Mr. Phippen
Sir believing you to be familliar with the word
of God & considering you willing to instruct your inferiors uppon
spiritual subjects, & after forming such conections of your character
I take this method to ask ^you^ several questions for information &
instructions as I have no other motive in view, & should you
not consider it beneath your notice to answer my questions
by writing but give me your opinion as you have formed it
from the word of God it would be highly interesing to me
The 1th is respecting the gifts that were in the ancient church the gift of
healing the sick raising the dead casting out devils &c.
2th the Sabbath & its changes.
3th & last is the subject of babtism. Firstly, while perusing
the sacred volumen of inspiration I find many wonderful works
were performed by our Saveiour and likewise by the apostles though not
by their own power but by faith in & through Jesus Christ
& if I mistake mot when Christ first sent his disciples to preach
the gospel which was to the lost sheep of the house of israel he commanded
them to heal the sick cleanse the lepers rase the dead cast out devils &c
S. Mathew. chap. X [Matthew 10] again in the last chapter of S. Mark [Mark 16:14-18] Christ appeared to
the eleven as they sat at meat & gave them a varry forcible command
to go into all the world & preach the gospel to ev^e^ry creature he that
believeth & is baptized shall be saved & he that believeth not shall
be damned & these signs shall follow them that believe in my name
shall they cast out devils they shall speak with new tongues
they shall lay hands on the sick & they shall recover &c this apparently
was the last command given by our saveiour before he assended to
heaven. now the question that arises in my mind is when & whare
were those gifts done away as some maintain that they are. I find
no scripture satisfactory to prove that they ever were done away
theirfore I am led to believe that God is the same to day as in ancient
days & likewise should people at this day live as did the apostles & exercise
the faith that did Abraham in offering up his son Isacc that those gifts
might again be on the earth and in case of sickness we might
loock to the Lord for deliverance in prefference of trusting to an arm of
flesh. we read of a woman that was ill that had suffered many things
of many Physicians & had spent all that she had & was nothing better but
rather grew worse which was finally healed by her faith in Christ. [Luke 8:43-48]
should light be held up to the world uppon this subject at the preasent
day undouptedly their would be as little heed given to it as the Lord
told Ezekiel their would be to his prophecy when he sent him to the house
of israel, yet I ask your opinion uppon the subject for information
(the Lord sent Ezekiel to prophecy mowithstanding they would not hear
& ought not light uppon this subject be held up even if it is not received)
secondly; with respect to the sabbath we allmost universally Regard
the first day of the week as the sabbath, but when God appeared
to Moses on the mount he commanded him to keep the seventh
day as the sabbath & not to labour on that day, [Exodus 20:8-11] so it appears that
if their has mot been a change of the sabbath we as a body are not
keeping the day that we ware commanded to keep still it is held up
to view at this day that the sabbath has been changed, but is it mot
allowed that their has mot been no change in any of those commands
that were given to Moses at the time that the command of the bsabbath was
given & why has the sabbath been changed while the other commands
remain good & sacred & while we are under them & ought to obey them
it is maintained ^by some^ that Christ rose on the first day of the week & that
the work of Redempttion was greater than the work of creation & this they
appear to consider as the change of the sabbath, but when we carefully
peruse the writings of the four Evangelist respecting the resurrection of
Christ does it not appear as reasonable to suppose that Christ rose on
the seventh day as first, & even did Christ really rise on the first
day of the week does that prove that it was a change of the sabbath
& if the sabbath was changed by the resurrection of Christ would their
mot have been sumthing said respecting that change so that the
evidence would have been clear that the change of the sabbath was
then perfected. sir this is a subject that has some length of time
ocipied a seat in my mind & I lay it before you considering you
have far deeper understanding of the word of God than myself & would
wish to know your views uppon this subject as I have not understood
the scriptures to be verry plain respecting the change of the Sabbath
the third & last is the subject of
babtism & it is a subject to that has long lain with wait on
my mind I think it not ownly our duty but our highest privledge
to take the word of God & make it the man of our council & form
our principles theirby still we may benefit by the instruction of
those that are more experianced than ourselves I for one Consider
myself transacting business for Eternity & I believe that Jesus Christ
sat the example for the pilgrain to follow & I believe that the christian
ought to strive to imitate his example as near as possible (allthough
I for one come far short of it) I at times have been allmost
overwhelmed in as^s^tonishment while meditating uppon the difference
of opinion & principle that exist in our land uppon religious subjects
when we have all the sane bible to read the same spirit to direct
but more especially uppon the subject of babtism. my mind has
long been seleled [settled] with regard to this subject still I have remained
silent uppon the subject as I am of the opinion that evry person ought to
be fully established uppon ^in^ principles uppon which much depends
I had the ordanonce of infant babtism administered to me but it does
not answer my mind for I have not found any scripture to support
it from genesis to revelation
& if I may be allowed to use the expression it has been a mysterey
to me how so many great divines that have been so long holding
up the light of the gospel & still continue in so gross an error with
respect to babtism. for if I am not greatly mistaken I find no account
of John or any of the apostles administering the ordinance of babtism
untill they become believers in Christ or at least untill they considered
them true believers & that appeared to be all that was required of them
in order to be babtized was to believe that Jesus Christ was the son
of God & if they spiritually believed this they must be penitent believers
& respecting the mode of babtism it appears plain to me that their is no
room for one a moment to doubt but that our saveiour was buried
in babtism in the river Jordan and that all that the Apostles babtized
ware buried with Christ in babtism & setting aside evry other example
but the one that Christ left us that alone ought to be sufficient
to convince mankind that emmersion was the rite & ownly mode
of babtism (to use the language of Dr Daddridge Jesus had no sin to
was[h] away & yet he was babtized and God owned this ordinance so far as to make
it a season of pouring forth the spirit uppon him & this ought to silence
evry objection to the practice)
many advance the argument
that those things are not escential but may we mot with the same
propriety say that when Abraham was called to offer his son Isaac
that it was not essential whether he offered his son or a lamb out
of his flock & who of decided virtue will admit that the Lord would
have received Abrahams offering with a blessing & given a blessing in
return had he offered a lamb in stead of his son, & why should any believe
that infant sprinkling will be as acceptable in the sight of God for
babtism as to follow the example that our saveiour hath given
has not Christ plainly told us that he is the way ^the truth life^ & if mankind ever
enter in to the kingdom of heaven must it not be by him [John 14:6] isf so
then ought we not to obey his commands and follow his precepts
& not climb up some other way.
Mr Phippen as I am
convinced of the mode of baptism, & believe it to be essential to
my prosperity & happiness the information that I wish you to communicate
to me respecting this subject is whether it is against your principle & discipline
to administer the ordinance of babtism to those that you consider to be
proper subjects without joining the Church for I at preasent am not
prepared to unite ^join^ with any church still I feel it a duty to be babtized
& would wish to take up the cross when I have a fair opportunity
I have premeditated a conversation with you uppon this subject
but have delayed it as my brother is expecting to be babtized & I
have rather been waiting for him. sir I have ^not^ intended any harm
by asking those questions & I wish you to excuse all you see amiss in
my remarks & by answering me you will confer a great favour
uppon Willford Woodruff
Communication to George
Phippin by Willford Woodruff
Jan 1831