Anti-Mormon Tracts No. 2
Smithianity;
... OR ...
Mormonism Refuted by Mormons.
By R. B. NEAL, Grayson, Ky.
"The keys of this kingdom shall never be taken from you while thou art in the world, neither in the world to come; nevertheless through you shall the oracles be given to another -- even to the Church." -- The Lord to Joseph Smith, Jr.: Doc. and Cov., Sec. xc.
"As I have said, Joseph Smith organized the Church. He lived but a short time with us -- though longer than the Savior did after he entered the ministry . . . But before he died, he organized the Church, with apostles, patriarchs, pastors, teachers, and the whole government of the Church of God . . . Joseph was trained in the priesthood before he came to this planet. He understood the priesthood perfectly before he came here." -- President Wilford Woodruff, page 118. "Succession in the Presidency of the Church."
PRICE, 10 CENTS PER COPY.
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CHRISTIAN LEADER PRINT,
CINCINNATI, O.
1898.
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INTRODUCTION.
The author of this tract is engaged in thorough and much-needed work. His writing is done with deliberation. He is sure of his ground. He knows on what he stands. His statement of facts is indisputable. Mormon testifies against Mormon. That there is such a lack of unity in the teaching of Mormonism will be a revelation to the readers of the following pages. One's heart stands still as he reads, for the first time, some of the quotations on the following pages concerning our Father and his Son Jesus Christ our Lord. It is difficult to think of anything more repulsive. Even the old Book is changed to bolster up Mormonism. The leaders in the Church of the Latter Day Saints have the effrontery to add and take from the Scriptures given by inspiration of God. The author of "Smithianity: or Mormonism Refuted by Mormons," is not engaged in writing poetry, nor classic prose. A spade is a spade with him. He is without doubt desperately in earnest in exposing what he regards as at once a colossal, blasphemous and dangerous imposture. Facts are needed. The pages of this tract are packed full of them. The thanks of all Christians are due to the author of "Smithianity: or Mormonism Refuted by Mormons," for the work he has done in the preparation of this tract.
B. B. TYLER.
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SMITHIANITY;
... OR ...
Mormonism Refuted by Mormons.
__________
An ungovernable necessity forces me to coin a new word to define exactly an "ism" or system, that I have been patiently and thoroughly investigating for several months. I use the term with no disrespect for the dead, or lack of courtesy towards the living. I use it simply because it measures the system accurately, and is an exact fit. Proof of this will be abundant. By "Smithianity" I mean the doctrines and teachings of "Joseph Smith, Jr., the Seer," as he called himself, or the so-called Mormon religion.
In battling "Mormonism" I war against the "ism," and not against the "Mormon." It is Christlike to hate the sin and love the sinner. Some friends whom I highly esteem have been deluded by this system, and are now numbered with its warmest advocates. Next to zeal for truth, zeal on fire against hurtful, vicious error, is most commendable.
Mormonism is bold, brazen, defiant and deadly aggressive. It challenges the Christian world, and touches the shield of an opponent with the point of its spear. This means a fight to the finish, to the death of
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one or the other of the clashing systems. No place of compromise could be found for the feet of a dove of peace, to rest its weary wings if a compromise was sought by either.
In my first tract I ventilate the claims of Joseph Smith, Jr., as a prophet of God. This is the vital point of the system. I have another tract to follow up that line. In fact, I am prepared to show sixteen failures to one success of his so-called prophecies. I would term them, more accurately, "guesses." In all candor, I defy a champion of Mormonism to point out a single prediction of Joseph Smith, Jr., worth, of the title of a "prophecy" that ever was fulfilled.
In this tract I propose to follow the old mountaineer's plan for killing poisonous snakes. He would place a forked stick across the snake's body, pin it to the earth, and let it sting and bite itself to death.
I went into this investigation of Mormonism with an earnest desire to learn "the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth," about the system. I consider myself able to weigh the evidence pro and con, and am not conscious of any prejudice against the system that facts and arguments could not subdue. I went straight to headquarters of the friends of the "ism," and to its most intelligent foes, for information. I return from my investigation as the Queen of Sheba did from her visit to King Solomon, feeling that "the half has never yet been told."
That I may not even inadvertently misrepresent Mormonism, I do not propose to even REPRESENT it. Will let the highest and most authoritative representatives of the system PRESENT its teachings to my readers. This will spike all clamor, and shut oft all opposition. In response to a letter from me, President Joseph Smith, of
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Lamoni, Ia., the head of the Reorganized Church of the Latter Day Saints, son of Joseph Smith, Jr., the prophet, and founder and father of the system, wrote, under date of February 17, 1898, as follows.
I number the paragraphs for convenience of reference, and to save repetition. The letter was written by Mr. Alexander Hale Smith, as Secretary. He is a member of what is called "The First Presidency," composed ot the President, Seer, or Prophet ot the Church, and two others. Readers will readily see that the utterances trom that source can not be gainsaid as authoritative and representative:
PRESIDENT JOSEPH SMITH'S LETTER.
