The Triumph of Truth and Refutation of Eliot's New Religion

For some time prior to our annual and semi-annual conferences, I experience a good deal of anxiety, as I contemplate the probability of my having to address the conference. The Elders of the Church are not in the habit of making set discourses, but rely upon the Lord and His inspiration, and the inspiration they can gather from the people of God, for what they shall say. I always have more or less fear that I shall be unable to collect my thoughts and put them in an order that shall be profitable and interesting to the Latter-day Saints. As a general thing, however, when a man puts his trust in the Lord, the Lord sustains him. While, as I have said, I have anxiety prior to these conferences because of having to speak at them, I have usually had great cause for thankfulness, when the ordeal is over. The remarks of Brother Clawson and Brother Smoot have given me an opening, however ; and I desire to say a few words along similar lines. ¶

I know that this is the work of God, this latter-day work, that is being performed by the people known as the Latter-day Saints. This knowledge has come to me through my own observation, through my own study, as also by the inspiration and impression, upon my heart, of the Holy Ghost. I am satisfied that the work that has been so well started and has made such wonderful progress in the world, will continue until the principles embraced in the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, as understood by the Latter-day Saints, and as revealed to us of the Lord, through His servant Joseph Smith, the Prophet, shall fill the whole earth and be understood and accepted by all the children of God. Such is my hope and my faith, and I have no doubt whatsoever in this regard. ¶

While Brother Smoot was speaking of this new religion — if you may call it a religion — of which Doctor Eliot has assumed the head, I thought to myself that it is not anything new. It is but a crystallization, on the part of Doctor Eliot, of the beliefs of the Christian clergy throughout the whole country. It is what they have been believing and preaching all along. As a result of this belief and of this preaching, the Christian churches have been almost depleted of their membership ; there has at least been a great falling off in attendance at Divine worship ; and I think that Doctor Eliot's crystallization of these beliefs into a sort of creed, will accomplish, perhaps, the entire depletion of the churches of the various Christian denominations. ¶

But, my brethren and sisters, Brother Smoot saw danger in this, and perhaps there is danger in it to the Christian churches ; but as he was speaking, I asked myself the question, is not the hand of God in it? I believe, in all these movements which take upon themselves the nature of being world-wide, the hand of the Lord is in them. Mankind have been going to these various churches in search of God, their heavenly Father ; they have been going for the purpose of receiving solace to their souls ; they have desired consolation, instruction, information and guidance; and they have not found it. Hence, multitudes have turned away from these places and have lost interest in the so-called religions extant among modern Christianity. But there is something in man, and it has been demonstrated to be in man from the beginning until now, that cries out for support, for help, for comfort, for consolation, for knowledge of some supreme being. Man is naturally a worshipful creature. He believes in a power greater than his own. He sees all around him the workings of a greater power than that of man, he sees the handiwork of Deity, both in the heavens and in the earth. It is natural for men to be religious and to seek after God. But they have not found Him in the church es; hence they have abandoned them, largely. Now comes Doctor Eliot with his crystallization of these ideas referred to by Elder Smoot. Well, it will be popular with some; but do you think that mankind are going to be satisfied with that kind of husk? I don't think so, not for a moment. The Latter-day Saints, have struggled and have worked, since the inception of the Church, to spread a knowledge of the truth among the children of men. We have preached the Gospel ; we have proclaimed the restoration of it; we have declared Joseph Smith a prophet; we have preached that God is, as He revealed Himself, a person, and that man was created in His image ; that as Christ, the Redeemer, His Being was like unto man, so was He like unto His Father, and His Father like unto Him and to the children of men. We have made wonderful success in convincing many of the truth of these revelations from the Lord. Yet the great majority are still unconvinced. I believe the Lord is now using their ministers and learned men to destroy the faith of the people in these false creeds which have erroneously been called the churches of Christ. Let men go on and do their work ; let them persuade mankind that there is no God ; that there is no such thing as the immortality of the soul ; that there is no revelation ; nor prophecy ; that there is no such thing as authority — only that authority which men themselves assume. Let them go on and do this until men have lost faith in all these false religions in which they have had faith, heretofore. I see in it the workings of the hand of God, for they will be less satisfied then than before they were undeceived. And they will look elsewhere to satisfy that which within them cries out for something that they know not of; and where will they look? They will look here and there; they will run to and fro, and, as predicted, they will not find it among the organizations which have been established by men and which have been perpetuated by the authority of man. But they will continue to look, to search and to seek for the truth, and the Lord will influence and guide them, and they will, in time, discover the truth where the truth is, and that is in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, — the Church of God, founded by the power of God, which enjoys the authority of the Lord, namely, the Priesthood, conferred upon man to act and speak in the stead of God, in behalf of those who seek knowledge and salvation. Here they will find it. I cannot blame President Eliot for reaching the conclusion that hundreds and thousands have reached before him, and that many are reaching today : that there is no such thing as authority in the Christian churches. He has arrived at the truth concerning the Christian churches — because there is no such thing as divine authority in them. Now, if these men who have reached this state will continue to search for the truth, they will discover it in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They will find within it all the pure principles of the Gospel of salvation, they will become familiar with and receive the glorious gifts of the Holy Ghost; they will become acquainted with the true doctrines of the kingdom of God, and will find also all that the soul of man yearns for, and in the end life eternal. They will understand what the Priesthood is and comprehend the authority thereof, which authority is Divine, and powerful, and which accomplishes the work that authority ought to accomplish among the children of men. ¶

