The Second Lecture taught how Adam and Eve before their Fall knew their God personally and intimately in the Garden and that they retained that knowledge after the Fall:
"The object of the foregoing quotations [from scripture] is to show to this class the way by which mankind were first made acquainted with the existence of a God; that it was by a manifestation of God to man, and that God continued, after man's transgression [the Fall], to manifest himself to him and to his posterity; and, notwithstanding they were separated from his immediate presence that they could not see his face, they continued to hear his voice.
"Adam, thus being made acquainted with God, communicated the knowledge which he had unto his posterity; and it was through this means that the thought was first suggested to their minds that there was a God, which laid the foundation for the exercise of their faith, through which they could obtain a knowledge of his character and also of his glory."
The Second Lecture continued:
"From this we can see that the whole human family in the early age of their existence, in all their different branches, had this knowledge disseminated among them; so that the existence of God became an object of faith in the early age of the world. And the evidences which these men had of the existence of a God, was the testimony of their fathers in the first instance. . . .
"Let this class mark particularly, that the testimony which these men had of the existence of a God, was the testimony of man . . . the whole faith of the world, from that time down to the present is in a certain degree dependent on the knowledge first communicated to them by their common progenitor [Adam]; and it has been handed down to the day and generation in which we live, . . . and we have seen [in this full Lecture] that it was human testimony, and human testimony only, that excited this inquiry in their minds [to seek after God]."
The following modern experience will verify the process described above. My Mum provided me with this profound experience in the
spring of 1979:
I was busy preparing for a seminary monthly meeting in the Preston
England stake. As usual I was pressed for time and needed no interruptions. Mum was staying with us for the weekend, and
she suddenly appeared at the doorway of my office.
“Ste, I know you’re busy, but can I just share something
with you?”
I hesitated for a moment; it crossed my mind for a split
second to say, “Mum, I’m really busy, I need to finish off here and be on my
way to the meeting.” But for some
reason, I didn’t say it. I just folded
my hands in my lap, swiveled round in my office chair, and gave Mum my full
attention.
She leaned in the doorway, a signal that this would be
brief, bless her heart, and she began:
“You know I was at Dave and Jean’s last week. Their home teacher came whilst I was there
--- Brother Cunningham.” I knew of
Brother Cunningham from our Dad when I was a small child, one of the solid
strong Saints of the British Isles. Mum continued:
“He told us of attending a Church meeting in London in the
1930s at which the speaker was James Henry Moyle. Brother Moyle spoke of visiting David
Whitmer, one of the Three Witnesses of the Book of Mormon, at his home in
Richmond, Missouri, in 1885. In his
visit Brother Moyle said he asked him, ‘Brother Whitmer, I’m just a young man
and I don’t want to spend my life believing in something if it is not true: Did
you indeed see the plates and handle them, and see the angel, as you said?’
David Whitmer said in a sincere and earnest manner, ‘My boy, I did.’
“Brother Cunningham said he went up to Brother Moyle after
the meeting and said to him, ‘Brother Moyle, I’m just a young man who recently
joined the Church and I don’t want to be deceived either. Did you indeed ask
David Whitmer that question and get the answer you said he gave?’ James Henry
Moyle looked at Brother Cunningham intently and said, ‘My boy, I did.’”
I sat quietly as Mum finished the story, thrilled by the
Spirit of the truth of it. Then I had to
ask:
“Mum, did you indeed hear Brother Cunningham give this
account of his conversation with James Henry Moyle of his interview with David
Whitmer?”
Mum smiled and said, “Ste, I did,” with a chuckle as she saw
that my question fitted the pattern of this remarkable series of encounters.
I shared that experience with the young seminary students in
the meeting that afternoon. It was the highlight of our lesson. They got the point. Now they know too. And so
do you.
“My boy, I did.”
There is one more thing to add: The Lectures on Faith each conclude with a series of Questions and Answers by way of review. To end this Second Lecture:
"What testimony have men, in the first instance, that there is a God? Human testimony, and human testimony only. . . .
"Is the knowledge of the existence of God a matter of mere tradition, founded upon human testimony alone, until persons receive a manifestation of God to themselves? It is."
As Mormon would say, "Thus we see" that it is not enough to merely rely on human testimony---profound as it is--- but that we must each get a manifestation, a revelation for ourselves that the work is true, that the Book of Mormon is true, to add to these remarkable experiences and testimonies of other humans.
So that we can say to our children, "My boy . . . my girl, I did."
God bless.
Steve
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