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Show -THE UTAH EVANGELTST.- <br><br> The Utah Evangelist. <br> THE UTAH EVANGELIST. <br> PUBLISHED BY <br> THE EVANGELIST PUBLISHING COMPANY, <br> Salt Lake City, Utah. <br> The UTAH EVANGELIST is published in the interest of [t]he Evangelical work in Utah Territory, on the 15th of every month. <br> Terms, single copy, one year … $ .50 <br> Three copies … 1.00 <br> Fifteen copies ... 5.00 <br> Will not the friends of Utah missions give the UTAH EVANGELIST a wide circulation? It will give the monthly information which Sabbath Schools and missionary societies need to keep up the interest in the missionary work, and it therefore solicits the earnest co-operation of pastors, Sabbath School superintendents, and officers of mission bands. <br> [THE] EVANGELIST is the organ of the Utah Presbytery of the Presbyterian church. Its object is twofold: first, to discuss, in a fair and candid spirit, the peculiar doctrines and practices of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, or Mormons; secondly, to furnish news of the Mission Work and its progress to the teachers engaged in the work, and to friends in the East, who support it. <br> The aim of THE EVANGELIST is to sate facts, and not to abuse or misrepresent. Should any of our Mormon friends take exceptions to any of its utterances, they may use our columns, to a reasonable extent, to show wherein we are wrong. Let the truth prevail. <br> EXTRACT FROM ADDRESS BEFORE NATIONAL TEACHER'S CONVENTION, MADISON, WIS. <br> [J. M. COYNER.] <br> I shall consider the Mormon Problem under four distinct heads: 1st, its origin; 2d, its nature; 3d, its growth: and 4th, its future. <br><br> ITS ORIGIN. <br> Joseph Smith, born in Sharon, State of Vermont, is regarded as the founder of Mormonism. After a careful investigation of the system I am constrained to conclude that Joseph Smith was only the instrument in the hands of another that was more powerful than he[.] Who that person is, I shall leave you to judge for yourselves. Out west the ranchmen once a year round up their stock, and examine the brands. When the brands correspond with the records the ownership of the stock is proven. <br> Thus we propose to prove the original ownership or founder of that ‘‘peculiar system" that is called Mormonism, or "Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints." This leads us to consider the second division of the subject: <br> Your attention is called to four distinct brands by means of which you can determine both the nature and founder of the system. <br> The first brand is Deception.* -Take the whole history of this ‘‘peculiar people" from Sept. 22d, 1827, when Joseph Smith is said to have received the golden plates from the hands of the angel, to the present day, and I do not hesitate to say that history furnishes no parallel to the brazen deception of the founder and the willing self-deception of the followers. <br> The story of the golden plates; the palming off of the Spaulding manuscript as the Book of Mormon ; the peep stone of the Urim and Thummim, by which not only the golden plates could be read, but the future revealed; the doctrine of that flexible system of new revelation so convenient in the hands of a designing priesthood; the combination of church and state so skillfully made that whenever necessary the church could conceal the state or the state conceal the church-securing religious fanaticism on one hand or political power on the other; the course taken by the Mormon missionary to catch the simple-minded and unwary and the deception practiced to [note: some words are missing here] the weird influence of endowment house and baptisms for the dead; the moral chicanery, as well as direct perjury as seen in court-room and on witness stand; the moral dodging, the unmanly cringing; the black for the white; the wrong for the right, as the interest of their pretended church would dictate, I repeat it, has no parallel in the world's history of de-depravity [sic]. And does not its whole history show that the system was conceived in a lie, brought forth in a falsehood, cradled in a fraud, nurtured in deceit, and is fed on deception! If you wish to find the record that corresponds to this brand turn to the 44th verse of the 8th chapter of John's gospel. <br> The second mark by which the founder of the system is known is Ambition**. Let any candid mind study the system of Mormonism; its theology, both theoretical and practical, its organization, both temporal and spiritual, and he must be impressed with the manner in which it appeals to the ambition of the human heart. <br> The annual reports of the priesthood show that about one-fifth of the membership are office-holders. The membership embraces all the men, women and children over eight years of age. These office-holders are all males, therefore about every man in the entire society holds an office of honor or emolument. The offices of emolument are at the top, and serve as baits to influence those who hold the lower offices of honor to be faithful. But notice, this system presents no such present reward to woman. She is taught to obey, to submit, to endure through this life, that through her husbond [sic] she may secure her resurrection, her salvation and her exaltation in the life to come. <br> Again, according to Mormon theology, there are many gods and goddesses, all springs from one original pair by ordinary creation, and this process of increase of spiritual beings is still going on in the spirit land, and the plural system of marriage is in vogue there in all its perfection. <br> This system teaches that there are three states of accountable existence, the spiritual undeveloped, the probationary, and the spiritual developed. The spiritual undeveloped is where the spirit is anxiously waiting for a tabernacle, a body in which it can "work the works of Righteousness" that will enable it to enter upon the developed state of spiritual existence, where if a male it will be a king or a god, if a female, a queen or goddess; and the one great object of the human race is thus to provide human tabernacles for these longing spirits that are so anxious to "work the works of righteousness," and thus secure their future eternal exaltation. <br> According to this theory, Adam, the founder of the human race, having served out his probationary state in some previous existence, and thus having become a god with all the powers of creation, fitted up this earth as a future home, and taking one of his wives, Eve, established the hum[an] [ra]ce as a part of his kingdom, other parts be[in]g other worlds created by him and peopled by races by his other [wi]ves. All these form Adam'[s] great kingdom over which he reigns with [di]vine authority, and thus Adam is __ od with whom the human race has any direct dealings. But the kingdom of the father god, Adam, is increasing without limit for each one of his male decendants [sic] who has "worked the works of righteousness," which simply means being faithful to this new revelation in regard to plural marriage, paying tithing and obeying the priesthood, when this probationary existence is over, at death will enter upon his inheritance, become a god, create as many worlds as he has wives, and thus be king over his own kingdom, yet all a part of the kingdom of Father god Adam. In the 24th number of the Latter Day Saints ‘‘Millennial Star," published in London June 15, 1857, is a mathematical problem, such as I immagine [sic] no teacher in this association has ever attempted to solve. It is this: <br> What is the difference in the greatest number of decendants [sic] that a monogamist and polygamist can have, each marrying early and living to the age of 78? <br> The answer is given in the 27th number of the same paper, July 4th, 1857. "The greatest number of descendants of the monogamist will be 152: of the polygamist, 3,580.491." Suppose that one-half of these are males, and that one-half of this one-hall, or one-fourth of the entire number, live to marry, and "work the works of righteousness" to secure future exaltation and godship, this polygamist, according to the Mormon theory will, ere he closes his four-score years, see looming up as the kingdom that is to satisfy his present -ambition, 895,122 worlds, and this number is to multiply by a ratio of increase that has no equal in mathematical science. <br> DO YOU KNOW THAT <br> LORILLARD'S CLIMAX <br> PLUG TOBACCO <br> with Red Tin Tag; ROSE LEAF Fine cut Chewing; NAVY CLIPPINGS, and Black, Brown and Yellow SNUFFS are the best and cheapest, quality considered! <br><br><br> * phrases are italicized <br> ** words are italicized <br><br> |
