Orson Pratt Quotes - 52 quotes

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Orson Pratt

Orson Pratt (1811-1881) was an American religious leader, mathematician, and one of the original members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). He was born in Hartford, New York. He was introduced to the LDS Church by his brother, Parley P. Pratt, and baptized in 1830. Orson was a prolific missionary, serving in various locations including the British Isles, where he published influential missionary tracts. He was also a key figure in the early church's leadership, contributing to its theological development. He participated in the westward migration to Utah. Despite occasional conflicts with other church leaders, Pratt's theological writings and teachings had a lasting impact on the LDS Church.

quote icon A false faith is the result of giving credence to false evidence; a true faith, the result derived from true evidence.

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quote icon Righteousness will abide upon its face, during a thousand years, and the Savior will bless it with his personal presence: after which the end soon comes, and the earth itself will die, and its elements be dissolved through the agency of a fire. This death, or dissolution of the earth is a penalty of the original sin … But all mankind are made alive from the first death through the resurrection, so the earth will again be renewed, its elements will again be collected, they will be recombined and reorganized as when it first issued from the womb of chaos.

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quote icon Question. But inasmuch as it is the object of God to save men, why not send the gospel to each generation here and in the next world also? Answer. Because if they reject the gospel here, they have not the privilege of entering into the prison in the spirit world, and of again hearing the gospel among those who never heard it while in the flesh: God’s justice requires those who reject the gospel to be damned, instead of being favored with a prison among those who are less guilty. Those in prison are in an intermediate state: they are not saved, neither are they irrevocably lost: but when the gospel is preached to them it will decide their fate, redeeming those who receive it; and damning those who reject it; the one rising to light, glory, and happiness—And the other falling to darkness, damnation, and misery … It will be perceived that the message of the gospel either saves or damns, instead of sending their sprits to an intermediate state. Question. Is this intermediate state, which is called in the scriptures a prison, a place of punishment? Answer. Yes: but the severity of the punishment is not as great as is experienced among those who are sent to hell.

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quote icon When the period called the Millennium has passed away, Satan will again be loosed. Now the query arises, Will Satan have power to deceive those who have lived on the earth, and have fallen asleep for a moment, and have received their immortal bodies? No, he will not,. When they have passed through their probation, and have received their immortal bodies, Satan will have no power over them. Thus generation after generation will pass away, during the Millennium, but by and by, as the close of that period, unnumbered millions of the posterity of those who lived during the Millennium will be scattered in the four quarters of the earth, and Satan will be loosed, and will go forth and tempt them, and overcome some of them, so that they will rebel against God; not rebel in ignorance or dwindle in unbelief, as the Lamanites did; [Moroni 9] but they will sin wilfully against the law of heaven, and so great will the power of Satan be over them, that he will gather them together against the saints and against the beloved city, and fire will come down out of heaven and consume them. [Rev. 20:9].

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quote icon Question. But inasmuch as it is the object of God to save men, why not send the gospel to each generation here and in the next world also? Answer. Because if they reject the gospel here, they have not the privilege of entering into the prison in the spirit world, and of again hearing the gospel among those who never heard it while in the flesh: God’s justice requires those who reject the gospel to be damned, instead of being favored with a prison among those who are less guilty. Those in prison are in an intermediate state: they are not saved, neither are they irrevocably lost: but when the gospel is preached to them it will decide their fate, redeeming those who receive it; and damning those who reject it; the one rising to light, glory, and happiness—And the other falling to darkness, damnation, and misery … It will be perceived that the message of the gospel either saves or damns, instead of sending their sprits to an intermediate state. Question. Is this intermediate state, which is called in the scriptures a prison, a place of punishment? Answer. Yes: but the severity of the punishment is not as great as is experienced among those who are sent to hell.

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quote icon Now I believe that before the redemption of Zion, there will be a voluntary feeling to carry out the celestial law. I found my belief on the prophecies that are given in the Book of Doctrine and Covenants. The Lord has said that before Zion is redeemed she shall be as fair as the sun, clear as the moon, and her banners shall be a terror to all nations. And that it is needful that Zion should be built up according to the law of the celestial kingdom, or I cannot receive her unto myself. He cannot receive her only as she is built up according to the full law of consecration. (D&C 105:5). All the Zions that have ever been redeemed, from all the creations that God has made, have been redeemed upon that principle.

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quote icon We are now not in his presence; the Fall has let down a vail between us and our Father and God. This vail does not prevent the eye of the Almighty from seeing and discerning the conduct of his children, but it prevents us, while in this state of mortality, from beholding his presence, unless we rend the vail by our faith and obedience and, like the brother of Jared, are permitted to come back into his presence.

