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 jSr Ph\UnthropisT7 
 
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Digitized by 1i||||!|piet Archiv 
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 : IVIicrosoft Corporation 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/fewremarksbywayo 
 
A FEW REMARKS 
 
 B Y W AY OF REPLY 
 
 TO AN 
 
 ANONYMOUS SCRIBBLER, 
 
 CALLING HIMSELF 
 
 A PHILANTHKOPIST, 
 
 DISABUSING 
 
 THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST 
 
 OF 
 
 LATTER DAY SAINTS 
 
 OF THE SLANDERS AND FALSEHOODS WHICEI HE HAS 
 ATTEMPTED TO FASTEN UPON IT. 
 
 BY S. BENNETT. 
 
 PHILADELPHL4 I 
 BROWN, BICKING & GUILPERT, PRINTERS, NO. 56 NORTH THIRD ST. 
 
 1840. 
 
F s-as 
 
 B 3f 
 
in croft Library 
 
 REPLY 
 
 PHILANTHROPIST. 
 
 After carefully perusing the anonymous production of an assumed 
 " Philanthropist," I am not in the least surprised, that he manifests 
 much care, and expresses an ardent wish, that he may not be known. 
 
 When a man is conscious of fabricating a lie, of wilfully misrepre- 
 senting in order to deceive, of traducing and slandering the character of 
 men, without pretending to adduce the shadow of proof, no marvel he 
 desires the cloak of secresy to be thrown around him, no wonder if he 
 hate the light. It shall, however, be my business to drag the lover of 
 darkness from his hiding place, and by bringing him in the light of 
 truth, disclose his refuge of lies. 
 
 Who has not discovered the fact, that the messengers of the most 
 High, have in every age of the world received from the mass of the 
 human family, precisely the same reception ; " if they have called the 
 Master of the House Beelzebub, how much more them of his house- 
 hold." The gectarian professor of the present day, w^ould fain argue 
 himself into the conviction, that he has discovered a plan by which the 
 Scriptures are falsified, and God and mammon reconciled ; and more- 
 over, that God's plan of saving men, and reconciling the world unto 
 himself, called the Gospel, devised in the councils of Heaven before the 
 foundation of the world, is not exactly perfect, but may be improved on 
 by the wisdom of men, to suit the tastes of any particular age. But 
 more of this anon. 
 
 I shall now proceed to dissect the tissue of falsehood, folly, and 
 sophistry, (if it be not too puerile to deserve the name,) denominated 
 " a development of the Mormon doctrines." 
 
 The first conclusion at which the writer arrives, is a fair sample of 
 the utter contempt the author cherishes for the inductive mode of de- 
 monstration. After stating that the Book of Mormon represents the In- 
 dians as descendants of the House of Joseph, he says, " If the present 
 Indians are descendants of the half tribe of Joseph, they have tlie best 
 right to know it, but this knowledge they have not ; wherefore, the pre- 
 sent Indians are not of the half tribe of Joseph," the force of reason can 
 no further go ! " Again, this Book of Mormon presupposes among the In- 
 dians, at the time of its compilation and engraving, a knowledge of the 
 
<• <• 
 
 arts and sciences in order to sail across the atlantic ocean, — navigation, 
 reading, writing, engraving, goldbeating, &c., but the present race of 
 Indians have no recollection or tradition of reading or writing ever 
 being among them ; wherefore, the Book of Mormon, or the golden 
 plates was not made and engraved by the Indians." How blindly in- 
 fatuated must that man be, and how willing withal to believe a lie 
 that he might be damned, who can find no better reason for rejecting 
 the Book of Mormon, as a true record, than those above stated. But 
 these objections exist no where but in the writer's shallow brain. Any 
 one w^ho has the slightest acquaintance with American antiquities, or 
 Indian traditions, will find abundant evidence to establish the fact. 
 (See Priest's American Antiquities, also a work on the discovery of 
 America, by the Northmen, by A. Davis.) 
 
 The authenticity of the Book of Mormon, rests exactly upon the 
 same foundation that the communications of the Almighty to the hu- 
 man family ever have rested, in any age of the world ; viz. the testi- 
 mony of men, whose honesty and veracity have never been falsified, 
 and who have not counted their lives dear unto them, but were ever 
 ready to seal their testimony with their blood. 
 
