Letter from David
Bowen of Wales to His Son Lewis Bowen
Translation
of a letter written by David Bowen of Victoria, Monouthshire, Wales, 17 March 1855, to his son Lewis Bowen and family after they had joined the Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
My dear children and
grandchildren:
It has been a long time since we
saw each other, though we are only a matter of seven or eight miles apart. You,
Lewis, have been to Blainau to your brother’s house and are sowing the weeds
of Mormonism in the locality, which thing your mother and I scorn to the
Uttermost degree. Because of this, we cannot conscientiously ask you to our
house. For one thing, your mother is too weak to stand the sorrow you have
caused her, and you have received advantages to know better than to join such
presumptuous, assumptive, deceiving, and vile people. They have all the cunning
of the serpent, without the innocence of the dove, met together in them.
Understand that it is not self-interest that causes us to
oppose you, as we have received any material profit from our religious beliefs.
We have given much to support true religion, but not
sufficient to pay for the spiritual or soulful benefit we have enjoyed through
the influence of the New and Old Testament, and as we desire others to have the
truth in its purity, as it is in the Lord Jesus, we give all out power to
support those who have received qualifications to spend their lives to teach
the ignorant the truth as it is in Jesus, who is the same yesterday and today
and the only mediator between God and man—that man, Jesus Christ, in whom was
fulfilled all the prophecies, and who gave Himself for us as a sacrifice to God
for all our sins. That sacrifice is sufficient for all who believe the truth and repent and ask forgiveness in His name in all the
nations of the Earth. A commandment was given to
preach forgiveness of sins in His name, but not as the Mormons preach—baptism
for forgiveness instead of Jesus Christ. They do not remember that Simon Magnus (Acts 8:9-24) and Judas, the traitor, were baptized by
some others. But they did not receive
forgiveness and never will, says truth. The Mormons dream of some universal
redemption not the same as some Christians have thought it, but as an unfounded
opinion, viz: universal or general restoration.
I read some papers lately by D.
Jones, one of the Mormons, in which he informs or accuses us of
misunderstanding the story of the thief, in that we believe he was saved and is one of the chief “cross-disputes” against
baptism for forgiveness.
There is cause to fear that some
have become hard-headed and are going ahead in
ungodliness and presumption as well inconsiderateness, even on their death
beds, because the thief was saved. But what truth is
there that cannot be misrepresented.
The chief false evidence of D.
Jones that the thief was not saved is that Jesus Christ did not go to Heaven,
body and soul, quoting, “Today thou shalt be with me in paradise.” Who but the
Mormons are without knowing, though they wish to deny others, that Jesus Christ
had not a human soul like other men. It was the soul
of Him that was very sad unto death. This soul was the
sacrifice, and what soul was more suitable than this sacred soul to go to God
who gave Him Stephen said when he was dying, “Lord Jesus, receive my
spirit.” Christ’s spirit was like God in Heaven when he was on the earth as a
man, and this spirit moved Noah to prepare the ark to save his house, and free
those who were in prison from the flood before Christ suffered at all. It was
through this spirit that the prophets were moved: 1
Peter, Chapter 1, Verse 11. This spirit was nearer to the thief, like God, than
D. Jones thinks, and it was Christ and changed his earthly
body and made it a spiritual body. This cherished
unity between this spirit and the human spirit of our High Priest, gives
sincerity and value to the sacrifice and makes it infinite.
By now
you can see that D. Jones has no ground to say that Christ did not go to Heaven
where God gives his blessed presence always; nor can he say that Abraham, Isaac
and Jacob and David went to Heaven, for we have their graves and their bodies
with us on the Earth. We have no record of anyone going bodily to Heaven except
Enoch and Elias and Jesus Christ. God calls Himself by the name of Isaac and
Jacob, and God is not the God of the dead, but of the living. This is proof
that Abraham and the others live according to the Spirit in Heaven, and their
bodies are not in Heaven up to the present day and will not go until the
trumpet of god wakes them at the resurrection as spiritual.
