Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: Polygamy. One of the strongest factors in any religious sect, is its belief regarding the life of the soul? past, present and to come. The Mormon view of immortality is very comprehensive and liberal, no matter what we may personally believe. The people of the United States have taken it for granted that polygamy is the sum total of the religion called "Mormonism." It is only fair to the Mormon people, and my aim' is to be true to the truth, to state that polygamy is not the basis of the Mormon religion. It is but a small part or an incident to their marriage system. Their actual belief is in the resurrection and the life. They believe in immortality of soul and body, therefore they believe that all of God's children will sooner or later receive the message of Christ through Joseph Smith and attain exaltation in the "House of many mansions;" according to the life lived here on earth and the deeds done in the body. Christ said, "I go to prepare a place for you." The Mormons believe in Christ,but, say they, each individual must prepare himself for the place. In Utah there are four Temples dedicated to this work of preparation, so that all may fit themselves for the various glories that are to come. Each one of these temples is so situated that a certain number of people comprising a district, or stake, come under its direct jurisdiction. One of the fundamental ideas of the "Mormons" is that they should emigrate to one place and make that their permanent home. When a Mormon community grows to sufficient proportions, they immediately proceed to erect a temple. A temple is not a house of public worship, but a building set apart for the performance of church ordinances only, such as baptisms, confirmations, marriages, sealings, and anointings. These buildings are...