The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1899-02-27
WARREN FOSTER A PREACHER
THE PoPULIsr EDITOR SPEAKS
AT THE SYNAGOGUE.
Disbelief That the Bible Is the In
spired Word of God-Wealth and
Poverty.

Warren Foster, editor of Living Is
sizes, delivered lecture at the Jewish
synagogue last night, his subject being
taken from Paul, Prove all things;
hold fast to that which is good" a fair
sized audience was present and listened
with interest to the religious views OF
the well-known agitator.
Taking up the Bible he expressed
disbelief in the doctrine that it is the
inspired word of God. AS to the mir
acleS, he sized up the Jonah and the
whale story" as fabrication written
for the amusement of children. He
thought that if the fellow who wrote
it could wake up and learn that 1t has
been taken as the inspired work of God,
he would certainly faint, for he didn'
believe it himself. The proverbs OF
Solomon contain many good things.
Jesus looms up as the greatest re-
former of his day Referring to Christ 5
words, I'VE have made my place den
of thieves" the speaker thought that
if he should come again he would ind
a similar condition even in Salt Lake
City. The speaker likened Christ S
preaching against bigotry, but thought
ii bad thing when he taught the doc
trine of damnation, especially because,
err, it had been Mr.. Fosters misfortune
TO be shaken over he'll many times.
Christ's consideration for the widows
mite presents a striking contrast 10 the
laws OF this country. which are not
made according to that idea, but on the
basis of dollars and cents. ROckefel-
Ter. by taking a gallon of oil from the
widow, does her more harm than his
millions do him good.
Coming to Christ's admonitiOn to the
woman when he fcrgave her and COM
manded her TO go and sin no more. Mr..
Foster made an application to local af-
fairs, saying: I'VE live in a very pious
city, Salt Lake. so very pious that one
Is afraid to say his soul is his own, if
he wants TO do any business, and yet
when some woman. like the one who
came to Jesus, appears in police court,
what does the judge say? Divide up
your profits and not, as Jesus said,
to go and sin no more, but go and sin
again as much as you please, if you
come back and divide up the profits
again
Mr.. Foster wondered what the city
would do for money if the saloon
keepers and everybody became sober
and religious. He admonished his
friend Scott Anderson, who was in the
audience, not to make any more tenn
perance lectures, for if everybody be-
came converted there would be no
more money to run the city.
The speaker said that sIIepticism was
growing in the country, and thought
that the reason the people are ignoring
the Bible is because the claim is made
that it is the inspired work of God.
Here he applied the text, Prove all
things; hold fast to that which is
good There are some fish in Utah
lake called mullet, and they are the
finest, think, but am not advertising
mullet fish. They are very bony. Do
you say I must eat fish, bones and all?
So with the Bible. One should prove
what is in it; hold fast to what is good
and cast the worthless aside. All
progress and improvement. he declared.
had been made by proving all things
and holding fast to what is good. In
political way men hold to party and
refuse to stop and consider. If new
ideas are introduced, instead of proving
them and holding to what is good, they
cling to the old thing. In studying eco
Monies and religious conditions, he had
some times become pessimistic, and yet
often all felt optimistic and expressed
faith in slow Improvement as corals
build their shells.