Chapter XXXVII: Conclusion (2)

The careful reader of this paper will say, however, that the statements in the last paragraph permit all the old difficulties to surge back upon us; all the old apparent inconsistencies between the first and second accounts of creation in Genesis remain unreconciled. For if the natural creation of our planet corresponded to the spiritual creation of it, the spiritual standing in the same relationship to the natural as the well devised plan of the architect does to the actual erection of a building--then the account given of the spiritual creation of our earth may as well be regarded as the account of the actual creation of it also. But this leaves all the difficulties between the two accounts of creation in the Bible untouched, and we must look to other facts than those yet considered if we would see them removed.

The Prophet Joseph Smith is credited with having said that our planet was made up of the fragments of a planet which previously existed; some mighty convulsions disrupted that creation and made it desolate. Both its animal and vegetable life forms were destroyed. And when those convulsions ceased, and the rent earth was again consolidated, and it became desirable to replenish it, the work was begun by making a mist to rise that it might descend in gentle rain upon the barren earth, that it might again be fruitful. Then came one of the sons of God[C] to the earth--Adam. A garden was planted in Eden and the man placed in it, and there the Lord brought to him every beast of the field and every fowl of the air, and Adam gave names to them all. Afterwards was brought to Adam his wife, whom, since she was derived from man, he named wo-man; and she became his help-mate, his companion and the mother of his children. In this nothing is hinted at about man being made from the dust, and woman manufactured from a rib, a story which has been a cause of much perplexity to religious people, and a source of much impious merriment to reckless unbelievers. We are informed that the Lord God made every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb before it grew[D] on our planet. As vegetation was created or made to grow upon some older earth, and the seeds thereof or the plants themselves were brought to our earth and made to grow, so likewise man and his help-meet were brought from some other world to our own, to people it with their children. And though it is said that the "Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground"--it by no means follows that he was "formed" as one might form a brick, or from the dust of this earth. We are all "formed" of the dust of the ground, though instead of being moulded as a brick we are brought forth by the natural laws of procreation; so also was Adam and his wife in some older world. And as for the story of the rib, under it I believe the mystery of procreation is hidden.

[Footnote C: Lest any one should doubt that Adam was one of the sons of God, I call attention to the verse of Luke, iii chapter, where in tracing the genealogy of Jesus back to Adam, and coming to Cainan it goes on to say that "he (Cainan) was the son of Enos, which was the son of Seth, which was the son of Adam, which was the son of God."]

[Footnote D: Genesis ii: 4, 5.]

Of the things I have spoken, this is the sum: There was a planet created on the plan of the spiritual creation described in the first chapter of Genesis; beginning with the condensation of nubulous matter to a "fire ball," then the cooling of the surface and thickening of the earth's crust, and the envelopment of it in water; then came light, and by internal eruptions portions of land were thrown above the surface of the water--"the dry land appeared;" then came the simpler forms of vegetation; then the sunlight visited the earth, and doubtless higher forms of vegetation, fruit-trees and flowers and grains were brought forth; then came the creatures that abound in the ocean, that fly in the air, and the beasts of the earth. Not by the process of evolution, but by the various species suitable to the condition of the earth's development being brought from some other and older sphere, with power to propagate their kind, until the changed conditions of the earth became unfavorable to them, when they became extinct and were replaced by other species of a higher type. Then came the mighty convulsions which, for some cause or other, and doubtless for some wise purpose, disrupted that planet; and when from its fragments a new world--our present planet--was brought into existence, it was made the abode of man, as described in the second account of the creation in Genesis, which begins by placing man upon the earth, and then the inferior animals.

