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'Fehrttarjr 14, 1912]
WHAT THE BIBLE IS SOT.
The Bible is not one Book, written at
one time by one man, at the verbal dictation
of God. It ia a collection of
many booka, written by many men, at
different times; the earliest and the
latest book being more than 1500 years
apart
The Bible is not In all its parts a
revelation from God, but contains many
revelations from him, and as a whole la
God'B revelation of himself to men.
The Bible Is the word of God in the
sense that he, through inspired men, is
the responsible author; it is God's
book.
The Bible "contains" the revelat'on
of God, but also "contains" much that
is not a revelation of God; it contains
the words of the devil, the decrees of
heathen kings, tables of genealogies,
histories of kings and k'ngdoms,
records of the sayings and do'ngs of
men and women, both the good and the
had.
The Bible was not written in heavenly
but in human language, and by human
agents, under the guidance of the Holy
Spirit. The writer in the exercise of
all his personal faculties proceeded to
his work as any human author would
do; but always in co-operation with the
Spirit of God. Now he receives and records
a direct revelation from God, and
wrftAt "Thns T " wrvw ?
makes a quotation from the genealogical
tables of the Patriarch or from the
national chronicles of Israel or Judah,
or from the official decrees and orders
of the kings of Babylon or Persia; now
a Psalm or Proverb from the sacred
archives In the temple at Jerusalem;
now he draws the narrative from the
testimonies of many competent and
credible witnesses; and all of this under
the guidance and In collaboration wltb
the Spirit of God. and so the work of
Inspiration was perfect. The writer recorded
Just what God wished him to
record and nothing more.
From th's autograph copies and
translations were made; and these were
subject to all the limitations, or Imperfections
attending such work. God
has not wrought a continuous miracle
to preserve every scribe and translator
from error.
It is well for the believer in the
authenticity and integrity of the Bible
to know that there is not a single copy
of the Scriptures knowu to scholars
that is absolutely perfect.
Rev. Dr. C. E. Stowe, in his very valuable
work, "The Books of the Bible,"
says the Bible is not, First, "An amulet,
a charm, a fetish, a thing which by
its mere presence without any voluntary
agency exerted in connection with it.
accomplishes its purpose." Second,
"The Bible is not one unbroken chain
or books, chapters and verses, representing
one unbroken series of divine
utterances from beginning to end."
Third. "The Bible is not given in any
celestial or superhuman language. If
it had been it would have been of no
use to us. For every book Intended for
men must be given to them in the language
of men." Fourth. "The Bible is
not a specimen of God's skill as a
writer, showing us God's mode of
thought, giving us God's logic, and
God's rhetoric, and God's style of historic
narration." Fifth. "The Bible is
* not conformed to the tastes or to the
intellectual horizon, or to the social or
ethical standpoint of any one age or
nation or race." Sixth. "The Bible
does not consist of systematic discourses,
either on theology, or on morals, or
on history, or on any other topic."
Seventh. "The Bible is not a solution
of the mysterious existence, nor even
of the perplexing problems which meet
us In our own every day life." What
then Is the Bible? "It is God's mes s*e
to honest, intelligent, thoughtful
sen, neat te them by honest, intelligent.
THE PRESBYTERI
thoughtful men. and a message mainly
of one particular subject, to wit, the
way of escaping from the moral evils
in which we are involved, and coming
to the enjoyment of peace with God and
In our own souIb, for time and
eternity."
Salem, Va. A. W. Pltzer.
THE MORMON MANIFESTO.
By A. M. Barnes.
The United States, either as a nation,
or through Its citizens as Individuals,
has never made war against the Mormon
Church as a religious institution,
despite all that has been written and
spoken with reference to the "persecutlon
nf S?ln?? " ?.? o-t ??- ?i
?- wv wuiuwi itj iuc QUIUIS LlieIIIselves.
First and last the battle waged by
our great Christian nation as a nation,
by the thousands upon thousands of
God-fearing men and women has been
wholly and solely against the hideous
practice of polygamy. What the Church
of Mormon bel'eves and teaches as the
fundamental principles of Its faith
touching the future life Is of little
moment. The one Issue a.t stake, the
monster against which the chamnlonsof
righteousness, the advocates of purltv
In the home, nave arrayed themselves
heart and sonl Is the fearful cr!m?
aaralnst womanhood?plural marriages.
Is this menace a growing one. or has
the hand of the law, driven by outraged
nubile sentiment ?? ? ?
W MW. uuvtCCUCU III
throttling It?
