Appendix

The Ideas of a General Atonement and Redemption, Entertained by Ancient Heathen Nations, Derived Originally from the Teachings of Earlier Servants of God.     

THE following are some natural deductions drawn from the theories entertained by men and recorded in history, which tend to establish rather than to overturn the principles which are so clearly demonstrated in the foregoing pages, exhibiting and showing that the atonement was a great plan of the Almighty for the salvation, redemption and exaltation of the human family; and that the pretenders in the various ages had drawn whatever of truth they possessed, from a knowledge of those principles taught by the Priesthood from the earliest periods of recorded time; instead of Christianity being indebted, as some late writers would allege, to the turbid systems of heathen mythology and to pagan ceremonials.     

 

We believe in the foregoing pages it has been clearly demonstrated to all Latter-day Saints, that the prophecy and promise of the coming of the Son of God was fully understood in every dispensation of God's providence from the earliest period of the world's history, down through the succeeding ages, everywhere and at all times when the Church of God existed on the earth. Furthermore, that the doctrine of the atonement, as understood by us, was understood in like manner by the ancient servants of the Lord, and that it was the central principle of their faith, the foundation of their hope for eternal felicity and salvation, and their only trust for the resurrection of their bodies and life everlasting in the presence of the Father. Again that the ancient Patriarchs, Seers, Prophets, High Priests and others, were almost as intimately acquainted with the earthly life and ministry of the Savior, by and through the gift of prophecy and the spirit of revelation, as we are by the perusal of His history, given to us in the sacred Scriptures. These worthies of olden time knew where He would be born and the names that would be given to Him; that His mother would be called Mary, and be virgin of the tribe of Judah and house of David. Herod's massacre of the Innocents, and the flight of the holy family into Egypt, were not hidden from them. They spake of Christ's baptism by John in Jordan, and of the Divine approval that would follow; they prophesied of His ministry, rejoiced in His wonderful works of power and deeds of charity and love; they understood that He should be betrayed for thirty pieces of silver; they mourned at the vision of His sufferings and death, and rejoiced at his triumph and resurrection. Even the minor details of the soldiers parting His raiment among them, His death between two malefactors, and His burial in the rich man's tomb were revealed; and still further, His descent into Hades, His preaching to the spirits in prison, His visits to the Nephites and His ultimate ascension to the Father, were all comprehended. They knew that He would triumph over death, hell and the grave, be crowned with glory at the right hand of the Majesty on high, and that all power would be given to Him in heaven and on earth. These and many more details were understood, prophesied of, talked about and rejoiced in by the Priesthood and Saints from the days of Adam to the hour that they began to be fulfilled by His advent and incarnation.     

It is needless for us to go backward to the days before the flood to learn to what extent these truths were understood by the antediluvian races; for all the accounts that we have of those peoples come down to us through the channel of the Holy Priesthood, and all the records, books, traditions, etc., of those early inhabitants of our globe were brought to the children of the renovated earth through one family, that of Noah; and that Patriarch, by right of universal fatherhood to the new generations, ruled them as High Priest, Patriarch and King, as one to whom the living God revealed His mind and will, through whom the keys, rights and powers of the everlasting Priesthood were continued upon the earth, and with whom special covenants were made by the Almighty and the bow set in the clouds as an everlasting token of their perpetuity and unchangeableness.     

It will be perceived that in the first days after the flood there was but one religion, and that was the worship of the true God under the ministration and guidance of His duly authorized servants. Further, that the belief of the first inhabitants of the postdiluvian age was not only the true one, but it was accompanied by the power and authority of the Holy Priesthood, which received revelations direct from the Almighty. Thus the young world, like the old, was opened with a dispensation of God's mercy, and the posterity of Noah were not left to grope in the dark for light and truth, any more than had been the immediate descendants of our great original father. The effects of thus repeopling the earth under the direct and immediate guidance of Jehovah, through His duly appointed servants, have been felt through all succeeding generations; for men, as they scattered over the earth, took with them the seeds of Divine truth, and though, frequently, in after ages, they disfigured it with false and base theories of their own, introduced all manner of corruptions into their forms of worship, established orders of uninspired and unauthorized priesthood, and replaced the worship of the true God by idolatry, yet the fact of the existence of God the universal Father was not entirely forgotten, nor was the doctrine of the atonement ever utterly obliterated from the minds of men. So strong and so universal a hold had this principle in the varied religions of antiquity, that its very strength has been used as an argument against the doctrine; and it has been vigorously asserted that the Gospel taught by the Savior was of pagan origin, and that He was simply a reformer who took the most excellent wisdom of past ages and framed it into a code of morals and system of religious faith to suit His own ideas and accomplish His own purposes, however noble those purposes might have been.     

