Title: The Vitality of Mormonism: Brief Essays on Distinctive Doctrines of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
Author: James E. Talmage
Release date: October 23, 2014 [eBook #47182]
Most recently updated: October 24, 2024
Language: English
Credits: Produced by the Mormon Texts Project (MormonTextsProject.org)
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 world today. People of serious mind are not satisfied with the unsupported generalization that it is naught but the outgrowth of delusion and error.
Fungi of fallacy, particularly in the field of modern religious systems, are of no such sturdy growth and wholesome fruitage as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has progressively manifested.
"Mormonism," mis-named though it be, stands for the principles of eternal truth as enunciated by our Lord Jesus Christ, and by His duly commissioned Apostles and Prophets. The basis of "Mormonism" is fairly summarized in the following outline of facts and premises:
1. The eternal existence of a living personal God; and the preexistence and eternal duration of mankind as His literal offspring.
2. The placing of man upon the earth as an embodied spirit to undergo the experiences of an intermediate probation.
3. The transgression and fall of the first parents of the race, by which man became mortal, or in other words was doomed to suffer a separation of spirit and body through death.
4. The absolute need of a Redeemer, empowered to overcome death and thereby provide for a reunion of the spirits and bodies of mankind through a material resurrection from death to immortality.
5. The providing of a definite plan of salvation, by obedience to which man may obtain remission of his sins, and be enabled to advance by effort and righteous achievement throughout eternity.
6. The establishment of the Church of Jesus Christ in the "meridian of time," by the personal ministry and atoning death of the foreordained Redeemer and Savior of mankind, and the proclamation of His saving Gospel through the ministry of the Holy Priesthood during the apostolic period and for a season thereafter.
7. The general "falling away" from the Gospel of Jesus Christ, by which the world degenerated into a state of apostasy, and the Holy Priesthood ceased to be operative in the organization of sects and churches designed and effected by the authority of man.
8. The restoration of the Gospel in the current age, and the reestablishment of the Church of Jesus Christ by the bestowal of the Holy Priesthood through Divine revelation.
9. The appointed mission of the restored Church of Jesus Christ to preach the Gospel and administer in the ordinances thereof amongst all nations, 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 intervals through two years; they number therefore one hundred and four. Concise rather than exhaustive treatment has been attempted. No apology is offered for reiteration of quotations or comment; repetition seemed preferable 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