Accepting this statement of Joseph Smith relative to our planet in its present state being created or formed from the fragments of a planet which previously existed, one may readily understand how the supposed differences between scientists and believers in revelation have arisen. Scientists have been talking of the earth's strata that were formed in a previously existing planet; they have considered the fossilized flora and fauna imbedded in those strata, and have speculated as to the probable lapse of time since those animal and vegetable forms of life existed; and have generally concluded that the age is so far remote that there is no possible chance of harmonizing it with the account of the creation as given in the Bible. Believers in the Bible, on the other hand, have generally taken it for granted that the account of the creation in the sacred record, would give to the earth no greater antiquity than six thousand years; and have held that within that period the universe was created out of nothing by the volition of Deity--an idea so palpably absurd that intelligence, despite all church authority to the contrary, everywhere rejects it.

The theory set forth in this writing that before Adam was paced upon this earth to people it with his offsprings the matter of which it is composed existed in another planet, which by some mighty convulsions was broken up, and from its ruins was formed our present earth, at once affords a means of harmonizing those facts established by the researches of men and the facts of revelation. If scientists shall claim that myriads of years or of centuries must have been necessary to form the earth's crust, it may be allowed by the believers in revelation, for there is nothing that would contradict that idea in the revelations of God on the subject. If scientists shall claim that the fossilized remains in the different strata of the earth's crust reveal the fact that in the earlier periods of the earth's existence only the simpler forms of vegetation and animal life are to be found, both forms of life becoming more complex and of higher type as the earth becomes older, until it is crowned with the presence of man--all that may be allowed. But that this gradation of animal and vegetable life owes its existence to the process of evolution is denied. As before explained, the claims of evolution are contrary to all experience so far as man's knowledge extends. The great law of nature is that every plant, herb, fish, fowl, beast and man produces his kind; and though there may be slight variations from that law, those variations soon run out either by reverting to the original stock, or else by becoming incapable of producing offspring, and thus become extinct.[E]

[Footnote E: Since beginning this writing I have found some remarks on the subject of evolution by the late President John Taylor, which cannot fail to be of interest to the student of the subject: "The Animal and vegetable creations are governed by certain laws, and are composed of certain elements peculiar to themselves. This applies to man, to beasts, fowls, fish and creeping things, to the insects and to all animated nature; each one possessing its own distinctive features; each requiring a specific sustenance, each having an organism and faculties governed by prescribed laws to perpetuate, its own kind. * * * These principles do not change, as represented by evolutionists of the Darwinian school, but the primitive organisms of all living beings exist in the same form as when they first received their impress from their Maker. There are, indeed, some very slight exceptions, for instance, the ass may mix with the mare and produce the mule; but there it ends; the violation of the laws of procreation receives a check, and its operations can go no further. Similar compounds may possibly be made by experimentalists in the vegetable and mineral kingdoms, but the original elements remain the same. Yet this is not the normal but an abnormal condition with them, as with animals, birds, etc., and if we take man he is said to have been made in the image of God, for the simple reason that he is the son of God; and being His son, he is, of course, his offspring, an emanation from God, in whose likeness we are told he is made. He did not originate from a chaotic mass of matter, moving or inert, but came forth possessing, in an embryotic state, all the faculties and powers of a God. And when he shall be perfected, and have progressed to maturity he will be like his father--a God, being indeed his offspring. As the horse, the ox, the sheep and every living creature, including man, propagates its own species and perpetuates its own kind, so does God perpetuate His."--_Mediation and Atonement_, pp. 164, 165.]