The earliest departures from the straight and narrow path to the lives that are eternal, appear to have been made in Chaldea and Egypt. In the former land, Nimrod was one of the first leaders in apostacy and wickedness. These evils so rapidly spread, that as early as the days of Melchizedec and Abraham, the worship of false deities and idols seems to have become almost universal; and even those who did not worship graven images, the starry hosts of heaven, or the forces of nature, had so far perverted the principles of the Gospel, that they taught numerous soul destroying errors, totally inconsistent with the plan devised by heaven. In Egypt the apostacy began, and an unauthorized priesthood was established as early as the days of the grandson of Ham. The origin of this defection is explained in the Book of Abraham, as follows:     

"Now the first government of Egypt was established by Pharoah, the eldest son of Egyptus, the daughter of Ham, and it was after the manner of the government of Ham, which was Patriarchal. Pharoah being a righteous man, established his kingdom and judged his people wisely and justly all his days, seeking earnestly to imitate that order established by the fathers in the first generations, in the days of the first Patriarchal reign, even in the reign of Adam, and also of Noah, his father, who blessed him with the blessings of the earth, and with the blessings of wisdom, but cursed him as pertaining to the Priesthood.     

"Now, Pharoah being of that lineage by which he could not have the right of Priesthood,

As the idolatries of Chaldea and Egypt gave marked tone and color to the mythologies of the dominant races of antiquity on the eastern hemisphere, we shall not trace the growth and development of the religions of Persia, Greece, Rome, etc., through their various branches and ramifications. Such an effort would require a volume; but we shall confine ourselves simply to a brief consideration of the doctrine of the atonement, as understood by the ancient Gentile nations; referring only to such other theories and ideas as have naturally a bearing on that doctrine.     

As a starting point we believe we may state with assurance of its truth that the expectation of the coming of a Son of God, a Messiah, in the flesh was universal with all the leading nations that flourished in the ages previous to the advent of the Redeemer. This is true of the people of Egypt, Babylon, Arabia, Persia, Hindostan, Greece and Rome; as also of the races that inhabited the American continent. And so strong in certain cases had this idea grown that by gradual stages it became changed into the belief that that expected Son of God had already come, and such a being was reverenced and worshiped under various names. In Greece and Rome this idea became so prevalent that nearly every very eminent man was thought to be a son of one of the gods; and evil designing men sometimes personated these deities on purpose to seduce the virtuous of the other sex, whose chastity they could overcome in no other way than by falsely declaring themselves to be the god for whom such women had particular reverence and esteem. Whilst on the other hand young women who found themselves mothers without husbands would cunningly declare that their children were the offspring of a god; or, to use the words of the historian Grote, when speaking of Greece, "the furtive pregnancy of young women, often by a god, is one of the most frequently recurring incidents in the legendary narratives of the country." To such an extent did this excess run, that at a later period a decree was issued subjecting to a very severe penalty any woman who should pretend that her child was of divine parentage. One writer states: "Many are the cases noted in history of young maidens claiming a paternity for their male offspring by a god. In Greece it became so common that the reigning king issued an edict, decreeing the death of all young women who should offer such an insult to Deity as to lay to him the charge of begetting their children." Whilst on this point Mr. Draper writes: "Immaculate conceptions and celestial descents were so currently received in those days, that whoever had greatly distinguished himself in the affairs of men was thought to be of supernatural lineage. Even in Rome, centuries later, no one could with safety have denied that that city owed its founder. Romulus, to an accidental meeting of the god Mars with the virgin Rhea Sylyia as she went with her pitcher for water to the spring. The Egyptian disciples of Plato would have looked with anger on those who rejected the legend that Perictione, the mother of the great philosopher, a pure virgin, had suffered an immaculate conception through the influences of Apollo, and that the god had declared to Ariston, to whom she was betrothed, the parentage of the child. When Alexander issued his letters, orders and decrees, styling himself 'King Alexander, the son of Jupiter Ammon,' they came to the inhabitants of Egypt and Syria with an authority that now can hardly be realized. The freethinking Greeks, however, put on such a supernatural pedigree its proper value Olympias [Alexander's mother], who, of course, better than all others knew the facts of the case, used jestingly to say, that 'she wished Alexander would cease from incessantly embroiling her with Jupiter's wife."'-Draper's Conflict between Religion and Science.     

