George Q. Cannon

“ Can you wonder, brethren and sisters, that the world is in the condition that it is, when unbelief has been handed down for generations, until it permeates the minds of all, both priest and people, even the children learn it in the Sunday schools, until every fibre of their minds becomes indoctrinated with the idea? ”

“ We might go forth and preach belief in the Lord Jesus Christ, repentance of sin, and baptism for the remission of sins, as Alexander Campbell did; we might say, as some of the sects do, that it is necessary to lay on hands; we might gather the people together, and do any or all of these things, but if we did not have the right to exercise heaven-bestowed authority there would be no particular opposition to us. Of course, the nearer a man draws to God, and the more he lives according to the plan which God has prescribed, the more opposition he meets with. ”

“ I have an idea on this point in relation to this much-talked-of and much-abused doctrine, and it is this: I believe that from the day it was taught to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and embraced in the faith and lives of its members we have risen in power and grown in influence; we have gained favor with and enjoyed the protection of the Heavens such as we never possessed before. All the prosperity, seemingly, that we enjoy to-day has been bestowed upon us since the proclamation of that principle and its adoption by us into our faith and practice. ”

“ Every such man was hunted and persecuted, and his life was sought after until there was not one left who had the power, authority and great gift and blessing to say to the people, "Thus saith the Lord;" and revelation and the spirit of revelation were withdrawn from man, and the whole earth fell into unbelief and darkness, and gross darkness prevailed over the hearts of the people. It is a very excellent reason why revelation should cease when the earth was drenched with the blood of Heaven's messengers, and that blood was crying for vengeance on those who had slain them. ”

“ Can any person point out a man who was one of God's servants, of whom we have any account in the Scriptures, that did not receive revelation? Not one. It may be said, and is argued, "Why is it, if it be God's will that man should have revelation from him, that the world has been so long without it?" This is very easily explained. You recollect that Jesus, on one occasion, went into a certain place, and it is said concerning him that he could not do many mighty works there because of the people's unbelief. ”

“ I know very well the feelings of the world, and perhaps of some who are listening to-day to this brief enunciation of our principles and the causes of our persecutions. Say they, "If these were the only principles taught by the Latter-day Saints we cannot think they would have been persecuted, there must be something behind this. It cannot be possible that, in this enlightened age; men and women should be persecuted and reviled and their names cast out as evil for believing these doctrines?" ”

“ The Latter-day Saints believe that mankind should repent of and forsake all sins, and be baptized in the name of Jesus for their remission; the Latter-day Saints believe that they should not only be baptized for the remission of their sins, but that baptism should be administered by those only who have authority. ”

“ Christendom rent asunder, divided into sects and parties, the name of Jesus derided and sneered at, and the pure Gospel lost because of the propagation, for centuries, by so-called Christian ministers, of the soul-destroying and damnable heresy that God cannot or will not speak to man again from the heavens; that God will not reveal his will, send his angels, or exercise his power in the affairs of earth as much as he did in ancient days. ”

“ Instead of our being left to the power of our persecutors to a greater extent since its revelation and practice, we have had greater freedom and security, and have been blessed as we never were before. ”

“ You are deluded, you are an impostor, you preach false doctrine, we will have none of your teaching. Men who believe in prophesy and revelation are liable to be deceived, and we are afraid of you, we do not know but you will deceive us. Jesus said there should be false prophets, we believe you are one of them. ”

“ It is because the Latter-day Saints believe that God has restored from the heavens the everlasting Priesthood—that eternal authority by which man acts upon the earth as the ambassador of God. It is because we have testified that God has restored this once more to earth and we have received it, and that by virtue of it we act as Apostles, members of the seventies, high priests, elders, bishops, priests, teachers and deacons, and in the several offices God has placed in his Church. ”

“ Men, in reasoning upon this subject, say that every sect, at the commencement of its career, is persecuted because men are not familiar with its doctrines; but, when they become known, opposition and persecution cease. They predict this about the Latter-day Saints; but the truth of the matter is this: if every new sect is persecuted, it is because it fearlessly denounces the sins, follies and vices of the age, and so long as they continue this, so long are they persecuted ”

