Title: Outlines of Mormon Philosophy
Author: Lycurgus A. Wilson
Release date: July 4, 2015 [eBook #49357]
Most recently updated: October 24, 2024
Language: English
Credits: Produced by Katie Liston, Mormon Texts Project Intern
(http://mormontextsproject.org/)
Author of the Life of David W. Patten.
"Mormonism, as a theory, offers the most comprehensive and consistent explanation of the great mystery of existence."—Non-Mormon.
Salt Lake City,
Utah
1905To the Memory of The Prophet Joseph Smith Through whom the Lord revealed these principles to man, and who gave his life in testimony of their truth, this book is reverently dedicated.
Every person, whether consciously or not, gradually builds up, from his observations and reason, a system of philosophy by which he explains, to himself at least, the problems that the new experiences of his life present for solution. It is of great importance, therefore, that, instead of basing one's system of thought upon the contradictory hypotheses of speculative philosophy, we start right, so that our ideas on the questions of life may square with the truth as it is known to the Lord. And these considerations are the excuse for this work.
This work is designed rather for study than for reading. To the hasty, illusioned reader, it will prove a short, dull book; but the studious reader, who can render a thought into experience, will find it a voluminous work, profusely illustrated with pictures such as no painter ever transferred to canvas; for to him, because of the nature of the subject, it will tell the whole beautiful story of life.
The thanks of the author are due, most of all, to the First Presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, for the helpful criticism of their committee of this work; and, next, to the scores of friends who have given him the benefit of their suggestions.
L. A. W.
Salt Lake Temple,
Salt Lake City, Utah, 1905
"What a thoughtful man most longs for is some firm center about which he can organize his knowledge of the world, his experiences of life, a point of view from which he can gather all into an intelligible unity and from which he can press forward with a deep assurance of divine guidance and an adequate outcome."—Selected.
History relates of Hypatia, the daughter of Theon, an eminent mathematician of Alexandria, that before being committed to the flames by an ignorant mob, she exclaimed:—
"Who am I, whence am I, and whither am I going?"
These questions, elaborated and particularized, are universal. They belong neither to any time, nor sect nor civilization. They are the questions of life. They recur to us at every turn in life, and when life nears its close, the master-thought with studious men is that they shall soon know the answer.
But from that bourne no traveler returns, as the poet has it, to enlighten those who remain. And so we are beset by limitations. Swung into space with no means of exploring it, bound to this whirling ball, circumscribed in all our activities, without power to determine our lot here, the moment of our entrance, nor to extend the time of our exit; when we seek to know the mysteries of life, our condition is, in a way, as would be that of a family, inhabiting from time out of mind, a miniature island in mid-ocean, without means of communication with the world, should they, by conjecture, try to learn the history and civilization of mankind.
Our means of observation of the forces about us are very limited,[1] tradition is cut off at our birth, reason stands powerless for want of analogy, and the only recourse we have for direct communication with reality, is revelation. Professor Lewes, in his Biographical History of Philosophy, closes the door of inquiry upon us in this way: "To aspire to the knowledge of more than phenomena, their resemblances and successions, is to aspire to transcend the limitations of human faculties. To know more we must be more."[2]
In the midst of these perplexities comes the Gospel to us as a welcome, gracious visitor from the realms beyond the reach of our knowledge.
The object of this work as intimated by the text, is to suggest a firm central point about which may be grouped in orderly arrangement, all our knowledge, and our guide shall be revelation. In this endeavor we shall be assisted materially, if we attempt, however crudely, a classification of the subject-matter; and we shall, therefore, consider:
First,—The universal, all-prevailing, eternal conditions of existence, under the head of,
Second,—The inception, purpose, plan, covenants and perpetuity of this system of organization in which we now find ourselves, under the head of,
Third,—The results, the fruits of this All-wise arrangement, under the head of,
It may be said at the outset that the attempt here made is to present in order and to hold up, as the answer to all the problems of life, the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, as restored to the earth through the Prophet Joseph Smith.
There are only two reasons that come to mind, why this effort may not be acceptable; one is a disbelief on the part of the reader in the divinity of the Gospel, the other, is the inadequacy of this presentation.
To the former objection it is sufficient for the inquiring mind to say, Judge for yourself whether or not the Gospel as here set out answers every requirement of life, where other systems of philosophy all fail; to the latter we reply, No attempt is here made to present in detail the principles of the Gospel, but only to sketch the outlines; and, moreover, the reader is at perfect liberty to supply whatever deficiency he may detect.
