The Book of Mormon contains a lot of unique sounding Protestant doctrine, language, and phraseology coming from Joseph Smith’s day of the 19th century.

Richard Bushman on this topic said:

I think right now the Book of Mormon is a puzzle for us. Even [for] people who believe it in every detail, it’s a puzzle. To begin with, we’ve got the puzzle of translation. Translating the book without the plates even in sight, wrapped up in a cloth on the table. It’s not something that comes right off the pages, [that is] the characters on the plates. So we don’t know how that works. And then there’s the fact that there’s phrasing everywhere, long phrases that if you Google them, you’ll find them in 19th century writings. The theology of the Book of Mormon is very much 19th century theology, and it reads like a 19th century understanding of the Hebrew bible, as an Old Testament: that is, it has Christ in it, the way Protestants saw Christ everywhere in the Old Testament.

This blog post is for the purpose of listing possible 19th century Protestant phrases in Book of Mormon, not meant to treat this subject in depth. Here are a couple places for more info on the subject:

I spent quite a bit of time last year analyzing data in the Book of Mormon to formulate the Three Voice Hypothesis I’ve written about, which I’m still trying to finish. A couple important pieces I wanted to throw out on my blog at some point were 1) this about the Protestant 19th century language and 2) KJV in the Book of Mormon. Both pieces are critically important in understanding how the Book of Mormon came together.

I created an algorithm to predict 19th century Protestant language in the Book of Mormon. The components were:

Does not appear in the KJV Bible. Every phrase you see listed below does not appear in the KJV Bible. For 1-grams, it means that word does not appear in the Bible–at least with that spelling. For 2,3,4-grams, it might include vocabulary in the KJV, but that exact sequence does not appear. More likely to appear as a full n-gram in the S Voice than the N Voice. (I split the BOM. S Voice = first person quoting of Abinadi, Alma, King Benjamin, etc. N Voice = the third person narrative–mostly Mormon) Uses unique vocabulary or subset n-grams more likely to appear in the S Voice than the N Voice. For example “wickedness never was happiness” appears in S Voice, but because it only appears once, that’s not statistically relevant. But it includes the word “happiness” which is in the BOM 30 times, 26 S Voice, 4 N Voice, so that pushes the score for “wickedness never was happiness” higher. Rarity

I used a little Secret Sauce to weight each component and provide a total score. The list at bottom is the 1-grams, 2-grams, 3-grams, and 4-grams in descending order of that score, arbitrarily cut off at a certain point so as to not go on forever. There are likely some important 3-grams and 4-grams that were missed.

First, here are a couple experiments to try. Let’s use “demands of justice” the 3-gram with the fourth highest score. Choose a random n-gram from the list and try this at home.

Exercise 1: Google Advanced Book Search

Go to Google Advanced Book Search.

Put in your search phrase, then put in before 1830 as the publication date.

We get some interesting results. Some from Christian publications. Some not.

First, to get the Book of Mormon flavor of how this phrase is used. Go here to search for your phrase in the BOM. If you come up with your own phrase and want to check if it appears in the KJV first, you can check here.

“demands of justice” appears four times total in the BOM in three verses:

Mosiah 15:9 (Abinadi speaking)

Having ascended into heaven, having the bowels of mercy; being filled with compassion towards the children of men; standing betwixt them and justice; having broken the bands of death, taken upon himself their iniquity and their transgressions, having redeemed them, and satisfied the demands of justice.

Alma 34:16 (Amulek speaking)

And thus mercy can satisfy the demands of justice, and encircles them in the arms of safety, while he that exercises no faith unto repentance is exposed to the whole law of the demands of justice; therefore only unto him that has faith unto repentance is brought about the great and eternal plan of redemption.

Alma 42:15 (Alma speaking)

And now, the plan of mercy could not be brought about except an atonement should be made; therefore God himself atoneth for the sins of the world, to bring about the plan of mercy, to appease the demands of justice, that God might be a perfect, just God, and a merciful God also.

