Los Angeles herald., 1907-11-29

vealed Himself to men in the days of ta
ratriarchs and by the prophets that HI
| established in the old law a ceremonial
| of public worship, and that this frs
great revelation prepared for the one whit
was to come and make known the per.
feet religion. Mankind from the begin.
ling had recognized the great sin of the
first parents and the need of ransom and
redemption and for centuries the religious
thought of mankind looked forward &c
the fulfllment of the promise of redemp.
tion and the perfection of religion in him
who was to redeem.
Christ is the pivot on which all re-
ligion turned to him, as Redeemer, the
world looked for forty centuries and to
him as having come and redeemed man.
gind the world looks back for two
thousand years
Religion Law of Nature
Religion is law of our nature; SER
vice to God Is fundamental to our very
being We are not then surprised to
find that God has laid down His law, that
He has appeared as teacher and that
man has always been able to know the
worship which was demanded of him.
Never has man been left TO chance. for
failure in the knowledge of what consti-
t;Ites true service to God would render
impossible the solution of mans destiny.
There is but one God and there can he
hut one true religion, and God in His
Justice to us must have made known
what it is and how it is to be offered.
This brings us to acknowledge that
there must be fixed principles of truth
to be taught and to be believed and fixed
principles of morality to guide human
life. The world has grown familiar with
the assertion that the religion of the
Culture is q religion without a creed
This means religion without a Christ, 1t
means the fashioning by the Individual
man of his own heliefs and practices, yet
Il is absurd to speak of any belief or
any practices without acknowledges
creed and dogma as found in the prin-
ciples upon which beliefs and practices
are built. We have grown familiar also
with the false theory that dogma or
creed is a degradation of intellect and
that no form in religion is the ideal re-
ljgious state. Such assertions falsely as
sumo that true religion is purely sub
jective and that dogma is not intellectual
truth.
Dogmatic in Condemnation
"People who inveigh most against
dogma and against infalliblity in relig-
lous doctrine seem to be most thoroughly
saturated with belief in their own ir-
fallibility and most dogmatic in con-
VI uOBIiid r<ilIIlllldNC QOBiltd
from religion and what becomes of NOR
atty? You reduce all moral action 20
mans will and as one mans will is as
GOOD as another mans will, you have an
ever changing reason for life.
where dogmatic principles have been
eliminated or minimized you soon find the
absenceSof all positive belief and an In
creasing disregard for the moral law.
What determines right or wrong? Not
mans opinion but a dogmatic principle
of rectitude. Truth and honesty are
dogmatic principles. We have grown ac-
customed to the specious and false asser.
tion that one religion Is as good as an
other and 1t does not matter what a man
believes provided his life be good and
useful. How are we to determine good
ness and usefulness unless by the light
&C positive principle and moral action
These principles must be true of them
selves and by themselves, absolutely In
dependent OF our apprehension of them OF
of our obedience to them.
I'm the old law, God spoke directly TO
the people or through His prophets and
Ills word was His will to the people. II
was religion with dogmatic principles
Of belief and practices, as may be seel
IN the Mosaic law.
Christ came to establish a perfect re-
ligion in spirit and in truth, religion
of love and not of fear, but 1t was to be
4 religion taught by Jesus Christ. His
teaching was full of the principles of
belief and precepts for practice. He that