The home journal. (Winchester, Tenn.) 1858-188?, 1884-04-02
Published by request
Truth Seekers Replv.

that God is absolute spirit" and, il
answer to my third, that God is DOW
err, is force" l infer from these answer,
that in his opinion spirit and force ar,
the same, and that God is not beinf
That has a material body and fills spac,
as we do.
IN answer to my second question, he
says "God may be apprehended, bu,
not comprehended." This is not yer,
clear Apprehend means, to seize to
understand; to fear. In which sense
does he use the termi If God /,
force" We cannot seize him with OH,
hands because force does not exist in q
tangible form like matter. As to an
pretending force in the sense of under
standing it, this seems to be impossible
But as to apprehending force in the
sense of fearing it, we admit it was al
most universally apprehended in the
Dark Ages, before the light of Science
Illuminated the minds of men, but now
the case is different.
In answer to my fourth question he
says the Bible of the Jews is entitled to
more respect as a book of revelation
than all other Bibles, because "what is
in the Book stamps it with Divinity"
AS an illustration, take the case of the
slaughter of the Midianites at the com.
mand of Moses. Says the story: 1.-The
Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Avenge
the children of Israel of the Mdianites. 4"
Whereupon Moses selected thousand
men from every tribe and sent them to
the war. Then the narrative goes on to
treat of the conduct of this war. You
may read the horrible story in the
XXI chapter of the Book of Numbers.
Heaps on heaps Of shrieking women and
helpless children were killed, while
thirty and two thousand innocent girls
were reserved for a fate worse than
death. All of which, it is said, was ex-
pressly commanded by God himself.
What do you think Of this story, Will
the ecclesiastical editor of the News saw
it " stamps the Bible with Divinityr
IL answer to my fifth question he
says, " No God was ever made in the
likeness of man and died Il sacrifice for
sin but Jesus" This is n strange dec
claration in view of the fact
which he admits, that "God is
Force" and in view of the fact that
certain priest named Zacharias, the
husband of Elizabeth, was tie father of
Jesus. No unparalleled man can read
the first chapter of Luke without being
convinced Of this fact. Mary staid
three months in the house of Zacharias
Just before :" she was found to be en-
ciente of the Holy Ghost" and this tale
was evidently invented TO allay the sus-
picions Of Joseph. If God was to he
the father Of Jesus, why didn't Mary
stay at home instead of going "with
haste" to the house of her cousin Eliza.
beth after this wonderful intelligence
was communicated to herr That mes
senger who talked to her with lie upon
his lips must have been from Zacharas,
and no doubt the unsuspecting maiden
thought she was obeying the will Of God
in putting herself in the power of the
priest. But is this sufficient reason
why we should believe that Jesus was
God in the likeness of mani
The answer to my sixth question is
very unsatisfactory. This question was
Us follows:
Do you believe the matter of which
this and all other planets is composed
has always existed, or that there was a
time when 1t was created out of nothing 7
This looks like a very simple ques-
ton, which might be answered by yes,
or no. But here is the abstruse answer
that was given:
~ believe space and time are func-
tions of Absolute Spirit and space and
time are conditions of the existence of
matter. Hence all matter is dependent
for its existence ON God"
| How can space and time be functions
Of Absolute Spiritf What does the
word functions mean in this connection !?
The dictionary says function, in a
general sense, means the doing, execu-
ting, or performing of anything and
that animal or vegetable functions are
the motions, operations, or acts which
the organs, or system of organs, are fit
ted by nature to perform" Now, how
can space and time be functions2 Yet
we are told they are the functions of
Absolute Spirit, which we have seen is
the same as God, or Force, these terms
appearing so be synonymous in the
opinion of the ecclesiastical editor of
the News. Then suppose we put Force
in the place of Absolute Spirit, and
Force in the place of God. The answer