there is no forgiveness in this world nor in the world to come. These are they who shall go away into everlasting punishment, with the devil and his angels, and the only ones on whom the second death shall have any power; the only ones who will not be redeemed in the due time of the Lord, after the sufferings of his wrath. He saves all the works of his hands except these sons of perdition; but they go away to reign with the devil and his angels in eternity, where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched, which is their torment. The end thereof, the place thereof no man knoweth. It has not been revealed, nor will it be revealed unto man, except to them who are made partakers thereof. It has been partially shown to some in vision, and may be shown again in the same partial manner to others; but the end, the height, the depth, and the misery thereof, they understand not, nor will anyone but those who receive the terrible condemnation.

Such the punishment, now as to the crime that merits it. It is the crime of high treason to God, which pulls down on men this fearful doom. It falls upon men who know the power of God and who have been made partakers of it, and then permit themselves to be so far overcome of the devil that they deny the truth that has been revealed to them and defy the power of God. They deny the Holy Ghost after having received him. They deny the Only Begotten Son of the Father after the Father hath revealed him, and in this crucify him unto themselves anew, and put him to an open shame. They commit the same act of high treason that Lucifer in the rebellion of heaven did, and hence are worthy of the same punishment with him.

They have crucified not the body of the Lord Jesus, but a spirit which united with man's spirit which unhindered in its work, would have conformed man to the Divine image—now, after the sin against the Holy Ghost, impossible. Spirit murder has been committed—a divinity slain and the guilty one hath no forgiveness. Thank God the number who commit that fearful crime is but few. It is only those who attain to a very great knowledge of the things of God that are capable of committing it, and the number among such are few indeed who become so recklessly wicked as to rebel against and defy the power of God. But when such characters do fall, they fall like Lucifer, never to rise again; they get beyond the power of repentance or the hope of forgiveness.

APPENDIX.

The next two Lessons I place under the head of "Appendix," because they open up anew many things treated in the body of the work; and which I would not again refer to only because of the associations given to them in the discourses of the great Apostle of the Gentiles, and the greater Apostle of the New Dispensation. I throw the "Appendix" into the form of lessons, in the hope that the topics of the respective discourses will be all the more emphasized and appreciated.

LESSON XXIII.

(Scripture Reading Exercise.)

PAUL, THE APOSTLE, ON SPIRITUAL GIFTS IN THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.

ANALYSIS | REFERENCES.
I. Unity of Spirit, but Diversity of Gifts. | These three chapters in Paul's First Epistle to the Corinthians (Chapters xii, xiii, xiv), and the New Testament, passim, for what others have said on Spiritual Gifts.
II. The Church as an Organism Entitled to the Manifestation of All the Gifts.
III. Pre-eminence of Charity Over All Other Gifts.
IV. The Gift of Prophecy Preferable to the Gift of Tongues.
V. Decency and Order to Be Observed in All Things.

SPECIAL TEXT: "Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels and have not charity I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal." (I Cor. viii:1.)

DISCUSSION.

1. The Holy Ghost, the Source of Knowledge of the Christ: "Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I would not have you ignorant. Ye know that ye were Gentiles, carried away unto these dumb idols, even as ye were led. Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed: and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost.

2. Diversity of Manifestation, but One Spirit: "Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal. For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit; to another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit; to another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues: but all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will."

3. The Oneness of the Church, Though Made Up of Many Members: "For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ. For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit. For the body is not one member, but many. If the foot shall say, Because I am not the hand, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body? And if the ear shall say, Because I am not the eye, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body? If the whole body were an eye, where were the hearing? If the whole were hearing where were the smelling? But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him. And if they were all one member, where were the body? But now are they many members, yet but one body. And the eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of thee: nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you. Nay, much more those members of the body, which seem to be more feeble, are necessary: And those members of the body, which we think to be less honorable, upon these we bestow more abundant honor; and our uncomely parts have more abundant comeliness. For our comely parts have no need: but God hath tempered the body together, having given more abundant honor to that part which lacked: That there should be no schism in the body; but that the members should have the same care one for another. And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honored, all the members rejoice with it. Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular. And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues. Are all apostles? are all prophets? are all teachers? are all workers of miracles? have all the gifts of healing? do all speak with tongues? do all interpret? But covet earnestly the best gifts: and yet shew I unto you a more excellent way."

4. The Vanity of Gifts Without Charity: "Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be turned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing."