5. Direct and Sure—The Church Bold yet Tolerant
6. Wheat and Weeds—Successive Apostasies from the Gospel
7. A New Dispensation—Authority by Restoration not Through Succession
8 Divine Command and Human Agency—The Church a Democracy
9. The Holy Trinity—Unity of the Godhead
10. Original Sin—Are All to Suffer from it Eternally?
11. The Cooperative Plan of Salvation—Christ Alone Cannot Save You
12. The Need of a Redeemer—Man Cannot Exalt Himself
13. Christ's Unique Status—As Redeemer and Savior of the World
14. Philosophy of the Atonement—Its Two-fold Effect
15. How Does Christ Save?—His Plan Combines Justice and Mercy
16. Heaven and Hell—Graded Conditions in the Hereafter
17. In the Realm of the Dead—Paradise—What of the Spirits in Prison?
18. Why Are They Baptized for the Dead?—Elijah the Prophet on the American Continent
19. Obedience is Heaven's First Law—Conditions of Citizenship in the Kingdom of God
20. The Devils Believe and Tremble—Faith not Mere Belief
21. The Voice of John the Baptist Again Heard—Repent Ye, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at Hand!
22. Arise and Wash Away Thy Sins—The Only Way
23. Are Babes to be Damned?—A Horrible Misconception
24. The Watery Grave—And the New Birth
25. The Baptism of Fire—Power of the Spirit
26. In the Name of God, Amen!—Authority of the Holy Priesthood Again Operative on Earth
27. For Time Only or for Eternity—Human Institutions and Divine Authority
28. Apostles and Prophets Necessary—The Primitive Church and the Church of Latter Days
29. When Darkness Covered the Earth—The Long Night of Apostasy
30. The Morning Breaks, the Shadows Flee—Light of the Gospel Again Shines
31. The Beginning or the End—Ushering in of the Last Dispensation
32. A God of Miracles—Wonders Wrought by Devils
33. Is the Bible Sufficient?—Scriptures of Many Peoples
34. A Messenger—From the Presence of God
35. Scriptures of the American Continent—The Book of Mormon
36. By the Mouth of Witnesses—Shall the Truth be Established
37. Voices of the Dead—A Testimony from the Dust
38. A New Witness of the Christ—An Independent Scripture
39. When Christ Stood on American Soil—His Church Established Among the Ancient Americans
40. East and West in One Acclaim—That Jesus is the Christ
41. Sheep of Another Fold—Shepherds and Sheep-herders
42. From God to Man—Divine Communication in the Current Age
43. The Tragedy of Israel—A Nation Without a Country
44. The Gathering of the Tribes—Judah and Israel to Come into Their Own
45. America the Land of Zion—The Place of the New Jerusalem
46. The Coming of the Lord—The Consummation of the Ages
47. The Federation of the World—A Thousand Years of Peace
48. Thy Kingdom Come!—So Pray We Yet
49. Freedom to Worship God—Man's Divine Birthright
50. The Law of the Land—Should We Submit to It?
51. Church and State—Independent but Mutually Helpful
52. Religion of Daily Life—A Practical Test
53. America the Cradle of Liberty—No King to Rule in the Land
54. Democracy of American Origin—The Founding of an Ancient Republic
55. Perpetuity of American Nation—Assured by Prophecy
56. Law of the Tithe—The Lord's Revenue System
57. The United Order—No Longer Mine and Thine, but the Lord's and Ours
58. The Word of Wisdom—Sanctity of the Body
59. Unchastity the Dominant Evil—Infamy of a Double Standard of Virtue
60. Not Good for Man to be Alone—Companionship of the Sexes
61. Till Death Does You Part—Is there no Hope Beyond?
62. They Neither Marry—Nor Give in Marriage
63. Celestial Marriage—Eternal Relationship of the Sexes
64. There Was War in Heaven—Primeval Conflict over Satanic Autocracy
65. We Lived Before We Were Born—Our Primeval Childhood
66. Man is Eternal—Successive Stages of Existence
67. In the Lineage of Deity—Man's Divine Pedigree
68. Unending Advancement—Infinite Possibilities of Man's Estate
69. The Living and the Dead—Both to Hear the Gospel
70. God of the Living—All Live unto Him
71. Beyond the Grave—Repentance Possible even There
72. Opportunity Here and Hereafter—Free Agency and its Results
73. The Spirit World—Paradise and Hades
74. How Long Shall Hell Last?—The Duration of Punishment
75. Salvation and Exaltation—Advancement Worlds Without End
76. Deity as Exalted Humanity—Man is a God in Embryo
77. Be Ye Perfect—Is It Possible
78. The Glory of God is Intelligence—Knowledge is Power in Heaven as on Earth
79. When Ignorance is Sin—Opportunity Entails Accountability
80. Knowing and Doing—Knowledge May Help to Condemn or Save
81. Will Many or Few be Saved?—Our Place Beyond the Grave
82. The Graves Shall be Opened—And the Dead Shall Live
83. Resurrection of the Dead—When Shall it be?
84. Reaching After the Dead—"Lest We Forget"
85. The House of the Lord—Why do the Latter-day Saints Build Temples?
86. The Second Death—Spiritual Banishment Like unto the First
87. Antiquity of the Gospel—As Old as Adam
88. The Origin of Sacrifice—Coeval with the Race
89. Simplicity of the Gospel—None Need Err Therein
90. The Will or God—Though Opposed, Yet Eventually Supreme
91. God's Foreknowledge—Not a Determining Cause
92. Are Men Created Equal?—Individualism is Eternal
93. Ethics and Religion—A Distinction with a Difference
94. Religion Active and Passive—Effort Essential to Salvation
95. Remember the Sabbath Day—A Law unto Man from the Beginning
96. The Foolishness of God—And the Wisdom of Men
97. Freedom Through Obedience—Release from Autocracy of Sin
98. He Went and Washed—And Came Seeing
99. The Rod of Iron—A Dependable Support
100. Liar and Murderer—From the Beginning
101. On the Devil's Ground—Prisoners to Satan
102. What Doth It Profit a Man?—Worldly Gain—Eternal Loss
103. The Garden of God—And the Weeds of Human Culture
104. The Last Dispensation—Today is the Sum of all the Yesterdays
THE MUSTARD SEED AND THE TREE
Development, Not Growth Alone
WHY does "Mormonism" persist? The question is perennial, while the fact implied therein commands increasing interest and concern.
