Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1902-06-14

d Of another Spaudlng manuscript tina
: that now preserved In the 0berlIn col
Z lege, and by such suppositlons he man
ages to keep the untenabc theory be
) fore the public another moment
{ But here the reader IL asked TO be
iieyc that Sidney RIgdon, a promlnen
I Christian minister and scholar. en-
tered into a conspiracy with an Hitter
ate youth Of alleged bad reputation
to found a new religion. and that the
minister and scholar though driven L
this step by burning desire for power
and fame, needy took an Inferior po'
sltlon In The strange combination. We
are asked TO believe In o union OF
scholarship with ignorance, and schol-
arahip sitting at the feet OF ignorance
In the attitude OF disciple. And 10
such an alliance "Mormonlsm' Is
traced Sidney Rlgdon, II Is true,
though he In afler-years left the
Church, remained steadfast In his dec
laration that the Book Of Mormon was
true. Not long before bis death, pressed
By his own son for Matement con-
cernlns his connection with that vol
ume, solemnly reasAertid that It Is Of
divine origin. SO we have been as
sured by the gentleman himself who IL
not Church member But Sidney
Rled0n's testimony firm and UNI
swervlng must be discarded, we
presume, In order to make
room for an absurd the
Dry. The theory Is the important
thing with the opponents Of Nor
monlsm" The facts must be Whitfield
down. until they 1T into the theory.
TO follow the author in his story Of
the "Mormons' through Ohio, Mis-
souri,. Illinois and Utah, would be lin-
possible within the limits Of "a brief
newspaper article. n would require
volume OF at least equal size TO that
under review. The general tenor OF the
narrative can be understood from the
opening chapters. Il Is to the effect
that the "Mormons' were themselves
largely responsible for the mobbings
and prosecutions they passed through
on account OF their extrayagant claims,
their immortality and indifference TO the
rights OF their neIghbors. And, In the
view OF the author the "Mormons" are
stlll lnsincere. The problem" is not
yet solved.
To sum up, Mr.. Linn holds that
''Aformonlsm" was conceived by un-
persons who palmed II Off
On superstitious and credulous people.
II was continued by others Of a slmil-
AZ character. And out OF this corruption
and fraud, a system OF truth, force
u righteousness. power for good, has
grown
What is specially remarkable about
bis unreasonable reasoning is this, that
[ closely follows the lines on which
ONE noted Rationalists have endeay-
red 10 account for the rise Of Chris
mnlty In the world Those who refuse
o accept the divine mission OF Jesus
re In about the same predcament as
hose are who decline TO believe In the
wine commission of the Prophet Jo-
eph. They fall back upon the theory
( fraud and superstition In both In
tances,
We have before us a large volume,
ntltled, "Gesohichte des Rabbi
eschua ben JOSEF Hanootzri Genannt
esus Chrlstus' or history OF Rab-
1 Jesus, the Son Of Joseph, published
! Hamburg. 1881, The author has not
lven his name, but he claims that his
the only authentic history OF the
vents which he sets forth. And, curl /
usly enough, his line of reasoning is :
most Identical with that OF many !
'itics of 'Mormonism," {
He describes tie political and re- e
gious excitement of the time OF Jesus n
! particularly favorable to the rise of q !,
new superstition. lie introduces the /,
stimony OF an Essene Euphanius by y
line, to prove the blasphemous asser- b
Dn that this person was the angel OF !,
e Lord' that visited Mary previous to ii
e birth of our Savior. He, too, finds N
impossible TO explain the origin Of p
from the Iowly source, ~
manly speaking. and so he W
aces Jesus, previous to His Il
lblic appearance. In Alexandria, In in "
nate company with the Jewish schol- OF
and philosopher Philo, studying ca
sciences and healing. And =,
us equipped, the Prophet Of Nazareth pr
prepared TO commence His work. pl
'w the schemng priests think they Ga
n use Him for political purposes. in
icy consplre with Him for a time, so
I finally when their plans a
i, they cause His murder i,a
N this view OF the origin Of Chris
nifty, there Is no room for the mir. Je
llous All Is fraud, superstition. mis- Ia
derstanding Jesus We are told, did as
die on the cross. lie revived under as
hands Of Joseph and Nlcodemus d,
g disciples lied about His resurrec-
\ and ascension. As to the latter Z
mt. our Lord, we are told. selected TOD
ime when the top OF the Mount Of
YES was covered with fog. lie babe
followers farewell. and disappear. Da
In the cloud" directing His steps \
ard the desert, where in the midst aut
his friends, the Essences. He lived
remaining days Of His llfe. And I
such receptions, Christianity was not
ndedl That is the true" and "im- III
tiai" history of'a power that has /,
nged the worlds 80
nreasonable' Yes but not more so dor
n the theory that eMormonIsmn has
origin In fraud. The two are one. o.
neither can be accounted for sat. the