The Articles of Faith Part 52

[1246] Doc. and Cov. lviii, 21-22.

[1247] Doc. and Cov. xcviii, 4-6.

=21.= A question has many times been asked of the Church and of its individual members, to this effect:--In the case of a conflict between the requirements made by the revealed word of G.o.d, and those imposed by the secular law, which of these authorities would the members of the Church be bound to obey? In answer, the words of Christ may be applied:--it is the duty of the people to render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and unto G.o.d the things that are G.o.d's. At the present time, the Kingdom of Heaven as an earthly power, with a reigning King exercising direct and personal authority in temporal matters, has not been established upon the earth; the branches of the Church as such, and the members composing the same, are subjects of the several governments within whose separate realms the Church organizations exist. In this day of comparative enlightenment and freedom, there is small cause for expecting any direct interference with the rights of private wors.h.i.+p and individual devotion; in all civilized nations the people are accorded the right to pray, and this right is a.s.sured by what may be properly called a common law of human-kind. No earnest soul is cut off from communion with his G.o.d; and with such an open channel of communication, relief from burdensome laws and redress for grievances may be sought from the Power that holds control of nations.

=22.= Pending the over-ruling by Providence in favor of religious liberty, it is the duty of the Saints to submit themselves to the laws of their country. Nevertheless, they should use every proper method, as citizens or subjects of their several governments, to secure for themselves and for all men the boon of freedom in religious duties. It is not required of them to suffer without protest imposition by lawless persecutors, or through the operation of unjust laws; but their protests should be offered in legal and proper order. The Saints have practically demonstrated their acceptance of the doctrine that it is better to suffer evil than to do wrong by purely human opposition to unjust authority. And if by thus submitting themselves to the laws of the land, in the event of such laws being unjust and subversive of human freedom, the Saints be prevented from doing the work appointed them of G.o.d, they are not to be held accountable for the failure to act under the higher law. The word of the Lord has been given explicitly defining the position and duty of the people in such a contingency:--"Verily, verily, I say unto you, that when I give a commandment to any of the sons of men, to do a work unto my name, and those sons of men go with all their might, and with all they have, to perform that work, and cease not their diligence, and their enemies come upon them, and hinder them from performing that work; behold, it behoveth me to require that work no more at the hands of those sons of men, but to accept of their offerings; And the iniquity and transgression of my holy laws and commandments, I will visit upon the heads of those who hindered my work, unto the third and fourth generation, so long as they repent not and hate me, saith the Lord G.o.d."[1248]

[1248] Doc. and Cov. cxxiv, 49-50; see Note 3.

=23. An Ill.u.s.tration= of such suspension of Divine law is found in the action of the Church regarding the matter of plural or polygamous marriage. The practice referred to was established as a result of direct revelation,[1249] and many of those who followed the same felt that they were divinely commanded so to do. For ten years after plural marriage had been introduced into Utah as a Church observance, no law was enacted in opposition to the practice. Beginning with 1862, however, Federal statutes were framed declaring the practice unlawful and providing penalties therefor. The Church claimed that these enactments were unconst.i.tutional, and therefore void, inasmuch as they violated the provision in the national const.i.tution which denies the government power to make laws respecting any establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.[1250] Many appeals were taken to the national court of final resort, and at last a decision was rendered sustaining the anti-polygamy laws as const.i.tutional and therefore binding. The Church, through its chief officer, thereupon discontinued the practice of plural marriage, and announced its action to the world; solemnly placing the responsibility for the change upon the nation by whose laws the renunciation had been forced. This action has been approved and confirmed by the official vote of the Church in conference a.s.sembled.[1251]

[1249] Doc. and Cov. cx.x.xii.

[1250] Article I, of the Amendments to the Const.i.tution of the United States.

[1251] See Note 4.

=24. Teachings of the Church Today.=--Perhaps there can be presented no better summary of the teachings of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints regarding its relation to the civil power, and the respect due to the laws of the land, than the official declaration of belief which was issued by the Prophet Joseph Smith, and which has been incorporated in the Doctrine and Covenants,--one of the standard works of the Church, adopted by vote of the Church as one of the accepted guides in faith, doctrine, and practice.[1252] It reads as follows:--

[1252] Doc. and Cov. cx.x.xiv.

"OF GOVERNMENTS AND LAWS IN GENERAL.

"1. We believe that governments were inst.i.tuted of G.o.d for the benefit of man, and that he holds men accountable for their acts in relation to them, either in making laws or administering them, for the good and safety of society.

