Recently, I was asked to give a talk in church about the ways that the Constitution aided in the Restoration. Though greatly expanded with additional quotes and pictures, this article is fundamentally the talk that I gave. By examining the breadth of early LDS history (form 1830 to roughly 1890), I provided evidence and argument that the Constitution of the United States did nothing to help the Restoration and that it was always on the side of those who brutalized, oppressed, and killed us. The reason the Restoration occurred, and has continued, was the power of Jesus Christ to protect the Saints from annihilation. No law of man gave us any aid. It was God alone who preserved and prospered us against all odds and it is He alone that continues to do so now.
Tag: George Q. Cannon
The Important But Forgotten Part of Easter
Holy Saturday is the day which most of traditional Christianity spends in a kind of solemn mourning in commemoration of the death of the Savior and in anticipation of His glorious Resurrection. Often overlooked is that while Christ’s body may have been laid low in the Arimathean’s tomb, His spirit was active and engaged in one of the most essential but overlooked aspect of the Atonement of Jesus Christ – the initiation of the redemption of the dead. This Holy Saturday I want to remember and celebrate Chist great postmortal ministry when He began the work of saving all people who have ever or would ever live, ensuring all would have the oppurtunity to have the eternal blessings of His Gospel and to be transformed by the power of its ordinances, so that all people could stand before God and be judged fairly and redeemed completely. This article explores His work in the Spirit World, what we know about the work that happens there, and how this can empower us to live live our faith in this life and in the next.
When We Should Break The Law
From our earliest days, when the Prophet Joseph and Patriarch Hyrum suffered in Liberty Jail and died in Carthage Jail, to the Saints spending nearly 30 years resisting Federal anti-polygamy laws, practicing civil disobedience and being willing to go to prison in order to serve God, on down to the modern day we have examples of the lives of great Saints who have repeatedly broken the laws of the land in order to do what is right and to serve God. Latter-day Saint history is full of rebels and rogues, people who would rather be exiled from the nation, who would rather be killed, than disobey the Lord. So how is it that so many of us have become so milquetoast about standing up the government tyranny? Why is it that so many of us think that the Saints should “strictly obey the laws of the government in which they live,” even when such laws aren’t just wrong or immoral, but even when said laws actively compel us either to disobey God or punish us for obeying Him? While there are numerous reasons, one of the largest is because Latter-day Saints have misinterpreted the Twelfth Article of Faith, D&C 58:21, and D&C 134:5 as giving commandments to the Saints to obey the law and to comply even with evil laws. A close examination of these scriptures though, as I attempt here, show that such interpretations are, by the large, gross nonsense.
Brigham Young Explains The Purpose of the Church
Near the end of his life, President Brigham Young gave an address that taught what the sole purpose of the church is and what is the single goals its members should strive for. In this age of social and political division in the church, these truths are more important than ever. Additionally, his remarks in regards to taxation and public education herein are also quite instructive in the present day.