---
title: Improvement Era
description: Monthly periodical of the Mormon church, 1897 onward. This library holds the issues of November 1897 to December 1930.
authors:
  - Smith, Joseph, Jr.
collections:
  - periodicals
tags:
  - magazine
  - improvement-era
periodical: Improvement Era
volume: 12
number: 3
published: 1909-01
publisher: Young Men’s Mutual Improvement Associations
publisher_place: Salt Lake City
language: en
type: magazine
reference: 'Smith, Joseph, "The King Follett Discourse," *Improvement Era* 12, no. 3 (January 1909): 169–191.'
source:
  url: https://archive.org/details/improvementera1203unse
  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: improvementera1203unse
start_page: 169
end_page: 191
rights:
  status: public-domain
  basis: US publication 1930 or earlier (published 1909-01)
  source: https://archive.org/details/improvementera1203unse
  publication_year: 1909
  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 1909, before 1931; a scan-level notice does not restore copyright.
---

# The King Follett Discourse

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'THE KING FOLLETT DISCOURSE,
THE BEING AND KIND OF BEING GOD IS; THE IMMOR-
TALITY OF THE INTELLIGENCE OF MAN-
BY JOSEPH SMITH THE PROPHET; MARGINAL NOTES AND REFERENCES
BY B. H. ROBERTS.
President Joseph Smith delivered the following discourse
before about twenty thousand Saints at the April conference of
the Church, 1844, being the funeral sermon of Elder King Follett.
Reported by Willard Richards, Wilford Woodruff, Thomas Bullock
and William Clayton.* This Discourse was first published in the
Times and Seasons of August 15, 1844:
Beloved Saints, I will call [require] the attention of this congregation while I address you on the subject of the dead. The decease
* It must be remembered that the report of the Prophet's speech, made by
the brethren above named, was not a stenographic report, but one made in
long-hand, and afterwards perfected as nearly as possible by consultation and
mutual correcting and development of each others' notes. It may, therefore, be
concluded that there are some imperfections in the report of this discourse, which
one here and there feels, since at some points the matter is not absolutely clear,
or the thought not completely rounded out. For a further discussion and
illustration of the matter, see the History of the Church, vol. iv, p. 556 7.

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170 IMPROVEMENT ERA.
of our beloved brother, Elder King Follett, who was crushed in a
well by the falling of a tub of rock, has more immediately led me
to that Bllbject. I have been requested to speak by his friends
and relatives, but inasmuch as there are a great many in this
congregation who live in this city as well as elsewhere, who have
lost friends, I feel disposed to speak on the subject in general,
and offer you my ideas, so far as I have ability, and so far as I
shall be inspired by the Holy Spirit to dwell on this subject.
I want your prayers and faith that I may have the instruction
of Almighty God and the gift of the Holy Ghost, so that I may
set forth things that are true and which can be easily
comprehended by you, and that the testimony may carry conviction
to your hearts and minds of the truth of what I shall say. Pray
that the Lord may strengthen my lungs, stay the winds, and let
the prayers of the Saints to heaven appear, that they may enter
into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth, for the effectual prayers of
the righteous avail much. There is strength here, and I verily
believe that your prayers will be heard.
Before I enter fully into the investigation of the subject
which is lying before me, I wish to pave the way and bring up the
subject from the beginning, that you may understand it. I will
make a few preliminaries, in order that you may understand the
subject when I come to it. I do not calculate or intend to please
your ears with superfluity of words or oratory, or with much
learning; but I calculate [intend] to edify you with the simpl
truths from heaven.
In the first place, I wish to go back to the beginning— to the
morn of creation. There is the starting point for us to look to,
in order to understand and be fully acquainted with the mind,
purposes and decrees of the Great Eloheim, who sits in yonder
heavens as he did at the creation of this world. It is necessary
for us to have an understanding of God himself in the beginning.
If we start right, it is easy to go right all the time; but if we
start wrong, we may go wrong, and it be a hard matter to get
right.
There are but a very few beings in the world who understand
rightly the character of God. The great majority of mankind do

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"THE KING FOLLETT DISCOURSE. " 171
not comprehend anything, either that which is past, or that which
is to come, as it respects their relationship to God. They do not
know, neither do they understand the nature of that relationship;
and consequently they know but little above the brute beast, or
more than to eat, drink and sleep. This is all man knows about God
or his existence, unless it is given by the inspiration of the
Almighty.
If a man learns nothing more than to eat, drink and sleep,
and does not comprehend any of the designs of God, the beast
comprehends the same things. It eats, drinks, sleeps, and
knows nothing more about God; yet it knows as much as we,
unless we are able to comprehend by the inspiration of Almighty
God. If men do not comprehend the character of God, they
do not comprehend themselves.* I want to go back to the beginning, and so lift your minds into a more lofty sphere and a
more exalted understanding than what the human mind generally
aspires to.
I want to ask this congregation, every man, woman and
child, to answer the question in their own heart, what kind of a
being God is? Ask yourselves; turn your thoughts into your
hearts, and say if any of you have seen, heard, or communed with
him. This is a question that may occupy your attention for a
* This is somewhat at variance with Pope's admonition —
Know then thyself, presume not God to scan;
The proper study for mankind is man.
Reflection on the Prophet's utterance, however, will justify his doctrine. Man
will remain a mystery to himself until he has mastered somewhat the mystery of
God. An understanding of each is essential to the understanding of the other.
"And this is life eternal, that they might know thee, the only true God, and Jesus
Christ whom thou hast sent" ( St. John 17.) It is clearly, then, within the
spiritual economy of God that men shall know him, for upon that fact depends
eternal life. Moreover, though it may be admitted without controversy that
"great is the mystery of godliness" yet "God was manifested [marginal reading]
in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles,
believed on in the world, received up into glory — " (I Tim. 3: 16) — all in plain
allusion to the Christ, who was, therefore, God manifested (i. e. revealed) in the
flesh; so that all may know God through Jesus Christ; and by understanding him,
understand God; and thus lay the foundation for better self-knowledge.

