Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1898-02-08


of their children. leaving the latter to
cxtrIcate themselves as best they can
from the maze Of sikeptioism in which
they have been caught. lie concludes
as follows:
at is for us who still belong to a
generation which has both seen and
lived the ancient religious life OF the
parents to determine whether we shall
In our turn transmit to our offspring
that 'Ez Chayim,' that Tree of Iife,'
which served as the mainstay of our
ancestors In the darkest periods Of
their existence. or whether we shall
descendants upon the famous help thy
self principle. II the latter be our
choice, let us at least have the courage
to carry out that principle to Its logi-
cal conclusion; let us then say to our
children In all frankness our religion.
the religion of your elders, does not
accord with your ideas. We have
neither the power nor the desire to i'm
pose 1t upon you. Make your peace
with your God and your conscience
as best you cam and, that said. let
us cease to erect new synagogues. let
us close our seminaries of theology, and
let us dlsntegrate. little by little, our
ancient communal organizations"
The whole trend of the argument
the foremost Jewish thinkers the
nation is approaching one of the most
momentous crises of its history. And
what renders the situation still more
serious is the other fact that modern
Christianity offers no solution Of the
questions that confront a perplexed ad-
herent OF Judaism The Christians are
In n similar situation to that of their
Mosaic brethren. Uncertainty regard
ing vital truths marks the creeds;
skeptlcism alternates with blind
superstition; unbelief in scien-
tinc DISCUSSES invades the in
stitutes of learning and the pull
pits. The result is that although the
prevalent Christianity offers to make
the burdens" of Judaism easier in
most respects, 1t has no real resting
place for the weary wanderer. The
greatest mistake of the Hebrews would
be to discard the religion for which
their fathers suffered for the various
creeds that really received their seal at
a time when pagan philosophy was
substituted for primitive Christianity.
1t would amount to n calamity to
them, IL not to the whole human race.
Judaism still has within easy reach
the principles ofatruth which ultimately
are to supply power for the regenera.
ton of the world. 1t is impossible to
study the Torah. or law. without be-
ing impressed with this fact. When all
the various traditions Of men are set
aside and we penetrate through the
complex ceremonial rites and behold
In their full significance the moral
precepts. the statutes relating to proper
ty. to debt, to warfare. to courts of
justice and various social relations be-
tween man and man, we can under
stand the saying of one of the New
Testament writer's, himself a Jew: For
II the casting away of them 1.-THE He
brewsl be the reconciling of the world,
what shall the receiving of them be.
but life from the dead?" And this
seems to be the future mission OF the
chosen descendants of Abraham in the
world. 1t is to bring about a resur-
rection, as 1t were; a complete change
as from death to life. This clearly
cannot be done. however, by giving up
one error anu embracing aHotner. 1t
can only be done by returning to Is
rael's God in all sincerity and listening
to the Prophets He has raised up in this
age, as the fathers heard Moses and
the ancient inspired men. and then
dedlcatlng the. splendid mental, in
tellectual and material achievements on
the altar of Jehovah for the good of
the race.
1t may confidently be expected that
even the present crisis of Judaism will
lead to the accomplishment of some
such results. 1t will undoubtedly serve
to sift out the genuine Israelites from
those who merely bear the name. And
when in the fulness of time the signal
is sounded throughout the world, as
formerly the blasts of the silver trum-
pets from the mountain tops OF Judea
to usher In the glorious year of Jubilee.
the former will rally and wend their
way in exultant Joy to the home of
| their fathers. All the troubles of the
| Jews are due to the fact that they
have broken the covenants the Lord
made with their fathers when He led
them out of Egypt Deut. 20: 25). A
| glorious future is theirs from the day
they again are willing to return and
obey His voice Oeut. 30: 1-l0).
-