| Show THE KING DOhr OF GOD the salt bait lake tribune of march 7 this year of our lord says say a editorially uy we are seeking for light that is the first scintillation of sense I 1 have seen men on the editorial pages of that sheet if only the editor can keep h his is eyes open and pray without ceasing I 1 ng 11 there is as much hope for him J just about as burns said there was for th the 0 dell but he is not honest he is satyr id ica he means he be knows it all and can poke fun at younger men than he be whose pulse beats are in harmony with the throb of modern thought and life he proceeds to confound the progressive minds of young utah with a statement of what he claims to understand to be the theory of the mormon church 1 1 I it is the kingdom of god on earth but why did he not go on and say that such is the conception that every so called christian 11 sect holds of it its own mission P not a sect of them all is there that does not noi believe itself to be the oue one correct and authorized representation of the word will and kingdom of god on earth jt it is useless to co attempt the excuse that they are wo king tor a kingdom not of this world they are ma teria teri listo alista in that conception although abey hey worship a god without body parts or pa passions every person who prays thy kingdom com eThy will be done on earth declares a belief in a king dom of god on earth they believe in a new mew jerusalem that is to dicome come down and plant plane itself on terra firma and include the sheep who are to selected from the goats in the day of judgment not a sect of the them mallio all to there that is not working to obtain control of the american gove government for the avowed purpose of making ours a christian nation rec recognizing u i zing god as its author and jesus aib oib christ r alst as its ith ruler and king the mormons cormons are therefore not peculiar or alone in their r belief that their church is the kingdom of god on earth 10 the fact is they are the most rational among the sects in their belief upon this subject they believe that the christianity of jesus was so chiru corrupted ted in the first three centuries succeeding jesus jestis life and death that god denied it as representative of his hill will altogether and withdrew his hie spirit and all communication muni cation tion with the world ot of man because no man was found worthy to receive c ive his word for 1600 years and that in joseph smith he found a lad ad worthy of a renewal of confidence ta in mankind hence the fact is that the mormons cormons believe that they have had bad a commission to establish reestablish re on earth communication between mankind and god while all other alleged christian sects beets maintain that their line of descent is direct from ool god through jesus the whole question is ill therefore only as to whether god did withdraw his gifts from the christian church on account of its apostasy apo stacy and restore tham through the mormon church supposing both to be right there is no room to quarrel with either supposing the mormons cormons to be right the others have a bad show bow as to future results supposing the older pacts to be right there to is no logical ground against the assumption that god baving communicated with men through men in olden time should not do so in modern times and as the older sects believe that he did so communicate muni cate in olden times they cannot prove that he cannot do 90 in modem times and therefore since they all believe that he did do so long ago the entire weight of inference is that he anay have done so 90 in the latter days Oon consequently the argument is wholly in favor of the mormons cormons Mor mons and hence their conception of the kingdom of god Is the most rational still they do not believe that they are to use force to bring that kingdom in they believe that ir Is to come through act of god and that when he overthrows overthrow ri the nations for their wickedness the saints are to step to in as his people and restore liberty and a free government to the world for the goodof good of all mankind I 1 we see nothing malicious nor dangerous in such a belief I 1 do not believe in it but yet I 1 see in hi it the most favorable sectarian belief on earth tor for men who like my self believe joi aba god works through evolution mici 4 h many men rather than one maffy all other sects damn me to eternal roasting the mor mons my eay I 1 take my own risks and will be judged according to my works I 1 take that as the best show given to me DY by any sect on earth and hence I 1 want the mormons cormons Mor mons of course to have an equal chance with all the other sects and let the best win the editor of the la Is am much of a skeptic as I 1 am why is he not aa fair and reasonable because he is obliged to sell himself for his support and I 1 live on wind one other point of the tribune allegation I 1 wish to state and then impale the alligator ile he says 4 this the mormon church being the government of the almighty god all other governments are am illegal and usurpations I 1 maintain that the tribune cannot prove that the mormon church ever held that all other