5. The Excellence and Qualities of Charity: "Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away. For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away. When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things. For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known. And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity."

6. The Gift of Prophecy More Excellent than the Gift of Tongues: "Follow after charity, and desire spiritual gifts, but rather that ye may prophesy. For he that speaketh in an unknown tongue speaketh not unto men, but unto God: for no man understandeth him; howbeit in the spirit he speaketh mysteries. But he that prophesieth speaketh unto men to edification, and exhortation, and comfort. He that speaketh in an unknown tongue edifieth himself; but he that prophesieth edifieth the church."

7. The Uncertainty of Tongues: "I would that ye all spake with tongues but rather that ye prophesied: for greater is he that prophesieth than he that speaketh with tongues, except he interpret, that the church may receive edifying. Now, brethren, if I come unto you speaking with tongues, what shall I profit you, except I shall speak to you either by revelation, or by knowledge, or by prophesying, or by doctrine? And even things without life giving sound, whether pipe or harp, except they give a distinction in the sounds, how shall it be known what is piped or harped? For if the trumpet give an uncertain sound, who shall prepare himself to the battle?"

8. Paul's Choice of Gifts: "So likewise ye, except ye utter by the tongue words easy to be understood, how shall it be known what is spoken? for ye shall speak into the air. There are, it may be, so many kinds of voices in the world, and none of them is without signification. Therefore if I know not the meaning of the voice, I shall be unto him that speaketh a barbarian, and he that speaketh shall be a barbarian unto me. Even so ye, forasmuch as ye are zealous of spiritual gifts, seek that ye may excel to the edifying of the church. Wherefore let him that speaketh in an unknown tongue pray that he may interpret. For if I pray in an unknown tongue, my spirit prayeth, but my understanding is unfruitful. What is it then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also: I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also. Else when thou shalt bless with the spirit, how shall he that occupieth the room of the unlearned say Amen at thy giving of thanks, seeing he understandeth not what thou sayest? For thou verily givest thanks well, but the other is not edified. I thank my God, I speak with tongues more than ye all: Yet in the church I had rather speak five words with my understanding, that by my voice I might teach others also, than ten thousand words in an unknown tongue."

9. Confusion Likely to Come of the Gift of Tongues: "Brethren, be not children in understanding: howbeit in malice be ye children, but in understanding be men. In the law it is written, With men of other tongues and other lips will I speak unto this people; and yet for all that will they not hear me, saith the Lord. Wherefore tongues are for a sign, not to them that believe, but to them that believe not: but prophesying serveth not for them that believe not, but for them which believe. If therefore the whole church be come together into one place, and all speak with tongues, and there come in those that are unlearned, or unbelievers, will they not say that ye are mad? But if all prophesy, and there come in one that believeth not, or one unlearned, he is convinced of all, he is judged of all: And thus are the secrets of his heart made manifest; and so falling down on his face he will worship God, and report that God is in you of a truth."

10. The Things that Make for Edification: "How is it then, brethren? when ye come together, every one of you hath a psalm, hath a doctrine, hath a tongue, hath a revelation, hath an interpretation. Let all things be done unto edifying. If any man speak in an unknown tongue, let it be by two, or at the most by three, and that by course; and let one interpret. But if there be no interpreter, let him keep silence in the church; and let him speak to himself, and to God. Let the prophets speak two or three, and let the other judge. If any thing be revealed to another that sitteth by, let the first hold his peace. For ye may all prophesy one by one, that all may learn, and all may be comforted. And the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets. For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace..."

11. Decency and Order Enjoined: "If any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord. But if any man be ignorant, let him be ignorant. Wherefore, brethren, covet to prophesy, and forbid not to speak with tongues. Let all things be done decently and in order."

LESSON XXIV.

(Scripture Reading Exercise.)

THE PROPHET JOSEPH SMITH ON THE GIFTS OF THE HOLY GHOST.[A]

ANALYSIS. | REFERENCES.
I. Conflicting Opinions of Men on the Subject, Due to the Absence of Revelation. | The citations of Scripture in the body of this lesson.
II. Extravagant Expectations Reproved.
III. All the Gifts Distributed Within the Church.
IV. Manifestation of Spiritual Gifts Not Always Outwardly Discernable.
V. Admonition as to Seeking Spiritual Gifts.

