Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1871-05-04
DR. V ANSWER.

Ladies and GentleNeH-l am EratitfeG II
being permitted to appear before you II
oppose q theory which 1 regard false in 10
self and frsught with i~ncslculable mis-
chief to Our holy religion. / bespeal
your unprejudiCed hearing. For my dis
binguished opponent L entertain the high
est regard. I know him Il be 8 gentle
man, and I love him as q Christian. HI
honestly believes that the spirits of gu.
departed saintsd friends are our minis
teTing spirits and become angels. anC
that the Bible teaches that the spirits o
those who once lived here in the hesi
have returned and held converse with
men. not only think that the Bible
correctly interpreted, disprOves such &
doctrine, but / see this evil in it, whether
l.. @: Thousands will conclude that il
they have returned and held ~converse
with mOrtsls, they may, and do, still re-
turn TO instruct US, and the ultimate
conclusion will inevitably be, that the
tDOTd Of God IS not q perfect,
mai revelation Of cod TO man
and those who sympathiZe with DR.. Wat
son. am confident, in his views,d not see
this, but it is very clear to my mind and
wRnt to convince him and them of it,
during this discussion. l therefore re-
gard this a in some respects, the most
important discussion ever made by me,
VA ~ A1I SNAAeA AAA- A9- tAN4A4E ~
place before you, the positions upon
which I shall deny the proposition:
lst. That Christ is and has been from
the beginning, the LOgOs, ''tbe Word, and
the Voice" and the only being authorized
to communicate between the Father and
Adams race, to reveal to man anything
concerning the will OF God, or the future
Of this or Of the world to ONE He has
done this personally, and through one
$50 ~ - haua-- A-FnaI -
from the Cfice they I'LL; /. g. messengers.
Christ was the LOgOs, the Voice that
walked In the garden at eventide and held
converse with first parents, and He,
doubtless, appeared in mans likeness and
form; for voice He certainly had, which
implies organism. He made garments
of the skins OF animRlstO ClOthe the fallen
pair. He spake to them as q talketh to a
friend. He spoke to Cain, to Noah. to
Abraham; repeatedly appeared in the
form to him, as the Angel of the Cove
nsnt, the TestatOr, and the Priest Mel
chizedech-a type Ofhimself. He ate with
Abraham at the door of his tent. He
wrestled with Jacob in the hesh, in manly
form, etc, etc.
In addition to all these personal COM
muniCations, De communicated His will
by angels, specially appointed, and by
only TO the prophets during the
Old DispsnsatiOns. So constantly ala He
communicate through the angels to Israel
that 10 was called 1.-The word spoken by
(Heb. IL, 2)
Though he raised up prophets, men Of
like passions with her people, to make
known his will, yet these prophets were
specially instructed by the angels sent to
them from heaven, and were the servants
Of them, as Ras the angel that eOmmuni-
gated with John Of PatmOs, Johns fellow
servant. In addressing the Hebrews, Paul
God, who st many times and in
many places, spoke unto the fathers by
.hs prophets, hath in these last days
unto US by his Son."
For more than three years Christ, in our
iesh, walked this earth and taught the
race concerning himself and hrs kingdom,
and gave men the infallible aid of his
to record all be did and SAID for our
instruction n guidance. After leaving
he world, he made to John, the beloved
disciple, through an angel be especially
appointed, his last revelation Of all future
and so closed up forever any fur
her revelation OF the hereafter.
I wish to call your attention to the fact
hat in the whole history Of the race, God,
he Father, has spoken to the ear of man
)ut hTtce-onCe at the baptism of his Son;
on the mount OF Transformation:
nhnAA NADA Au BAah EA W bH EAgLltlGAs
see that Christ was the appointed
Word, the Revesler of Gods will, and of
be unseen, to man.
II, save His personal agency, He has
lvsr employed any other class OF beings
han the angels, TO communicate His will
o man, let my afhrmaut show it. II not.
hen 1 can, logically and irresistibly. con
dude that any communication made to
nan, not by the special appointment Of
Jhrist, is not the word Of God, and to give
iced to it, is not obeyinE the command Of
Tod to hear His Son, and this implies to
lssr Him OnLV. 1t Is to reject His Word
s perfect and sufficient for our instruc-
ion, and to be guilty Of the sin Of witch
raft.
1t is not permitted to the spirits of lust
men or Of wicked men, nor to the angels,
o make communication whenever they
lease. Of things which Christ has not
cen ft TO reveal touching the future and
Unseen world, or mans future here and
greater.
should man or angel add to the things
( the future revealed by Christ, the
leagues Of Gods Word would be added to 1
i'm. Christ has made his last revelation. /
ct not man dare TO add to It..
have said that Christ has largely used
be ministry Of angels TO convey revels-
.ons 70 prophets and 20 men. The ques-
on that next arises is
WHO ARE ANGELS?
Angel IL the name, not Of nature, but
flee. They were created to be ngessen-
erS-Gn0QellOi. They are a distinct order
creation, distinct from man, created
before man, perhaps were the som
I GOd-sang together az the worlds crea-
They are always spoken of in the
Masculine gender; always sons men, etc.
heir number Is uncounted-ten thou
times ten thousand-lO0 600, 00O-and
lOussnds OF thousands added, and over
lis host is n mighty angel, called the
rchangel Michael.
There are other orders Of spiritual
seraphim, the oherubim, prin-
palities, powers, dOminiOns-whO rule
yer the hosts of heaven, under Sod.
different orders must not be con-
.unded with man, or confusion at once
Should Ispeak of an instruction
nong the slaves Of Mississippi, Il would