Mr. D. Jones testified that no
one receives the Holy Ghost before baptism. This is one naked lie, as is proven
in Acts, Chapter 10 and 11, and also others. But I do not doubt that he and other Mormons have received
the spirit of superstition when baptized, and an obliging belief as well, and
call that the Holy Ghost. He also states another lie about the Theologians,
that is, they all confess that paradise is composed of both Hell and Heaven. On
top of that he tries to convince us that the Lord’s Holy
Spirit went to Hell with the thief’s spirit to preach to the spirit prisoners
and left the spirit of the thief in prison. Oh, let us turn away from such
perverse thoughts.
They are a pit, like a tippling
Kettle. What man in his right sense will believe Christ’s spirit went to Hell
to preach, leaving the thief in prison until he pays the last farthing or be
redeemed by some other means than by Jesus Christ. Such Chaos! It may be that D. Jones does not believe that
the spirit lives in paradise with every soul reconciled to God through the
blood of the covenant and the spirit of grace.
The Theologians are agreed that
Hades contains Heaven and Hell, the slate of the departed spirits, and this Hades contains paradise and Tartarus, i.e.,
paradise and Tartarus, and one cannot go or travel from one to the other,
though they are in Hades.
The Theologians think that the
Mormons are not worthy of note. They have far more important work to strive to
understand God’s mind and His word, so as to enlighten
all the nations and baptize them etc. Turning one’s thoughts to baptism instead
of the Blood is similar to Mothering in the unclean Blood of the Covenant;
beware of this!
These Saints have:
- Christian defects.
- Souring minds towards those in
authority both worldly and ecclesiastical, and the old Bible, except some parts which suit their purpose.
Like the fisherman, placing a
feather on the hook, so they swallow the Book of Mormon and the false
revelations of Joe Smith and the secret seal that Brigham Young possesses so that
his wives will be the wives of kings, or will have 150 acres of land to raise
mothers after the resurrection, etc., etc., etc.
Remember that it is what those
saints call the true church that I oppose and not their tricks as men. I once
more implore you to return to the old Bible. The ancient of Days, the true and
living God, is ready to receive you, though you are prostituting with many
loves in a religious sense, and believe none. As a rule, the word of God flees
from such conduct. I dare you to show me a book purer in its moral laws than
the old Bible and so firm in its promises to all who truly repent and come to
God for forgiveness in the name of Jesus Christ.
There is no other name under Heaven given amongst men by which all must be saved.
There was here a very wise man
named Alfred Clarke, who was beguiled by the Saints and spent
many years with them in Dowlais and other parts and was President of the
branch there. They were very flourishing while he was with them, but he left
them because of the many wives and carnal corruption amongst them.
I had thought to ask you here for
a Sunday to have a talk with him, but the ship which was to
take him to Australia arrived suddenly before I could write you.
He had promised to tell all about
the Saints in your presence, saying it was no use for any man to argue with a
Mormon unless he had been with them and held a high position in the church in
order to understand their cunning hidden from the world.
But I
will accept a letter from you; if from you heart you will write, quoting the
Bible, reason and Natural philosophy as far as philosophy goes, which is not
further than Natural things. No one can portray the spirit of man, much less
the spirit of God, except in the portray of image that
gave of Himself, which is man’s spirit in its natural form. All present wish
you a share of all blessings, though we cannot associate while you remain
Mormons.
I do not wish you to become
Baptists, unless you come of your own free will. Heaven and earth are God’s so also the soul and conscience. Search the scriptures
and answer conscientiously to God. There God is free to you all, says my soul.
Whether I see you or not before my grave, I know not. If you live as long as
us, you will probably feel very much the sorrow you have caused us in our old
age, but I pray the Lord to forgive you all, I must now leave you, and place
our burden before the Lord.
“Ere long comes the night; the
day does not remain, but swiftly onward goes pursuing the last night ends
swiftly. In this one dwells Old King Dread, and though black death and its
shadow do shroud, and we with no place neath Heaven to flee, God’s words is
shown a place where we can flee and live forever.”
Victoria, March 17, 1855 Dd
Bowen (David Bowen)
