Mr. WORTHINGTON. Are you the author of
the book called “The Articles of Faith,” which has been referred to here?
Mr. TALMAGE. Yes, sir.
Mr. WORTHINGTON. In what way did you
prepare that book; by what authority; and what was done in the way of giving it
authenticity?
Mr. TALMAGE. I had been requested by
the presidency of the church to prepare a work or works dealing with the
doctrines of the church, and, after consultation, had agreed to undertake the
work, and thereupon received a written appointment to that effect.
Before the work was really begun, before
it had passed beyond the stages of making plans and drawing outlines of the
ground to be covered, I was asked to give a course of lectures on the doctrines
of the church before a large class of students; and then it was decided by myself,
primarily, with the consent of those who had appointed me to do the other work,
to combine the two purposes and to deliver the lectures in such a way as to
make the lectures take the place of the chapters in the proposed book.
Mr. WORTHINGTON. After the book was
prepared, was anything done in the way of submitting it to the way of
submitting it to the church or anybody representing the authorities of the
church?
Mr. TALMAGE. The lectures were
submitted at my own instance, and in accordance with my own request a committee
was appointed to examine the same. This committee was appointed by the first presidency,
and it passed upon the substance of the lectures or of the book in this way:
The committee undertook to decide whether the views there presented were my own
alone, or whether they were in accord with the generally accepted doctrines of
the church. The book was then published by the church; not by myself. (Proceedings
Before the Committee on Privileges and Elections of the United States Senate in
the Matter of the Protests Against the Right of Hon. Reed Smoot, a Senator from
the State of Utah, to Hold His Seat, 4 vols. [Washington, D.C.: Government
Printing Office, 1906)], 3:4-5)