---
title: Improvement Era
description: Monthly periodical of the Mormon church, 1897 onward. This library holds the issues of November 1897 to December 1930.
authors:
  - Richards, Franklin D.
collections:
  - periodicals
tags:
  - magazine
  - improvement-era
periodical: Improvement Era
volume: 2
number: 4
published: 1899-02
publisher: Young Men’s Mutual Improvement Associations
publisher_place: Salt Lake City
language: en
type: magazine
reference: 'Richards, Franklin D., "The Mormon Church," *Improvement Era* 2, no. 4 (February 1899): 241–257.'
source:
  url: https://archive.org/details/improvementera24unse
  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: improvementera24unse
start_page: 241
end_page: 257
rights:
  status: public-domain
  basis: US publication 1930 or earlier (published 1899-02)
  source: https://archive.org/details/improvementera24unse
  publication_year: 1899
  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 1899, before 1931; a scan-level notice does not restore copyright.
---

# The Mormon Church

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THE MORMON CHURCH.
BY ELDER FRANKLIN D. RICHARDS, PRESIDENT OF THE TWELVE
APOSTLES, AND CHURCH HISTORIAN.
EDITORIAL NOTE.
It must always be borne in mind that the Era is a missionary as
well as a home magazine. This year as last it is being sent free to all our
missionaries in all the world. This means that sixteen hundred copies
of the Era are sent to the various nations of the earth, there to represent the doctrines of the Church. It is therefore important that, as far
as may be, said doctrine should be officially stated, that those who read
may be assured that the presentation of the faith is reliable. It is this
consideration, as well as the merits of the paper itself, which will make
the following article on "The Mormon Church," by Elder Franklin D.
Richards, particularly valuable to our missionaries abroad, and all those
who are investigating the doctrines of the Church. Elder Richards is
the President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, as well as Church
Historian, and therefore competent to speak with authority indeed upon
the history and doctrine of the Church, j
The circumstances under which this article was prepared are,
briefly, these: The World's Parliament of Religions, held in Chicago

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during the World's Columbian Exposition, 1893, gave rise to what is
known as "The University Association," devoted to University and
World's Congress Extension. The institution designed a first year's
course of study in Universal History; a second year's course in Universal
Literature; a third year's course in Comparative Religion, which includes
in the text-book of the course, a monthly magazine called Progress,
an account of each particular faith by a competent and eminent representative. "Only those with a long experience, firm belief and ardent
love for a system can adequately state its nature and merits," says the
gentleman in charge of this institution, a sentiment with which all will
agree. Accordingly Professor Edmund Buckley, Ph. D., Docent of Comparative Religion, of the University of Chicago, opened the following
correspondence with Elder Richards, by whose courtesy we are permitted
to publish it:]
Chicago, U. S. A., April 19, 1897.
Mr. F. D. Richards,
Historian's Office, Salt Lake City, Utah,
My Dear Sir:—I take pleasure in requesting your co-operation in
the plan outlined in enclosed announcement.* In the execution of this
plan we must of course give an account of every Christian Church or
Society in America, and we feel sure that you will prefer that such
account of your own church should be written by one of your own number, who can avoid misconceptions and write with conviction. If so, we
shall be glad to hear from you, or, should you be unable to undertake
the task, to receive from you a nomination of some other suitable person.
I send you a number of our current series in Universal Literature, with
which that in Universal Religion will be uniform. We shall take pleasure in mailing you the series in religion, as it appears month by month,
if you can favor us as above. Please note that we want only the American period of your Church History. Its earlier history in other countries,
if it have any, will be cared for in a general account of Church History
by another hand; but you will do well to begin with a brief statement
of such earlier history in order to make your account complete in itself.
We can allow for this account only about nine hundred words of your own
composition, with as many more of quotations in support of the statements made in your text. These quotations will naturally be taken from
the creeds or the representative writers of your society. Any too long
* The substance of which is stated in the foregoing editorial note.