Furthermore, since we have learned that God made "every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb before it grew" (_i. e._ in our earth), the gradation of life forms which the naturalists discover in the various strata of the earth's crust may reasonably be accounted for aside from the theory of evolution--viz., by the animal and vegetable life forms of some older earth being brought to our own; different species being transplanted as changed conditions in the soil and atmosphere and temperature of our earth rendered it favorable to their production, the older species becoming extinct as the changed conditions of the earth became unfavorable to them. Then too, the theory advanced in this writing gives ample room for the reconciliation of another serious difficulty between the scientist and the believer in revelation. To the latter Adam is the first man; the former maintains that there are evidences which prove the earth to have been inhabited before Adam's time. Whether or not the planet which existed previous to our own, and out of the ruins of which our own was organized was inhabited by man as well as by vegetation and animals, I cannot say; all remarks on this subject would be conjecture merely. But if the researches of scientists prove beyond all question that there were pre-Adamic races, then doubtless they were inhabitants of that world which was destroyed, but the evidence of their existence as well as the evidence of the existence of animals and vegetation was preserved in the re-creation of that planet to form this earth. Though, in this connection, I must say that so far as I have examined the works of those who treat on the subject of pre-historic man, or pre-Adamic races, they have hung the heaviest weights on the slenderest of threads; and I am inclined to the opinion that Adam was the progenitor of all races of men whoso remain have yet been found.

So much then for the different theories as to the origin of things pertaining to our earth; as to the beginning of the universe, that is beyond the scope of this inquiry, and may be dismissed by saying that it had no beginning. We conclude this part by quoting one of our hymns:[F]

If you could hie to Kolob,[G]
In the twinkling of an eye,
And then continue onward,
With the same speed to fly,

D'ye think that you could ever,
Through all eternity,
Find out the generation
Where Gods began to be?

Or see the grand beginning,
Where space did not extend?
Or view the last creation,
Where Gods and matter end?

Methinks the Spirit whispers--
No man has found "pure space,"
Nor seen the outside curtains
Where nothing has a place.

The works of God continue,
And worlds and lives abound;
Improvement and progression
Have one eternal round.

[Footnote F: L. D. S. Hymn Book, 252, 17 ed.]

[Footnote G: A planet near the residence of God.--Book of Abraham, Pearl of Great Price, p. 30.]

IV.

I think it must be evident to all who have looked upon the dead, that man is a dual being. Who that has stood by the bier of a friend, a parent, child or wife, and looked upon the lifeless form stretched upon it, but has felt that the being he loved has departed, that he is looking upon the casket merely that contained the jewel--the spirit. This truth forced upon man's consciousness in the presence of the dead is also sustained by the word of God, in which it is said--speaking of that mysterious change to which all flesh is subject, and which man calls death--"Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was; and the spirit shall return to God who gave it."[A]

[Footnote A: Ecclesiastes xii: 7]

It is my purpose to show in this writing, that this spirit of man existed before it was united with the body, that it is an emanation from Deity, and hence the relationship of Fatherhood on the part of God, and sonship on the part of man. It is written by the Apostle Paul that, "God who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in times past unto the fathers, by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by His Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, _by whom also he made the worlds_."[B] The palpable meaning of this passage is that God employed the spirit of Jesus Christ in creating worlds--not one world only, but doubtless many. And if it was the spirit of Jesus which acted as God's agent in the creation of the worlds, there can be no doubt as to the spirit of Jesus having an existence before it was tabernacled in the body born of the virgin Mary.

[Footnote B: Hebrews i: 1, 2.]

Nor is the above passage of scripture the only one which sustains the fact of the existence of the spirit of Jesus Christ previous to its union with the body. There are many expressions which fell from the lips of our Lord himself that prove the fact. When some of his disciples murmured at certain doctrines he had been teaching them, he exclaims--"Doth this offend you? what and if ye shall see the Son of Man ascend up where he was before?"[C]--doubtless referring to the place he occupied in the mansions of his Father before the creation of the earth.

[Footnote C: John vi: 61, 62.]

Again, just previous to his betrayal, in his prayer in Gethsemane, he said to his Father, "I have glorified thee on the earth, I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do. And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self, even with the glory which I had with thee before the world was."[D] No more direct allusion to his pre-existence could be given than this; and from it we learn that such existence extended back to a period previous to the creation of the earth we inhabit.

[Footnote D: John, xvii.]

