Brigham Young

“ Sixty or seventy years ago a loom worked by water power would have been a mystery to an American, but there is no mystery in that to-day, because the process is understood. So it is with the East Indians and ice, for the chemist now, by a chemical process, will congeal the water and make ice of it before their eyes, and it is in this way, by testimony, evidence, and demonstration that ignorance and prejudice are removed, faith implanted and knowledge acquired. It is so with regard to all the facts in existence that we do not understand. ”

“ In these respects we differ from the Christian world, for our religion will not clash with or contradict the facts of science in any particular. You may take geology, for instance, and it is a true science; not that I would say for a moment that all the conclusions and deductions of its professors are true, but its leading principles are; they are facts—they are eternal; and to assert that the Lord made this earth out of nothing is preposterous and impossible. God never made something out of nothing ”

“ It is my highest delight and pleasure to serve God and keep his commandments; there is great delight in the law of the Lord to me, for the simple reason—it is pure, holy, just, and true; and those principles which the Lord has revealed are the only correct principles that man possesses on the earth. ”

“ I can say that if the whole world of mankind had known Joseph Smith and this people as well as we know them, the biggest infidel in the world, or the wickedest man living, if he had not passed the day of redemption and grace, so that the Spirit of the Lord had ceased to operate on his mind, that man would thank God for the Latter-day Saints, for we are for the salvation of all who can be saved, and we calculate to continue until the work is done. ”

“ We may imagine to ourselves that we possess a great deal of human wisdom independent of the Lord, but this is a mistake, for every truth that is in the possession of the children of men upon the earth came from God. The sciences understood by man came from God, and when we demonstrate a truth, we demonstrate a portion of the faith, law, or power by which all intelligent beings exist, whether in heaven or on earth, consequently when we have truth in our possession we have so much of the knowledge of God. ”

“ A proper reply for all mankind to make under similar circumstances would be, "We do not know anything about what you say, and do not know whether we should have faith in it or not. Perhaps we should, but we have no evidence at present on which to found such a belief." ”

“ I replied, "That is a mistake, we are the most religious people on the face of the earth. We do not allow ourselves to go into a field to plough without taking our religion with us; we do not go into an office, behind the counter to deal out goods, into a counting house with the books, or anywhere to attend to or transact any business without taking our religion with us. If we are railroading or on a pleasure trip our God and our religion must be with us. We are the most religious people in the world ”

“ The religion that we have embraced must last a man from Monday morning until Monday morning, and from Saturday night until Saturday night, and from one new year until another; it must be in all our thoughts and words, in all our ways and dealings. We come here to tell the people how to be saved; we know how, consequently we can tell others. Suppose our calling, to-morrow, is to conduct a railroad, to go into some philosophical business, or no matter what, our minds, our faith or religion, our God and his Spirit are with us ”

“ If there were a breakfast or dinner here, I expect you would come notwithstanding the warmth. I do not fear the scoffs of the world; but, as I have already said, if I fear anything with regard to this people, it is that they will neglect God and their religion. ”

“ As for the Bible account of the creation we may say that the Lord gave it to Moses, or rather Moses obtained the history and traditions of the fathers, and from these picked out what he considered necessary, and that account has been handed down from age to age, and we have got it, no matter whether it is correct or not, and whether the Lord found the earth empty and void, whether he made it out of nothing or out of the rude elements ”

“ But when we talk to you we give you such ideas as we have, and we clothe them in the best language that is in our possession, according to the ability and the gift and grace that we possess. Whether they are interesting to you or not is not for me to say. It is true the Saints may ask me why I do not attend meetings more strictly than I do. ”

“ There is an eternity before us, and it is full of matter; and if we but understand enough of the Lord and his ways, we would say that he took of this matter and organized this earth from it. How long it has been organized it is not for me to say, and I do not care anything about it. ”

“ Do they love their meetings, do they love their religion, and do they love to hear the servants of the Lord bear testimony to the truth? How is it? Perhaps many of the brethren and sisters think we are not as interesting in our conversation as we should be. ”

“ You go down south here among some of our native Indian tribes, where some of the very best of blankets are made, and you will find them twisting their yarn with their fingers and little sticks, and their loom attached to the limbs of trees for weaving purposes. Show them a loom such as white people use, and it would be a perfect mystery to them. ”

“ This is the position, and the line of demarcation has been plainly drawn, by those who profess Christianity, between the sciences and revealed religion. You take, for instance, our geologists, and they tell us that this earth has been in existence for thousands and millions of years. They think, and they have good reason for their faith, that their researches and investigations enable them to demonstrate that this earth has been in existence as long as they assert it has ”