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1 72 IMPRO VEMENT ERA .
long timo. I again repeat the question — What kind of a being is
God? Does any man or womin know? Have any of you seen
him, heard him, or communed with him? Here is the question
that will, peradventure, from this time henceforth occupy your
attention. The scriptures inform us that ''This is life eternal that
they might know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom
thou hast sent."
If any man does not know God, and inquires what kind of a
being he is, — if he will search diligently his own heart — if the
declaration of Jesus and the apostles be true, he will realize that
he has not eternal life; for there can be eternal life on no other
principle.
My first object is to find out the character of the only wise
and true God, and what kind of a being he is; and if I am so
fortunate as to be the man to comprehend God, and explain or
convey the principles to your hearts, so that the Spirit seals them
upon you, then let every man and woman henceforth sit in silence,
put their hands on their mouths, and never lift their hands or
voices, or say anything against the man of God or the servants of
God again. But if I fail to do it, it becomes my duty to renounce
all further pretensions to revelations and inspirations, or to be a
prophet; and I should be like the rest of the world — a false
teacher, be hailed as a friend, and no man would seek my life.
But if all religious teachers were honest enough to renounce their
pretensions to godliness when their ignorance of the knowledge
of God is made manifest, they will all be as badly off as I am, at
any rate; and you might just as well take the lives of other false
teachers as that of mine, if I am false. If any man is authorized
to take away my life because he thinks and says I am a false
teacher, then, upon the same principle, we should be justified in
taking away the life of every false teacher, and where would be
the end of blood? And who would not be the sufferer?*
But meddle not with any man for his religion: and all
* These remarks will be better understood, if it is remembered that about this
time the storms of a renewed persecution were bursting upon the Prophet,
and his life was threatened upon every hand.

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"THE KING FOLLETT DISCOURSE." 173
governments ought to permit every man to enjoy his religion
unmolested. No man is authorized to take away life in
consequence of difference of religion, which all laws and
governments ought to tolerate and protect, right or wrong. Every
man has a natural, and, in our country, a constitutional right to
be a false prophet, as well as a true prophet. If I show, verily,
that I have the truth of God, and show that ninety-nine out of
every hundred professing religious ministers are false teachers,
having no authority, while they pretend to hold the keys of God's
kingdom on earth, and was to kill them because they are false
teachers, it would deluge the whole world with blood.
I will prove that the world is wrong, by showing what God is.
I am going to enquire after God; for I want you all to know him,
and to be familiar with him; and if I am bringing you to a
knowledge of him, all persecutions against me ought to cease.
You will then know that I am his servant; for I speak as one
having authority.
I will go back to the beginning before the world was, to
show what kind of a being God is. What sort of a being was God
in the beginning? Open your ears and hear, all ye ends of the
earth, for I am going to prove it to you by the Bible, and to telj
you the designs of God in relation to the human race, and why he
interferes with the affairs of man.
God himself was once as we are now, and is an exalted man,
and sits enthroned in yonder heavens! That is the great secret. If
the vail were rent today, and the great God who holds this world in
its orbit, and who upholds all worlds and all things by his power,
was to make himself visible , — / say, if you were to see. him today,
you would see him like a man in form — like yourselves in all the
person, image, and very form as a man; for Adam was created in
the very fashion, image and likeness of God, and received instruction
from, and walked, talked and conversed with him, as one man talks
and communes with another.
In order to understand the subject of the dead, for
consolation of those who mourn for the loss of their
friends, it is necessary we should u nderstand the character and
being of God and how he came to be so; for I am going to tell

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174 IMPROVEMENT ERA.
you how God came to be God. We have imagined and supposed
that God was God from all eternity. I will refute that idea, and
take away the veil, so that you may see.
These are incomprehensible ideas to some, but they are simple.
// is tin first principle of the gospel to know for a certainty the
character of God, and to know that we may i-mwerse with him as one
man converses with another, and that he was once a man like us;*
yea, that God himself, the Father of us all, dwelt on an earth, the
same as Jesus Christ himself did; audi will show it from the
Bible.
I wish I was in a suitable place to tell it, and that I had the
trump of an archangel, so that I could tell the story in such a
manner that persecution would cease for ever. What did Jesus
say? (Mark it, Elder Rigdon!) The scriptures inform us that
Jesus said, As the Father hath power in himself, even so hath
the Son power— to do what? Why, what the Father did. The
answer is obvious — in a manner to lay down his body and take it
up again. Jesus, what are you going to do? To lay down my life
as my Father did, and take it up again. Do you believe it? If
you do not believe it, you do not believe the Bible. f The
scriptures say it, and I defy all the learning and wisdom and all
the combined powers of earth and hell together to refute it.
Here, then, is eternal life — to know the only wise and true
God; and you have got to learn how to be Gods yourselves, and to
be kings and priests to God, the same as all Gods have done
* The doctrine here taught was afterwards thrown into the following aphorism by Lorenzo Snow:
As man now is, God once was;
As God now is, man may become.
This form of expressing the truth was doubtless original with Lorenzo Snow,
but not the doctrine itself. That is contained in the prophet's remarks above,
text and context.
t The argument here made by the prophet is very much strengthened by the
following passage: "The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth
the Father do; for what things soever he [the Father] doeth, these also doeth
the Son likewise" (St. John 5: 19).