 The next objection in order, is the personality of the Deity. ** They, 
 the Mormons, maintain, that God the Father, has a body exactly in 
 chape like that of a man." Then follows a specimen of miserable ter- 
 giversation worthy of an idolitor, which I now brand you to be, (and 
 shall presently show,) here it is, " Now I cannot positively affirm, that 
 tlieir God is any particular man, e. g. Smith or Rigdon, but they un- 
 doubtedly give us reason to conjecture from their descriptions, that 
 gome human apotheosis is intended." I have no hesitation in affirming 
 niy belief in, and dependence upon the God of the Bible, the God of 
 Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, of Moses, and the Prophets, and I 
 am willing to take the testimony of these men of God who have seen 
 him, as to whether he has an existence, in other words, body and parts, 
 for I take it a thing without substance, however small the tenuity may 
 be conceived to be, has not even a fancied existence. And I shall rely 
 upon the declarations of the inspired writers, in preference to the in- 
 consistent absurdities of those who have made a God out of their own 
 brain, and then fallen down and worshipped a creature of their imagi- 
 nations, supposing it to be the living and true God. Gen. i. 26 & 27. 
 "So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created 
 he him, male and female created he them," — here is one express de- 
 claration of the fact that God has a tabernacle, or body, else how could 
 it have a likeness, the fact of this referring to the physical as well as 
 moral man, is abundantly manifest from the consideration, that the 
 beasts of the field, fowls of the air, &c., bore the moral image of the 
 Creator, and the peace, order, harmony, and love of the Creator, was 
 reigning there, when looking complacently upon them, he pronounced 
 
them very good. But to put this matter heyond controversy, or cavil, 
 without a wilful perversion of the obvious meaning of words, I shall 
 quote Heb. i. 3, " Who being the brightness of his glory, and the 
 express image of his person^ and upholding all things by the word of 
 his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the 
 right hand of the Majesty on high." That the Son of God here 
 spoken of, as being the express image of his Father's person, was, in no 
 remarkable respect, different from the usual conformation of a man, I 
 presume no one will deny ; the inference is irresistible, that the image 
 of God in which man was created, was physical as well as moral. All 
 the Scriptural testimony you have adduced to show that the Apostle 
 Paul speaks of a change, will not conflict, in the smallest degree, with 
 the declarations above quoted. Paul says, Romans, xii. 2, that this 
 change is the renewal of the mind ; and according to your own quo- 
 tation, Colos. iii. 9. he calls it a renewal in knowledge. 
 
 The Latter Day Saints, not only contend that God is a Spirit, but 
 believe and teach, that whosoever has not the Spirit of God, is none of 
 his; and they affirm that this Spirit in possession, constitutes the 
 church or body of Jesus Christ, and that the effects of this are always 
 the same in all ages of the world, to wit ; the communication of light, 
 power, intelligence of things past, present, and to come, according to 
 the sayings of Jesus, and the Apostles. The other passages quoted, 
 such as **no man hath seen God at any time," whom no man hath or 
 can see. 
 
 The phrase translated " no man," in the foregoing passages, might 
 with great propriety be translated " no sinner," no unrenewed man ; 
 that this is the sense intended by the inspired writer, is sufficiently 
 obvious from the following considerations ; " no man hath seen God 
 at any time, but the only begotten Son which is in the bosom of the 
 Father, he hath declared him." So that, " He that hath seen me, hatb 
 seen the Father." On the supposition that the present translation is 
 correct, Jesus uttered incomprehensible nonsense ; render the phrase 
 no sinner, and it is consistent with itself, and with the whole tenor of 
 Revelation. In 1 Timothy, vi. 16, Paul, speaking of Jesus Christ, 
 says, " wliom no man hath seen or can see," admit that this is true, 
 and the religion of Jesus Christ is not even a cunningly devised fable, 
 but a palpable deception ; and " if Christ be not risen, then is our preach- 
 ing vain, and your faith is also vain," it is then certainly demonstrative, 
 that the phrase no man, has reference to the ungodly, from the decla- 
 ration of Paul, " that to those who keep his commandments, in his 
 times he shall show^ " Who only hath immortality, dwelling in light 
 which no man can approach unto, whom no man hath seen, or can 
 see.'* 
 
 " What then, it may be asked, is meant by those Scriptures wherein 
 he is represented as appearing to certain individuals on several occa- 
 1* 
 
sions? I answer, it was the similitude of Jehovah which appeared, and 
 not the Lord himself as he is, as is most satisfactorily showed in the 
 12th Chap, of Numbers, verse 8th, and what precedes it." So then, 
 after all your laboured attempt, to show that Jehovah is the methodist 
 God, without body or parts, to cap the climax of your reasoning, and 
 destroy the force of the testimony of all the inspired men, who saw the 
 Lord, you say, it was the similitude — of a thing without body or parts 
 I suppose ? the absurdity of your argument, if such it can be called, is 
 too glaring to need comment. To such fooleries are men driven, who 
 have invented a God of their own, or appropriate one already manu- 
 factured to their hands, and vainly flatter themselves meanwhile, that 
 their God is the same, at whose right hand Stephen saw Jesus stand- 
 ing. I take you to be as thorough paced an idolator, as ever bowed 
 down to a stock or a stone. 
 