The Mormon Church was oreanlred
at Favette. Seneca conntv. New York,
April 6. 1830, hy Joseph Smith. Jr. The
storv of how he was led. thronjrh the
revelations of the anrel Meronl. to the
discovery of the rolden plates on which.
It Is claimed, the tenets of Mormonl?m
were Inscribed. Is sn old and well
known one. The yepr after the founding
of the church. Smith claimed to
have rece'ved a new "revetstIon." one
relating to plural ma**rlares as "a
moans of rrace." This, "for rood
r?-TM>n, no rprrpinpn fnn mrhlrg
known to hla follower*. TWhtlePP he
feared to nrec|n?t?t<? Po rad'rpl p teaching
trnop them In the In'annv of the
chnreh. Thnneh uvet'ced later, th|e
"doetrlne" hap rptri- heen Inenrnnrated
fn the Ponfc of Mormon. That It waa
^rer?>ra"v T>raet1"ed. however. In t^e
ear'r hlPtnrv of the e><nrch Is quite
evident from the reeorda.
Sm<th did not live to lead bis followers
to the promised land. He was killed
by a mob at Carthage, Missouri, June
27, 1844. It was Prophet Brlgham
Young, his successor, who directed this
heroic march across a trackless wilderness.
On July 24, 1847, the first band
of Mojrmon pilgrims reached Salt Lake
Valley. Within a few months the Mormon
Hierarchy was firmly established.
In 1860, under act of Congress. Utah became
a territory, and the Sa'nts thus
found themselves in possession of a
landed estate of 80.000 sriunre mile*
The lord of this realm, the absolute
monarch of all he surveyed, was Brigham
Young. His was not only an absolute
political rule, but also a social
one. One of his own followers wrote
of him at that time, "Young claims the
right to control everything, from the
fasb'on of baby stockings to the set of a
bow of ribbon or a bunch of feathers on
a woman's bonnet."
Brigham Young took upon himself the
authority of acting as the first governor
of the new territory. When his lawfully
appointed successor appeared In 1854,
and again In 1857, he not only refused
to permit him to show his credentials,
but drove h?m from 8alt lake City. He
claimed that his government had been
established by God, and no other wonld
be tolerated. He remained governor
till 1MB. and no emperor ever ruled
more arbitrarily.
AN OF THE SOUTH
During all that period polygamy was
i not only openly and unblushlngly practiced.
but it was also enjoined. Within
ten years time things had come to auch
a shameless pass in Utah that the United
States Government felt compelled to
take some decisive step in the matter.
In 1862 Congress passed an act forbidding
polygamy and provided a punishment
for its practice. It was more farcical
than anyth'ng else. With the courts
of Utah practically in the hands of the
Mormons, convlct'on was impossible,
though some attempts at prosecution
were made. Through the twenty years
intervening between the act of 1862 and
thnf ?f 99 1M9 _vi_w ??
w* ( vii *.?i iooa, w ii iv;ii prcourioed
more stringent measures, If a single
conviction of one who practiced polygamy
was accomplished, there Ifl no
record of It. so far as this writer haB
been able to discover.
Not until the constitutionality of this
act was established bv tbe Supreme
Court of the Fnlted StPtes did t*e hand
of the law beeln to be fe't. And then It
fell with mlebtv force. Over a thousand
men. who were shewn to be living In
a nolygamous state, were convicted and
sent to the nenlt?nt1arv. among them
PdrbBm H. Roberts, afterwards Conrr(??*Tnen-eiect
from Otah. Now. Indeed.
the "Saints" heceme alarmed. A'l that
nnv??d other leading men of the Mormon
Church from a Ifrf punishment was
that thev either fed the country, or remained
hidden away until the danger
wan napped.
In 1887. the Mormon Chnrch waa deprived
of lta corporpte rights by Act
of Congress, and all Its property, with
the exception of about IRO.OOO worth,
placed subject to confiscation.
In the meantime, Brlgham Yonng
d'ed, his death occurring In 1877. Two
Presidents of the Mormon Church had
succeeded Mm: John Taylor, elected In
1880. and Wilfred Woodruff, on Tavlor's
death. In 1887. President Woodruff was.
In manv respects, a moat remarkable
man. Although eighty years of age when
chosen President and living to past
ninety, he nevertheless remained In full
possession of his faculties. He had a
clear head, was tactful, ahroird
possessor of much executive force.
President Woodruff soon recosmlzed the
disaster that would Anally overwhelm
the church If It did not ve'd to the demands
of the United States Onvernment,
outwardly, at least But first he
must have a "revelation" ere action
could be taken. This he professed to
have received after much communing:
with the Almlghtv. As a conseouence.