governments govern mente are illegal and 11 the position of the mormon church le ie that all man made governments govern mente are legal and have come up through the apostasy apo stacy of the race from government by god not as usurpations because no man made government could usurp a power of the almighty but because god kp gave ve men free agency to act and they nave have fallen away from him and he has waited in loving kindness for someone to appear through whom he could lead the race back to its proper allexia allegiance alle elance nce to him there is neither illegality nor usurpation in the thought of the mormon church as to the man made governments of the world they are simply the best beet that fallen man del delinquent taxes so to speak could produce under the circumstances and wre were to be superseded by better just as soon as god could find a man and followers who were worthy to do the work of resuscitation resua citation SO as it were personally I 1 believe that the mor mons in their earlier years went a long 9 way towards toward doing that very thing t i I 1 believe and assert without fear of contradiction save through such an unreliable organ as the salt lake evne and of course it is understood that I 1 speak and write as a sceptic in supernatural things that never since anoe the early ages has there been such a manifestation of the power of faith bauh on earth as was shown among the early followers of joseph smith we have the record there is neither room nor reason to jou doubt bt it manifestations were given works were done that are simply beyond thel the comprehension of so matter of fact a mortal as myself following those manifestations came an astounding influx of converts wilford woodruff willard richards brigham young and others went out and made converts to mormonism smina in a way that is incomprehensible to such poor sticks as myself yet as I 1 look at it buddha mahomet and others bad done equally wonderful works for god and humanity ages agee before in all ages god has produced axx who have been a GODS WORD to to the world of nf man they have a hard time because they have been far ahead of the average of their age joseph smith was waa one of those men because he was far fai far ahead of his race it killed him years before it kiah as 2400 years before it killed es as it has ever condemned the messiahs labs of the ram race in all times but I 1 want to add and I 1 do it only because I 1 am interested in the pr progress gress of out oui race more than anything else on earth the mor mons are in my opinion going the way of all others who have attempted a reform of the world that to is having started out as inspired of god to set forth a new light to the world they are being overcome by the world and are allowing avarice love of wealth to overcome their faith in the principles of liberty justice truth and fair play and to blind them to the cause of humanity which was the motive power of their wonderful success in the early vears I 1 believe that if god ever gave his hie word and will to mankind and established a priesthood for its guidance and subsequently withdrew M his a gifts on account of the apostasy apo stacy and wickedness of the people as the mormons cormons say he did clid he can and will withdraw his power and gifts from them just as far and as fast as an they prove recreant to the trust imposed upon them love of wealth to is a blessing only so far as wealth is used for the good of the race love of wealth for place and power and the sham aristocracy of clothes to is degradation and a curse to the world peter cooper heretic though he was was waa far nearer to god was far morea power of god in the world was far more a messiah to mankind than any religionist can ever be who lives only to amass wealth for the aggrandizement ot of himself alone the kingdom of god on earth means the perfection of the human race just as fast as an h human u man beings arrive at that state of mental and moral development that will make them recognize the brotherhood of man and scorn to treat any man other than as a brother we will have men who are a gods government unto themselves juat ai fast and gafar as far as humanity becomes perfect will human or man made governments ern ments become unnecessary and witha with a perfect race all a the vast und and terrible machinery of government that is now needed to control the world because of its imperfections im will disappear and the kingdom of god will have come the coming of such a kingdom has been a hope a dream a belief of the world almost as long as humanity has lived and suffered and struggled upwards towards the light if the abune really wants light let it open its eyes to this truth and go to work not to drive back a small minority of men women and children who are doing what they can to hasten the coming of this kingdom but to encourage them to push ahead in all well doing lully fully assured that the power that gave t the h world the lily is also in he hearland artand heart and and is fulfilling a destiny of its own that that cabaot be destroyed however much it may be retarded by the obstinacy and greed and passion of man CHARLES ELLIS |
