Orson F. Whitney

“ At a time when anarchy would threaten the life of the Government, and the Constitution would be hanging as by a thread, the maligned and misunderstood "Mormons"—always patriotic, and necessarily so from the very genius of their religion—would stand firm upon Freedom's rocky ramparts, and as champions of law and order, of liberty and justice, call to their aid in the same grand cause kindred spirits from every part of the nation and from every corner of the world. ”

“ Fruits of the Fall.—The fall had a twofold direction—downward, yet forward. It brought man into the world and set his feet upon progression's highway. But it also brought death, with all its sad concomitants. Not such a death as the righteous now contemplate, and such as both righteous and unrighteous undergo, as a change preparatory to resurrection; but eternal death—death of the spirit as well as the body. There was no resurrection when Adam fell—not upon this planet. ”

“ All true principles of science are parts of it, broken-off fragments of this grand Rock of Ages—or, to change the figure, pools caught in the hollows and clefts of Time, when the great flood of Truth, during one or more of its earthly visitations, swept by on its way back to the Eternal Ocean. All that is precious and exalting in religion springs from this ancient source of divine wisdom and intelligence. Who knows not this, knows not the Gospel.
Why Man-Made Systems Endure.—Every form of faith that has benefited its believers, must have possessed at some time a portion of Divine Truth. ”

“ It was ignorance or malice that so stigmatized them. "Scum of the earth," "offscourings of civilization," were some of the pet names bestowed upon them by their enemies. How utterly unjust these epithets, how grotesquely misapplied, everyone must know who has any knowledge of the facts. In reality, they were among the best men and women of their time. Many of them were descended from the Pilgrims and the Patriots who founded this nation, and in their veins, as Children of the Covenant, flowed the blood of priests and kings, illustrious through a thousand generations. ”

“ The Gospel has been in the world from Adam's day until now, by a series of dispensations, reaching through the entire range of human history. The gaps between, so wide to us, count for little with Deity, to whom past, present and future are one. [8] The finite mind is prone to take short and narrow views of things, tangling itself up in little quibbling details that often give a great deal of trouble. But the Eternal sweeps the whole universe with infinite gaze, and what seem mountains to men are less than mole-hills in His sight. ”

“ Where find justice, mercy, magnanimity, if not in a religion that saves the living, redeems the dead, rescues the damned, and glorifies all who repent? "Mormonism" a small thing? It's the biggest thing in the universe! It is the Everlasting Gospel, the mighty soul-ship of the dispensations, launched in the days of Adam upon the heaving ocean of the ages, and now on its last voyage over the stormy billows of Time to the beaconing coast of Eternity. ”

“ The Essence of Poetry.—The essence of poetry is its idealism, its symbolism. The Creator has built his universe upon symbols, the lesser suggesting and leading up to the greater; and the poetic faculty—possessed in fulness by the prophet—recognizes and interprets them. "All things have their likeness.' [4] All creations testify of their creator. They point to something above and beyond themselves. That is why poetry of the highest order is always prophetic or infinitely suggestive; and that is why the poet is a prophet, and why there is such a thing as poetic prose. ”

“ Strange it is that men and women, intelligent, educated and profound, do not see in this great religious phenomenon something more than a topic to be treated lightly, or in a spirit of harshness and intolerance. Giants in intellect as to other themes, when they deal with the doctrines, aims and attitude of the Latter-day Saints, they seem suddenly changed into dwarfs, mere children, as powerless to cope with the mighty problem as were the learned Rabbis in the Temple with the youthful and divine Son of God. ”

“ It does not do away with a man of God to pelt him with nicknames and opprobrious epithets. Persecution may end his earthly career, but it cannot confute his claim nor invalidate his testimony. The name of the martyred modern Seer, despite the clouds of calumny enveloping it, shines out from amidst the darkness that comprehended him not. His glorious Lord and Master, crucified as an imposter, put to death for maintaining that he was more than the world believed him to be, gave the only Name given under heaven whereby men can be saved. ”

