--- title: Improvement Era description: Monthly periodical of the Mormon church, 1897 onward. This library holds the issues of November 1897 to December 1930. authors: - Young Men’s Mutual Improvement Associations collections: - periodicals tags: - magazine - improvement-era periodical: Improvement Era volume: 1 number: 4 published: 1898-02 publisher: Young Men’s Mutual Improvement Associations publisher_place: Salt Lake City language: en type: magazine reference: 'Young Men’s Mutual Improvement Associations, "Editor’s Table: On the Acceptance or Rejection of Testimony," *Improvement Era* 1, no. 4 (February 1898): 289–290.' source: url: https://archive.org/details/improvementera14unse transcription: Transcribed from the Internet Archive scan of each issue (the item for each issue is named in the issue's own source); unnumbered advertising leaves are omitted, printed page numbers are kept as page markers. identifier: improvementera14unse start_page: 289 end_page: 290 rights: status: public-domain basis: US publication 1930 or earlier (published 1898-02) source: https://archive.org/details/improvementera14unse publication_year: 1898 note: The Internet Archive item metadata carries a blanket "© Copyright by Intellectual Reserve, Inc." notice. The library owner judged it inapplicable because this issue was published in 1898, before 1931; a scan-level notice does not restore copyright. --- # Editor’s Table: On the Acceptance or Rejection of Testimony EDITOR'S TABLE, ON THE ACCEPTANCE OR REJECTION OF TESTIMONY. Among a very great number of questions that are awaiting the attention of the editors of the Era is the following: "How far can Latter-day Saints accept or reject the testimonies of those who belong to other religious denominations? Many of them seem to bear very strong testimonies to some things, and are earnest in their statements." We take it that what is here meant is this: The Latterday Saints bear testimony that the Lord has revealed to them a knowledge of the truth of the gospel, as made known to mankind through the revelations of God to the Prophet Joseph Smith. Now comes the Catholic, the Baptist, the Methodist, the Presbyterian, or it may be a Mohametan, and he says he knows that his religion is true. The question is, how far can we accept or reject these testimonies. It looks like bigotry to sit in judgment upon them and say, we speak truly, but they falsely; we are surely right, but they are mistaken. The question reminds us of an incident that happened within our own experience, about a year ago. In company with a number of friends we attended service in the Catholic cathedral in New York, and listened to a very impressive discourse by the bishop of that diocese. The speaker was so unusually earnest and sensible, that what he said made a very favorable impression upon our party, and as we were leaving the cathedral one of the sisters asked the question, "Who can say that this man is not right, that the testimony he bears to the truth of his religion is not true?" To which we answered, in substance, "No man can or ought to do it; no man is compe tent to do that; but God is, and God has done it. He revealed himself to Joseph Smith, and told him that all the churches were wrong; that their creeds were an abomination in his sight; that they taught for doctrine the commandments of men; that they had a form of godliness but denied the power thereof. This was the word of the Lord on that matter, and an end of controversy to those who accepted that revelation." Therefore, if the testimonies of those belonging to other denominations, referred to in the above question, cover the statement that their church is the Church of Jesus Christ, and that their religion is the religion taught by Jesus Christ, pure and undefiled, and in its fulness, then we know that testimony is not true; and that those who bear it must belong to that very large class of well-meaning but mistaken men who are to be found among all classes of people. If the testimonies referred to relate only to portions of sectarian doctrines, they may or may not be true; for in the creeds of men there are fragments of the truth, fragments of the gospel, and it may be that they have the witness of God's Spirit to those fragments of the truth; but they can never have the testimony of God's Spirit bearing witness to the truth of that which God has declared to be untrue. Again let us modify our answer: Many very sincere, honest hearted people, prayerful and moral, approaching God in perfect trust and faith, though belonging to false systems of religions, obtain many and singular blessings at the hands of the Lord, just as Cornelius of old did, though not in the Church of Christ. If the testimonies in question relate to such things as these, we know of no reason why they should not be received with credence, if the parties are truthful; for God is not so unmindful of his children as only to bless that portion of them that have the fulness of his gospel — those that are orthodox. Were that the case we might well despair for humanity; but that is not so; God's love and mercy extend to all his children, even to the heathen, and doubtless he is doing all in his power for them. But because the Lord does bless his children, as stated above, it by no means follows that they have the fulness of the gospel, or that the religion they profess is the very religion of the Son of