Show HERESY AND CHRISTIAN KNOWLEDGE THE efforts of leading ecclesiastical bodies to cast off heresy and exclude heretical teachers have become quite energetic of late and have occasioned much discussion in the religious world the idea that ministers of the orthodox sects who have outgrown or repudiated doctrines which they were ordained to teach are martyrs marly re in any pense because they are an disciplined by the churches to which they belong la Is in our view extremely absurd yet this la Is the tion taken by many of the influential papers of the country every religious organization must have some kind of creed or recognized formula of doctrine adherence to which is essential to member ship its ministers are chosen to be exponents and defenders of the principles belief in which is the motive of church fellowship if any of those ex change their views it to is evident they carno longer consistently retain their official positions even if they may remain members of the body and that they should desire to do so when they become convinced that the doctrines which form the creed of that body are erroneous argues a strange confusion of mind or a mercenary spirit the question as to whether the churches that have expelled able preachers for heresy have been benefited is being debated it to is argued that they have lost tho the services of brilliant and popular men and further that while the immediate effect is usually to cause a quiet acquiescence of the members in the teachings of the church it has never been followed by any valuable gain in their intellectuality or in the progress of the expelling body it appears to us that there are only two courses open to any religious society when one of its ministers proclaims ideas opposed to its ita established tenets one is to silence or expel the preacher the abe other to adopt the views which he advocates truth should be welcome to every believer in the christian religion the spirit of that faith is to guide into all truth progress in light and knowledge should be encouraged error when exposed ought to be rejected but if each member or minister to is to be the judge of what is truth and what error how long would there be unity harmony or a standard of doctrine in the body that permitted such license the society or its authorized directors must determine such questions and the dissenting preacher or member unable to conform to the decision should cheerfully retire and either unite with a society entertaining similar views to his bis own or stand aloof or start out as an independent advocate there is one thing that recent trials for heresy makes clearly evident this 1 is that the knowledge of the truth 90 which to is one of the promised effects of the original christian faith is in woefully lacking in the so called christian world not only is the meaning of the sayings of the savior and his apostles which are supposed to be the otan standard dard of the christian rellon religion a matter of astonishing uncertainty but the real signification of the written creeds of the sects is unsettled and a subject of dispute among the preachers and the people who subscribe to them this is a sad condition of religious affairs the knowledge of the truth was one of the chief results of the acceptance of the christian faith and one of its principal promises doubt uncertainty confusion contention were the conditions of spiritual darkness that the light of christ was wag to remove so that knowledge and understanding might be established in th the soul but in these later times when light is supposed to have increased with the advancement of the ages seems to hold sway away and religious doctrine to be a matter of mental speculation no wonder that spiritually minded people are looking for some new development of religious thought and action which shall evolve order out of the chaos of christendom and shed light upon the darkness and doubt of the times the latter day saints have the great advantage of that firm arm conviction which amounts to knowledge of the truth of their creed its principles are well defined and the humblest of those who embrace them may comprehend them in the glory of their simplicity and their harmony what a pity it to is that the very souls who are hungering after spiritual knowledge refuse to taste of the fruit of the tree of life which the hand of deity has planted anew and which the multitude reject because it has been ridiculed under the name of ll |