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"THE KING FOLLETT DISCOURSED 175
before you,* namely, by going from one small degree to another,
and from a small capacity to a great one; from grace to grace,
from exaltation to exaltation, until you attain to the resurrection
of the dead, and are able to dwell in everlasting burnings, and to
sit in glory, as do those who sit enthroned in everlasting power-
And I want you to know that God, in the last days, while certain
* Perhaps no passage in the Prophet's discourse has given more offense than
the one here noted, and yet men are coming to think and feel -the truth of what
he said. Henry Drummond, for instance (following the prophet by half a century),
in his really great work, Natural Law in the Spiritual World, in the chapter
on Growth, wherein he points out the difference between the merely moral man and
one whose life has been touched by the spiritual power of God, and so received
something that the merely moral man has not received, says; "The end of
salvation is perfection, the Christ-like mind, character and life. * * *■
Therefore the man who has within himself this great formative agent, Life [spiritual
life] is nearer the end than the man who has morality alone. Tho latter cani
never reach perfection, the former must. For the life must develop out accordingto its type; and being a germ of the Christ- life, it must unfold into a Christ*''
Joseph Smith's doctrine means no more than this.
Sir Oliver Lodge says much to the same effect in the following passage on.
"Christianity and Science." {Hibbert's Journal, April, 1906) ;
It is orthodox, therefore, to maintain that Christ's birth was miraculous and
his death portentous, that he continued in existence otherwise than as we men
continue, that his very body rose and ascended into heaven— whatever that
collocation of words may mean. But I suggest that such an attempt at
exceptional glorification of his body is a pious heresy— a heresy which misses the
truth lying open to our eyes. His humanity is to be recognized as real and
ordinary and thorough and complete; not in middle life alone; but at birth, and at
death and after death. Whatever happened to him may happen to any one of us,
provided we attain the appropriate altitude; an altitude which, whether within our
individual reach or not, is assuredly within reach of humanitv. That is what he
urged again and again. "Be born again." 'Be ye perfect.'"' "Ye are the sons
of God." "My Father and your Father, my God and your God." The ununiqueness
of the ordinary humanity of Christ is the first and patent truth, masked only by
well-meaning and reverent superstition. But the second truth is greater than
that— without it the first would be meaningless and useless,— if man alone, what
gain have we? The world is full of men. What the world wants is a' God.
Behold the God!— [that is, the God, Jesus Christ ]
The divinity of Jesus is the truth which now requires to be reperceived, to be
illumined afresh by new knowledge, to be cleansed and revivified by the wholesome
flood of scepticism which has poured over it: it can be freed now from all trace of
grovelling superstition; and can be recognized freely and enthusiastically: the
divinity of Jesus, and [the divinity] of all other noble and saintly souls, in so far as they,
too, have been inflamed by a spark of Deity— in so far as they, too, can be
recognized as manifestations of the Divine.

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17*; IMPROVEMENT ERA.
individuals are proclaiming his name, is not trifling with you
or me.
These are the first principles of consolation. How consoling
to the mourners when they are called to part with a husband, wife,
1'ather, mother, child, or dear relative, to know that, although the
earthly tabernacle is laid down and dissolved, they shall rise again
to dwell in everlasting burnings in immortal glory, not to sorrow,
suffer, or die any more; but they shall be heirs of God and joint
heirs with Jesus Christ. What is it? To inherit the same power,
the same glory and the same exaltation, until you arrive at the
station of a God, and ascend the throne of eternal power, the
same as those who have gone before. What did Jesus do? Why;
I do the things I saw my Father do when worlds came rolling into
existence. My Father worked out his kingdom with fear and
trembling, and I must do the same; and when I get my kingdom,
i shall present it to my Father, so that he may obtain kingdom
upon kingdom, and it will exalt him in glory. He will then take
a higher exaltation, and I will take his place, and thereby become
exalted myself. So that Jesus treads in the tracks of his Father,
and inherits what God did before; and God is thus glorified and
exalted in the salvation and exaltation of all his children. It is plain
beyond disputation, and you thus learn some of the first principles
of the gospel, about which so much hath been said.
117/'// you climb up a ladder, you must begin at the bottom, and
ascend step tig step, until you arrive at the top; and so it is with
tin principles of the gospel — you must begin with the first, and go
on until you Imrn all the principles of exaltation . But it will be a
great while after you have passed through the veil before you will have
learned them . It is not all to l>v comprehended in this world; it will be a
great work to learn our salvation and exaltation even beyond tlte grave.
I suppose I am not allowed to go into an investigation of anything
that is not contained in the Bible. If I do, I think there are so
many over-wise men here, that they would cry "treason" and put
me to death. So I will go to the old Bible and turn commentator
today.
I shall comment on the very first Hebrew word in the Bible; I
will make a comment on the very first sentence of the history of