“ How very singular that he should claim authority from the ordination of Peter, James and John—that is, if it were not true! How very singular! And then, to add to the singularity of the whole case and to the remarkable features of it, to think that the Elders of this Church have accomplished a work precisely similar in many respects to that which the ancient Apostles accomplished! Wherever they went and the people received their testimony they were of one heart and mind. And has it not been so in our day? We find in this Territory men representing nearly every country. ”

“ Why, ministers have gone forth and preached now for centuries, authorized by the divine commission of the Apostles—'Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature, he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, and he that believeth not shall be damned.' On the strength of this commission they have gone forth for centuries, and why do you Latter-day Saints claim additional authority? ”

“ Yes, in all this land, and throughout the earth wherever the servants of God have gone, these same principles prevail and are observed by those who have received their testimony. The Saints are united; they sustain the authority which God has restored; for be it known there is an authority now on the earth by which men can declare to the people, "Thus saith the Lord," just as we might suppose a servant of God would do anciently. ”

“ Joseph and Hyrum Smith were slain in Carthage jail, and hundreds of persons were persecuted to the death previous to the Church having any knowledge of this doctrine. What then was the cause of the persecutions of the people, and why should they have been singled out and made so remarkable above other people, many of whom believe in several of the principles that they believed in. There is not a religious denomination in Christendom which does not believe in Jesus Christ; I do not know of one that does not believe in repenting of sin and also in some form of baptism. ”

“ The people are united, and from every hamlet, and every habitation over all this extended country, from north to south, their united prayers ascend morning, noon and night to God, to bless his servants and to bear off the Holy Priesthood and Apostleship. ”

“ When the Lord does exercise power it is in his own way. If he chooses to send an angel, he will do so, and will not ask you or me whether we will accept and are suited with it or not. He sent an angel on this occasion to restore to earth the authority to baptize for the remission of sins, and that messenger laid his hands on the heads of Joseph and Oliver and gave them that authority, and they commenced to baptize. ”

“ There has been an almighty power hedging us round about and encircling us from that day until the present time; and though men have plotted and schemed and have devised mischief, and formed machinations and combinations against the Latter-day Saints, their schemes have fallen to the ground ”

“ One is that a perusal of the Scriptures will clear up one point in our minds respecting the principle of revelation and communication between God and man. There is not a servant of God of whom we have any account, from Genesis to Revelations, who did not receive revelation. ”

“ That is mutilating the word of God, and wherever you find men who have authority from God to act in his name, you will find these gifts and blessings attending their administrations, just as in ancient days. ”

“ Unbelief, therefore, has a tendency to prevent the communication of God's will to man by closing the channel of communication. And another very good reason is that when men were on the earth who did have these communications they were not allowed to live. ”

“ The circumstances which surround us at the present time are of a very peculiar character; probably at no period of our history has the work of the Last Days attracted the attention and the curiosity of the people generally to the extend that it does to-day. ”

“ Wherever the Elders of this Church have gone they have said, and testified to the people, that the time in which we live is the gathering dispensation alluded to by the ancient prophets, when God's people should be gathered from the various nations of the earth to one place, according to the predictions of John the Revelator, David the psalmist, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and all other prophets whose writings we have in this book. ”

“ And thus they fortify and encase themselves in their unbelief and reject the word of God, and if Paul or Peter were to rise from the dead, and go amongst them and proclaim the principles they taught anciently, they would close their churches and chapels, and would say, "We will have none of you, you will deceive us, you are one of the false prophets spoken of," forgetting that, if there are false prophets, there will, in all probability, also be true ones ”

“ They have come here by thousands from remote continents and isles of the sea, and they are united, not so much as they should be, or as they will be; but still there is amongst them a remarkable amount of union, peace, love, and goodwill, and an absence of litigation, drunkenness, theft, and the evils and vices that prevail in the world. ”

“ The best method of disposing of us and our system has given rise to much controversy and discussion in years past. That we ought to be disposed of in some manner has been a very general opinion and feeling in certain quarters ”