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quote icon Spiritual Babylon the Great, “the mother of harlots and abominations of the earth.” “Mystery Babylon”—that great power that has held sway over the nations of the earth—that great ecclesiastical power which has ruled over the consciences of the children of men, she is to fall and is to be destroyed from the face of the earth. Will the righteous fall with her? No. Why not? Because there is a way for their escape. Now mark another prophecy. “I heard a great voice,” says John, “from heaven, saying, ‘Come out of her, O my people!’” Out of where? “Mystery Babylon, the Great”—out of this great confusion that exists throughout all the nations and multitudes of Christendom.

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quote icon “…let us hate that which has the appearance of evil, and do that because we know it to be the feeling of God, angels, and of all good men.”

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quote icon If the affairs of a celestial world were divided into different departments, calling one political and another religious, and so on, you would find the whole body, both religious and political, vote for the same ticket, if I may be allowed the expression; they would be agreed, of one heart and one mind. This oneness among the people of God must be attained in this world, in order that His purposes may be brought about, respecting man and the earth on which he lives.

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quote icon Men use the telegraph for the purpose I have named, and in many respects it is used to good advantage...but the great object which the Lord had in view when this great invention or discovery was brought forth, was to enable knowledge to be sent from the mountain tops, from the midst of Zion, when his glory should begin to be manifested in the midst of his people in the latter days.

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quote icon “And the gates of Zion will be open day and night, and never be shut, to admit the forces that will come rushing in from all nations, to learn the wisdom, knowledge, and instruction that are poured out from the heavens upon the servants of the Most High.”

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quote icon “What is an ensign? It is not only something unto which the people will gather, but it is something of divine appointment, something that the Lord organizes, something that will be a pattern to all peoples, nations and governments erected in the mountains, and He calls upon all the inhabitants of the earth to see it.”

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quote icon How long this day, called the day of judgment, will be, is not revealed. It may be vastly longer than what many suppose. It seems to me that unless there were a great number engaged in judging the dead, it would require a very long period of time; for, for one being to personally investigate all the idle thoughts and words of the children of men from the days of Adam down until that time, it would require a great many millions of years, and therefore I come to another conclusion, namely, that God has his agents, and that through those agents the dead will be judged.

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quote icon The true God exists both in time and in space, and has as much relation to them as man or any other being. He has extension, and form, and dimension, as well as man. He occupies space; has a body, parts and passions.

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quote icon According to this new revelation (Book of Abraham), there is a certain great world, called Kolob, placed near one of the celestial kingdoms, whose diurnal rotation takes place once in a thousand of our years; and that celestial time was measured by those celestial beings, by the rotations of Kolob, hence one day with the Lord was a thousand of our years.

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quote icon Faith or belief is the result of evidence presented to the mind. Without evidence, the mind cannot have faith in anything … The weakness or strength of faith will, therefore, in all cases, be in proportion to the weakness or strength of the impressions, produced upon the mind by evidence … Faith most generally inspires the heart to actions or works of a nature similar and suitable to the belief.

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quote icon We read this in the Book of Covenants. The earth is now shut out from the presence of God, and all the inhabitants, and the animal creation, the fowls of the air and the fishes of the sea, and everything wherein there is life, all are shut out from the presence of God. Because of the fall of the great head and being who was to have dominion over this creation, it is banished, a vail is let down which hides us from the presence of God. This vail or covering will soon be taken away, and the earth will roll back again into the presence of God.

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quote icon And in this great rebellion the Lord caused Satan, or Lucifer, the Son of the Morning, and those who followed him, to be cast out of Heaven.

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quote icon Faith or belief is the result of evidence presented to the mind. Without evidence, the mind cannot have faith in anything.

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quote icon “What! become one in our views in regard to politics? Why not? One may say, If you undertake to carry out such views of union in regard to political affairs, you will all vote the same ticket; there will be no division nor disunion throughout all the Church organization, and would not such a state of things be antagonistic to the genius of our American government? Wherein, I would ask, would it be contrary?”

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quote icon Our enemies would try to frighten us, by representing before the Congress of the United States there is a union among those Latter-day Saints, and that all vote one way. Supposing we admit this to be true, ought not Congress to rejoice exceedingly to think that there is one portion of the people under the flag of this great and glorious republic, that have strength of mind sufficient to be united on politics.