These three verses sound a lot alike. This is back to the Three Voice Hypothesis. Though this is quoting three different BOM prophets, all these voices should be considered as produced by the same creator. They are in the S portion of S (Sermon) vs N (Narrative) and the E portion of E (Early) vs L (Late).

OK, back to Google Advanced Book Search. Here are a couple interesting hits.

From Pilgrim’s Progress (with explanatory notes by W. Mason and Others), John Bunyan, 1815, p. 243

Wonderful indeed is the plan of redemption by our Lord Jesus Christ. For when sin had entered into the world and man was become guilty before the Lord his just desert was everlasting banishment from the presence and glory of his Maker and all that is meant by the word DEATH. Had the Almighty according to strict justice cut him off as a guilty rebel where had been the glory of his MERCY. And if he had of his clemency forgiven the offence and restored him to a state of favour where had been the evidence of his justice truth and holiness. Had he required of Adam an atonement for his sin commensurate to the demands of justice that had been impossible for him to have offered. But in the gift of Christ justice and mercy met together righteousness and peace embraced each other.

Another one from The Methodist Magazine 1798, (I had to re-search Google with the terms from the snippet to find the full text elsewhere)

For if sinners are justified it is because Christ has died who entering into the holy place his blood speaketh better things than the blood of Abel. Then he turneth aside the demands of justice for violated laws and answereth by the plea of his sacrifice for he died the just for the unjust to bring us to God.

It’s interesting to click on the links and look for language similar to the Book of Mormon. I don’t imply plagiarism. I imply this was the world Joseph lived in. These were ideas and the language floating around in his head, as he approached God to bless him with the translation of the Book of Mormon.

Note of clarification: I am not asserting that the entire list of 1,000+ n-grams below all will show up in Google searches like this. Especially the 4-gram phrases, many of them are very unique and do not show up. Many do show up. The results of taking random n-grams and searching often produces interesting and surprising results. Sometimes the surprise is that matches are found. Sometimes the surprise is that matches are not found.

Exercise 2: Google N-Gram Historical Trend Viewer

Put in your n-gram here. I put in “demands of justice”.

It’s interesting to see that this was a phrase that maxed out in terms of popularity in Joseph’s day. That’s not incredibly insightful other than to see that we as a modern audience of the Book of Mormon, may not appreciate how familiar this phrase might have been to those in Joseph’s day. It sounds kind of old to us, and we might naturally equate “old” to “ancient”, but this is a phrase that was Twitter trending, as we’d say today, in the 1810-1840 time period.

Royal Skousen and Stanford Carmack are doing great research into the Book of Mormon and how it was translated/dictated, and providing some really good insight into the Early Modern English (EModE) in the Book of Mormon. One theory coming from their research, is that the Book of Mormon contains so much EModE grammar and vocabulary, that it’s translation or creation date is more likely to be in the 1600’s than the 1800’s. Joseph simply could not or would not have used so much EModE. I’m obviously a hack, amateur research hobbyist compared to them, but this is what I see. When I copy/paste these 19th century phrases (from the list below) into this historical trender, over and over it produces results like the above. I understand there are a handful of phrases and grammar clauses that are real head scratchers, in terms of being popular in EModE and dead in Joseph’s day (especially “save it be” and “save it were”–very puzzling!). But on the flip side, you have to account for literally hundreds of phrases in the Book of Mormon that were popular in the early 1800’s that don’t seem to be used in the EModE period.

More Research

I think a lot of good research could be done with the list at the bottom. I think a potentially fruitful exercise would be to cross reference these lists in various ways against 19th century publications to see if there were any high number of hits with certain sources. Essentially, a more focused approach to what Chris and Duane Johnson did to identify The Late War and The First Book of Napoleon. This could potentially lead to separately identifying sources for S Voice (the first person “sermons” of Alma, Abinadi, King Benjamin, etc.) and N Voice (the third person narrative).

