The Hell of Dante.
In the Thirteenth Century a great Italian poet, the immortal Dante, produced a wonderful work, "La Divina Comedia" ("The Divine Comedy"). In one part of the poem, the author represents himself as passing through Hades or Hell. In the first circle of the infernal depths—a region called "Limbo", which a footnote in my copy of the poem describes as a place "containing the souls of unbaptized children and of those virtuous men and women who lived before the birth of our Savior"—he meets some of the noble characters whom the Apostle Parley mentions as inhabiting the Spirit World, and the guide says to him:
—"Inquirest thou not what spirits
Are these, which thou beholdest? Ere thou pass
Farther, I would thou know, that these of sin
Were blameless; and if aught they merited,
It profits not, since baptism was not theirs,
The portal to thy faith. If they before
The Gospel lived, they served not God aright;
And among such am I. For these defects
And for no other evil, we are lost;
Only so far afflicted, that we live
Desiring without hope."—Hell, Canto IV, Lines 29-39.
And this was all that Thirteenth Century theology could say for such men as Homer, Virgil, Plato, Aristotle and others, the best and brightest spirits of their times!
According to Their Works.
Was it not imperative that the Heavens should again open and God's Word go forth once more upon its mission of justice and mercy? The Gospel of Christ is consistent and reasonable. It does not pre-judge men, nor save nor damn them regardless of merit or demerit. Rewarding all according to their works, it gives to every creature, living or dead, a chance to accept or reject it, before final judgment. Is it not evident that Joseph Smith and "Mormonism" were indeed a necessity at the dawn of the Nineteenth Century, when even the Christian world had lost the knowledge of the true God, proclaiming him either a nonentity incapable of act or utterance, or a monster unmerciful and unjust?
Sons of Perdition.
God is not trying to damn the world, but to save it. All will be saved except "the sons of perdition", those who have had every opportunity to be saved—yes, saved and exalted. They who have known God, and have "tasted of the powers of the world to come", and then have thrown it all away, trampling upon the Truth as a thing of naught, denying the Holy Ghost, and "crucifying the Lord afresh";—these cannot be saved, for salvation is predicated upon repentance, and such have sinned away the power to repent. This is what makes their case hopeless. But comparatively few go that far. All the rest will be saved, and eventually glorified.
Different Degrees of Glory.
There are different degrees of glory—a glory of the sun, a glory of the moon, and a glory of the stars. So Paul taught (1 Cor. 15:40-42); and Joseph Smith taught it even more plainly. (Doc. & Cov. 76.) They who inherit celestial glory, of which the sun in the firmament is typical, are they who receive the Gospel in this life, and are valiant for it and endure to the end, giving to God the fulness of their obedience. They who inherit terrestrial glory, which differs from the celestial as the moon differs from the sun, are they who receive not the Gospel here, but afterwards receive it; souls not valiant, and who therefore "win not the crown". The inheritors of telestial glory, typified by the stars, "are they who are thrust down to hell", where they pay their debt to Justice, after which Mercy claims its own, and they are ushered into a light and freedom greater than the finite mind can comprehend.
Such is "Mormonism's" astounding declaration—the only religion on earth that dares to say THE DAMNED CAN BE SAVED! Yes, anyone can be saved who will repent, even in the depths of hell. But why go there to repent? Why not make Peace with Heaven here?
A Nautical Illustration.
I was crossing the Atlantic on an ocean liner. I was a first cabin passenger; and besides myself there were upwards of a hundred others in that part of the vessel. The second cabin had about twice as many passengers, and in the steerage were several hundred more. The first cabin berths were not only the best furnished, but the most favorably situated for comfort, convenience, and safety. Every courtesy was shown to the passengers; the captain and other officers were their associates; their food was of the choicest, and they had the full freedom of the ship. They might go down into the second cabin, or lower down, into the steerage, and return, without hindrance or question. They had paid for these privileges and were therefore entitled to them. But it was different in the second cabin. There the food was not so good, the berths were less comfortable, and the privileges fewer. Passengers might descend into the steerage, but were not permitted upon the upper deck. In the steerage, conditions were even less favorable. The food was still poorer, and the restrictions were more rigid. The occupants of that section were not allowed even in the second cabin. Having paid only for steerage accommodations, these were all that they could consistently claim. Viewing the situation, I said to myself: What a striking analogy to the final destiny of the human race, as set forth in the revelations of God! All men rewarded according to their works—saved according to their merits, in the eternal mansions of the Father! And I resolved anew that I would be a first cabin passenger over the ocean of life into the haven of Celestial glory.
Mormonism's Magnanimity.
Joseph the Seer, after gazing upon the glories of eternity, outlining the ultimate destiny of the human race, had another vision in which he "beheld that all children who die before they arrive at the years of accountability, are saved in the Celestial Kingdom". He also saw his father, his mother, and his brother Alvin in that Kingdom. His parents had received the Gospel; but Alvin died before it came. He was a good man, however, and had faith in what the Prophet told him. He simply had not been baptized. Nevertheless, Joseph beheld him in celestial glory, the highest glory of all, and it caused him to marvel. Then fell this word from Heaven:
"All who have died without a knowledge of this Gospel, who would have received it if they had been permitted to tarry, shall be heirs of the Celestial Kingdom of God; also all that shall die henceforth without a knowledge of it, who would have received it with all their hearts, shall be heirs of that Kingdom, for I, the Lord, will judge all men according to their works, according to the desire of their hearts." (Joseph Smith's Teachings, p. 19; Church History, Vol. 2, pp. 380-318).
Could justice, mercy, magnanimity, go further? And yet there are people who imagine "Mormonism" to be something small, narrow and illiberal. By the contrary, it is broad, generous and charitable, as all its teachings testify.
The Source of Its Strength.
"Mormonism's" strength is not in the number of its adherents, who are comparatively few; nor in the sagacity of its leading men, who are only mortals. Rather does it reside in the fact that every worthy man and woman connected with it is entitled to and receives a personal, direct testimony of its truth. The Church of Christ is founded upon this rock—the Rock of Revelation—against which the waves of sophistry, the billows of bigotry, the breakers of persecution, beat and dash in vain. All who fight the truth are fordoomed to defeat. The Gates of Hell cannot prevail against it. "Mormonism" is strong because God is its Author—the Engineer directing its course; and all the might of Omnipotence is behind it, impelling it on to its destiny. It is the Everlasting Gospel, the saving, glorifying power of God, the power by which He carries on His mighty and marvelous work, bringing to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.
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