Show paraphrase of conversation between bet treca a mormon elder and a pious gentile the dantile takes his bible in order to read to ilia his family out of the prophets of the old testament before family prayer but first says to tho the mormon older eidor 1 I have on very serious objection to byoir system i 1 mormon what is that gentile you bow too simplicity to the authority of men your prophets and leaders seem to hold too unlimited ft a control over their followers when you lived with us we thought you would be one of tho the last men to yield unreservedly to the dictation of any man whatever once our oar doctors of divinity found a pretty abrett strong antagonist in ill you whenever they cros crossed sYthe the line of reason and sound orthodoxy but now it seems to be all sufficient if only brigham young or the twelve apostles command you to go forth to a distant nation no matter what the condition of your family at the time you seem to know no reason as ever opposed to the mandates of your leaders this makes mo me lose all patience with you at times M I 1 suppose you are aware that I 1 believe that brigham young is a prophet as much as ever isaiah was and that the die twelve are apostles as much as ever the ancient peter and john were gyes G yes yes I 1 dont doubt for a moment your sincerity or your belief but what vexes me is that you should be so duped as to believe anything they say now any man mail of common sense knows that they are fallible erring men like all of us and their word and counsel ought to be scrutinize dand most carefully and seriously scrutinized too because if you should be misled as many have been by deceivers in all ages the damage could not be repaired now an unscrupulous confidence in what they say might lead you into difficulties beggary and death it is good counsel to prove all things M well sir what you say has an air of glausi plausibility about it which in ill former years would woul have been quite taking to my mind but I 1 see the sophistry of it now without the aid of any glasses whatever 1 allow me to take an indirect method and I 1 will show up tile the sophistry and darkness of your year objection what book is that in your hand git G it is the biblo bible sir air which I 1 read every morning in J to my family I 1 teach my children not only to re road d its sacred pages but also to treasure them up in their memory M who wrote those sacred truths sir G why a great a t many good od men such as moses isaiah daniel wa malacha Malac la elij hj adf and peter e ter M do you believe unhesitatingly every word th they epsay say G certainly he that bell eveth shall not be confounded M do you teach your children to have unscrupulous I 1 lou s confidence in every word that moses isaiah gahachi gal malachi achi and peter say G I 1 do mos assuredly M but your children are so some me of them very youn gand gaud their minds are scarcely competent compi fent to grasp and comprehend all that these men muy may say would you wish them to swallow down all that they your leaders may say as becq true I 1 aa A 4 G I 1 wish my children would fully believe and obey every word they say for the doom of an unbeliever is so BO awful as to make the stoutest heart quake mit M it appears then that you follow implicitly the words even every word that edeth out of the mouth of t those hose whom you believe to be prophets and you make a great parade of calling all your family together every morning and evening to read and hear bear what those men said many years ago which you call prophets and when you have read to them then you bow down and pray that god will cause caus their word which you have read to make an abiding im impression upon their minds now if you yon seriously think that I 1 ought carefully to scrutinize the words of my prophets let me ask if you as faithfully and diligently caution your children to scrutinize the sayings of your pr ophes s isaiah and malichi telling them while their minds are yet unbiased that many very many have been woefully deceived and led astray telling them to prove all things lings ti and to receive no mans word whatever his pretension till yon have proved it to be true G I 1 dont give my children any such cautions at alt all for if I 1 should teach them to be fearful and cautious how they receive the words of the prophets I 1 should fear that their part would be in the lake which bu burneth rueth M then you oil will not marvel if I 1 should implicitly believe and obey the words of len men that I 1 know assure assuredly dIV are prophets prop liets and also teach my children to follow my example G it if is time my boys had gone for a load of wood yon will please excuse any further conversation will you pray with us this morning |