Determined attempts were made to stifle the system at its birth, to destroy the mustard seed at the planting; and, paradoxically, in proportion as the actuality of its survival has become generally evident, the assumed certainty of its imminent decline has been the more confidently proclaimed. The fall of the spreading tree, whose branches afford unfailing food and shelter, has been predicted time and again, but never realized.
On the sixth day of April, 1830, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was organized as a body corporate at Fayette in the State of New York, with a membership of six persons. True, at that time a few times six had associated themselves more or less closely with the new religious movement; but, as the laws of the State specified six as the minimum required to form a religious corporation, only that number took part in the legal procedure. And they, save one, were relatively obscure.
The name of Joseph Smith had already been heard beyond his home district. He was at the time a subject of widening notoriety if not of enviable fame. The Book of Mormon, purporting to be a record of the aboriginal peoples of the Western Continent, had already been published. In reference to the title page of this work the appellation "Mormons" came to be fastened upon members of the Church.
Such a beginning as that of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints would seem to afford little ground of either hope or fear as to future developments. What was there to cause hostile concern over the voluntary association of six men and a few of their friends in an organization of openly expressed purpose, and that, the peaceful promulgation of what they verily believed to be the uplifting religion of life, the Gospel of Jesus Christ? Whatever may be the answer to the query, the fact that the Church met opposition, which for a long period was increasingly severe, is abundantly attested by history.[1]
Today the "Mormon" Church is known, by name at least, throughout the civilized world, as well as among most of the semi-cultured peoples in the remoter parts of the earth and on the islands of the sea. The six have increased to over half a million adherents.
The growth of the organization is apparent to even the poorly informed. But the Church has not only grown; it has developed. Between growth and development there is an essential difference; and not a few of the grave mistakes of men, even in every-day affairs—in business, in politics, in statesmanship—are traceable to our confusing and confounding the two. Growth alone is the result of accretion, the accumulation of material, the amassing of stuff. Development involves an extension of function, a gradation of efficiency, a passing from immaturity to maturity, from the seed to the fruiting tree.
Growth produces big things, and not only things of this sort but men. Between bigness and greatness, however, there is a distinction of kind. Growth is a measure of bulk, of quantity; it is specified as "so many" or "so much"; development is a gradation of quality; its terms are "so good" or "so bad." Our nation boasts a constantly increasing host of big men; the great men of the country may be more easily counted. And as with men so with institutions.
Dead things may grow, as witness the tiny salt crystal in its mother-brine—at first a microscopic cube, then a huge hexahedron limited only by the size of the container or other external conditions. Development, however, is the characteristic of life, to which mere growth is essentially secondary and subordinate.
The vital character of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has been evident from the first. "Mormonism" lives because it is healthy, normal and undeformed. In general, a healthy organism is assured of life, barring destruction from external violence or deprivation of physical necessities; whereas one that is abnormal and sickly is doomed to decline. Opposition to the Church, the pitiless maltreatment to which its people have been subjected, particularly in the earlier decades of its history, comprising mobbings, drivings, spoliation, scourgings, and assassination, have operated to strengthen the Church, body and soul. True, the heat of persecution has scorched and withered a few of the sickly plants, such as had little depth of sincerity; but the general effect has been to promote a fuller growth, and to make richer and more fertile the Garden of the Lord.
The Church has never experienced a distinctive period of reduced membership. Always the present has been the time of its highest achievement. In spite of persecution, some of which sprang from misplaced sincerity and zeal while much was born of ignorance and fanaticism, the strength of the institution, measured in terms of loyalty, devotion and unswerving adherence to the principles of the restored Gospel, has steadily increased.
It is a notable fact that its members are imbued with the testimony of certitude as to the genuineness of the Gospel they have espoused and the perpetuity of the Church. This has been a distinguishing feature from the beginning.