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quote icon Some may have an idea that if we are only united about some of the spiritual things of the kingdom that is all the union needed among us. I do not know of any one principle, or subject, connected with the building up and advancement of the kingdom of God upon the earth, upon which we have a right to be disunited. The law of God is of such a nature, when complied with strictly, as to unite us not only in the first principles of the Gospel—faith, repentance and baptism, and confirmation, and upon doctrine and spiritual things generally, but also in regard to the cultivation of the earth, the raising of flocks and herds, manufacturing, and all kinds of mechanical business, and also with regard to our political affairs and everything with which we have to do here in this temporal probation.

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quote icon Faith or belief is the result of evidence presented to the mind. Without evidence, the mind cannot have faith in anything.

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quote icon And while [Moses was] gazing upon the works of God the Spirit of God withdrew from him, and he was left unto himself, and he fell to the earth, for his natural strength departed from him. “Now,’ said Moses, “I know for this once that man is nothing, which thing I never had supposed.” But he had learned by the contrast that man, in and of himself, was as nothing, and comparatively speaking, less than the dust of the earth, which moves hither and thither by the command of the great God; but that man, being an agent unto himself, and God not having a disposition to control this agent contrary to certain laws and principles, when this agent was left to himself he found that he was nothing.

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quote icon “Cause this oneness, this union among the particles of the Spirit, to cease, and you would soon see all things go into confusion. Take away this Spirit, and you would immediately see some things going up, others down; some moving horizontally; one portion of the earth would divide from the other; one part would be flying here and another there.”

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quote icon Faith alone will not save men: neither will faith and works save them, unless they are of the right kind. Indeed the faith and works of the greatest portion of mankind will be the very cause of their damnation. True faith and righteous works are essential for salvation; and without both of these, no man ever was, or ever can be saved.

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quote icon “There are some things that cannot be performed, although we had the power of working great and mighty miracles; indeed, the great God Himself who has power to control the heavens over our heads, and the earth upon which we stand has not the power to do that which would be naturally impossible, or in opposition to the great, necessary, and fundamental truths of nature, which are eternally unalterable, and cannot be otherwise than they are.”

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quote icon Portions of this Spirit, we say, exist throughout every part of space, and they perform all the work of governing, and keeping that perfect harmony which we behold in all nature. All nature is by these means made to submit to the great law of oneness.

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quote icon Inquires one—"Do you mean to say that Adam was an immortal being?" What is the nature of an immortal being? It is one who has not had the curse of death pronounced upon him. Had Adam the curse of death pronounce upon him, when the Lord brought Eve—the woman—and gave her to him? No, he had not. Had the Lord pronounced the curse of death upon Eve at the time he brought her to Adam? He had not. Why not? Because neither of them had transgressed.

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quote icon “Water Baptism is only a preparatory cleansing of the believing penitent; it is only a condition of a cleansing from sin; whereas, the Baptism of fire and the Holy Ghost cleanses more thoroughly, by renewing the inner man, and by purifying the affections, desires, and thoughts which have long been habituated in the impure ways of sin. Without the aid of the Holy Ghost, a person … would have but very little power to change his mind … and to walk in newness of life. Though his sins may have been cleansed away, yet so great is the force of habit, that he would, without being renewed by the Holy Ghost, be easily overcome, and contaminated again by sin. Hence, it is infinitely important that the affections and desires should be, in a measure, changed and renewed, so as to cause him to hate that which he before loved, and to love that which he before hated: to thus renew the mind of man is the work of the Holy Ghost.”

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quote icon Hence, it is infinitely important that the affections and desires should be, in a measure, changed and renewed, so as to cause him to hate that which he before loved, and to love that which he before hated: to thus renew the mind of man is the work of the Holy Ghost

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quote icon Jesus himself, though the Son of God, and possessed of all power in heaven and on earth, did not generally exer- cise his power without an ordinance. Hence, we read of great multitudes of the sick and afflicted being healed by the laying on of his hands. He also put his hands upon little children, and prayed for them, and blessed them. At one time he went up into a mountain, and called "unto him whom he would; and they came unto him. And he ordained twelve, that they should be with him, and that he might send them forth to preach." (Mark iii. 13. 14.) He laid his hands upon a woman who had been bound by Satan eight- een years, and she was delivered from the evil spirit. (Luke xiii. 13-16.) Jesus said that all believers in his Gospel should receive certain signs, among which it was promised that "they shall lay hands on the sick and they shall re- cover." (Mark xvi. 18.) Jesus put his hands upon a blind man and he was partially healed; and he put his hands again upon his eyes, and he was fully restored.

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quote icon Faith in a divine message is one thing, but knowledge is another. Faith leads to obedience, but knowledge follows obedience. Faith is the result of evidence presented to the mind from without; but knowledge is the result of the operations of the Holy Ghost directly upon the mind, which gives greater certainty than can be obtained in any other way

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quote icon Do not deceive yourself, and suppose that you can receive this pre- cious gift, by merely asking for it, when you are not willing to obey the ordinances which God has ordained through which you are to receive this blessing. Do not flatter your- self that God will hear your prayers when you ask for His Spirit, if you do not obey. Your prayers will be a mockery. unless you are willing to obey whatever is required, how- ever simple the ordinances may be.