Mr. R. B. Neal., Grayson, KY.:
"Dear Sir: --Yours of 2d inst., addressed to President Joseph Smith, was handed to me with request to answer.
"(1) Your letter recognizes two classes of what are called Mormons, and, of course, as you ask us the best works and evidences in favor of the truth, our effort will be to cite you to standard works as we view the matter, and simply ask a careful examination of what is called Mormonism, by the standards:
"(2) First, then, as standard books: The Bible, Book of Mormon, and Book of Doctrine and Covenants.
"As auxiliaries, or aids: Voice ot Warning, and History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, by President J. Smith and Apostle Herman C. Smith, of the Reorganized Church, and tracts, which will be furnished by the publishing house of the Church, at Laoml, Ia., upon order.
" (3) I know of no concordance to the Book of Mormon.
"(4) The Golden Plates were returned to the Angel Moroni.
"(5) The doctrine of polygamy, or plural
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marriage, was never presented to the Church so-called until August, 1852, eight years after the death of President Joseph Smith, the prophet. We believe a careful reading of the history will prove to you who introduced the doctrine. The history referred to will also give the best and most authentic history of Joseph Smith, Jr., so far written.
"(6) I know of no authentic claim by an order of Latter Day Saints that any of the three Nephite brothers has appeared and wrought with them, although there have been individuals who have claimed to have seen one or more of them. However, their claims have never been authenticated.
" (7) We have no reliable history of "King Strang," as you call him. We have fragmentary history of one James J. Strang, who set up for himself and led a faction of Saints, locating at Voree. Wis., thence to Beaver Island, Lake Michigan.
"(8) P. S. -- In referring to the "Doctrine and Covenants," Be it remembered it is necessary to use such as were published during the life-time of the prophet, or up to the date of 1876.
"In the year 1876 the Utah Church changed the Book, taking out the article on "Marriage," published by Joseph Smith, Jr., and inserted the "Polygamous Revelation," thus creating an innovation, which was unwarranted by either history or truth. and without authority even of a vote of that body of people."
C O M M E N T S.
(1) "Two classes of what are called Mormons." Since I began this investigation, I have found that five-times-two-classes must be recognized. The differences between them were not, and are not, of the nonessential, harmless kind, but of the most vital class, to the claims of the whole system.
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As I have a tract in preparation bearing on "Mormon Oneness," In view of an article in the Deseret News, of Salt Lake City, reviewing one of mine in the Christian Leader, of Cincinnati, and of Congressman King's Challenge, I dismiss this section with the remark that the crawfish could make but little impression upon her young by her lecture on the importance of advancing forward instead of "advancing backwards," as long as she "crawfished" herself.
When the facts are known, how widely and numerously divided Mormonism has been, and is, these peripatetic Mormon elders will be robbed of one of their most powerful pleas against the Christian world. One of the mildest terms the "two classes" referred to above have for each other is "Apostate Church."
Note President Smith's protest against the title in his use of the phrase, "so-called Mormons." The elders of the Utah Church that are swarming over the land are very vigorous in their repudiation of the title. In this they are not consistent. I have one of their song-books before me. It is the second edition of "Children's Sunday-school Hymn Book," issued In Salt Lake City December 31, 1896. Song No. 45, page 66, is entitled, "I'll Be a Little Mormon." The second verse, last half, has these words:
"Though I am young and little,
I, too, may learn forthwith,
To love the precious gospel
Revealed to Joseph Smith."
That Is a song that will plant a seed in a young heart, that will develop "Smithianity" of the rankest kind. The gospel revealed to Peter and Paul has been shining upon the world for over eighteen hundred years. Without the implication that Joseph Smith had a fuller and more precious
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gospel revealed to him than either Paul or Peter, why place such a song as that on the lips of the young?
Fancy such a song as this in the hymn-book of a Christian body of people:
"Though I am young and little,
I can sing in common metre,
And learn to love the gospel
Revealed to Simon Peter."
In the third verse of the same song we have the following:
"I'll strive from every evil
To keep my heart and tongue;
I'll be a little 'Mormon,'
And follow Brigham Young."
On page 26 there is a song, No. 102, that is called "The Mormon Boy," with the following:
CHORUS.
"A 'Mormon' boy, a 'Mormon' boy,
I am a 'Mormon' boy;
I might be envied by a king,
For I am a 'Mormon' boy.
The last verse reads:
"My father is a Mormon true,
And when I am a man,
I want to be like him, and do
Just all the good I can.
My faults I'll try to overcome,
And while I life enjoy,
With pride I'll lift my head and say:
'I am a Mormon boy.'"
If that is not planting seed that will grow a crop of Mormons, I'm not a judge of small matters. Call the attention to the next Utah elder who flames with indignation against you for your use of the term, to the above songs, and watch the flames die down and the shadows flit over his physiognomy. I have no feeling of discourtesy, Utahuard, in using the term.