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for inclusion within these limits may be relegated to an appendix. We
suggest the following sub-topics.
(1) Historic sketch embodying the principles of your church.
(2) How far have these principles been found realizable?
(3) How far can they hope to be further realized in the future?
(4) On what conditions would you unite federally with other
churches?
We should not require this article until January, 1898, but need a
response within a few days, since we are about to publish a prospectus of
our entire course.
Believe me,
Very cordially yours,
[Signed] E. Buckley.
Salt Lake City, May 4, 1897.
Edmund Buckley, Ph. D.
Editor Docent in Comparative Religion,
University of Chicago,
My Dear Sir:—I have the pleasure to acknowledge receipt of your
distinguished favor of the 19th ultimo.
I appreciate the sentiment that each religious society, church or
denomination should be represented by one of its own number, who can
write correctly, avoid misrepresentation and give his honest convictions
of the matters stated. The world-wide calumnies and conflicting statements that have been written of our people and published in the encyclopaedias, magazines and other publications throughout the land,
awaken in one an appreciation of an opportunity to represent ourselves
instead of being misrepresented by others.
I shall endeavor to furnish you an article as contemplated in your
letter above referred to by the time named—January, 1898—meantime
shall be pleased to receive any further suggestions that may appear of
benefit to the purpose designed.
Sincerely and cordially yours,
[Signed] F. D. Richards.
Salt Lake City, Utah, February 9, 1898.
Rev. Edmund Buckley, Ph. D.
Editor Docent in Comparative Religion,
University of Chicago,
My Dear Sir:—In compliance with your request of April 19th,
1897, I have the pleasure to forward you an historical statement of the

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Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, including its principles of
faith, doctrines, ordinances, etc., and have endeavored to hring it
within the limits indicated accompanying the request.
I sincerely hope and urgently request that you will grant me a full
insertion of this clear, concise and comprehensive statement of our
religion in your highly instructive and interesting publication.
Please inform me at your early convenience if I may be so favored,
and oblige,
Yours very respectfully,
[Signed] F. D. Richards.
Accept my grateful acknowledgement for the numbers of Comparative Eeligion. I intend to subscribe for the other literary numbers.
F. D. Richards.
Chicago, February 14th, 1898.
Elder F. D. Richards,
Box 1678, Salt Lake City, Utah,
My Dear Sir:—We have received your article on the History of
Mormonism, and are greatly obliged for the prompt and careful attention which you have given it. We have not yet received all of the
manuscripts which go in the number containing your article, therefore,
we are unable to tell just how much space we will have at our disposal
for each article, but we shall try to publish your article in full, as
requested. By the way, could you not send us some good illustrations
or photographs of the Temple and Tabernacle, also of Brigham Young,
and the present President of the Mormon Church, which we can publish
in connection with the article? Good printed illustrations which we can
reproduce would be preferable, but photographs would also answer our
purpose. The cuts could be returned to you if desired.
Yours truly,
The University Association,
Edmund Buckley.
The photographs asked for were supplied by Elder Richards, and
with the article appeared in the November number of Progress, and is
here reproduced.
THE MORMON CHURCH.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, commonly
called the "Mormon" Church, was organized April 6th, 1830, at
Fayette, Seneca County, New York, Joseph Smith, Jr., being accepted

