The Story of "Mormonism"
Talmage, James Edward, 1862-1933
English
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Below is a summary of The Story of "Mormonism"
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THE STORY OF "MORMONISM"
And
THE PHILOSOPHY OF "MORMONISM"
By James E. Talmage, D. Sc., F. R. S. E.
PREFACE
_The Story of "Mormonism"_ as presented in the following pages
is a revised and reconstructed version of lectures delivered by Dr.
James E. Talmage at the University of Michigan, Cornell
University, and elsewhere. The "Story" first appeared in print
as a lecture report in the _Improvement Era_, and was afterward
issued as a booklet from the office of the _Millennial Star_,
Liverpool. In 1910 it was issued in a revised form by the Bureau
of Information at Salt Lake City, in which edition the lecture
style of direct address was changed to the ordinary form of
essay. The present or third American edition has been revised
and amplified by the author.
The "Story" has been translated and published abroad. Already
versions have appeared in Swedish, modern Greek, and Russian.
The subject matter of _The Philosophy of "Mormonism"_ was first
presented as a lecture delivered by Dr. Talmage before the
Philosophical Society of Denver. It appeared later in the
columns of the _Improvement Era_, and translations have been
published in pamphlet form in the Danish and German languages.
The present publication of these two productions is made in
response to a steady demand.
THE PUBLISHERS.
Salt Lake City, Utah,
March, 1914.
THE STORY OF "MORMONISM"
CHAPTER I
In the minds of many, perhaps of the majority of people, the
scene of the "Mormon" drama is laid almost entirely in Utah;
indeed, the terms "Mormon question" and "Utah question" have been
often used interchangeably. True it is, that the development of
"Mormonism" is closely associated with the history of the
long-time Territory and present State of Utah; but the origin of
the system must be sought in regions far distant from the present
gathering-place of the Latter-day Saints, and at a period
antedating the acquisition of Utah as a part of our national
domain.
The term "origin" is here used in its commonest application--that
of the first stages apparent to ordinary observation--the visible
birth of the system. But a long, long period of preparation had
led to this physical coming forth of the "Mormon" religion, a
period marked by a multitude of historical events, some of them
preceding by centuries the earthly beginning of this modern
system of prophetic trust. The "Mormon" people regard the
establishment of their Church as the culmination of a great
series of notable events. To them it is the result of causes
unnumbered that have operated through ages of human history, and
they see in it the cause of many developments yet to appear.
This to them establishes an intimate relationship between the
events of their own history and the prophecies of ancient times.
In reading the earliest pages of "Mormon" history, we are
introduced to a man whose name will ever be prominent in the
story of the Church--the founder of the organization by common
usage of the term, the head of the system as an earthly
establishment--one who is accepted by the Church as an ambassador
specially commissioned of God to be the first revelator of the
latter-day dispensation. This man is Joseph Smith, commonly
known as the "Mormon" prophet. Rarely indeed does history
present an organization, religious, social, or political, in
which an individual holds as conspicuous and in all ways as
important a place as does this man in the development of
"Mormonism." The earnest investigator, the sincere truth-seeker,
can ignore neither the man nor his work; for the Church under
consideration has risen from the testimony solemnly set forth and
the startling declarations made by this person, who, at the time
of his earliest announcements, was a farmer's boy in the first
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