| Show REMARKS by elder parley parey rarey P pratt in the dowery bowery sept dept IBM my br george A smith has wished us to excuse cese his mahometano Maho narration but I 1 would fee feel more like giving a vote af pf thanks to the almighty alright and to his servant for so highly entertaining an and instructing us J I 1 lam iam am aware it is not without a gr great eat deal deai 0 iu prejudice that we as europeans and american americans and christians in religion and in our education so called have looked upon the history of alai ma hornets hornet or even the name and hven even now we may think that compared with chris as it exists in the world is a kind 0 heathenism or something dreadful and the othe other we look upon U 0 a as something very pretty only a little crippled crupl d and for rny my part I 1 hardly know which to call the idolatrous side of the question unless we consider christianity in one sense and that which lias has been callea christianity heathenism included the doctrine that ther then was one god that he lie was great even the crea cread t tor 0 r of all things and that the ther people by frigm should hould r worship him history abundantly a hl aws the followers of mahomet did not take the iwori w 0 r either to enforce their rel rei religion liou ilou ilon or to defend th themi e m selves until compelled t to do so by the perse cu lions of their enemies and hen then it was the onil alternative that presented itself to take U up tl th sword and put down idolatry and i establish r tabli babli th thi worship of the one god or on the other hand be crushed and cease to be on account of th the I 1 idolatrous nations around them they seemed to act on the defensive although it might legallo be considered aggression the greek and roman churches which bar hay been called christian and which take the tile daml I 1 of christians as a cloak have worshipped wor shipped ennui annn merable merabie idol on this account on the simpli subject of the deity and his worship wor phlp if nothing more I 1 should rather incline of the tw two after nten a al rny my early traditions tradition 8 education and add anc I 1 prejudices p re d ce t t the I 1 ie side of bla Ala mahomet homet for on this pointel point he e 1 is thi 01 the we side of truth and the christian world on thi side of idolatry and heathenism I 1 in the first place the latter I 1 lay ii it down a asi point of theo theology loy and it is a foundation point to toi that there is one only true god consisting a three persons the I 1 ather son and holy ghost but without body parts or passions here the exact image and likeness of an idol establish through the principal creeds of Chris chrls christendom tendo that is iq if it is an image at all or if it makes shadow at all it is that of an nol hol 1 it I i is s a bein that never existed in heaven earth or hell liell it w wb not make even a shadow indeed it is a thing a literally motionless and powerless as much so d a any term that can be used to mean nonentity jesus christ whom abom vre ve worship as the son e god and the savior of the world has body par and passions and heis like his father fattier he is t th express image of his Fat fathers hers Lers per person on and iq brightness of his glory whom we 1 they are individual personages organ organized 1 iced as a I 1 pattern after which men were created they hain hair ha tabernacles and are in every way personages a an intelligent beings therefore that something gr or that nothing that imaginary being that idol that is in the creeds of christendom in general as a g without body parts or passions has ha nothing gothing f do whatever with the god of Abra abraham glam fiam isa isaia and aad jacob or with the son of god that cam cameal the meridian of time who was crucified died am rose again from the dead and ascended on hia hip to lead captivity captive and give gifts to niel I 1 I 1 inasmuch nasin uch as he and his father are organized g wl wilt i body and parts with limb limbs joints flesh i ast ant 1 bones that are immortal and eternal they tiley alast nav a no part or lot or comma communication ni cation catlon whatever blui wl that imaginary being which is recognized recognised n tbt prid principal cipal creeds of christendom as their gou gov viz a god without body booy parts or passioni passi oci oni dil nii 4 therefore in that sense cense in the very foundation of their creeds they are idolaters idol aters and alla to say thal thai prevailed against Christian christianity itys ad adf that deat christianity was in it danger of being done away isk by its is prevalence prevalence we would rather say sav that v where ere prevailed it taught and established one truth at least viz the true and living god and so far as this went it did preserve people from worshipping wor shipping idols and had the crescent waved on the tower of london or on the church of st paul instead of the cross and had the mahometano Maho relight been enforced instead of the roman religion that was enforced for a series of generations and had llad tradition riveted what the sword enforced then that nation and the surrounding nations would have been worshippers wor shippers of one true god instead of idols they would have recognised recognized it in theory at least whether they would have worshipped wor shipped