| 136 for it upon the principle, that "ignorance is the mother of superstition;" and that in them the words of the apostle are fulfilled: "professing to be wise, they became fools."
True religion is of divine origin, it emanates from God: it teaches us what is his will-what our priviledges [privileges] are, and what our duty is towards him, and to each other. It teaches us to love God with all our heart, might, mind, and strength; and our neighbor as ourselves." If we possess any knowledge of God, we must have received it from God; for, according to the words of the Savior, "no man knoweth the Father but the Son, and he to whom the Son does reveal him." Since religion is of divine origin, we can only obtain from God a true knowledge of his mind, his purposes, and designs; and what mode of worship will be acceptable to him. And if we have no means of coming to God ourselves we can receive no knowledge of God, but what is conveyed either by tradition, or writing; and since priestcraft has prevailed in different ages, and errors in translation and transposition are likely to ensue, it must follow as a natural consequence, that those who nearest the fountain, will be the most likely to partake of the purest streams.-And it must be obvious to every understanding mind, that all correct intelligence proceeds from God, and that the more frequent intercourse a man has with the Lord, the more communications he has from the Almighty, and the more frequent God's revelations are to him, the more he will know the purposes and designs of his Heavenly Father, and consequently of true religion. This being the case, it will not be necessary for us to inquire whether a man lived in the Adamic dispensation, the dispensation of Noah, of the Patriarchs, of Moses, of our Savior, or in the present dispensation, to know who had the most light, possessed the greatest privileges, or had the most religion; but to enquire [inquire] who drew the nearest to God; who received the most frequent communications from him, and to whom did he most abundantly reveal his will: whether in this generation or any other. If these questions can be satisfactorily answered, we shall not find much difficulty in ascertaining who possesses the most knowledge of God, and godliness, and who has the most religion.
If we turn our attention to the present religious world, what do we see? men holding communion with God, and receiving revelations from God, verily nay! the heavens to them have become brass, and God's mouth is closed; nay worse; the idea of revelation is scouted by them, and those who would believe in it are branded as impostors; and they virtually cut themselves off from all communication with, or from, God, and can know nothing of or about God, "but what they know naturally, as brute beasts," as saith the apostle. What sort of a spectacle does the christian church present at the present? Torn, and split up, divided, and disjointed by the fiery zeal of religious bigots, and hypocritical partizans [partisans], it presents a picture of ruin and desolation; like a forest torn by a mighty tempest, or uprooted by a furious whirlwind, that once stood in grandeur and majesty, and its beautiful foliage was admired by every observer; but now its withered leaves, its broken boughs, and shattered limbs, are the sad memorials of its overthrow and destruction. Or like some ancient palace that stood proudly aloof from other inferior buildings, magnificently adorned with all the beauty of ancient architecture; its towers, and columns, and statuary, and beauty, was the pride of princes, and its strength and fortresses bid defiance to the hand of the desolator; but the revolution of ages have despoiled the noble edifice; the corroding hand of time has destroyed its beauty, and all that is left of its former magnificence is here and there a few broken fragments, that very imperfectly shew [show] to the enquiring [inquiring] traveler the ruins of its former splendour [splendor], and ancient glory. So stood the church, once indeed beautiful, pure and intelligent;-clothed with the power and spirit of God; endowed with the gift of the Holy Ghost; possessed of prophets, apostles, pastors, teachers, helps, governments, tongues, interpretations, gifts, visions, and the ministering of angels; having the heavens opened, the purposes of God unfolded, the future destiny of man made known, and "life and immortality brought to light." Basking in the beams of eternal truth, and holding communications with God and angels, it stood proudly erect, in the strength of Israel's God; it was sustained by the mighty hand of Jehovah, and was indeed "fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners;" but ah! alas! a change has come over the dream; the flower has been nipt [nipped] in the bud; its glory has departed; the deadly influence of heresy has penetrated to its very vitals. The withering power of priestcraft has disrobed it of its beauty; and disjointed by sectarian strife, and schismatic influence, it lays in broken fragments scattered, rent, and disjointed; with nothing to point out its original, but he shattered remnants of its ancient glory, on which are scarcely traceable any of the marks of its former magnificence, or original grandeur. And how can it be otherwise? when men are destitute of revelations from God, and absolutely deny the principle.
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