 " They also affirm that Jesus Christ was never acknowledged to be 
 the Son of God, till after his baptism," very true, what objection can 
 you urge to that, let us see; " out of Egypt have I called my Son." 
 "That holy thing which shall be born of thee, shall be called the 
 Son of God." The first declaration made hundreds of years before the 
 Saviour was born, could be no acknowledgment of his person. The 
 second, merely says, shall be called the Son of God. He never was 
 acknowledged by the Father, till after his baptism. 
 
 "To say that Jesus Christ was born of the Spirit, is to make him a 
 depraved being like ourselves." How such a conclusion follows, I 
 confess I cannot conceive, and should be the last to admit such a con- 
 sequence ; by the same rule, because he was born of the water, he was 
 a depraved being ; perhaps, you will deny his baptism next, to escape 
 the dilemma, it would not astonish me in you. 
 
 Your next objection, is to the literal interpretation of the Scriptures, 
 this was natural ; a man who first disbelieved them, would of course 
 seek to spiritualize and explain away their obvious sense. In the 
 vision of Ezekiel, 37th Chap, of the valley of bones, the Lord gives 
 his own interpretation, yet you ask from men whom you are pleased 
 to call Deists, to point it out more particularly, or you cannot believe 
 that your God can bring men to life, who have been dead thousands of 
 years, and their bones decomposed ! this comes of having a God 
 " without body or parts," who can neither see, hear, stretch forth his 
 hand, or utter his voice ; I should very much distrust the ability of 
 your God, and I marvel not that your faith staggers when any thing 
 is really to be done. 
 
 Your infidel thrust is next made at the doctrine, that when God 
 gives a command he requires obedience, and that he does not demand 
 more at the hand of any man than he can give. " This, you say, is 
 in opposition to the whole genius of Revelation," but for the best of all 
 jreasons, you have made no attempt to back the lie with the word of 
 
God. The next misrepresentation you are guilty of, is that we incul- 
 cate the idea, that the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are 
 superseded by direct revelation ; now this is either criminal ignorance, 
 or designed falsehood, as every one knows who has attended our meet- 
 ings, and as is proven by yourself, " the Mormons tell us the whole 
 celestial law must be kept in order to obtain the Spirit." Liars ought 
 to have good memories. 
 
 You assert the ScripJ,ures only mention two covenants, and that no 
 covenant is yet future^ " For this is the covenant that I will make 
 with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my 
 laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts, and I will be to 
 them a God, and they shall be to me a people." This clearly proves 
 H covenant is yet to be established, as the house of Israel still inherit 
 the curse of the broken covenant. 
 
 We do not affirm that the Kingdom of God was lost sooner, or ex- 
 isted any after, apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers, 
 were in it ; but we do affirm, that these are constituent parts of the 
 Kingdom organized on the earth, and that it has not, and cannot exist 
 without them, and so saith the Scripture ; 1 Cor. xii. 28. Ephe- 
 sians, iv. 11, 12. This doctrine you say, is in direct hostility with 
 the Scriptures, which tell us " that every man is enlightened that 
 cometh into the world ;" and " That the grace of God which bringeth 
 salvation hath appeared unto all men ;" and " that the Lord is no re- 
 specter of persons;" what these quotations have to do with tlie matter, 
 I am at a loss to perceive. 
 
 You say the idea of the disorganization of the Kingdom of God, is 
 at war with these passages, and with the experience of tens of thou- 
 sands, but you have not condescended to tell how. Again, you deny 
 that Peter told the truth, when he says that the Gospel was preached 
 unto them that are dead, that they might be judged according to men 
 in the flesh ; 1 Peter, iv. 6, you have the hardihood and effrontery to 
 say, that Peter taught an extravagant, anti-scriptural, and dangerously 
 delusive doctrine, and a lie into the bargain, he says, they were dead, 
 you say they were alive in the flesh ; the issue is fairly joined between 
 you, see ye to it. You assert, we " cannot now have Apostles and 
 Evangelists, except we should have another Saviour personally to send 
 them !" because, forsooth, an Apostle is a special witness, how was 
 Paul constituted an Apostle ? I suppose you will not credit his testi- 
 mony, though he should declare, that ^apostles, prophets, evangelists, 
 &c., were given for the perfecting of the Saints, for the work of the 
 ministry, and by consequence, no church could exist without them i 
 what wonder then, that men carmot counterfeit the Kingdom of God ; 
 they may build a Methodist, a Presbyterian, a Baptist, or any other 
 order of things they choose almost, but they cannot invest it with a 
 
8 
 
 single peculiarity belonging^ to the order of Heaven ; no apostles, no 
 prophets, no gifts, no blessings, no administration of ordinances, none 
 to administer them ! 
 