The school-boy is told that the idea held by people generally in the days of Columbus was that if the venturesome ships were to sail too far out on the ocean they would fall off into space; and in his silent meditations he often wonders where, in such a case, those ships would have gone. The natural answer to his mind is that they would have gone down; but when he learns later that the words "down" and "up" relate only to the earth, and that in speaking of space, there are no such terms as up or down, or east or west, or north or south, all his ideas of direction are at sea. His conception of space increases, however.
Later in school life he studies with interest the movements of the planetarium, and is surprised to find the earth, whose geographical extent has hitherto seemed so vast, represented by such an insignificant ball, so near the sun. This, however, is only the beginning of his surprises. He is told later that, large as the solar system seems, yet if our sun, viewed from one of the fixed stars, were as large as the orbit of Neptune, it would be eclipsed by a pin-head held at arm's length. And so his ideas of space continue to enlarge as he grows in understanding.
As we study Herschel's diagram of the group of stars in which we dwell and let the mind contemplate with the astronomer the nebulae, supposed by some to be other groups of stars, much more magnificent than our own, the mind is lost in wonder at the immensity of space and the grandeur of the works of God. But even this is simply a beginning.
The Lord gives us a still deeper insight into the situation when He reveals to us the fact that all these vast systems, as well as other systems of which as yet we know nothing, are revolving about other systems which are all controlled from a common centre, His "first creation,"[3] the great Kolob.[4]
When, therefore, the Lord, standing in the midst of His works, comprehending and controlling them all, speaks to us of the "immensity of space,"[5] how shall mortal, finite man, state his conception of space! How far is the philosopher advanced above the school-boy with his query about the ships of Columbus?
So far as reason can answer the question as to the bounds of space, it is answered by Professor Orson Pratt. Discussing the necessity for endless time and boundless space, he says:
"That there must be an endless duration and a boundless space, are necessary truths which cannot possibly be conceived to be otherwise than they are. These are necessary truths, whether any being exists to conceive them as such or not. Indeed, if there were no being in existence, the same unalterable and unchangeable necessity would characterize these truths. Endless space and duration cannot be created nor annihilated by any being, but their continuance has been and must be eternal. These truths do not admit of being proved; for that which has no beginning cannot be preceded by a cause, and where no cause exists, there cannot possibly be any foundation for reasoning. There can be no reason why space and duration are as they are and yet we perceive a necessity for them to be as they are."[6]
But we have a more sure word than unaided reason can offer. We are not left without revelation on this subject, meager though the reference may be. The Prophet Joseph Smith, speaking of the light of the sun, remarks:
"The sun has no beginning nor end; the rays which proceed from himself have no bounds, consequently they are eternal."[7]
From this simple statement we receive more information than any man in our present condition, uninspired by the Lord, could ever obtain. Indeed, this very question is classed by the philosopher, Herbert Spencer, as among those the answer to which is "unknowable." But when we have this basic fact from which to reason, we are safe in concluding that if there are no bounds to the light of the sun, then it must follow that space is boundless.
Another of the questions of life, the answer to which is classed by Herbert Spencer as among the "unknowable," is time; and of the same mind apparently is Thomas Carlyle, who says:
"The illimitable, silent, never-resting thing called 'time,' rolling, rushing on—this is forever very literally, a miracle, a thing to strike us dumb."
All sorts of ideas have been advanced in all ages of the world as to the mystery of time, and even its very existence has been called into question, as witness the following;
"But the present has no duration and is not time at all. It is but the plane which, without thickness, divides past and future. Time then is not made up of past, present and future, but of past and future only; and, as these do not exist, time itself cannot exist."[8]
But the only question that concerns us here, in our search for eternal conditions, is as to the duration of time. As to this, we may again refer to the reasoning of Orson Pratt; and we have, also, an additional and final assurance from the Lord, when He says, in speaking to Abraham:
"If there be two spirits, and one shall be more intelligent than the other, yet these two spirits, notwithstanding one is more intelligent than the other, have no beginning; they existed before, they shall have no end, they shall exist after, for they are gnolaum, or eternal."[9]
The inference is plain. If spirits always existed and always will exist, there never was a beginning and there never will be an end, of time.
