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Presented are transcripts of radio broadcasts by R.L.D.S. President Frederick M. Smith in 1938 on pertinent topics that continue to be of considerable interest in this 21st century.
XIII. Laws of the New Jerusalem We have considered the social aspects of religion as reflected in the Bible, both Old and New Testaments, and we have rather clearly seen that from the very beginning the instructions from Deity have been emphatic in demanding that man should be unreservedly altruistic in his relationships with his fellow-man. We have reached the conclusion that our industrial relations and activities must find their motivations in the same attitude. My own firm conviction that this is true has prompted me in all my ministerial work to preach, teach, and urge the establishment of a social order on a religious foundation in which the Christian dynamic will play in its industry and economics. The Beginning Of The Church The church of which I am at present the chief officer was established in 1830, through the instrumentality of my grandfather; and from the very first it has attempted to foster and promote such a social order and the necessary attitude in the individual members of the church to achieve it. It was in April, 1830, that the church was organized at Fayette, New York, and in February, 1831, there was received by the church, then small in numbers, what was accepted as instructions from God, which laid the basis for the new social order. This basis was quite in consonance with the ideals of the Christian social philosophy, which I have been discussing, and is of such importance to us as a people, and I feel of such great interest to our friends who desire to know of that for which we stand, that I shall read rather copious extracts from the instructions received in 1831, and some from those later received. These readings are from the “Covenants and Commandments,” a book which stands to us as a symbol and testimony that God still speaks to his people, is interested in their every act and condition, and that he fain would guide us toward higher goals collectively and to finer and higher standards of individual conduct. The book is divided into sections, each received on specified or indicated dates. The one from which I want first to read is entitled, “Revelation given February, 1831, is Section 42 of the book and might will be termed “The Charter of Social Order.” Addressed to the “elders,” or those holding the priesthood, it first admonishes obedience to the divine law and commandments, and urges upon them missionary activities to declare repentance to the world and the imminence of the kingdom of heavn, and then indicates that a “New Jerusalem” shall be established, the Center Place for gathering of the Saints. The preaching shall be done only by those who have been clothed by divine authority, and regularly ordained. The ministers (elders, priests, teachers) are to teach the “principles of the gospel,” which are in the Bible and the Book of Mormon, “observe the covenants of the church,” and teach as “they shall be directed by the Spirit,” which Spirit shall “be received by prayer.” The Law Of The Church Then follow specific commandments of personal conduct, negative and positive, that is, “Thou shalt not,” and “Thou shalt”—shall not kill, not steal, not lie, “shalt love thy wife with all thy heart, and cleave unto her and none else,” “shalt not commit adultery,” “shalt not speak evil of thy neighbor, nor do him any harm.” These seem to indicate the basis on which is to be made the individual approach to the following instructions of a more specifically social nature, which are so important in this discussion, that I quote at some length. Say the divine instructions: If thou lovest me, thou shalt serve me and keep all my commandments. And, behold, thou wilt remember the poor, and consecrate of thy properties for their support, that which thou hast to impart unto them, with a covenant and a deed which cannot be broken; and inasmuch as ye impart of your substance unto the poor, ye will do it unto me, and it shall be laid before the bishop of my church and his counselors, two of the elders, or high priests, such as he shall or has appointed and set apart for that purpose. And it shall come to pass that after they are laid before the bishop of my church, and after that he has received these testimonies concerning the consecration of the properties of my church, that they cannot be taken from the church, agreeable to my commandments; every man shall be made accountable unto me a steward over his own property, or that which he has received by consecration, inasmuch as is sufficient for himself and family. And again, if there shall be properties in the hands of the church, or any individuals of it, more than is necessary for their support, after this first consecration, which is a residue, to be consecrated unto the bishop, it shall be kept to administer unto those who have not, from time to time, that every man who has need may be amply supplied, and receive according to his wants. Therefore, the residue shall be kept in my storehouse, to administer to the poor and the needy, as shall be appointed by the high council of the church, and the bishop and his council, and for the purpose of purchasing lands for the public benefit of the church, and building houses of worship, and building up of the New Jerusalem which is hereafter to be revealed, that my covenant people may be gathered in one, in that day when I shall come to my temple. And this I do for the salvation of my people. And again, thou shalt not be proud in thy heart; let all thy garments be plain, and their beauty the beauty of the work of thine own hands, and let all things be done in cleanliness before me. Thou shalt not be idle; for he that is idle shall not eat the bread nor wear the garments of the laborer. . . Thou shalt live together in love… Thou shalt stand in the place of thy stewardship; thou shalt not take thy brother's garment; thou shalt pay for that which thou shalt receive of thy brother; and if thou obtainest more than that which would be for thy support, thou shalt give it unto my storehouse, that all things may be done according to that which I have said.