[Footnote A: The matter used in the "Discussion" is an editorial from the Times and Seasons of the 15th of June, 1842; and if not written by the Prophet was at least published with his sanction and approval. In his Journal History, the Prophet introduces the article as follows: "Issued an editorial on the 'Gift of the Holy Ghost,' as follows." (History of the Church, Vol. V, p. 26, et seq.) The side headings are not part of the original editorial.]

SPECIAL TEXT: "Follow after charity, desire spiritual gifts, but rather that ye prophesy." (Paul—I Cor. xiv:1.)

DISCUSSION.

1. Not Every Supernatural Manifestation of God: "Various and conflicting are the opinions of men in regard to the gift of the Holy Ghost. Some people have been in the habit of calling every supernatural manifestation the effects of the Spirit of God, whilst there are others that think there is no manifestation [i. e., of God] connected with it at all; and that it is nothing but a mere impulse of the mind, or an inward feeling, impression, or secret testimony or evidence, which men possess, and that there is no such a thing as an outward manifestation.

"It is not to be wondered at that men should be ignorant, in a great measure, of the principles of salvation, and more especially of the nature, office, power, influence, gifts, and blessings of the gift of the Holy Ghost; when we consider that the human family have been enveloped in gross darkness and ignorance for many centuries past, without revelation, or any just criterion [by which] to arrive at a knowledge of the things of God, which can only be known by the Spirit of God. Hence it not infrequently occurs, that when the Elders of this Church preach to the inhabitants of the world, that if they obey the Gospel they shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, that the people expect to see some wonderful manifestation, some great display of power, or some extraordinary miracle performed; and it is often the case that young members of this Church for want of better information, carry along with them their old notions of things, and sometimes fall into egregious errors. We have lately had some information concerning a few members that are in this dilemma, and for their information make a few remarks upon the subject.

2. Priesthood and Church Organization Ineffective without the Holy Ghost: "We believe in the gift of the Holy Ghost being enjoyed now, as much as it was in the Apostles' days; we believe that it [the gift of the Holy Ghost] is necessary to make and to organize the Priesthood, that no man can be called to fill any office in the ministry without it;[A] we also believe in prophecy, in tongues, in visions, and in revelations, in gifts, and in healings; and that these things cannot be enjoyed without the gift of the Holy Ghost. We believe that the holy men of old spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost, and that holy men in these days speak by the same principle; we believe in its being a comforter and a witness bearer, that it brings things past to our remembrance, leads us into all truth, and shows us of things to come; we believe that 'no man can know that Jesus is the Christ, but by the Holy Ghost.' We believe in it [this gift of the Holy Ghost] in all its fullness, and power, and greatness, and glory; but whilst we do this, we believe in it rationally, consistently, and scripturally, and not according to the wild vagaries, foolish notions and traditions of men.

[Footnote A: See Book of Moroni chapter iii. "And after this manner did they ordain priests and teachers, according to the gifts and callings of God unto men; and they ordained them by the power of the Holy Ghost which was in them."]

3. Man's Inclination to Run to Extremes: "The human family are very apt to run to extremes, especially in religious matters, and hence people in general, either want some miraculous display, or they will not believe in the gift of the Holy Ghost at all. If an Elder lays his hands upon a person, it is thought by many that the person must immediately rise and speak in tongues and prophesy; this idea is gathered from the circumstance of Paul laying his hands upon certain individuals who had been previously [as they stated] baptized unto John's baptism; which when he had done, they 'spake in tongues and prophesied.' Philip also, when he had preached the Gospel to the inhabitants of the city of Samaria, sent for Peter and John, who when they came laid their hands upon them for the gift of the Holy Ghost; for as yet he was fallen upon none of them; and when Simon Magus saw that through the laying on of the Apostles' hands the Holy Ghost was given, he offered them money that he might possess the same power. [Acts viii.] These passages are considered by many as affording sufficient evidence for some miraculous, visible manifestation, whenever hands are laid on for the gift of the Holy Ghost.