 " The Mormon religion, is, 1st. Faith; 2nd. Repentance; 3d. Im- 
 mersion ; 4th. Laying on of hands, for the reception of the Holy 
 Ghost ; 5th. Sacrament ;" add the doctrine of the resurrection of 
 the dead, and eternal judgment, and you have the whole of the first 
 principles of the doctrine of Christ, as taught by Jesus and the Apos- 
 ties. As you have been following a cunningly devised fable, having 
 no foundation in the word of God, it was not to be reasonably expect- 
 ed, that you should even know what are the fundamental principles of 
 the Gospel, as taught by men, sent by the Son of God to teach the 
 nations the plaii by which they might be saved in the Kingdom of 
 God. Indeed, so completely ignorant of the oracles of God, do you 
 prove yourself, that you charge the propagators of these principles, 
 with promulgirig a " religion manufactured by instruments of the 
 foulest depravity." In doing which, as I shall conclusively show, you 
 have done nothing more nor less, than charge the living and true God, 
 the author of our salvation, with the " foulest depravity." 
 
 We will in the first place, examine the commission given to the 
 Apostles, by the Saviour of the world, as it is recorded by Matthew, 
 last chap. 19 &. 20. "Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing 
 them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy 
 Ghost ;" next, as recorded by Mark, 16 Chap. 15 v. " Go ye into all 
 the world and preach the Gospel to every creature. He that believeth 
 and is baptized, shall be saved, but he that believeth not, shall be 
 damned ;" and also Luke, 24 Chap. 46 & 47 v. " Thus it is written, 
 and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the 
 third day ; and that repentance, and remission of sins, should be 
 preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem." 
 
 We observe here the principles or doctrines which the Apostles were 
 commanded to teach, now let us see whether they were faithful to their 
 trust. Take for example, the first Gospel sermon they ever preached 
 afler they were endowed with power from on high; Peter stood up 
 and reasoned with the Jews, showing that God had made that same 
 Jesus whom they had crucified, both Lord and Christ. Now when 
 they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, (that is, they believed 
 his testimony,) and said unto Peter and the rest of the Apostles, Men 
 and Brethren, what shall we do ? and Peter said unto them, " Reperit 
 and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ, for the 
 remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost." 
 We would naturally infer, that men filled with the Holy Ghost, and 
 who spake as the Spirit gave them utterance, would teach any thing 
 but principles of the " foulest depravity." Your imputation then, is 
 
9 
 
 found directly to arraign the great God with wickedness and folly ; 
 a position that without speedy penitence must inevitably sink you to 
 the lowest hell. 
 
 " The faith subsequent to repentance, and which is indispensable to 
 the attainment of salvation, they have no idea of." 
 
 The faith which the Mormons inculcate and practice, is a rigid ad- 
 herence to all the commandments of God, without any exception, as 
 the only infallible proof of the possession of that faith, which works by 
 love, and purifies the heart. " Show me thy faith without thy works, 
 and I will show thee my faith by my works." The man who prates 
 about the possession of faith, (a sainfs faith, not that which James 
 ascribes to devils,) and is at the same time living in open violation of 
 one of the least commandments of God, no matter how high his pre- 
 tensions may be, is according to John, 1 Epis. 2 Ch. 4 v. " a liar, and 
 the truth is not in him." Let it never be forgotten, that He who 
 is not man, that he should lie, or the Son of man, that he should 
 repent ;" has given no commandments that we may trample under 
 foot and disregard with impunity. " He that ofFendeth in one point ia 
 guilty of all," James, ii. 4. It seems to me, that a moment's reflec- 
 tion, must convince every lover of truth, that there is no more danger- 
 ous and pernicious delusion, palmed upon the human family, than the 
 idea that in the commandments of God there are some that we peril 
 our souls by refusing to obey, while there are others that are less neces- 
 sary to be attended to, that we may leave undone, without being 
 brought under condemnation. That some are essential, others non- 
 essential ; yet this doctrine obtains among the whole seetarian world. 
 Can any thing be more palpably the doctrine of anti-christ ? I trow 
 not. 
 
 This, in fine, is the very essence of apostacy, and this is the reason 
 why the great God has determined to make the earth empty, and de- 
 stroy the inhabitants thereof, and to unite priest and people in one 
 commingled whirlwind of devastation and death. What, sir, have you 
 the audacity to assert, " that it is in hostility to the whole genius of 
 Revelation," to insist that God requires obedience to all the command- 
 ments which he has made obligatory upon us. In the true spirit of 
 him who said, *• I know thee that thou art an austere man, reaping 
 where thou hast not sown, and gathering where thou hast not 
 strewed ;" you hesitate not to say it is impossible, which is in effect 
 saying, that God requires of his creatures more than thpy. .can give 
 and is therefore tyrannical and unjust. Bancroit Library 
 
 The next specimen you exhibit of the spirit of him who was a liar 
 from the beginning, is as follows : " But, by immersion, they take upon 
 them the authoritative power to forgive sins." A confutation of this 
 notorious falsehood, and which you must have known to be such, would 
 be superfluous to those who do not take their opinions upon trust. J 
 