By the way, in one of the books sent to
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me by President Joseph Smlth, I find this language:
"More than once, prior to his death, he (Joseph Smith, Jr., the Prophet) predicted that if Brigham Young should get the lead of the Church, he would lead it to hell. Scores of the old-time Saints testify to this. -- ("Voice of Warning," page 142.)
"He (Joseph Smith, Jr.) prophesied of the 'temptations and tribulations' and the apostasy of the twelve (apostles); and of Brigham Young, that if he got the lead of the Church he would lead it to hell." -- ("Voice of Warning," page 147.)
That "IF" mars the claim of Joseph Smith, Jr., as a prophet. Had he said Brigham Young will get the lead of the Church and will lead it to hell, he would have predicted what "came to pass," as to the first clause in the sentence; as to the last clause, I am mum.
This begins to indicate the love (?) and good feeling existing between these "two classes of Mormons." The little song --
"I'll be a little Mormon,
And follow Brigham Young,"
indicates that Brigham Young "got the lead," and that he has it now, for the young crop of to-day is thus taught to follow him. If the prophet Joseph made such a prediction, and "many of the old Saints say he did," how can President Woodruff and Congressman King, et al., refuse to receive him as a prophet along this line, and accept and command him as infallible along other lines? If Joseph Smith, Jr., was a true prophet, the "Little Mormon" who "follows Brigham Young" will not land in a Klondike when he leaves this mundane sphere; neither will President Woodruff, Congressman King, or any of the many converts these "Brighamite elders" are making.
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Seems to me that "we, the people," have a right to demand of the organized (the Brighamite Church) and the reorganized (the Josephite Church), that they fix up this matter between themselves before either wing sends out recruiters. It is a matter of eternal moment, they being judges.
STANDARD BOOKS.
(See Sec. 2.) In President Smith's letter he commended the Bible, Book of Mormon, and Book of Doctrine and Covenants.
I will have to treat each book separately. In this tract I will only have space for the Bible. In Tract No. 3, I will treat the Book of Mormon and Book of Doctrine and Covenants. It will be painfully interesting to hear these two Seers reason away their own, and ONLY standards, and to see them pluck every prophet's feather out of Joseph Smith's cap.
"THE BIBLE,"
Of course, I had King James' Version. I also have secured another not so generally known. I give the title page:
THE HOLY SCRIPTURES
TRANSLATED AND CORRECTED
BY
THE SPIRIT OF REVELATION.
BY
JOSEPH SMITH, JR.
THE SEER.
Right here is the torpedo, framed and filled by Mormon hands, that will blow "Mormonism" higher and sink it deeper, and make a more complete wreck of it than
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the Spanish explosive did of our great warship, the Maine. Note these two Seers touch off this torpedo.
I wrote again to President Joseph Smith and asked him which Bible he meant when he commended "The Bible" as a standard book. I also wrote to President Wilford Woodruff, of Salt Lake City, Utah, asking him the same question. I wanted all the light I could get on what I regard as the most vital point in the claims of the system, and hence went to the highest sources for information. Below I give extracts from their letters bearing on this point:
THE FROM PRESIDENT SMITH'S LETTER.
"In speaking or writing of 'The Bible,' I mean the King James Version first, and every other edition from which light and truth may be elicited: believing what you call the 'Inspired Translation' to be the better.
There was a command given the Church, directing that the things written in the Scriptures should be taken as God's law to the Church. (See Doctrine and Covenants, Sec. 49.) At that time the Church had the common version, King James' only.
"For this reason we take and use both -- the King James' and the Holy Scriptures.
"Where there is a difference I prefer the latter, or last named. But I can not see why the one should 'supplant the other,' any more than the gospel by Luke should supplant that of Matthew. Some of the elders think as you do, and so use but the one."
FROM PRESIDENT WOODRUFF'S LETTER.
"When we speak of 'The Bible,' without further explanation or definition, we mean what is commonly called 'King James' Version or Translation.' What is sometimes styled the 'Inspired Translation' we regard as an incomplete or partial revision. The
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prophet Joseph did not finish this work; he intended to go through it entirely again. The alterations that he made are undoubtedly correct, but there is no evidence that he approved of all that remains unchanged; indeed, we have reason to believe to the contrary. It being an unfinished work, we have deemed it unjust, both to the martyred prophet and to the Church to present it as an authority or standard of reference."
By 'The Holy Scriptures," President Smith means the translation (?) by Joseph Smith, Jr.
My question to them is clearly indicated by their reply. In this connection I call attention to a prediction made by Lieut. J. W. Gunnison, of the Topographical Engineers, after a residence among the Mormons in an official capacity under Capt. Howard Stansbury, T. E., for a year or more. In this book, published in 1852, he says:
"But the proselyting from other Christian sects will be sadly interfered with, and checked, when the Bible shall be published as altered by Joseph the Seer. To be sure, each sect that gives an interpretation of the scriptures different from the apostolic sense, has a new Bible; but they all keep the same words, and individual judgment is the standard that causes diversity, which is ever changing; and thus there is left open the opportunity for a catholic, that is, universal opinion.
"But the Bible, printed with the emendations which we before referred to, will no more be the Christian's book of the present churches, than the Alcoran of Mahomet, or the Zendivesta.