Returning to Egypt where, as before stated, a priesthood, disowned of God, had been set up, we are informed that those who were initiated into the inner mysteries of its mythology, were taught that God created all things at the first, by His first born, who was the author and giver of all knowledge in heaven and on earth, being at the same time the wisdom and the word of God. The incarnation and earthly life of this important being constituted the grand mystery of their entire religious system. So great was their faith in the advent of this Holy One, that they had chambers prepared in their temples for His nativity.     

The priesthood of the Egyptians, though entirely without Divine authority, taught many great truths which they had received from Noah, through Ham and Pharaoh, and it took generations before these Gospel truths were so entirely overlaid and corrupted by false hood and pagan innovations, that they became undiscernable to all but the initiated. It is an important fact, holding good of other ancient civilizations as well as that of Egypt, that the farther we trace back their religious beliefs and mythologies, the purer does the creed become, the nearer it approaches to heavenly truth. and the stronger and more evident are the traces of Gospel teachings. This fact alone is sufficient to prove that paganism had its origin in the revelations of heaven, from which, in its various diverse branches, it had turned and strayed, and by gradual growth, had become the vile, inconsistent, degrading and loathsome system which is abhorred by all pure minded, honorable and intelligent people. Had the various forms of ancient dominant pagan worship been radically and entirely different, with only those features in common that could reasonably be attributed to accident or the inter-communication of races, the inference would be strong that they had different origins; but when, as is the case, there is a strong family likeness, and that likeness grows stronger the further it is traced back, and continually points to a common parentage, and that parentage is the truth as taught by the early patriarchs and inspired servants of heaven, our conclusions must necessarily be that these correct and God-given teachings were the source from whence the whole sprang, and the differences in development arose from the varied incidents in the history, and the peculiar surroundings of the various races that gave a local hue and tinge to their forms of belief. It is also noteworthy that the fundamental principles of the everlasting plan devised by infinite wisdom, and which were the most widely taught and accepted, are those which prevailed the most extensively in pagan creeds, and which longest retained their hold in the faith of the different races. Amongst these ideas or principles we will mention a few that were so general that they might almost be called universal:     

1st. The belief in one great father God.     

2d. The expectation of the coming of His Son to dwell in the flesh and redeem mankind.     

3d. The belief in a resurrection, and in future rewards and punishments for acts done in this life.     

4th. The observance of the rite of sacrifice.     

5th. The doctrine of repentance, and in certain cases the ordinance of baptism.     

We ask, when it is proved that all these principles were taught by the duly appointed servants of God in the earliest ages, where else but from them could the ancient Gentile races have obtained their knowledge thereof?     