This brings me to the main thing I wanted to speak about this morning, in connection with the remarks of Elder Clawson concerning the Priesthood. He spoke of the Priesthood itself ; I desire to make a few remarks with respect to the officers in the Priesthood. ¶

The Church is a wonderful organization. The terms "wonderful," ''marvelous" and "remarkable" are the only terms that we can find with which to express our admiration for the organization of the Church in these latter days. While wonderful and marvelous in the perfection of its organization, it is also wonderful in its simplicity. The Church is divided and sub-divided into stakes, and wards, and organizations. Over these divisions and organizations are placed men to preside and to direct the affairs of the same, men who hold the Priesthood that has been restored by the servants of God, under the direction of the Father, as explained by Elder Clawson this morning. Now, the Lord has provided that the Church shall be so divided in organization, in stakes and wards with men called to preside over them, so that this most wonderful and mighty work may be the more easily accomplished. Every man who holds this Priesthood, and is an officer in it, has a duty to perform; and if all men would get a full understanding of their duties and conscientiously perform them, then the labor of carrying on the work of God in the world would be a joy to those engaged in it. If every man had his work, and did the work, then, it would be easy; but when there are some of these officers who are more or less indifferent, or careless in the performance of their duties, that increases— in just the proportion of the numbers who are thus indifferent— the labors of those who are diligent and faithful. I believe, when a man is ordained to the Priesthood, and called to an office therein, he ought to seek for the spirit of that calling, and the full understanding of what it means to bear the Priesthood, what his duties are ; and then, with mighty prayer unto the Lord for assistance, set his hand to labor in that calling and office to the very best of his ability, even unto the end, or as long as the Lord wants him and does not release him therefrom. ¶