Some writer has characterized the passage in Genesis, "God said, 'Let there be light,' and there was light," as the perfection of beauty in expression; but we venture to place over against it another, this, however, directly from a Divine source through the Prophet Joseph Smith. What could be more succinct or beautiful or more richly laden with truth respecting conditions precedent than the words, "The elements are eternal?"[10]
That expression is worth more to the scientist who will receive it, than all the fine-spun theories of so-called philosophy. An acceptance of this truth would put to rest no end of controversy. Since the earliest times investigators have believed in the transmutation of matter, that if they could only find the secret, they could, for instance, turn silver into gold; and, again, it has been the belief until recent years, that matter could be annihilated.
Now, however, the idea is accepted throughout the entire scientific world that no particle of matter can be destroyed. It may be changed from one form into another, as water is converted into steam, but the elements remain unchanged.
The transmutation theory, however, still haunts the human mind.
"The elements are eternal." The Prophet Joseph Smith adds to this nugget of truth another beautiful thought, when he says:
"Hence we infer that God had materials to organize the world out of chaos—chaotic matter, which is element, and in which dwells all the glory."[11]
From which we may be assured that in the Gospel scheme of organization, this life's drama in the large, matter plays no unimportant part.
We, therefore, may conclude:
That all the matter now existing always existed and always will exist.
That there never was any more matter than there is at present and there never will be any more than there is now.
Notwithstanding the desire for knowledge, the simplicity of truth has ever entailed upon it an unfriendly reception at the hands of men. It seems to be almost a law of the human mind that our preconceived notions, whether true or false, stand in the way of new ideas, and usually our principal effort is put forth in trying to reconcile a new thought with the old theory, rather than in an endeavor to give to each its proper valuation. And this is preeminently the case in relation to our ideas on the eternal existence of personal, individual intelligences. We can easily conceive of eternally existing matter, but not so of spirits.
Perhaps an excuse is afforded us in the fact that God is our Father; but no earthly father who understands the Gospel thinks for a moment that his children had no existence until they were begotten by him. He knows they have existed in the spirit world co-equally with himself. He is their father by reason of having given them a tabernacle in which to dwell, and in the same way did God become our Father.
Man has a spiritual body as well as a body of flesh and bones, or, as Paul has it, "There is natural body and there is a spiritual body."[12] This explains the teachings as to the body, the astral body, and the aura, of the Yogis, of India, and is explained by the Lord as follows:
"For I, the Lord God, created all things of which I have spoken, spiritually, before they were naturally upon the face of the earth. And I, the Lord God, had created all the children of men; and not yet a man to till the ground; for in heaven created I them; and there was not yet flesh upon the earth; neither in the water; neither in the air ... And I, the lord God, formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul, the first flesh upon the earth, the first man also; nevertheless all things were before created; but, spiritually, were they created and made according to my word."[13]
But the whole scheme of the progress of the spirit is detailed in another revelation from the Lord. This, however, is in the Doctrine and Covenants:
"For by the power of my Spirit created I them; yea, all things, both spiritual and temporal.
"Firstly, spiritual—secondly, temporal, which is the beginning of my work; and again, firstly, temporal—and secondly spiritual, which is the last of my work."[14]
That is to say: first, the spirit is clothed upon with a spiritual body, and afterwards with a temporal, or mortal body; secondly the spirit, at the time of the resurrection, is again clothed upon with the same body, just as it is laid down; and afterwards, the body, at the time of the restoration, undergoes a change by which it is not only restored to its proper form in case of malformation,[15] but is rendered immune to the disabilities of mortality, as was the case with the Savior when He passed into the room where the Twelve were assembled, though the door was locked, or with the Angel Moroni when he passed up through the ceiling of the room at the close of his first interview with the Prophet Joseph Smith, or made himself visible or invisible at will.[16]
Another cause of misconception is the meaning we attach to the word Creator, in describing our relationship to the Lord. We usually take the expression, "He is our Creator," to mean that we had no existence as individuals until He called us into being, and this in the face of His own declaration to the contrary. He says to Abraham, as hereinbefore quoted:
"If there be two spirits, and one shall be more intelligent than the other, yet these two spirits, notwithstanding one is more intelligent than the other, _have no beginning_, they existed before; they shall have no end, they shall exist after, for they are gnolaum or eternal."[17]
The construction of this statement seems purposely designed to negative the doctrine that spirits owe their origin to God, for, in that case, one might well question the justice of the Creator in giving one spirit so much more intelligence than another.
But the fact is, as the Prophet Joseph Smith has said: "God never had the power to create the spirit of man at all. God himself could not create himself."
