Conversion

Conversion By Professor Enoch Jorgensen Conversion in its broadest sense, according to Webster, is "a changing from one state or condition to another;" but in the commonly accepted sense it is "A spiritual and moral change from the service of the world to the service of God." Professor James says: "Conversion is a sudden conviction that comes to the individual, of previous inadequacy." This agrees in the main with Starbuck's notion that "Conversion is characterized by more or less sudden changes of character from evil to goodness, from sinfulness to righteousness, from indifference to spiritual insight and activity.' These views seem to be borne out by fact in the main, so far as the conversion of mature men and women is concerned; but by far the greater number of converts is among the young during the period of adolescence. When young people are brought up in religious environment, true conversion seems to be a natural growth, "a state of certitude through a knowledge of God plus an acquaintance with God. This is not the putting on of a patch but the weaving in of new fiber in the makeup of the individual." Conviction is not conversion. Conviction, or the sense of sin, usually precedes conversion. This sense of sin does not necessarily imply real sin, but a feel- ing of imperfection, of unworthiness, of having made mistakes. There is a great difference, however, between sins and mistakes, between conviction and conversion. Humility is a great factor for making the one reach into the other. James, Starbuck, Coe, and other religious psychologists speak of an ultra-marginal consciousness in our lives which brings to us visions, dreams, or other manifestations of the super-human, of God. To the Latter-day Saint this is the Holy Ghost, the Comforter, who makes known to us the past, the present, and the future when we are worthy. He brings real conversion to the soul. The Spirit of God who is a guide to all men when they do right, may influence similarly those on whom the Holy Ghost has not been conferred. Starbuck places the age of conversion at from 10 to 25 years, though with many children it begins as early as 7 or 8 years of age. In females conversion is most common from 13 to 16 years,

1090 IMPROVEMENT ERA. and in males at 17 years. Natural or gradual-growth conversion rarely occurs after the 20th year. Among the motives and forces that lead to conversion, Star- buck gives the following: 1. Fear; 2. Other self -regarding mo- tives; 3. Altruistic motives; 4. Following out a moral ideal; 5. Remorse and conviction of sin; 6. Response to teachings; 7. Example and imitation; 8. Urging and social pleasure. Fear is a common cause with both sexes; fear of the sec- tarian "Hell-fire," fear of the future, of death, of meeting parents or other loved ones gone before whose injunctions have not been followed. This last state implies partial conversion earlier. Following out a moral ideal, and remorse and conviction of sin are common motives among males, while urging and social pleas- ures are among the most common motives that lead to conver- sion among females. Many and varied are the preconversion experiences given by the different authors who have made a study of this question. If the ideal life is dominant there may be a feeling of estrange- ment from God, doubts and misgivings followed by a desire for a better life. Under normal conditions there is usually a feeling of helplessness, humility, restlessness, anxiety, uncertainty. If a sinful life is dominant in consciousness, there may be de- pression, sadness, sense of sin, tendency to resist conviction. Conviction may continue for weeks and months, even for years before it is marked. Starbuck finds that the average time for conviction for females is 24 weeks, for males 69 weeks. We Latter-day Saints who have had experience as missionaries know how this varies with the individuals. Some know the gospel as soon as they hear it, others study it, think and pray about it, for weeks, months, or years. I have in mind a good brother, prominent in ward and stake affairs in Salt Lake, whom I met in Copenhagen twenty-four years ago. He was president of a Temperance Society, and the well-to-do landlord of a great tene- ment house. Opportunity presented itself for me to appear on a musical program given by the society, and in this way I began preaching the gospel to him. An invitation to take dinner at his home was followed by a standing invitation to dine with the family regularly every Thursday. Then came the request to bring other missionaries; finally every Latter-day Saint mission- ary in that great city knew that dinner would be served each Thursday at 6 o'clock at Herr C's, and welcome. This con- tinued for thirteen years after I left Denmark, and always our investigating friend made it a point to have one or more strang- ers at table to meet the "Mormons." Yet he held off from bap- tism; when the brethren urged it he would say he was not quite converted; or, he would jocularly remark that he'd better wait

CONVERSION 1091 until the elder returned, who first brought him the gospel. In the meantime, many souls were brought to a knowledge of the truth through his generous efforts. Fourteen years after our first meeting he and all his household embraced the gospel. Who can say that God did not stay his conversion for a wise purpose? The psychological steps in conversion seem to be: first a sense of perplexity and conviction of sin, second, satisfaction and temporary relaxation, third, a spur to renewed activity and better living. One authority says : "Conversion consists in yield- ing or self-surrender, determination, forgiveness, God's help, public confession, spontaneous awakening, and a feeling of one- ness with God." However we word it, Latter-day Saints know that if any one be truly converted he will eschew evil and turn to God with all his heart. He will lay aside the past, and with the poet will say: "Arise, if the past detain you, Her sunshine and sorrow forget. No chains so unworthy to bind you As those of useless regret." Revivals as a means of conversion were formerly much em- ployed; but it is now generally conceded that revival converts "do not stick," education, therefore, is taking the place of re- vivals. The lecture platform, the lyceum, the chautauqua do much to stir men to better living. The Church Schools, among us, have been the means of saving thousands of young men and women from straying afield during the adolescent period. The new move to establish seminaries in connection with the state high schools is, and will continue to be one of the greatest factors for the saving of our young people that has been developed so far within the Church. We seminary teachers must be prepared to grasp the oppor- tunity of "becoming saviors on Mount Zion." We must know our field, know adolescent youth, understand that "God and nature have wrought an indissoluble bond between love and religion," that the age of religion and that of sexual maturity co;ncide, "that religion is at its best when its earthly image is most spotless, that a church as an institution is at its best when it has the highest ideals, that sex-love is at its best when re- ligion is most pure and undefiled." G. Stanley Hall gives twelve statesments of parallelism be- tween sex-love and religion: 1. "Both affect the ego." (I'll live, I'll die for you.) 2. "Both make the soul sensitive to nature." 3. "Both have dangers of fanaticism." 4. "Both are nest builders."— The home, the church.

1092 IMPROVEMENT ERA. 5. "Both ebb and flow like the Sea." — Teachers must learn to appreciate flood tide. 6. "The soul is especially cadenced in love and religion." 7. "Both exhibit the self in ecstatic love." 8. "Both have accurately prescribed forms and ceremonies." 9. "Both demand an object on which to rest." 10. The object of each modifies its subject." 11. "Both demand resignation and acquiescence." 12. "Religion and love are alike in that each vivifies our whole life, and the absence of either is followed by a shadowing of existence. Sex- love provides for the perpetuity of the individual." How very important that we understand both and their relation to adolescence.