him in spirit end and la ix truth or not but now they do not recognise recognize him in theory for they acknowledge as their thir god an imaginary being without body boxy parts or passions setting aside this one point they acknowledge and worship innumerable idols pictures images etc amounting almost to an infinite r number be in every place where christianity has been Is blended ended I 1 with the civil power and enforced and established by law under the one great standard called catholic imaginary deities that are the works of mens hands and to which they acqua actually y an and d literally bow down this may not be the case I 1 so fully in these united states where there is a kind of balance of power and religion and population and influences of various kinds acting as checks upon each other but go to those countries where there are no such checks or balances of power go to chill spain or to any other of the states or nations where the roman cross instead of the crescent or any other ensign Is the standard where there are no protestant influences and protestant dissent dissentious ions lons to interfere with the prevailing power and as a matter of course all the subjects of that realm have by law lair one religion prescribed to them supported and eh enforced forced by civil authority to the prohibition of all others in such countries you can contemplate that religion in all its open and unveiled idolatry it is there you will see more fully exhibited the practice of worshipping wor shipping images of bowing down to dumb idols in the shape of pictures images saint worship angel worship etc etc I 1 have llave seen all this with mine eyes and heard it with mine ears they will pray to the virgin mary so called in the form of a painting which they set up to be prayed to they al also set up other canonized saints in like manner painted on canvas and other substances but bat I 1 will not confine this practice to those countries alone but in a city of the united states I 1 have beheld a public procession of a vast majority of the populace united in one grand bowery extending around the public square and pictures and images of saints were posted in the roads and an extra bowery was prepared for each of those image imager or paintings decorated in all the pomp and splendor the people could command and while in procession they would kneel down in the dirty ditty streets and public squares though dressed in the richest silks and satins gatins that money could purchase persons so richly attired were bowing down on their knees or prostrating pro themselves in the dirt and dust at every place where I 1 here was an image f and were devoutly offering up prayers this is the idolatry that prevails more manifestly in the cours countries tries where religion is the law but it also prevails right in our own country because there is a liberty of conscience to worship what you please now if we take during those lark ages and arid the corruptions corrupt ions that are so sou uni ni fertally ver hally tally prevalent over tile tho earth and the idolatrous systems of religion falsely called christianity and weigh atie them sn in a balance with all my education iu in favor of christian nations and christian powers and christian institutions so called with all my prejudices of early sarly youth and habits babits of thought and reading m my r rational faculties would compel me to admit tia that t t the he mabom etan history and mahometano Maho doctrine was a standard raised against the most corrupt and abominable idolatry that ever perverted our earth found in the creeds and arid worship of christians falsely 0 o named it might not have been a very pure standard forthe falness of the gospel with its priesthood ordinances powers and gifts were not there because that pertained to another branch of abrahams Abraham 3 family ish mael and his defendants were messed blessed by the lord who said I 1 will make mako of him a great nation and kings shall come ot of him and he shai have dominion yet there was one ono thing not a sid lid iid on the head bead of ishmael it was not ad baid thai eliat I 1 in him should the elect seed be chosen 1 who aho sho should bear the keys of the eternal priesthood and salvation in which all nations should be blessed this was said on isaac the brother of ishmael the heir and it was also said of jacob and of abraham therefore the blessings that were peculiar that pertained to the falness of the gospel that pertained to the tile eternal priesthood that pertained to the coming of christ and to the things of isis ministry and to those that were called with the same calling and in which all nations should be blessed and redeemed could not ba be given to ishmael and to hs his descendants but they belonged by election to the chose chosen n se beed seed d t to 0 whom the tiie promises were made viz the children of abraham through isaac and through jacob but the lord sid of ishmael I 1 will make of him a great nation because lie he is thy son I 1 will bless him because he is thine and kings shall come of him film so the lord seems to have llave fulfilled more or less from those early days until the tho present the tha promises that he made to tile the children of abraham that were not particularly designed to hold the tile keys of the tile priesthood