To all appearances Jesus was as other men in his physical organism. He was born of woman; nourished in the same manner and with the same food; subject to heat and cold, hunger and thirst and weariness. He was pre-eminently the man of sorrows, and more than other men subject to pain. In short he possessed all the organs, dimensions, passions and attributes of man; but in him the passions were refined and so nicely checked and balanced, and the attributes so developed and made subject to the will divine that he was a perfect man--a God! So nearly did he resemble other men that his countrymen, and especially his neighbors, failed to recognize God in him. And when he began his mission among them they said: "Whence hath this man this wisdom, and these mighty works? Is not this the carpenter's son? is not his mother called Mary? and his brethren, James and Joses, and Simon, and Judas? And his sisters are they not all with us? Whence then hath this man all these things? And he did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief."[E]

[Footnote E: Matt. xiii, 64-68.]

We may now turn our attention to the more immediate object of this writing--the relationship between man and Deity.

An important inference may be reasonably based upon this similarity between the Son of God and other men, viz: that if the spirit which inhabited the body of Jesus had an existence before it dwelt in the flesh, is it not possible, and, rather is it not probable, that the spirits of other men, or of all men, also existed before they were born into the world? Since Jesus was so much like his brethren in the many respects noted, it requires no great effort to believe that they resemble him in this particular matter of the pre-existence of their spirits.

The question, however, rests upon stronger grounds than mere inference. The Lord said to Job:

"Where wast thou when I laid the foundation of the earth? declare if thou hast understanding. * * * Who laid the cornerstone thereof, when the morning stars sang together and all the Sons of God shouted for joy?"[F]

[Footnote F: Job xxxviii, 2-7.]

From this scripture one thing is certainly evident, viz: that before the creation of this earth--before the foundation was laid or the measuring line stretched upon it, there were "Sons of God" in existence; and they shouted for joy; perhaps it was at the prospect of the creation of the earth we inhabit that they shouted. And since it was the spirit of Jesus Christ under the direction of God the Father which created the worlds, it is but reasonable to suppose that he was present on that occasion, and may not they have been where the spirit of Job was also?

This doctrine of the pre-existence of spirits makes another scripture clear: "Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee," said the Lord to Jeremiah; "and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee to be a prophet unto the nations."[G] It was the spirit of Jeremiah which the Lord knew; which, in common with the spirit of Jesus, of Job, of Adam, and, in short, of all men,[H] dwelt in the presence of God; and as the spirit of Jeremiah possessed those peculiar characteristics which are favorable to the exercise of prophetic powers, the Lord foreordained him to be a prophet unto the nations.

[Footnote G: Jeremiah i, 5.]

[Footnote H: At the first organization in heaven we were all present, and saw the Savior chosen and appointed and the plan of salvation made, and we sanctioned it.--Joseph Smith.]

In the revelations which the Lord gave to Abraham it is said:

"Now the Lord had shown unto me, Abraham, the intelligences that were organized before the world was; and among these were many of the noble and great ones; and God saw that these were good; and he said, these I will make my rulers; for he stood among those that were spirits, and he saw that they were good; and he said unto me, Abraham, thou art one of them, thou wast chosen before thou wast born."[I]

[Footnote I: Pearl of Great Price, p. 32.]

This scripture not only proves the pre-existence of the spirits of men, but gives us to understand that some were more highly developed than others, were more noble, and hence set apart for special labors, some to be rulers; others, as in the case of Jeremiah, to be prophets, each one in the mighty multitude being assigned to the particular sphere, and given to the particular privileges that his state of development and degree of faithfulness entitled him to receive.

From the scriptures we learn that at one time there was war in heaven:

"And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought, and the dragon fought and his angels. * * * And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent called the Devil and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world; he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him."[J]

[Footnote J: Rev. xii.]

To this also agrees the testimony of Jude:

"And the angels who kept not their first estate but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day."[K]

[Footnote K: Jude 6.]

