Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1890-10-07
FAITH AND REASON.

the revelation itself be proved to
reason? Is faith itselfreasonable?"
The fallacy evidently implied IN
these questions Is this: Some oil the |
fundamental facts revealed are such |
that they cannot be demonstrated
IN the human reason, there
fore. they are unreasonable and
mus. be rejected; faith in them Is
unreasonable
For instance, the existence Of
personal God, the incarnation
a coming retrIbutian, etc, are re-
veaIe.i facts. But because they can
not be demonstrated 10 the human
reason in the same way as mathe-
matical propositions, men are Jusd-
fled In rejecting them rs uareason-
able.
Although this faliacy is very COM
mon among the modern agnosues,
II Is one that should never be adj
mitted by anybody who is capable
of reasoning at all. There are very
few facts, indeed, II any, outside OF
the strictly mathematical domain
that can be demo nstratcd. Locke
thought that IL would he easy
enough to demo nstrate moral truths
IL signs, analogous TO those USED IN
,,s,b,-natics- could be invented, but
that great philosopher died without
having invented the needed arbitra-
nv sigus. and since his time no one
has even attempted the experiment
But must all moral truths bsir,;jeeted
because they cannot be mAthemati-
cally demonstrated?
Tn. fact is that ths truths with
which revelation deals are IN them
selves reason able, 50 u speak, par
e1cegeacs. Through gevelation we
receive knowledge Of truths which
our own unaided reason could not
discover. But once discovered, they
are apparent, even to human reason.
Is there, for instance, any reasonable
way Of explaining the existence 0!
the universe, our own existence,
our consciousness, and other facts,
except by the accounts given thereof
in the revelations Of God? Were II
not sCr these revelations, We might
nave yet been in the SAINT
state Of knowledge, OF, rather
ignorance Ia which the heather
philosophers OF Hindustan were
who were satisfied with tn
! sup2osition that the world reste.
upon a large elephant supported b.
anenormous frog, which again. reste'
on, nobody knew what. Or W
might have hal to content Ourselve
with the idea held by the old sage
} of Scandinavia who held that IN
Garth had been formed from tn
body OF a dead man, the skull an
the bones supplying materials fc
mountains, the blood for rivers an
oceans, the beard and hair for forest
grass and flowers. How reasonable
how easy to comprehend are not Ii
declaration Of revealed religion con
uared to all those crude ideas: SEQ
> male the heavens and the earth?
Everybody, even n child ca
Understand and accest tina
:, and the greatest sage VIII
= ever lived can say nothin
beyond that clearly expressed trut
l. And as the revelations further nj
fold and tell US OF the reason VIII
God made the universe and g5'
/" living beings an existence, light
&c shed upon every subject until ii
e keenest Intellect that ever aiorn'
- q human being IS satisfied.
As evidence Of this, it may
a stated that men endowed with q
IA greatest intellectual faculties hs'
," always been believers in the revel
tons. Even II VIC pass by the 10
glorious array Of men Of God whC
;" lives illumine the pages Of histo
~ from Adam down to the son Of Go
as and, in our own day, to Jose
'. Smith the prophet, We Fl
men like Locke, Pascal, Linnael
II Isaac Newton, aud numerous Othe
accepting firmly the revealed fac
ami they were all men who, in In
"a various branches, never were e
=. passed..
lc' Il may be true. that some Of
= facts which have been revealed
'' OF such a nature that they "a Il
be comprehendei except 10y a higl
enlightened reason, and SOME
L.. even such that they eau never
!, fully understood by man in his Pl
ent state OF intellectual developms
Man is advancing, and some Of
=, revealed facts WIZ lie plain o
- when a higher state Of perfect
has been reached. BIt thes {:
are Just as reasonable - d.
which We uuders nr'i now, arl
= wisdom j. TO ACCEPT them ~ IA
81 until we can comprehend them
- more perfected intellectual iacIli
\ child meets on IL entra
p, iut1 this worIi great mauy {
which cannot he e<plainec to
- undavelUpeI reason OF \ child.
- rs it grows these facts will bsci
/, plata. And in the meantime it
- receive through faith the a,e:n'
Of It's parents AMI these, althol
~ =. not fully understood, will help
the attainment of knowledge
!. ' reflection OF the uaieve loped
ulties. The relation between
'fN aui man. between faith ami resl
- are -ery much the same - Il
given here ia illustration. Thro
revelation God tells Us truths vi
" sye could not yet otherwise disco
- We accept them, and ore by q
enablei 10 20 forward from kn'
e,ige 10 knowledge until we, In
words Of the Apostle, are in a !
''' tiou .-to know as We are known.
ep:s ''' ~
More "MOrmons" Arrested
roor Paris, Idaho, Oct. 6.-Thi= a
.sro noon United States Marshal f-h