"Then there will be something tangible, showing the tendency of the doctrines, and a direct blow be aimed at the "faith once delivered to the Saints;" it will no longer be, in the minds of any, a transition and progression
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from one view to another, but necessitate an apostacy from one religion to a different creed, and to the worship of a different God."
That book is now published. I have a copy before me. Joseph Smith, Jr., began writing it in June, 1830, and finished it July 2, 1833. He died in 1844. The book was not published until 1867. It declares: "This work is given to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and to the public, in pursuance of the commandment of God."
Yet President Woodruff says: "We regard it as incomplete or partial revision, an unfinished work, and would deem it unjust to the martyred prophet and to the Church to present it as an authority or standard of reference." President Smith prefers this incomplete, unfinished work, believes it "to be better" than the King James Version. President Woodruff says: "We have reasons to believe that the prophet Joseph did not approve of all that remained unchanged." As that part remaining unchanged is the King James Version, how can he commend it as a standard? More, he approves the changes in it made by Smith, yet refuses to present the book as "an authority, or standard of reference."
Worse and more of it, President Smith says: "There was a command given the Church directly, that the things written in the Scriptures be taken as God's law to the Church. (D. and C., Sec. 42.) At that time the Church had the COMMON VERSION, King James' ONLY."
The only conclusion that men or angels could logically draw out of these premises is, Ergo, God commanded the Church. to take King James' Version only as his law for her guidance and direction. But President Smith says, by some sort of hocus pocus logic, no man of brains can comprehend:
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"For this reason we take and use BOTH versions." Then he adds that some of the elders reject the version God commanded the Church to use, and use but the one, to-wit, Joseph Smith, Jr.'s, version. Again, the Publishing Committee of the "Inspired Translation," one of whom was this same President Smith, say in the preface to the book: "This work is given to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and to the public in pursuance of the commandment of God." This was in 1867.
Had President Smith referred to this command, as well as the command to use the King James Version, I could have understood his "for this reason we use both." Though God commanded it, President Woodruff says: "It would be unjust to the martyred prophet and to the Church to present it as an authority or standard of reference. "
He calls it an unfinished work. To use his language, "we regard it is an incomplete or partial revision." This is a heavy blow to the bood, and to the Book of Mormon. Both are full of predictions that Joseph Smith, the prophet, would "restore" many "plain and most precious parts and many covenants" that had been taken away from the Bible; that his book, and what we call King James' Version, would "grow together," confound false doctrines," "cause contentions to cease," and "establish peace among the fruit of thy loins," not a jot or tittle of which had come to pass. The result in each instance is just the opposite.
Again, in the chief and special revelation made to Joseph Smith, Jr., it was emphatically told Moses, by God himself, on an exceeding high mount, that all the "lost words, most precious promises and many covenants would be given to the world 'again' by Joseph Smith." President Woodruff
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squarely admits a failure. "Joseph" intended to go through it again; did not approve of parts of it. President Smith refuses to accept it alone as God's law to the Church, though he thinks it "the better," and prefers it. Some of the elders "think as you (I) do, and use but the one." The elders can see what President Smith can not, "how this one supplants the other." I can see it. That the people can see it, too, I call attention to some of the differences commended by both seers. As Lieutenant Gunnison said, this translation, rather mutilation, of the Scriptures, is no more the Bible of Christendom than the Koran, or the Zendevesta. When Bible-loving and God-fearing people learn what Mormonism means when it says, "we believe the Scriptures so far as they are correctly translated," the propaganda of Mormonism is halted forever.
This attempt to gild gold, to polish the face of the sun, to correct our Bible, fill it full of predictions of Joseph Smith, Jr., and his work, stamps "Smithianity" all over and all through the system of religion called Mormonism. In this "Inspired (?) Revelation," given as a preface to the book, the last word before the "amen" is the pronoun "you," meaning Joseph Smith, Jr.
Here are the closing words of the prediction of God himself:
"And in a day when the children of men shall esteem my words as naught, and take many of them from the book which you (Moses) shall write, behold, I will raise up another (Joseph Smith, Jr.) like unto you, and they (the words) shall be had again among the children of men, among even as many as shall believe.
"These words were spoken unto Moses on the mount, the name of which shall not be known among the children of men, and
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now they are spoken unto you (Joseph Smith ). Amen."
When a Mormon elder or seer will hand out any proof that the world ever had any of the interpolations made by Joseph Smith, Jr., I will give him the name of the mount. "These words shall be had again." Therefore the world had them once. Proof here will do much for Mormon claims. They have none to give. In Gen. iii. 32, 33, of the so-called Inspired Translation and correction of our Bible, we have these words:
"And these are the words which I spake unto my servant Moses, and they are true even as I will. And I have spoken them unto you, see thou show them to no man until I command you, except they that believe. Amen."
