Immortality of Man

IMMORTALITY OF MAN, BY ELDER DAVID H. ELTON, FORMERLY ASSOCIATE EDITOR OF THE "SOUTHERN STAR," CHATTANOOGA, TENN.

"I have chosen the way of truth." These precious words are attributed to David, the sweet singer in ancient Israel — "a man after God's own heart." He had "chosen the way of truth;" his soul was blessed therein; his heart was exceeding glad with joy- ous thanksgiving, and he rejoiced greatly in his Maker, for he verily knew, and bore testimony, that the Lord "desirest truth in the inward parts." Upon all subjects and inquiries, the honest mind, like the Psalmist, requires the absolute truth. This rule, — "I have chosen the way of truth," — should be strictly and conscientiously observed

in all things, and more especially (if there arise exceptions, which should not be) when dealing with spiritual and eternal things, for upon our understanding and acceptance of these, hinge our salva- tion and exaltation in the Kingdom of our God, and the truth is the one desirable, essential requisite to this proper understanding and acceptance. Error is of no value or worth to any one, but dangerous, detrimental and obstructive. All truth is an achieve- ment, and our possession thereof depends upon our exercise and efforts to that end. Our Savior had such knowledge of the human heart, and such power of expressing that knowledge, that he frequently gives us, in few words, plain and simple, great truths of lasting benefit and august importance. A remarkable instance of this assertion is found on the occasion when he addressed the boasted children of Abraham in these burning words, "If ye con- tinue in my word, then are ye my disciples; and ye shall know the

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truth, and the truth shall make you free." Again he said, "Seek and ye shall find." "Seek ye first the Kingdom of God," etc., and this verb "seek" means for us to go in search of, explore, study, investigate, solicit and examine. Moreover, the divine injunction acquaints us with the fact that we are not merely on earth to hear and perceive truth, but responsible individuals in a real world to seek and achieve it. We should not spurn or deride the belief of others who may differ with us, but be impartial, broadminded and fair, ever ready to view the evidence adduced with an untrammeled and unbiased mind that we may the more clearly ascertain whether or not our upon a true basis. faith is well founded and securely established The Prophet Joseph Smith introduced many great and im- portant truths among the children of men,— truths of inestimable worth, of mammoth and significance, import— truths which vital

encourage, truths which enlighten, truths which ennoble, —words of edification, of wisdom, of warning and commandment. Of the many truths advanced by this chosen seer, that of the immortality of man claims our present attention and consideration, as a doctrine profoundly interesting and of invaluable excellence, for, who is there that at some time or other, has not questioned concerning their origin, present existence, capabilities, faculties, death, resur- rection and future destiny? It is a question of no small moment, and properly solved — truth being the all important factor in the explication — will prove beneficial, instructive and profitable, since who we are, from the answer shall give us an understanding of whence and by whom we came into existence, and whither we go from this school of mortal probation. While this doctrine — the immortality of man — almost uni- is

versally accepted in the scientific and religious world, still, the general ideas and common theories regarding the same are vague and differing, and quite beyond the conception of the human mind. Were we to briefly inquire into the most prominent dogmas of to- day, we would find some sects declaring that the spirit of man is only alive and active while the body is animated and buoyant

between birth and death, then ceasing to operate until the resur- rection of the dead; and again, that the spirit life commences at mortal birth, never to end, not even at death; while the atheist

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argues that the primeval conscious existence of man begins with this present life and ends with it, never to be revived again. These conclusions may satisfy when no further light or intelligence is known, butthe voice of revelation hath broken the stillness, and, imparting the good news to his fellow-brethren, the boy-prophet Joseph, the recipient of heaven's ministrations, informs us that the spirit of man is immortal, an intelligent entity, the offspring of Deity, which lived with God before the worlds were framed, or ever mortal flesh was formed upon the earth, and is destined to live on, even while the earthly tabernacle is inanimate; for, when freed from the body, it passes into a spiritual realm, where it is active, intelligent, individual, and independent, so far as its rela-