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as the first Elder and Oliver Cowdery as the second Elder of the
Church. The members composing the body of the Church were
believers in God the Father, in Jesus Christ His Son, and in the
Holy Ghost. They had repented of their sins and had been baptized
by immersion in water for the remission of sins and were confirmed
members of the Church by the laying on of the hands of the Elders,
who sealed upon them the gift of the Holy Ghost, with the privilege of receiving and enjoying all the gifts and powers which came
from the possession of that Spirit in olden times. This was done
by revelation and commandment of the Most High God, who, with
Jesus Christ, His Son, had appeared to Joseph Smith in heavenly
vision. An angel of God had also appeared to the youthful prophet
and disclosed to him the spot where records of the original inhabitants of the American continent were hidden, which, after repeated
visits and instructions from the angel, were delivered into his hands.
They consisted of a number of metallic plates having the appearance
of gold, on which were inscribed on both sides hieroglyphics narrating the history, travels, rise and fall of a colony brought upon
this continent at the scattering of people from the tower of Babel,
and of a later migration of Israelites from Jerusalem, when Zedekiah was king of Judah. The religion of those people was described
and particulars were given of the establishment of the Church of
Christ among them, by his appearance in person after his resurrection and ascension. With the plates was the Urim and Thummim, by means of which and the gift and power of God, Joseph
Smith translated a portion of the record which had been abridged
and compiled by a prophet among those ancient people named Mormon. The book thus translated is therefore called the Book of
Mormon, and it has been published in several languages.
Previous to the organization of the Church, Joseph Smith and
Oliver Cowdery had been visited by John the Baptist, who conferred
upon them the Aaronic Priesthood, with the authority to baptize
for the remission of sins; and also at a later date by Peter, James
and John, who ordained them apostles of Jesus Christ, with authority to confer the Holy Ghost upon baptized, repentant believers, by
the laying on of hands; also to organize and establish the Church
of Christ in all its fullness preparatory to the second advent of
the Savior. Guided by the spirit of revelation, the prophet, seer

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and revelator, Joseph Smith, proceeded to fulfill his mission. The
Gospel was preached, the Holy Ghost was poured out upon converts and was manifested in healings, miracles, tongues, interpretations, prophecy, visions, and all the gifts enjoyed in the primitive
Christian Church. Men were called by revelation to fill the various
offices of the Church, including Apostles, Seventies, Elders, Priests,
Teachers and Deacons, Bishops, Evangelists, etc., and missionaries
were sent out into the world to preach the Gospel without "purse
or scrip." People who received their testimony that the Gospel
and Church of Christ had been restored to earth, obtained a witness from God, personally, of the truth of these things, and as the
elect of God, gathered from all parts of the earth to the bosom of
the Church in America.
Persecution raged against the Church from the beginning.
All kinds of misrepresentation were resorted to by its enemies. The
Saints were driven from their possessions in Missouri and afterwards in Illinois; many of them were slaughtered by mobs, their
property was confiscated, and in 1844, on June 27th, the Prophet
Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum were shot to death by mobocrats with blackened faces, at Carthage, Illinois. Subsequently
the body of the Saints were driven from the city of Nauvoo, which
they had built on the banks of the Mississippi, and under the leadership of Brigham Young, who was the President of the Twelve Apostles, the persecuted Saints made their way to Winter Quarters, on
the banks of the Missouri river, near where Council Bluffs now stands.
It was there that the Mormon Battallion of five hundred able-bodied
men were enlisted, at the call of the President of the United States,
to aid their country in the war with Mexico. They were the
strength of the body of the Church, but, were parted with in the
true spirit of patriotism. They made an unparalleled march across
the deserts to their destination, leaving their families to struggle
for existence in that then unsettled region. In 1847 the famous
journey from the Missouri river across the plains and mountains
was accomplished by Brigham Young and the Pioneers, numbering
one hundred and forty-three men, three women and two children.
They reached the spot where Salt Lake City now stands, July 24th
of that year. The great Temple, costing more than three million