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"1HE KING FOLLETT DISCOURSE." Ill
creation in the Bible — Berosheit. I want to analyze the word.
Baith—m, by, through, and everything else. Rosh — the head.
Sheit — grammatical termination. When the inspired man wrote
it, he did not put the baith there. An old Jew without any
authority added the word ; he thought it too bad to begin to talk
about the head! It read first, "The head one of the Gods brought
forth the Gods." That is the true meaning of the words.
Baurau signifies to bring forth. If you do not believe it, you do
not believe the learned man of God . Learned men can teach you
no more than what I have told you. Thus the head God brought
forth the Gods in the grand council.
I will transpose and simplify it in the English language. Oh,
ye lawyers, ye doctors, and ye priests, who have persecuted me, I
want to let you know that the Holy Ghost knows something as well
as you do. The head God called together the Gods and sat in grand
council to bring forth the world. The grand councilors sat at
the head in yonder heavens and contemplated the creation of the
worlds which were created at the time.. When I say doctors and
lawyers, I mean the doctors and lawyers of the scriptures. I have
done so* hitherto without explanation, to let the lawyers flutter
and everybody laugh at them. Some learned doctors might take a
notion to say the scriptures say thus and so; and we must believe
the scriptures; they are not to be altered. But I am going to
show you an error in them.
I have an old edition of the New Testament in the Latin,
Hebrew, German and Greek languages. I have been reading the
German, and find it to be the most correct translation, and to
correspond nearest to the revelations which God has given to me
for the last fourteen years. It tells about Jacobus, the son of
Zebedee. It means Jacob. In the English New Testament it is
translated James. Now, if Jacob had the keys, you might talk
about James through all eternity and never get the keys. In the
21st of the fourth chapter of Matthew, my old German edition
gives the word Jacob instead of James.
The doctors (I mean doctors of law, not physic) say, "If you
preach anything not according to the Bible, we will cry treason."
i e. Used the term "lawyer'' without explanation hitherto, in order, etc

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1 78 IMPRO VEMENT ERA.
I low can we escape the damnation of hell, except God be with us
and reveal to us? Men bind us with chains. The Latin says
Jacobus, which means Jacob; the Hebrew says Jacob, the Greek
says Jacob and the German says Jacob, here we have the testimony
of four against one. I thank God that I have got this old book;
but I thank him more for the gift of the Holy Ghost. I have got
the oldest book in the world; but 1 have got the oldest book in my
heart, even the gift of the Holy Ghost. I have all the four
Testaments. Come here, ye learned men, and read, if you can. I
should not have introduced this testimony, were it not to back up
the word rosh -the head, the Father of the Gods. I should not
have brought it up, only to show that I am right.
In the beginning, the head of the Gods called a council of
the Gods; and they came together and concocted a plan to create
the world and people it. When we begin to learn this way, we
begin to learn the only true God, and what kind of a being we
have got to worship. Having a knowledge of God, we begin to know
how to approach him, and how to ask so as to receive an answer.
When we understand the character of God, and know how to
come to him, he begins to unfold the heavens to us, and to tell us
all about it. When we are ready to come to him, he is ready to
come to us.
Now, I ask all who hear me, why the learned men who are
preaching salvation, say that God created the heavens and the
earth out of nothing? The reason is, that they are unlearned in
the things to God, and have not the gift of the Holy Ghost; they
account it blasphemy in any one to contradict their idea. If you
tell them that God made the world out of something, they will
call you a fool. But I am learned, and know more than all the
world put together. The Holy Ghost does, anyhow, and he is within me, and comprehends more than all the world: and I will associate myself with him.
You ask the learned doctors why they say the world was made
out of nothing; and they will answer, "Doesn't the Bible say he
en nil (I the world? And they infer, from the word create, that it
must have been made out of nothing. Now, the word create came
from the word baurau, which does not mean to create out of nothing; it means to organize; the same as a man would organize ma-

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"THE KING FOLLETT DISCOURSE:' 179
terials and build a ship.* Hence we infer that God had materials
* The views of the Prophet on this subject of creation is abundantly sustained
by men of learning subsequent to his time. The Rev. Baden Powell, of Oxford
University, for instance, writing for Kitto's Cyclopaedia of Biblical Literature,
says: "The meaniug of this word (create) has been commonly associated with
the idea of 'making out of nothing.' But when we come to inquire more precisely
into the subject, we can of course satisfy ourselves as to the meaning only from
an examination of the original phrase." The learned professor then proceeds to
say that three distinct Hebrew verbs are in different places employed with reference to the same divine act, and may be translated, respectively, "create,"
"make," "form or fashion." "Now," continues the professor, "though each of
these has its shade of distinction, yet the best critics understand them as so nearly
synonymous that, at least in regard to the idea of making out of nothing, little or no
foundation for that doctrine can be obtained from the first of these words." And,
of course, if no foundation for the doctrine can be obtained from the first of these
words — viz., the verb translated "create," then the chances are still less for
there being any foundation for the doctrine of creation from nothing in the
verb translated, "made," "formed"' or "fashioned."
Professor Powell further says: "The idea of 'creation,' as meaning absolutely
'making out of nothing,' or calling into existence that which did not exist before,
in the strictest sense of the term, is not a doctrine of scripture; but it has been
held by many on the grounds of natural theology, as enhancing the ideas we form
of the divine power, and more especially since the contrary must imply the belief
in the eternity and self existence of matter."
Dr. William Smith's great dictionary of the Bible (Hackett edition, 1894)
has no article on the term "create" or "creation," but in the article "earth"
we have reference to the subject, and really an implied explanation as to why this
work contains no treatise on "create" or "creation." "The act of creation
itself, as recorded in the first chapter of Genesis, is a subject beyond and above
the experience of man ; human language, derived, as it originally was, from the
sensible and material world, fails to find an adequate term to describe the act; for
our word 'create' and the Hebrew bara, though most appropriate to express the
idea of an original creation, are yet applicable and must necessarily be applicable
to other modes of creation; nor does the addition of such expressions as 'out of
things that were not,' or 'not from things which appear,' contribute much to the
force of the declaration. The absence of a term which shall describe exclusively
an original creation is a necessary infirmity of language; as the events occurred
but once, the corresponding term must, in order to be adequate, have been coined
for the occasion and reserved for it alone, which would have been impossible."
The philosophers with equal emphasis sustain the contention of the Prophet.
Herbert Spencer, in his First Principles, (1860), said:
"There was once universally current, a notion that things could vanish into
absolute nothing, or arise out of absolute nothing. * * * * The current
theology, in its teachings respecting the beginning and end of the world, is clearly