I have called attention to those passages to prove that there were some spirits who dwelt with God, so wicked and rebellious, that they had to be cast out of heaven, and became the devil and his angels; as well as some who had developed such nobility of character, that God had set them apart or ordained them to be his rulers. Between these two extremes of good and bad, obedient and rebellious were, I doubt not, all degrees of faithfulness and nobility of conduct; and I hazard the opinion that the amount and kind of development in that pre-existent state influences the character in this life, and brings within reach privileges and blessings commensurate with their faithfulness in the spirit world. Yet, I would not be understood as holding the opinion that those born to wealth and ease, whose lives appear to be an unbroken round of pleasure and happiness, must therefore have been spirits in their first estate that were very highly developed in refinement, and very valiant for God and his Christ. Regarding this present state of existence, where as a sphere man is sent to obtain an experience and further develop the intelligence within him, and obtain a knowledge of good and evil, from seeing them in contrast and contact with each other--I hold that that condition in life which is calculated to give the widest experience to man, is the one most to be desired, and he who obtains it is the most favored of God.

One step more in this digression in order that I may state further that I believe it consistent with right reason to say that some of the lowliest walks in life, the paths which lead into the deepest valleys of sorrow and up the most rugged steeps of adversity, are the ones which, if a man travel in, will best accomplish the object of his existence in this world. The stream that leaps over cliffs of rocks, thence goes tumbling down through some canyon's rugged defile, then divides into babbling brooks, now coquetting with the sunbeams or dancing in the sheen of the moon, then stealing into the shade as it meanders through the meadows, and then quickening its speed makes a final rush down a rocky declivity into the ocean--keeps its waters pure; while the stagnant pool is overgrown with sedges; is a place for toads to knot and gender in; breeds miasmata and infests the air with disease germs; its water is impure and it is altogether unlovely and undesirable. So it is with the life of man. The conditions which place men where they may always walk on the unbroken plain of prosperity and seek for nothing but their own pleasure, are not the best within the gift of God. For in such circumstances men soon drop into a position analogous to the stagnant pool; while those who have to contend with difficulties, brave dangers, endure disappointments, struggle with sorrows, eat the bread of adversity and drink the water of affliction; develop a moral and spiritual strength, together with a purity of life and character, unknown to the heirs of ease, and wealth, and pleasure. With the English bard, therefore, I believe

Sweet are the uses of adversity!

And with the Scotch poet I would say that those events, usually regarded as misfortunes,

Give the wit of age to youth;
They let us ken oursel';
They make us see the naked truth,
The real guid and ill.

Thou losses and crosses
Be lessons right severe,
There's wit there, ye'll get there,
Ye'll find nae other where

What the mountain gorge, the beatling crags, and steep declivities are to the stream--enabling it to dash on in its course and by its very motion purify itself--so are what we usually denominate adverse circumstances to the life of man--they are the means of development and of purification only--the pathway of fiery trials is the one ordained of God for his favored sons.

In proof of this I direct you to the lives of the saints and the prophets; but above all to the life of the Son of God himself! The life of the Prophet Joseph Smith is an illustration second only to that of Messiah. He was wont to say:

"I have waded in tribulation lip-deep; but every wave of adversity which has struck me, has only wafted me that much nearer to Deity."

"Envy and the wrath of man have been my common lot all the days of my life; and for what cause it seems mysterious, unless I was ordained from before the foundation of the world for some good end, or bad, as you may choose to call it. * * * It all has become as second nature to me, and I feel like Paul, to glory in tribulation, for to this day has the God of my fathers delivered me out of them all."

