Word of Wisdom embodied in the revelation referred to above, the following is in point. "This, [the Word of Wisdom] like other revelations that have come in the present dispensation, is not wholly new. It is as old as the human race. The principle of the Word of Wisdom was revealed unto Adam. All the essentials of the Word of Wisdom were made known unto him in his immortal state,
before he had taken into his body those things that made of it a thing of earth. He was warned against that very practise. He was not told to treat his body as something to be tortured. He was not told to look upon it as the fakir of India has come to look upon his body, or professes to look upon it, as a thing to be utterly contemned; but he was told that he must not take into that body certain things which were there at hand. He was warned that, if he did, his body would lose the power which it then held of living for ever, and that he would become subject to death. It was pointed out to him, as it has been pointed out to you, that there are many good fruits to be plucked, to be eaten, to be enjoyed. We believe in enjoying good food. We think that these good things are given us of God. We believe in getting all the enjoyment out of eating that we can; and, therefore, we should avoid gluttony, and we should avoid extremes in all our habits of eating; and as was told unto Adam, so is it told unto us: Touch not these things; for in the day that thou
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doest it thy life shall be shortened and thou shalt die.
"Here let me say that therein consisted the fall--the eating of things unfit, the taking into the body of the things that made of that body a thing of earth: and I take this occasion to raise my voice against the false interpretation of scripture, which has been adopted by certain people, and is current in their minds, and is referred to in a hushed and half-secret way, that the fall of man consisted in some offense against the laws of chastity and of virtue. Such a doctrine is an abomination. What right have we to turn the scriptures from their proper sense and meaning? What right have we to declare that God meant not what He said? The fall was a natural
process, resulting through the incorporation into the bodies of our first parents of the things that came from food unfit, through the violation of the command of God regarding what they should eat. Don't go around whispering that the fall consisted in the mother of the race losing her chastity and her virtue. It is not true; the human race is not born of fornication. These bodies that are given unto us are given in the way that God has provided. Let it not be said that the patriarch of the race, who stood with the gods before he came here upon the earth, and his equally royal consort, were guilty of any such foul offense. The adoption of that belief has led many to excuse departures from the path of chastity and the path of virtue, by saying that it is the sin of the race, that it is as old as Adam. It was not introduced by Adam. It was not committed by Eve. It was the introduction of the devil and came in order that he might sow the seeds of early death in the bodies of men and women, that the race should degenerate as it[Pg 31] has degenerated whenever the laws of virtue and of chastity have been transgressed.
"Our first parents were pure and noble, and when we pass behind the veil we shall perhaps learn something of their high estate, more than we know now. But be it known that they were pure; they were noble. It is true that they disobeyed the law of God, in eating things they were told not to eat; but who amongst you can rise up and condemn?"--From an address by the author at the Eighty-fourth Semiannual Conference of the Church, Oct. 6, 1913; published in the Proceedings of the Conference, pp. 118, 119.
4. Christ Wrought Redemption from the Fall.--"The Savior thus becomes master of the situation--the debt is paid, the redemption made, the covenant fulfilled, justice satisfied, the will of God done, and all power is now given into the hands of the Son of God-- the power of the resurrection, the power of the redemption, the power of salvation, the power to enact laws for the carrying out and accomplishment of this design. Hence life and immortality are brought to light, the gospel is introduced, and He becomes the author of eternal life and exaltation. He is the Redeemer, the Resurrector, the Savior of man and the world; and He has appointed the law
of the gospel as the medium which must be complied with in this world or the next, as He complied with His Father's law; hence 'he that believeth shall be saved, and he that believeth not shall be damned.' The plan, the arrangement, the agreement, the covenant was made, entered into and accepted before the foundation of the world; it was prefigured by sacrifices, and was carried out and consummated on the cross. Hence being the mediator between God and man, He becomes by right the dictator and director on earth and
in heaven for the living and for the dead, for the past, the present and the future, pertaining to man as associated with this earth or the heavens, in time or eternity, the Captain of our salvation, the Apostle and High-Priest of our profession, the Lord and Giver of life."--John Taylor, Mediation and Atonement, p. 171.
5. Redemption from the Effect of the Fall.--"'Mormonism' accepts the doctrine of the fall, and the account of the transgression
in Eden, as set forth in Genesis; but it affirms that none but Adam is or shall be answerable for Adam's disobedience; that mankind in general are absolutely absolved from responsibility for that 'original sin,' and that each shall account for his own transgressions alone; that the fall was foreknown of God, that it was turned to good effect by which the necessary condition of mortality should be inaugurated; and that a Redeemer was provided before the world was; that general salvation, in the sense of redemption from the effects of the fall, comes to all without their seeking it; but that individual salvation or rescue from the effects of personal sins is to be acquired by each for himself by faith and good works through the redemption wrought by Jesus Christ."--From the author's Story and Philosophy of 'Mormonism,' p. 111.[Pg 32]
FOOTNOTES:
[29] P. of G.P., Abraham 3:25. For a fuller treatment of man's Free Agency, see the author's "Articles of Faith," iii:1-10, and the
numerous references there given.
[30] P. of G.P., Moses 1:39; compare 6:59. Note 1, end of chapter.
[31] Note 2, end of chapter.
[32] Gen. 1:26, 27; 2:7; compare P. of G.P., Moses 2:26, 27; 3:7; Abraham 4:26-28; 5:7.
[33] Gen. 1:28-31; 2:16, 17; compare P. of G.P., Moses 2:28-31; 3:16, 17; Abraham 4:28-31; 5:12, 13.
[34] Gen. 2:8; compare statement in verse 5--that prior to that time there was "not a man to till the ground"; see also P. of G.P.,
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Moses 3:7; Abraham 1:3; and B. of M., 1 Nephi 5:11. [35] Gen. chap. 3; compare P. of G.P., Moses chap. 4. [36] See "Articles of Faith," iii:21-32.
[37] 1 Tim. 2:14; see also 2 Cor. 11:3.
[38] Note 3, end of chapter. [39] See page 7.
[40] Note 4, end of chapter. [41] Note 5, end of chapter. [42] Rom. 5:12, 18.
[43] 1 Cor. 15:21, 22.
[44] Lev. 22:20; Deut. 15:21; 17:1; Mal. 1:8, 14; compare Heb. 9:14; 1 Peter 1:19. [45] John 10:17-18
[46] John 5:26 [47] John 6:38 [48] John 4:34
[49] John 5:30; see also verse 19; also Matt. 26:42; compare Doc. and Cov. 19:2; 20:24.
[50] New Standard Dictionary under "propitiation."
[51] 1 Cor. 15:20; see also Acts 26:23; Col. 1:18; Rev. 1:5. [52] Matt. 27:52, 53.
[53] John 5:25, 28, 29. A modern scripture attesting the same truth reads: "They who have done good in the resurrection of the just;
and they who have done evil in the resurrection of the unjust."--Doc. and Cov. 76:17. [54] For instances see Acts 24:15; Rev. 20:12, 13.
[55] For instances see B. of M., 2 Nephi 9:6, 12, 13, 21, 22; Helaman 14:15-17; Mosiah 15:20-24; Alma 40:2-16; Mormon 9:13, 14. [56] For instances see Doc. and Cov. 18:11, 12; 45:44, 45; 88:95-98.
[57] Doc. and Cov. 45:54.