10 
 
 shall however merely say, that, as we profess to teach the whole doc- 
 trine of Christ, without diminution or addition, among the first princi- 
 ples is, "Baptism for the remission of sins." This is the ordinance 
 in the kingdom of God, through obedience to which, the promise of 
 forgiveness of sins is annexed : in other words, by believing in the 
 proclamation of the Gospel, repenting of our sins, and being baptised, 
 calling on the name of the Lord, the blood of Jesus Christ becomes 
 efficacious in the act of baptism, and doth cleanse from all unrighteous- 
 ness. This may appear to your superior wisdom a very foclish scheme 
 to wash away sin : but this is the plan of God ; and I, sir, glory in it, 
 because of its simplicity and efficacy. Hear what is said on the sub- 
 ject, by one whose authority you dare not question : " Verily verily I 
 say unto you, except a man be born of water, and of the spirit, he can 
 in no case enter into the kingdom ©f God." Do you expect to climb 
 up some other way ? Take heed lest you be accounted a thief and a 
 robber, 
 
 " But they profess by the imposition of hands, either to communicate, 
 or be made the instruments of communicating the holy ghost." Very 
 good. Have we not excellent company in teaching and practice — 
 Peter, James, John, Barnabas and Paul, and a host of others, who 
 were willing to be esteemed " instruments of the foulest depravity." 
 
 " Here is Mormon religion — a bodily God ; a forgiven regenerated 
 Saviour. Mormon faith, remission of sins, and spirit," 
 
 "A bodily God." "We know whom we worship; ye know not 
 whom you ^erve, or what ye worship." You, I am informed, belong 
 to that grand division of the idolatrous army of the last days, called 
 methodists, who pay their orisons to the unknown God, without body 
 or parts ; therefore, are you offended at the idea of a real existence, a 
 God who alone hath understanding ; " whose arm is not shortened, 
 that he cannot save ;" " whose ear is not heavy that he cannot hear ;" 
 " whose eye searcheth the hearts, and triest the reins of the children 
 of men ;" and who knoweth the secret intentions and desires, before 
 they are expressed ; who speaks, and it is done, who commands, and 
 it stands fast ; " for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it." Your 
 understanding being blinded by the God of this world, you verily sup- 
 pose yourself, while worshipping this God, without body or parts, to be 
 addressing the God of the Bible — rendering homage to the God of 
 Heaven. I tell you, sir, like your predecessors in the days of Elijah, 
 you may call on your God from morning to evening, and from evening 
 to morning, and he can never answer you. He is eternally dumb : he 
 can neither see nor hear you; and, if he could, he can never utter his 
 voice, or stretch forth his hand to help you. He is not the God of 
 Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, (with whom he talked face to face, as a 
 man talketh with his friend,) und can neither answer by fire, or in any 
 
11 
 
 •otlier way. Such a God I should despise and contemn, for his igno 
 ranee and impotence. 
 
 It might be worth while to mention here, a fact which I know — 
 (not heard somehody say, that some one eke understood it was cur- 
 rently reported.) Professor Durbin, one of the most distinguished 
 preachers in the Methodist Episcopal Church, said, " We can conceive 
 of God in no other way than as a substance."* Then, according to a 
 philanthropist, and the Methodist discipline, God hath so constituted 
 his creatures that they cannot conceive of his existence, and then com- 
 manded them to fall down and worship him. To such egregious ab- 
 surdities will men cling, rather than receive the truth in the love of it. 
 To all such I would say, the time is near at hand, when the Lord 
 Jesus shall be revealed from Heaven, with his mighty angels, taking 
 vengeance on them that know not God, and obey not the Gospel of 
 Jesus Christ our Lord. Men may believe, it seems, in the existence 
 of a God without body or parts, but it is absolutely impossible that 
 they can ever know him ; therefore, when the Lord Jesus shall be re- 
 vealed in flaming fire, it will be to take vengeance on all who worship 
 a God without body or parts. 
 
 It is very clear, also, from Rev. xiii., that the worshippers of the 
 beast, which John saw, whose followers comprehended all whose names 
 are not written in the book of life, were taught the Methodist doctrine. 
 *' And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme 
 his name and Ms lalernaclet and them that dwell in heaven." I don't 
 know but you go still farther than the beast — for you positively deny 
 that God has a tabernacle, or body, at all. 
 
 In opposition then to all who hold and teach the traditions and doc- 
 trines of men, we make known to the world, that the Most High, who 
 dwelleth not in temples made with hands, and who, though he filleth 
 all things, hath, according to the Scriptures, a place where his bodily 
 presence is manifested, and his glory is the light thereof And to put 
 the matter beyond all quebtion, he hath in a multitude of instances, 
 shown himself to the children of men (chosen witnesses), in different 
 ages of the world, and especially in these last days hath his bodily 
 presence been manifested, and his voice hath sounded in the ear of 
 mortal man, without consuming him. It is perfectly firivolous and 
 vain to deny the fact. Let any man attempt it by whatever means he 
 chooses, and by the effort he will strike at the truth of the whole 
 Scriptural narrative. To say that it was the similitude— figurative^ 
 metaphorical^ &c., is nothing but an evasion. God is a God of truth ; 
 and if he gave a similitude of himself, it was a faithful representation, 
 
 * This is easily ascertained by every one who can reason and reflect. The 
 moment we attempt to conceive of a thing, we invest it with materiality ; and 
 we cannot, according to our mental constitution, conceive of immaterial ejc- 
 ifltence. . . 
 
