Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1910-07-30
NEARING THE Truth.

/ INV INV III
| .a..N -
one OF the most remarkable tenden-
CITES Of the present age IL that OF the
most discerning ministers 20 preach.
even from their puipits more and more
Of the doctrines OF "Mormouism
Thus. Pastor charles Russell. Of the
Brooklyn tabernacle, Is earnestly seek
Ing 10 ind the reasons why " Is that
the divine plan has a blurred and IN
distinct appearance to our sight. and
why tho various word pictures. sym
bols types aueeories and plain state
ments OF the Scriptures make, as he
| claims. "a very unsatisfactory and non
descrlpt matter OF the Gospel Of Christ,
one that is unsatisfactory 10 every
| body. one that the learned Of our day
| have repudiated entirely-an ambiguous
collation. that Is a source Of vexation to
| millions OF Gods consecrated people
| Note that these are the celebrated
preachers own words. and not those
| OF an Elder OF that Church whose mis-
| slonaries have been mobbed and driven
| for expressing precisely such senti-
ments as those Just quoted from Pastor
| Russell
This learned divine declares. more
over. that the "dinculty is that the
telescope was tampered with during the
dark ages and the proper focus was
| lost Since then. he observes. Chris
! tian people have feared TO readiust IT,
They have gloried in the fact that
they never changed the focus. How
ever. they have overlooked the fact
that some one else did change IT for
them long ago and that the unsatlsfac-
tory view we have gotten is the result
OF this"
strong doctrine this. and from high
Christian authority yet when Latter
dav Saint missionaries have quoted the
words OF Isaiah TO show that Christian
nations have changed the ordinances
and tempered with the doctrines Of the
Church Of Christ, the ministers have,
In general. denounced the Elders for
asserting that the churches had de-
parted in any degree from the Scrip
lures or that they were teaching for
doctrine the commandments OF men.
Pastor Russell, however, goes on TO
say;
can this. we perceive, Is exactly
what the Scriptures foretold. namely,
that n falling away and darkening Of
the understanding would follow the
death Of the apostles, but that in this
end of the age the darkness would be-
gin 10 scatter before the oncomlng light
Of the Sun OF Righteousness in the
morning OF the New Dispensation OF
| Messieh's reign
This IL precisely the message Of Nor
monism" to the world; and we wonder
1 both as to how Mr.. Russell discovered
| this much OF the truth and how he Is
bold enough now TO proclaim H.
And on certain other points. the
teaching OF Pastor Russell is likewise
satisfactory. He remarks that BROTH
| ers Wesley, whitfield and others were
also right in their proposition that
God was not content with slectng
merely a sanity handful, but surely
loved the whole world and would sure
ly give 10 every member Of the race
a full opportunity to come TO a knowl-
! edge Of Christ and 10 seek share in
the merit OF His sacrifice for sins and
an opportunity lhl ire ffti4fA7llHks
He undertakes TO prove, by reason
and argument. that salvation Is 20 be
practically universal who could
suppose" ne asks, that the Savior
would be satisfied with the result OF
His labor IL only about one in mil
lion. as members Of His Church. reach
the heavenly glory-land?"
''Who in our day could for mo-
ment believe the suggestion OF Brother
Jonathan Edwards. the great New
England preacher. who declared that
the Lord and His saints would. togeth-
or. look over the battlements Of heaven
at their neigh bors and friends and
children suffering an eternity Of untell-
able torture at the hands OF demons,
| and turn around and praise God the
louder on this behalf7"
who. indeedP Yet every Christian
church has both supposed and taught
the very things that Pastor Russell
thus portrays as opposed 10 reason and
Justice, and to the words Of tho Scrip
mre as we'll For. as the Latter-day
Saints have from the very first read the
Scriptures, Christ is 10 be the Savior
not only Of "the little flock upon
whom. He said, It was the Fathers
| good pleasure to bestow the kingdom,
| but that He is 20 be the Savior OF the
whole world; that He tasted death for
every man, and that His work will not
be complete till every soul that is
! capable OF reformation shall have been
restored TO that which was lost in the
/ fall OF man and 10 much more than
/ all that first condition could have
/ meant to mankind.
Says the Pastor:
Poor Brother Edwards had, we be-
| neve. but a small conception OF divine
| justice and divine love And his diff
! ficulty was that he did not see what is
| now 80 distinct and clear to Bible stu
/ donts. namely. that the Bible hell TO
which all humanity goes IS not a place