—D&C 42:8-10,12,14 And in Section 51 (May, 1831) certain officers are instructed to “appoint unto this people their portion, every man equal according to their families, according to their circumstances, and their wants and needs.”—D&C 51:1 And again, Let the bishop appoint a storehouse unto this church, and let all things, both in money and in meat, which is more than is needful for the want of this people, be kept in the hands of the bishop.—D&C 51:4. And again. Woe unto you rich men, that will not give your substance to the poor, for your riches will canker your souls, and this shall be your lamentation in the day of visitation, and of judgment, and of indignation. . . Woe unto you poor men, whose hearts are not broken, whose spirits are not contrite, and whose bellies are not satisfied, and whose hands are not stayed from laying hold upon other men’s goods, and whose eyes are full of greediness, and who will not labor with their own hands. But blessed are the poor, who are pure in heart, whose hearts are broken, and whose spirits are contrite, for they shall see the kingdom of God coming in power and great glory unto their deliverance—D&C 56: 5,6. And again: Thou shalt not idle away thy time, neither shalt thou bury thy talent, that it may not be known—D&C 60:3 And you are to be equal, or in other words, you are to have equal claims on the properties, for the benefit of managing the concerns of your stewardships, every man according to his wants and his needs, inasmuch as his wants are just, and all this for the benefit of the church of the living God, that every man may improve upon his talent, that every man may gain other talents, yea, even an hundred fold to be cast into the Lord’s storehouse, to become the common property of the whole church, every man seeking the interest of his neighbor, and doing all things with an eye single to the glory of God—D&C 81:4. A Religious Social Order In this outline of a religious social order, though it be given in a somewhat skeletal form, is to be found the same fundamentals and principles that have been presented in this series from the Old and New Testaments and particularly from the teachings of Christ and the apostles of patristic times. They are as follows: 1. The basic and essential love of God, and obedience to his commandments. 2. Remembering the welfare of fellow-men, especially the unfortunate and poor. 3. The willingness to consecrate property to godly service and social betterment. 4. The covenants of devotion and obedience. 5. The recognition of churchly office in the efforts to alleviate distress springing from poverty. 6. The recognition that every man is a steward over his own property and accountable to God through the church for the handling and use of that property. 7. The distribution of surplus wealth according to the law of need. 8. The communizing of surplus wealth. 9. The creation of community storehouse for the accumulation of necessary reserves. 10. The determination of just wants. 11. The purchasing of lands from surplus for public benefit. 12. The erection of public buildings (church and school). 13. The building of a central city, termed the New Jerusalem. 14. The need for the people of God to be gathered where they can control economic and industrial conditions in consonance with religious ideals. 15. The necessity of being humble, in dress as well as conduct. 16. The demand for cleanliness. 17. The exclusion from society of both idleness and the idler. 18. The fair exchange of commodities. 19. The administration of private property in the interest of the group. 20. The consecration of talents as well as surplus. 21. The establishment of economic balancing forces termed storehouses. 22. Each to have his inheritance (private possessions). 23. Every man to have opportunity to make the contribution in consonance with his talents. 24. The condemnation of the rich who gather for personal gain, the exaltation of the poor and humble who with contrition refrain from exploitation of others’ goods and who labor with their own hands. 25. The promise of the coming kingdom of Heaven. 26. The demand that talent be not buried but utilized. 27. The equality which comes from the operation of the law of needs. All this for the glory of God and the consummation of his purposes in the blessing of man, the chief glory of his creative genius. All this, as we of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints believe and teach, is caught up in the doctrine of stewardship—a chief cornerstone of the Latter Day Restoration. Of the coming of this order I have dreamed; and for the achievement of this goal I have consecrated my life, and despite the somewhat tenuous aspect of the goal we are making progress toward its realization, so I find myself still hoping and praying that my dream of this needed social and religious order will not end in a sad memory. |