12 
 
 and not a h)'pocritical display. If he then represented himself with 
 a body and parts, when he had neither, he would be deceiving his 
 creatures, and misleading thein. A figure, or a metaphor, of course 
 imply something of which they are the representatives, and necessarily 
 involve the substance. To such pitiful subterfuges are men driven, 
 who love a lie. 
 
 " A forgiven regenerated Saviour." The Mormons know no such 
 being. We believe in a Saviour who taught by precept, and hath left 
 us an example that we should walk in his steps ; and that all those 
 who pretend to be his followers, and disregard the pattern, will find 
 that they are neither "forgiven nor regenerated." 
 
 " Mormon faith," is the faith which was once delivered to the saints, 
 and they are, be it known, determined to contend for it. You perhaps 
 have heard something about the " analogy of faith." The Mormons 
 are strenuous advocates of this mode of interpretation : they maintain, 
 sir, that faith is just as much a principle of power now as it ever was, 
 and that it is equally our privilege to attain to any and all the blessings 
 that the church of God ever enjoyed — because we have the true author- 
 ity restored, which holds the administration of spiritual things, to wit, 
 the Milchizidcck Priesthood, i^ithout which they never have been, and 
 never can be obtained. 
 
 " Remission of sins, and spirit." I would simply remark, that it is 
 not surprising that you object to these principles, when, on the Metho- 
 dist scheme of things, there is not a single promise in the Word of 
 God, by which we could claim eitlier. On the Gospel plan, the only 
 means by which we can obtain remission of sins, is through obedience 
 to the ordinance of baptism, and the gift of the holy ghost, through 
 the laying on of hands : and if any Methodist ever obtained either, it 
 was a gratuitous gift of God, not because he had promised it. 
 
 "The fruit of their religion, the Mormons maintain, is dreams, 
 visions, revelations, prophesying, speaking with tongues, and healing 
 the sick." This was undoubtedly the effects of the reception of the 
 holy ghost, anciently ; but the question is, will the same fruit invaria- 
 bly result from its possession ? We answer, it is the uniform con- 
 comitant, and the touchstone by which the church of Jesus Chrigt 
 should be distinguished in all ages of the world. 
 
 " These signs (says Jesus) shall follow them that believe : in my name 
 they shall cast out devils ; they shall speak with new tongues ; they 
 shall take up serpents ; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not 
 hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover." 
 Mark, then, that the promise has no limit but the existence of be- 
 lievers. 
 
 Again. "When he, the spirit of truth is come, he will guide you 
 into all truth, and teach you things to come." Again. " And it shall 
 come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out my spirit upon 
 
! all flesh, and your sons and yotu* daug^hters shall prophesy, and your 
 young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams." 
 And, says Peter, "Repent and be baptised for the remission of your 
 sins, and you shall receive the gift of the holy ghost ; for the promise 
 is to you and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many 
 as the Lord our God shall calV Nothing can be more evident, then, 
 tliat the holy ghost was to be uniform in its action. If it were not so, 
 by what means could its possession be ascertained, and it distinguished 
 from the many false spirits which are gone abroad in the world : cer- 
 tainly if it was one thing to-day, and another thing to-morrow, and still 
 another some time hence, it might continue to change, ad infinitum. 
 But the truth is, the spirit of God to-day, will speak the same things, 
 will mind the same things, will produce the same fruit, the spirit of 
 God did eighteen hundred years ago ; and this is the test by which it 
 shall be tried. See the xii. chap. 1 Corin., and you will find pour- 
 trayed the manifestations of the spirit of God in the church, and the 
 purpose for which they were placed there, that it should be preserved 
 from schism. This corresponds exactly with the promise of the Sa!- 
 viour : it shall guide you into all truth — it shall take of the things of 
 mine and show them unto you. It is perfectly useless for you, or any 
 man, to say that these things were confined to the Apostolic age, and 
 are not to be obtained now. By the same authority which you assume 
 to take away the smallest part of the Gospel, I may take away the re- 
 mainder, so that nothing will be left. 
 