Men have been ever prone to apostacy; our fallen nature is at enmity with a godly life, sometimes in one way, sometimes in another, Satan led men from the right path and under the influences of a false or diabolic inspiration many errors were introduced; as well as through the natural corrupt ambition of men who sought to obtain power over their fellows by promulgating new theories in the name of God and under the auspices of religion. The "ologies" of to-day would have been impossible in the days of Pharaoh and Nimrod. The style of apostacy was necessarily fashioned by the condition of men's minds, their advance in civilization, and their understanding of physical laws. In the rudimentary condition of the nations who scattered at Babel, the easiest thing for them to do was to worship their dead ancestors and the heavenly orbs. In due course naturally followed the framing of idols, which at first only represented the being or thing worshiped, but which were afterwards regarded as gods themselves, and as such reverenced. The idea of God's anger at men's sins, associated with the law of sacrifice, led mankind to believe that the more precious and beloved was the offering to him who offered it, the more acceptable would it be to heaven. As a result, men soon began to offer up their sons and their daughters to appease the wrath of their gods. Abraham informs us:     

"Now, at this time it was the custom of the priest of Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, to offer up upon the altar which was built in the land of Chaldea, for the offering unto these strange gods, men, women and children. And it came to pass that the priest made an offering unto the god of Pharaoh, and also unto the god of Shagreel, even after the manner of the Egyptians. Now the god of Shagreel was the Sun. Even the thank-offering of a child did the priest of Pharaoh offer upon the altar which stood by the hill called Potiphar's Hill, at the head of the plain of Olishem. Now, this priest had offered upon this altar three virgins at one time, who were the daughters of Onitah, one of the royal descent directly from the loins of Ham. These virgins were offered up because of their virtue; they would not bow down to worship gods of wood or of stone, therefore they were killed upon this altar, and it was done after the manner of the Egyptians."-Book of Abraham.     

This practice of offering human sacrifices had become very general on the eastern continent in Abraham's day.     

One peculiar phase of false doctrine with regard to the atonement had grown strong in the days of this Patriarch. It was "that the blood of the righteous Abel was shed for sins." This was a very natural mental outgrowth among people who believed in the consequences of the fall of Adam and had been taught the necessity of a redeemer. It was a very easy thing to fall into the error that as Adam had transgressed, so his immediate son atoned by his blood for his father's act. And in the spread of this incorrect idea of Abel's atonement amongst the early peoples, may be found the origin of the many diversified legends of a sacrificed redeemer. This theory was taught at a day so early in the world's history, that it spread with the migrating races in every direction, so that traces of it can be found from Hindostan to Spain, from the Baltic to Ethiopia. Of course, every people in their own language had their peculiar name for this savior, and each race claimed him as theirs, as Abel certainly belonged as much to one as the other, having no posterity; and by degrees they wove many fanciful and mythical legends round his life and death, varying according to the tastes, imaginative power and environment of the different races. This, to a very great extent, explains that enigma to Christians, who believe that Gospel truths were first taught by Jesus when in the flesh, how the knowledge of the principle of the atonement and the tradition of a Savior was so wide spread throughout the world before His actual coming.     

There is another way by which the knowledge of these truths was taught. We refer to the extended preaching of such worthies as Melchizedec, Abraham, Jethro, Job, Jeremiah, Jonah and others; and above all to that of the Apostles after the Redeemer's death. Dispensation succeeded dispensation, as age succeeded age; time and time again the people apostatized, but each time some little remnant of divine truth remained with them. Jesus Christ was preached by name soon after the creation, as Cyrus was named by divine revelation about two hundred years before his birth. Thus, in some languages, we have accounts of great men of God or gods, as the case may be, whose acts are said to have been, in a greater or less degree, the counterpart of those of the Messiah when He tabernacled in the flesh; and whose names bear a most remarkable likeness to that of the Son of God. Hence we have Cheesna or Chrishna of Hindostan, and Hesus of the Druids, both of which names bear a marked similarity to those of the Redeemer; the first to Christ, the second to Jesus. It appears altogether probable that the histories of these men are simply the shadowy traditions of the Savior, the faint recollection of the teachings of inspired men, which were localized to suit sectional vanity or pride of race; or that some ancient teacher of their own peoples has been clothed with the attributes and works of Christ, and during the lapse of ages the acts and deeds of the two lives have been intermingled in one, until at this day a rightful separation is impossible. This habit of mixing and mingling the great deeds of several distinct persons, and forming therefrom one grand, if not altogether harmonious whole, is one well understood by those who have studied the traditions of mankind; it is not peculiar to any age or race, and even in our day we often find a certain anecdote, whether real or imaginary, told of various celebrities, some of whom may be yet living, while others are among the recent dead. The effects of this habit, when continued through long ages, amongst semi-civilized or barbarous nations, went far to fashion the history of their gods, and often to manufacture deities out of altogether imaginary personages.     