Another interesting idea would be to include all the non-KJV phrases and run the historical trender against them, aggregating them all together, to see what time period correlates to the average peak popularity for BOM phrases and vocabulary. After doing a little bit of this, I have pretty high confidence the average would come out spot on to when the BOM was published. I’m not sure it proves anything, but it would be interesting to me to see those results.

My Testimony

My testimony for those that are thoroughly confused by what I’m trying to do or think I’m an anti-Mormon. I accept the Book of Mormon as scripture. I believe it has great power to change lives and bring people to Jesus Christ. I’ve written several devotional type blog posts on the spiritual power of the BOM. I think the presence of 19th century Protestant phraseology does not prove the BOM to be “false”. I think there is compelling logic that can allow it to fit into any one of three faithful BOM theories:

traditional view, ancient record translated with no substantial expansion by Joseph the Expansion Theory: it’s an ancient record with significant expansion by Joseph, and not historical at all, and purely came through revelation to Joseph Smith, similar to other revelations like the Doctrine and Covenants.

I do not personally believe it’s historical. I view scripture, including the BOM, in the same vein as the Progressive Christian tradition. Marcus Borg:

The Bible is seen as a human product. It’s man’s description of its relationship with God. It is not God’s witness to man, but man’s witness to God. This is not to deny the reality and power of God. But to acknowledge that scripture, even though we declare it to be sacred and treat it as such, is human in its origin and full of the possibility of human weakness and error.

I agree with LDS Scholar Blake Ostler’s definition of scripture: “a synthesis of human creativity responding to divine persuasion.”

There may not be any one piece of doctrine in the Book of Mormon that’s unique. It might all come from existing 19th century Protestant thought. But in total, it is unique and brilliant and inspiring. Scroll through the list below, and you’ll find some Google hits and some that are unique. But in all (including what didn’t make the final cut), these are thousands of phrases that don’t appear in the KJV that have been masterfully woven into a complex, consistent narrative, which in whole illustrate a fullness of the gospel in a very unique way. Amazing. I wrote this about the Book of Mormon previously.

I view the Book of Mormon as the culmination of the Christian debates, which started with Paul moved through Augustine and Pelagianism, honed through the Catholic period, picking back up with the Reformation with contributions from Luther, Calvin, Arminius, Wesley, and finally Alexander Campbell’s restorationism. By Joseph Smith’s time, nearly all the great questions related to Christianity had been dissected thoroughly and it was appropriate to put a final stamp, so to speak, on all the debates. The BOM contains a unique set of doctrine choosing the best from the theologians through time. The BOM packages this up and presents it as the sacred story of an ancient people written in pseudepigraphic style. When we read the BOM, we watch the doctrine unfold to ancient prophets. We see anti-Christs or other bad guys like King Noah’s court take on the foil role to allow this debate to occur, or to emphasize aspects of it, like in the King Noah-Abinadi case the Law of Moses vs doctrine of Christ. We see an embedded narrative of God interacting with a people going through ups and downs, with the point of it all to convince us of the truthfulness of the gospel of Jesus Christ and the goodness of God. Setting this doctrine in stone formally as scripture as the Book of Mormon was important to anchor the church in the pure doctrine of Christ. This grounding allowed Joseph to reveal expansive doctrines such as eternal families, temple ordinances, the three degrees of glory, preexistence, eternal progression, and allows the church today to reveal new doctrine and policy and react to modern issues while being rooted in this core gospel of Jesus Christ defined in the Book of Mormon.

The List

Reminder: this list is of n-grams that don’t appear in the KJV Bible, that weight heaviest in the S Voice, that according to my algorithm are the ones most likely to be pulled from Joseph Smith’s world of 19th century Protestantism.

