| OCR Text |
Show Page 115 propagate the human race. "Whether Adam understood the law of redemption prior to the fall or not, I shall not decide." He spoke of the penalties annexed to the laws and of the necessity to experience "opposites" in 29 order to appreciate properly the blessings of eternal life. For Orson, the orthodox Christian concept of original sin had no meaning; the Profeestant concept of the inherent depravity of man was a mis-applied and distorted philosophical outgrowth of sectarian notions about the Bible. As Orson saw it, mankind was made subject to sin, not out of wilfulness, but rather out of necessity. This doctrine implied man's moral neutrality and the importance of wise and informed choices in order to realize his full destiny. When the Seventies' Hall was dedicated, the Saints settled in for a quiet winter holiday. Fruit and nuts were passed out, and the Twelve held a leisurely New Year's gathering, with the relatively serious topic of conversation the possibility of re-settling the Church community. In his last months, Joseph Smith had yearned to go West, into the "inter-mountain expanse" so recently described in the best-selling accounts of Captain John C. Fremont - among the Rockies, perhaps, could be found an ideal refuge for the Saints. Notions about trying to reclaim the "center place" at Independence went virtually unconsidered, particularly in the light Joseph Smith's recent declaration that all of America could be called "Zion." Plans for mass relocation gradually took form; the "city of Joseph" would be held as long as possible, with the temple taking priority in order to provide as many Saints as possible with their endowments. Thereafter, Brigham contemplated, the Church would move as a whole, a company at a time, to form a corridor of colonization running westward to the mountains. |