4. Diversity of Gifts: "We believe that the Holy Ghost is imparted by the laying on of hands of those in authority, and that the gift of tongues, and also the gift of prophesy are gifts of the Spirit, and are obtained through that medium; but then to say that men always prophesied and spoke in tongues when they had the imposition of hands, would be to state that which is untrue, contrary to the practice of the Apostles, and at variance with holy writ; for Paul says, 'To one is given the gift of tongues, to another the gift of prophecy, and to another the gift of healing;" and again: 'Do all prophesy? do all speak with tongues? do all interpret?' evidently showing that all did not possess these several gifts; but that one received one gift, and another received another gift—all did not prophesy, all did not speak in tongues, all did not work miracles; but all did receive the gift of the Holy Ghost; sometimes they spake in tongues and prophesied in the Apostles' days, and sometimes they did not. The same is the case with us also in our administrations, while more frequently there is no manifestation at all; that is visible to the surrounding multitude; this will appear plain when we consult the writings of the apostles, and notice their proceedings in relation to this matter. Paul, in I Cor. xii, says, 'Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I would not have you ignorant;' it is evident from this, that some of them were ignorant in relation to these matters, or they would not need instruction.

5. Spiritual Gifts to be Sought After: "Again, in chapter xiv, he says, 'Follow after charity and desire spiritual gifts, but rather that ye may prophesy.' It is very evident from these Scriptures that many of them had not spiritual gifts, for if they had spiritual gifts where was the necessity of Paul telling them to follow after them, and it is as evident that they did not all receive those gifts by the imposition of the hands; for they as a Church had been baptized and confirmed by the laying on of hands—and yet to a Church of this kind, under the immediate inspection and superintendency of the Apostles, it was necessary for Paul to say, 'Follow after charity, and desire spiritual gifts, but rather that ye may prophesy,' evidently showing that those gifts were in the Church, but not enjoyed by all in their outward manifestations.

"But suppose the gifts of the Spirit were immediately, upon the imposition of hands, enjoyed by all, in all their fullness and power; the skeptic would still be as far from receiving any testimony except upon a mere casualty as before, for all the gifts of the Spirit are not visible to the natural vision, or understanding of man: indeed very few of them are. We read that 'Christ ascended into heaven and gave gifts unto men; and Me gave some Apostles, and some Prophets, and some Evangelists, and some Pastors and Teachers.' [Eph. iv.]

6. Diversity of Spiritual Gifts: "The Church is a compact body composed of different members, and is strictly analogous to the human system, and Paul, after speaking of the different gifts, says, 'Now ye are the body of Christ and members in particular; and God hath set some in the Church, first Apostles, secondarily Prophets, thirdly Teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healing, helps, governments, diversities of tongues. Are all Teachers? Are all workers of miracles? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret?' It is evident that they do not; yet are they all members of one body. All members of the natural body are not the eye, the ear, the head or the hand—yet the eye cannot say to the ear I have no need of thee, nor the head to the foot, I have no need of thee; they are all so many component parts in the perfect machine—the one body; and if one member suffer, the whole of the members suffer with it: and if one member rejoice, all the rest are honored with it.

"These, then, are all gifts; they come from God; they are of God; they are all the gifts of the Holy Ghost; they are what Christ ascended into heaven to impart; and yet how few of them could be known by the generality of men. Peter and John were Apostles, yet the Jewish court scourged them as imposters. Paul was both an Apostle and Prophet, yet they stoned him and put him into prison. The people knew nothing about it, although he had in his possession the gift of the Holy Ghost Our Savior was 'anointed with the oil of gladness above his fellows,' yet so far from the people knowing Him, they said He was Beelzebub, and crucified Him as an imposter. Who could point out a Pastor, a Teacher, or an Evangelist by their appearance, yet had they the gift of the Holy Ghost?

7. Spiritual Gifts Not Always Outwardly Discernible: "But to come to the other members of the Church, and examine the gifts as spoken of by Paul, and we shall find that the world can in general know nothing about them, and that there is but one or two that could be immediately known, if they were all poured out immediately upon the imposition of hands. In I Cor. xii, Paul says, 'There are diversities of gifts yet the same spirit, and there are differences of administrations but the same Lord; and there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all. But the manifestations of the Spirit is given unto every man to profit withal. For to one is given, by the Spirit, the word of wisdom, to another, the word of knowledge by the same Spirit; to another faith, by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing, by the same Spirit; to another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another the discerning of spirits; to another divers kind of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues. But all these worketh that one and the self same spirit, dividing to each man severally as he will.'

