Show anniversary OF THE PROPHETS BIRTHDAY TODAY december is the anniversary niver sary of the birth of joseph smith the founder under god of the church of jesus christ of lat ter day saints the development of the religious community he was instrumental in establishing n g has been phenomenal and their history constitutes one oae of the marvels of the age the prophet joseph was a great brex character for even aside from religious considerations no man of ordinary calibre could wield an in fluence so potent as he has baa done it is exhibited not only in leading so many thousands of people to adopt the views and principles he enunciated but in the opposition which the mention of his name usually arouses everywhere outside of those who believe in the divine ofes mission it is equal to the an that was awakened by M allusion to the nature and mission h of christ in the early ages during the first century of the spread of ef christianity was he be really a prophet with a divine mission this is an important question affecting the hosts of men everywhere to ofir our view no man ever entitled to be so designated has ever given greater proofs proof of the genuine character of his claim intha in that regard the evidences exist everywhere and assume every conceivable cei vable shape even scientists are unwittingly testifying to the valid character of his prophetic power this for instance has been strikingly exemplified by professor jos joe rhodes buchanan ot of boston a noted scientist wh who claims to be able to predict future occurrences of groat great moment by a H scientific process known as city the manner in which h sustains the claim to inspiration put v forth by joseph smith is that the professor in almost every instance does no more than parallel with his predictions the prophetic utter ances of the founder of the acmor mormon church made over a half q century previous iotis in relation to occurrences curren ces that were to te take place 2 before the generation in which they were uttered bad entirely did off this parallelism is exhibited in an article heretofore alluded to in the NEWS written by professor buchanan in may 1890 and pub dished in a leading magazine the arona arena in august last he predicts predicta that the united states is ap preaching a climax in affairs that thai will throw all events in the history of the nation into the shade it will be in the character of an internecine war of surpassing horror which will virtually cause the struggle of the rebellion to go into forgetfulness he draws drawe attention to its causes the anger of the muses masses against the combinations of capital for purposes connected with the rapid accumulation of wealth and the restating resisting power of labor organ iced into counter combines the extremes of wealth and poverty which the people will not tolerate he also cites the condition of the farm ers ere through large sections of the country and the wrath betrayed by their incendiary language he does not omit to speak of the discordant condition of religious elements and nd the probability of bf a ram race conflict forming a portion of the approaching struggle finally the professor says it will be a labor and capital war intermingled with a religious element of discord and with a mixture of the race question from the presence of a powerful negro element confronting caucasian 11 joseph smith not only predicted such a situation over half a century ago as among the situations that would exist within the limits of the generation living while he uttered the prophetic words but pointed out the same causes as those to which the scientific predictor points with out being aided by their existence chose baus causes themselves were a part of what was foretold by the prophet fhe following delivered in 1831 1881 has reference to the combinations that would be formed as introductory to a social cataclysm Doe doctrine trine and covenants page 6 1 and behold it shall come to paw pass th that at tn my y servants shall be sent forth to the east and to the the north and to the south and even now let him that goeth to the east touch teach them that shall be converted to flee to the west and this inconsequence in consequence of that which is in coming upon the earth and of secret combinations again the prophet nephi in the book of mormon page says regarding our times for the time speedily cometh that the lo 10 lod d shall cause a anye i great tt a division among the people and the a wicked shall he be destroy P the same work tha record of the ancient I 1 inhabitants bithis of this continent 9 speaking through the prophet moroni regarding the people in this land in our day tells of the terrible coD consequences sequences of the organization and operations of combinations to obtain power and gain they are ascribed bed on page and are denounced as destructive of the liberty of all people among whom they exist ABO ap bs dmn warning la Is uttered respecting them and the people to whom the words refer are ad admonished moni shed to be beware ware when hen they see gee such combinations which shall be among you thus what the scientific prophet points to as indicative of the approach of a great civil strife in this country was clearly portrayed as future conditions dit ions through the great religious prophet of the nineteenth century not only did the latter foretell the approaching struggle as ae within the limits of the present generation 4 when every maws mana hand band should be against his hia neighbor 11 1 but that the dae elders elden of the charah of jeus jesus christ of latter day saints when the fate of the nation should seem to hang by a thread would lift the standard of freedom and with the aid odthe upright and patriotic citizens of the land reestablish the country on a constitutional basis and bring order out of social ebaos chaos one thing Is elear clear if the learned boston scientist to is a correct pre dieter dicter of future events rby by a process then joseph smith is 18 a true prophet from a religious standpoint in this regard taking the book of mormon predictions science is over 1400 years behind revelation while those directly enunciated by joseph smith make the relative distance between from 50 to 70 years there are other predictions by the distinguished professor that are still more striking as parallels to the prophesies of joseph smith than that which refers to what he claims shall he one of the greatest and most sanguinary social struggles in the history of the world and if they be taken as correct they all in their line bear witness that a great raised up in this iia tiou who sealed his testimony with his blood he was born beigh ty five years ago today and was martyred marty red in cold blood at carthage illinois on june 1844 |