The "thou and you" stand for Joseph. Did the Lord command him before his death to show these words? If not, to whom was the command given that prompted the Publishing Company to give out the book to church and world? Even now the head seer of the greatest faction, by far, of Mormonism refuses to commend it as "a standard for reference." It w as to be shown only to those that "believed." Believed what? Why, that book, of course. How could they believe before they saw it or knew of it? How they can believe after they see and read it, is the rub to me.
In Gen. vi. 66 we have given an elaborate account of the baptism in water of Father Adam. Admit its truth, it solves the old problem as to 'who was the first man ever baptized." Read the account:
"And it came to pass when the Lord had spoken with Adam, our father, that Adam cried unto the Lord, and he was caught away by the spirit of the Lord and was carried down into the water, and was laid under
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the water, and was brought forth out of the water, and thus he was baptized."
As Mormonism teaches through its highest sources, that Adam was God himself (I will hand out the proof) our readers can ponder the blasphemy of God himself being baptized and exhorting himself according to the same "Inspired 'Translation":
'To hearken and believe and repent of all thy transgressions and be baptized even in water in the name of mine only begotten Son, who is full of grace and truth, which is Jesus Christ, the only name which shall be given under heaven whereby salvation shall come unto the children of men, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, asking all things in his name, and whatsoever ye shall ask it shall be given (Gen. vi. 53)."
Put the following from the lips of the same man whose hand penned these lines, as of "God talking to Adam," and the words of his successor seers and revelators side by side, and scale the heights of presumption and sound the depths of deception, and paint the blackness of the iniquity of "Smithianity" if you can.
1. Mormonism teaches that Adam was Michael, the prince, the archangel.
"Doctrine and Covenants," a standard, authoritative book which professes to have a preface written by the Lord; in fact, it is indexed as "the Lord's Preface" in the book Worse, it has the Lord saying: "Behold, this is mine authority, and the authority of my servants, and my preface unto the book of my commandments, which I have given unto them to publish unto you, O inhabitants of the earth," etc.
This book tells us (Sec. 104, Verse 28) that three years before the death of Adam he called Seth, Enos, Cainan, Mahaleel, Jared. Enoch and Methuselah, who were all high priests, together to give them his
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last blessing; that, while they were together, the "Lord appeared unto them, and they rose up and blessed Adam, and called him Michael, the prince, the archangel."
Now, whether the Lord called Adam by these titles, or the so-called high priests (wonder which one was the highest priest) called Adam, or the Lord, by these names, could never be told from this statement. Fortunately, Sec. 110, verse 21, of same book, says: "The voice of divers angels from Michael or Adam down to the present time," etc.
Michael, the archangel, was the man Adam, and the man Adam was an angel, an archangel.
2. Mormonism teaches that Adam was God.
"The Father has a body of flesh and bones as tangible as man's." -- (D. and C., Sec. 130, 22.)
Joseph Smith, Jr., said:
"God himself was once as we are now, and is an exalted man, and sits enthroned in yonder heavens. That is the great secret." -- (Discourses, Vol. 12, 3.)
Confirming this question, Elder B. H. Roberts, a present leading light, in his late book, "A New Witness for God," a book indorsed by the highest Mormon authority, says:
"I wish to be perfectly understood here. Let it be remembered that the prophet Joseph Smith taught that man, that is, his spirit, is the offspring of duty: not in any mystical sense, but ACTUALLY; that man has not only a Father in heaven, but a mother also. -- (Witness for God. page 461.)
It would follow from that, that he had grandfathers and mothers. and uncles, aunts, and cousins. Keep this in mind, for I have use for it in another tract.
On page 465, same book, we have:
"The prophet, Joseph Smith, corrected the
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idea that God, that now is, was always God. 'We have imagined,' said he, and supposed that God was God from all eternity. I will refute that idea and take away the veil, so that you can see * * * God himself was once as we now are, and is an exalted man, and sits enthroned in yonder heaven. This is the great secret."
In the same discourse of Joseph Smith, the prophet, quoted by Elder Roberts, we also have these statements:
"And you have got to learn how to be Gods yourselves, * * * the same as all Gods have done before -- namely, by going from one small degree to another, and from a small capacity to a great one.
"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 in this way, we begin to learn the only true God, and what kind of a being we have got to worship."
Mormons declare in their tract cards they circulate all over the land: "We believe in God, the eternal Father, and in the Son, Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost." This is the first article of their creed. It deceives the elect.
As their catechism sets forth their creed on this and other points, let us look to it for light.
"Question 1. -- 'What kind of a being is God?'
"Answer. -- 'He is in the form of a man.'
"Question 6. -- 'Has God a body then?'
"Answer. -- 'Yes, like unto a man's body in figure.'
"Chapter IV. -- Question 1. -- 'Are there more Gods than one?'
"Answer. -- 'Yes; many.'"
Now we are ripe to have their seers tell us what man they worship and call God.
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"When our Father Adam came into the Garden of Eden, he came into it with a celestial body, and brought Eve of his wives, with him. He helped to make and organize this world. He is Michael, the archangel, the Ancient of Days, and about whom holy men have written and spoken. He is our FATHER and our GOD, and the only GOD, with whom we have to do." -- (Brigham Young's Discourses, Vol. 1.)