1-grams

spotless

restoration

happiness

plan

forever

consigned

demands

persist

racked

matchless

requisite

succor

awakened

penitent

shrink

harrowed

atone

preparatory

reunited

probationary

partaken

temporally

subjects

priestcraft

merits

encircle

existence

submissive

transgression

nothingness

faculties

unworthiness

exquisite

unalterable

procrastinate

consignation

snatched

opposite

reclaimed

abyss

recollection

2-grams

natural fruit

temporal death

spiritual death

fallen state

learn wisdom

marvelous works

high priesthood

endless torment

abominable church

secret works

eternal purposes

foolish traditions

marvelous work

unholy temples

last sacrifice

nowise inherit

became expedient

secret abominations

forbidden fruit

saved except

probationary state

mercy claimeth

preparatory state

sore afflictions

awful hell

awful wickedness

atoning blood

endless misery

infinite goodness

unavoidably perish

proper order

awful state

everlasting death

perish except

infinite atonement

seed forever

redeeming love

carnal state

humble followers

paid tithes

garments spotless

sing redeeming

darkest abyss

fellow beings

work righteousness

flesh becoming

eternal torment

evil works

eternal round

endless wo

found spotless

final state

righteousness forever

eternal plan

availeth nothing

endless happiness

narrow path

eternal world

resist evil

immortal state

natural frame

temporal body

clear conscience

choose iniquity

ending happiness

always retain

punishment affixed

between death

becoming subject

ending torment

unworthy creatures

exerciseth faith

preparatory redemption

thoughtless state

justice exerciseth

direct course

righteous covenant

eternal sacrifice

enemy listeth

bright testimony

becoming spiritual

mortal tabernacle

Supreme Creator

redeem mankind

becoming humble

published salvation

immortal body

suffer temptations

natural state

deny justice

state opposite

atonement bringeth

endless damnation

bright recollection

mortal frame

eternal despair

garments stained

carnal nature

everlasting darkness

tongue confess

blood atoneth

becoming carnal

immortal soul

spiritually begotten

justice claimeth

perisheth forever

righteous works

foolish ordinances

endless state

awful situation

found guiltless

chose evil

subjecting themselves

without baptism

awful chains

blood unworthily

miserable forever

awful guilt

ancient covenant

pleasing bar

choose eternal

everlasting misery

everlasting hell

repentance bringeth

merciful plan

becometh expedient

judgment bar

righteous purposes

endureth forever

baptism availeth

everlasting damnation

souls spotless

charity bringeth

damned souls

baptism denieth

eternal punishment

becoming wicked

righteous forever

endless hell

Eternal Judge

matchless bounty

become carnal

Supreme Being

awful dilemma

become subjected

became subjects

thoughtless stupor

remain guiltless

gross wickedness

receive eternal

humble servant

walk blameless

eternal bliss

granted salvation

human sacrifice

sufficiently humble

unavoidably remain

walk guiltless

whole frame

happy state

mankind became

awful death

eternal extinction

sincere repentance

unnatural state

souls filled

unconquerable spirit

eternal hatred

endure endless

evil nature

immortal souls

eternal happiness

infinite mercy

eternal misery

justice falleth

sober mind

eternal kingdom

suffered afflictions

justice cannot

hold guiltless

grave deliver

perfect brightness

eternal gulf

eternal destruction

unshaken faith

justice hangeth

eternal band

unpardonable sin

remained forever

awful misery

choose darkness

eternal welfare

carnal security

endless duration

soul hungered

unworthy servant

soul mourned

narrow course

naked soul

3-grams

plan of redemption

chains of hell

the mortal body

demands of justice

reason to rejoice

listeth to obey

in unholy temples

plain and precious

in nowise inherit

nowise inherit the

temporally and spiritually

is endless torment

retained in remembrance

bowels of mercy

this mortal body

workers of darkness

may learn wisdom

diligent in keeping

Lord seeth fit

must unavoidably perish

retain in remembrance

an infinite atonement

misery and endless

temporal and spiritual

tongue of angels

Holy Ghost beareth

the foolish traditions

not far distant

the humble followers

names were blotted

visiting the iniquities

plan of happiness

the flesh becoming

shepherd doth call

God placed cherubim

and eternal purposes

remaineth and dieth

