Chapter 1

We Believe

John Wentworth, friend of Joseph Smith and editor of the Chicago Democrat, asked the Prophet in 1842 for a brief statement of the history and doctrine of the “Mormon” Church. In prompt reply the Prophet sent on an excellent historical summary of the origin and rise of the Church, followed by thirteen concise statements of doctrine, now known as the Articles of Faith. Neither the story nor the statements of doctrine made any pretense to completeness; they were but sketches designed for readers unfamiliar with the restoration and nature of the Gospel. Yet, in the articles of faith, prepared to present only fundamental doctrine, lie embedded every vital Gospel principle of human action.

Two words, “We believe,” introduce each, save one, of the articles of faith. These are words which in all ages have made human history. As men have believed, they have lived, labored, built, battled and died. When men’s beliefs have been true, peace and prosperity have entered the world; when false, darkness, hate and chaos have ruled. “As a man thinketh, so is he”; but as a man believes, so does he. The potency of life lies in our beliefs.

There follows from such supremacy of belief the imperative need of measuring and weighing, trying and testing our every belief, so that the false may be rejected and the true retained. Belief is a two-edged sword. Much of life’s endeavor must be to sift truth from error. In this confused world, our failures may often, indeed usually, be ascribed to our unwillingness to test the truth of our beliefs. The Articles of Faith are as a challenge to the world. They seem to say, “These are the beliefs of a great people, touching the issues of human life. Examine them. If you find them true, accept them.”

There is no progress, no action, without belief. He who believes nothing is as one who sleeps, an oyster in a closed shell. He makes no impression upon the moving world in which he is placed, and humanity would be as well off without him. Men must believe, if only to be brought into action. They who declare themselves without beliefs —agnostics, unbelievers and others—are usually self-deceivers who do not know that they believe. Suspended judgment is of course permissible, desirable; but it must be attached to an active search for belief, else such judgment in suspense is but the easy covering of a coward. The world has suffered these many centuries from men who would not know or believe. To admit that one does not now know certain things, or has an honest doubt for lack of knowledge, is manly enough, but to build a philosophy of life upon such unbelief is childish; for ignorance and doubt always flee before the valiant searcher. It is one of the first duties of intelligent man to establish beliefs concerning the phenomena about him. To refuse to attempt seriously to resolve doubts or to establish beliefs, concerning vital matters is a mark of weakness.

Latter-day Saints believe. Therein lies their strength. They seek truth actively and try to build their lives with and upon correct beliefs. Their beliefs are used in meeting daily human needs; their ignorance they seek to diminish by seeking after more knowledge, increasing beliefs. Unbelief, agnosticism, lasting doubt, can have no place in a system which places eternal progress as the fundamental law of human action. Under this law one must forever enlarge and amplify his established beliefs. In this eternal quest, truth must be cherished and error laid aside. Latter-day Saints glory in their well-earned right to declare, “We believer.”

The word “believe’ is used in the articles of faith in an expository sense, to explain the substance of “Mormon” doctrine. In ordinary Latter-day Saint usage the word has a larger meaning—a conviction of the truth of a statement made. Indeed, the Prophet could have said truthfully at the beginning of each statement, “We know.” Knowledge, properly tested, is changed to belief. Belief, put to the test of prayer and human use, in turn becomes faith, which is the higher, perfected knowledge. Joseph Smith’s statements to John Wentworth are articles of faith, not merely of belief. They represent the settled convictions, tried, tested, defensible, of the “Mormon” people. In that sense do Latter-day Saints read the words “We believe.”

Joseph Smith presented the doctrine of the restored Church to the world in the simple articles of faith. That is evidence enough of their intrinsic value. The “Articles” are the foundation stones of a great doctrinal structure and determine its extent and stability. The articles of faith, or any part of them, cannot be set aside in the building of the faith of a Latter-day Saint. This is doubly true, for every doctrine of the Gospel finds root and life in these basic statements of the Prophet. The applications of the articles of faith may be varied to meet individual needs and conditions, but the worth of the truths contained can never be questioned nor the use of them laid aside.

Herein lies the definition of “Mormon “orthodoxy—a word naturally not popular among Latter-day Saints who make the declaration “We believe” upon the basis of individual search and conviction. Intelligent conformity may be labeled orthodoxy. A man should not be spoken of as orthodox when he uses a telescope to see the stars, or a microscope to reveal bacteria, or the articles of faith to guide his conduct; he is then merely using established knowledge properly for his benefit. The orthodox man is too often the one who follows the beaten path without knowing definitely and for himself whether it is really the true or better way. However, let sleepy definitions lie! The “orthodox” Latter-day Saint accepts as a matter of personally tested truth the fundamental doctrines of the Church, set forth for example in the articles of faith, and uses them in his daily life. Indeed, a member of the Church cannot be counted fully a Latter-day Saint unless he does accept the fundamental faith and practice of the Church, or at least on such basis of faith as he may have, seeks eagerly to develop such belief. Those who have real faith in the fundamentals of the Church cannot quibble about the essentials of Gospel doctrine, or attempt to classify Gospel principles in order of importance. The Gospel, a divine institution upon which the restored Church rests, is a unit in which each principle has its structural, organic place. Therefore, in the end, all principles of the Gospel are of equal importance. Really, there is no such a thing as Mormon orthodoxy. A member of the Church either has faith in the Gospel, is on the way to that faith, or has no faith in it.

Latter-day Saints have reason to rejoice that they have a certain, though testable, doctrinal platform on which to base their faith and works. Since the organization of the Church no fundamental doctrine has been changed, none will be changed, for each one has its own necessary place and value in the eternal Gospel plan. Adaptations there may be to meet the arising issues of the stream of time; new revelations may come to amplify those now possessed; but changes in the sense of the obliteration of existing basic doctrine will never be made. The certainty, security, and unchangeability with respect of gospel doctrine come, it need hardly be said, from the divine origin of the Gospel and its body of doctrine. That is well developed in the articles themselves.

There is no security in life, in industry, science, government or religion without such unchanging fundamentals. Therein lies the message of the articles of faith.

QUESTIONS AND PROBLEMS

1. Why does a man’s belief determine his actions?

2. To what extent has human history been shaped by men’s beliefs? Illustrate.

3. In what manner does action reveal belief?

4. How are knowledge and belief related to faith?

5. What is the difference between obedience and conformity?