Brigham Young makes God, or Adam, or Michael, a polygamist. He confirms the quotation from Doctrine and Covenants, and also my interpretation. Wonder where God or Adam left his other wives, as he only brought one of them with him? Bear this question in mind for future reference.
Hear Brigham Young again:
"I tell you that God was the father of Jesus Christ, just as I am the father of my son."
Even while you, reader, shrink and shudder, hear him further:
"When the Virgin Mary conceived the child Jesus, the Father had begotten him in his own likeness. He was not begotten by the Holy Ghost. And who is the Father? He is the first of the human family." -- (Journal of Discourses, Vol. I., p. 50, Sermon by Brigham Young.)
Reader, what use has Mormonism for either Bible. It spurns them both. Even Smith's version says:
"Now, as it is written, the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: After his mother, Mary, was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost,"
Also, it says:
"The angel of the Lord appeareth unto him (Joseph) in a vision, saying: Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto
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thee Mary, thy wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost."
As Luke tells us (i. 26) that the angel who appeared unto Mary was Gabriel. I turned over Smith's translation to that passage, expecting to find Michael, or Adam substituted for Gabriel. It said Gabriel. That is, no doubt, one of the remaining "uncorrected passages" that President Woodruff says was not "approved of by Joseph" -- he w anted "to go over the book again." No book is yet "fixed up" that sustains Mormonism, nor ever will be.
Hear Apostle Kimball:
"Jesus was the son of God, and Hyrum Smith was a patriarch and a son of God, and I bear witness of it unto all men."
Brigham Young tells us that God was Adam. That Adam was the father of Jesus, just as he (Brigham) was the father of his son. Hence, if Hyrum Smith was a son of God, Adam, he, too, was a son in the same sense.
Now, I can prove an alibi for Father Adam by both Bibles: "And all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years; and he died." Not right to accuse Adam of being the father of any of the Smiths, only in a generic sense. Especially five thousand years after his death. His friends ought to sue Kimball for slander.
Apostle Orson Hyde, President of the College of Apostles, in a sermon said:
"If, at the marriage of Cana, of Galilee, Jesus was the bridegroom and took unto him Mary, Martha, and the other Mary whom Jesus loved, it shocks not our nerves. If there was not attachment and familiarity between our Savior and these women, highly improper only in the relation of husband and wife, then we have no sense of propriety.
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"We say it was Jesus Christ who was married (at Cana), whereby he could see his seed before he was crucified. I shall say here that before the Savior died he looked upon his own natural children as we look upon ours. When Mary came to the sepulchre she saw two angels, and they said unto her, 'Woman, why weepest thou?' She said unto them, 'Because they have taken away my Lord, or husband.'"
Reader, Mormonism tells you that a man is our God -- that the man is Adam, and that he is the only God with whom we have to do.
Now what think you of the Christ Mormonism presents? My pen paralyzes at the very idea of an attempt to do Justice to this subject -- language is bankrupt. Angels haven't language sufficient to denounce them.
This same Apostle Kimball tells us of the Mormon Holy Ghost.
Repeat the first article of their creed, s-l-o-w-l-y, after reading these Mormon expositions of "God the Father, Christ the Son and the Holy Spirit," and you will think with Lieutenant Gunnison that to embrace Mormonism is an apostasy, from one religion to another, and a worship of another God.
Hear Kimball on the Holy Spirit, and I close this section -- the proof promised is more than sufficient for my present purpose:
"Well, let me tell you the Holy Ghost is a man; he is one of the sons of our Father and our God, and he is that man that stood next to Jesus Christ, just as I stand by Brigham Young. You think our Father and our God is not a lively, sociable and cheerful man; he is one of the most lively men that ever lived."
God and Michael and Adam are one and
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the same. God or Adam, or Adam or God was a polygamist. Jesus was a man born of Adam and Mary, as children are born now, and was not begotten by the Holy Ghost. Jesus was married, was a polygamist, looked on his natural children while on earth. The Holy Ghost is a man. This man baptized Adam -- God -- in water. This is Mormonism -- Smithianity -- presented by their own books and acknowledged representatives.
Reader, you can rely upon these quotations. There is not a Mormon elder, priest, apostle, or seer on earth who will dare question their correctness.
In Gen. vii. 29 (Mormon Bible. -- Ed.) we are taught that the "seed of Cain were black, and had no place in the promises among the seed of Adam." Mormonism teaches that every converted Indian loses "his skin curse," becomes pure and white. In fact, the Book of Mormon teaches that at one time copper-colored people were not in existence; that there were none; no Lamanites, all converted, and "skin curse removed." In another tract I will treat of Mormonism and the negro and Indian. The " brother in black" is left out in the cold, though President Joseph Smith, my correspondent, has rather a recent revelation warming just a little toward him.
In Gen. vii. 8 (Mormon Bible) we are told that Enoch "wept and stretched forth his arms, and his heart swelled wide as eternity, and his bowels yearned and all eternity shook."