tionship with others of its nature is concerned. The words of the great "latter-day prophet" are few and explicit, and spoken by the inspiration of Almighty God, they are sound, intelligible, clear, logical and reasonable, likewise scriptural, holy and divine. There can be nothing clearer than the declarations of the prophet, sus- tained by reason, given by revelation, upheld by philosophy, and supported by the word of God! A few citations from the sacred record, the Holy Bible, will at once and most conclusively prove the scriptural character of the doctrine under discussion. Biblical quotations are copious, and the revealed will of God to "holy men of old" confirms the teachings of the prophet, and gives added strength and testimony thereunto. That our spirits are the offspring of God, is most em- phatically declared in unequivocal language by the Apostle Paul who thus addressed the idolatrous Athenians, "Forasmuch, then, as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man's device." That the apostle referred to our spirits as the "offspring of God," and not our mortal bodies, is evident from his words to the Hebrew saints: "Furthermore, we 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?" Again, Moses records that when the Lord commanded the children of Israel to separate themselves from the tents of the rebellious Korah, Dathan and Abiram, "they fell upon their faces, and said, God, the God of the spirts of all flesh," etc. In har-

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mony with these words, are the words of our Master Jesus who taught his disciples to pray after this manner, "Our Father who art in heaven," etc., and this gives us to understand that the relationship existing between God and man is identical with that of an earthly father to his son, only "Our Father in heaven" is

perfect, and our spirits, not our bodies, are begotten by him. The wise man, Ecclesiastes, in speaking of the temporal death says "Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was, and the :

spirit shall return unto God who gave it." This is in strict ac- cordance with what has heretofore been stated, "Unto God who gave it," and the same writer remarks that, "Whatsoever God doeth, it shall be forever." "There is no man that hath power over the spirit to retain the spirit; neither hath he power in the day of death." We are told that Jesus is our "elder brother," and that we are to be "joint heirs" with him in the kingdom of "Our Father," which most assuredly makes us sons and daughters of God. He is the Only Begotten Son of God in the flesh, the first born among many spirits. The sacred historian Luke, in tracing the genealogy of "Joseph the carpenter," takes us back to David, Abraham, Noah, and finally to our first earthly parent Adam, whom he truthfully designates, "the son of God." Are we not all de- scendants of this self-same Adam? Are we not all the progeny of those two whom God created in his likeness and image, and placed in the Garden of Eden? We, too, then, are the sons and daughters of God, and he is the Father of our spirits! We have no standard by which to estimate the duration of our spirits, save our Father in Heaven, who is immortal, eternal, everlasting, and, inasmuch as "like begets like," it is quite natural and true that our spirits will possess the same characteristics in general, since they are begotten of him! There seems to be some little confusion relative to the spirit and the soul of man. It is true that in the scriptures the terms are frequently used as synonymous expressions, when in reality the spirit and the soul of man are not one and the same. When man became a "living soul," according to the writings of Moses, he possessed a fleshy tabernacle and an immortal spirit, the two

constituting the soul. The word of the Lord, revealed to man in this present dispensation, plainly asserts: "And the spirit and the

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body is the soul of man." The spirit is immortal, the body mortal; the spirit heavenly, the body earthly; the spirit imperishable, the body corruptible. But the body is also destined to become im- mortal, the eternal home for the faithful spirit. The great Apos- tle of the Gentiles, in writing to the saints of Corinth, bears the following record: "For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality." Moses informs us that the "life of the flesh is in the blood," that is, of this mortal flesh. The blood is the corruptible part of man's mortality, and so long as blood flows in the veins, we are subject unto death; so that the mortality must be overcome, which is accomplished in the death of the body, and the immortal essence supplied in the redemption of the soul —body and spirit. We may say then, that the life of im- mortal flesh is in the spirit, which, to the mortal being, performs like functions as the blood to the mortal soul. When we arise in the likeness of Christ's resurrection, the mortal blood will be stricken from our veins, and the eternal requisite, the divine es- sence, will course in lieu thereof. The scriptures having furnished such valuable and incontro- vertible evidence corroborating the teachings of the Prophet Joseph, relative to the immortality of man, we need not revert to science for aid and endorsement, although philosophy and meta- physics join hands with the great truths of the Bible in this re- gard. Novalis, the Prussian poet and sage, remarks: "Philosophy can bake no bread, but she can procure for us God, freedom, im- mortality." That the spirit is a real, intelligent entity, apart from the human body, can be readily understood by using an apt illustration which comes under our observation in every day life. Let us im- agine ourselves at the death bed, in the presence of the lifeless clay, the inanimate tabernacle of flesh and bones, which once moved, was active, operative and buoyant, but now lies motion-

