identical. A person may be deeply versed in theological lore, and yet be lacking in religious, and even in moral traits. Theology may be compared to theory, while religion represents practice; if theology be precept, then religion is example. Each should be the complement of the other; theological knowledge should strengthen religious faith and practice. As accepted by the Latter-day Saints, theology comprehends the whole plan of the gospel. "Theology is ordered knowledge, representing in the region of the intellect what religion represents in the heart and life of man."[9] Knowledge may have to do with the intellect only, and however sublime its import, it may fail to affect the hardened heart.

7. The "Articles of Faith."—The beliefs and prescribed practices of most religious sects are usually set forth in formal creeds. The Latter-day Saints announce no creed as a complete code of their faith; for while they hold that the precepts of eternal life are unchangeable, they accept the principle of continuous revelation as a characteristic feature of their belief. However, when asked for a concise presentation of the principal religious views of his people, Joseph Smith, the first prophet of the Church in the present dispensation, announced as a declaration of belief the "Articles of Faith of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints." These include the more essential and characteristic features of the gospel as accepted by this Church; but they are not complete as an exposition of our belief, for by one of the Articles it is declared, "We believe all that God has revealed, all that He does now reveal, and we believe that He will yet reveal many great and important things pertaining to the Kingdom of God." From the time of their first promulgation, the Articles of Faith have been accepted by the people,[10] and on October 6, 1890, the Latter-day Saints, in general conference assembled, re-adopted the Articles as part of their guide in faith and conduct. As these Articles of Faith present the leading tenets of the Church in systematic order, they suggest themselves as a convenient outline for our plan of study.

8. The Standard Works of the Church form our written authority in doctrine; but they are by no means our only sources of information and instruction on the theology of the Church. We believe that God is as willing to-day as He ever has been to reveal His mind and will to man, and that He does so through chosen and appointed channels. We rely therefore on the teachings of the living oracles of God as of equal validity with the doctrines of the written word, the men in chief authority being acknowledged and accepted by the Church as prophets and revelators, and as being in possession of the power of the holy Priesthood. The written works adopted by the vote of the Church as authoritative guides in faith and doctrine are four,—the Bible, the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price. Other works have been and are being issued by officers and members of the Church, and many such books are unreservedly sanctioned by the people and their ecclesiastical authorities; but the four publications named are the only regularly constituted standard works of the Church. Of the doctrine treated in the authorized standards, the Articles of Faith may be regarded as a fair, though necessarily but an incomplete epitome.

JOSEPH SMITH, THE PROPHET.

9. Joseph Smith, whose name is appended to the Articles of Faith, was the prophet through whom the Lord restored to earth in these the last days the Gospel, and this in accordance with predictions made in previous dispensations. The question of the divine authenticity of this man's mission is an all-important one to earnest investigators of Latter-day Saint doctrines. If his claims to a God-given appointment be false, forming, as they do, the foundation of the Church in the last dispensation, the superstructure cannot be stable; if, however, his purported ordination under the hands of heavenly personages be a fact, one need search no further for the cause of the phenomenal strength and growing power of the restored Church. The circumstances of the divine dealings with Joseph Smith, the marvelous development of the work instituted by this modern prophet, the fulfilment through his instrumentality of many of the grandest predictions of old, and his own prophetic utterances with their literal realizations, will yet be widely acknowledged as proof conclusive of the validity of his ministry.[11] The exalted claims maintained for him and his life's work, the fame that has made his name known for good or evil among most of the civilized nations of the earth, the vitality and growing strength of the religious and social systems which owe their origin as nineteenth-century establishments to the ministrations of this man, give to him an individual importance warranting at least a passing consideration.

10. His Parentage and Youth.—Joseph Smith, the third son and fourth child in a family of ten, was born December 23d, 1805, at Sharon, Windsor County, Vermont. He was the son of Joseph and Lucy Mack Smith—a worthy couple, who though in poverty lived happily amid their home scenes of industry and frugality. When the boy, Joseph, was ten years old, the family left Vermont and settled in the State of New York, first at Palmyra, and later at Manchester, Ontario County. At the place last named, the future prophet spent most of his boyhood days. In common with his brothers and sisters, he had but little schooling; and for the simple rudiments of an education, which by earnest application he was able to gain, he was mostly indebted to his parents, who followed the rule of devoting a portion of their limited leisure to the teaching of the younger members of the household.

11. In their religious inclinations, the family favored the Presbyterian church, the mother and three or four of the children having united themselves with that sect; but Joseph, while at one time favorably impressed by the Methodist creed, kept himself free from all sectarian membership, being greatly perplexed over the strife and dissensions manifesting themselves among the churches of the time. He had a right to expect that in the Church of Christ there would be unity and harmony; yet in place of such he saw among the wrangling sects only confusion. When Joseph was in his fifteenth year, the region of his home was visited by a storm of fierce religious excitement, which, beginning with the Methodists, soon became general among all the sects; there were revivals and protracted meetings, and the manifestations of sectarian rivalry were many and varied. These conditions added much to the distress of the young searcher after truth.

12. His Search for Truth and the Result.—Here is Joseph's own account of his course of action:—

"In the midst of this war of words and tumult of opinions, I often said to myself, what is to be done? who of all these parties are right? or, are they all wrong together? If any one of them be right, which is it, and how shall I know it?

"While I was laboring under the extreme difficulties caused by the contests of these parties of religionists, I was one day reading the Epistle