As if determined so to state the fact that his meaning could not be misunderstood, the Prophet Joseph further says:
"I have another subject to dwell upon, which is calculated to exalt man. But it is impossible for me to say much on this subject. I shall, therefore, just touch upon it; for time will not permit me to say all. It is associated with the subject of the resurrection from the dead, the mind of man, the immortal spirit. Where did it come from? All learned men and doctors of divinity say that God created it in the beginning. But it is not so. The very idea lessens man in my estimation. I do not believe the doctrine. I know better."
Continuing, he adds:
"We say that God himself is a self-existent being. Who told you so? It is correct enough; but how did it get into your heads? Who told you that man did not exist in like manner upon the same principles? Man does exist upon the same principles. The mind or the intelligence which man possesses, is co-equal with God himself."
And again:
"There never was a time when there were not spirits, for they are co-equal with our Father in Heaven."[18]
From all of which we may conclude:
That all the spirits now existing always did and always will exist.
That the spirits now existing are all that ever did, or that ever will exist.
Summarizing conditions precedent, we, therefore, find:
I. That space is, always has been, and ever must be, without bounds.
II. That time never had a beginning and cannot have an end.
III. That matter is uncreated, indestructible, eternal.
IV. That intelligences always were and always will be individual entities, and, however varied in capacity, never had a beginning and can never be annihilated.
Abroad in boundless space, therefore, with unlimited time in which to learn, and labor, are intelligences surrounded by matter.
"The glory of God is intelligence."
Perhaps our best conception of chaos, in miniature, may be had by observing the floating, restless, erratic particles of matter to be seen in the path of a ray of sunshine, when admitted into a dark room. One's uppermost longing at such a time is to introduce order into this jarring, discordant sphere. And that condition and that sentiment have no doubt met before. The psychologist would trace the desire back to a time before the formation of Kolob, when myriads of eternal, self-existent spirits lived in the midst of boundless space, surrounded by unlimited, indestructible, unorganized matter, in a universal chaos. It may be asked if there ever was such a chaotic condition. So far as the creations of God are concerned, it would appear that there was, for we are informed that Kolob is the "first creation."[19]
Turn now from this chaos in the streak of sunshine, chaos in the small, and let the mind contemplate that chaos at large, before any of the vast concourse of worlds that roll in space were formed, when the matter composing Kolob was yet unorganized; and the first desire that presents itself to the mind is to know how all this beautiful system by which we are not surrounded was evolved from that riot of matter, where this order had its inception, how God came to be God.
In what is without doubt the most wonderful revelation ever given to mankind, in that it reaches the farthest back and states some of the most important truths, the Prophet Joseph Smith, speaking at the funeral of Elder King Follett, at Nauvoo, explains in the simplest terms the sublime conception.[20]
First, however, let him state his purpose:
"In order to understand the subject of the dead, for the consolation of those who mourn for the loss of their friends, it is necessary that we should understand the character and being of God, and how He came to be so; for I am going to tell you how God came to be God. We have imagined and supposed that God was God from all eternity. I will refute that idea, and will take away and do away the vail, so that you may see."
The mind is here carried back to a time antedating anything of which we have an account anywhere else in the world, and that there may be no doubt as to the time and the personage referred to, the Prophet is very explicit.
With reference to the time he says:
"You ask the learned doctors why they say the world was made out of nothing; and they will answer, 'Doesn't the Bible say He created the world?' And they infer from the word create, that it must have been made out of nothing. Now, the word create came from the word baurau, which does not mean to create out of nothing; it means to organize— the same as a man would organize materials and build a ship. Hence we infer that God had materials to organize the world out of chaos— chaotic matter, which is element, and in which dwells all the glory. Elements had an existence from the time He had. The pure principles of element are principles which can never be destroyed. They may be organized and reorganized but not destroyed. They had no beginning, and can have no end."
As to the personage meant, one may say, There are many Gods, an almost endless chain of creators; to which one does the Prophet refer? We are not left in doubt, for he explains:
"If the vail were rent today, and the great God, who holds this world in its orbit, and who upholds all worlds and all things by His power, were to make Himself visible,—I say, if you were to see Him today, you would see Him like a man in form."
And further:
"My object is to find out the character of the only wise and true God, and what kind of a being He is."
