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God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which, according to his abundant mercy, hath begotten us again unto a lively hope, by the resurrectionu of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth not away; reserved in the heavens for you, who are kept by the power of God, through faith, unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time.' Here Peter's inheritance is 'reserved in the heavens;' not to be built hereafter, but now being, and reserved 'ready to be revealed at the last time.'

"Again, Peter, in his 2d Epistle, 3d chapter, and 10–13th verses, says, 'The day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat; the earth, also, and the works that are therein, shall be burned up. Seeing, then, that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens, being on fire, shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat? nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.' Now, here Peter says that the old earth shall pass away, and that, according to the promise of God, we look for a 'new heaven, and a new earth;' not the present heavens and the present earth renewed, as the Mormons have it. To renew merely implies to change; but Peter says that the earth shall pass away. Again, John, referring to the same, Rev. 21st chapter, 1st verse, says, 'And I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no more sea.' Now, if there is to be no sea, how can the new earth be divided into continents? But the Mormons say there are to be two Jerusalems, one on the eastern and the other on the western continent. John goes on to say, 'And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.' He does not say that the city was caught up into heaven, brick houses and all made by men, and then let down again, as the Mormons have it, but, 'I saw the city (not two cities) coming down from God,' on the new earth. Further, in the same chapter, 22d verse, he says, 'And I saw no temple therein, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it.' Now, in the revelation giving directions for building the Mormon new Jerusalem, they are to build a Temple, &c., aud, according to Pratt's account, the cities are to be caught up into heaven, and are to be let down after the earth is renewed; of course, there are to be temples literally speaking. A great number of other passages might be quoted, to show the dissimilarity between the Mormon Paradise and that which is described in the Scriptures; but enough has been said to prove theirs a mere invention of the imagination."

Mormonism Portrayed, by William Harris, pp. 23–25.