The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1901-08-05
LIGHT ON "LIGHT."

u the ldSL tLAllS dA aAl-N 4oE anu al
perfect God would ask or cOunte-
nance, that, even in support of a reli-
gion that might be in many ways ex-
cSil6nt, half truths or untTuthS should
be used in his name for its support
1 read in the Improvement Era for
July statement that in the morning
the sun entire glorious face has been
/ beaming upon us for about seven min
utes before we see il at all" The
writer of that paradox ought to have
explained 1T. That the sun is actually
shining full-Orbed in our faces seven
minutes before we can see it cannot
be true. If it is above the horizon that
length Of time before we see it the fact
is it has not been ''beaming' in our
faces-tOr no light can beam in seeing
eyes without a consciousness in the
brain behind them of what we call
light Did the writer refer to atmOs-
/ pheric Iefraction? Did he mean that
/ 1t tskes the light of the sun seven or
e ght minutes to travel from that il
/ lum mating body to u.s. Why did he
I not explain? Not to do 50 was to make
/ the magazine responsible for what is
! in all probability an UntTUth.
read in the Deseret News recently
an editorial called a Bit of Mormon
Philosophy" which set forth that a
! continental professor had discovered
( that while it is easy to apply the
/ &-rayS to the lungs of a person alive
/ or in a trance, it is practically impOs-
/ sible 70 apply them to the lungs of a
I person actually dead. This decision
/ was the result of many tests. The why
/ and wherefore OF the failure of the
/ X-rays to illuminate d dead lung is
| explained by the News. 1t says that
| according to the Mormon church doc
4 trines the ''VitaliZing principle of all the
| universe is the all-pervading spirit of
/ God. It is the life of ali things. 1t
/ proceeds from the presence Of the
+ Father throughout the vast domain of
/ bOundless space. In one sense that is
: God. 1t is an essential part of the
[ triune GOdheadl But that which is the
life Of ali things is also the light of
all things"
! The same writer has a sermon, which
/ has been often heard-in the big taber-
/ nacle, in which he calls this life-and-
. light-of-all-things the Holy Spirit.
. have heard him give that sermon sew
: erdl times, and have been impressed
! with the Stiffness and sOphiStry of il as
an effort Of the Holy Ghost. He, or it,
! says the light of the sun, moon and
| stars the light Of the milky way, the
! bOreaiis, the dawn, the lightning flash,
/ the light of the eye, the light of intel
! ligence, are all manifestations of this
] all-perVading Spirit that is called holy
But why stop? Light is the same the
/ world around and throughout the uni
/ verse. YeSl Then the light of the glow
[ bug, Of phosphorus in decaying wood
/ and in the sea, the will-O'-the-wisp,
/ the fire ball of the yardarm, the old
/ penny-dip candle, the match, the for
/ gotten oil lamp, gas, various electric
lights, the fire that cooks your steak.
! the fire that burns your house, maybe
destroys the life of loved ones, the
! searchlight that discovers the presence
! of the enemys ship, the flash Of the
powder that destroys ii, the explosion
/ tain and gives up the hidden mineral,
! the false light on the shore by which
the wreckers lure their victims to
| death-aU these are the same, and all
are the light and work Of the Holy
Spirit if this doctrine Of the News is
/ true.
| According to Mormonism, as inter-
| preted by the News, light is something
sent out into and through the universe
from the presence OF the Father, a
third part Of the trinity, the Holy
Ghost.
In the interest of truth and with no
disposition TO decTy practical Mormon
ism, I wish to consider this.
Light, as we all use the term, wheth-
er We understand it or not, is not a
ding an sich," as the German philOso-
piers say, is not a thing in itself, is
not a substance, is not material, is, in
/ short, nothing that can be sent out
from even the presence Of the Father.
/ There are two essential factors to
light. The first is motion, the second is
/ a nervous system and optical nerves,
or eyes. That is, for instance, the mo-
ton along an electric wire is in waves
through atomic or molecular matter.
1t IS so rapid that it passes without
producing that rate Of motion that,
through the optic nerve, produces the
state of consciousness we call light"
until the motion is slowed down. This
occurs at the CarbOnS or in the lamp,
or we see it where interruption occurs
in the current on the rails. This is true
/ CT ! ght, no matter what its source.
That is, waves Of motion in matter, at
a given rate, produce the condition
that makes itself apparent to the
healthy eye, and through that reports
to the brain. and produces a. state OF
consciousness therein. A man blind
from birth has no consciousness of
light. but a, blind man may possess as
full a consciousness Of what is meant
by 1.-The light that lighteth every man
who cOmeth into the world" as one
I who possesses perfect organs of sight.
The same is true Of sound. 1t is due
to wave motion, through matter: that
/ is, through the air, through water,
/ through wood, iron or other material
J bodies. Air, through which most
sounds reach our consciousness, is not
] as good a conductor Of sound as more
ture provides and we do not think OF
improved methods. Yet the telephone is
only such q method. A man in Prove
might yell forever at a man in Og-
den and never make him hear, not be-
cause the ogden man is deaf or IN
usually stupid, but because the human
voice viii not carry so far. But
when the Provo man sends his voice
along a wire carrying a current Of
electricity the waves Of motion set VI
by the voice at the phone in Prove
are carried to the ear of the man il
ogden and through the acoustic nerve
they produce a state of consciousness il
the Ogden mans brain that we know
as sound" The same is true of heat
Waves Of motion in and through mat
ter break upon cur nerves and are re-
ported to consciousness in the DraiI
as what we call heat"
That is, heat, sound, light, are no
thirgs in themselves, but modes of mo-
ton on one side, and states of con
seriousness on the other. Consequently
TO say that light, the lights of this
world of the suns and their systems
the planets and their satellites, the
light of the eye. the light of the volca.
no. the explosion. the gun, the street
and the cooking stoves are something
sent out from the presence of the
Father, that is. produced by the pres
ence Of the Holy Spirit, is entirely mis-
leading. SO long as those parts of ths
trinity are regarded as persons.
But the doctrine Of the News,
quoted above. is oDen 10 another inter
probation. To say that all manifesto
tions Of life in the universe are due
! to the all-perVading spirit of God /.
! pure pantheism, though the pantheis
would say the universe is God. If tn.
. News means that I most heartily en-