“ The miracles wrought by the Savior—his turning of water into wine, his miraculous feeding of the multitude, his walking on the waves, healing of the sick, raising of the dead, and other wonderful works—what were they but manifestations of an all-powerful faith, to possess which is to have the power to move mountains, without picks and shovels, my skeptical friend to the contrary notwithstanding? Faith is not to confounded with blind ignorant credulity. ”

“ The Gospel saves all who are willing to be saved, and who show their willingness by their obedience, their faith by their works. It also aims to save the unwilling and disobedient—here if possible, and if not here, then hereafter. Wars and other woes are sent to put a stop to men's evil practices, lest they add sin to sin and pile up guilt to their greater condemnation. To be swept off the earth and ministered to in the spirit world, is not the worst fate that can befall the wicked. Omnipotence wields the powers of destruction in such a way as to make of them instruments of salvation. ”

“ He had looked upon the face of God, as did Enoch, Moses, and other seers in times of old. He had communed with Angels, receiving from them the keys of the Priesthood and the principles of the Everlasting Gospel. Thus empowered, he had organized on earth the Church of Christ, the forerunner of the Kingdom that shall stand forever. [5] Wrapt in celestial vision, he had gazed upon the glories of Eternity, portraying in burning eloquence the destiny of the human race, setting forth in vivid plainness the conditions of man's salvation and exaltation in worlds to come. ”

“ Earth, created as an abode and a place of probation for mortal man, was not made out of nothing, as human theology asserts, but out of previously existing materials, as divine revelation affirms. Millions of earths had been created in like manner before this planet rolled into existence. [1]
To create does not mean to make something out of nothing. Such a doctrine is neither scientific nor scriptural. Nothing remains nothing, of necessity; and no power, human or divine, can make it otherwise. Creation is organization, with materials at hand for the process. ”

“ Where was the Moses for such an Exodus? Where the deliverance from this worse than Egyptian bondage—a bondage of which Egypt's slavery was typical?
The Price Paid.—The life of a God was the price of the world's freedom; and that price was paid by the God of Israel (Jesus on Earth, Jehovah in Heaven) who descended from his glorious throne, became mortal, and by submitting to death, broke the bands of death, and made it possible for man to go on to his eternal destiny. ”

“ To bring about this great consummation, the Gospel was instituted, the Savior chosen, Earth created, and the human race placed upon this planet. Nothing imperfect can inherit the Divine Presence—the fulness of God's glory. This important lesson is taught by the principle of marriage—celestial marriage—the sealing of the sexes, not for time only, but for all eternity. "The man is not without the woman, nor the woman without the man, in the Lord." ”

“ Neither is complete without the other. What has been and what is must join, before perfection can reign. Without unity and the perfecting power of righteousness, the Saints would be unprepared to receive the King of Kings. Earth, unable to endure the overpowering glory of his presence, would vanish from before his face, like hoar-frost in the rays of the rising sun. [18] That there might be no such calamity, no converting of an intended blessing into a consuming curse, Elijah restored the Keys of Preparation. ”

“ Faith Must Be Genuine.—But faith must be genuine. Pretense and formalism will not avail. Hypocrisy is the worst form of unbelief. Honest idolatry is infinitely preferable to dishonest worship. Better burn incense to Diana, believing it to be right, than bow down to Christ in hollow-hearted insincerity. Mighty Rome did not fall until she had ceased to worship sincerely the gods enshrined within her Pantheon. ”

“ Those Who Believe.—It was not doubt that drove Columbus across the sea; it was faith—the impelling force of the Spirit of the Lord. [5] It was not doubt that inspired Jefferson, Franklin, and the other patriot fathers to lay broad and deep the foundations of this mighty republic, as a hope and a refuge for oppressed humanity. It is not doubt that causes nations to rise and flourish, that induces great and good men in all ages and in all climes to teach and toil and sacrifice for the benefit of their fellows. It is faith that does such things. ”