 If the New Testament order is a perfect system of things, in other 
 words, if it be the Kingdom of God organized on the earth, what a 
 fearful responsibility does that man incur, who shall, without any au- 
 thority fi-om God, dare to assert that part is done away ; has he not 
 directly dethroned the Almighty ; and if a part of the New Testament 
 order has ceased, and Goc has given us no intimation of the thing, the 
 New Testament is good for nothing to us, because we have no means 
 of determining which part belongs to us, and which does not Let no 
 one dream that Jehovah hath done his work so carelessly. 
 
 The Mormons, you say, profess to heal the sick, which they cannot 
 do ; and boast of their possession of miraculous powers. We profess 
 to carry out our principles and doctrines into our practice, therefore, 
 when any are sick, it is the doctrine of James, " let them send for the 
 Elders of the church, and let them lay their hands on them, anointing 
 with oil m the name of the Lord, and the prayer of faith shall save the 
 sick, and the Lord shall raise him up." We know there is virtue in 
 this promise, and by tbo grace of God we shall continue to practice 
 upon it, and though we make no boast of, or pretend to the possession 
 of miraculous power, we will never be found among those who deny 
 the power of godliness ; but confess, that " all things are possible to 
 him that believeth," and that man who would strike out of existence, 
 one promise of him whose promises are all yea and amen, in Christ 
 Jesus, no matter what his pretensions may be, he may even profeM 
 -^ — 2 
 
14 
 
 sanctification, as some have who deny that the promise made through 
 James is any longer valid ; the man who does that, if there be any 
 sanctity in the matter, is a sanctified infidel. 
 
 You next labour to show, that the genuineness of faith, is evidenced 
 by works; very good, but they must bo the very works which the 
 commands of God require, or they will not indicate faith. 
 
 You say, that the signs promised to, and accompanying believers, 
 are not indubitable marks of genuine faith, " for many have produced 
 them who were, and continued to be bad men." 
 
 This assertion without any attempt at proof, seems to imply a secret 
 suspicion, that it is incapable of any. How in the name of common 
 sense, could they be signs of faith, if they were not the peculiar pro- 
 perty of the believer ? 
 
 By your return to the 37th Chap, of Ezekiel, you manifest a lurk- 
 ing conviction, that it is impregnable to all the assaults of spiritualizers, 
 alias unbelievers. 
 
 Because those saints who are alive, and remain at the coming of the 
 Lord, will not be so far changed, as that the relation of husband and 
 wife, parent and children, will be annihilated, therefore, you would fain 
 create the impression that we teach procreation in the resurrected 
 saints ; and you plainly charge upon us a little further on, the teaching 
 of a carnal Paradise, unrestrained sensual indulgence, and promiscuous 
 intercour-e between the sexes ; for which I charge you with being a 
 base, unblushing liar, and that you have sold yourself to the enemy of 
 all righteousness to do his work, and unless you repent and be bap- 
 tized for the remission of your sins, you will have your portion with 
 hypocrites and unbelievers. 
 
 " The Mormons tell us, that there are two New Jerusalcms to be 
 built, one in this country, and one in Palestine." This is another 
 lie. The Mormons say, that this continent is the place of the New 
 Jerusalem, called also Mount Zion, and that old Jerusalem is to be 
 rebuilt ; and that in these two places will be deliverance, when the 
 earth shall burn as an oven, and all the proud, and they that do wick- 
 edly shall be as stubble ; this, you say, is very romantic, you would 
 have thought the same of Noah's undertaking, I presume; remember 
 as it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be at the coming of the Son 
 of man. The scorner shall be equally consumed. 
 
 You object to God's building the New Jerusalem now, because the 
 Hebrews came to it, in vision and revelation, hundreds of years ago ; 
 you ought to be consistent to object to the Saviour's coming to judge 
 the world, for it appears that formed a part of the scenery, in the grand 
 drama to which Paul reminds the Hebrews they had come ; and the 
 general assembly and church of the first born, whose names are writ- 
 ten in Heaven ; and the " spirits of just men made perfect," it is alto- 
 gether probable, that many of the individuals who composed a part of 
 this glorious pageant, are yet unborn. 
 
 You say, because God is the builder of it, he cannot make use of the 
 Mormons as his instruments. 
 
15 
 
 And finally, because it is to come down out of heaven on the new 
 earth, it never can be built on this earth. This is what your objections 
 to the buildijig of Zion on this continent amount to ; they need no refu- 
 tation. 
 
 You say the final resurrection of the righteous and the wicked will 
 be in the same hour, and triumphantly assert, that all the Mormon 
 hope falls to the ground ; by this you indubitably exhibit, that you can 
 have no part in the first resurrection, and that you prefer darkness to 
 light. In proof of your assertion, you quote John v. 28 «fe 29, Jesus 
 says, " the hour is coming when all that are in their graves shall come 
 forth, they that have done good to the resurrection of life, and they 
 that have done evil, to the resurrection of damnation." This does not 
 affirm that both will be at one and the same time, John vi. 39 & 40. 
 speaks only of the saint's resurrection. 
 
 John xi. 24, speaks of the same thing. 
 
