| OCR Text |
Show B. H. ROBERTS, The Mormon Orator. representative called upon Elder Roberts yesterday. The elder spoke willingly and without reserve. · . . His mission in Cincinnati, h .e said, ls to endeavor to spread the knowledge of his church, and all that concerns it. Elder Roberts was asked to state in what particulars the Mormon Church c;Ut. fered from the other Christian Churches. The Mor1non Church Position. "To understand our view of our church," said Elder Roberts, "you must know what the Catholics claim for their church and what the Protestants claim for theirs. "The Catholic Church claims to be in possession of the Scriptural truth and also divine authority to teach that truth, and It claims that that authority has been in effect without a day's intermission, and has come down in unbroken succesaion from Peter to Leo XIII. "The Protestant claim is this: That Jesus did establish a church and did give 1authority to his Apostles and ministers to teach, but that in time .abuses crep t into the church in its practices and doctrines, that the primitive, simple faith was dis'." torted into a system that was idolatrous and that it was buried in this idolatry for ages. "The Mormon hellef ls that Jesus did establish the Christian Church. We agree with the Protestants that the primitive ordinances were changed and the authority given lt was lost. But unlike the great majority of them, we Mormons hold t hat t his qivlne authority to teach the t ru he Gospel was aga n re-established by the opening of heaven, by the granting of a OP,W dispensation. We do 1 r.ot claim a new revelation, but that the old revelation ls given anew-now tn its 1 fullness, and that it is promulgated and taught by men possessing authority from God through Joseph Smith. ''It ls this very question of authority that was in issue in the decision given by )?ope Leo XIII. respecting the authority claimed for the ministers in the Episcopal or Angelican Church. With entire consistency the Pope declares the conferring 1 JOSEPH SMITH. The Mormon Prophet. of orders in the Angelican Church ls null and utterly void, and that the clergy ·of that church is without divine authority. And the third homily ln the English service itself declares outright that for eight hundred years the lait:y and clergy of all sects and denominations were sunk in I idolatry. This was the period of the middle ages. The only way by which the church could be restored was by . a re1opening of the heavens and a restoration of the divine authority. He~ is· where the position of Mor-monism ls importanj:, It is distinct from all others. We believe the Gospel was restored in its truth by the ministry of angels.,. A.uthoi•lty To Teacli • . Elder Roberts explained that the re.storation consisted in the discovery by Joseph Smith of the Book of Mormon in 1823, made known to . him by revelation. Smith, then 14 years old, was much impressed with the . many factions among the Christians ~nd their mutual blt'terness and uncharitableness, and felt such a . church or churches could not be of God's creation. Smith continued to have visions. The .most important of these was that tn which an angel -came to declare himself the son of a prophet, who bad lived among the American aborig·ines, and made known that Christ had come to · \ America after His resurection and had established His church here also. The angel indicated where the Book of l\1ormon . lay buried in a hill some distance from Smith's home. The authority to teach the Gospel was given to Smith by angels, and from him it has passed to his S~?~~~s;ook of Mormon" said Elder Roberts "is an addendum to R evelation. The 400 ~.,o members of the church in the United' S·tates. They are located all the way ·from Canada down to Mexico, through Utah, following the line of the valleys. Missions are supported in England, Norway and· other parts of Europe, Turkey, Armenia, Austria and the islands of the Pacific. |