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L80 IMPROVEMENT ERA.
to organize the world out of chaos — chaotic matter, which is element, and in which dwells all the glory. Element had an existence
from the time he had. The pure principles of element are principles which can never be destroyed; they may be organized and
re-organized, but not destroyed. They had no beginning, and can
have no end.*
I have another subject to dwell upon, which is calculated to
pervaded by it. * * * The gradual accumulation of experiences, has
tended slowly to reverse this conviction; until now, the doctrine that matter is
indestructible has become a commonplace. All the apparent proofs that something can come out of nothing, a wider knowledge has one by one cancelled. The
comet that is suddenly discovered in the heavens and nightly waxes larger, is
proved not to be a newly-created body, but a body that was until lately beyond
the range of vision. The cloud which in the course of a few minutes forms in the
sky, consists not of substance that has just begun to be, but of substance that
previously existed in a more diffused and transparent form. And similarly with a
crystal or precipitate in relation to the fluid depositing it. Conversely, the seeming annihilations of matter turn out, on closer observation, to be only changes of
state It is found that the evaporated water, though it has become invisible, may
be brought by condensation to its original shape. The discharged fowling-piece
gives evidence that though the gunpowder has disappeared, there have appeared
in place of it certain gases, which, in assuming a larger volume, have caused the
explosion."
Fiske follows Spencer, of course, and in his Cosmic Philosophy sums up the
matter in these words. "It is now unconceivable that a particle of matter should
either come into existence, or lapse int > non-existence."
Robert Kennedy Duncan (1905), in his New Knowledge says: "Governing matter in all its varied forms, there is one great fundamental law
which up to this time has been ironclad in its character. This law, known as
the law of the conservation of mass, states that no particle of matter, however
small, may be created or destroyed. All the king's horses and all the king's men
cannot destroy a pin's head. We may smash that pin's head, dissolve it in acid,
burn it in the electric furnace, employ, in a word, every annihilating agency, and
yet that pin's head persists in being. Again, it is as uncreatable as it is indestructible. In other words, we cannot create something out of nothing. The material must be furnished for every existent article. The sum of matter in the universe is x pounds, — and, while it may be carried through a myriad of forms, when
all is said and done, it is just — x pounds.
* "The elements are eternal, and spirit and elements inseparably connected
receive a fulness of joy. * * * The elements are the tabernacle of God ;
yea, man is the tabernacle of God, even temples." Doc. and Cov. sec. 93: 35.

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"THE KING FOLLETT DISCOURSE." 181
exalt man; but it is impossible for me to say much on this subject.
I shall therefore just touch upon it, for time will not permit me to
say all. It is associated with the subject of the resurrection of
the dead, — namely, the soul — the mind of man — the immortal
spirit. Where did it come from? All learned men and doctors of
divinity say that God created it in the beginning; but it is not so:*
the very idea lessons man in my estimation. I do not believe the
doctrine ; I know better. Hear it, all ye ends of the world ; for
God has told me so; and if you don't believe me, it will not make
the truth without effect. I will make a man appear a fool before
I get through; if he does not believe it. I am going to tell of
things more noble.
We say that God himself is a self-existent being. Who told
you so? It is correct enough; but how did it get into your heads?
Who told you that man did not exist in like manner upon the same
principles? Man does exist upon the same principles. God made
a tabernacle and put a spirit into it, and it became a living soul.
(Refers to the old Bible.) How does it read in the Hebrew? It
does not say in the Hebrew that God created the spirit of man.
It says "God made man out of the earth and put into him Adam's
spirit, and so became a living body."
The mind or the intelligence which man possesses is co-equalf
* "I [the Christ] was in the beginning with the Father, and was the first
born. * * * Ye (addressing the brethren present when the revelation was
being received) — ye were also in the beginning with the Father; that which is spirit
(i. e. that part of the brethren that was spirit) , even the spirit of truth. * * *
Man (the race, all men, the term man is generic) — man was also in the beginning
with God. Intelligence (meaning doubtless the intelligent entity in each man —
all intelligences) intelligence, or the light of truth, was not created or made,
neither indeed can be" (Doc. and Cov. sec. 113). Hence the self-existence, and
necessarily the eternal existence, and uncreatableness of the minds or intelligences
of men, for which the Prophet is contending in his discourse.
t Undoubtedly the proper word here would be "co-eternal," not "co-equal."
This illustrates the imperfection of the report made of the sermon. For
surely the mind of man is not co-equal with God except in the matter of its eternity. It is the direct statement in the Book of Abraham — accepted by the Church
as Scripture — that there are differences in the intelligences that exist, that some
aro more intelligent than others; and that God is "more intelligent then them all '
(Book of Abraham, chapt. 3). I believe that this means more than that God is-

