The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1898-12-26

was sung by the full choir, with ac-
compartment by Master Roy Williams,
the young violinist. A special feature
of the mass was the "Veni Crater"
rendered by Mrs. j. Hal Moore.
The "Benedictus" was rendered by
Crawford, and the Adeste F'idelis,'' by
Miss Kinsella and j. P. Murphy. Other
soloists were Miss Sinclair, Mr.. G. H.
West and Mr. z. F. Stolzenberger. Miss
Grace Davi sang an Agnes Del" by
Willard.
The music was very fine. The dis
course was by Bishop Seaman, who
said, in part:
My dear brethren: The Christian
world commentaries today the birth of
Jesus Christ, the founder of Christi
anity. There was nothing remarkable
about his birth, except that owing to
the extreme poverty of his parents, it
occurred in the midst of the most pitt
full and distressing circumstances, re-
lieved only by the sweet sounds of ce-
lestial voices singing, GLORY to God in
the highest, and peace on earth to men
of good will" These incidents of his
birth attracted for a time some local
attention, but were soon forgotten. We
hear but little more about this child
of poverty until ne was Il years of age,
when we find him in the magnificent
temple of Jerusalem disputing with the
aged priests and learned doctors of the
! law, whom he COMPOUNDED and silenced
by his profound knowledge and sublime
| wisdom. This remarkable incident, too,
was soon forgotten, and very probably
he would have attracted no further
public notice were it not that at the
age of 80 he publicly announced that
he was the only begotten and eternal
son of God, with whom he was one in
essence, power and glory-that, in fact,
he was the very creator of the heavens,
of the earth and of all things, for it is
/ thus st. John, the beloved disciple, in
the opening part Of his gospel, defines
his claim.
! Jesus Christ made the greatest and
boldest claim that any being could pos
| sibly make, but he took good care to
establish and maintain his right to it
| by giving the greatest possible proofs
/ These proofs bearing the seal of the al
mighty force reason into a dilemma, it
must either accept Jesus Christ as God
| or reject him as such, and must stand
the consequences of taking either horn
| If human reason rejects Jesus Christ
as God, then his claim to be God must
be false. How, then, can reason ac-
count to itself for the Almighty pos
sessed by him and which he exercised
!
claim? Then the God of truth must
have loaned his power to confirm q
falsehood and to impose it for all time
on manl1ind-his children. The best
and noblest of whom have been, there
by, not only induced, but positively
commanded to practice idolatry-tC
give to a mere creature, an imposter
the worship, the honor and glory thai
inalienably belong to God himself Is
such the idea that reason gives us OF
God? Or will it dare to hold that suct
a deceltful and deceiving God can have
any real existence?
If Jesus Christ is not God, then ht
was a mere mana creature-and The
Almighty Creator noh only permitted
but empowered and authorized him Il
deceive the best and most intelligent o.
our race ever since, and to bind then
in the letters of a false religion tina
has caused, still causes and will con
tinue to the end of time to cause tn,
i destruction of thousands of our fellow
beings in the lying cause of his as
sumed divinity.
If Jesus Christ is not God, then w,
should recover the liberty of our ma
tural inclinations, which he thyart-~l-
of our dreams of worldly pleasures anC
happiness, which he has forbidden-o
the fascinating worship Of the power