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quote icon “New circumstances require new power, new knowledge, new additions, new strength and new Quorums; not to do away with the old, but additional in their nature. Men will hold authority and power to carry forth the laws of Zion to the remnants of this nation, and to foreign nations ministers or plenipotentiaries, if you please, to use a political term, will go forth to the nations of the earth with the laws of God.”

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quote icon “There must be something wonderful, indeed, to attract the attention of all nations; unless there is to be a very great power manifested, it would not attract the attention of the people afar off;”

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quote icon Have you not read, in the New Testament, that Jesus Christ was the first-born of every creature? From this reading it would seem that he was the oldest of the whole human family, that is, so far as his birth in the spirit world is concerned. How long ago since that birth took place is not revealed; it might have been unnumbered millions of years for aught we know. But we do know that he was born and was the oldest of the family of spirits.

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quote icon All men, male and female, that ever have lived, or that ever will live on this earth, had a pre-existence before the formation of the earth commenced.

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quote icon “What is Zion? What are we to understand by its term? Is it a city? Is it a people?”

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quote icon “This union exists in the eternal worlds. If you should dwell there for the period of ten millions of ages, you would see no dissension among those who dwell in yonder celestial worlds.”

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quote icon Redemption from the original sin is without faith or works: redemption from our own sins is given through faith and works. Both are gifts of free grace; but while one is a gift forced upon us unconditionally, the other is a gift merely offered to us conditionally. The reception of the one is compulsory; the reception of the other is voluntary. Man cannot, by any possible act, prevent his redemption from the fall, but he can utterly refuse and prevent his redemption from the penalty of his own sins.

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quote icon Agency always continues wherever intelligent beings are, whether in heaven, on the earth, or among any of the creations that God has made; wherever you find intelligent beings, not to the same extent perhaps, under all circumstances, but yet there is always the exercise of agency where there is intelligence.

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quote icon Do you realize that you and I were there? Can you bring it to your minds that you and I were among the happy number that shouted for joy when this creation was made?

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quote icon The Gospel of Jesus Christ is of great antiquity. It was ordained in the councils of heaven before the world was, and all its principles, ordinances, promises, and blessings were instituted in the beginning, before man was placed upon the earth.

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quote icon There is to be, however, a prior judgment to the final judgment day, and we will speak upon that awhile. There is a certain degree of judgment rendered upon every man and every woman as soon as they have passed the ordeals of the present probation. When they lay their bodies down their spirits return into the presence of God, when a decree of judgment and sentence is immediately passed. Hence we read in the Book of Mormon, that the spirits of all men, as soon as they depart from this mortal body, return home again to that God who gave them life, and then shall it come to pass that the spirits of the righteous shall enter into a state of rest, peace and happiness, called Paradise, where they shall rest from all their labors. And then shall it come to pass that the spirits of the wicked—for behold they have no part or portion of the spirit of the Lord—shall depart into outer darkness, where there is weeping, and wailing and gnashing of teeth; and in these two states or conditions the children of men shall be placed until the time of the resurrection.

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quote icon The righteous, after death, are received into a state of rest, peace, and happiness, in Paradise. There they will be free from all care and sorrow, and Satan will have no power over them.

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quote icon As the earth passes through its great last change, two of its principal cities—the Old Jerusalem of the eastern continent, and the new Jerusalem of the western continent, will be preserved from the general conflagration, being caught up into heaven. These two cities, with all their glorified throng, will descend upon the redeemed earth, being the grand capitals of the new creation.

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quote icon “Portions of this Spirit, we say, exist throughout every part of space, and they perform all the work of governing, and keeping that perfect harmony which we behold in all nature. All nature is by these means made to submit to the great law of oneness.

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quote icon “Well, these three are called one, are they not? Yes, they are called one. Jesus prays that all his disciples may be made one, as he and the Father are one. If ever that prayer is answered, then, in one sense of the word, there would only be one God, but, in another sense of the word, there would not only be three, but a great many personal beings called gods.”

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quote icon “Faith is of two kinds, namely false and true.

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quote icon Those nations are trembling and tottering and will eventually crumble to ruin, and those men of wealth will come here, not to be baptized, but many of them will come that have never heard the servants of God; but they will hear that peace and health dwell among us, and that our officers are all peace officers, and our tax-gatherers men of righteousness.”

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