"2. We believe that no government can exist in peace, except such laws are framed and held inviolate as will secure to each individual the free exercise of conscience, the right and control of property, and the protection of life.

"3. We believe that all governments necessarily require civil officers and magistrates to enforce the laws of the same, and that such as will administer the law in equity and justice, should be sought for and upheld by the voice of the people (if a republic), or the will of the sovereign.

"4. We believe that religion is inst.i.tuted of G.o.d, and that men are amenable to him, and to him only, for the exercise of it, unless their religious opinions prompt them to infringe upon the rights and liberties of others; but we do not believe that human law has a right to interfere in prescribing rules of wors.h.i.+p to bind the consciences of men, nor dictate forms for public or private devotion; that the civil magistrate should restrain crime, but never control conscience; should punish guilt, but never suppress the freedom of the soul.

"5. We believe that all men are bound to sustain and uphold the respective governments in which they reside, while protected in their inherent and inalienable rights by the laws of such governments; and that sedition and rebellion are unbecoming every citizen thus protected, and should be punished accordingly; and that all governments have a right to enact such laws as in their own judgment are best calculated to secure the public interest, at the same time, however, holding sacred the freedom of conscience.

"6. We believe that every man should be honored in his station: rulers and magistrates as such, being placed for the protection of the innocent, and the punishment of the guilty; and that to the laws, all men owe respect and deference, as without them peace and harmony would be supplanted by anarchy and terror; human laws being inst.i.tuted for the express purpose of regulating our interests as individuals and nations, between man and man, and divine laws given of heaven, prescribing rules on spiritual concerns, for faith and wors.h.i.+p, both to be answered by man to his Maker.

"7. We believe that rulers, states, and governments have a right, and are bound to enact laws for the protection of all citizens in the free exercise of their religious belief; but we do not believe that they have a right in justice, to deprive citizens of this privilege, or proscribe them in their opinions, so long as a regard and reverence are shown to the laws, and such religious opinions do not justify sedition nor conspiracy.

"8. We believe that the commission of crime should be punished according to the nature of the offense; that murder, treason, robbery, theft, and the breach of the general peace, in all respects, should be punished according to their criminality, and their tendency to evil among men, by the laws of that government in which the offense is committed; and for the public peace and tranquillity, all men should step forward and use their ability in bringing offenders against good laws to punishment.

"9. We do not believe it just to mingle religious influence with civil government, whereby one religious society is fostered, and another proscribed in its spiritual privileges, and the individual rights of its members as citizens, denied.

"10. We believe that all religious societies have a right to deal with their members for disorderly conduct according to the rules and regulations of such societies, provided that such dealing be for fellows.h.i.+p and good standing; but we do not believe that any religious society has authority to try men on the right of property or life, to take from them this world's goods, or to put them in jeopardy of either life or limb, neither to inflict any physical punishment upon them; they can only excommunicate them from their society, and withdraw from them their fellows.h.i.+p.

"11. We believe that men should appeal to the civil law for redress of all wrongs and grievances, where personal abuse is inflicted, or the right of property or character infringed, where such laws exist as will protect the same; but we believe that all men are justified in defending themselves, their friends, and property, and the government, from the unlawful a.s.saults and encroachments of all persons, in times of exigency, where immediate appeal cannot be made to the laws, and relief afforded.

"12. We believe it just to preach the gospel to the nations of the earth, and warn the righteous to save themselves from the corruption of the world; but we do not believe it right to interfere with bond servants, neither preach the gospel to, nor baptize them, contrary to the will and wish of their masters, nor to meddle with or influence them in the least, to cause them to be dissatisfied with their situations in this life, thereby jeopardizing the lives of men; such interference we believe to be unlawful and unjust, and dangerous to the peace of every government allowing human beings to be held in servitude."

NOTES.

=1. Insults to Paul and to Christ.=--See Acts xxiii, 1-5.

"Scarcely had the apostle uttered the first sentence of his defense, when, with disgraceful illegality, Ananias ordered the officers of the court to smite him on the mouth. Stung by an insult so flagrant, an outrage so undeserved, the naturally choleric temperament of Paul flamed into that sudden sense of anger which ought to be controlled, but which can hardly be wanting in a truly n.o.ble character. No character can be perfect which does not cherish in itself a deeply-seated, though perfectly generous and forbearing, indignation against intolerable wrong. Smarting from the blow, 'G.o.d shall smite thee,' he exclaimed, 'thou whitewashed wall! What! Dost thou sit there judging me according to the Law, and in violation of law biddest me to be smitten?' The language has been censured as unbecoming in its violence, and has been unfavorably compared with the meekness of Christ before the tribunal of his enemies.