“ What is Sin?—Sin is the transgression of divine law, as made known through the conscience or by revelation. A man sins when he violates his conscience, going contrary to light and knowledge—not the light and knowledge that has come to his neighbor, but that which has come to himself. He sins when he does the opposite of what he knows to be right. Up to that point he only blunders. One may suffer painful consequences for only blundering, but he cannot commit sin unless he knows better than to do the thing in which the sin consists. One must have a conscience before he can violate it. ”

“ Achievements of Christendom.—The same philosophy, with far greater emphasis, applies to Christendom and its glorious achievements all down the centuries. What has caused Christian nations to flourish so mightily? What has enabled Christianity, in spite of its errors, to survive the wreck of empires and to weather the storms of time? Faith in the Christ, imperfect though that faith has been. The faith of any people—its trust in and reliance upon some power deemed by it divine—constitutes its main source of strength. ”

“ Every creed, Christian or Pagan, that has proved a real blessing to its votaries, is as a cistern holding within it waters once wholesome and pure, waters that fell originally from Heaven in one of those grand spiritual showers called dispensations of the Gospel, when the flood-gates of Eternity were lifted, that the world might be refreshed. ”

“ Morning will break upon the Millennium, the thousand years of peace, the Sabbath of the World!
House-Cleaning in Progress.—Marvel not, therefore, that all things are in commotion. War, famine, pestilence, earthquake, tempest and tidal wave—these are among the predicted signs of the Savior's second coming. [12] Tyranny and wickedness must be overthrown, and the way prepared for Him who, though gracious and merciful to all, and forgiving to sinners who repent, "cannot look upon sin with the least degree of allowance." [13] Earth must be freed from oppression and cleansed from all iniquity. ”

“ Versification is an art used by the poet to make his thought more attractive. The rhyme pleases the ear and helps the sentiment to reach the heart—a ticket of admission, as it were. A musical instrument is painted and gilded, not to improve its melodic or harmonic powers, but to make it beautiful to the eye, while its music appeals to the ear and charms the soul. Rhyme sustains about the same relation to poetry, as paint or gold leaf to the piano or organ. Clothing adds nothing to one's stature, to one's mental or moral worth; but it enables one to appear well in society. ”

“ Every member of the community was expected to work, to do that for which he or she might best be fitted. There were to be no drones in the hive, no idleness eating the bread of industry. Employment for all, a place for everything and everything in its place—such was the ideal of this social-religious organization. It stood, in short, for justice and fair-dealing, with every man in the secure possession and full enjoyment of his own. Out of the righteous unity resulting from this ideal condition, was to come the power to build up Zion and prepare the way of the Lord. ”

“ Man cannot sit in judgment upon his Maker, nor measure by human standards divine dispensations. "All things have been done in the wisdom of Him who knoweth all things."
God's Greatest Gift.—The Fall, though essential to human progress, dug man's grave and opened the portal to Hades. Redemption unsealed the tomb and swung wide the gates to Endless Glory. Adam gave us mortal life. Eternal life, our greatest boon, is the gift of the Redeemer and Savior. ”

“ God is Light, and has only to appear, and all darkness will flee away. When the sun rises, the moon and stars must "hide their diminished heads." When God dawns upon the world, not even the sun will shine. ”

“ The Second Step.—The first fruit of faith is repentance. It follows faith as naturally as kindness follows love, as obedience springs from reverence, as a desire to be congenial with, succeeds admiration for, one whose example is deemed worthy of emulation. God commands all men to repent; and a desire to please him and become acceptable in his sight, naturally leads the soul of faith to repentance.
"Sin No More."—Repentance is not that superficial sorrow felt by the wrongdoer when "caught in the act"—a sorrow not for sin, but for sin's detection. ”