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WORLD GOVERNMENT AS ENVISIONED
IN THE LATTER-DAY SAINT
“CITY OF ZION”
A Thesis
Submitted to the Department of Political
Science, Brigham Young University
in Partial Fulfillment of the Degree of Master of Science
Hyrum L. Andrus (1952)
PREFACE
In making a study of several historic figures of the past a noted American writer concluded:
A study of the memoirs of great statesmen shows most of them working under a sense of destiny not of their own making, choosing and applying expedients under its limitations, and thus divining the future which they are helping to make. The accuracy of the divination seems to determine the degree of immortality attained by the statesman, as of the writer on political science. Lincoln’s place is higher than that of Calhoun, not because he was a greater logician but because he more accurately reflected the titanic movement of forces which was to dominate the close of the nineteenth century. More people read Marx than Gladstone because the former more effectively conceived the inevitabilities inherent in the Victorian age.
Joseph Smith, a contemporary of Lincoln and Marx, also sought to divine the future and in his life’s work laid a foundation which, according to his own words, will eventually “revolutionize the whole world.” Some may at present challenge the accuracy of his divination since the experiment he undertook is not as yet completed, but time will prove the correctness or incorrectness of his claims. “When a prophet speaketh in the name of the Lord, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the Lord hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously.” If, however, his claims are valid and the foundation he laid of true merit, then Josiah Quincy, in his Figures of the Past, was correct when he said:
It is by no means Improbable that some future textbook for the use of generations yet unborn will contain a question something like this: “What historical American of the nineteenth century has exerted the most powerful influence upon the destinies of his countrymen?” And it is by no means impossible that the answer to that interrogatory may be thus written: Joseph Smith, the Mormon prophet.
This study is an attempt to determine the eventual development of the work which Joseph Smith initiated. In this undertaking the recorded statements of Joseph Smith, his associates, and subsequent leaders of the Church have been used, coupled with the Mormon interpretation of sacred scriptures dealing with the subject. The writer accepts all responsibility for interpretations made regarding future developments as portrayed in this study. It should also be acknowledged that this treatment is incomplete and in some respects inadequate. This, however, is due partially to the nature of the study and partially to a lack of definite information upon this subject.
I would be ungrateful, to say the least, if I did not here express gratitude to all who have directly and indirectly assisted me in accomplishing this study. I am especially indebted to Professor William C. Carr who aided me in the selection of this field of study, and who has meticulously gone over this material and sympathetically overseen its development. To him I am most grateful. To Dr. Sidney B. Sperry I am also indebted for his effort in reading the material and offering many helpful criticisms.
Hyrum L. Andrus
Contents
I. Introduction And Definition.....................................................................................................................1
II. The Nature Of World Events During The Establishment Of Zion As A World Power........... 10
III. The Government Of God ................................................................................................................... 21
IV. The Establishment Of Zion’s Central City…….................................................................................32
V. Zion And Israel’s Redemption ..........................................................................................................44
VI. The Transition Of Power To Israel...................................................................................................54
VII. Inherent Principles Within Zion’s Government: Religious........................................................67
VII. Inherent Principles Within Zion’s Government: Theo-Democracy .........................................75
IX. Zion’s United Order Of Consecration And Stewardships ........................................................85
X. Community Property And Its Management In The United Order Of Consecration And Stewardship...................................................................................................................................................97
XI. Equality As Obtained Through Zion’s Law ...................................................................................105
XII. Conclusion...............................................................................................................................................111