Smyrna times., 1885-12-16
For the Smyrna Times
ApOoryphal Thought.
BY REV. T. o. AYREs.

beyond the bounds of reason and COM
mon sense, prompted, in part, by the
in man to break through
and gaze, and in part by dishonesty
and Unsuitable thirst for nOtOriety, and
in part as the result of an Over-wOrked
mind.
These thoughts are as stage actors.
They use the same clothing to do duty
in the representation of many charac-
ters. He who will take the trouble to
read the sacred books of ApOcryphal
thought, will, we think, discover the
fact that the thought is about the same
in them all. Begin with the Shaster.
pass on to the Koran, the Book of
Mormon, the Talmud, the ApOcryphal
Old and New Testament, the Spiritual
ist, the writings of Emanuel Sweden
borg, and the same line of thought
runs through them all.
In thought there are two lines-the
regular and the irregular. ApOcryphal
thought is always irregular, and is ever
found at work in the fields which lie
beyond the pale of reason and com.
mon sense. We have never, as yet
read a book of ApOcryphal thought
that could have been written if there
had been no Old and New Testament
But for the Old Testament the Tai
mud and ApOcryphal Old Testament
would never have been written, anC
but for the existence of the New Testa
ment the ApOcryphal New Testamen
would not have had being. Ha(
there been no Old and New Testamen
the Koran, the Book of Mormon anC
the writings of Emanuel SwedenbOrg
would never have seen the light of day
Their authors never would haV
thought of them. The honest, bu
OVer-anxious investigator works up t,
the bounds that God has set and thel
passes beyond the limit of regula
thought and enters the sphere of tn
irregular fields of thought, and specu
lates till he is either lost in the labyI
inth of his thoughts or works out
theory of his own and persuades him
self that it is true and that all Othe
theories are false. Such men as Cano
Farrar, Huxley and Darwin belong t
! this class. Next come the men VIII
thirst for fame or nOtOriety, such q
Thomas Paine, Robert Ingersoll, No
hammed and Joseph Smith. They ar
wholly dishonest. They will "ste'
the livery of the court of heaven t
serve the Devil in" They found a
their theories on the Bible, their book
abound in Scriptural extracts, as is tt
case in the Koran and the BOOK
Mormon. Next and last come the me
like Emanuel Swedenborg. The
start out sane and begin to study IL
sciences. Move on to theology, wor
too hard, strain their minds, lose the
mental equilibrium, pass the bound
regular thought and wander away in
the irregular, still honest, but insar
on their subject. Now, we say that
careful investigation will reveal Il
fact that one line of irregular thOug
has been pursued by them all
1st.-They start out with the Bib
in their hands.
2nd.-They begin to commune wi
spirits, angels and dead men. Th
God spake to them and made to the
a new revelation.
Srd.-They went about to establi
a new religion.
4th.-They all quote the Old a
New Testament.
5th.-They all have something NJ
to tell us.
6th.-They all condemn the ortt
dox churches and they all see wi
sorrow the low standard of piety a
discover that it is caused by the e
eral backsliding of the churches.
7th.-They all charge it to the ign,
ance or dishonesty of the clergy.
Read the Koran and you will see t
claim that the angels talked with \
hammed. Read the Book of Norm
and you will be told that the an
came to Joseph Smith and told h
about the hidden plates. Read SN
/, denbOrg and you will be told again a
again that the angels and dead II
!, talked with him frequently and free
Read the Talmud and the same ste
of angelic communication is told
the world. Read the ApOcryphal
Testament and you will be told
story of:: Bel and the dragon" r,
= the Apocryphal New Testament {
you learn of thenarrative of Ch
and the mule"
Apocryphal thought is a departm,
in and Of itself. 1t has followed
y customs and worn the costumes of
nations. 1t has basked in the sunsE
or shivered in the cold of every clil
Its first appearance in history wa
J, the Garden of Eden. It's champ
was the serpent, its audience was
and its subject was More KnOUle,
Eve was told to Investigate, to go
T. yond the regular line of duty
~ enter the irregular. To commune v
the gods, and learn good and evil.
"a was there and then that the schoC
apocryphal thought was founded
ruined its first pupil.
Enter first the school of reg
thought and stay long before you ]
E. over to the school of irregular thou
TO- Itwould have been well,fOr Mother
of had she never gone beyond the bot
I of the regular. And it will be goot
. you to live and die ignorant of dest
tive thought.