all that a nation could have without the keys of the everlasting gospel without the gifts and powers pertaining to those keys and without the of the gospel the people of the east seemed to have been blessed with so far as the tha lord saw fit to bestow upon them blessings during those dark aes aea a ages ea A great portion bof of the oriental country has been preserved from the grossest idolatry wickedness confusion bloodshed murders cruelty and errors in religion that have overspread the rest of the world under the name of christianity or mystery of iniquity an open defiance of god is is no mystery open drunkenness and re velling debauchery and all manner of wickedness and immorality professed processed by sinners who profess to be nothing else are no mystery they do not deceive anybody but when all manner of wickedness idolatry drunkenness and corruption is cloaked under a sacred s name under an outward sanctity and holiness and under tinder as high and dignified an appellation as christian it is a mystery of iniquity and that has overspread a great portion of the world and has hai borne rule until the present day sometimes under the name of roman universality sometimes under the name of the greek church and i at other times under various classes a and nd names many that were leonest have been deceived by this mystery of iniquity who have esteemed things to be sacred which were abominably corrupt rupt bupt and corrupt superstitions have been revered because of the great names and sanctified professions that were attached to them if such institutions actually professed wickedness they would go for what they are worth but when a thing professes to be holy and takes the name of christ as its founder and the holy prophets and apostles to carry out all manner of oppression all manner of idolatry and idol worship all manner of and and more or less instigating division among nations and governments govern ments all to carry ou on t bloodshed cruel cru elty the rack the thein quis tion and holding of men in bondage ruling them with a rod of iron it is a mystery of iniquity calculated to deceive millions tile tiie apostle john speaking of this same power says by thy sorceries sor ceries were all nations de ce ived the mahometano Maho operations in the hands of the descendants of abraham and ishmael seem to have warded off that deception and mystery of iniquity in some rhe measure asure so that it has not entirely overrun their country morals and institutions tut ions though mahometano Maho institutions are corrupt enough and need reforming by the gospel 1 am inclined to think upon the whole leaving out the corruptions corrupt ions of men in high places among them that they have better morals and better institutions than many christian nations and in many localities there have been hi aih gh standards of morals there are no doubt sections of country and different localities in asia where the people have not walked strictly according to the regulations and laws given by mahomet and observed by his true followers but returning to the general corruption that has prevailed nationally politically and religiously bously under the name of christianity leaving on out t christ and his bis apostles I 1 do think there has been no idolatry in the world under any form or system that could surpass it it is the mystery of iniquity the great whore of all the earth it has brought the whole earth under a lasting curse having departed from the laws of god changed the ordinances and broken the everlasting covenant in consequence of which the earth is destined to be burned and few men left so far as that one point is concerned of wor shipping the tiie one true god under tinder the name of idi ini home together with many moral precepts and in war only acting on tile the defensive I 1 think they have exceeded in righteousness and truthfulness of religion the idolatrous and corrupt cit cli church that has borne the name of christianity I 1 there is one thing for which I 1 like mahomet anesin aniam better than the present christianity of the world if prisoners are taken by them no matter of what country or religion arld arid they become lawful captives doomed to slavery according to their rules they will take them from their labor order them to wash their bodies and put on oil clean I 1 clothes give them plenty to eat to refresh them until they have rested and have full power and I 1 vigor of both body and mind to investigate and study the mahometano Maho religion if the captives embrace the true religion ai a they tiley call it they are set free from slavery and permitted permit td to marry among them but if the captives still reject tho thy religion of the mahometano Mahome tans they are mado to return to their slavery I 1 want to know where the christian nation is 1 tint thit does this that will take their lawful captive that may have some other religion and set him free from servitude and ard give him hint time to wash and clothe himself and thlik and investigate when both body and mind is enjoying their full power and if they tiley embrace ther their religion then thea permit them to become citizens I 1 will not detain you I 1 have been more lengthy I 1 1 now than I 1 intended we would do well to look took into the bearings beatings of the history of nations and |
