Remarks by Joseph W. McMurrin

(Of the First Council of Seventy and President of the California Mission) ¶

I rejoice very much, my brethren and sisters, in the opportunity afforded me of being present in this great conference, and I have rejoiced, more than I expect to be able to tell, in the spirit of the conference, and in the remarkable things that have been brought forth from the servants of the Lord by the power and inspiration of the Spirit of the Lord. My heart was made glad, in the opening session, by the manifestation of the power of God, and the spirit of presidency and leadership that were so evident in the counsels and instructions that were imparted by President Heber J. Grant in his opening address. I surely felt in my soul that the Lord our God was present, that he was directing and guiding his work in keeping with the promises that have been made, both by the prophets of this dispensation, and by the prophets of the Lord from the very beginning of time. There has been sounding in my ears the declaration made, again and again, by the Lord of heaven in the revelations that were given to the prophet of this dispensation in the beginning of this work. You who are familiar with the book of Doctrine and Covenants know that many of those revelations commence with language something like this : "Behold, a marvelous and wonderful work is about to come forth among the children of men." I could not help but think, as I looked upon this vast congregation, how wonderfully the promise of the Lord has been fulfilled that was made through the mouth of his prophet, even before there was any Church organization. I take it that nowhere upon the face of the whole earth this Sabbath day is there such a gathering to worship God as we have here in this great tabernacle, to say nothing of the thousands who are gathered in other buildings upon this ground. ¶

It seems astounding to me that men who observe the ever increasing strength of this cause cannot discern the hand of God and his power in this work of the latter times. ¶

Many years ago, when I was laboring in the British mission, I attended upon one occasion a lecture that was delivered by Mr. Charles H. Bradlaugh. His lecture was entitled, "Is Christianity a persecuting religion?" And he told a most terrible story of the things that had been perpetrated in the name of religion. A young man in the congregation wanted to know from him if it was not an evidence of the power of God and the existence of God, that those early Christians in the meridian of time, notwithstanding the fact that the wisdom and strength of the nations were opposed to them, were preserved and made to prosper? I wondered what manner of answer could be made. [ thought in my own soul: ''Surely the history of those early Christians is an evidence of the protecting hand of God." I was very greatly surprised when that great intellectual giant made answer, for his answer was : "Young man, away out in the Western part of America there is a people whose history is more wonderful than anything that has ever been written of the early Christians. That people have not only been opposed by the nations of the world, but they have had to contend with the religious prejudices of all mankind, and in spite of all this opposition, the}' have made more wonderful advancement than was ever made by the early Christians. I speak of the 'Mormon' Church of Utah. Do you think their preservation is an evidence of the power of God ?" ¶

My brethren and sisters, I don't know what may have been in the minds of that company of men who heard that lecture, but in my own soul there was a very great degree of joy and satisfaction in the thought that when Mr. Bradlaugh, with all his intelligence, sought for a religious organization that would parallel the history of the early Christians, he had to go to my people and to my Church, and I was convinced that he singled out the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for the reason that they more completely did parallel the history of the early Christians than any other religious denomination upon the face of the earth. ¶

When I was on my last mission in Great Britain I picked up in one of the great cathedrals, a pamphlet which was headed : "Why I am a Roman Catholic." I think it would not be amiss right here to read a paragraph or two from that pamphlet. It was written by a Catholic priest : ¶

And again, when Luther, Calvin, Henry VIII, and their followers were starting in their mad career, either the true religion was then in the world or it was not. There isn't any room for argument in relation to that declaration. Of necessity the true religion was either in the world or it was not. If it was they committed grievous crimes in making new religions to oppose it. And if the scriptures be true, that statement is just as true as the first declaration, for we can read in the scriptures of divine truth the testimony of the Apostle Paul, that "though we, or an angel from heaven preach any other ¶

gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed." ¶

So declared the ancient man of God as he was lit up by the inspiration and power of God. So that this priest was fully justified in making the statement that I have read, that if the true religion was in the world in the days of those reformers, the reformers committed a grievous sin in seeking lo establish other religions in opposition to the truth. ¶

If it was not, they were powerless to create it. It takes a Christ,, not a Luther, to create a Christianity. On either supposition, therefore, Protestantism is not the true religion of Jesus Christ. ¶

I believe in that doctrine. It matters not how earnest may have been the desire, or how anxious to do good on the part of the men that we speak of as the reformers, if the true religion had vanished from the earth, they did not have power to create it or restore it. Thank God, in the dispensation in which we live, we do not assume an authority without revelation, like the religions of the day. We are in harmony with the declaration that is made by this Catholic priest: that because of the absence from among men of the truth of God that was revealed for the salvation of the human family, it was necessary that the author of that religion who is the source of power and authority should restore it. The message of "Mormonism" is that in the dispensation in which we live the Lord our God, and his Son, our Redeemer, and holy angels, who formerly exercised authority as mortal men, have come to earth in their resurrected bodies and they have restored that lost authority. When the infidel could see the marvelous character of this work, when the Catholic priest could discern the fact that if the truth of God had been lost from the earth, it could only be restored by the Redeemer of the world, surely we who have received the restored gospel ought to comprehend that fact, and in our souls there should be that joy that passeth understanding. ¶

I am glad to say to you, my brethren and sisters, that this testimony and understanding is in the hearts of the men and women who have been assigned to labor as missionaries in the preaching of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, in the California mission, and notwithstanding the fact that they are young men and young women, that they have had but little experience, by the mysterious power of God there has come into their souls an absolute conviction that Jesus is the Christ, the Redeemer of the world, and according to their strength and power and ability, they are delivering that message to the people in the California mission. God, in some mysterious way, touches the hearts of men and women, no matter how weak the instrument that delivers his word, and brings conviction to the souls of men, and they come out from the darkness that is in the world and from the religious nonsense that many are teaching, and receive gladly the truth of God that has been revealed. It has been revealed, men and women, the heavens have been opened, the Lord our God ¶

has made his appearance, divine authority has been conferred upon men. I would to God that we had the power to declare it in the ears of all who live, for it is the truth of God. May our Father in heaven so bless us that we may be true to the faith and work out our salvation, and so let our light shine before men that they will be led from darkness to the light that has thus been made manifest, and plant their feet in the path that has been revealed — for, as God Almighty lives, the truth has been revealed that will take men back into the presence of the Lord our God. May we all travel in that path faithfully all the days of our lives, I humbly pray, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. ¶