In September. 1890. he Issued his now
famous manifesto against the practice
and teachings of polygamy. By this
manifesto the church not only declared
Itself as standing firmly against polygamous
marriages, but It also called
upon all its members and adherents
everywhere "to obey the laws" of the
United States in reference to Its rulings
against polygamy. Following the manifesto.
sent by the rulers of the Mormon
Church to President Harrison, in December
of 1890. which entreated
"amnesty for past offenses of a polygamous
character." and a pledging unswerving
obedience in future to the
laws against plural marriages, if the
amnesty were granted.
The repentance of these "8alnts," who
thus acknowledged themselves sinners,
seemed so sincere that President Harrison,
after due reflection and considerable
investigation, decided to grant the .
petition. It was a fatal step. "With the
restoration of their political rights the
saintly lambs became sga'n wolfish sinners.
The pet Indulgence, polygamy,
was abandoned only publicly, that the
transgressor might not hare his political
rights Impaired. The great aim
now of these political schemers was to
have Ttah admitted as a State. In that
supreme effort the Mormon Church,
t ' .. , . ?
(161) 17
through Its leaders, Its "prophets" and
"apostles," so called, did not hesitate
to make liberal use of both falsehood
and trickery. On the floor of the House
of the Fifty-third Congress of the United
StateB J. L>. Rawlins, accredited delegate
and mouth-piece of the Church of
Utah, on December 12, 1893, In behalf
of the Mormon people, solemnly pledged
them that, In the event of the admittance
of Utah as a State, "polygamy
should forever be abolished by thtm In
Utah." Moved by similar pleas and
under continuous pressure from leading
representatives of the Mormon hierarchy
and from Gentiles throughout
Utah, Congress passed the act providing
for the admission of Utah as a State,
and with the conditional clause that she
become a State only upon the pledge of
her representatives that she forever
abolish polygamy by constitutional enactment
Utah became a State In 1894, and until
her constitution was presented with
tbe clause outlawing polygamy, she was
rigidly barred from the Union.
These are the facts as history presents
them. How false the State and
the Church of Utah, which are really
one and the same, have been to every
profession of truth and honor, the records
show clearly. As to the manifesto
of 1890, declaring against polygamy, the
Mormon Church never did Intend to
abide and never has iiw*-' K? " **
? ??- ? W'MVU W/ I U lW
was but a blare upon the trumpet to
catch the public ear, a masterly stroke
delivered for the purpose of regaining
political and financial prestige. That
the manifesto Itself was but a fl'msy
pretext, the thin veil with which to
cover a loathsome carcass cf evil do'ng,
the acts of the promulgators themselves
bra7enly declare. There Is scarcely one
of the leaders In Zlon "prophets and
apostles," who has not been convicted
openly and otherwise of direct violation
of that which. In the manifesto, they
pledged themselves sacredly to uphold.
It is well known that the "mysteries"
of the Endowment House continue, and
that the rites attendant upon the celebration
of plural marr'ages have taken
place In the Temple since the manifesto
was issued. Many startling facts connected
with these rites were brought
to light during the Smoot Investigation,
the most of them too disgusting for publication.
The endowment ceremony, as
pictured by those who have taken part
In It. Is so revolting and blasphemous
In its details as to be well-nigh Incredible.
For the benefit of the man and
woman about to enter Into the marriage
state?on the man's part a muchly married
state?a drama Is enacted In the
Temple In which God, Adam, Eve, Peter,
James, John and Satan all have prominent
parts. As a sample of the levity
and Irreverence characterising the
UfhAl O ? m~ ~
luaiunuuie (jBuorraance, two rragments
of the conversation of the actors
are here given:
"AH go up one flight of steps to the
Garden of Eden. The sides of this wall
are painted to represent a tropical
scene, the birds and beasts seem to be at
perfect peace with each ether. At one
end of the room ]s the altar, and behind
this an elevator, on which the gods descend
and ascend. Near the front and
to the left of the altar as the audience
faces it, is the Tree of Knowledge of
Good and Evil.
tiionim and Jehovah are both present.
Elohim addresses Adam:
Elohlm: Adam, see the garden we
have planted for you. Of all the trees
of the garden you may surely eat except
the Tree of Knowledge of Good and
Evil. Ye shall not eat of It, neither
shall ye touch tt, lest ye die. Now be
happy and enjoy yourselves. We go
away, but we shall return.
(Continued
on Page 19.)