Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1910-04-02

N.'NN' NAA ifANN W AAAA ANAf AAfN NNNAAHa 'A 80
tclligences.
but God. according 20 Mormon doc
trInc. does not create evil. tempt men
with 10, and then when not sufficiently
strong 10 Withstand the temptation,
damn them evcrlastingly for falling.
The only way iu which God affects
men Us favorably, that is he helps them
in their apprehension and adoption Of
the good. He does not. according TO
Mormon doctrine. create minds-intcl-
ligonces-for they are independent self
existing entities; therefore not even
God creates mans inherent nature.
As I have said elsewhere, he Is not
responsible for the use they make Of
their freedom. nor Is he the author OF
their suffcrings when they fan into sin,
suffering arises out Of the violations
of law, 20 which the intelligence" sub
scribcd. and must be endured until the
lessons Of obedience 20 law are learned.
Man has his choice OF moving up
ward or downward in every estate he
occupies. often defeating even the
benevolent purposes OF God respecting
him, through his own pcrvcrseness; he
passes through dire experiences. suffers
terribly yet learns by what he suffers.
so that his very suffering becomes a
means 10 his Improvement. he learns
swiftly or slowly according to the in
herout nature Of him. obedience TO law;
he learns that that which Is governed
by law IS also preserved nyv law. and
perfected and sanctihed by the same.
and that which hreaketh tho law and
abideth not by law but scckcth 20 be-
come a law unto itself. and willeth 20
abide In sin, cannot be sanctihcd by
law. neither by mercy. justice nor judy
mcnt Therefore they must remain
hlthy still" This conception ot things
relieves God Of the responsibility for
the nature and status OF intelligenccs
Ga all stages Of their development;
their inherent nature and their volition
makes them primarily what they are,
and this nature they may change,
slowly, perhaps, yet change II they
may. God has put them In the way
OF changing II. by enlarging their in
telligence through change OF environ
ment. and through experiences
CHRIST SUFFERED FOR MANS
TFlANSGRESSIONS.
There is a singular fact connected
with this subject OF moral evil-of sin
And that Is that the transgression NJ
the moral law entails suffering, even
as violation OF physical law may result
I'm pain. or sickness or death. The way
Of the transgTessor is hard. "Whatso-
ever "a man soweth that shall he reap
THE wages Of sin Is death" Not only
are these truisms, but 70 IL also true
that often the righteous are made 10
suffer because OF the transgressions OF
the wicked The innocent are involved
I'm the misery OF the guilty. No man
lives unto himself alone and he may
and often does involve others In his
transgressions. II Is possible for the
fathers to suffer because Of the sins Of
the children. II is possible for the chill
sins OF the fathers Many
father can still eXclaim as
David did over his wayward SON
Ahsolom. 90 my SOM Would 10 God
that I had died for three" This Is
one OF the difficulties that confronts
religious thought-the Innocent being
involved in the sunerings OF the guilty
Yet. from the midst OF our perplexity
over such n seeming injustice as this
there comes 10 US the mighty testimony
that IL Is not only possible but II is
a fact. that the Innocent can and DO
suffer with and because of the trans
grcssion Of the guilty, may they not
also suffer for them. since vicari0u5
suffering Is a possibility? on that pos
aibuity hinges the whole gospel Of the
Christ and the saving power Of the
atonement. II Is deeply written in
the experiences OF men that the inno-
cent can suffer with and because Ct
the guilty: and Il Is the doctrine OF
the Christian revelation that the inno-
cent can suffer for the guilty, as wit
ness the following testimonies; For
when we were yet without strength, Ia
due time Christ died for u.s. christ
also hath once suffered FOR sins, the
just for the unjust that he might bring
us TO Cod" HE (the Christi APP
peared to put away sin by the sacrifice
OF himself. So Christ once SUI
fered 10 bear the sins OF many; and
unto them that look for him shall he
appear the second time without sin
unto salvation" Christ also suffered
for US Who his own self bore
our sins In his own body on the tree,
that we being dead TO sin. should live
unto righteousness; by whose stripes
we were healed" II Is very clear
then. that Il is the doctrine Of the
Christian revelation, which doctrine. Of
course, Mormonism accepts, that
Christ suffered FOR mans transgres-
sions There Is Scripture evidence also,
could we but take the time 10 point 1t
ont, to prove that the whole scheme OF
mans earth-life and his redemption
was considered even before the founda-
tons OF the earth Itself were laid And
the Redeemer chosen and agreed uron
and hence was "the Lamb slain nom
the foundation OF the world Paul
announces ullNHtll as AANAAhH AiA AA'l'N
OF eternal life. which God, that cam
not lie, promised before the world Cc-
gan" The facts In brief are that the
time came when for the progress OF
spirit intelligences an earth-life, under
conditions such as exist In this world,
became necessary to them. To bring 20
pass that earth-life the union OF spirit
with earth element and attended BY
the experiences which such life would
bring. involved transgression OF law,
involving the race I'm sin and death
from which IL was only possible TO eN-
tricate il by adequate atonement be
ing made to satisfy the claims OF IN
exorable law In this crisis there
arose ia the councils In heaven one
great, sympathetic Soul who recog-
nlzed not only the fact that the iuno-
cent can suffer with the guilty or be-
cause OF the guilty hut for the guilty
and offered himself sacrifice Tor me
sin that should he committed In break
ing the harmony OF things In order 10
give intclllgences the advantages ~
oarth-lfe and It's lessons. The Christ
would make atonement Tor Adams
transgression. so that as In Adam an
should die. as saith the Scriptures, 80
I'm Christ should an be made alivei thai
since by man came death, by man
should come also the resurrection OF
the dead" And not only was this VIE
carious atonement made 10 cover tho
transgressl0n OF Adam. but 10 was
made 10 reach also 20 the individual
sins OF men. that they might not suter
II they would accept the gospel TIL"
doctrine Is better stated In revela-