When I read that verse to an old mountain school-teacher, he gasped and said: "Great Scott! Bro. Neal, on what principle of language do the, justify such figures of speech?" I don't know. Do you? When I read it to a mountain lawyer, he looked up quickly and said: "I wonder what became of Enoch after such a yearn as that?" I had to let him wonder.
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1n Gen. viii. 11 we are told how Noah preached: "Hearken and give heed unto my words, believe and repent of your sins and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, even as our fathers did, and ye shall receive the Holy Ghost."
The above are samples of the "additions" to our Bible. Now for some of his mild corrections" of our Bible.
KING JAMES VERSION.
Gen. vi.
6. And it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.
7. And the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air: for it repenteth me that I have made them.
JOSEPH SMITH'S VERSION
Gen. viii.
13. And it repented Noah and his heart was pained that the Lord had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at heart.
14. And the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man and beast, and the creeping things, and the fowls of the air:
15. For it repented Noah that I have created them and that I have made them; and he hath called upon me, for they have sought his life.
So it seems that what Noah could not effect by his preaching, in the way of making converts who would be baptized (we have no account of his converting any outside of his family), he brought about with a vengeance by simply "repenting that God had made man." Because some of them sought "to kill him," he included the whole lot, excepting himself and family, in his repentance, and they were swept away with the baptism of the world. Queer repentance.
In Gen. 1. 31, 32, we have a prediction of the raising up of Moses as a seer, he is named, and also of "another seer" and his name shall be Joseph, and it shall be after the name of his father.
The Mormons, in spite of the immediate context, apply this to Joseph Smith, Jr. The Lord says: "And that seer will I bless,
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and they that seek to destroy him shall be confounded, for this promise I give unto you."
As those who sought to destroy Joseph Smith, Jr., were only too successful, common sense would say that he was not the man in the eye of the prediction, if it was ever made. In fact, I begin to wonder if any prediction of him, in this so-called Bible, "ever came to pass." His own predictions, as a rule, so far as I know a rule without an exception, never panned out. Now for a specimen or two of his mutilations of the New Testament:
KING JAMES VERSION.
Matt. iv.
4. Then was Jesus led up by the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.
5. Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple.
Matt. v.
10. And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak also.
11. And whomsoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain.
JOSEPH SMITH'S VERSION
Matt. iv.
4. Then was Jesus led up of the spirit into the wilderness to be with God.
5. Then Jesus was taken up into the holy city, and the spirit setteth him on the pinnacle of the temple.
Matt. v.
10. And if any man will sue thee at the law and take away thy coat, let him have it, and if he sue thee again let him have thy cloak also; and whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him a mile, and whosoever shall compel thee to go with him twain thou shalt go with him twain.
The last corrections literally strip the passages of any meaning. The precious lessons of forbearance and love taught by our Savior are lost. If a man was compelled to go one, or sixteen miles, or more, if he went no farther than compulsion took him, what credit or blame for such a go as that? Joseph Smith's corrections here are "no go."
In Matt. xvii. 14 we have an account of the transfiguration of Christ and his talk with the disciples about Elias. Smith says in his translation:
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"Then the disciples understood that he spake unto them of John the Baptist, and also of another, who should come and restore all things as written by the prophets."
Of course, that "another" was Joseph Smith, Jr. He restored all things" with a vengeance. Here is another correction (?): "Therefore, leaving the principles," etc. (Heb. vi. 1, King James' Translation.) "Therefore NOT leaving the principles," etc. (Smith's Translation.)
Satan is the father of that kind of "correction" of the Word of God. He said: "Thou shalt not die." That "not" was all the change he made. It was enough to deluge the world with sin, and to cause even old Noah, according to Smith, "to repent that God had made man." Can you not see now how the one Bible "supplants the other"?
Mark that President Smith says when the command was given by revelation, I suppose to Joseph Smith, the seer, that the Scriptures (King James Version) should be taken "as God's law to the Church," he does not explain, and can not, why such a needless revelation was given. Every creed in Christendom, every evangelical church on earth, taught then, and teaches now, that nothing shall be required in faith or practice that is not read therein, or can not be proved thereby, meaning the Scriptures. King James Version.
More, Paul, whom everybody but the Mormon world places far above Joseph Smith, Jr., as an apostle in knowledge of God's will, said that these same Scriptures, uncorrected by Joseph Smith, Jr., or any one else, "were able to make wise unto salvation through faith, which is in Jesus Christ."
More, we rise up and declare in the language of Paul that, with these same Scriptures
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as contained in the lids of the so-called King James Version, "The man of God may be perfect, THOROUGHLY FURNISHED unto all good works."
This is sustained by a standard Book of Mormonism:
"Thou shalt take the things which thou hast received, which have been given unto thee in my scriptures (according to Seer Joseph Smith's [sic] God here commands directly the King James Version) for a law to be my law to govern my church: and he that doeth according to these things shall be saved, and he that doeth them not shall be damned if he continues." -- (Doctrine and Covenants. Sec. 42, Verse 16.)
