By
JAMES E. TALMAGE
One of the Twelve Apostles of the Church
BOSTON
RICHARD G. BADGER
THE GORHAM PRESS
The message of "Mormonism" is of summoning interest in the worldtoday. People of serious mind are not satisfied with the unsupportedgeneralization that it is naught but the outgrowth of delusion anderror.
Fungi of fallacy, particularly in the field of modern religioussystems, are of no such sturdy growth and wholesome fruitage asthe Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has progressivelymanifested.
"Mormonism," mis-named though it be, stands for the principles ofeternal truth as enunciated by our Lord Jesus Christ, and by His dulycommissioned Apostles and Prophets. The basis of "Mormonism" is fairlysummarized in the following outline of facts and premises:
1. The eternal existence of a living personal God; and the preexistenceand eternal duration of mankind as His literal offspring.
2. The placing of man upon the earth as an embodied spirit to undergothe experiences of an intermediate probation.
3. The transgression and fall of the first parents of the race, bywhich man became mortal, or in other words was doomed to suffer aseparation of spirit and body through death.
4. The absolute need of a Redeemer, empowered to overcome death andthereby provide for a reunion of the spirits and bodies of mankindthrough a material resurrection from death to immortality.
5. The providing of a definite plan of salvation, by obedience to whichman may obtain remission of his sins, and be enabled to advance byeffort and righteous achievement throughout eternity.
6. The establishment of the Church of Jesus Christ in the "meridian oftime," by the personal ministry and atoning death of the foreordainedRedeemer and Savior of mankind, and the proclamation of His savingGospel through the ministry of the Holy Priesthood during the apostolicperiod and for a season thereafter.
7. The general "falling away" from the Gospel of Jesus Christ, by whichthe world degenerated into a state of apostasy, and the Holy Priesthoodceased to be operative in the organization of sects and churchesdesigned and effected by the authority of man.
8. The restoration of the Gospel in the current age, and thereestablishment of the Church of Jesus Christ by the bestowal of theHoly Priesthood through Divine revelation.
9. The appointed mission of the restored Church of Jesus Christ topreach the Gospel and administer in the ordinances thereof amongst allnations, in preparation for the near advent of our Savior Jesus Christ,who shall reign on earth as Lord and King.
The short essays following have been published at weekly intervalsthrough two years; they number therefore one hundred and four. Conciserather than exhaustive treatment has been attempted. No apology isoffered for reiteration of quotations or comment; repetition seemedpreferable to the introduction of cross references.
JAMES E. TALMAGE.
Salt Lake City, Utah,
February 3, 1919.
1. The Mustard Seed and the Tree—Development, not Growth Alone
2. What the "Mormons" Believe—Their Articles of Faith
3. What's in a Name?—Is "Mormonism" Misunderstood because of Its Unpopular Title?
4. "Mormonism"—A Distinctive Religious System