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L82 IMPROVEMENT ERA.
with God himself. I know that my testimony is true; hence, when
I talk to these mourners, what have they lost? Their relatives and
friends are only separated from their bodies for a short season:
their spirits which existed with (Jod have left the tabernacle of
clay only for a little moment, as it were; and they now exist in a
place where they converse together the same as we do on the
earth.
I am dwelling on the immortality of the spirit of man. Is it
logical to say that the intelligence of spirits is immortal, and yet
that it had a beginning? The intelligence of spirits had no beginning, neither will it have an end. That is good logic. That
which has a beginning may have an end. There never was a time
when there were not spirits; for they are co-equal [co-eternal] with
our Father in heaven.
I want to reason more on the spirit of man; for I am dwelling
on the body and spirit of man — on the subject of the dead. I take
my ring from my finger and liken it unto the mind of man — the
immortal part, because it has no beginning. Suppose you cut it
in two; then it has a beginning and an end; but join it again, and
it continues one eternal round. So with ths spirit of man. As
the Lord liveth, if it had a beginning, it will have an end. All the
fools and learned and wise men from the beginning of creation,
more intelligent than any other one of the intelligences. It means that he is more
intelligent than all of the other intelligences combined. His intelligence is greater
than that of the mass, and that has led me to say in the second Year Book of the
Seventies: — "It is this fact doubtless which makes this One, 'more intelligent
than them all,' " God. He is the All- Wise One! The All- Powerful One! What
he tells other Intelligences to do must be precisely the wisest, fittest thing that
they could anywhere or anyhow learn — the thing which it will always behoove
them, with right loyal thankfulness, and nothing doubting, to do. There goes with
this, too, the thought that this All-Wise One will be the Unselfish One, the All-
Loving One, the One who desires that which is highest, and best; not for himself
alone, but for all: and that will be best for him too. His glory, his power,
his joy will be enhanced by the uplifting of all, by enlarging them; by increasing
their joy, power, and glory. And because this All Intelligent One is all this, and
does all this, the other Intelligences worship him, submit their judgments and
their will to his judgment and his will. He knows, and can do that which is
best; and this submission of the mind to the Most Intelligent, Wisest — wiser than
all — is worship. This the whole meaning of the doctrine and the life of the Christ
expressed in — "Father, not my will but Thy will, be done."

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"THE KING FOLLETT DISCOURSE." 183
who say that the spirit of man had a beginning, prove that it must
have an end; and if that doctrine is true, then the doctrine of annihilation would be true. But if I am right, I might with boldness proclaim from the house-tops that God never had the power
to create the spirit of man at all. God himself could not create
himself.
Intelligence is eternal and exists upon a self-existent principle.
It is a spirit* from age to age, and there is no creation about it.
All the minds and spirits that God ever sent into the world are
susceptible of enlargement .f
The first principles of man are self-existent with God. God
himself, finding he was in the midst of spirits and glory, because
he was more intelligent, saw proper to institute laws whereby the
rest could have a privilege to advance like himself. The relationship we have with God places us in a situation to advance in knowledge. He has power to institute laws to instruct the weaker intelligences, that they may be exalted with himself, so that they
might have one glory upon another, and all that knowledge, power,
glory, and intelligence, which is requisite in order to save them in
the world of spirits .%
* "A spirit from age to age" — not "spirit from age to age;" but "a spirit,"
that is, an entity, a person, an individual. Th:s paragraph in the Prophet's remarks may well be taken as an interpretation of Doc. and Cov. sec 93: 29.
t "But are not creatable," would have rounded out the thought.
X ' 'Behold this is my work and my glory — to bring to pass the immortality
and eternal life of man" — (The Lord to Moses, Book of Moses, chapt. 1:39; Pearl
■ of Great Price) — that is, "to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of
man," as man. The passage has reference doubtless to man as composed of spirit
and body — a proper "soul" (see Doc. and Cov. sec. 88: 15-16) — "For the
spirit and the body is the soul of man; and the resurrection of the dead is the redemption of the soul." la other words, the "work" and the "glory" of God are
achieved in bringing to pass the immortality and eternal life of man," as man,
in the eternal union of the spirit and body of man through the resurrection —
through the redemption of the soul. This brings into eternal union "spirit and
element" declared by the word of God to be essential to a fulness of joy — "The
elements are eternal, and spirit and element, inseparably connected, receive a
fulness of joy; and when separated man cannot receive a fulness of joy" (Doc.
and Cov. sec. 93). Also "Adam fell that man might be: and men are that they
might have joy" (II Nephi 2: 25). Indeed, the whole purpose of God in bringing

