B. H. Roberts

“ Thus the tradition of the patriarchs was, in time, degraded, by some branches of their posterity, to mythology—a muddy, troubled pool, which, like a mirror shattered into a thousand fragments, reflects while it distorts into fantastic shapes the objects on its banks. Still, under all the rubbish of human invention may be found the leading idea—God's existence, and that fact alone, however misshapen it may be, proves how firmly fixed in the human mind is the tradition of the fathers ”

“ It is the foundation on which religion rests, and the source of all righteousness. In religion, it is in God that faith centers; it is to him that religious faith directs the eyes of man, and bids him hope through Christ to obtain eternal life. And as this is the primary principle in religion, it is my purpose to show from the Scriptures that there is an abundance of evidence which, if carefully considered, will not fail to produce faith in the mind of him who is desirous to know the truth as to the existence of God, the divinity of Christ's mission and the truth of the Gospel. ”

“ But, exerting all my powers to call upon God to deliver me out of the power of this enemy, which had seized upon me, and at the very moment when I was ready to sink into despair and abandon myself to destruction, not to an imaginary ruin, but to the power of some actual being from the unseen world, who had such a marvelous power as I had never before felt in any being—just at this moment of great alarm, I saw a pillar of light exactly over my head, above the brightness of the sun, which descended gradually until it fell upon me. ”

“ To all these questions a negative answer must be given; when man has done his best, when his whole life has been spent in seeking knowledge and finding out wisdom, even then the facts which he has mastered, compared with those beyond the power of his intellect to comprehend, are insignificant; and the fields of knowledge which he has explored, compared with those wherein man has never yet set his foot, are as the few grains of sand compared to the untold millions of such grains that form old ocean's beach. ”

“ The law of the gospel requires men not only to do good to those who do good to them, but to do good to those who despitefully use them; not only to lend to those who lend to them, but to lend to those of whom they can hope to receive nothing in return; to revile not those who may revile them—in a word, the law of the gospel is summed up in this: "Be ye not overcome of evil; but overcome evil with good." ”

“ By this Atonement of Messiah's there is especially one fact thrown out into bold relief, that is, the great love of God and Christ for mankind. When you come to think of the unspeakable agony, of the anguish of heart, of the pains that racked the body and distressed the mind of the Savior at the time of his betrayal, and during his trial and crucifixion, you may begin to see how great the love of the Father for mankind must be, when he would consent for his only begotten Son to pass through this great humiliation and affliction, in order to redeem mankind from the bonds of death. ”

“ Hear the words of Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God: * * * Turn, all ye Gentiles, from your wicked ways, and repent of your evil doings, of your lyings and deceivings, and of your whoredoms, and of your secret abominations, and your idolatries, and of your murders, and your priestcrafts, and your envyings, and your strifes, and from all your wickedness and abominations, and come unto me, and be baptized in my name, that ye may receive a remission of your sins, and be filled with the Holy Ghost, that ye may be numbered with my people who are of the house of Israel. ”

“ When once the idea of the existence of a God is suggested to the mind of man by the testimony of the fathers, and represented as he is by that tradition, as the Creator of the heavens and the earth, and also as the great governing power throughout the universe,—very much is discovered in the marvelous works of nature to strengthen and confirm, almost to a certainty, the truth of that tradition. ”

“ Listen to the words of Christ, your Redeemer, your Lord and your God. Behold, I came into the world not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance; the whole need no physician, but they that are sick; wherefore little children are whole, for they are not capable of committing sin; wherefore the curse of Adam is taken from them in me, that it hath no power over them; and the law of circumcision is done away in me. ”

“ Suppose all those books I have named as having had their authenticity questioned, should turn out to be forgeries, we would still have the four Gospels, the Acts, the thirteen Epistles of Paul that stand unquestioned; and as long as even one of these books remains unshaken as to its authenticity and inspiration, you have a witness for God and Christ in it—an exposition, to some extent, at least, of the character and attributes of Deity. For the New Testament, like the Old, is not one book, but a collection of books; each independent of the other. ”

“ Again, the voice of inspiration says: "As righteousness tendeth to life, so he that pursueth evil, pursueth it to his own death." To repent, then, means to turn aside from the path which leads to death, and choose that which leads to life —to life eternal. And while the angels in heaven may rejoice over one who turns from the error of his way; yet, the chief good arising from the reformation of the sinner, is reaped by himself. ”

“ Deity has ordained that they should pass through the dark valley of death; and in the meantime, by passing through this probation we call life, they might have the opportunity of demonstrating before the heavens their integrity to principles of righteousness and truth; and by coming in contact with evil, they might forever prize that which is pure and good: that vice might ever be hideous to them, and virtue lovely—and thus the eternal happiness of man be made secure. ”

“ Indeed if it does not become a power in the life of man, an incentive to noble deeds, it is a dead faith, and is as the body without the spirit, or as salt without its savor—it is good for nothing.
The third element which is essential to faith as a power in the life of man, centers in and depends upon man rather than God. A belief in the fact that God exists, with a correct idea of his character is sufficient for man to exercise faith in him, but man must know something about himself also ”

