Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith

Section Six (1843-1844) | The Punishment of Suspense

1The evil of being puffed up with correct (though useless) knowledge is not so great as the evil of contention. Knowl- edge does away with darkness, suspense and doubt; for these cannot exist where knowledge is. There is no pain so awful as that of suspense. This is the punishment of the wicked; their doubt, anxiety and suspense cause weeping, wailing and gnashing of teeth. In knowledge there is power.

2God has more power than all other beings, because he has greater knowledge; and hence he knows how to subject all other beings to Him. He has power over all. I will endeavor to instruct you in relation to the meaning of the beasts and figures spoken of. I should not have called up the subject had it not been for this circumstance.

3Elder Pelatiah Brown, one of the wisest old heads we have among us, and whom I now see before me, has been preaching concerning the beast which was full of eyes before and behind; and for this he was hauled up for trial before the High Council. I did not like the old man being called up for erring in doctrine. It looks too much like the Methodist, and not like the Latter-day Saints. Methodists have creeds which a man must believe or be asked out of their church.

4I want the liberty of thinking and believing as I please. It feels so good not to be trammelled. It does not prove that a man is not a good man because he errs in doctrine. The High Council undertook to censure and correct Elder Brown, because of his teachings in relation to the beasts. Whether they actually corrected him or not, I am a little doubtful, but don't care. Father Brown came to me to know what he should do about it.

5The subject particularly referred to was the four beasts and four-and-twenty elders mentioned in Rev. 5:8--"And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four-and-twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odors, which are the prayers of saints." Father Brown has been to work and confounded all Christendom by making out that the four beasts represented the different kingdoms of God on the earth.

6The wise men of the day could not do anything with him, and why should we find fault? Anything to whip sectarianism, to put down priestcraft, and bring the human family to a knowledge of the truth. A club is better than no weapon for a poor man to fight with.

7Father Brown did whip sectarianism, and so far so good; but I could not help laughing at the idea of God making use of the figure of a beast to represent His kingdom on the earth, consisting of men, when He could as well have used a far more noble and consistent figure. What! the Lord made use of the figure of a creature of the brute creation to represent that which is much more noble, glorious, and important--the glories and majesty of His kingdom?

8By taking a lesser figure to represent a greater, you missed it that time, old gentleman; but the sectarians did not know enough to detect you. When God made use of the figure of a beast in visions to the prophets He did it to represent those kingdoms which had degenerated and become corrupt, savage and beast-like in their dispositions, even the degenerate kingdoms of the wicked world; but He never made use of the figure of a beast nor any of the brute kind to represent His kingdom.