their proper order

infinite and eternal

deny the existence

happiness or misery

mercy were extended

remorse of conscience

consignation to happiness

sing redeeming love

zealous to inherit

an everlasting punishment

limb and joint

covet thy neighbor’s

Abraham paid tithes

this probationary state

flesh becoming subject

doth rightly belong

nothing so exquisite

good shepherd doth

the darkest abyss

retain their brightness

racked with eternal

thou wast merciful

your garments spotless

kindred and friends

set at defiance

doth work righteousness

work righteousness forever

repentance mercy claimeth

mankind becoming carnal

availeth nothing except

be found spotless

most abominable above

abominable above all

of endless misery

Ghost beareth record

points of doctrine

heed and diligence

sin and transgression

equity and justice

judge righteous judgments

an immortal state

gulf of misery

vapor of darkness

children need baptism

mortality to immortality

mercy is extended

his eternal purposes

the temporal body

reason to suppose

full of patience

call your attention

state to act

a punishment affixed

clear conscience before

means of saving

judgments are just

whereby salvation cometh

stain our swords

imagine to yourselves

transgress the laws

counsel in wisdom

be kept bright

a clear conscience

mine Only Begotten

this high priesthood

and always retain

be found blameless

means whereby salvation

baptism availeth nothing

Christ redeemeth mankind

claim on mercy

every tongue confess

of endless damnation

a probationary state

unworthy to glory

no preparatory state

state of nature

have published salvation

offend some unknown

God executeth vengeance

should shed innocent

sin to happiness

forgive my unworthiness

to endless happiness

corruption does not

suffering pains and

an immortal body

mortal does not

plan of restoration

swelleth and sprouteth

will shed innocent

father Abraham paid

Melchizedek having exercised

souls did expand

should learn wisdom

exercised mighty faith

withdraw your purposes

dieth an enemy

justice claimeth the

your garments stained

probationary state became

everlasting chains of

its proper frame

penitent are saved

claimeth the penitent

pain of body

devilish for devilish

paid tithes of

stripped of pride

state of immortality

its natural frame

preparatory redemption for

the everlasting chains

transgression and deny

and shrink beneath

justice do awaken

racked with torment

child doth submit

creature and executeth

redeem mankind from

men drink damnation

to eternal despair

endless happiness to

sprouteth and beginneth

a Supreme Creator

reap the damnation

and endless torment

and mercy claimeth

mankind must unavoidably

mercy claimeth all

subjected the flesh

enemy listeth to

causeth thy marvelings

changed through faith

doth choose iniquity

misery to inherit

everlasting punishment is

spiritual and temporal

learn wisdom in

to redeem mankind

extinct both soul

immortal state that

foolish ordinances and

a direct course

bringeth back men

this preparatory state

to endless misery

this mortal frame

punishments are just

his neighbor’s trespasses

diligent and temperate

becoming spiritual and

breast with guilt

born of Mary

restoration is requisite

wast in bonds

wast merciful unto

Lord redeemeth none

his fellow beings

kingdom doth rightly

answer their prayers

cannot deny justice

carnal for carnal

state of thoughtless

die a spiritual

pains and afflictions

the foolish ordinances

spiritually been born

guilt and remorse

God ordained priests

work righteousness rather

thou wast entrusted

becometh an enemy

grant to exchange

dwelleth in flesh

reap the chaff

to sing redeeming

all mankind becoming

endless misery to

Creator a liar

dead bringeth back

repenteth and exerciseth

awaken his immortal

high priesthood forever

punishment is just

atonement bringeth to

infirmities in body

joy doth carry

satisfied the demands

mayest bring souls

corruption to incorruption

own carnal nature

spiritually and temporally

nature of happiness

garments are cleansed

patience these afflictions

trust there remaineth

your thoughtless state

did sing redeeming

frame doth tremble

a carnal state

a bright recollection

this corruption does

claimeth the creature

spiritually begotten you

mortal body is

carnal and devilish

state of dilemma

a preparatory redemption

state opposite to

garments are spotless

does not grant

whole frame doth

didst forsake the

deny the beggar