[See John xviii, 19-23.]

'Where,' asks St. Jerome, 'is that patience of the Savior, who--as a lamb led to the slaughter opens not his mouth--so gently asks the smiter, "If I have spoken evil, bear witness to the evil; but if well, why smitest thou me?" We are not detracting from the apostle, but declaring the glory of G.o.d, who, suffering in the flesh, reigns above the wrong and frailty of the flesh.' Yet we need not remind the reader that not once or twice only did Christ give the rein to righteous anger, and blight hypocrisy and insolence with a flash of holy wrath.

The bystanders seemed to have been startled by the boldness of St.

Paul's rebuke, for they said to him, 'Dost thou revile the high priest of G.o.d?' The apostle's anger had expended itself in that one outburst, and he instantly apologized with exquisite urbanity and self-control.

'I did not know,' he said, 'brethren, that he is the high priest'; adding that, had he known this, he would not have addressed to him the opprobrious name of 'whited wall,' because he reverenced and acted upon the rule of scripture, 'Thou shalt not speak ill of a ruler of thy people.'"--Farrar, _The Life and Work of St. Paul_, pp. 539-540.

=2. Peter's Teaching's Regarding Submission to Law.=--A special "duty of Christians in those days was due respect in all things lawful, to the civil government.... Occasions there are--and none knew this better than an apostle who had himself set an example of splendid disobedience to unwarranted commands [Acts iii, 19, 31; v, 28-32; 40-42]--when 'we must obey G.o.d rather than men.' But those occasions are exceptional to the common rule of life. Normally, and as a whole, human law is on the side of divine order, and, by whomsoever administered, has a just claim to obedience and respect. It was a lesson so deeply needed by the Christians of the day that it is taught as emphatically by St. John [John xix, 11], and by St. Peter, as by St. Paul himself. It was more than ever needed at a time when dangerous revolts were gathering to a head in Judea; when the hearts of Jews throughout the world were burning with a fierce flame of hatred against the abominations of a tyrannous idolatry; when Christians were being charged with 'turning the world upside-down'

[Acts xvii, 6]; when some poor Christian slave, led to martyrdom or put to the torture, might easily relieve the tension of his soul by bursting into apocalyptic denunciations of sudden doom against the crimes of the mystic Babylon; when the heathen, in their impatient contempt, might wilfully interpret a prophecy of the final conflagration as though it were a revolutionary and incendiary threat; and when Christians at Rome were, on this very account, already suffering the agonies of the Neronian persecution. Submission, therefore, was at this time a primary duty of all who wished to win over the heathen, and to save the Church from being overwhelmed in some outburst of indignation which would be justified even to reasonable and tolerant pagans as a political necessity.... 'Submit, therefore,' the apostle says, 'to every human ordinance, for the Lord's sake, whether to the emperor as supreme [the name "king" was freely used of the emperor in the provinces], or to governors, as missioned by him for punishment of malefactors and praise to well-doers; for this is the will of G.o.d, that by your well-doing ye should gag the stolid ignorance of foolish persons; as free, yet not using your freedom for a cloak of baseness, but as slaves of G.o.d.

'Honor all men' as a principle; and as your habitual practice, 'love the brotherhood. Fear G.o.d. Honor the King.'" [See I Peter ii, 13-17.]--Farrar, _Early Days of Christianity_, pp. 89-90.

=3. The Law of G.o.d, and the Law of Man.=--The teaching of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints respecting the duty of its members in obeying the laws of the land wherein they live, is more comprehensive and definite than is that of many other Christian sects.

In January, 1899, an a.s.sociation of the free Evangelical churches of England officially published "a common statement of faith in the form of a new catechism." Touching the relation between church and state, the following formal questions and prescribed answers occur:--

"36. Q.--What is a free church? A.--A church which acknowledges none but Jesus Christ as Head, and, therefore, exercises its right to interpret and administer His laws without restraint or control by the state.

"37. Q.--What is the duty of the church to the state? A.--To observe all the laws of the state unless contrary to the teachings of Christ,"

etc.

According to the report of the committee in charge of the work of publication, the catechism "represents, directly or indirectly, the beliefs of not less, and probably many more, than sixty millions of avowed Christians in all parts of the world."

