--- title: Times and Seasons description: Issues of 1842 to 1843. authors: - Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints editors: - Ebenezer Robinson - Don Carlos Smith - Smith, Joseph, Jr. - Taylor, John collections: - periodicals tags: - newspaper - times-and-seasons - nauvoo - nineteenth-century periodical: Times and Seasons volume: 4 number: 9 published: 1843-03-15 publisher: E. Robinson and D. C. Smith; later John Taylor publisher_place: Commerce and Nauvoo, Illinois language: en type: article reference: "“The Religion of the Ancients,” *Times and Seasons* 4, no. 9 (March 15, 1843): 135–138." printed_title: THE RELIGION OF THE ANCIENTS. source: url: https://archive.org/details/per_utah-and-the-mormons_times-and-seasons_1843-03-15_4_9 transcription: Text from the Centerplace.org transcription (https://www.centerplace.org/history/ts/v4n09.htm), with its page breaks; this Internet Archive scan is the reference copy (its OCR was used only as a witness for OCR repair) identifier: per_utah-and-the-mormons_times-and-seasons_1843-03-15_4_9 start_page: 135 end_page: 138 curator_note: A Mormon newspaper published by the church in Nauvoo; included for historical study. Inclusion does not imply endorsement. rights: status: public-domain basis: US publication 1843 (Nauvoo, Illinois); published before 1931, so public domain in the United States source: https://archive.org/details/per_utah-and-the-mormons_times-and-seasons_1843-03-15_4_9 publication_year: 1843 --- # The Religion of the Ancients It has been supposed, by many of our modern theologians, that the ancients knew very little about religion; that if they possessed any information of a God, it was only in dark similitudes; in forms and ceremonies, in uncertainties and shadows; that the antediluvians lived in a day of darkness, or rather in the gloom of night; that the Patriarchs lived in the dawn of day, before the sun had made its appearance above the horizon; that the Mosaic dispensation might be compared to the sun's first rising on the world; that the time when our Savior made his appearance among men, and the gospel was preached by the apostles, was like the sun rising in majesty, dispelling the mist that brooded over the earth, and causing creation to rejoice; but that we are living in a day when sol has reached the meridian of his glory; in "the blaze of gospel day." These views are by no means uncommon, and yet it always has appeared singular to us, that men in this day and age of the world, when sectarianism has torn to pieces the religious world, and men's views on this subject are split up into ten thousand pieces, that they should arrogate more to themselves than what our Savior and his apostles enjoyed, when the church was in its primitive glory; whilst they were under the teaching of our Lord, and inspired apostles; before corruption, or false doctrine had obtained power in the christian church: and we can only account for it upon the principle, that "ignorance is the mother of superstition;" and that in them the words of the apostle are fulfilled: "professing to be wise, they became fools." True religion is of divine origin, it emanates from God: it teaches us what is his will-what our priviledges [privileges] are, and what our duty is towards him, and to each other. It teaches us to love God with all our heart, might, mind, and strength; and our neighbor as ourselves." If we possess any knowledge of God, we must have received it from God; for, according to the words of the Savior, "no man knoweth the Father but the Son, and he to whom the Son does reveal him." Since religion is of divine origin, we can only obtain from God a true knowledge of his mind, his purposes, and designs; and what mode of worship will be acceptable to him. And if we have no means of coming to God ourselves we can receive no knowledge of God, but what is conveyed either by tradition, or writing; and since priestcraft has prevailed in different ages, and errors in translation and transposition are likely to ensue, it must follow as a natural consequence, that those who nearest the fountain, will be the most likely to partake of the purest streams.-And it must be obvious to every understanding mind, that all correct intelligence proceeds from God, and that the more frequent intercourse a man has with the Lord, the more communications he has from the Almighty, and the more frequent God's revelations are to him, the more he will know the purposes and designs of his Heavenly Father, and consequently of true religion. This being the case, it will not be necessary for us to inquire whether a man lived in the Adamic dispensation, the dispensation of Noah, of the Patriarchs, of Moses, of our Savior, or in the present dispensation, to know who had the most light, possessed the greatest privileges, or had the most religion; but to enquire [inquire] who drew the nearest to God; who received the most frequent communications from him, and to whom did he most abundantly reveal his will: whether in this generation or any other. If these questions can be satisfactorily answered, we shall not find much difficulty in ascertaining who possesses the most knowledge of God, and godliness, and who has the most religion. If we turn our attention to the present religious world, what do we see? men holding communion with God, and receiving revelations from God, verily nay! the heavens to them have become brass, and God's mouth is closed; nay worse; the idea of revelation is scouted by them, and those who would believe in it are branded as impostors; and they virtually cut themselves off from all communication with, or from, God, and can know nothing of or about God, "but what they know naturally, as brute beasts," as saith the apostle. What sort of a spectacle does the christian church present at the present? Torn, and split up, divided, and disjointed by the fiery zeal of religious bigots, and hypocritical partizans [partisans], it presents a picture of ruin and desolation; like a forest torn by a mighty tempest, or uprooted by a furious whirlwind, that once stood in grandeur and majesty, and its beautiful foliage was admired by every observer; but now its withered leaves, its broken boughs, and shattered limbs, are the sad memorials of its overthrow and destruction. Or like some ancient palace that stood proudly aloof from other inferior buildings, magnificently adorned with all the beauty of ancient architecture; its towers, and columns, and statuary, and beauty, was the pride of princes, and its strength and fortresses bid defiance to the hand of the desolator; but the revolution of ages have despoiled the noble edifice; the corroding hand of time has destroyed its beauty, and all that is left of its former magnificence is here and there a few broken