John Taylor

“ When I turn to the Gospel as taught by Jesus, I find that he sent his disciples into all the world and commanded them to preach the Gospel to every creature, saying, "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, but he that believeth not shall be damned." This Gospel was no pliant thing, as in this day, that men could receive or refuse as they pleased, or that they could tinker to suit their own notions ”

“ What is meant by the everlasting Gospel? I know that some people think there was no Gospel until Jesus came; but it is a great mistake. Adam, Noah, Abraham, and Moses had the Gospel; and when Jesus came he came to offer himself a sacrifice for the sins of the world, and to bring back the Gospel which the people had lost. "Well," says one, "do you mean to affirm that the men you have just named had the Gospel?" I do, and hence it is called the everlasting Gospel. "How do you know?" Why, the Scriptures say the Gospel held the keys of the mysteries of the revelation of God. ”

“ The Gospel of Jesus Christ always took good care of me, and to-day I would rather trust in God under such circumstances than in any of the princes of the earth. This is the way our religion has spread, and it has progressed because God has been with and blessed the labours of His servants; and peace, harmony, and union prevail in our midst. Many have got angry with us, but that is nothing new; the wicked have always shown anger when the Gospel of Jesus Christ has been upon the earth. ”

“ When the apostles commenced to preach the Gospel, Jesus said it was necessary for him to go away, for if he went away he would send them the Comforter—the Holy Spirit—which should call all things to their remembrance and show them things to come. This was something very important; a religion that would do this was a religion fit for immortal men. Why should men, made in the image and after the likeness of God, be ignorant of themselves, of their pre-existence, and their future destiny? ”

“ I do not want uncertainty about my eternal welfare; I do not want to dream away my existence and be governed by somebody's ipse dixit in regard to the future; I do not want to pay a man a few dollars to take care of my soul ”

“ You go to the heathen and inquire about God, and they have thousands of them in every form. Go to the Christians and they have one God, but he has neither body, parts, nor passions; his presence is everywhere, but he exists nowhere. They have never heard nor seen him, and they do not know anybody who ever did, not even their ministers, whom, they claim, are sent of God. They are equally as ignorant in relation to their own existence and the ends of their creation. ”

“ We have our own peculiar views in relation to many things that occupy the minds of men, and we have been in the habit of investigating the principles of the Gospel, and our minds are more or less occupied with affairs connected with the welfare of humanity, whether associated with the present life or that which is to come.
There is a common tendency in the minds of men generally to take very little trouble in relation to religious matters; and men of all nations seem more disposed to let others think and act for them in such matters than to do so for themselves ”

“ In fact, I have heard some of them say that he was a man of such erudition, talent, and piety that they would not have his doctrines questioned in their hearing. The Protestant Germans and a great many others are just the same with regard to Luther; yet in some of his ideas and principles the great Reformer was as foolish as any other man. The Scotch are a good deal so with John Knox; they think that he was everything good, praiseworthy, and amiable, and, in fact, that he was the pink of perfection. The Roman Catholics will not for a moment admit that they are not the true church ”

“ On account of these various feelings in the world a great many errors of every kind have crept in and have led the human mind astray. The Christian portion of the world are apt to look with contempt upon what is called the heathen, and wonder how men possessing any degree of intelligence can be led to worship stocks and stones and gods of their own making. Yet millions, under the influence of priestcraft do this, and they think they are right and that they are on the high road to Heaven. The Christian world, too, feel that it is all right with them in reference to a future life ”

“ Many have tried to stay the progress of the work of God, but it has continued to roll on in spite of all the opposition with which it has had to contend. The prophet saw a little stone cut out of the mountain without hands, and it continued to roll and smote the feet of the image made of clay, brass, silver, gold, and iron, and it became as the chaff of the summer threshing floor; but the little stone grew and increased until it became a great mountain and filled the whole earth. ”

“ Hence upon all such matters we wish to go back to first principles.
If I am a man, where did I come from, and what is the nature of my existence and being here? I want information on these points, if anybody can give it. If I had an existence before I came here I want to know something about it. If there is a God and anybody on the earth ever knew anything about Him, I want to know something about, Him. If there are wise, intelligent, and learned men anywhere who can tell me anything about Him, about my own existence and future destiny, I want to know it. These desires are reasonable ”

