Orson Pratt

“ Go and create a world, and then people that world with your own offspring, and not know the difference between good and evil, between sickness and health, between pain and happiness, having no knowledge of these by experience. I think that such a one would not be fit, to be entrusted with a world that was to undergo and pass through the same ordeals that our creation is now experiencing. ”

“ For instance, a little child taken to the door and seeing the moon shining in the heavens, puts forth its little hand to reach that luminary; it does not know the distance of objects, until it learns by experience. And hence it seems we have been placed in the first conditions of knowledge, and we have to cultivate this knowledge by degrees—from one degree to another, until we arrive to manhood and womanhood; and some continue to cultivate knowledge and information until they become old and gray-headed. But some learn much faster than others, from either natural advantages, or those of method. ”

“ He intends to bring us forth triumphant over the grave, bring up our bodies from the tomb, restoring our spirits to immortal bodies, as Adam was in the Garden of Eden, and make us immortal and eternal in our nature. ”

“ Some, in reflecting upon this subject, might ask the questions, "If the Lord is an almighty being, possessing all power, and is full of intelligence, knowledge and truth, and if we are his children, why did he not impart unto us the fullness of this light in the beginning of our existence in this world? why should he give us little by little? why are we not born with an understanding of all things past, all things present, and all things to come?" ”

“ We are the sons and daughters of God, just as much so as the children, present this afternoon, are the sons and daughters of their parents, and in the same light, that we are the children of our earthly parents, so are the children of men the offspring of the Almighty. He is our Father in the full sense of the word, and we were begotten by him, and born to him, not in this probation, but in the world prior to the existence of this one—in our former or first estate. ”

“ When I speak of a spiritual existence, do not misunderstand me, I do not mean the kind of existence spoken of in the writings of many theologians in which the spirits of men are represented as occupying no space, and as having no relation to duration or time. Such an existence is inconceivable; it is absurd in its very nature, to suppose that there can be any existence, either in an immortal form, or in the present form of body and spirit, as persons occupying no space; it is one of the greatest absurdities ever invented by intelligent beings. ”

“ I would say, give me the privilege of being taught from on high, give me the privilege of being taught by that being who knows and comprehends everything pertaining to this creation, and knows the changes that it has undergone, and how long the earth has continued in its present condition, or nearly in its present condition. ”

“ But I am happy to say, that these ideas are fast getting out of date, and that people are beginning to learn that God is not so limited in his power as to confine himself to a creation so little and insignificant as that of our earth. There is an infinitude of space, boundless in every direction. ”

“ The materials out of which this earth was formed, are just as eternal as the materials of the glorious personage of the Lord himself. Now, he consists of a body and parts, and not only of parts but passions. ”

“ And we also see other kinds of beings brought forth in the likeness of their parents; the lion begets a lion, not a lamb; and so with every species of beings that exist, each begets his own likeness. And why not we, the masterpiece of the creations of our Father, grow up unto all that fullness of eternal knowledge and truth which he himself possesses. ”

“ We find that man, poor, weak, fallen man, is now able to communicate from one end of the world, on which we live, to the other; and why not immortal beings communicate from world to world. If they were limited, then they would partake more of the nature of mortality. But they are not limited in their communications. There is a faculty in mankind which, when lighted up by the Spirit of God, can not only pierce in vision through millions of miles of space, but can also hear through millions of miles of space. ”

“ Supposing persons, under the influence of the Spirit of the living God, should behold how many of these changes have been brought about, and how great revolutions have taken place, since the earth was last organ-ized out of pre-existent and eternal materials; supposing they should behold the solid earth gradually emerging from its watery envelope, and becoming one land, the waters gathered together into one place—not into two places, not into different oceans, seas and lakes, but into one place, leaving the dry land in one place. ”

“ We learn quite an experience here: we learn what it is to be miserable, we learn what it is to be unhappy, and we can now contrast misery with happiness; and we can say in our hearts, if I could only get rid of sickness, and pain, and sorrow, the effects of this death, how I could appreciate it! We often give expression to such feelings, when we are deeply afflicted. The Lord intends to free us, if we keep his commandments, after having suffered sufficiently long through this state of sickness and feebleness, this state of suffering and sorrow, which we have endured for so many years. ”

“ There have been many people in this world so limited in their information and knowledge, in consequence of tradition and false creeds, and catechisms, that they really believe that our earth is the only creation that exists on which inhabitants dwell, that the stars were made to shine for the benefit of our earth, that the sun and moon were made especially for us, and that the earth is the great central standard, and that all things were made for its benefit. ”

“ Indeed, the progress of man, in this the nineteenth century, shows to us, in a very forcible manner, what may be hereafter in our more perfect state. What a wonderful thing it was to the whole world, a few years since, to communicate their thoughts, by the means of electric wires, sending them from city to city, from state to state, and then across the great ocean to foreign countries, and that too almost momentarily! ”

“ In other words, his offspring, his children, his sons and daughters, partake of a portion of that light which dwells in the Father; the same as our children, born unto us, partake, in some respects, of the light and intelligence which dwells in their parents. All creatures that we are acquainted with, that have life, and being, and power to move upon the earth, have a degree of light, a degree of understanding, and that light or understanding is meted out to them, according to the decree of heaven, and according to the condition in which they are placed, to fill the object of their creation. ”

