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Interesting
Quotes from the book
Articles of Faith, by James Talmage
On the jacket
cover of James Talmage's book it says, "For clarity, brevity, and
forthrightness, there is no finer summary statement of the basic beliefs
of Latter-day Saints than the Articles of Faith, which were written by the
Prophet Joseph Smith....For more than eighty years this book has been a
standard text for gospel students and teachers alike. The
publication of the work preceded Elder Talmage's call to the
apostleship" (Deseret Book Company, Salt Lake City, Utah.1984.
The Publisher's
Preface in the book says, "Articles of Faith is considered
one of the classics in Latter-day Saint literature. It is the
outgrowth of a series of lectures in theology give by Dr. James E. Talmage,
commencing in October of 1893. At that time Dr. Talmage was serving
as the president of the LDS College in Salt Lake City. The First
Presidency of the Church invited Dr. Talmage to prepare a text for use in
Church schools and religion classes...."On December 7, 1911, he was
called as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, where he served
faithfully until his death on July 27, 1933."
- "Therefore we know that both the
Father and the Son are in form and stature perfect men; each of them
possesses a tangible body, infinitely pure and perfect and attended by
transcendent glory, nevertheless a body of flesh and bones" (page
38).
- "Jesus Christ is the Son of
Elohim both as spiritual and bodily offspring; that is to say, Elohim
is literally the Father of the spirit of Jesus Christ and also of the
body in which Jesus Christ performed His mission in the flesh..."
(The Articles of Faith, James Talmage, pp. 466-467).
- "Jesus Christ is the Son of
Elohim both as spiritual and bodily offspring; that is to say, Elohim
is literally the Father of the spirit of Jesus Christ and also of the
body in which Jesus Christ performed his mission in the flesh"
(page 421).
- "The twofold effect of the
atonement is implied in the article of our faith now under
consideration. The first effect is to secure to all mankind alike,
exemption from the penalty of the fall, thus providing a plan of
general Salvation. The second effect is to open a way for Individual
Salvation whereby mankind may secure remission of personal sins. As
these sins are the result of individual acts it is just that
forgiveness for them should be conditioned on individual compliance
with prescribed requirements--’obedience to the laws and ordinances
of the Gospel’" (pages 78-79).
- "Hence the justice of the
scriptural doctrine that salvation comes to the individual only
through obedience" (page 81).
- "There are some who have striven
to obey all the divine commandments, who have accepted the testimony
of Christ, obeyed ‘the laws and ordinances of the Gospel,’ and
received the Holy Spirit; these are they who have overcome evil by
godly works and who are therefore entitled to the highest glory"
(page 83).
- "The sectarian dogma of
justification by faith alone has exercised an influence for evil. The
idea upon which this pernicious doctrine was founded was at first
associated with that of an absolute predestination, by which man was
foredoomed to destruction, or to an undeserved salvation" (page
432.)
- "...the spirits of mankind passed
through a stage of existence prior to their earthly probation. This
antemortal period is oftentimes spoken of as the stage of primeval
childhood or first estate (page 174).
- "The Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints proclaims against the incomprehensible God, devoid
of ‘body, parts, or passions,’ as a thing impossible of existence
. . . " (page 44).
- "The opportunity of winning the
victor’s reward by overcoming evil was explained to our parents, and
they rejoiced. Adam said: ‘Blessed be the name of God, for because
of my transgression my eyes are opened, and in this life I shall have
joy, and again in the flesh I shall see God.’ Eve was glad and
declared: ‘Were it not for our transgression we never should have
had seed, and never should have known good and evil, and the joy of
our redemption, and the eternal life which God giveth unto all the
obedient" (page 62).
- "The redemption of the dead will
be effected in accordance with the law of God, which is written in
justice and framed in mercy. It is alike impossible for any spirit, in
the flesh or disembodied, to obtain promise of eternal glory except on
condition of obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel. And,
as baptism is essential to the salvation of the living, it is likewise
indispensable to the dead" (page 134-135).
- "Temples or other sacred places
are required for the administration of the ordinances pertaining to
the salvation of the dead, and in certain ordinances for the
living" (page 138).
- "Salvation is attainable only
through compliance with the laws and ordinances of the Gospel"
(page 422).
- "Those who have been born unto
God through obedience to the Gospel may by valiant devotion to
righteousness obtain exaltation and even reach the status of
godhood" (page. 424).
- "The preexistent condition is not
characteristic of human souls alone; all things of earth have a
spiritual being of which the temporal structure forms but the
counterpart" (page 442).
- "Man in his mortal state is the
union of a preexistent spirit with a body composed of earthly
elements. This union of spirit and body marks progress from the
unembodied to the embodied condition..."(page 428),
- "Jesus Christ is not the Father
of the spirits who have taken or yet shall take bodies upon this
earth, for He is one of them....Only such exalted souls have reached
maturity in the appointed course of eternal life; and the spirits born
to them in the eternal worlds will pass in due sequence through the
several stages or estates by which the glorified parents have attained
exaltation" (page 426).
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