The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1896-11-02
At the Tabernacle.

On account of the gloomy state of the
day the attendance yesterday afternoon
at the tabernacle was much lighter than
usual. The services began with the usual
preliminaries and Bishop o. F. Whitney
preached the sermon.
Bishop Whitney in opening, quoted pas
SageS from the first chapter OF Genesis,
referring to the creation of man in God S
image. The doctrine, he said, that man
was made in the image of the Father is
one of the most sublime ever revealed TO
men. 1t has now become an almost dis
tinetively Mormon doctrine. The account
refers to the physical as well as moral
image
"A Turkish ecclesiast," he said, "once
told me that all western peoples inter-
pref the Bible too literally. He said
Christianity was of oriental growth and
consequently only oriental people were
able TO interpret it. 1t is my belief that
Scripture was intended to have a. tenn
poral and physical significance. At the
same time a spiritual significance at
taches to it, The creation itself was two
fold and man Is a two-fold being. The
second account of the creation says that
all things had a spiritual existence before
they were physically created.
Gods word, consequently, could not be
correctly interpreted unless given a spir-
itual and temporal meaning. Ministers,
he continued, profess almost horror at
the seeming blasphemy of holding that
man and God are in the same FORM A
Ged described, they say, is a God de-
throned. They have wandered from the
truth and lost the revelations which come
to the Lords people.
The beliefs, in this subject of modern
Christianity, are the beliefs which pre-
vailed among the Brahmin worshippers
in the day of Moses. The believers in
poletheism worshipped separate divinities,
the sun, the moon and the stars. In
Africa. where the Egyptian empire -four
ished. animals were looked upon as gods,
and revered and worshipped by the dark
skinned race.
1t was during this confusion of ideas
on deity that Moses arose and proclaimed
that the visible universe did not consist
of elements of deity but were merely his
creations. Those who believe otherwise,
consequently, get their inspiration from
the Hindoo and Egyptian priest and not
that meek. powerful man of God who led
Israel into the wilderness.
The Scriptures are full of references
to Gods image being the image of man
and the marvel is great that man should
and follow after heathenish philosophy.
Joseph Smiths doctrine was that God
was an exalted man, merely.
The Hindoo and modern Christian be-
lief is unscientific and unphilosophical.
Mormonism is in accordance with Scrip
ture and will never break down under the
teachings of theology or science. phil
oSophy," said Ralph Waldo Emerson sis
merely the attempt of a human mind to
understand the origin of the universe -
We need not pin our faith to present sci
entific standards, for we have Surer an
Choir for our faith. Mormonism is the
fountain of poetry, of sublimity, of phil
osophy and science. A beautiful and per
feet harmony holds together and enwraps
all the principles of Mormonism. Do not
take science as an infallible guide Do
not take mans philosophy and reasoning
as an infallible standard OF faith There
is only one infallible guide. the one that
illumined the mind Of the simple shepherd
1.s00 years before Christ It is the inspir-
alton Of the Lords spirit.
Those who declaip1 against the alleged
lack of science in Mormon beliefs ask us
to believe flagrantly unscientific and
heather doctrines. Their own beliefs
crumble before the logic of Mormonism
They assert that this planet was created
out Of nothing doctrine opposed to all
the teachings of theology, reason and
philosophy.
Nothing now existent was created by
God. All things are eternal and indie
an organizer of elements and not crea-
tor Of them. Plato's philosophy on the
creation of man was the philosophy of
joseph Smith. The only difference is that
the prophet was led by the divine spirit
while Plato sought the origin of things
through human reason.
The Mormon people do not hinge their
whole faith on a book. They look to
new revelation for new light Socrates
himself said that man could not under
stand the things of God by human wis
dom. Men are great perverters of truth
and need constant reminding in order to
preserve the truths which they now pos
SeSS