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Baptism for the Dead Joseph Smith (1805-44) President of the Church Baptism for the Dead Joseph Smith (1805-44) President of the Church Times and Seasons, April 15, 1842 (Vol. 3, No. 12) pp. 759-761. (Note to the Reader: Italics are original; longer scripture quotations have been placed within double indented paragraphs; scripture references appearing in the original have been placed within parenthesis and Roman numerals normalized into common numbers; scripture references that are not in the original have been placed in brackets; other bracketed statements are original; underlining is not in the original but has been added.) The following is an editorial published by the Prophet Joseph Smith, who, at that time, was editor of the Times and Seasons, a journalistic newspaper published by the Church when it was headquartered in Nauvoo, Illinois. The first time the Prophet publically taught the doctrine of baptism for the dead was at the funeral of Seymour Brunson on August 10, 1840. This editorial offered greater understanding of the doctrine of baptism for the dead in God’s eternal plan. HE great designs of God in sends his rain on the just and Trelation to the salvation of the unjust.” [Matt. 5:45] He holds the human family are very little reins of judgment in his hands; he is understood by the professedly wise, a wise lawgiver, and will judge all and intelligent generation in which men, [not according to the narrow we live; various and conflicting are contracted notions of men, but] the opinions of men concerning the “according to the deeds done in the plan of salvation; the requisitions of body whether they be good or evil;” the Almighty; the necessary [JST 2 Cor. 5:10] or whether these preparations for heaven; the state deeds were done in England, and condition of departed spirits; America, Spain, Turkey, India: he and the happiness, or misery that is will judge them “not according to consequent upon the practice of what they have not, but according to righteousness and iniquity what they have;” those who have according to their several notions of lived without law, will be judged virtue, and vice. The Mussulman without law, and those who have a condemns the Heathen, the Jew, and law, will be judged by that law; we the Christian, and the whole world need not doubt the wisdom and of mankind that reject his Koran as intelligence of the great Jehovah, he infidels, and consigns the whole of will award judgment or mercy to all them to perdition. The Jew believes that the whole world nations according to their several deserts, their means of that reject his faith, and are not circumcised, are gentile obtaining intelligence, the laws by which they are dogs, and will be damned. The Heathen are equally as governed; the facilities afforded them of obtaining tenacious about their principles, and the Christian correct information; and his inscrutable designs in consigns all to perdition who cannot bow to his creed relation to the human family: and when the designs of and submit to his ipse dixit [Latin, meaning an unproven dogma God shall be made manifest, and the curtain of futurity or statement]. But while one portion of the human race are be withdrawn, we shall all of us eventually have to judging and condemning the other without mercy, the confess, that the Judge of all the earth has done right. great parent of the universe looks upon the whole of the The situation of the Christian nations after death is a human family with a fatherly care, and paternal regard; subject that has called forth all the wisdom, and talent of he views them as his offspring; and without any of those the philosopher, and the divine; and it is an opinion contracted feelings that influence the children of men, causes “his sun to rise on the evil and the good; and which is generally received, that the destiny of man is And they shall be gathered together as prisoners are irretrievably fixed at his death; and that he is made either gathered in the pit, and shall be shut up in prison, and after eternally happy, or eternally miserable’ that if a man dies many days shall they be visited.” [Isa. 24:20-22] without a knowledge of God, he must be eternally Thus we find that God will deal with all the human family damned; without any mitigation of his punishment, equally; and that as the antediluvians had their day of alleviation of his pain or the most latent hope of a visitation; so will those characters referred to by Isaiah, have deliverance while endless ages shall roll along. However their time of visitation, and deliverance, after having been many days in prison. orthodox this principle may be, we shall find that it is at The great Jehovah contemplated the whole of the events variance with the testimony of holy writ; for our Saviour connected with the earth, pertaining to the plan of salvation, says that all manner of sin, and blasphemy shall be before it rolled into existence, or ever the “morning stars sung forgiven men wherewith they shall blaspheme; but the together for joy,” [Job 38:7] the past, the present and the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost future, were, and are with him one shall not be forgiven, neither in eternal now [see D&C 38:1-2;Moses this world, nor in the world to 1:6; Abr. 2:8; 1 Ne. 9:6; 2 Ne. 9:20; come; [Matt. 12:31-32] evidently Moro. 7:22] he knew of the fall of showing that there are sins which Adam, the iniquities of the may be forgiven in the world to antediluvians, of the depth of iniquity come; although the sin of that would be connected with the human family; their weakness and blasphemy cannot be forgiven. strength, their power and glory, Peter also in speaking apostasies, their crimes, their concerning our Saviour says, that righteousness, and iniquity; he “he went and preached unto comprehended the fall of man, and their spirits in prison, which redemption; he knew the plan of sometimes were disobedient, salvation, and pointed it out; he was when once the long, suffering acquainted with the situation of all of God waited in the days of nations; and with their destiny; he Noah.” (1 Pet. 3:19-20) ordered all things according to the Here then we have an account of council of his own will, he knows the our Saviour preaching to the spirits situation of both the living, and the dead, and has made ample provision for in prison; to spirits that had been their redemption, according to their imprisoned from the days of Noah; several circumstances, and the laws of and what did he preach to them? the kingdom of God, whether in this that they were to stay there? certainly not; let his own world, or in the world to come. The idea that some men form declaration testify; of the justice, judgment, and mercy of God, is too foolish for “he hath sent me to heal the broken hearted, to preach an intelligent man to think of; for instance it is common for deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to many of our orthodox preachers to suppose, that if a man is not the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised” (Luke what they call converted, if he dies in that state, he must remain 4:18) eternally in hell without any hope: Isaiah has it– “Infinite years in torment must he spend;” “And never, never, never, have an end.” “To bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness from the prison house.” (Isa. 52:7) And yet this eternal misery is made frequently to rest upon the It is very evident from this that he not only went to merest casualty; – The breaking of a shoe string; the tearing of a coat, of those officiating; or the peculiar location in which a preach to them, but to deliver, or bring them out of the person lives, may be the means indirectly of his damnation: or prison house. Isaiah in testifying concerning the the cause of his not being saved. I will suppose a case which is calamities that will overtake the inhabitants of the earth not extraordinary:–Two men who have been equally wicked, says, who have neglected religion, are both of them taken sick at the The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and same time; one of them has the good fortune to be visited by a shall be removed like a cottage; and the transgressions praying man, and he gets converted a few minutes before he thereof shall be heavy upon it; and it shall fall and not dies; the other sends for three different praying men, a tailor, a rise again. shoemaker, and a tinman. The tinman has a handle to solder on And it shall come to pass in that day; that the Lord to a can; the tailor has a button-hole to work on some coat that shall punish the hosts of the high ones that are on high, is needed in a hurry; and the shoemaker has a patch to put on and the kings of the earth upon the earth. to somebody’s boot; they none of them can go in time, the man dies and goes to hell: one of these is exalted to Abraham’s Isaiah will be visited by this priesthood, and come out of their bosom; he sits down in the presence of God, and enjoys eternal, prison, upon the same principle as those who were disobedient uninterrupted happiness; while the other who was equally as in the days of Noah, were visited by our Saviour, [who good as him, sinks to eternal damnation; irretrievable misery, possessed the everlasting, Melchizedec priesthood,] and had and hopeless despair; because a man had a boot to mend, the the gospel preached to them, by him in prison; and in order that button hole of a coat to work, or they might fulfil all the a handle to solder on to a requisitions of God, their living saucepan.
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