Modern revelation has restored another most important key to unlock the mystery of the almost universal knowledge of the Redeemer and of the plan of the atonement. It is found in the statement that Jesus, after his resurrection, visited at least the inhabitants of two distinct portions of the earth, which could not have been reached through the ministry of His Jewish Apostles. These two peoples were the Nephites on this land, and the Ten Tribes in their distant northern home. The knowledge that the Mexicans, and other aboriginal races of America had, at the time of their discovery by the Spaniards, of the life of the Savior, was so exact, that the Catholics suggested two theories (both incorrect, however) to solve the mystery. One was that the devil had invented an imitation gospel to delude the Indians; the other, that the Apostle Thomas had visited America and taught its people the plan of salvation.     

The story of the life of the Mexican divinity, Quetzalcoatl, closely resembles that of the Savior; so closely, indeed, that we can come to no other conclusion than that Quetzalcoatl and Christ are the same being. But the history of the former has been handed down to us through an impure Lamanitish source, which has sadly disfigured and perverted the original incidents and teachings of the Savior's life and ministry. Regarding this god, Humboldt writes: "How truly surprising is it to find that the Mexicans, who seem to have been unacquainted with the doctrine of the migration of the soul and the Metempsychosis should have believed in the incarnation of the only Son of the supreme God, Tomaeateuctli. For Mexican mythology, speaking of no other Son of God, except Quetzalcoatl, who was born of Chimelman, the virgin of Tula (without man), by His breath alone, by which may be signified his word or will, when it was announced to Chimelman, by the celestial messenger, whom He dispatched to inform her that she should conceive a son, it must be presumed this was Quetzalcoatl, who was the only son. Other authors might be adduced to show that the Mexicans believe that this Quetzalcoatl was both God and man; that He had previously to His incarnation existed from eternity, and that He had been the Creator both of the world and man; and that He had descended to reform the world by endurance, and being king of Tula, was crucified for the sins of mankind, etc., as is plainly declared in the tradition of Yucatan, and mysteriously represented in the Mexican paintings."     

The following brief extracts relating to Quetzalcoatl, are from Lord Kingsborough's "Antiquities of Mexico." Speaking of a certain plate, he observes: "Quetzalcoatl is there painted in the attitude of a person crucified, with the impression of nails in his hands and feet, but not actually upon the cross." Again: "The seventy-third plate of the Borgain MS. is the most remarkable of all, for Quetzalcoatl is not only represented there as crucified upon a cross of Greek form, but his burial and descent into hell are also depicted in a very curious manner." In another place he observes: "The Mexicans believe that Quetzalcoatl took human nature upon him, partaking of all the infirmities of man, and was not exempt from sorrow, pain or death, which he suffered voluntarily to atone for the sins of man."     

Rosales, in his history, when speaking of the people of the extreme southern portion of America, states: "They had heard their fathers say, a wonderful man had come to that country who performed many miracles, cured the sick with water, caused it to rain that their crops of grain might grow, kindled fire at a breath, healing the sick and giving sight to the blind; and that he spoke with as much propriety and elegance in the language of their country as if he had always resided in it, addressing them in words very sweet and new to them, telling them that the Creator of the universe resided in the highest place of heaven, and that many men and women, resplendent as the sun, dwelt with him."     

Thus we see that in the traditions with regard to this especial God, we have an almost complete life of the Savior, from the announcement of His birth to His virgin mother by an angel, to His resurrection from the grave. Had we space, other extracts could be given, showing that there were many details, not above mentioned, ascribed to Quetzalcoatl, that relate to incidents in the life of Christ. The Book of Mormon alone explains the mystery. The account there given of Christ's ministrations amongst the forefathers of these peoples makes the whole thing plain. We understand, through that record, how and by what means they obtained this great knowledge, and can also readily perceive how the unworthy descendants of those whom the Savior visited, gradually added much childish rubbish to the original facts; making their story, like almost all other mythology, an unseemly compound of heavenly truth and puerile fable. But, in view of these facts, when all things are considered, it is almost a wonder that so much of the truth was retained to the days when America became known to Europeans.     