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dollars, rears its towers on the spot where Brigham Young declared
at that time, "Here we will build the Temple of our God."
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Sainst has now its
branches in all the civilized nations and upon many islands of the
sea. It has sixteen hundred Elders in the mission field, laboring
without pay. Its membership numbers about 300,000. It has
four magnificent Temples, in which are administered ordinances for
the living and the dead. It is presided over by Lorenzo Snow,
George Q. Cannon and Joseph F. Smith, Apostles of Jesus Christ,
holding the keys of the kingdom of heaven, with the binding and
loosing power which Christ conferred upon Peter, James and John,
and which they restored to earth. It has Twelve Apostles to open
the door of the kingdom in all nations and set in order the affairs
of the Church. It has all the orders of the Christian ministry and
priesthood which were in the Church during the first century of the
Christian era. It administers the same ordinances and enjoys the
same unity, power, spiritual gifts and divine communications as were
then bestowed.
Mormonism affirms the personality of God and the universal
diffusion of his Spirit as the life and light of all things. It teaches
that the spirit of man is the offspring of God, and existed as a living entity before the incorporation in a mortal body; that it will
not only continue after death, but will be clothed upon with a resurrected body in such degree of glory and progress as it shall be
fitted for by the deeds done in the flesh; that all mankind will be
raised from the dead, and be judged according to their works; that
in order to gain the celestial or highest degree of glory, men and
women must be born of water, by baptism, and of the Spirit, by the
gift of the Holy Ghost, obtained through the laying on of hands,
and must then "live by every word that proceedeth out of the
mouth of God;" that punishment will be awarded to the wicked
according to their demerits; that while God's punishment is eternal,
because he is the eternal lawgiver, sinners receive of that punishment in degree and for the necessary time to bring them to repentance and reformation; that the Gospel preached to men in the flesh
is and will be preached to those in the spirit who have departed
from the body without the opportunity of receiving the pure truth
as revealed from heaven; that the living Saints may officiate in

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sacred places in behalf of their dead ancestors and relatives in the
ordinances necessary for salvation; that the coming of the Savior to
reign as king of kings is near at hand, and that this Gospel of the
kingdom is to be preached to all nations as a witness of his
advent; that the kingdoms of this world will become the kingdom
of God and his Christ; that Satan will be bound, the earth be
cleansed from corruption and the glory of God will cover it as the
waters cover the deep ; and that eventually all mankind, with the
exception of the sons of perdition, who sin against the Holy Ghost
after having received it, will be saved in some degree of happiness,
usefulness and glory.
Marriage among the Latter-day Saints is a sacrament. It is
solemnized for time and for all eternity. It is sealed on earth by
one having divine authority, and is therefore sealed in heaven.
Death may part the pair for a time, but the bond being eternal, cannot be sundered by death or by any power that is not divine. This
union of the sexes is essential to perfect exaltation in the celestial
world. The marriage does not take place in or after the resurrection, but in this life, where the parties are tested in their probation. Those persons who arrive at no higher condition than that
of angels, are ministering spirits unto the sons and daughters of
God, who obtain "a far more and eternal and exceeding weight of
glory." The redeemed and sanctified and crowned heirs of God and
joint heirs with Jesus Christ dwell in the presence of the Father
and the Son, and, at the head of their own posterity, "inherit all
things" and reign as kings and priests unto God in everlasting glory,
majesty and dominion.
The Prophet Joseph Smith, when asked for an epitome of the
faith of the Latter-day Saints gave it in the following form:
. We believe in God, the Eternal Father, and in his Son, Jesus
Christ, and in the Holy Ghost.
2. We believe that men will be punished for their own sins and
not for Adam's transgression.
3. We believe that, through the atonement of Christ, all mankind
may be saved, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel.

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4. We believe that these ordinances are: First, faith in the Lord
Jesus Christ; second, repentance; third, baptism by immersion for the
remission of sins; fourth, laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy
Ghost.
5. We believe that a man must be called of God, by "prophecy and
by the laying on of hands," by those who are in authority to preach the
Gospel and administer in the ordinances thereof.
6. We believe in the same organization that existed in the primitive church, viz., Apostles, Prophets, Pastors, Teachers, Evangelists, etc.
7. We believe in the gift of tongues, prophecy, revelation, visions,
healings, interpretation of tongues, etc.
8. We believe the Bible to be the word of God, as far as it is
translated correctly; we also believe the Book of Mormon to be the word
of God.
9. We believe all that God has revealed, all that he does now
reveal, and we believe that he will yet reval many great and important
things pertaining to the kingdom of heaven.
10. We believe in the literal gathering of Israel and in the restoration of the Ten Tribes. That Zion will be built upon this continent.
That Christ will reign personally upon the earth, and that the earth will
be renewed and receive its paradisic glory.
11. We claim the privilege of worshiping Almighty God according to the dictates of our own conscience, and allow all men the same
privilege, let them worship how, where or what they may.
12. We believe in being subject to kings, presidents, rulers and
magistrates, in obeying, honoring and sustaining the law.
13. We believe in being honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous
and in doing good to all men; indeed we may say that we follow the
admonition of Paul, "We believe all things, we hope all things;" we haye
endured many things, and hope to be able to endure all things. If there
is anything virtuous, lovely or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek
after these things.
—
Joseph Smith.
As to the personality of God tlie Father, the Latter-day Saints
refer to the following:
"And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.
* * * So God created man in his own image, in the image of
God created he him, male and female created he them." (Gen. i: 26, 27.
"For man indeed ought not to cover his head, forasmuch as he is the
image and glory of God." (I Cor. xi; 7.)
"Then went up Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu and seventy of

