The Special Witnesses.

The Men Who Knew.—The Twelve Apostles were the special witnesses of Jesus Christ. As such they had to know, not merely believe that he had risen from the dead. And they did know, for they had seen him, and heard him, and had even been permitted to touch him, that they might be convinced beyond all question that he was indeed what he proclaimed himself—the Author of the Resurrection, the Giver of eternal life. It was their right to receive this rare evidence, owing to the unique character of their mission. But the world was required to believe what the Apostles testified concerning Him. If men desired salvation, which could come only through the Savior, they must receive in faith the message He had sent his servants to deliver.

The Case of Thomas.—One of the Twelve was absent when his brethren received their first visitation from the risen Redeemer; and when they said, "We have seen the Lord," he answered: "Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe." Subsequently the Savior appeared to this Apostle (Thomas) saying: "Behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side; and be not faithless, but believing." "My Lord and my God!" exclaimed the doubter—and was convinced.^[1]

Complete Qualification.—Thomas has been censured for demanding to see and to feel before he would believe. How much blame attaches to him for doubting, I will not presume to say. But this much seems clear: He had the same right as the rest of the Twelve to a personal appearing of the Lord—the right to come in contact with Him of whose resurrection he was required to testify. The others had seen and heard—perhaps had even felt, for Jesus offered them that privilege.^[2] Why should not Thomas share in the experience? What else could completely qualify him as a special witness?

A Peculiar Position.—Sign-seeking is an abomination, indicating an adulterous disposition.^[3] It is blessed to believe without seeing,^[4] since through the exercise of faith comes spiritual development; while knowledge, by swallowing up faith, prevents its exercise, thus hindering that development. "Knowledge is power;" and all things are to be known in due season. But premature knowledge—knowing at the wrong time—is fatal both to progress and to happiness. The case of the Apostles was exceptional. They stood in a peculiar position. It was better for them to know—nay, absolutely essential, in order to give the requisite force and power to their tremendous testimony.

The Commission of the Twelve.—"Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature.

"He that believeth and is baptized, shall be saved; but he that believeth not, shall be damned.

"And these signs shall follow them that believe: In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; they shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover."^[5] "Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost;

"Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen."^[6]

The Promised Signs.—Thus we see that certain miraculous "signs" were promised to "them that believe." But these signs were intended to comfort the Saints, not to encourage the sign-seeker; and they were to "follow," not precede, belief. It is not the sign, but the seeking, that the Lord deprecates, the motive being evil.^[7]

Apostolic Activities.—Obedient to the divine mandate, the Apostles at Jerusalem, having been "endued with power from on high"^[8] went forth with their fellows, preaching. "Christ and him crucified," calling upon men to believe, to repent, and have their sins remitted by baptism, that they might receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. Great power accompanied their ministrations. Within the next half century the glad tidings borne by them had spread over the whole Roman Empire and into barbarian realms beyond.

Equality and Unity.—The Apostles must have known of Enoch's wonderful work. Jude refers to Enoch's prophecy of the Lord's coming "with ten thousand of his saints."^[9] Possibly the Twelve had access to the Book of Enoch,^[10] one of the lost books of Scripture. At all events, they sought to introduce, among the earliest proselytes to the Christian faith, a similar order to that established in Enoch's day. Concerning the later attempt to "bring forth Zion." it is written:

"And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul; neither said any of them that aught of the things which he possessed was his own; but they had all things common. . . . .

"Neither was there any among them that lacked; for as many as were possessors of lands or houses sold them and brought the prices of the things that were sold,

"And laid them down at the apostles' feet; and distribution was made unto every man according as he had need."^[11]

How long this condition lasted with the Jewish Saints, we are not told. Among their contemporaries, the Nephite followers of Christ, the splendid results flowing from the practice of the Law of Consecration are thus portrayed:

"The people were all converted unto the Lord, upon all the face of the land, both Nephites and Lamanites, and there were no contentions and disputations among them, and every man did deal justly, one with another;

"And they had all things common among them, therefore they were not rich and poor, bond and free, but they were all made free, and partakers of the heavenly gift."^[12]

The Apostles Taken.—One by one the Apostles were taken. James was slain with the sword at Jerusalem. Peter, if the tradition be trustworthy, was crucified at Rome, where Paul likewise suffered martyrdom, by decapitation. All were put to death, save one, concerning whom Peter had inquired of the Lord: "What shall this man do?" And the Lord had said: "If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee?" "Then went this saying abroad among the brethren; that that disciple should not die."^[13]

John Tarries.—Modern revelation confirms the ancient tradition that John the Beloved did not taste of death, but obtained from the Lord a promise that he should remain in the flesh, fortified against disease and dissolution, and do a wondrous work. He was to "prophesy before nations, kindred, tongues and peoples, and continue on earth until the Lord came in his glory."^[14] It is traditional that an attempt was made upon John's life by throwing him into a cauldron of boiling oil; but he escaped miraculously.