evil works rather

availeth you nothing

mercy claimeth the

sendeth an invitation

beginneth to enlarge

guilt and abominations

justice exerciseth all

remnant of garment

the enemy listeth

expedient that mankind

fellow beings ye

wicked spirit rooted

saving some soul

patience thine afflictions

mercy are extended

bright testimony against

exquisite and sweet

whole becoming spiritual

a bright testimony

cleansed our inward

also mercy claimeth

your fellow beings

garments spotless even

government doth rightly

mankind a spiritual

reap a reward

bright recollection of

chose evil works

state of ignorance

afflictions and temptations

a preparatory state

spiritual and immortal

hath spiritually begotten

Moses availeth nothing

die to atone

infinite atonement which

and learn wisdom

righteous judgment restored

mercy and endureth

wast merciful when

requisite and just

thou mayest rejoice

mortal body raised

shrink beneath the

endless misery and

thou didst forsake

a state opposite

neighbor’s trespasses when

tongue confess before

the atonement bringeth

happiness to inherit

mortal frame to

garments stained with

redeem all mankind

answer my prayers

this mortal does

retain a remission

guilty of priestcraft

his mortal tabernacle

justice doth hang

trump shall sound

misery and woe

flames are unquenchable

tabernacle of clay

appointed chief judge

justice and equity

perform their labors

the truly penitent

grasp of justice

breaketh the bands

singing and praising

diligence and heed

retaining a remission

that everlasting gulf

endure endless torment

reap eternal happiness

become miserable forever

needs have charity

the pleasing bar

mine ancient covenant

profiteth him nothing

deny the revelations

bowels are filled

tomorrow we die

given under heaven

his infinite goodness

to everlasting misery

and becometh expedient

and charity bringeth

such baptism availeth

sacrifice for sin

an endless happiness

atonement this corruption

damned souls in

becometh expedient that

endless happiness than

corruption nor incorruption

sins bringeth meekness

his everlasting chains

Holy Ghost carrieth

commandments bringeth remission

holiness nor misery

eternal purposes of

redeemeth all mankind

choose eternal death

some great mystery

need baptism denieth

have everlasting damnation

bringeth remission of

baptism denieth the

endure the pains

cleansed from mortality

tree whose natural

wast born in

nothing doth corrupt

everlasting misery and

wickedness doth exceed

saved without baptism

punishment nor misery

happiness nor misery

the merciful plan

youth his glory

great infinite goodness

where nothing doth

sendeth more witnesses

infinite atonement this

soul abhorreth sin

infinite goodness doth

temporal body in

an endless hell

truth and holiness

the eternal purposes

souls are racked

suffereth the pains

brimstone is endless

And charity suffereth

suffer pain nor

shall learn wisdom

the damned souls

righteousness nor happiness

eternal purposes in

faith becometh unshaken

denieth the mercies

charity bringeth unto

merciful plan of

an endless torment

ye remain guiltless

bitterness and bonds

becometh a saint

any conditions whereby

found blameless before

awful situation of

desires of happiness

a human sacrifice

condemnation is just

and cross yourself

garments were washed

are eternally indebted

becoming subject even

bodies are reunited

a perfect remembrance

may walk blameless

salvation draweth nigh

pure and spotless

transgression of Adam

becoming subject to

became a probationary

awful dilemma that

mercy can rob

burdens lashed upon

bringeth immediate destruction

can rob justice

becometh a child

can never die

space between death

apply the atoning

an everlasting hatred

always returning thanks

same drinketh damnation

withstand every temptation

whereby salvation can

but cross yourself

shedding of innocent

awful death cometh

be washed bright

amazement lest perhaps

appease the demands

raised to immortality

such foolish traditions

matchless and marvelous

which overpowereth justice

submissive and gentle

comes upon mankind

arms of safety

affixed opposite to

satisfy the demands

been sufficiently humble

may walk guiltless

receive eternal life

washed bright through

the awful dilemma

following its course

provided a means

filled with guilt

abhor such wickedness

racked with hatred

such marvelous works

truly penitent are

follow their course

a state contrary

becoming as Gods