The special feature that I desire to bring to the attention of the officers in the Church is this, that in my opinion the freedom with which men who hold office in the Church, resign that office, is altogether out of keeping with the responsibility of their calling, and with the work that the Lord has for them to do, and which He has called them to do, in giving them the office and the authority. This applies more especially to the bishops in the Church. It was not so formerly, as now, that men upon this whim or that whim, would resign their positions. Some feel that they are at liberty to resign and get out from under the responsibility and authority the very moment they find their duties becoming a little irksome or strenuous, or troublesome. I think that disposition and that spirit altogether wrong, brethren. I think it is wrong with respect to presidents of stakes ; I think it is wrong with the bishops ; I think it is wrong when it is found among superintendents or presiding officers, in any capacity whatsoever, who have been called and placed in their positions by the inspiration of God through His servants who preside over them. They ought to accept these offices with a determination to remain in them until such time as those who place them there say it is enough. There are times, of course, when changes are necessary and have to be made, when men in office, because of neglect and indifference, prove themselves incompetent to carry on the work of the Lord. But, as a general rule, in such cases the officer never resigns ; it is the man who has the ability, and who could do the work if he would, he is the one who may want to resign. If his church duties interfere with some desire, or some business interests, or he finds difficulties arising, that are burdensome; perhaps someone has criticised or found fault with him; why, for these and other unworthy reasons, he resigns his most sacred and holy office in the Church. There are some Bishops who have gone so far as to deliberately remove from one ward to another, or from one stake to another, in order to be relieved of their duties in the Bishopric. That is not the proper spirit that a Bishop ought to have. During this year, sixty-eight re-organizations among the Bishoprics in that many wards of the Church have taken place. There are six hundred and eighty-five wards in the Church. That means that ten per cent of them have had a re-organization in their Bishoprics during this year — altogether too many resignations. I may say that most of these re-organizations have been made necessary because the Bishops had resigned. Very few of them were brought about or found necessary because of the death of the Bishop. I fear many of these Bishops resigned because they wanted to get out from under the responsibility of the Bishopric. I say, brethren, this is not right ; it ought not to be. You never hear — at least I have never heard, and I don't think you have heard — of the presidents in the mission field sending in their resignations, because they find seme difficulties in the preaching of the Gospel. The Elders sent abroad rarely resign from their missions before they are released. I think this same loyalty should be found among us who hold general and local offices and authority in the Priesthood, in the stakes and wards of the Church. If a ward is suffering because of its bishopric, the president of that stake ought to know it; and if it is advisable that a re-organization should be made, then the president should bring that condition to the attention of those whose right and duty it is to make the re-organization. If a president of a stake is incompetent, or cannot perform his duty because of business interests and other inclinations on his part, and he desires to be relieved of his presidency and wants to get out of it. the Twelve will very likely discover it, and when they receive the proper inspiration from the Lord, will make the change. Men in this Church ought not to feel that they are free to resign at their own will the positions that the Lord God of Heaven has called them to occupy, and in which He has for them a work to perform, in the carrying on of this great latter-day work, in this dispensation. The Lord's will rather than man's should be done. ¶

I would like to say, in connection with these remarks, to the people of the Church, you ought to make the office of the Bishop a pleasant one by giving him your undivided support, as long as he is worthy of it. You ought to withhold your criticisms and not find fault with him when he is doing the best he can. Some wards have boasted of their ability to "kill off" the Bishops. Well, that is wrong on the part of the people. The people should love the Bishop ; they should delight to honor him ; they should sustain him, pray for him, and magnify him. Much of his strength to bear and to perform his duty depends on how the saints uphold and sustain him. We ought to help these brethren in their positions. And to the brethren I wish to say again, we should not feel that we can lay down these offices in the Priesthood, as some have felt they could. We should feel more, with reference to our offices in the Priesthood as we feel toward the Priesthood itself. You can't find any of the officers of the Church, who still retain a love of the truth and a knowledge thereof, who have a desire to resign from holding the Priesthood itself. O no ! We don't want the office of Bishop : we don't want the trouble of being Bishop ; we don't want all this labor and responsibility, but we want the Priesthood; we will not yield that; we value that most highly, and we are determined to keep it. If we would feel this way toward the offices in the Priesthood, it would be better for us and better for the Church at large, by far ; for every time a ward is re-organized, it is disturbed from center to circumference and the new men have to be trained. We are halted in our progress as a general thing, momentarily at least, when these changes have to be made. I hope in the future the brethren will not resign except under the most urgent necessity. ¶

Speaking of home industries — brethren and sisters, I believe in home manufacture; and, as suggested by President Smith, yesterday morning, I think that along a certain line of manufacture the Latter-day Saints, every one of them, ought to be most industriously engaged, and that is in the manufacture, out of their children, material for good Bishops and good officers of the Church ; giving special care and training to the children who will in time become the officers in the Priesthood and in the Church, that when they grow up they will be polished and finished articles, fully understanding and realizing that when the Lord calls them to positions of responsibility, He wants them until He releases them from their calling. And among our girls, we ought to be manufacturing noble women, true and virtuous, who shall be worthy and devout mothers in Israel, and keepers of these homes that Brother Smoot spoke of. I tell you these boys and girls, born under the new and everlasting covenant, in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, are the very best and most genuine material that can be found among all human kind ; and if we do our duty toward them, if they are properly taught, and if they are industrious in their training, as we ought to be, they will become men and women of whom God Himself shall be proud, and glad to bless and magnify in our own eyes, and in the eyes of all the children of the earth. The Lord help us to be true in all things, that we may be able to carry on this great latter-day work, is my prayer, in the name of Jesus. Amen. ¶