The Lord, while the prophet was a prisoner in Liberty Jail, said to him:

"If thou art called to pass through tribulation; if thou art in perils among false brethren; if thou art in perils among robbers; if thou art in perils by land or by sea; if thou art accused with all manner of false accusations; if thine enemies fall upon thee; if they tear thee from the society of thy father and thy mother, and brethren and sisters; and if with a drawn sword thine enemies tear thee from the bosom of thy wife and of thine offspring * * * And if thou shouldst be cast into the pit, or into the hands of murderers, and sentence of death be passed upon thee; if thou be cast into the deep; if the billowing surge conspire against thee; if fierce winds become thine enemy; if the heavens gather blackness, and all the elements combine to hedge up the way; and above all, if the very jaws of hell shall gape open the mouth wide after thee, know thou, my son, that all these things shall give thee experience, _and shall be for thy good_. The Son of Man hath descended below them all; art thou greater than he? Therefore hold on thy way, and the priesthood shall remain with thee, for their [the wicked] bounds are set, they cannot pass. Thy days are known, and thy years shall not be numbered less; therefore, fear not what man can do, for God shall be with you for ever and ever."[L]

[Footnote L: Doc. and Cov., Sec cxxii.]

If all this affliction was for the "good" of one of the most favored of God's sons, is it not a fair conclusion that the trials and adversities of the other sons of God are for their "good?"

Let us now consider the relationship existing between the spirits of men and God. Zechariah speaks of God as not only laying the foundation of the earth, but also as forming the spirit of man within him,[M] while the writer of the book of Hebrews alludes to Jesus as the _first_ begotten[N] of God. The same writer also saith:

"We have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence; shall we not much rather be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live?"[O]

[Footnote M: Zech. xii: 1.]

[Footnote N: Heb. i: 6]

[Footnote O: Heb. xii]

We now begin to see why Jesus taught his disciples to pray, "Our Father which art in heaven." The words "Our Father" are not meaningless, but express the relationship between God and man. And not in any mystical way either, but in reality, the relationship being as much a fact as that existing between any father and son on earth.

This relationship accounts for the interest of God in man; it explains why he is "mindful of him;" why all created things are made but for his use, to supply his necessities, to furnish him with comforts, or afford him the means of experience and education. It makes us understand why such a gulf exists between man and the rest of the animal creation--man is the offspring of Deity and inherits his Father's attributes. It is true those attributes are undeveloped; and often distorted even from that degree of perfection it is possible for them to arrive at in this state of existence; but that they exist in man is beyond all question.

The relationship between God and man also enables us to understand how it is that God permitted such an atonement as the crucifixion of Jesus Christ to be made for his redemption. Among men may be seen how strong are the paternal feelings; but how much stronger and perfect they are in God than in man is manifest in this, that "God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life."[P]

[Footnote P: John iii: 16.]

Following as a consequence of the fatherhood of God is the brotherhood of man. And since Jesus Christ is the first begotten in the spirit world (and the "only begotten" of the Father in the flesh) it follows that he is our elder brother; a relationship which accounts for his willingness to make the great atonement which brings life and immortality within the reach of his brethren.

God and Christ, then, are by no means beings afar off that man may not know. Nor does God look upon mankind as worms or worthless things. On the contrary they are his offspring. He regards them with all the affection of a loving, father--

He sees their hopes he knows their fear,
And looks and loves his image there!

He delights not in their destruction, but would have all men to be saved; and for that purpose has established the gospel.

I point out this noble relationship of man to Deity, not to flatter the former, but because I believe it to be a fact. It is a theme I love to contemplate, not because it debases Deity, but because it elevates man, and must inspire him with noble aspirations, and to the performance of virtuous deeds. If but once understood and realized by mankind, I believe the conception would be a strong incentive to the reformation of the world; as it at once explains many things which have been regarded as mysterious, and explodes many of the absurdities which have crept into the men-invented systems of theology. Furthermore it brings man so near to Deity that like their Elder Brother--being in the form of God--being the children of God--they may think as Christ did, that it is no robbery to be equal with God,[Q] and may labor with worthy ambition to that end. Heirs of God they are, even joint heirs with Jesus Christ, if they obey the gospel of the Son of God; and they have the assurance of holy writ that when he shall appear they shall be like him.[R]

[Footnote Q: Phil. ii: 1-8.]

[Footnote R: I. John iii: 2]