space betwixt the

such gross wickedness

abundant mercy which

yourselves blameless before

become new creatures

worthless and fallen

bear with patience

always retain a

baptized without stubbornness

raised to endless

acknowledge your unworthiness

truly humble themselves

filthy shall remain

spirits which dwell

walk blameless before

the awful situation

mercy can satisfy

song of redeeming

garments are washed

garments made white

became lost forever

condemned to die

experienced this mighty

afraid to sin

became subjects to

walk guiltless before

an everlasting burning

be unprofitable servants

mercies and blessings

bringeth about means

arouse your faculties

experienced a change

became a preparatory

denying the justice

raised in immortality

raised to happiness

foolish and vain

foolish imaginations of

his natural frame

suffering great loss

answer our prayers

its proper order

committed to prison

who committed sin

their carnal state

wish to die

his infinite mercy

humble and penitent

great feast appointed

own carnal state

suffer whatsoever tree

endless torment did

penitent and humble

happiness in sin

infinite mercy to

mortal or immortal

adversary quickly while

redemption for mankind

carnal state and

consigned to bondage

should endure endless

4-grams

can in nowise inherit

nowise inherit the kingdom

both temporally and spiritually

wicked and perverse generation

white through the blood

execute judgment in righteousness

racked with eternal torment

both temporal and spiritual

state of endless misery

sufficiently retained in remembrance

I close mine epistle

the flesh becoming subject

becoming spiritual and immortal

repenteth and exerciseth faith

everlasting salvation and eternal

infinite and eternal sacrifice

mercy claimeth the penitent

eternal plan of redemption

mankind must unavoidably perish

all mankind becoming carnal

endless happiness to inherit

garments stained with blood

endless misery to inherit

everlasting chains of death

misery and endless torment

awaken his immortal soul

everlasting punishment is just

carnal and fallen state

through the atoning blood

lost and fallen state

lost tribes of Israel

strait and narrow path

mercy is extended towards

deliver up its dead

restored to its body

children need baptism denieth

trust in dead works

work some great mystery

everlasting gulf of death

unavoidably remain in bondage

state of thoughtless stupor

soul can never die

whose garments are cleansed

corruption raised in incorruption

bands of death broken

opposite to its nature

mercy he doth visit

state of endless wo

mortal body is raised

blessed and happy state

became a preparatory state

mercy can rob justice

soul could never die

apply the atoning blood

death comes upon mankind

shedding of innocent blood

demands of divine justice

this probationary state became

preparatory redemption for such

raised to endless happiness

flesh becoming subject to

resurrection of endless life

to its natural frame

both spiritual and temporal

mortality raised to immortality

to sing redeeming love

endless misery and woe

endless life and happiness

plan of redemption laid

wages an everlasting punishment

the whole becoming spiritual

to its proper frame

both limb and joint

every tongue confess before

proper and perfect frame

wickedness never was happiness

brought to sing redeeming

whole frame doth tremble

this mortal body raised

view this mortal body

natural state and place

every limb and joint

became a probationary state

devils and unclean spirits

state of the souls

sacrifice and burnt offerings

famine and sore afflictions

eternal gulf of misery

happiness in doing iniquity

comprehend the marvelous works

awful state of wickedness

ways are righteousness forever

choose works of darkness

committed the unpardonable sin

fulfil the merciful plan

deny the pure mercies

infinite goodness and grace

order and without mercy

scattered tribes of Israel

except he doth visit

infinite goodness doth bless

eternal plan of deliverance

preach repentance and remission

resurrection of everlasting life

man became lost forever

becometh a saint through

become high priests forever

nor means whereby salvation

making his paths straight

one flesh above another

lay aside every sin

rather than to perish

mankind became a lost

life became a probationary

like an unquenchable fire

bear one another’s burdens

saint through the atonement

being pure and spotless

remember his merciful arm

bear with mine infirmities

