Journal of Discourses 6:50 “Shedding Blood—God’s Provision for His Saints … If this people will live up to their profession— …that is, we shall never be under the necessity of shedding much of the blood of our enemies.
…I do not believe God designs that we should delight in shedding blood. … It is not the Spirit of God that leads a man or woman to shed blood—to desire to kill and slay. When the time comes that we have need to shed blood, then it will be necessary we should do it, and it will be just as innocent as to go and kill an ox when we are hungry or in the time of famine. … I think there is a Scripture somewhere that says, “By your works you are justified;” and again, “Obedience is better than sacrifice.” It is the works that God expects. …
Will our enemies come here? No, except we let them. God gives us that privilege. We have the right to let them in here or keep them out; and we choose to keep them out, and we shall do it by the help of God…
We have done the best we can; and if our enemies come upon us, God will throw them into our power, and they will become subject to us. … Are these things interesting to you, brethren? They are what you have to do, every man of you that belongs to the house of Israel.” — Heber C. Kimball, Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, November 15, 1857. (more…)
Today we’re looking at early Mormonism. As we’ve stated many times before, the reason why we look at this topic is twofold. Not only does it provides insight of what was going on back then, but it helps in understanding the mindset of Mormons today.