“ I have ofttimes wondered how it is, that there are so many who believe in these absurd ideas; men of intelligence, men that would scorn to believe such principles connected with natural philosophy, and with the sciences of the day, yet so mistaken in their minds, and so infatuated by false religions, as to conceive of the existence of a being that has no parts. ”

“ You take Lord Ross' six foot reflector, and point it towards yonder heavens, and you find new systems, new universes, as it were, revealed. What are these worlds? They are mighty globes. To say they are like our globe would not be correct; for if they were only little specks like our little earth, they could not be seen. ”

“ There may be a process of communication by means of celestial, heavenly light, that will far outstrip the natural light which proceeds from yonder luminaries in our heavens. It may be that this natural light travels very slowly, compared with the light that proceeds forth from celestial worlds, wherever they may be situated. Then again, if immortal beings on celestial worlds can hear, and see, and communicate with each other, would it not be just as pleasant as though they were associated together in the same room? ”

“ When we occupied our first estate, dwelling in the presence of the Father, before this world was created, we were without bodies of flesh and bones, but possessing parts and passions then as much as we do now; we were there as intelligent spirits, in our present form and shape, but although we had no bodies of flesh and bones, that spiritual substance of which our spirits were formed had a term, and that form was after the likeness and image of God, the Father. ”

“ If they were immortal beings and celestial in their nature, the Lord would not act with them thus, for then they would always be in his presence, whether they are beings of one world or another, or whether the worlds upon which they dwell are as numerous as the sands upon the sea-shore; when they become celestial the veil that obscures the view of mortals is removed, and it makes no difference whether a world be one million, a hundred million, or a million million of miles distant from another, if the veil is taken away, they are still in each other's presence. ”

“ Although the light of the sun is very glorious, it will not begin to compare with that of this earth, when it becomes celestial and eternal and is lightened by the presence of God the Father. It is doubtful whether the children of mortality on other worlds, will ever behold the light of this earth, after it is made eternal, unless they happen to catch a glimpse of it by vision. God dwells in a world of light too glorious for mortal eyes to behold, unless aided by the Spirit of the living God. ”

“ He has the passion of love, so much so that he is called a God of love: hence this nonsense about God having no parts nor passions is among the inventions of human wisdom. This being, when he formed the earth, did not form it out of something that had no existence, but he formed it out of materials that had an existence from all eternity: they never had a beginning, neither will one particle of substance now in existence ever have an end. There are just as many particles now as there were at any previous period of duration, and will be while eternity lasts. ”

“ Supposing then that the children of God, who are counted worthy to be in possession of the Holy Spirit, should comply with all his commandments, and become revelators, and supposing they should inquire about the condition and formation of the earth, when the Lord rolled it into existence, also about the changes that have come upon it, how easy it would be for the Lord to show them, in a moment, almost in the twinkling of an eye, all about it, giving the whole history of its condition, before and when it was first formed. ”

“ It is true, we are now fallen beings, we have departed from our Father, we have transgressed his holy laws, we have been thrown into unhappy circumstances, in consequence of the transgression of our first parents, in the Garden of Eden, and hence, darkness reigns over this little creation, and has taken possession of mankind; but as they were immortal when placed in the garden, and death had no power over them, so must their offspring (if they were permitted to have any) have been immortal and not subject to death. ”

“ There is a spiritual faculty of seeing, different from that of the natural sight, a power of discerning through space, by which celestial beings can see innumerable millions of miles in distance, just as easy as mortals can see ten feet with their natural vision. ”

“ The Lord designed, in placing his children here upon this creation, that they should not only attain to great knowledge, and understanding, and wisdom, but that they should show themselves approved in every sphere in which they might be placed. Where little is given, but little will be required. And having determined in his own purpose and mind that they should be agents to themselves, he designed to try them in their agency, with a small degree of light and truth at first, to see how they would act in relation to the degree of intelligence given ”

“ To be in the presence of God, then, is simply to have the veil withdrawn, which will be done when we prove ourselves worthy of celestial glory. If the worlds of which I have spoken, pertaining to the planetary system, were celestial worlds, occupied by celestial inhabitants, they would all the time be in the presence of their Father, and there could be no withdrawing from the first, to visit the second, etc., according to the revelation from which I have quoted. His method of conveying intelligence is far more rapid than that of light. ”

“ Inasmuch as God is represented to be a being full of truth, full of knowledge and intelligence, having almighty power, we would naturally suppose that he was also a God of light, that. is full of the principle of light; and that there is nothing too deep for him to understand, or too great for his understanding to comprehend or reach. He being full of light, there can be no darkness in him. ”

“ But when he is permitted to experience the nature of light, when he sees the various colors, he then learns something which he never could reason out. So with regard to ourselves. We, in our first state of existence, never having seen misery among any of the immortal beings, and never experiencing it in our spiritual personages, how could we know anything about it? ”

“ But if we had continued to dwell there for innumberable [innumerable] millions of years, we never could have learned, in that state of existence, many things that we are being taught in this fallen world. We might have seen other worlds formed: we might have had some idea, perhaps, of their condition and of their misery and wretchedness, and we might have had some idea of the awful calamities that happened to the bodies of other fallen creations; but then there are many things that intelligent beings cannot learn without experiencing the same. ”