| Show ED editorials I 1 TO R I 1 A LS WO BUSINESS TO understand BISHOP HAVN haven at the troy troys iry NY ITY conference delivered an addre address ss in Iii which he laid much ef of the blame infidel tendencies of the age to the ministers of the gospel the reports his hla speech from which we take the following ino inc extract the treachery hery of some of the C clergy je agy failing to preach truth as it should be for the past 20 years has invited the ingersoll rebellion ladles ladies and gentlemen cheering reckless denunciation of doctrine they had heard the minister preach doctrine that had particular hell in it some of the preachers of the land have been teachers of tha the falsest and foulest of heresies her esies isyou if you do not feel that it is your mission tt to bavo gave men from depravity and hellfire you had better get out of the business as quickly as possible applause you are to preach a salvation that you cannot understand it is not your business to understand it reason heason is never the child of faith you need to preach the dogmatism of god the bishop blames the clergy but he is equally if not more in fault while professing to be an expounder of divine truth he no not t only fails falls to make plain the things of god but encourages ignorance he charges the clergy to preach that which they cannot understand and tells them it is not their thein business to understand can it be wondered then that skepticism adv advanced anceE fc men mea who are specially hired to act as guides are not only uninformed about the way but are required to keep on directing others in the path without troubling themselves to learn anything concerning it the bishop complains about preachers teaching heresies her esies his own exhortation contains oue one one of the worst of her heresies heres esies esles lel lej the office of the ministry is eminently to teach all ali 11 nations imagine a professor of mathe mather matle matlo attempting to teach that science without understanding anything any thing about its principles the office of the comforter promised by christ to his apostles I 1 was to take the thi lugs jugs of the fath hath father er and the ithe son and ashow them to those ministers who were appointed to explain them to the church the c spirit mard kard searches lies lles all things yea yoa the deep things of god and those who taught the tha church church anciently under its influence could say we speak the things we do know and testify of that which we harva halva seen if bishop haven and his ates desire to stern stem the tide ef of in infidelity fl which is rising higher arid higher in the world they must interpose something more than their i dogmatism which they assume to be the dogmatism of god if it they cannot understand and are not to try to understand the scheme of salvation which they undertake to preach to others their system must go down before the reasons ings and arguments of unbelievers and the disesteem dis esteem which Is grow ing in the minds of the populace jor jon for the professed servants of the almighty because of the general realization of the fact that the priests know ap W more than the peo 1 pie le will swell into d deep beep contempt of their assumptions and confirmed unbelief of all ministerial claims to divine authority this blind guide founds hs his exhortation bor bon tation to ignorance on the tho say eay ing reason is never the child of faith but the command is given to add to our faith knowledge etc and the main object of placing the various ministerial offices in the church 13 Is 13 declared to be that the saints might be bno bro brought to perfection and full knowledge of the son of god but the inspired apostle predicted that false unauthorized teachers would adise arise who would bo be ever learning but never neven able to come to the knowledge of the truth and exhorted all tro fro fronc tronc M such to turn away 22 there may be some points of doctrine in the christian faith that 0 IDel relievers fevers levers do not at present fully I 1 comprehend they pertain to in finity ia and ad are beyond corid the grasp of the finite mind they are related to eternity and cannot be compared with things of time but reason guided by the spirit of tenth ban han can reach out so near asto as to acquire ara a rational conception of them and haltli will wiil step in where reason fails falls and lift the boul soul to heights of immortality and thoughts beyond the scope of uninspired reflection what preachers need nowadays is a true truo understanding of divine things if it is ihnot enot their business to understand it certainly is not their business to expound to others if they have liot riot learned of the master they have no mo right to attempt to teach ln ilis his name nartie and the more they dogmatise dogmatism dog matise the more infidels they will make for the terror of is passing away arld and the awe of the surplice has departed preaching human depravity and threatening hellfire hell bell firo fire have played their part and without reason and facts and dud arguments and testimony based on actual know edge and experience the modem minister majas mayas may as well turn to work for a living at once for his bis occupation as one who had bad no business to understand is emphatically gone the world wants more light and less dogmatism mom more certainty and less guess w workmore ork more present power and conviction and less dependence upon that bestowed on others in tinier timed of antiquity and if bishop haven and his compeers com peers have nothing better to meet the infidel notions of the age than things they cannot understand and have no desire to understand they will find