Apostasy from the organization is so rare as to be negligible. Excommunicants, who are deprived of their membership through failure to live up to the high standard of morality and duty required by the revealed law of the Church, while not numerous exceed by many fold those who voluntarily withdraw and affiliate with other religious bodies.
"Mormonism" is definite and incisive in its claims. It speaks to the world in no uncertain tone. Its voice is virile; its activities are strong. It presents an unbroken front and is unafraid. Its attitude is not hostile, though strongly aggressive. Its methods are those of reason and persuasion, coupled with a fearless affirmation of testimony as to the surpassing importance of its message, which message it labors to convey to every nation, kindred, tongue and people.
It is not too much to affirm that the leaven of "Mormonism" is leavening the world and its theology. Every studious reader of recent commentaries on the Holy Scriptures, and of theological treatises in general, is aware of a surprising progressiveness in modern views of things spiritual, amounting in many instances to an abandonment of what were once regarded as the fundamentals of orthodoxy.
In the new theology "Mormonism" has pioneered the way.
In its early days the Church received the word of the Lord avouching the perpetuity of the organization. While no individual was promised that he should not fall away, and though the forfeiture of the Holy Spirit's companionship was specified as the sure and incalculable loss to all who wilfully persisted in sin, the blessed assurance was given that the Church of Jesus Christ was established for the last time, never to be destroyed, nor again driven from the earth through apostasy. Men may come and men may go, but the Church shall go on forever.
There has never been revision nor amendment in the fundamental law of the Church, and the only changes are those natural to development, expansion and adaptation to new conditions.
The world is full of sects and churches, and there is scarcely one that has not a counterpart in a revised or reformed or reorganized sect. But the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is no sect; it is an original creation, established upon the earth in this age as a restoration. There will never be a reformed or reorganized variant of this, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
The faith of the people is no whit weakened because of their fewness. This very condition was foretold. Nearly six centuries before the Savior's birth, a Hebrew prophet on the Western Continent predicted the establishment of this Church in the last days, and testified of it, as he had seen in vision, that its members would be found in all parts of the earth, but that their numbers would be relatively small. See Book of Mormon, 1 Nephi 14.
"Strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it." (Matt. 7:14, also Book of Mormon, 3 Nephi 14:14.)
The doors of the Church are open to all, rich and poor, learned and unlearned; and the pleading invitation to enter and become partakers of the blessings that pertain both to mortality and to the eternities beyond is freely extended—to you and yours and to everybody, near and afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.
1. See the author's "Story and Philosophy of 'Mormonism'," 136 pp., The Deseret News, Salt Lake City, Utah.
WHAT THE "MORMONS" BELIEVE
Their Articles of Faith
WHILE it may be impossible for any religious body to set forth in a brief statement all the distinguishing features of its doctrines and practise, it has become usual for churches to embody the fundamentals of their belief in condensed form as creeds. When asked for a concise presentation of the principal doctrines accepted by his people, Joseph Smith, through whose instrumentality the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was established, responded with the Articles of Faith presented below. This was in the year 1841.
From the time of their first promulgation The Articles have been in force as an authorized statement of belief; and they were early adopted as such by the Church in general conference assembled.
The Articles of Faith
of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
1.
We believe in God, the Eternal Father, and in His Son Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost.
2.
We believe that men will be punished for their own sins, and not for Adam's transgression.
3.
We believe that through the Atonement of Christ, all mankind may be saved, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel.
4.
We believe that the first principles and ordinances of the Gospel are:—(1) Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; (2) Repentance; (3) Baptism by immersion for the remission of sins; (4) Laying on of hands for the Gift of the Holy Ghost.
5.
We believe that a man must be called of God, by prophecy, and by the laying on of hands, by those who are in authority, to preach the Gospel and administer in the ordinances thereof.
6.
We believe in the same organization that existed in the Primitive Church, viz.: apostles, prophets, pastors, teachers, evangelists, etc.
7.
We believe in the gift of tongues, prophecy, revelation, visions, healing, interpretation of tongues, etc.
8.
We believe the Bible to be the word of God, as far as it is translated correctly; we also believe the Book of Mormon to be the word of God.
9.