less, silent, still, released from the actions of mortal life, having succumbed to the summons of death. As we gaze upon the de- ceased, our natural eyes behold every part and organ which we ob- served in life, the limbs, the body, the head, the eyes, the ears, the nose, the mouth, and the tongue; furthermore, were we to dissect the anatomy and view the internal regions, we would find the lobes

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and cells of the braiD, exact, in their correct locations, the heart in its proper cavity, the lungs and all the vital organs in their proper stations; and yet life is extinct, while death reigns supreme. It matters not how perfect a picture may be formed upon the retina of the eye, nothing is seen; no matter how complete a vibration may be produced upon the drum of the ear, nothing is heard there is neither light for the eyes, music for the ears, words for the tongue, thoughts for the brain, or emotions for the heart! What is the matter? Why such a radical change, and yet all parts of the physical organism visible, and in the identical station they were when the blood coursed through the veins, and the heart beat in life? Our answer is found in the words of the preacher; the spirit has returned "unto God who gave it." It follows, then,

that the spiritual organism is that part of the living soul, which sees, and hears, and feels; which suffers and enjoys; which thinks, and wills, and executes; which is, in short, the light, life and intel- ligence of the whole being! It came from an immortal Father,

was encased for a probation in a mortal tabernacle, and when the body dies, it leaves its earthly home for a season and returns to heaven, its primeval abode. How incomprehensible and perplexing is the commonly ac- cepted definition of the spirit! Can we understand its nature when we are told, "It is an immaterial essence, uncompounded and indivisible." It is formless, shadowless; no eye beholds it, no hand

handles it, no pencil may trace its lineaments. Such definitions do not define, but enshroud in mystery, inexplicable and uncertain. The spirit of man is pure and fine beyond the perceptibility of mortal eyes, but we need not suppose it is "immaterial, formless, shadowless," and so forth. When our bodies are purified, our minds quickened, our eyes anointed with the oil of gladness, and our heads crowned with life everlasting, we shall see and know that it is all matter, with dimensions, form and shape being ;

fashioned and molded by an Eternal Parent, in whose likeness and image it is begotten and formed ! The spirit of man is immortal, an intelligent entity, the offspring of God, which lived in a pri- meval state with the Father of all mercies, and is destined to in- habit an immortal body, by obedience to the laws governing the

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same, for it is the spirit which receives and rejects truth as it may be revealed to the human mind! Even in the "dark ages," a spark of divine and heavenly in- spiration stirred the souls of men, and led them to reason that the spirit soared to loftier attainments when the material body was worn out and sepulchred. Marcus Aurelius, the renowned emperor and philosopher of ancient Rome, uttered a divine truth when he said: "What's sprung from earth dissolves to earth again, and heaven-born things fly to their native seat." It remained for the Prophet Joseph, bearing the joyful news of a restored gospel, to bring us the glad tidings from the Father of spirits, that it was an irrevocable appointment that the spirit, like the Deity of which it is a spark, shall go not out, and wax not dim. Revelation clears away all mysteries, removes all doubts, and declares that the des- tinies of men are everlasting, until, we are led to exclaim with the English poet: "Oh man! thou art an imperishable leaf on the evergreen bay-tree of existence!"