We find, in the mythology of the Northmen, certain traditions that lead us to imagine that it is possible that the visit of the Savior to the Ten Tribes was by some means communicated to them. But this is simply a conjecture. However, it is asserted that they claimed that Woden, one of their principal deities, was a descendant of King David, a very curious circumstance, that it is difficult to explain, only on the supposition of Christ's visit, and that Woden, with them, occupied the place that Quetzalcoatl did with the Mexicans.     

There is yet another source from which the ancients obtained their ideas of the life and mission of the Son of God. It is to be found in the translation of Enoch and his city. The fact of Enoch's translation was generally known by the people who lived immediately after the flood. It had occurred so short a time before, that it was almost a matter of personal recollection with the sons of Noah. They must also have been acquainted with the fact that others were caught up by the power of heaven into Zion, and it would appear strongly probable that Melchizedec and many of his people were also translated. Revelation does not state this in so many words, but the inference to be drawn from what is said, points clearly in that direction. The fact of these translations, the frequent visits of angels to men holding the Priesthood, and the manifestation of God's power over the elements of nature made manifest through His servants, laid a foundation for many of the fables of ancient mythology; some of which, if we were to change the names and localities to those of Bible history, would not be as far from the truth as many suppose. This era of inter-communication with the holy beings of the other world was easily magnified and distorted into the Golden Age when gods dwelt with men, associated with much of earth life, and were swayed by passions very much as were their mortal companions. And, as before remarked, the simplicity of these traditions was greatly changed as the ages rolled around, until they were completely overlaid and hidden by abominable and monstrous fables, invented, taught and used by the priests and their associates for their own sinister and unholy purposes.     

From the whole of these statements, we gather that while men, who have written in relation to the various gods, or virgins who have, each in her turn, conceived and borne a god or a messiah, would argue that the accounts of the birth, ministry, death, resurrection, etc., of the Savior, were simply a backing up and resuscitating of some of the old legends of heathen mythology which had been in existence in ages long antecedent to His advent, and that, therefore, the account of the life and works of the Redeemer was simply an act of priestcraft, to introduce another messiah, and another establishment of religion in the interests of the projectors, and that Christianity was simply a copy of the old paganisms that had exhibited themselves in the forms above referred to, whereas the reverse is clearly demonstrated in the foregoing chapters on the atonement. The fact is clearly proved, instead of Christianity deriving its existence and facts from the ideas and practices of heathen mythologists, and from the various false systems that had been introduced by apostacy, unrecognized pretensions and fraud, that those very systems themselves were obtained from the true Priesthood, and founded on its teachings from the earliest ages to the advent of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ; that those holy principles were taught to Adam, and by him to his posterity; that Enoch, Noah, Abraham, and the various Prophets had all borne testimony of this grand and important event, wherein the interest and happiness of the whole world were concerned, pertaining to time and to eternity. The Gospel is a system, great, grand and comprehensive, commencing in eternity, extending through all time, and then reaching into the eternities to come; and the ideas with regard to these disjointed materials, that are gathered together from the turbid waters of heathen mythology, are so much clap trap and nonsense, calculated only to deceive the unwary, superstitious and ignorant, and are as far below those great and eternal principles of heavenly truth which permeate through all time, penetrate into the heavens, and are interwoven with all the interests, happiness and exaltation of man, as the earth is below the heavens above. The object of placing this statement before our brethren, is to prove and demonstrate, what was stated in the commencement, that these truths should "grow together unto the confounding of false doctrines, and laying down of contentions."     

Footnotes     

05
1. Josephus' Antiquities, Book I, chap.4.     
05
2. See Josephus' Antiquities, Book xviii, chapter iii.     
05
3. See Osborn's "Religions of the World."     
05
4. See Writings of Hitzig,Hyde,Faber,Goodsir,Higgins,Osborn,Levy,etc.     
05
5. Inspired translation of Genesis, xvii, 7.