| 808 TIMES AND SEASONS.
CITY OF NAUVOO,
FEBRUARY 15, 1845.
THE LIVING GOD.
There is no subject, among men, that engrosses so much time and attention, and, at the same time, is so little understood, as the being, knowledge, substance, attributes, and disposition of the living God. In the first place, christians and believers in christianity, with a few exceptions, believe in one God; or perhaps we should say, in their own language, that the Father, Son and Holy Ghost, are one God. But to be obedient unto the truth, we will not thus transgress upon reason, sense and revelation.
It will then be necessary to treat the subject of the 'Living God,' in contra-distinction to a dead God, or, one that has, 'no body, parts, or passions,' and perhaps, it may be well enough to say at the out set, that Mormonism embraces a plurality of Gods, as the apostle said, there were 'Gods many and Lords many.' In doing which, we shall not deny the scripture that has been set apart for this world, and allows one God; even Jesus Christ, the very eternal Father of this earth; and if Paul tells the truth,-'by him the worlds were made.'
It was probably alluded to by Moses, when the children of Israel were working out their salvation with fear and trembling in the wilderness, at the time that he spake these words: [Dieut [Deut.] v: 23-26.] "and it came to pass when ye heard the voice out of the midst of the darkness, (for the mountain did burn with fire,) that ye came near unto me, even all the heads of your tribes, and your elders. And ye said, Behold, the Lord our God hath shewed us his glory, and greatness, and we have heard his voice out of the midst of the fire: we have seen this day that God doth talk with man, and he liveth. Now therefore why should we die? For this great fire will consume us. If we hear the voice of the Lord our God any more, then we shall die. For who is there of all flesh, that hath heard the voice of the living God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as we have, and lived?"
The facts embraced in the foregoing verses, destroy the belief of all christendom without remedy. The divines, or in deference, we will say the 'learned clergy,' publish to all people, that 'no man hath seen God, at any time; that no man can see God and live; and that John the Evangelist said: [St. John vi: 46.] "Not that any man hath seen the Father, save he which is of God, he hath seen the Father."
Again, Moses in the before mentioned quotation uses our text, the 'living God;' and who will undertake to say that he meant any other person than Jesus Christ, the holy one of Israel? 'Before Abraham was, I am.' 'Oh,' say the learned world, 'the scripture is a mystical matter, we must let it remain, till some commentator fathoms the mystery.' In all probability that meant Christ, for there is but one God.
It has been said that troubles never come single, and mysteries, in like manner, rarely meet us one at a time. In Matthew we learn: [Mat. xvi: 13-16.] "When Jesus came into the coasts of Cesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am? And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist; some, Elias; and others Jeremias, or one of the prophets. He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the Living God."
Now, two facts, making two worldly mysteries, meet the mind in the foregoing passages. Jesus says he is the 'Son of man,' and Peter says, he is the 'Son of the living God.' O, ye great men, and wise men, and ye who wear the sacerdotal robes, how can Jesus have two fathers; or how can the scriptures be true without he has two? Again, how could Moses use the term 'living God,' as the Holy one of Israel, and Peter declare that Christ was the Son of the 'Living God?' This makes two 'Living Gods,' because the Savior never once said that he begat himself, or came into the world of his own accord, or upon his own business; but upon the contrary, He came to do the will of his father who sent him.
What shall we say then, to make Moses', Jesus' and Peter's words true? We will say that Jesus Christ had a father and mother of his Spirit, and a father and mother of his flesh; and so have all of his brethren and sisters: and that is one reason why he said, 'ye are Gods;' or that Isaiah prophesied: [Isa. XLI: 23.] 'Shew the things that are to come hereafter, that we may know that ye are Gods; yea, do good, or do evil, that we may be dismayed, and behold it together.' In fact, 'the Gods,' in old times, was common intelligence. Satan, in his first sectarian sermon to Adam and Eve, told them, if they would eat of the forbidden fruit, they should become as 'the Gods,' knowing good and evil.
This is not all: the first line of Genesis, purely translated from the original, excluding the
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