Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1890-05-07

claims OF the Pope. OF OF any pope,
rs 10 the monopoly Of this Office.
The Latter-day Saints hold that the
books of the Bible were each sufii-
cient for the people % whom they
wee addressed and for the purpose
for which they were written. As
records Of G0i's dealings with man.
kind In ages past, and as prophecies
Of things yet future, they contain
instructions for ali ages and all
nations, but as circumstances
change, as new emergencies arise,
and the plans Of God develop, CON
tinued revelations are just as neces-
sary for the guidance Of the Church
as revelation ever was. "a religion
that excludes new revelation from
lis principles, is just the very re-
ligion that suits the devil g
for he knows well that God has
nothing to DO, nor ever had, with
any religion that did not acknOwl-
edge Prophets and Revelations.
through whom He could speak and
reveal His will 10 His sons and
daughters" (Orson Patt. The Seer,
vol. Ii, No. 5, May, lS5i.l Thus the
various views on the question may
be briefly stated.
The Word Of God, the Bible,
itself amply justifies, l think, the
position Of the Latter-dny Saints
on this important question. The
purposes for which the various
hooks were written; the difficulties
that present themselves when
the exact meaning OF many pas
sages Is investigated; the usual
dealings Of God with his people. as
explained In the Bible, and many
predictions Of new revelations, all
these facts give evidence Of the
Church Of Christ in this last dispen-
sation. What msn needs. is not
only Bible and genuine tradition,
expounded 10y an Interpreter in
possession Of the Holy Spirit, nut
he needs first Of ali and above
all a direct communication with
God, his heavenly Father. He
may study the written word humbly
and carefully, and thereby he will
certainly, through the aid Of the
Holy Spirit, acquire much useful
knowledge concerning religion and
eternal truths; he VIII, il following
the precepts laid down, be led on
ward and forward and attain
eternal happiness. But the knowl-
edge necessary for the work TO be
done in connection with the estab-
lishment of the dispensation Of the
fulness Of times or for the obtaining
OF the glory emanating from the
ordinances OF this dispensatIon, he
Will never acquire by his own study
OF any amount Ofsacred literature.
This statement may now lie illus
trated in some OF its details.
SCOPE or THE BOOKS OF
THE BIBLE.
III there were n single book OF the
Bible by God designated 20 be
a complete code Of law, all-suflicient
for all times aud all conditions. such
a fact might reasonably be expected
to be either expressly stated or
implied somewhere within the
covers OF the sacred volume. But
no such statement is to be found,
nor can il be shown 10 lie implied
when the scope Of each b jok is clear-
ly understood.
The rentateuch, for instance,
contains PRINCIPLES on which the
Jewish theocracy was founded,
dispensation that was, according 20
prophetic declarations, only TO last
tor a certain time. In the first
eleven chapters Of Genesis we find
few outlines Of the PatrIarchAl
iispensatiOn, and some Of the ordi.
nances Of that riispensatlon are re-
ferred 10 without any detailed ac-
count. The last chaptersof Genesis
contain merely n brief historical
sketch Of the transition from the
Patriarchal dispensatiOn TO the No
sale dispensatiOn. The remaining
books Of Moses las indeed all Of the
Old Testament) are nothing more
than an incomplete history Of the
dealings Of God with that one na-
ton which He had chosen for the
purpose Of communicating His Will
to mankind, until the APPEARANCE Of
the promised "seed.v But the dis.
pensaiiOn itself was n transient one.
The principles on which it was
founded must necessarily also be
subject 10 such notifications as
new dispensation would require.
Paul, the greatest Jewish scholar Of
his age, IS very emphatic on this
point. at 1.-THE Mosaic law) was
added because ~ tr.gnsgression, tW
the seed should come TO whom the
promise was made.1 Before faith
came we were kept under the law,
shut up unto the faith which should
afterwards be revealed. Wherefore
the law trds our schoOlniaster to
bring US unto Christ, that We might
be justified by faith. But after that
faith Is come we are no longer under
a schOOlmaster." Galatians s.,
"I0od) also has made US able min
listers Of the New Testament; not Of
the letter, but Of the spirit: for the
letter killeth. but the suirit giveth
life, But IL the n,iuistrstion Of
death 1.-THE Mosaic lawl, written
and engrsven In stones, was
glorious, 50 that the children " Is
rael could not steadfastIy behold the
face Of Moses for the glory Of his
countenance, which glory was TO he
done away, how shall not the
miuistration Of the Spirit be rather
glorious? For If that iriich
IS done array lthe law was glorious.
much more that which fcinainelh.'
Ill. Cor. l.
The laws Of the Mosaic dispensa-
ton have, according TO the same
apostle, no more claim or binding
force, relative 10 the numbers Of the
Christian dispeDsation, than dead
husband has to a living wife: ''For
the woman which has a husband is
bound by the law TO her husband rs
long as he livesi but IL the husband
be dead, size Is loosed from the law
Of her husband; wherefore,
my brethren, We also are become
dead to the law by the body Of
Christ" Rem. :.
Ofthe historical books Of the Old
Testament much need not DC said.
The book OF Joshua describes the
settlement Of the Israelites in the
Holy BanI. In the Judges We read
Of repealed apostacy, its punishment
and Gods mercy in delivering the
penitent. The books of Samuel
show the establishment Of the an
cient prophetic Office and also the
rejection of this Divine appoint
ment and Of God as he ruler, and
how God, yielding to the demands
of His blinded people, allows them
TO have n king. In the books Of the
Kings, 70 which the Chronicles
seem 70 be a Supplement-, we eau
trace the awful consequences Of the
revolt of the people against the
prophetical Office. until the nation,
after a short time Of prosperity I'M
der Da-id and solomon, falls 10
pieces and are carried away cap