|
According to the circuit preachers in Joseph Smith’s day, men were hopelessly lost, consigned to a destitute state of abject wickedness and carnal depravity as a result of the fall of Adam. Furthermore, they were no better than “children of hell” without divine intervention. These ministers’ dogged determination and evocative oratory combined with the intoxicating effects of group hysteria to produce in their listeners a sense of unbearable shame and utter hopelessness. In this condition, it is little wonder why their congregants would commence weeping, falling, and fainting. This view on the condition of man is echoed by many of the prophets in the Book of Mormon, especially King Benjamin. In his final address, Benjamin reminds his listeners just how low they really are: “And
now I ask, can ye say aught of yourselves? I answer you, Nay. Ye cannot
say that ye are even as much as the dust of the earth… I would that
ye should remember, and always
retain in remembrance, the greatness of God,
and your own nothingness, and his goodness and long-suffering towards
you, unworthy creatures, and humble yourselves even in the True to revival conversion form, the despair is soon followed by euphoria. Benjamin’s condemnatory rhetoric and subsequent offer of mercy through Christ’s atonement result in a very familiar scenario: “And now, it came to pass that when king Benjamin had made an end of speaking …he cast his eyes round about on the multitude, and behold they had fallen to the earth, for the fear of the Lord had come upon them…they had viewed themselves in their own carnal state, even less than the dust of the earth… And they all cried aloud with one voice, saying: O have mercy, and apply the atoning blood of Christ that we may receive forgiveness of our sins…And it came to pass that after they had spoken these words the Spirit of the Lord came upon them, and they were filled with joy, having received a remission of their sins…” (Selected verses from Mosiah 4:1-3)
|
depths of humility…For
the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from
the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the
enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh
a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord…And if they be
evil they are consigned to an awful view of their own guilt and
abominations, which doth cause
them to shrink from the presence of the Lord
into a state of misery and endless torment, from whence they can no
more return…Therefore if that
man repenteth not, and remaineth and dieth an
enemy to God, the demands of divine justice do awaken his immortal soul
to a lively sense of his own guilt, which doth cause him to shrink from
the presence of the Lord, and doth fill his breast with guilt,
and pain, and anguish,
which is like an unquenchable fire, whose flame ascendeth up
forever and ever…Their torment is as a lake of fire and brimstone, whose
flames are unquenchable…” (selected verses from Mosiah, chapters
2-4)