The Project Gutenberg EBook of A Voice of Warning, by Parley P. Pratt

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Title: A Voice of Warning An introduction to the faith and doctrine of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Author: Parley P. Pratt

Release Date: March 11, 2011 [EBook #35554]

Language: English

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Produced by the Mormon Texts Project, http://bencrowder.net/books/mtp. Volunteers: Benjamin Bytheway, Meridith Crowder, Ben Crowder, Cameron Dixon, Eric Heaps, Tod Robbins, David Van Leeuwen.

A VOICE OF WARNING AND INSTRUCTION TO ALL PEOPLE,

OR,

AN INTRODUCTION TO THE FAITH AND DOCTRINE OF THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER-DAY SAINTS.

By PARLEY P. PRATT.

Behold, the former things are come to pass, and new things do I declare: before they spring forth I tell you of them.—Isaiah xlii, 9.

Produce your cause, saith the Lord, bring forth your strong reasons, saith the King of Jacob.—Isaiah xli, 24.

ELEVENTH EDITION.

SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH:

DESERET NEWS COMPANY, PRINTERS AND PUBLISHERS, 1881.

CONTENTS.

  Preface to the Second European Edition
  Preface to the First American Edition

CHAPTER I.

On Prophecy already Fulfilled.

CHAPTER II.

On the Fulfilment of Prophecy yet future.

CHAPTER III.

The Kingdom of God.

CHAPTER IV.

The Book of Mormon—Origin of the American Indians, etc.

CHAPTER V.

The Resurrection of the Saints, and the Restoration of all things spoken by the Prophets.

CHAPTER VI.

The dealings of God with all Nations in regard to Revelation.

CHAPTER VII.

A Contrast between the Doctrine of Christ, and the False Doctrines of the nineteenth century.

PREFACE

TO THE SECOND EUROPEAN EDITION.

When the following Work was first published in America, in 1837, it was but little known, and seemed to meet with little or no encouragement. Months passed away, and very few copies were sold or read. But, to the astonishment of the author, it worked itself into notice more and more, by the blessing of God, and by virtue of its own real merits; till, in two years, the first edition, consisting of three thousand copies, was all sold, and many more were called for. A new edition was published in 1839, consisting of two thousand five hundred copies; these were also disposed of. Other three editions have since been published, making in all thirteen thousand copies now disposed of, and the demand is still increasing both in America and Europe.

It has already found its way into most of the American States, and into the provinces of the Canadas, as well as many parts of England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales. It has visited the cottages of the humble, and the parlors of the great; and from the best information we have on the subject, very few have risen from its perusal without a deep and settled conviction of the truth of its principles.

The author has now in his possession the testimony of hundreds of people, from different states and nations, all bearing witness that this Work has been a means, in the hands of God, of saving them from infidelity, from sectarian error and delusion, and of guiding them into the light of TRUTH.

All these considerations, and an intense desire to impart the truth to mankind as widely as possible, have induced the author to send forth this new edition; which he greatly desires may prove a blessing to thousands who are yet grovelling in darkness and superstition, and lead them to the true fold of God.

If there be anything to admire, or anything praiseworthy in this Work, the author has no claim to the honor or the praise; it is justly due to Him who is the Source and Fountain of all TRUTH. The author was a husbandman, inured to the plow—unpolished by education, untaught in the schools of modern Sectarianism, (falsely called "Divinity")— reared in the wilds of America, with a mind independent, untrammelled and free. He drank of the pure fountain of Truth, unsullied and unmixed, as it unfolded in majesty of light and splendor from the opening heavens in all the simplicity of its nature. As such it has flowed from his pen in the following volume; not veiled in mystery; not dressed in the pomp of high-sounding names, and titles, and learned terms; not adorned in the gay attire of eloquence flowing from the imagination and the passions; but standing forth in the undress of its own native modesty, as if conscious of the purity and innocence of its nature.

He is indebted not only to the Spirit of Truth for the principles contained in this Work, but also to several men, who have been made the instruments in the hands of God, to reveal the knowledge of God to this generation, and to be the founders and leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Among the foremost of these, he would make honorable mention of President Joseph Smith, by whose instrumentality most of these glorious truths (so well known to the ancients) have been restored to the knowledge of the world—and whose zeal, labors, sufferings, and subsequent murder, will stand forth as a bright memorial to all succeeding ages, and be celebrated by happy millions yet unborn.

With an assurance that the principles of this Work will yet prevail over the whole earth, this new edition of the VOICE OF WARNING is now sent forth; and should the author be called to sacrifice his life for the cause of Truth, he will have the consolation that it will be said of him, as it was said of Abel, viz: "HE, BEING DEAD, YET SPEAKETH."

PARLEY P. PRATT.

Manchester, England,
    Dec. 4, 1846.

PREFACE

TO THE FIRST AMERICAN EDITION.

During the last nine years, the public mind has been constantly agitated, more or less, through all parts of our country, with the cry of "Mormonism, Mormonism, Delusion, Imposture, Fanaticism," etc., chiefly through the instrumentality of the press. Many of the newspapers of the day have been constantly teeming with misrepresentations and slanders of the foulest kind, in order to destroy the influence and character of an innocent society in its very infancy; a society of whose real principles many of them know nothing at all. Every species of wickedness has been resorted to, and all manner of evil has been spoken against them falsely; insomuch, that in many places, houses and ears are closed against them, without the possibility of being heard for a moment.

Were this the only evil, we might have less cause of complaint; but in