“ But before I proceed immediately to inquire into the character of the Deity, I think it necessary to remark that men, who exercise faith in God, must not only believe that he is, but recognize him as the creative power by whom all things are made and sustained; that they recognize him as the Supreme Ruler of the universe. As I understand it, that much is implied in the term God. Indeed, unless God is regarded as the supreme governing power, men could not center their faith in him for life and salvation. ”

“ True repentance is sincere sorrow for sin, accompanied by a firm resolution to forsake that which is evil. The legitimate fruits of such sorrow—repentance, is a reformation of life. And if, peradventure, through weakness of human nature one should fall into transgression, even after setting his heart to work righteousness, let him not be discouraged, but repeat his repentance, and I believe the experiences I have pointed out in these pages, both individual and national, demonstrate that God is good, and "goodness still delighteth to forgive." ”

“ Mathematicians claim that they can weigh the earth, and measure the distance between our planet and the sun. One may not be acquainted with the methods of their calculations, or the principles involved in them, yet such is the character and learning of the thoughtful men who make the claim, that we accept their statements and conclusions as true, though we may not be able ourselves to comprehend the science which reveals to them, perhaps to the certainty of demonstration, these facts:—this confidence in their statements—this assurance of the mind, is faith. ”

“ He delights not in their destruction, but would have all men to be saved; and for that purpose has established the gospel.
I point out this noble relationship of man to Deity, not to flatter the former, but because I believe it to be a fact. It is a theme I love to contemplate, not because it debases Deity, but because it elevates man, and must inspire him with noble aspirations, and to the performance of virtuous deeds. If but once understood and realized by mankind, I believe the conception would be a strong incentive to the reformation of the world ”

“ Being redeemed from the death brought upon them by the fall of Adam, by the Atonement made by Christ, and having committed no personal sins —dying in the days of their innocence—they have nothing to repent of. Having broken no law. Justice has no claim upon them; they fall into the arms of Mercy alone, and there they are secure. Well might Jesus exclaim—"Suffer little children to come unto me, for of such is the kingdom of heaven!" ”

“ The writings of Moses as revealed to Joseph Smith, in December, 1830, and now contained in the Pearl of Great Price, make this matter of the creation of man still more emphatic by saying:
"And I, the Lord God, formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul, the first flesh upon the earth, the first man also." ”

“ He must surround himself with circumstances congenial to the sensitive nature of the Holy Ghost, that it may not be offended, and withdraw itself from him; for if it does so, amen to his spiritual or moral development. He must cultivate noble sentiments by performing noble deeds—not great ones, necessarily, for opportunity to perform what the world esteem great things, comes but seldom to men in the ordinary walks of life; but noble deeds may be done every day; and every such deed performed with an eye single to the glory of God, draws one that much nearer into harmony with the Deity. ”

“ With what contrition does the man, truly convinced of all these things we have enumerated respecting the Deity, seek the throne of grace and cry aloud: "O God! Have mercy upon me a sinner!" For almost at the same moment that faith took hold of him, he began to understand how great his sins were before God. And that realization growls upon him as conviction, becomes more certain, until the spirit is bowed down with sorrow because of his many violations of the laws of righteousness. ”

“ One step more in this digression in order that I may state further that I believe it consistent with right reason to say that some of the lowliest walks in life, the paths which lead into the deepest valleys of sorrow and up the most rugged steeps of adversity, are the ones which, if a man travel in, will best accomplish the object of his existence in this world. ”

“ Having dealt with what I called General Salvation, I now turn to Individual Salvation. You have seen that man is redeemed from the evils brought upon him through Adam's sin, without any act of belief or obedience being required of him. This is because his agency or will was not exercised in breaking the law given to Adam. The calamity overtakes him through no fault of his; and consequently his deliverance, so far, comes without his seeking—in fact, it comes independent of him. In this matter, man is passive, being acted upon by the relative claims of Justice and Mercy. ”

“ No matter how strong the body, how perfect the health, or how buoyant the spirit, man knows that sooner or later time will sap the vital forces, unbend the body's strength, and in a few years the all- beholding sun shall see him no more in all his course. ”

“ What shall I say of the cities of Tyre and Sidon, of Nineveh with her hundred gates; of Babylon, "the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees excellence," with her mighty walls, her strong gates and towers, her palatial residences, her magnificent temples, her hanging gardens, the wonder and admiration of all who beheld them! Where are all these? Crumbled into shapeless heaps of ruins that are scarcely sufficient to show where they once stood—nothing left of them but their names. Where, too, are the grand empires of Assyria and Babylon, of Egypt and Persia, of Macedonia and Greece? ”

“ Believers in the Bible, on the other hand, have generally taken it for granted that the account of the creation in the sacred record, would give to the earth no greater antiquity than six thousand years; and have held that within that period the universe was created out of nothing by the volition of Deity—an idea so palpably absurd that intelligence, despite all church authority to the contrary, everywhere rejects it. ”