We believe all that God has revealed, all that He does now reveal, and we believe that He will yet reveal many great and important things pertaining to the Kingdom of God.
10.
We believe in the literal gathering of Israel and in the restoration of the Ten Tribes; that Zion will be built upon this [the American] continent; that Christ will reign personally upon the earth; and that the earth will be renewed and receive its paradisiacal glory.
11.
We claim the privilege of worshiping Almighty God according to the dictates of our own conscience, and allow all men the same privilege, let them worship how, where, or what they may.
12.
We believe in being subject to kings, presidents, rulers, and magistrates, in obeying, honoring, and sustaining the law.
13.
We believe in being honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous, and in doing good to all men; indeed, we may say that we follow the admonition of Paul, we believe all things, we hope all things, we have endured many things, and hope to be able to endure all things. If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things.—Joseph Smith.
To most of these items many sects professing Christianity could confidently pledge allegiance; to many of them all Christian bodies subscribe. Belief in the existence and powers of the Holy Trinity, in Jesus Christ as the Savior and Redeemer of the human race, in man's individual accountability for his acts, in the acceptance of sacred writ as the Word of God, in the rights of worship according to the dictates of conscience, in the moral virtues—these professions and beliefs are a common creed in the realm of present-day Christendom. There is no peculiarly "Mormon" interpretation, in the light of which these principles of faith and practise are viewed by the Latter-day Saints, except, perhaps, in a certain simplicity and literalness of acceptance.
The Articles of Faith are confessedly but an incomplete summary of doctrine, as the ninth of the series avers. The atmosphere of the Church is that of expectancy, of reverent waiting for further revelation of the Divine will and purpose.
"Mormonism" is alive, and therefore grows and develops with the years. It promulgates latter-day Scripture as well as the Holy Writ of centuries remote; and strict comparison demonstrates consistency and harmony in spirit and principle.
"Mormonism" affirms itself to be the embodiment of the essential requirements of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, as proclaimed by the Master Himself, and by His duly ordained Apostles in the Primitive Church, and as taught and administered under Divine authority in the present dispensation. "Mormonism" is new only as a reestablishment, a restoration. It is the embodiment of the eternal Gospel, come again.[1]
1. For more detailed treatment see the author's "The Articles of Faith," 480 pp., The Deseret News, Salt Lake City, Utah.
WHAT'S IN A NAME?
Is "Mormonism" Misunderstood Because of Its Unpopular Title?
WHAT'S in a name? So asked one who has been called the chief of English bards; and hosts of thoughtful minds have been conscious of the same insistent query springing up as a conception original to each. Who but the superficial will venture to deny the influence of names? We are all subject to the witchery of bias and of prejudice for or against; and the odium or the good repute of a name ofttimes determines our provisional acceptance or rejection of that for which it stands.
Most of us are in the habit of putting up our knowledge in little packages, duly ticketed. These we stow away in more or less orderly fashion, and though we glance betimes at the label we are apt to forget what any one of the parcels really contains.
"Mormonism" is an unpopular name; the truths for which it stands, the principles which it embodies, are more readily believed in if left unlabeled.
It should be borne in mind that the term "Mormon" with its several variants was first applied by way of nickname to the people now so designated. But nicknames may be so sanctified by effort and achievement that they become titles of respect and profound significance. To this fact history lends definite and abundant testimony.
The term "Christian" was first applied as an epithet of contempt. You know how it was hurled in hatred and disdain at the disciples in Antioch. See Acts 11:26. Yet the followers of Christ accepted the name and hallowed it by sacrifice and righteous deeds; and today the world counts but one distinction greater than being called a Christian, and that is to be a Christian in fact.
The "Mormon" people do not resent the misnomer by which they are commonly known, and which has been put upon them by popular usage. They deplore, however, the possible misunderstanding that the Church to which they belong professes to be the church of Mormon. It should be known that Mormon was a man, a very distinguished and a very able man it is true, an eminent prophet and historian according to the record bearing his name, but a man nevertheless. The "Mormon" Church affirms itself to be in no sense the church of Mormon, nor the church of Joseph Smith, nor of Brigham Young, nor of any man other than the Savior and Redeemer of the race. The true name of this Church, the designation by which it is officially known is The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
This is an age of multitudinous sects, cults, and religious societies in general, and the number increases year by year. Strictly speaking a sect is a branch or offshoot of a primary institution, and in this sense numerous sects have arisen and others may arise, all professing something in common though differing in particulars ofttimes to the point of antagonism.
