ARTICLE TEN. The Wisdom That Perishes. The wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid.—Isaiah 29:14. The Wise and Prudent. Most strikingly have these prophetic words been realized by "Mormonism," in its relations to the lofty and the learned who have endeavored in a worldly way and by means of human wisdom, to account for and dispose of it. Strange it is that men and women, intelligent, educated and profound, do not see in this great religious phenomenon something more than a topic to be treated lightly, or in a spirit of harshness and intolerance. Giants in intellect as to other themes, when they deal with the doctrines, aims and attitude of the Latter-day Saints, they seem suddenly changed into dwarfs, mere children, as powerless to cope with the mighty problem as were the learned Rabbis in the Temple with the youthful and divine Son of God. Especially is this the case when they approach the question in a captious mood, determined to find fault, to berate and ridicule, rather than to fairly investigate. They cannot analyze, cannot even grasp it, and appear incapable of forming any just or adequate conception regarding it. To reply to all the bitter assaults made upon my religion and my people would be impossible, even were it worth while. I shall not attempt the hopeless task. It will suffice my purpose to consider here some of the more temperate judgments passed upon the subject, giving to each such comment as may be deemed necessary. A Catholic Opinion.-Many years ago there came to Utah a learned doctor of divinity, a member of the Roman Catholic Church. I became well acquainted with him, and we conversed freely and frankly. A great scholar, with perhaps a dozen languages at his tongue's end, he seemed to know all about theology, law, literature, science and philosophy, and was never weary of displaying his vast erudition. One day he said to me: "You Mormons are all ignoramuses. You don't even know the strength of your own position. It is so strong that there is only one other tenable in the whole Christian world, and that is the position of the Catholic Church. The issue is between Catholicism and Mormonism. If we are right, you are wrong; if you are right, we are wrong; and that's all there is to it. The Protestants haven't a leg to stand on. If we are wrong, they are wrong with us, for they were a part of us and went out from us; while if we are right, they are apostates whom we cut off long ago. If we really have, as we claim, the apostolic succession from St. Peter, there was no need for Joseph Smith and Mormonism; but if we have not that succession, then such a man as Joseph Smith was necessary, and Mormonism's attitude is the only consistent one. It is either the perpetuation of the Gospel from ancient times, or the restoration of the Gospel in latter days." My reply was substantially as follows: "I agree with you, Doctor, in nearly all that you have said, but don't deceive yourself with the notion that we "Mormons" are not aware of the strength of our position. We are better aware of it than anyone else. We have not all been to college; we cannot all speak the dead languages; we may be 'ignoramuses,' as you say; but we know that we are right, and we know that you are wrong." I was just as' frank with him as he had been with me, An Episcopal View. At a later period I conversed with another man of culture, a bishop of the Episcopal Church. He affirmed that if Joseph Smith, at the beginning, had become acquainted with that religious organization, he would have been content, and would have looked no further for spiritual light. "But," said the Bishop, "Joseph encountered the Methodists, the Baptists, the Presbyterians, and other sects; and their creeds failing to satisfy him, he sought elsewhere. Now the Episcopalians have an unbroken succession of authority all down the centuries, and if Joseph Smith had only formed their acquaintance, he would never have gone to the trouble of organizing another church." A Psychological Notion. Still another scholar, a student of psychology and an applicant for a doctor's degree at Yale University, presented, in a thesis forming the basis. for the degree, the theory that Joseph Smith was an epileptic, and that this accounted for his mental attitude and marvelous assertions. That is to say, the Seer. did not actually behold the wonderful manifestations described by him, but only imagined that he beheld them. A distinct departure, this, from the charge of conscious duplicity, usually flung at the founder of "Mormonism." He was sincere, then, however much mistaken, and was not guilty of intent to defraud. So far, so good. But in the mind of the author of this remarkable hypothesis, the magnificent organization of the "Mormon" Church, conceded by intelligent observers of all creeds and parties to be one of the most perfect systems of government in existence, to say nothing of its sublime doctrines, replete with poetry and philosophy, couched in logical and majestic phrasing-all this sprang from the diseased brain of a fourteen-year-old boy who had fallen in an epileptic fit! Self-evident absurdities need no |