fragments, that very imperfectly shew [show] to the enquiring [inquiring] traveler the ruins of its former splendour [splendor], and ancient glory. So stood the church, once indeed beautiful, pure and intelligent;-clothed with the power and spirit of God; endowed with the gift of the Holy Ghost; possessed of prophets, apostles, pastors, teachers, helps, governments, tongues, interpretations, gifts, visions, and the ministering of angels; having the heavens opened, the purposes of God unfolded, the future destiny of man made known, and "life and immortality brought to light." Basking in the beams of eternal truth, and holding communications with God and angels, it stood proudly erect, in the strength of Israel's God; it was sustained by the mighty hand of Jehovah, and was indeed "fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners;" but ah! alas! a change has come over the dream; the flower has been nipt [nipped] in the bud; its glory has departed; the deadly influence of heresy has penetrated to its very vitals. The withering power of priestcraft has disrobed it of its beauty; and disjointed by sectarian strife, and schismatic influence, it lays in broken fragments scattered, rent, and disjointed; with nothing to point out its original, but he shattered remnants of its ancient glory, on which are scarcely traceable any of the marks of its former magnificence, or original grandeur. And how can it be otherwise? when men are destitute of revelations from God, and absolutely deny the principle. Perhaps some may think that the above is an overstrained picture, but we think not; and let those who think differently examine the subject, and they will find that none of the above mentioned things, which constituted the beauty and glory of the christian church, are now to be found: no apostles, no prophets, no pastors, teachers, or evangelists, that even profess to be inspired; no gifts of healing, no tongues, or interpretations; no visions, no revelations, or ministering of angels; but all they now possess, as a substitute, is, the dogmas of men, the wild theories of theologians, and the opinion of divines; all doubt, and uncertainty; without the least particle of a knowledge of God, the order of his church, or his will concerning them. If we turn our attention from the religious world to that of the infidel, we shall find a body of men vainly striving to find happiness in created good, in morality and in social society; but without a knowledge of God. Turn we our attention for a moment to Fourierism, which however laudable in its attempts to ameliorate the condition of man, and out of the broken chaotic, disordered [disordered] mass of societiy [society] that now exists, bring about a social order which shall promote universal peace and happiness; it must fail in its attempts; it has no other religion than that which is above described; it has not the materials to construct such an edifice as it contemplates; and science without God will never make men permanently happy. What a deplorable aspect the world of mankind presents at the present time, especially on our continent, torn to pieces with dissensions about religion and politics, tossed on the billows of uncertainty, both religiously and politically, men scarcely know which way to steer to shun the various rocks that threaten destruction on every hand. With several hundred different religions, all clashing and in commotion, the speculative theories of Miller, with his wild enthusiasm;-the deceptive pretensions of Mesmerism; the poison of Infidelity; the plans of Fourier, and the ten thousand other notions that are deluging the earth, and cracking the human brain, render it indeed necessary that God should again speak and point out the way of salvation and happiness with certainty, to the human family and bid 'dire commotion cease.' With this state of things, shall we glory in our religion, and say that we are living in the 'blaze of gospel day?' Vain pretension! Idle boast! Let us rather hide our heads in shame, and 'stand in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein;' then should we indeed find rest to our souls. Jer., vi. 17. If we turn our attention to the ancients, we shall find that their religion was founded upon a very different basis. If they worshipped God, it was because they were instructed by him to do so-if they kept any law, or observed an ordinances, it was because the Lord commanded them to do it; their religion was taught them by the Lord, and if they possessed any knowledge of God, any wisdom or intelligence, if they were made acquainted with his purposes and designs, it was through revelation; and if God had not unveiled himself to them, they must have remained eternally in the dark, and ignorant of the principles of truth. Under the tuition of Jehovah, they were taught the truths of heaven, unadulterated by the foolish dogmas of men, or the corrupting influences of priestcraft. Thus being taught of God, and amenable to him for their conduct; and their teaching being the teaching of heaven and proceeding from God, their adherence to his precepts was their eternal salvation. They knew no other guide, and following his directions, they were safe. What a contrast there is between ancient and modern religion. Men boast of their religion, of their intelligence, of their knowledge of God, and of his will and purposes, and he has never spoken to them, nor given a revelation for eighteen hundred years, and they believe he never will do again. While Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Moses and the prophets, walked with God, had the ministering of angels, the visions of heaven unfolded, and the purposes of God developed; saw and conversed with Jehovah, gazed on the glories of the eternal world, and wrote the prophesied of events that should transpire through all succeeding ages. If this generation possess any knowledge of God, they obtained it through what the ancients have written and spoken; and yet our modern religionists profess to be wise, enlightened and intelligent; and think that the ancients were in the dark. O consistency, whither hast thou fled! We must necessarily conclude from the above that 'every good and perfect gift proceeds from the Father of Lights,' through the medium of revelation, and if we cannot obtain revelations from him, we must remain eternally in the dark, in regard to true religion, God, angles, heaven, hell, the purposes of Jehovah, or any thing connected with salvation; and instead of obtaining true intelligence from God, shall be obliged to wander in the uncertain mazes of sectarianism, and of false religion and philosophy; ignorant of God, and of the plan of salvation, groping in mid-night gloom, and when we leave this world, be obliged to 'take a leap in the dark.'