“ I believe it is good to investigate and prove all principles that come before me. Prove all things, hold fast that which is good, and reject that which is evil, no matter what guise it may come in. I think if we, as "Mormons," hold principles that cannot be sustained by the Scriptures and by good sound reason and philosophy, the quicker we part with them the better, no matter who believes in them or who does not. ”

“ Another point upon which men do not reflect much, is the fact that between this and the spirit world there is a veil drawn, which can only be penetrated through the medium which the Scriptures unfold. There we are told that "no man can understand the things of God but by the Spirit of God;" hence, though men may reason upon natural principles, and speak logically on most of the common affairs of life, when they attempt to investigate the principles of religion, and the nature of our relationship to God, they seem to be at a loss ”

“ They do not like the idea to be entertained for a moment that the principles, doctrine, and ordinances they believe in and obey may be wrong, or that there is any possibility of the whole so-called Christian church having departed from the faith and ordinances as laid down in the Gospel by Jesus Christ.
The Methodists, for instance, could not for a moment suppose that John Wesley was not competent to judge all matters pertaining to salvation. Wesleyan ministers will hardly permit his doctrines to be questioned; they must be swallowed without investigation. ”

“ It will be so with this stone which God has hewn out in these last days; and though men may combine to stay its progress and may set themselves in array against the Lord and His anointed, yet He will come out of His hiding place and will vex such people and nations, and He will overturn and overturn until Truth shall prevail the wide world over, and until His kingdom shall reach from the rivers to the ends of the earth; until all men shall bow to the sceptre of Immanuel ”

“ The various sects of the Christian world—Methodists, Baptists, Presbyterians, Episcopalians, Church of Rome, and others, no matter what their peculiar creeds or forms of worship may be—entertain the idea that they are all on the highway to Heaven. They build magnificent churches and pay thousands of ministers; they are also very zealous in missionary labours, and contribute largely for the support of charitable institutions. But it is very few of them who reflect upon first principles; they do not like to trouble themselves on such matters. ”

“ It shall come to pass in the last days that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh, and your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions, and upon my servants and handmaidens I will pour out my spirit and they shall prophesy. ”

“ I can read in the Scriptures that men used to converse with God, and that angels conversed with them; that others had visions and could read the purposes of God as they were unfolded before them. But come to the present day when, according to their own account, the most intelligent people that ever were upon the earth are now in existence, and they know nothing about God or His purposes. ”

“ I have travelled a great deal, and have come in contact with professors of every creed; but they almost invariably like to assume, without contradiction, that they are right and that their fathers before them were. ”

“ Feelings of this kind obtain not only among religionists, but also among philosophers, for some Christian philosophers have brought in philosophy to their aid in order to prove the truth of the Christian religion. Paley and Dick, very prominent Christian philosophers, have examined the works of nature, and have endeavoured to prove that the God of nature who controlled all these things must be a Being full of love, intelligence, and power. ”

“ We believe God has spoken. Joseph Smith said an angel came and administered to him and revealed the Gospel to him as it existed in former days, and Joseph declares further, that he was ordained by holy angels, and was commanded to go forth and preach the everlasting Gospel. ”

“ Our marriage relations, for instance, are eternal. Go to the sects of the day and you will find that time ends their marriage covenants; they have no idea of continuing their relations hereafter; they do not believe in anything of the kind. It is true there is a kind of natural principle in men that leads them to hope it may be so ”

“ Some say they must be sprinkled; others say the water must be poured upon the believer; while others say that immersion is the correct method. The Methodists are very pliable on this point—they give a man a chance to have which method he pleases; their ministers do not know which is right, so they give the sinner the privilege to take which he likes. ”

“ You may ask a great many who have seceded from the Church of Rome, and you would and that they have similar ideas about their own infallibility, only they are a little better than those from whom they seceded ”

“ In their investigations they have examined the anatomical and visceral systems of man, beasts, birds, and insects, and have deduced therefrom many arguments which are interesting and incontrovertible. ”