 Paul says, every man in his own order, Christ the first fruits, after- 
 ward they that are Christ's at his coming. 
 
 It is expressly told us, " the dead in Christ shall rise first." 
 
 To show conclusively that your position is opposed to the oracles of 
 God, 1 refer you to the revelation of John, 20 chap. 4 and 5 verses, 
 where we are explicitly told, " that the saints lived and reigned with 
 Christ a thousand years, but the rest of the dead lived not again until 
 the thousand years were ended. This is the first resurrection ;" after 
 the expiration of which, Satan is loosed for a little season, and then 
 sent to his own place, when all this is accomplished ; John describes the 
 general judgment, and death and hell deliverd up the dead which were 
 in them, and they were judged every man according to his works. 
 
 We do not pretend to tell the day, the month, or the year, when any of 
 these events shall take place, but this much we do know, that the gene- 
 ration, in which the signs make their appearance, spoken of by Jesus, 
 shall not all pass away, before the Son of man shall be revealed in the 
 clouds of Heaven, with power and great glory ; to the deliverance of 
 his people, and the destruction of Ijis enemies. As it was when he 
 came the first time, the people were expecting him, so now, the profess- 
 ing christian world generally acknowledge the time is very nigh for the 
 commencement of that important epoch in the history of the world, 
 called the milleniuni ; yet they have spiritually interpreted the decla- 
 rations of the Prophets, till there is no possible way of determining 
 any thing they foretell, therefore they say the Son of man is coming 
 spiritually. 
 
 Although the messengers of the Most High come proclaiming the 
 near approach of the Son of God, declaring the doctrine of Jesus 
 Christ, and crying, repent and be baptised for the remission of sins, and 
 the promise of the Holy Ghost, by the laying on of hands, is for all 
 who submit to the conditions which God has imposed ; men will not 
 receive the message, they have no desire for truth, but love the tradi- 
 tions and commandments of men better than they do the command- 
 ments of the Lord. They are satisfied with a form of godliness, and 
 
16 
 
 have no desire for the power ; denying that it is now attainable. In 
 the midst of this universal apostacy of the human family, God has set 
 his hand to do his work, — his strange work ; and p. ^r form his act, — 
 his strange act; and while men are vainly looking for ^oraething, they 
 know not what, Almighty God has established the kingdom spoken of 
 by Daniel, which shall ultimately prevail over all others ;. ^d is raising 
 up a people who will contend for the fulfilment of his promises, and 
 who know, assuredly, God is not slack concerning his promises, as 
 men count slackness; and that he will withhold no gcod thing from 
 them that walk uprightly. Men may sneer, and cavil, and contemn, 
 but God is at work now, and he will finish the work, and cut it short 
 in righteousness. 
 
 The last allegation I shall notice is the wicked and malicious insinu- 
 ation contained in your preface ; that the Mormons hold and inculcate 
 insubordination to the civil magistrate, and are sowers of sedition. 
 As you acknowledge the charge is founded on public rumor, it would 
 not have merited a notice if it were not that it afforded an opportunity 
 to give it the most unqualified denial. 
 
 I cannot forbear to remark what a striking parallel in this and most 
 other points, the charges brought by this generation against the saints 
 of God, bear to those brought by the ancient Pharisees and sectarians 
 against the primitive saints, what a pestilent and seditious fellow that 
 Paul was ; the filth and ofFscouring of all things, were they accounted, 
 and it was esteemed praiseworthy to persecute, traduce, belie, torture, 
 and destroy them. This is the refining pot in which the saints are 
 purified in all ages of the world, and God has expressly told us, if ye 
 endure it not, then are ye bastards, and not sons. In conclusion, I 
 would say to all who are sincerely seeking for truth, there is one way 
 by which you shall certainly know between a prophet of God, and a 
 prophet of Baal ; between a messenger of the living and true God, 
 and a priest of the prince of darkness. It is this, the man of God will 
 tell you, that the God whom he serves is the hearer and answerer of 
 the prayer of faith, and he will send you to him to ascertain the truth 
 of the message which he brings ; he will tell you that God is faithful- 
 ness, and truth, therefore "they that will do his will shall know of the 
 doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether it be of men;" he will tell 
 you to build on the rock of revelation, on which Jesus says, he would 
 build his church, and the gates of hell should never prevail against it. 
 The false teacher, on the other hand, will tell you, these promises are, 
 not for you, revelation has ceased, the power ol godliness was confined 
 to some other age and people, and it is no longer your privilege to con- 
 verse with angels; to haveJLhe visions of heaven unfolded, to receive 
 the same Holy Ghost the jpfients received, and that he will not bring 
 the same blessings if you^o ; and that you can never, in your mortal, 
 or any other state, see God. He may teach you a form of godliness, 
 but it will not be the form which the Saviour and his apostles taught, 
 and he will certainly deny the power. 
 
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