Believe In Jesus and . . .

The following is in the November -December issue of “Mormonism Researched,” the newsletter of Mormonism Research Ministry.  It should give you something to think about the next time you talk to a Mormon about what salvation requires.

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Joseph Young was born on April 7, 1797 and became a minister in the Methodist church.  His younger brother gave him a copy of the Book of Mormon and, in 1832, he left Methodism to follow Joseph Smith, joining what was then known as the Church of Christ.  That younger brother, Brigham Young, would follow his sibling and also become a member.  Joseph Young was eventually ordained a Seventy by Joseph Smith on February 28, 1835 at the age of 37.

In 1834 Young married Jane Adeline Bicknell.  Together they had 11 children.  Joseph later married five plural wives and, through them, fathered another 10 children.

On July 26, 1857, Joseph Young gave a message in the Bowery of Salt Lake City titled “Unpopularity of ‘Mormonism’ — Redemption of the dead, etc.”

In an obvious paraphrase of Romans 10:9, Joseph Young closed his message by saying,
“Now, brethren, this is a consolation to us all.  Believe in God, believe in Jesus, and believe in Joseph his prophet, and in Brigham his successor.  And I add, ‘If you will believe in your hearts and confess with your mouth that Jesus is the Christ, that Joseph was a Prophet, and that Brigham was his successor, you shall be saved in the kingdom of God,’ which I pray, in the name of Jesus, may be the case. Amen.”  (Journal of Discourses 6:229-30).