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the elders of Israel, and they saw the God of Israel, and there was under
his feet as it were a paved work of a sapphire stone, and as it were the
body of heaven in his clearness." (Exodus xxiv; 9, 10.)
Jesus the Son of God is declared to be "The brightness of his glory
and the express image of his person." (Heb. i; 3.)
"Who is the image of the invisible God, the first-born of every
creature." (Col. i; 15.)
The omnipresence of God by his Spirit universally diffused, is
thus declared:
"This is the light of Christ, as also he is in the sun and the light of
the sun and the power by which it was made; 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 ye stand; and the light which now shineth, which giveth you
light, is through him which enlighteneth your eyes, which is the same
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."
(Revelation to Joseph Smith, December 27, 1832.)
"And the earth was without form and void; and darkness was upon
the face of the deep, and the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the
waters." (Gen. i; 2.)
"By his Spirit he hath garnished the heavens." (Job xxvi; 13.)
"Thou sendest forth thy Spirit, they [the beasts of the field] are
created; and thou renewest the face of the earth." (Psalm civ; 30.)
"And shall put my Spirit in you and you shall live." (Ezek. xxxvii; 14.)
"There is a spirit in man and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth
them understanding." (Job xxxii; 8.)
"And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out my Spirit
upon all flesh." (Joel ii; 28.)
"It is the Spirit that quickeneth." (John vi; 63.)
"But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit; for the Spirit
searcheth all things, yea the deep things of God." (I Cor. ii; 10.)
That the spirits of men are the offspring of God, is shown in
the following:
"And now verily I say unto you, I was in the beginning with the

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Father and am the first-born; and all those who are begotten through
me are partakers of the glory of the same and are the Church of the
first-born. Ye were also in the beginning with the Father." (From
revelation to Joseph Smith, May 6, 1833.)
"Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us
and we gave them reverence; shall we not much rather be in subjection
unto the Father of spirits and live?" (Heb. xii; 9.)
"I ascend unto my Father and unto your Father; and to my God and
to your God." (John xx; 17.)
" And again when he bringeth in the first begotten into the world,"
etc. (Heb. i; 6.)
"Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood,
he also himself likewise took part of the same. * * * Wherefore
in all things it behooveth him to be made like unto his brethren," etc-
(Heb. ii; 14-17.)
"Beloved, 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." (I John iii; 2.)
"Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? Declare
if thou hast understanding. * * * When the morning stars sang
together and all the sons of God shouted for joy?" (Job xxxviii; 4-7.)
"Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was, and the spirit
shall return to God who gave it." (Eccles. xii; 7.)
The resurrection of the body, extending to the resuscitation
of all who have lived and died on earth, to be judged in the resurrected body for the deeds done in the natural body, is a scriptural
doctrine, as may be seen from these texts:
"There is a space between death and the resurrection of the body
and a state of the soul in happiness or in misery, until the time which is
appointed of God that the dead shall come forth, and be reunited both
soul and body and be brought to stand before God and be judged according to their works. The soul shall be restored to the body and the body to
the soul; yea, and every limb and joint shall be restored to its body;
yea, even a hair of the head shall not be lost, but all things shall be
restored to their proper and perfect frame." (Book of Mormon, page 354.)
"Now this restoration shall come to all, both old and young, both
bond and free, both male and female, both the wicked and the righteous."
(Ibid., page 267.)
"Marvel not at this, for the hour is coming in the which all that
are in the graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth; they that