With these prefatory remarks, the Prophet Joseph proceeds to tell how God came to be God, in what must appeal to one as among the divinest words ever uttered. He says:
"God himself, finding he was in the midst of spirits and glory, because he was more intelligent, saw proper to institute laws whereby the rest could have a privilege to advance like himself. The relationship we have with God places us in a situation to advance in knowledge. He has power to institute laws to instruct the weaker intelligences, that they may be exalted with himself, so that they might have one glory upon another, and all that knowledge, power, glory and intelligence which is requisite in order to save them in the world of spirits."
No wonder that, in the ecstasy of the moment, he exclaimed:
"This is good doctrine. It tastes good, I can taste the principles of eternal life, and so can you. They are given to me by the revelations of Jesus Christ; and I know that when I tell you these words of eternal life as they are given to me, you taste them, and I know you believe them. You say honey is sweet, and so do I. I can also taste the spirit of eternal life. I know it is good; and when I tell you of these things which were given me by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, you are bound to receive them as sweet, and I rejoice more and more."
Here, then, is the inception of the Gospel; the course of study under which we are now working; the plan of salvation, by virtue of which all the creations of God, beginning with Kolob, were made; instituted in the beginning by our Father, to which Jesus the Christ acceded in the grand council in heaven before this earth was made.
Whether or not, in the vast eternities preceding the creation of Kolob, other plans had been tried and found wanting, we are not told; but the fact that, as the Prophet Joseph tells us, God "worked out His Kingdom with fear and trembling," would indicate that He had seen many failures.
It should be noted here, that the ruling sentiment in the inception of the Gospel was the most unselfish love of the Great God for His fellow-creatures. Not satisfied with His own power, glory and intelligence, He must, by force of His affection for those of lesser estate, formulate a plan by which they might arrive at the same station as Himself. It will not, therefore, be surprising to find that Love occupies a high place among the virtues cultivated by the Gospel.
The instructor in school or college, before commencing his work, carefully lays out his courses of study with a definite purpose in view for each course, and is able at the outset to give not only an outline of the work to be done, but the purpose of each course, so that he can tell the applicant for instruction which course will fit him, for example, for practice as a civil engineer. And this line of procedure is of great importance.
Under such an arrangement, the student at every stage of his advancement, will have in mind the purpose of his work, and whatever the obstacles in his path may be, will be impelled to press on with confidence in the wisdom of each step, and an assurance that success will finally crown his best endeavors.
It is, therefore, necessary for us to inquire the purpose for which the Gospel was instituted; and, aside from the inference that may be drawn from what has already been said on the inception of the Gospel, the Lord has given us a direct statement of His designs. After giving an account of a vision in which Moses "beheld the earth and all the inhabitants thereof," the record proceeds:
"And it came to pass that Moses called upon God, saying, Tell me, I pray thee, why these things are so, and by what thou madest them?
"And, behold, the glory of God was upon Moses, so that Moses stood in the presence of God, and he talked with him face to face; and the Lord God said unto Moses, For mine own purpose have I made these things. Here is wisdom, and it remaineth in me. And by the word of my power have I created them, which is my Only Begotten Son, who is full of grace and truth. And worlds without number have I created; and I also created them for mine own purpose; and by the Son I created them, which is mine Only Begotten. And the first man of all men have I called Adam, which is many. But only an account of this earth, and the inhabitants thereof, give I unto you. For, behold, there are many worlds that have passed away by the word of my power. And there are many also which now stand, and numberless are they, unto man, but all things are numbered unto me, for they are mine and I know them.
"And it came to pass, that Moses spake unto the Lord, saying, Be merciful unto thy servant, O God, and tell me concerning this earth, and the inhabitants thereof, and also the heavens, and then thy servant will be content.
"And the Lord God spake unto Moses, saying, The heavens, they are many, and they cannot be numbered unto man, but they are numbered unto me, for they are mine, and as one earth shall pass away, and the heavens thereof, even so shall others come; and there is no end to my works, neither to my words.
"For this is my work and my glory, to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man."[21]
We have here, then, a plain statement of the purpose of the Lord in formulating the Gospel, and we may now inquire as to the course of procedure to be followed to accomplish the object in view.
We may use still further the comparison of instructor and pupil. The plan of the work he is to pursue is laid before the student at the outset. All the steps of his progress are pointed out to him from the opening of his course until his graduation. In outline he can trace his work throughout, and can tell at any stage of his advancement how far he has come, and what yet remains to be done before he can claim his diploma.
Just so the Lord has outlined the course of procedure under the Gospel plan, and, as with the student, so we may know how far we have advanced.