that their system of incomprehensible hen sible sibie theology will soon be swept away in company with other inconsistent schemes of men that are destined to become obsolete the gospel of christ as taught by himself and restored to earth in this dispensation is stan dable and incon trover table tabie it makes plain the past explains the present and unfolds the future it gives a key to the sayings of the prophets of old and puts its vo tanies tannes in possession of the spirit which guides into all truth and while its doctrines are expounded hythe bythe hy the abe living oracles ora cies clea it turns not from the records as one onne paw oui encourages the searcher after divine oivino knowledge and exclaims to the student choso whoso readeth let him understand and its effects were truly foretold by the prophet isaiah they also that erred in spirit shall come to understanding and they that murmured shall learn doctrine THE CREATIONS OF GOD onn onn ONE of the recent astronomical discoveries co is a dark sun in the neighborhood of the star stat A similar lightless body was seen by professors clark dark and pond near th liia lila bos nos rs et sam birlus yuu iff laoz labz its exis exia existence tence lit having iving been previously demonstrated by bessel besse its mass is nearly soven eoven times as great as that of our sun but no ray proceeds from its immense surface to indicate its position in the universe how many more of thesa these dark worlds invisible to Us by the aid of the most powerful instruments may bo be whirling in space Is at present unknown even to advanced astronomers but tho exis existence of the above mentioned has be been en established these adlees j globes may once hayo have been blazing orbs arbs shedding their effulgence upon lesser jesser planets and emitting life ilfe as well as light to dependent worlds stars previously unknown have suddenly bhone shone out in the heavens and obtained recognition in the stellar catalogues cataloguer catal and it Is as likely that worlds may pass into outer darkness as that they may suddenly burst forth into luminosity and splendor the fate of our own globe is an interesting bub sub subject eject for speculation both to the i scientist and the thil theologian log liin liLn and a great many remarkable theories have been projected concerning Ats ultimate destiny some gome argue that it will one day days be absorbed into the sun bun with its companion planets and that this process of amalgamation wili will continue until there is a gene general ra I 1 aggregation of worlds into a in mass a m immeasurable immensurable others contend that destruction must inevitably ly overtake overta ket it like all things that have a beginning and many be lieve ilove thab that dis fis its own internal fires will be the instrument of it its demolition 1 butcho but bat tho the iatter latter day saints have the bure buro sure word of prophecy to guide gulde them in this matter they are not dependent upon the statements of old bid timo time scripture which afe are are in some instances obscure nor the imaginings of astral wonder makers but have the word of the lord on this subject given in their own times which throws light on the revelations of former forkner dayland day sand gives a clear aud and unA unclouded tided view of the facture future by this they learn that though the earth wa will wiil 11 b be e pur purified filed by fire it will wil not be destroy destroyed dd that though it will die it will be quickened tand and made glorious that it will with its heaven be renewed and filled with life that it will be trans figured as jesus was upon the mount anabe and be clothed with the glory of its creator that the elements of death will be purged away that its latent light will be awakened and developed so that it will shine like a bea yea of glass mingled with fire reflecting alu alt the tints and colera colors of prismatic beauty that tho the resurrected righteous who have bodies celestial will dwell upon its face and that it will become to them a revelator or grand arim and Thum mim making manifest all things pertaining to creations of a lower order they learn that the courses and times and seasons and motions of all the starry worlds are fixed by the hand of omnipotence that those which fill the measure of their creation are preserved by the law of their existence and will become sanctified thereby that there are worlds which have passed away by the word of the berds power that when one earth and its heavens shall pass away another shall come anu and that there is no end to the creations of the Almighty for ever and ever suns and planets may go into outer darkness and those that dwell thereon be consigned to weeping and wailing walling and gnashing of teeth at 1 l other arms way war u fua i taj pass through their theu resurrection and redemption into the glory for which the they are adapted bub but the equilibrium of the beaven heaven ordain ed system of the universe will not bo be disturbed except so as to fit into the eternal plans bf the master architect who garnishes the heavens VI with th his handiwork and fills the worlds with his offspring in various degrees of progress towards the standard of perfection which iscom Is comprehended ended in his awn own glorious and immaculate person W we e refer those w who ho desire to learn further on these points to the tha bible the pearl of great price and the book of doctrine and covenants assuring thab than jhb oue out kay ray y of light from the mind of the lord is fuller of knowledge and stronger in its assurance than all the theo theor r i ries rieb of human philosophy or the calculations of ancient or modern science |