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have done good unto the resurrection of life, and they that have done
evil unto the resurrection of damnation." (John v; 28, 29.)
"And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God, and the
books were opened, and another book was opened, which is the book of
life, and the dead were judged out of those things which were written
in the books, according to their works." (Rev. xx; 12.)
"There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and
another glory of the stars. For one star differet from another star in
glory; so also is the resurrection of the dead." (I Cor. xv; 41.)
That baptism of water and of the Holy Ghost is essential, the
following show:
"Go ye into all the world, preach the Gospel to every creature, acting in the authority which I have given you, baptizing in the name of
the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. And he that believeth
and is baptized shall be saved, and he that believeth not shall be
damned. * * * As I said to mine Apostles, I say unto you again,
that every soul that believeth on your words and is baptized by water
for the remission of sins, shall receive the Holy Ghost, and signs shall
follow them that believe. * * * Verily, verily I say unto you, they
that believe not on your words and are not baptized in water in my
name for the remission of their sins, that they may receive the Holy
Ghost, shall be damned and shall not come into my Father's kingdom."
(Revelation to Joseph Smith, November, 1831.)
"Jesus answered, verily, verily I say unto thee, except a man be
born of water and of the spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of
God." (John iii; 5.)
"Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature;
he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth
not shall be damned." (Mark xvi; 15, 16.)
"Then Peter said unto them, repent and be baptized every one of
you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall
receive the gift of the Holy Ghost." (Acts ii; 37, 38.)
"But when they believed Philip preaching the things concerning
the kingdom of God, and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized,
both men and women. * * * Then laid they their hands on them
and they received the Holy Ghost." (Acts viii; 12-18.)
That this Gospel will be preached to all people, both living
and dead, see the following:
"For Christ also hath suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that

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he might bring us to God; being put to death in the flesh, but quickened
by the spirit, by which also he went and preached unto the spirits in
prison, which sometime were disobedient when once the long-suffering of
God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein
few, that is eight souls, were saved by water." (1 Peter iii; 18-20.)
"For, for this cause was the gospel preached also to them that are
dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live
according to God in the spirit." (Ibid, iv; 6.)
The living Saints may perform ordinances for the repentant
dead:
"Else what shall they do which are baptized for the dead, if the
dead rise not at all? Why are they then baptized for the dead?" (1
Cor. xv; 19.)
"And saviors shall come up on Mount Zion to judge the Mount of
Esau and the kingdom shall be the Lord's." (Obadiah i; 21.)
"God having provided some better thing for us, that they without
us should not be made perfect." (Heb. xi; 40.)
That the true Gospel is to be preached to prepare the way for
Christ's coming and the end of the world, see the following:
"And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world,
for a witness unto all nations, and then shall the end come." (Matt.
xxvi. 14.)
"And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the
everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to
every nation, and kindred and tongue and people, saying with a loud
voice Fear God and give glory to him, for the hour of his judgment is
come." (Rev. xiv; 6. 7.)
That Satan will be bound, the earth be cleansed from corruption, the kingdoms of this world become the kingdom of our God,
and that the reign of Christ and his triumph over error and Satan
shall be complete and universal, are supported by the following
texts:
"And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of
the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.
"And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the
devil, and Satan and bound him a thousand years.
"And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a
seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the

