MORMON THEOLOGY

As to Mormon theology, or system of religious belief, it is very difficult to describe. Their theory is a compound of all the creeds on the earth—Jewish, Pagan, Mahommedan and Christian. I give a brief summary of their doctrines, gleaned from various conversations with the Mormons and their leaders:

1st. They believe in a multitude of Gods, each presiding over a certain portion of the material universe. I did not learn that they believed in any one Deity that was supreme over all the others. Whenever I asked direct questions on this point, I was always answered evasively.

2d. The only God with whom we in this planet are concerned, is the "Father of the human race," the Being who inspired men to write the Bible, and the Book of Mormon, upon the golden plates, discovered and translated miraculously by Joe Smith.

3d. A true Saint will hereafter arise from one degree of exaltation to another, until he finally becomes a God, and can create a world of his own, and people it with inhabitants.

4th. The personal form of God is precisely that of a human being.

5th. The power to work miracles is still possessed by all true believers, and such are the "Latter Day Saints," and no others.

6th. When Christ comes the second time, he will establish a temporal kingdom, and reign as a literal king over all the earth; and this king will re-establish the law of Moses, and priesthood of Aaron.

7th. Water baptism by immersion is an indispensable form of initiation into the visible kingdom of Christ, and when properly baptised, the disciple receives the Holy Ghost, and becomes the medium of miraculous power.

8th. A member of the church can be baptised in behalf of those who are literally dead, and who have died without receiving this ordinance, and such baptism is efficacious by way of substitution.

9th. Polygamy is a part of the ancient order of the church, and therefore still in force.

They style themselves Mormons, or Latter Day Saints; all others they denominate Gentiles, or heathen. They generally believe in a hell, of limited duration, but some hold that punishment is endless. They believe that when Christ comes personally to set up his kingdom, all obstinate Gentiles that may at that time be found will be swept from the world. They also hold that the present organization of the Church of Latter Days Saints is only a prelude to Christ's second coming and kingdom.