A Falling-Away Foreseen.—In the ninety-sixth year of the Christian era this Apostle was on the Isle of Patmos, in the Aegean Sea. Patmos served the Romans very much as Siberia has since served the Russians. To that desolate place the Empire banished its criminals, compelling them to work in the mines. John was an exile for Truth's sake. But the Lord had not forgotten his servant, though men had rejected him and cast him out. The Heavens were opened to him, and he was shown things that would come to pass thereafter, also events that were even then taking place. He beheld the sad spectacle of a paganized Christendom, the "falling away" that St. Paul had predicted.^[15]

Restoration and Judgment.—But John also looked forward to a time when the pure Christian faith would be restored; when an Angel would "fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth;"^[16] when Israel would be called out from the nations;^[17] when the hour of God's judgment would come, and the dead, small and great, would stand before the Great White Throne, to give answer for the deeds done in the body.^[18]

Among the Nephites.—The experience of the Church of Christ on the Western continents was in many respects a duplicate of its experience in Oriental lands. Here as well as there, special witnesses were chosen,^[19] and to three of the Nephite Twelve, Christ gave the same promise that he had given to the Apostle John—a promise that they should remain in the body, not subject to death, and bring souls to Him.^[20]

A Foretaste of the Millennium.—The Nephite Church had a marvelous career—even more marvelous than had the Jewish Church. "The people were all converted unto the Lord," and for two full centuries^[21] a social condition similar to that which had characterized Enoch's ancient commonwealth, was the favored lot of this flourishing branch of the House of Israel. It was a foretaste of the Millennium, a foreshadowing of the great Day of Peace.

Japheth Smites Jacob.—Then came pride, the besetting sin of the Nephite nation, with class divisions, envyings, covetousness, strife, and—for the civilized portion of the once delightsome people—extermination. Darkened in body and in mind, the degenerate Lamanites were left to meet the on-rolling tide of over-seas immigration, and be over whelmed thereby; "a remnant of Jacob," to be smitten and driven by the children of Japheth, "until the times of the Gentiles were fulfilled."^[22]

Footnotes

1. John 20:24-28.2. Luke 24:39.3. Matt. 16:4.4. John 20:29.5. Mark 16:15-18.6. Matt. 28:19, 20.7. Says the Prophet Joseph"When I was preaching in Philadelphia, a Quaker called out for a sign. I told him to be still. After the sermon he again asked for a sign. I told the congregation that the man was an adulterer; . . . . that the Lord had said to me in a revelation that any man who wanted a sign was an adulterous person. 'It is true,' cried one, 'for I caught him in the very act,' which the man afterwards confessed when he was baptized." (Hist. Ch. Vol. 5 p. 268). More than one "Mormon" missionary, pestered by sign-seekers, has applied the test furnished by the Prophet, with invariable and complete success.8. Luke 24:49; Acts 2:1-4.9. Jude 14.10. D. & C. 107:5711. Acts 4:32, 34, 35.12. 4 Nephi 1:2, 3.13. John 21:20-23.14. D. & C. 7.15. Thess. 2:3; 1 Tim. 4:1; 2 Tim. 3:1-5; Rev. Chaps. 17, 18.16. Rev. 14:6.17. Ib. 18:4.18. Ib. 20:11, 12.19. 3 Nephi 19:4.20. Ib.28:4-23.21. 4 Ib. 1:22.22. Though tramped upon for many generations, the Lamanites are not a dying race, as is generally supposed. According to Doctor Lawrence W. White, of the United States Indian Bureau, the Indian population in 1870, when the first reliable census was made by the bureau, was placed at 313,712. It is now 333,702, a number not exceeded, thinks that expert, by the total of aborigines in America at the time of its discovery by Columbus.—See editorial article, "Indians Reviving," Salt Lake Tribune, February 13, 1920.