Yet Seer Smith "prefers" another Bible; says wherein it differs (we have given out only a small part of the emendations, additions, corrections and contradictions), "it is the better."
That "another Bible," which is not another, that was given to the Church and the public in 1867, "in pursuance of a commandment of God," claiming that "the translation and correction" was done "by direct revelation of God" (See preface of Book), Seer Woodruff says "is incomplete and partial," and being "an unfinished work," it would be "unjust" both to the martyred prophet and to the Church to present it as an authority or standard." In his statement that "the alterations, corrections and contradictions" that Joseph Smith made of King James Version "are undoubtedly correct," he rejected King James Version, and Mormonism is thus
WITHOUT A BIBLE,
according to Seer Woodruff; and Mormonism has
TWO BIBLES,
according to Seer Joseph Smith.
The only thing that "Smithianity" agrees
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upon is that what Joseph Smith, Jr., did was right, and that what he said or wrote was TRUTH. fresh from the lips of the living God. Yet they can't agree at the most vital points on what he said and wrote.
I will show this in my tract on the Book of Doctrine and Covenants. It will be Seer vs. Seer, in a Kilkenny-cat style.
"Smithianity" is doomed. "A house divided against itself can not stand."
"The prophet that hath a dream, let him tell a dream, and he that hath my word, let him speak my word faithfully."
"What is the chaff to the wheat? saith the Lord. Is not my word like as fire? saith the Lord; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces? Therefore, behold, I am against the prophet, saith the Lord, that steals my words every one from his neighbor" (Jer. xxiii. 28-30). "Mormonism steals the whole Bible from the world, the Seers being judges. Selah!
Bitter must be the disappointment of a God-honoring, Christ-loving man, who, deluded by their elders, embraces the "ism," expecting to find more precious promises, and brighter hopes to cheer him on through the battles of time and life. D H. Bays who was reared "from early childhood in the faith of the saints," and who was for twenty-seven years a leading defender and prominent advocate of the "ism," says:
"Instead of pure gold, you w ill find the merest dross; instead of divine luster, you find only the tarnishment and rust pertaining to things earthly and impure. Disappointment meets you at every turn, and with bowed head and sad heart you seek the nearest exit, and make your way into heaven's bright, refreshing sunlight, to seek relief from the disappointment and gloom which had overwhelmed you like a flood because of falsehood and deceit."
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Prof. J. C. Neilson, of the Denmark Mission, left them. In answer to the charges made against him by the Stake of Zion, he said:
"My guilt is simply this, that I have read and studied the Bible, and have, through the mercy of God, received light and knowledge from him and a testimony greater than the so much spoken of Mormon 'testimony.' Mormonism is the greatest imposition ever introduced among humanity. You will, perhaps, say that I am blind; but I know that you are, and I only wish that you and all honest Latter Day Saints could see the truth as I now see it. I believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and stand firmly on his side. He is my Priesthood, my Savior, and my King, and I know that he has no connection with a dishonest church. He is the only living High Priest, for 'he liveth forever' (Heb. vii. 14-28). All other high priests are impostors. He is the only Savior, and all other saviors, whether on Mt. Zion or elsewhere, or otherwise, are engaged in the most profane vanity and fraud. A church wherein the poor have to feed and support the rich is not the church of Christ. A church dishonest in its political declarations can scarcely be trusted as being honest in its religious pretensions. A church so intolerant and so hateful to humanity that its prayers are constantly for the destruction of peoples and nations that are in every respect of humanity and charity equal to the people of Utah, is void of Christianity. I have spent twenty-seven of the best years of my life in the service of this imposition and error. I regret it, and hope that my God and my Savior will forgive me, for I did it in sincerity, thinking I was right, but I now see my ignorance."
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ANTI-MORMON TRACTS.
_________
No. 1. Was Joe Smith a Prophet?
Price, 5 cents per copy.
A 16-page tract that handles without gloves the claims of the founder of Mormonism. Commended by editors of all orthodox papers as the most incisive. and conclusive tract against Mormonism now in the field.
No. 2. Smithianity; or, Mormonism Refuted by Mormons.
Price, 10 cents per copy.
A tract of 32 pages, discussing especially Joseph Smith's translation and correction of the Holy Scriptures. Regarded by thinkers as a deadly blow to this defiant and aggressive "ism" called Mormonism.
No. 3. The Mormon Book of Doctrine and Covenants.
(In preparation.)
No. 4. The Book of Mormon.
(In preparation.)
Fifteen hundred Mormon evangelists are in the field advocating and defending their "ism." TRACTS should follow in their wake and cover all their tracks. I have in preparation tracts on Joe Smith as a Seer, as a Translator, and an additional one on him as a Prophet. Also, one on The Book of Mormon, one on the Inspired Translation (?) of the Bible, by Joe Smith, and one on the Book of Doctrine and Covenants. These cover the ground of Mormons, and the readers can judge, each for himself or herself, of the truth and falsity of their claims.
R. B. NEAL.
Grayson, Carter Co., Ky.
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