Notes

860 IMPROVEMEN1 ERA.

These are they who are honorable men of the earth, who are blinded by the craftiness of men. (Verses 72 to 75, inclusive.)

So far as this quotation goes, there is no distinct statement of a requirement of baptism as a condition for entrance into the terrestrial kingdom. With reference to those who died without law, God being just, he would never place any of his children at a disadvantage

because they had not obeyed a principle or ordinance of which they had never heard. The only indication of a probability of baptism being essen- tial for entrance to the terrestrial kingdom is in the fact that the were taught the Gospel by Jesus, that they "spirits in prison" "might be judged according to men in the flesh." Baptism is a requirement of the latter when they hear the Gospel. Another point in this connection is that the practice of baptism for the dead was conducted, according to Paul's statement, in the time of Christ. (1 Cor. 15: 29.) Still, in the absence of a revealed direct statement, it would be questionable to assume an "unqualified posi- tion on either side of the question. The resurrection has a direct and important connection with the kingdoms in which the children of God are destined to dwell in eternity. Tne writer suggests that the reader peruse that portion of the eighty-eighth section of the Book of Doctrine and Covenants embodied in verses from 95 to 99, inclusive. The classes who shall enter into the celestial and terrestrial glories are therein defined. Then come the remainder, to be otherwise disposed of:

And again, another trump shall sound, which is the third trump; and then cometh the spirits of men who are to be judged, and are found under condemnation: And these are the rest of the dead, and they shall not live again until the thousand years are ended, neither again until the end of the earth. And another trump shall sound, which is the fourth trump, saying, There are found among those who are to remain until that great and last day, even unto the end, who shall remain filthy still. (Verses 100 to 102, inclusive.)

It will be observed that those destined to enter the telestial