Faith as the Foundation of the Church

ELDER RICHAD R. LYMAN ¶

THE RESULT OF A BOY'S APPEAL. ¶

Who can imagine an event more romantic than for a boy hardly more than fourteen to go upon his knees and appeal successfully for the Creator of the universe to give him light and guidance? Strange as this may seem to many it was nevertheless the experience that came to Joseph Smith the founder of the Mormon Church. ¶

Of this experience he made a written record — that it was revealed to him at the age of fourteen that God had a great work for him to do; that his name "should be had for good and evil among all nations, kindreds and tongues." (Pearl of Great Price, P. 51, Verse 33.) How, may I ask, without some sort of assistance, could a boy of fourteen have such an experience with such marvelous results ? ¶

Contrast that lone boy one hundred years ago with the multitudes that have here assembled, their hearts filled with thanksgiving and gratitude, celebrating the hundredth anniversary of the organization of the Church. One boy then appealing; hundreds of thousands now listening in. ¶

"Behold, saith the Lord, I will proceed to do a marvelous work among this people, even a marvelous work and a wonder." (Isaiah 29:14.) ¶

Where can you find, or has there ever been, a work more marvelous, more wonderful? ¶

THE VIEWS OF AN ECONOMIST ¶

My purpose is to draw your attention to the words and views of Dr. Thomas Nixon Carver of Harvard, one of the greatest authorities on economics. In an article for "The Westerner" (April, 1930) he has expressed his views of the work and accomplishments of the Church, whose history began with the prayer of a boy. I urge that copies of this article be placed in the hands of our seminary students and missionaries. The demand for it has been such that "The Westerner" has provided an ample supply of reprints. ¶

Those who have difficulty in seeing things with the eye of faith will, I think, have their faith stimulated and supported by the scientific and logical presentation which Dr. Carver gives: ¶

FACTORS IN STATESMANSHIP. "Statesmanship," Dr. Carver says, "is the art of nation-building. One can ¶

study it in miniature in the early colonies on the Atlantic coast, and in the Mormon colonies in Utah." ¶

Imagine a boy of fourteen beginning an institution that commands any attention from one of the greatest political economists in the world, who says further: ¶

"I have long been interested in the Mormon polity. It throws a great deal of light on the art of nation-building." ¶

Is that a boy's work — nation-building? ¶

"It furnishes a laboratory for the study of the science of statesmanship. It is one of the most interesting and instructive experiments in the world." ¶

Is that a boy's work? The results are such that, as Dr. Carver says, "it is one of the most interesting and instructive experiments in statesmanship in all the world." Could anything but the power of God make such an accomplishment possible? ¶

Continuing, the economist says: ¶

"Themistocles, twitted because he could not play a musical instrument, replied that, although he could not fiddle, he could make a small city into a great and glorious one. The Mormon leaders did even better than that. They did not even have a small city to start with. They started with nothing and built a great and glorious commonwealth." ¶

Is not this marvelous? — even "a marvelous work and a wonder." (Isaiah 29:14.) ¶

THE MANNER OF ACCOMPLISHMENT ¶

"Such things," Dr. Carver continues, "can be accomplished in only one way." That is what I say — in only one way — and that way is with divine help, guidance and inspiration. ¶

"That way," Dr. Carver says, "is the economizing of man-power, since the economy of man-power is the key to the whole science of statesmanship, and of the whole art of nation-building." ¶

What could be more marvelous, what more wonderful, than for a boy unlearned, a boy with little opportunity to go to school, one whose youth was spent in poverty, to start an institution, which, from the point of view of the "science of statesmanship" and the "art of nation-building," commands the attention, the respect, the admiration, of the scholarship of the world? ¶

"It is only by economizing man-power that great masses of material can be moved, that rivers can be dammed, ditches dug, and land irrigated. It is only by economizing man-power that cities can be built, populations fed, and energy be spared for the arts and graces of life." ¶

"The Mormons did not even start with a mass of highly educated or skilled man-power." ¶

BOTH POOR AND UNEDUCATED ¶

Thanks to the professor for those good words — that the Mormons did not start with a highly educated people. You remember that when John the Baptist sent messengers to Jesus, asking, "Art thou he that should come, or do we look for another?" Jesus answered, go back to John and say, "The poor have the gospel preached to them." (St. Matthew, 11:3, 5.) Hear what the professor says: ¶

"The Mormons... started, as a general rule, with commonplace people. These people came from the backwoods, the prairies, and the mountains. From overseas, they came from peasant farms, from coal mines, and from work shops. While they were sturdy, hard-working people, they were not conspicuously gifted or learned." ¶

"Art thou he that should come, or do we look for another ?" asked the messengers from John of Jesus. His answer was: "Tell John the poor have the Gospel preached to them." ¶

"It was necessary for the Mormon Church," continues Dr. Carver, "to train its own people. They not only began with desert land and had to put everything on it, even water; they also had to start with relatively uneducated people. This double task of developing both land and people could never have been performed except by economizing such man-power as there was, and utilizing it to the nth degree." ¶

For me to say what the results are might not be very remarkable. For other members of the Church to say it, might not be remarkable; but for a great economist, not a member of the Church, to say this, indicates to me that here is the Church and Kingdom of God. ¶

Dr. Carver's strong words are: "The results were a marvel of statesmanship." ¶

A CLUE TO THEIR SUCCESS ¶

"Man-power, he says, "may be economized in three ways, and he analyzes the Mormon Church in these three ways: ¶

"First, man-power may be economized by cultivating sound, personal habits among the people. They who waste their substance in riotous living," says the professor, "are wasting more than wealth. They are wasting their own vital energy, their own man-power." ¶

If I could see him, I would take the professor by the hand and thank him heartily for the inspiring words that follow: ¶

"I have never found more sound and wholesome personal habits than among the Mormons. I never mingled with people who showed fewer signs of dissipation. I have never studied groups of people who seemed better nourished and more healthful. I have never known people who took more pains to educate their children. These traits are a clue to the success of the Mormons as colonizers and nation builders. ¶

"Man-power is also economized by discovering hidden talent and giving it a ¶

chance to function The world is always in desperate need of unusual ¶

talent. Any system of supervision or teaching which can discover latent genius and make it active is a factor in nation building. To discover hidden genius is better than to discover a hidden gold mine. ¶

THE POWER BEHIND IT ALL. ¶

"For some reason or other," he says — you know the reason and so do I — "the leaders of Mormonism had an almost uncanny" — (that is as strong a word as any scientific man could use for'inspiration')— "the leaders of Mormonism had an almost uncanny power of discovering hidden talent... The power to ¶

save skill, talent, and genius from going to waste, is as near to divine wisdom as anything we are ever likely to know in this world." ¶

With the vocabulary to which science is limited, how could Dr. Carver more certainly stamp the Church with the mark of divinity? ¶

"Man-power," he says, "is also economized by cooperation, or by working ¶

together harmoniously It may have been the sheer necessity of the situation ¶

which forced the early Mormons to cooperate or starve. It may have been the bond of a common religion, it may have been superior intelligence and insight. Whatever the source, the result was good." ¶

A scientist cannot use the word "inspiration," nor say that people are guided by Divine Providence. He can use only those terms that refer to human forces or to the forces of nature. ¶

But we must acknowledge that there is a something which we call faith that comes into human hearts. It is a something like electricity, difficult to define, but, like electricity, tremendously powerful. It is the faith of the people of the Church in the message delivered by the Prophet which gives to this institution its active, thrilling, marvelous vitality. ¶

Sacred solo by Catherine Steed, "The mighty God hath spoken." ¶