Following is a remarkable disclosure in which we have the plan outlined:
"And they who keep their first estate shall be added upon; and they who keep not their first estate, shall not have glory in the same kingdom with those who keep their first estate; and they who keep their second estate, shall have glory added upon their heads forever and ever."[22]
When the time had arrived for the council in heaven to name a Savior, according to the plan of the Father, to come to the earth in the meridian of time and make possible the resurrection from the dead, there was a rebellion, the account of which gives us an indication of the dividing point in our progress between the first and second estates. It reads as follows:
"And the Lord said, Whom shall I send? And one answered like unto the Son of Man: Here am I, send me. And another answered and said: Here am I, send me. And the Lord said: I will send the first. And the second was angry, and kept not his first estate, and at that day, many followed after him."[23]
Additional information as to the proportion of that host of spirits who "followed after him," is given in the Doctrine and Covenants:
"For, behold, the devil was before Adam, for he rebelled against me, saying, Give me thine honor, which is my power: and also a third part of the hosts of heaven turned he away from me because of their agency; and they were thrust down, and thus came the devil and his angels."[24]
We learn, therefore:
That, according to the plan of the Gospel, there are two estates, with varying glories attached to each.
That one-third of the host of heaven into the midst of whom the Lord came down in the beginning, had not made sufficient progress when the time came for peopling this earth, to keep their first estate, and
That the two-thirds who remained faithful up to that time, were introduced to the next step of advancement by being permitted to take bodies upon this earth, and are, accordingly, on the way to the keeping of the second estate, to which is attached the glory of eternal lives.
Here, then, with an illustration in the case of this earth, is the outline plan of the Gospel.
Pursuing the comparison of instructor and student still further, we find that their relations are governed by an implied contract from beginning to end. The student who sets out to take a course of instruction in civil engineering, for instance, agrees, on his part, to follow the directions of the instructor throughout the term of years prescribed to complete the work. On the part of the instructor an agreement is made that if the student will so follow the course laid out, for the stated number of years, he shall receive a diploma as a civil engineer.
It is proper, therefore, for us to make an inquiry as to the agreement, if any, entered into in the beginning between the Great Formulator of this course of study we are pursuing, and the world of mankind.
It is interesting to note here that the late President Lorenzo Snow looked upon the passage about to be quoted, "I came down in the beginning in the midst of all the intelligences thou hast seen," as going the farthest back of any of the revelations we have, direct from the Almighty.
We may here gather from the following quotation, the covenant entered into by the spirits, "in the beginning:"
"I came down in the beginning in the midst of all the intelligences thou hast seen.
"Now, the lord had shewn unto me, Abraham, the intelligences that were organized before the world was; and among all these there were many of the noble and great ones; and God saw these souls that they were good, and he stood in the midst of them, and he said: These I will make my rulers; for he stood among those that were spirits, and he saw that they were good; and he said unto me: Abraham, thou art one of them, thou wast chosen before thou wast born.
"And there stood one among them that was like unto God, and he said unto those who were with him: We will go down, for there is space there, and we will take of these materials, and we will make an earth whereon these may dwell; and we will prove them herewith, to see if they will do all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them."[25]
The spirits, therefore, after this plan of the Gospel had been presented to and accepted by them, had agreed to "do all things whatsoever the Lord their God should command them." In accord herewith is the statement of President Joseph F. Smith that not order, but obedience, is the first law of heaven.
As to the covenant made by the Lord in His part of the contract, we read in the Doctrine and Covenants:
"And also all they who receive this Priesthood receiveth me, saith the Lord; for he that receiveth my servants receiveth me; and he that receiveth me receiveth my Father; and he that receiveth my Father, receiveth my Father's Kingdom; therefore all that my Father hath shall be given unto him; and this is according to the oath and covenant which belongeth to the Priesthood. Therefore, all those who receive the Priesthood, receive this oath and covenant of my Father, which he cannot break."[26]
As it is designed in the Gospel plan for the redemption of the dead, that all men who have arrived at years of accountability and who during their life time here were subject to law, shall have the Priesthood conferred upon them, either in person or by proxy, it will be seen how wide the application of this covenant will extend.
The great covenants pertaining to the Gospel are, accordingly; on the part of the spirits, obedience to whatever law is given them; on the part of the Lord, to those who are the most faithful, a fullness of His glory. But, as will be seen hereafter, provision is made for all, even for the least of His creatures.