The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1879-04-30
MoKMoNIsM.

MORMONIsM.
The Greco of the Latter-Day saints-They
are FINALLY to Possess the Earth and In
habit New . erusalem In Missouri.
TSunday A fternoon for May.J
The Mormons. 1t SENS to me. have no
religion. They. however, have q creed, and
believe in 1t. They have & system OF the
ology, too, but such o couglonleIate affair is
it tina. it deles description, 1t Is worthy OF
mention only as q curiosity.
1t teaches primarily that the re are many
gods, and that eminent saints b.scome gods
In Heaven. They rise one above q mother in
power and glory 10 Infnity. joseph, Smith
is now the god of this generation. Above
him is Jesus of Nazareth, Who're superb god
| Is Adam. Above Adam Is jehovah, end
| above Jehovah Is Elohim. These all ba We
many wives, and they all rule over thsl.
descendants, who are constantly increasing
in number and dominion. The glory Of .
saint when be becomes god depends IN
some degree upon the number of wives and
children which he has. Hence it is that polyg-
amy is taught and enforced as q duty. Wives
are sealed to saints here on earth to increase
their dominion in Heaven. The gods are in
the forms of men and are the fathers of the
souls OF men in this world. The 10 COM
mandments are the rule OF life, together
with revelation given to Joseph Smith, in
lS4S. This revelation IS called "a Word of
Wisdom" and is regarded simply as counsel
not as law. According to the Mormon creed
infant sprinkling is condemned. At eight
yesrs OF age children are immersed. Baptism
for the dead is practiced, living person
being baptized for one or more DEAD per-
sons Some of the great men of the ma
ton and the world are by proxy members
of the Church of Latter-Day Saints, as
Washington, Franklin, etc. There have
been many dispensations of religious truth,
but the greatest of all is that made through
the prophet Joseph. This dIspensatIon will
eliminate in the settlement OF the saints in
jackson county, Mo-, whence they were
expelled. Here will all the saints be gath
cred in due time. and all others will be cut
OIL All preaching, as far as doctrine Is con-
cerned, is ringing change on these points
The people know their articles of faith by
heart, and are not allowed to forget them
Neither can GENTLE, though fool. fail to
learn what the saints believe. Its an eclec-
tic theology that they hold, made up OF con-
tributions from every creed 1t is COM
pound OF Christianity, philosophy and N.Y.
thology in about equal parts. The form of
| church government is that of the Methodist
church, although the leaders were originally
CoDgregationalist in the matter Of church
order. and Baptist by profession.
This conglomerate theology is diametri-
cally opposed to the doctrines of the Bible
| ~ in being purely materialistic. Yin teach
ing the eternity OF matter, (3) in declaring
the pre-existence and transmission of souls,
voceting the doctrine Of plurality of wives
! or celestial marriage.
To enlarge on these points little:
l. The Mormons hold that there is no
| spirit distinct from matter. Spirit is simply
matter refined. God Is a perfected man and
every man is god embryo.
2. There never was a creation, except as
| appropriation and combination constitute q
creation. New worlds are constantly being
formed from matter uniformed and void,''
I IL.
are stocked with spirits unembodIed. Saints
of this last dispensation rule over these
spirits and become gods.
8. Countless spirits are born in all these
| worlds, and are awaiting physical processes
| by which they may enter earthly tabernacle
and begin their probationary state. These
| spirits have organs of thought, speech. hear
| ing, ETC., but they must be subject to the
moral law of earth that regeneration may
| go on; hence they seek for tabernacles. 1t
IS woman's highest glory to furnish these
tebernacles. and her glory is in proportion
to the number she furnishes Man may
preach, and thus. attain the highest order of
saintship, but only one avenue is available
for woman. She must introduce these spir-
itual bodies to earth. So only can che attain
exaltation. SKA
4. There are vast number of gods in the
world over kingdoms, nations, families, etc.,
but only one God regnant in each world.
Worlds are given in due time to tbe-saints.
Each saint must build up his own kingdom,
| i. e., populate it. Elohim is the greatest
god known to man. He dwelIs in the planet
Kolob in the center of our system, which re-
wolves ''once in 1 900 years." which are with
the Lord as one day. There wers SIX of our
| days In the first creation or "appropri-
alton of matter void" and six OF the Lords
days in the great preparatory course OF this
world, each one coo years. There were
two days to each oispensation; two days to
the Mosaic, two to the patriarcaal, Chris
tianity had its two days OF trial.
and after the death of st. John be-
gan the great apostasy. Now have continued
| 1900 years of darkness, when NO true priest
/ hood has been on earth. The various sects
have each part of the truth, but the light
has dawned. The Lords day approaches
| Great wars will soon destroy nearly all the
Gentiles-the Survivors will serve the SAINTS
Men will indeed, be scarce, SO scarce that
| seven women will lay hcld on one msn.
The Indians, descendants of the Jews, wi
| be converted and become "a delightsome
people," The 10 lost tribes will be found.
They will gather at Jerusalem about 1890.
| The new Jerusalem will be in Missouri;
there is the paradise promised to the saints.