"There are several gifts mentioned here, yet which of them all could be known by an observer at the imposition of hands? The word of wisdom, and the word of knowledge, are as much gifts as any other, yet if a person possessed both of these gifts, or received them by the imposition of hands, who would know it? Another might receive the gift of faith, and they would be as ignorant of it. Or suppose a man had the gift of healing or power to work miracles, that would not then be known; it would require time and circumstances to call these gifts into operation. Suppose a man had the discerning of spirits, who would be the wiser for it? Or if he had the interpretation of tongues, unless someone spoke in an unknown tongue, he of course would have to be silent; there are only two gifts that could be made visible—the gift of tongues and the gift of prophecy. These are things that are the most talked about, and yet if a person spoke in an unknown tongue, according to Paul's testimony, he would be a barbarian to those present. They would say that it was gibberish; and if he prophesied they would call it nonsense. The gift of tongues is the smallest gift perhaps of the whole, and yet it is one that is the most sought after.

"So that according to the testimony of Scripture and the manifestations of the Spirit in ancient days, very little could be known about it by the surrounding multitude, except on some extraordinary occasion, as on the day of Pentecost.

"The greatest, the best, and the most useful gifts would be known nothing about by an observer. It is true that a man might prophesy, which is a great gift, and one that Paul told the people—the Church—to seek after and to covet, rather than to speak in tongues; but what does the world know about prophesying? Paul says that it 'serveth only to those that believe.' But does not the Scriptures say that they spake in tongues and prophesied? Yes; but who is it that writes these Scriptures? Not the men of the world or mere casual observers, but the Apostles—men who knew one gift from another, and of course were capable of writing about it; if we had the testimony of the Scribes and Pharisees concerning the outpouring of the Spirit on the day of Pentecost, they would have told us that it was no gift, but that the people were 'drunken with new wine,' and we shall finally have to come to the same conclusion that Paul did—'No man knows the things of God but by the Spirit of God;' for with the great revelations of Paul when he was caught up into the third heaven and saw things that were not lawful to utter, no man was apprised of it until he mentioned it himself fourteen years after: and when John had the curtains of heaven withdrawn, and by vision looked through the dark vista of future ages, and contemplated events that should transpire throughout every subsequent period of time, until the final winding up scene—while he gazed upon the glories of the eternal world, saw an innumerable company of angels and heard the voice of God—it was in the Spirit, on the Lord's day, unnoticed and unobserved by the world.

"The manifestations of the gift of the Holy Ghost, the ministering of angels, or the development of the power, majesty or glory of God were very seldom manifested publicly, and that generally to the people of God, as to the Israelites; but most generally when angels have come, or God has revealed Himself, it has been to individuals in private, in their chamber; in the wilderness or fields, and that generally without noise or tumult. The angel delivered Peter out of prison in the dead of night; came to Paul unobserved by the rest of the crew; appeared to Mary and Elizabeth without the knowledge of others; spoke to John the Baptist whilst the people around were ignorant of it.

"When Elisha saw the chariots of Israel and the horsemen thereof, it was unknown to others. When the Lord appeared to Abraham it was at his tent door; when the angels went to Lot, no person knew them but himself, which was the case probably with Abraham and his wife; when the Lord appeared to Moses, it was in the burning bush, in the tabernacle, or in the mountain top; when Elijah was taken in a chariot of fire, it was unobserved by the world; and when he was in a cleft of rock, there was loud thunder, but the Lord was not in the thunder; there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; and then there was a still small voice, which was the voice of the Lord, saying, 'What doest thou hear, Elijah?'

8. An Admonition to Righteousness: "The Lord cannot always be known by the thunder of His voice, by the display of His glory or by the manifestation of His power; and those that are the most anxious to see these things, are the least prepared to meet them, and were the Lord to manifest His power as He did to the children of Israel, such characters would be the first to say, 'Let not the Lord speak any more, lest we His people die.'

"We would say to the brethren, seek to know God in your closets, call upon him in the fields. Follow the directions of the Book of Mormon, and pray over, and for your families, your cattle, your flocks, your herds, your corn, and all things that you possess; ask the blessing of God upon all your labors, and everything that you engage in. Be virtuous and pure; be men of integrity and truth; keep the commandments of God; and then you will be able more perfectly to understand the difference between right and wrong—between the things of God and the things of men; and your path will be like that of the just, which shineth brighter and brighter unto the perfect day.

"Be not so curious about tongues, do not speak in tongues except there be an interpreter present; the ultimate design of tongues is to speak to foreigners, and if persons are very anxious to display their intelligence, let them speak to such in their own tongues. The gifts of God are all useful in their place, but when they are applied to that which God does not intend, they prove an injury, a snare and a curse instead of a blessing."