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thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a
little season." (Rev. xx; 1-3.)
"And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell
delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every
man according to their works.
"And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the
second death." (Rev. xx; 13, 14.)
"And I heard a great voice out of heaven, saying, 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." (Rev.
xxi; 3, 4.)
"But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the
which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements
shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are
therein shall be burned up.
"Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of
persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness,
"Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God,
wherein, the heavens being on fire, shall be dissolved, and the elements
shall melt with fervent heat?
"Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens
and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness." (2 Peter iii; 10-13.)
"Behold the Lord maketh the earth empty; and maketh it waste,
and turneth it upside down, and scattereth abroad the inhabitants thereof.
"And it shall be, as with the people, so with the priest; as with the
servant, so with his master; as with the maid, so with her mistress; as
with the buyer, so with the seller; as with the lender, so with the borrower; as with the taker of usury, so with the giver of usury to him.
"The land shall be utterly emptied, and utterly spoiled: for the
Lord hath spoken this word.
"The earth mourneth, and fadeth away; the world languisheth, and
fadeth away; the haughty people of the earth do languish.
"The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof, because
they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the
everlasting covenant.
"Therefore hath the curse devoured the earth, and they that dwell
therein are desolate: therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned,
and few men left." (Isaiah xxiv; 1-6.)

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"And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall punish
the host of the high ones that are on high, and the kings of the earth
upon the earth.
"And they shall be gathered together as prisoners are gathered in
the pit, and shall be shut up in the prison, and after many days shall
they be visited.
"Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed, when the
Lord of hosts shall reign in Mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before
his ancients, gloriously." (Isaiah xxiv; 21-23.)
"And at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in
heaven and things on earth, and things under the earth;
"And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians ii; 10, 11.)
"And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a
kingdom which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be
left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all
these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever. (Daniel ii; 44.)
"I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man
came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and
they brought him near before him.
"And there was given him dominions, and glory, and a kingdom,
that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion
is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom
that which shall not be destroyed." (Daniel vii; 13, 14.)
"The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat
straw like the bullock: and dust shall be the serpent's meat. They
shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, saith the Lord."
(Isaiah lxv; 25.)
"For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make,
shall remain before me, saith the Lord, so shall your seed and your
name remain. (Isaiah lxvi; 22.)
"Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom
to God, even the Father, when he shall have put down all rule and all
authority and power.
"For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet.
"The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.
"For he hath put all things under his feet. But when he saith, All
things are put under him, it is manifest that he is excepted, which did
put all things under him.
"And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son

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also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God
may be all in all." (Cor. xv; 24-28.)
"There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and
another glory of the stars: for one star differeth from another star
in glory.
"So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption;
it is raised in incorruption:
''It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory: it is sown in
weakness; it is raised in power:
It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There
is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.
"And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul;
the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.
"Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is
natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.
"The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord
from heaven.
"As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the
heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly.
"And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear
the image of the heavenly.
"Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the
kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.
"Behold I show you a mystery: We shall not all sleep but we shall
all be changed,
"In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for
the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and
we shall be changed.
"For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must
put on immortality.
"So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this
mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the
saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory." (I. Cor. xv;
41-54.)
As to eternal marriage and the glory and dominion of the
redeemed, it will be seen that when the first marriage was performed in Eden, the pair were immortal. Death came by sin, but
life was restored through the atonement. Adam and Eve are
therefore man and wife for eternity.
"And the rib which the Lord God had taken from man, made he a
woman, and brought her unto the man.

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"And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my
flesh: she shall be called woman, because she was taken out of man."
(Gen. ii; 22.)
"So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created
he him; male and female created he them.
"And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful and
multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it; and have dominion over
the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living
thing that moveth upon the earth." (Gen. i; 27, 28.)
"For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection
of the dead.
"For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.'»
(I Cor. xv; 21, 22.)
"Nevertheless, neither is the man without the woman, neither the
woman without the man in the Lord." (I Cor. xi; 11.)
"And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was
given them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the
witness of Jesus and for the word of God, and which had not worshiped
the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their
foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a
thousand years.
"But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years
were finished. This is the first resurrection.
"Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on
such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God
and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years." (Rev. xx; 4-6.
"And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the
book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast
redeemed us to God by thy blood, out of every kindred, and tongue, and
people, and nation;
"And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: we shall reign
on the earth. (Rev. v; 9, 10.)
"And I heard a great voice out of heaven, saying, 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.
"And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the