Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1906-03-17

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| expressed and cultivated the noblest
| aspirations and most sublime Ideals
Of that humanity Such would seem
| 10 be the logical deductions from the
| broad premises named. Some such re-
| ligion as this logically deserves 10
| possess the world The facts Of the
case seem TO make some such religious
philosophy as this ine'hable.'
As to closed canons Of holy books
and miracles that transcend law
there may be some difference Of opin-
ion. The idea OF closed canon OF
scripture Is in cur view erroneous. If
God did ever speak to man by means
OF prophecy and holy writ, there is no
good reason and no known revelation
that He has ceased, or VIII cease, o
communicate further light. knowledge
and commandment.
That which Is called a miracle ne'd
not be violation OF law. Gravitathm
can be measurably overcome by force
that Is as much In accord with nat
ural law as IL that Of attraction The
remarkable healings and restoratlons
Testaments, and repeated IN living ex-
pe7iences IN the present age, are hot
necessarily in opposition 20 natural law,
although they may appear to trans
cend" Il. Water can be made to
run up hill. although In natural course
is to find It's level, aud the force that
propels It upward is just as natural
as the grayitation which carries II on-
ward toward the sea
The vital force In human bodies Is
not comprehendcd hy the most studious
physician. and experience demonstrates
that It can be accelerated by the opera
ton Of faith SO that heaimgs aud
restorations that appear TO be marvel
Gus may be effected, and set all that
Is done Is ga accord with eternal laws,
The manifestations that are called mir
acles and that are as well attcsted as
anything IN history will no doubt be
found to bc the result OF the operations
OF forces that are just as natural as
those which commonly appear and
about which we know little, but only
n little.
Leaving these points, however, is The
idea OF revelation" and that OF the
Christ thought" set forth In the para
graph we have quoted, TO be received
by any believer IN the revelations con-
tanned IN the Old or the Now Testl'
ment? And are we not really Depend
ent for all the ideas we have Of the
"Dlvine immauence," upon that when
Is believed TO be the actual communal
cation from God through chosen men
10 His children on earth?
Is not the Christ thought thus
communicated that Of a Divine being
incarnate, who bore our sins on the
cross and died that we might live? Ii
It not that He was In the beginning
with God and was God and aided
In the organiza ton OF the worlds? Is
it not that as death came into the
world through the sin of Adam, 70 HE
by the resurrection shah come to al
Of Adams race through the atonement
OF Christ as tho worlds Redeemer; II
this Christ thought Is pure fiction, a
myth, nebulous notion dissipated by
the logic" OF modern reasoning and
sO-called science, then the whole BIB
Heal idea of religion Is a lie and the
doctrine Of salvation by Christ may
be ranked with the fairy tales and
legends OF childhood or Of the dark
ages
Is the Church OF Christ "a human In
stitutlon?' Or is It an organization set
up by divine revelation? The history
OF the Christian religion establishes the
fact that II was set up by Christ Him.
self under direct commandment from
the Father. The human Institutions
which have succeeded II are not to be
regarded as that which lie Himself
built UP. They each contain, however.
something Of the doctrine and form OF
| the Christ religion and the Christ
church. and II Is that which gives any
degree Of color to the claim that they
are Christian,
a purely human institution cannot
| he the Church OF Christ in any sense of
| the term, nor can II be made universal,
no matter how much Of alleged science
and so-called philosophy may enter into
| It's theories and formalities. True re-
ligion comes from God to man, not
merely from man 10 God, The Church
| of Christ Is one which He establishes,
owns and guides. Revelation from God
Is that which He actually commune
Gates, whether by Hts own voice, the
ministratiun Of angels or the inspiration
OF the Holy Ghost
| The reasonlngs. reflections and con-
illusions OF men are necessarily various
II not conflicting, and they are not rev.
citation In any real religious sense, The
| drift of modern thought that Is dubbed
religious" IS away from true religion.
away from God, away from Christ and
| Divine presence. II may do for people
who cannot or viii not lay hold upon
| the great truths Of an actual living God
who is the Father of our spirits, OF
| His Son Jesus Christ who Is the Savior
OF the world Of the Holy Ghost as the
| Revealer OF the Father and the Son,
and Of the plan of salvation Instituted
by Deity for the redemption Of the
world. and who prefer human conceits
and hypothesis and imaginatIons, but
they fall far short of the glorious Cos
pei of the Redeemer and OF that COM
munion with Deity which forms the re-
ality of the true Christian religion,
ST. PATRICK