The following is a poem written by Eliza R. Snow on the occasion of the
birth of David Hyrum Smith, the last child of Joseph and Emma Smith. It is of
importance, theologically, as it explicitly teaches that “little children are
whole” (to borrow
from Moroni 8:8):
Sinless as celestial
spirits
Lovely as a morning flow'r,
Comes the smiling
infant stranger
In an evil-omen'd hour.
In an hour of
lamentation --
In a time -- a season when
Zion's noblest sons
are fallen,
By the hands of wicked men.
In an hour when peace
and safety
Have the civil banner fled
In a day when legal
justice
Covers its dishonor'd head.
In an age when saints
must suffer
Without mercy or redress;
Comes to meet a
generation
That has made it fatherless.
Not to share a
father's fondness
Not to know its father's worth --
By the arm of
persecution
'Tis atroke of thy
bereavement,
Zion's pathway seem'd to cross!
Till in childhood
thou had'st known him,
Had the age, thy father spar'd;
The endearment of
remembrance,
Though thy life time thou had'st
shar'd.
Thou may'st draw from
love and kindness
All a mother can bestow;
But alas! on earth, a
father
Thou art destin'd not to know!
Nauvoo, Nov. 24th,
1844. (Eliza R. Snow, "Lines written on the birth of an infant son of Mrs.
Emma, widow of the late General Joseph Smith," Times and Seasons 5, vo. 22 [December
1, 1844]:735)
This flies in the face of many false theologies, including Reformed
theology and the “T” of TULIP (Total Depravity). For an exegesis of common “proof-texts”
for this doctrine as well as the other tenets of such a blasphemous theology, see:
Response to a Recent Attempt to Defend Imputed Righteousness