mankind must have perished

thus mercy can satisfy

song of redeeming love

restored to its proper

can satisfy the demands

none other salvation save

receiveth the lesser portion

putteth off the natural

less than the dust

plain and precious parts

everlasting gulf of misery

most abominable and wicked

state of awful wickedness

never would shed blood

endless torment did cause

shed tears of joy

light of everlasting life

how merciful and just

truly penitent and humble

overcome his natural frame

infinite mercy to spare

human soul should perish

to its proper order

through his infinite goodness

turn away mine anger

flame of unquenchable fire

mine arm of mercy

plans of awful wickedness

for charity never faileth

of hell stand open

gift of eternal life

can comprehend the marvelous

ordained priests and teachers

shalt be accursed forever

off the awful chains

God receiveth none such

in corruption must soon

broken bread and blessed

hope through the atonement

done greater iniquities than

tongue of angels save

hell are ready open

committing a little sin

fear lest my case

having a perfect brightness

him through grace divine

no variableness neither shadow

neither sense nor insensibility

mother Gentiles were gathered

moldering in corruption must

the very trees obey

receive any unto baptism

awful state of blindness

doth abound most plentifully

fully believe his gospel

heart delighteth in righteousness

needs destroy the wisdom

may work mighty miracles

bold in mighty prayer

shall obtain eternal life

neither shadow of changing

mighty works been shown

remember your awful guilt

vain and foolish doctrines

have seen thine abominations

strait path which leads

consecrate thine afflictions for

minded is life eternal

neither need ye suppose

narrow path which leads

everlasting hatred towards you

hell stand open to

Spirit ceaseth to strive

means of bringing salvation

considered that mine afflictions

consider themselves fools before

awful guilt in perfectness

precious gift of eternal

sword of justice falleth

corruption must soon become

sword of justice hangeth

first fruits of repentance

evil giveth a gift

Judge of both quick

given under heaven whereby

hell be shut continually

angels and ministering spirits

healeth the wounded soul

spirits must become subject

can in nowise deny

have died without baptism

continual scene of wickedness

forbidden fruit in opposition

soul shall never hunger

doth bless and prosper

have become free forever

fully ripe in iniquity

needs remain as dead

misery which never dies

awful monster the devil

mean the final state

my heart doth magnify

offer your whole souls

Ghost will bear record

marvelous work wrought by

most plain and precious

iniquity shall abound cursed

make my path straight

shrink with awful fear

under heaven whereby man

justice cannot be denied

moth doth corrupt and

thereof profit me nothing

created our first parents

pains of every living

praise him through grace

and whosoever doeth iniquity

offereth himself a sacrifice

only through the atoning

anything save he knows

natures have become evil

had become miserable forever

never perish as long

to work mighty wonders

escape before mine enemies

shame and awful guilt

of darkness rather than

perfect brightness of hope

soul delight in fatness

strait and narrow course

lucre which doth corrupt

death rather than commit

their state becomes worse

by some means fall

infused such joy into

bent their course towards

joy which none receiveth

eternal hatred towards the

small degree of knowledge

no lawyer nor judge

declared to every creature

oath and sacred ordinance

across that everlasting gulf

appointed priests and teachers

death and carnage throughout

light had infused such

ordained priests and elders

sinful and polluted state

much success in bringing

filled with exceeding joy

get gain and glory

fallen under the sword

discover to every creature

state of such awful

devise a plan whereby

none were consecrated except

did publish good tidings

and narrow course across

frame of pickets built

nearly the same course

but doth speedily drag

and marvelous works wrought

another both temporally and

doth speedily drag them

garments are white through

look steadfastly towards heaven

narrow course across that

an eternal hatred towards

cut off the course

everlasting life was lit

some means fall into

considering himself an unworthy

cleansed every whit from

for other wise purposes

darkness dispersed from off