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184 IMPROVEMENT ERA.
This is good doctrine. It tastes good. I can taste the principles of eternal life, and so can you. They are given to me by
the revelations of Jesus Christ; and I know that when I tell you
these words of eternal life as they are given tome, you taste them,
and I know that you believe them. You say honey is sweet, and
so do I. I can also taste the spirit of eternal life. I know it is
good; and when I tell you of these things which were given me by
inspiration of the Holy Spirit, you are bound to receive them as
sweet, and rejoice more and more.
I want to talk more of the relation of man to God. I will
open your eyes in relation to your dead. All things whatsoever
God in his infinite wisdom has seen fit and proper to reveal to us,
while we are dwelling in mortality, in regard to our mortal bodies,
are revealed to us in the abstract, and independent of affinity of
this mortal tabernacle, but are revealed to our spirits precisely as
though we had no bodies at all; and those revelations which will
save our spirits will save our bodies. God reveals them to us in
view of no eternal dissolution of the body, or tabernacle. Hence
the responsibility, the awful responsibility, that rests upon us in
relation to our dead; for all the spirits who have not obeyed the
gospel in the flesh must either obey it in the spirit or be damned.
Solemn thought!— dreadful thought! Is there nothing to be done?
—no preparation — no salvation for our fathers and friends who
have died without having had the opportunity to obey the decrees
of the Son of Man? Would to God that I had forty days and nights
in which to tell you all! I would let you know that I am not a
"fallen prophet."*
to pass the earth life of man is to inure to the welfare and enlargement of man
as urged in the teaching of the Prophet in the paragraph above. God effects man
only to his advantage. See also Seventy's Year Book No. II, Lesson ii, note 6.
* Accusations were repeatedly being made about this time that President
Smith was a fallen prophet. But when the mighty doctrines that in this discourse
he is setting forth are taken into account, and the spiritual power with which he
is delivering them is reckoned with, no more complete refutation of his being a
fallen prophet could be made. The Prophet lived his life in crescendo. From
small beginnings, it rose in breadth and power as he neared its close. As a teacher
he reached the climax of his career in this discourse. After it there was but one
thing more he could do— seal his testimony with his blood. This he did less than,
three months later. Such is not the manner of life of false prophets.

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"THE KING FOLLETT DISCOURSE:' 185
What promises are made in relation to the subject of the salvation of the dead? and what kind of characters are those who
can be saved, although their bodies are mouldering and decaying
in the grave? When his commandments teach us, it is in view of
eternity; for we are looked upon by God as though we were in
eternity. God dwells in eternity, and does not view things as
we do.
The greatest responsibility in this world that God has laid
upon us is to seek after our dead. The Apostle says, "They without us cannot be made perfect;" * for it is necessary that the sealing power should be in our hands to seal our children and our dead
for the fulness of the dispensation of times — a dispensation to meet
the promises made by Jesus Christ before the foundation of the
world for the salvation of man.
Now, I will speak of them. I will meet Paul half way. I say
to you, Paul, you cannot be perfect without us. It is necessary
that those who are going before and those who come after us
should have salvation in common with us; and thus hath God made
it obligatory upon man. Hence, God said, "I will send you Elijah the
prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the
Lord: and he shall turn the hearts of the fathers to the children,
and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and
smite the earth with a curse." t
I have a declaration to make as to the provisions which God
hath made to suit the conditions of man — made from before the
foundation of the world. 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. God
* Hebrews 11:40.
t Malachi 4: 5.

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18G IMPROVEMENT ERA.
has wrought out a salvation for all men, unless they have committed a certain sin; and every man who has a friend in the eternal
world can save him, unless he has committed the unpardonable
sin. And so you can see how far you can be a savior.
A man cannot commit the unpardonable sin after the dissolution of the body, and there is a way possible for escape. 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, if 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.
A man is his own tormentor and his own condemner. Hence
the saying, They shall go into the lake that burns with fire and
brimstone. The torment of disappointment in the mind of man is
as exquisite as a lake burning with fire and brimstone. I say, so is
the torment of man.
I know the Scriptures and understand them. 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. Hence the salvation of Jesus Christ was
wrought out for all men, in order to triumph over the devil; for if
it did not catch him in one place, it would in another; for he stood
up as a Savior. All will suffer until they obey Christ himself.
The contention in heaven was — Jesus said there would be
certain souls that would not be saved; and the devil said he could
save them all, and laid his plans before the grand council, who
gave their vote in favor of Jesus Christ. So the devil rose up in
rebellion against God, and was cast down, with all who put up
their heads for him.*
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
* Book of Moses CPearl of Great Price) chapt. 4: 1-4; Book of Abraham
chapt. 3: 23-28.

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' ' THE KING FOLL ETT DISCO URSE. " 187
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.
When a man begins to be an enemy to this work, he hunts
me, he seeks to kill me, and never ceases to thirst for my blood.
He gets the spirit of the devil — the same spirit that they had who
crucified the Lord of Life — the same spirit that sins against the
Holy Ghost. You cannot save such persons; you cannot bring them
to repentance; they make open war, like the devil, and awful is
the consequence.
I advise all of you to be careful what you do, or you may byand-by find out that you have been deceived. Stay yourselves; do
not give way; don't make any hasty moves, you may be saved. If
a spirit of bitterness is in you, don't be in haste. You may say,
that man is a sinner. Well, if he repents, he shall be forgiven.
Be cautious: await. When you find a spirit that wants bloodshed
— murder, the same is not of God, but is of the devil. Out of the
abundance of the heart of man the mouth speaketh.
The best men bring forth the best works. The man who tells
you words of life is the man who can save you. I warn you against
all evil characters who sin against the Holy Ghost; for there is no
redemption for them in this world nor in the world to come.
I could go back and trace every subject of interest concerning the relationship of man to God, if I had time. I can enter into
* "For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted
of the heavenly gift, and were make 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" (Heb. 4: 4-6). Those who
sin against the light and knowledge of the Holy Ghost may be said to crucify more
than the body of our Lord, they crucify the Spirit.

