The Salt Lake herald-Republican. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1909-1918, 1909-09-06
HOW GOD GAVE A
LATER MESSAGE
Tourists Hear Explanation of
Doctrines of the Mormon
Church.
}. P. GODDARD SPEAKS
TWO THOUSAND HEAR ADDRESS
AND ORGAN AT TABERNACLE.

Principles of Mormonism were ex-
pounded to an audience of nearly 1000
tourists and visitors by ]. P. Goddard
at the tabernacle yesterday afternoon
and a program was given on the organ
| by Prof. J. J. Mcclellan. Instead of
the usual promptness, there was a de-
lay of nearly twenty minutes while the
crowd was obliged to enter by only one
door, the incident being explained by
the statement that the key to the other
main entrance had been lost.
The speaker explained the nature of
/ the service, telling Of the observance
| of the first Sunday of each month by
the MOTmOns as fast day when, instead
of the regular afternoon service at the
| tabernacle, there were services at each
Of the meeting houses in the forty eccle-
siastical wards of Salt Lake. He said
the custom had been to keep the taber-
nacle closed on fast day, but this had
been changed to accommodate the many
tourists who wished TO learn something
of Mormons and MormOnism and to
hear the organ.
Most people, Mr. Goddard said, had
more or less curiosity concerning the
MOrmons and their beliefs and concern
ing the people of Utah many had be-
liefs that were erroneous. He said the
position of elder in the Mormon church
he regarded as one Of the choicest of
his possessions, it being the authority
given by God to preach His gospel and
to administer His ordinances,
Belief in the Bible,
In explaining the beliefs of the Nor
mon, Mr.. Goddard said the church ac-
cepted the King James version of the
Bible as the word of God, so far as
it was correctly translated, so that any
Biblical quotations he might make
would be from the same Bible as was
used by all Christian denominations.
He said the MormOns also believed in
the Book of Mormon, which many
know as the Mormon Bible" and in
that respect the Mormons differed from
other denominations. The MOrmOns
believed that the Bible is an imperfect
and incomplete guide, and to support
this statement he called attention to
the differences in the beliefs of the vari-
Gus Christian denominations which took
the Bible as their sole guide.
Quoting from the articles of faith, he
read the statement that the MOrmOns
believed in the Bible, so far as it had
been correctly translated, and also in
the Book of Mormon without qualifca-
he said the MOrmOns also believe all
that God had revealed; all that He now
reveals, and that He will yet reveal
many important truths to His children.
He said the MOrmons also believe in
the book of Doctrines and Covenants
and the Pearl of Great Price, contain
ing revelations given by God to Joseph
Smith
New Message From God.
Mr.. Goddard said the belief of the
church was that through Joseph Smith,
God brought forth a new dispensatiOn
in these latter days. In the same way
the speaker said God had revealed him
self to Adam and later to Noah. Abra-
ham and Moses, giving through them
dispensations of the Gospel, and by this
he meant that a dispensatiOn was 81
new message from God to His people.
Later he said Christ came to usher in
a new dispensatiOn, and after each one
Of these prophets had received the mes
sage of God the people had apOsta-
tized.
At the beginning of Christ's time on
earth, he said the Jews had been found
to have apostatized, and although they
held 10 a certain form of gOdliness, they
refused to accept His Son and refused
to acknowledge Gods power TO reveal
His will to man.
Of Joseph Smith, Mr.. Goddard said
the church believed that the Mormon
prophet had been called Of God just as
Adam, Noah, Abraham and Moses and
the early prophets had been called, and
that Joseph Smith came like the others
at a time when the people of the earth
had apostatized from the true church
just as they had in former times. He
said Joseph Smith came to a people
who worshipped a heathenish cOnCep-
ton of God, believing him to be without
body, parts or passions. Most Of his
hearers, he said, would agTee that man
kind had apOstatized since the time of
Christ and there had been a need for
refOTmers, the Roman Catholic church
being the only denomination which held
to the belief that there had been no
apostacy and with that statement all
Professionalism took issue.
Speaking Of the refOrmeTs, Mr.. God
dard said they had been needed and
had performed their work, but that
none Of them had claimed that he was
sent by God to restore the gospel; but
each one sought to restore the gospel
as it had been taught by God so far
as he could define il. The result was
that today there are as many sects in
the Christian church as there have been
refOrmers.
The Book of Mormon.
Takingup the Book of Mormon. Mr..
Goddard related the Mormon belief in
its origin, saying it was a history of
the ancient people who, about 500 years
before Christ came to the American
continent, led by Nephi. From that
time until about 400 years after Christ
the prophets kept records Of the life
and travels of the Nephites and then
they were given to Mormon, who
abridged them and wrote the record.
This record was turned over 10
MOrOni, Mormon's son, who included the
history of his time and then buried
the record in the hill Comorah, which
was in western New York. In 1923, he
about the book, and in 1927 he had ap-
peared and turned the record over to
the Mormon prophet, by whom it was
translated and given to the world
In outlining the story of the Book of
Mormon Mr.. Goddard said that
whether or not his hearers accepted the
belief of the MOrmOns as to its origin
and divine inspiration, it taught prin-
ciples of morality and right living, and
that a careful and unbiased perusal Of
its contents could not fail to be of
benefit towards strengthening the faith
of the reader. He said the MOrmons
believed it to be the only record of the
ancient people who inhabited the
American continent and for that rea-
son it was of special interest to