=4. Discontinuance of Plural Marriage.=--The official act terminating the practice of plural marriage among the Latter-day Saints was the adoption by the Church, in conference a.s.sembled, of a manifesto proclaimed by the President of the Church. The language of the doc.u.ment ill.u.s.trates the law-abiding character of the people and the Church, as is shown by the following clause:--"Inasmuch as laws have been enacted by Congress forbidding plural marriages, which laws have been p.r.o.nounced const.i.tutional by the court of last resort, I [President Wilford Woodruff] hereby declare my intention to submit to those laws, and to use my influence with the members of the Church over which I preside to have them do likewise." In the course of a sermon immediately following the proclaiming of the manifesto, President Woodruff said regarding the action taken:--"I have done my duty, and the nation of which we form a part must be responsible for that which has been done in relation to that principle" (i.e., plural marriage).

=5. A Striking Instance of Submission to Secular Authority.=--"Governments are inst.i.tuted of G.o.d, sometimes by His direct interposition, sometimes by His permission. When the Jews had been brought into subjection by Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, the Lord commanded through the prophet Jeremiah (xxvii, 4-8) that the people render obedience to their conqueror, whom He called His servant; for verily the Lord had used the pagan king to chastise the recreant and unfaithful children of the covenant. The obedience so enjoined included the payment of taxes and extended to complete submission." See "Jesus the Christ," p. 564, Note 2.

LECTURE XXIV.

PRACTICAL RELIGION.

=Article 13.=--We believe in being honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous, and in doing good to all men; indeed, we may say that we follow the admonition of Paul,--We believe all things, we hope all things, we have endured many things, and hope to be able to endure all things. If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things.

=1. Religion of Daily Life.=--In this article of their faith, the Latter-day Saints declare their acceptance of a practical religion; a religion that shall consist, not alone of professions in spiritual matters, and belief as to the conditions of the hereafter, of the doctrine of original sin and the actuality of a future heaven and h.e.l.l, but also, and more particularly, of present and every-day duties, in which respect for self, love for fellow-men, and devotion to G.o.d are the guiding principles. Religion without morality, professions of G.o.dliness without charity, church-members.h.i.+p without an adequate responsibility as to individual conduct in daily life, are but as sounding bra.s.s and tinkling cymbals--noise without music, the words without the spirit of prayer. "Pure religion and undefiled before G.o.d and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world."[1253] Honesty of purpose, integrity of soul, individual purity, absolute freedom of conscience, willingness to do good to all men even enemies, pure benevolence,--these are some of the fruits by which the religion of Christ may be known, far exceeding in importance and value the promulgation of dogmas, and the enunciation of theories.

Yet a knowledge of things more than temporal, doctrines of spiritual matters, founded on revelation and not resting on the sands of man's frail hypotheses, are likewise characteristic of the true Church.

[1253] James i, 27.

=2. The Comprehensiveness of Our Faith= must appeal to every earnest investigator of the principles taught by the Church, and still more to the unprejudiced observer of the results as manifested in the course of life characteristic of the Latter-day Saints. Within the pale of the Church there is a place for all truth,--for everything that is praiseworthy, virtuous, lovely, or of good report. The liberality with which the Church regards other religious denominations; the earnestness of its teaching that G.o.d is no respecter of persons, but that He will judge all men according to their deeds; the breadth and depth of its precepts concerning the state of immortality, and the gradations of eternal glory awaiting the honest in heart of all nations, kindred, and churches, civilized and heathen, enlightened and benighted, have been set forth in preceding lectures. We have seen further, that the belief of this people carries them forward, even beyond the bounds of all knowledge thus far revealed, and teaches them to look with unwavering confidence for other revelation, truths yet to be added, glories grander than have yet been made known, eternities of powers, dominions, and progress, beyond the mind of man to conceive or the soul to contain. We believe in a G.o.d who is Himself progressive, whose majesty is intelligence; whose perfection consists in eternal advancement; the perpetual work of whose creation stands "finished, yet renewed forever;"[1254]--a Being who has attained His exalted state by a path which now His children are permitted to follow; whose glory it is their heritage to share. In spite of the opposition of all the sects, in the face of direct charges of blasphemy, the Church proclaims the eternal truth, "_As man is, G.o.d once was; as G.o.d is, man may become._" With such a future, well may man open his heart to the stream of revelation, past, present, and to come; and truthfully should we be able to say of every enlightened child of G.o.d, that he "Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things."[1255] As incidental to the declaration of belief embodied in this article of faith, many topics relating to the organization, precepts, and practice of the Church suggest themselves. Of these the following may claim our present attention.

[1254] Bryant.

[1255] I Cor. xiii, 7.