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1 8 - IMPRO V EM EXT ERA .
the mysteries; I can enter largely into the eternal worlds; for Jesus
s%id, "In my Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so,
I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you" (John
14: 2). Paul says, "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" (I Cor. 15:41). What have we to console us in
relation to the dead? We have reason to have the greatest hope
and consolations for our dead of any people on the earth; for we
have seen them walk worthily in our midst, and seen them sink
asleep in the arms of Jesus; and those who have died in the faith
are now in the celestial kingdom of God. And hence is the glory
of the sun.
You mourners have occasion to rejoice, speaking of the death
of Elder King Follett; for your husband and father is gone to wait
until the resurrection of the dead — until the perfection of the
remainder; for at the resurrection your friend will rise in perfect
felicity and go to celestial glory, while many must wait myriads
of years before they can receive the like blessings; and your expectations and hopes are far above what man can conceive; for
why has God revealed it to us?
I am authorized to say, by the authority of the Holy Ghost,
that you have no occasion to fear; for he is gone to the home of
the just. Don't mourn, dun't weep. I know it by the testimony
of the Holy Ghost that is within me ; and you may wait for your
friends to come forth to meet you in the morn of the celestial
world .
Rejoice, 0 Israel! Your friends who have been murdered for
the truth's sake in the persecutions shall triumph gloriously in the
celestial world, while their murderers shall welter for ages in torment, even until they shall have paid the uttermost farthing. I
say this for the benefit of strangers.
I have a father, brothers, children, and friends who have gone
to a world of spirits. They are only absent for a moment. They
are in the spirit, and we shall soon meet again. The time will soon
arrive when the trumpet shall sound. When we depart, we shall
hail our mothers, fathers, friends, and all whom we love, who have
fallen asleep in Jesus. There will be no fear of mobs, persecu-

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"THE KING FOLLETT DISCOURSE." 189
tions, or malicious lawsuits and arrests; but it will be an eternity
of felicity *
I will leave this subject here, and make a few remarks on the
subject of baptism. The baptism of water, without the baptism
of fire and the Holy Ghost attending it, is of no use; they are necessarily and inseparably connected. An individual must be born
of water and the spirit in order to get into the kingdom of God.
In the German, the text bears me out the same as the revelations
which I have given and taught for the last fourteen years on that
subject. I have the testimony to put in their teeth. My testimony has been true all the time. You will find it in the declaration of John the Baptist. (Reads from the German.) John says,
"I baptize you with water, but when Jesus comes, who has the
power (or keys) , he shall administer the baptism of fire and the
Holy Ghost." Great God! where is now all the sectarian world?
And if this testimony is true, they are all damned as clearly as
anathema can do it. I know the text is true. I call upon all you
Germans who know that it is true to say, Aye. (Loud shouts of
"Aye.")
Alexander Campbell, how are you going to save people with
water alone? For John said his baptism was good for nothing
without the baptism of Jesus Christ. "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. And this will we do, if God permit" (Heb. 6: 1-3).
There is one God, one Father, one Jesus, one hope of our
* The omitted paragraph indicated by the asterisks refers to the exaltation
and power that will be wielded by children in the resurrection before attaining to
the development of stature of men and women; but which development will surely
come to those who are raised from the dead as infants. It is quite evident that
there was some imperfection in the report of the Prophet's remarks at this point,
and hence the passage is omitted. Those who desire to investigate the matter
more fully should consult the History of the Church, vol. iv, pp. 556-7 and
foot note.

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190 IMPROVEMENT ERA.
calling, one baptism. All these three* baptisms only make one.
Many talk of baptism not being essential to salvation; but this kind
of teaching would lay the foundation of their damnation. I have
the truth, and am at the defiance of the world to contradict me,
if they can.
I have now preached a little Latin, a little Hebrew, Greek, and
German; and I have fulfiled all. I am not so big a fool as many
have taken me to be. The Germans know that I read the German
correctly.
Hear it, all ye ends of the earth — all ye priests, all ye sinners,
and all men. Repent! repent! Obey the gospel. Turn to God;
for your religion won't save you, and you will be damned. I do
not say how long. There have been remarks made concerning all
men being redeemed from hell; but I say that those who sin against
the Holy Ghost cannot be forgiven in this world or in the world to
come; they shall die the second death. Those who commit the unpardonable sin are doomed to Gnolom — to dwell in hell, worlds
without end. As they concoct scenes of bloodshed in this world,
so they shall rise to that resurrection which is as the lake of fire
and brimstone. Some shall rise to the everlasting burnings of
God; for God dwells in everlasting burnings, and some shall rise to
the damnation of their own filthiness, which is as exquisite a torment as the lake of fire and brimstone.
I have intended my remarks for all, both rich and poor, bond
and free, great and small. I have no enmity against any man. I
love you all; but I hate some of your deeds. I am your best friend,
and if persons miss their mark it is their own fault. If I reprove
a man, and he hates me, he is a fool; for I love all men, especially
these my brethren and sisters.
I rejoice in hearing the testimony of my aged friends. You
don't know me; you never knew my heart. No man knows my history. I cannot tell it: I shall never undertake it. I don't blame
* Either this is a misprint, or due to inaccurate reporting, or else the Prophet
had in mind water baptism, baptism of fire, and of the Holy Ghost, as the three
baptisms. It is very generally understood, however, that "baptism of fire and the
Holy Ghost," is the "baptism of the Holy Ghost" of other scriptures; cf. Matt.
3: 11; Mark 1:8; Luke 8: 17; John 1: 33; Acts 1: 5; Acts 11: 3.

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"THE KING FDLLETT DISCOURSE." 191
any one for not believing my history. If I had not experienced
what I have, I could not have believed it myself. I never did harm
any man since I was born in the world. My voice is always for
peace.
I cannot lie down until all my work is finished. I never think
any evil, nor do anything to the harm of my fellow-man. When I
am called by the trump of the archangel and weighed in the balance, you will all know me then. I add no more. God bless you
all. Amen.