Most of the existing sects designate themselves as "churches" with a distinctive forename to each. As the term "church" in its ordinary and broad usage is a common possession, unprotected by letters patent or other guaranty of exclusiveness, its general employment as an alternative for "sects" or cognate nouns is no breach of law, order or custom.
Narrowing our consideration to that of churches professing Christianity, we meet the question as to whether there can be two or more diverse sects, opposed to each other in essentials of belief and practise, and both or all be in reality the Church of Jesus Christ. Can a church that is divided against itself, or a multitude of sects with discordant doctrines and conflicting claims to priestly authority, be one and all the same church, and that the Church of God?
The question has been answered by the churches themselves; and their emphatic reply in the negative is expressed in the names by which these organizations have chosen to be known. Some have elected to be called after the names of their founders or eminent promoters, as Lutherans, Calvinists, Wesleyans, Campbellites. Others proclaim by their self-chosen titles a preference for appellations denoting some descriptive feature of their plan of organization or governmental system, as Episcopal, Presbyterian, Congregational. Yet others attach so great significance to distinctive points of doctrine as to make that the mark of identity, such as Unitarian, Trinitarian, Universalist, Baptist.
None of us can consistently challenge the vested right of religious associations to choose their own names. Moreover, the designations of existing sects, with few exceptions, are self-explanatory, significantly expressive, and eminently appropriate. In general the names tell, as explicitly as any brief title could do, just what the respective sect, society or church professes to be.
Organizations planned and operated for individual and social betterment, whether known as churches or otherwise, are commendable institutions. Inasmuch as membership therein is a matter of personal choice, no objection should be raised against rules established by common consent or majority decision for the admission of new applicants or for the discipline of members, provided, of course, that such rules be administered without infringement upon the rights of outsiders.
But can any association of men, conceived and effected on human initiative, be anything other than an earthly institution, even though its aims be lofty and its activities the most praiseworthy?
The Church of Jesus Christ, as an institution both earthly and heavenly, that is to say having vital relation to mortal life and to eternity, cannot have been originated at human instance. That church is not the fruitage of man's planting, neither the offshoot of other and older institutions. The Church of Jesus Christ, therefore, is not, nor can it be, a sect.
The Book of Mormon affirms that the Lord Jesus Christ, shortly after His ascension in Judea, visited the early inhabitants of the Western Continent and established His Church amongst them. As He had done in Galilee, so in America. He chose and ordained Twelve Disciples, to whom He gave authority to administer the ordinances of the Gospel, which, as the Lord taught, are essential to salvation. He very clearly set forth that His Church was to be rightly named, as the following record attests.
The Twelve, whom He had commissioned to build up the Church, prayed for instruction, saying: "Lord, we will that thou wouldst tell us the name whereby we shall call this Church; for there are disputations among the people concerning this matter." And the Resurrected Lord, there present in visible Person, answered them in this wise:
"Verily, verily I say unto you, why is it that the people should murmur and dispute because of this thing? Have they not read the Scriptures, which say ye must take upon you the name of Christ, which is my name? For by this name shall ye be called at the last day. And whoso taketh upon him my name, and endureth to the end, the same shall be saved at the last day. Therefore whatsoever ye shall do, ye shall do it in my name; therefore ye shall call the Church in my name; and ye shall call upon the Father in my name, that He will bless the Church for my sake. And how be it my Church, save it be called in my name? For if a church be called in Moses' name, then it be Moses' church; or if it be called in the name of a man, then it be the church of a man; but if it be called in my name, then it is my Church, if it so be that they are built upon my gospel." (Book of Mormon, 3 Nephi 27.)
The members of the Church aver that the distinguishing features of their religious system, in short, the essentials of the philosophy of "Mormonism" are epitomized in the name of their organization—The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
If the name be used without Divine warrant, its assumption can not fail to be regarded as a sacrilege; if it has been authoritatively bestowed one need look no further for explanation of the vitality exhibited by the Church in so impressive a degree from the day of its organization to the present.