God grant it, for Christ's sake. Amen.
II.
OTHER DOCTRINES OF JOSEPH SMITH VINDICATED BY COLLEGES.
I.
Men the Avatars of God.[1]
[Footnote 1: The word avatar comes from the Sanskrit word avatara, and in Hindu mythology meant an incarnation; a manifestation of Deity. This discourse was delivered in the Salt Lake Tabernacle, Nov. 21, 1909.]
Early in the month of August, of the year 1909, I had the pleasure of addressing a congregation from this stand; and when the remarks I made on that occasion were published, those who had the publication in charge entitled them, "The Message of 'Mormonism.'" In part the remarks covered a review of a series of articles published in the Cosmopolitan Magazine during the early summer months, in which Mr. Harold Bolce gave the result of a two years' itinerary through the universities of the United States, pointing out the trend of religious and philosophical thought among the professors of these universities. On that occasion I called attention to the fact that the first great message that Joseph Smith delivered to the world: namely, that all the churches were wrong, and their creeds an abomination unto the Lord, received wonderful confirmation from the utterances of these professors quoted in the articles I name. That occasion in August did not warrant a complete or exhaustive review of these articles, nor did it afford the opportunity, for sheer lack of time, to indicate all or even the chief points at which modern educated thought sustained utterances of the great modern prophet. It is this theme which I desire to renew and discuss on the present occasion.
The question which I now propose to take up will prove to you, I think, that it is useless for the world to decry some of the fundamental doctrines announced by the Prophet Joseph Smith, on the ground that they were the utterances of an uneducated, obscure and ignorant youth—since, I believe, I shall be able to show you that from some of the highest seats of learning in the land there comes pronounced confirmation of many things our prophet taught; and hence that his utterances on the doctrine to be considered were not born of ignorance, but of inspiration from God.
In the Cosmopolitan for July, 1909, in the editorial review of Mr. Bolce's article, is this utterance:
"Many university teachers, while subscribing to doctrines akin to those of Christian Science, New Thought, and the Emanuel movement, are in favor of studying the forces of the spiritual world in a cold, scientific manner. Orthodox Christian dogma is regarded as at variance with its own principles and is interpreted in a new and revolutionary light. The professors' philosophy is purged of mysticism and blind faith. By moving their young students, they believe they will move the world, and so they are directing their energies to the scientific interpretation of those forces which are marvelously transforming our contemporary age."
Mr. Bolce himself, in further explanation of the attitude of many of the educators in the universities, represents Professor James C. Monaghan, recently of Notre Dame University, and formerly of the University of Wisconsin, as telling his classes, in regard to the adage "there is room at the top," that there is no top, "that progress—particularly spiritual progress—is eternal." The Latter-day Saints will readily recognize that statement as in harmony with "Mormon" doctrine. Continuing, Mr. Bolce says:
"Friends of the college philosophers insist that if there is a gulf between them and the people, it is because the masses have not yet crossed over into the life of progress and spiritual liberty. It is simply that the professors from the standpoint of their followers, are inviting mankind again into the fields to which the prophets beckoned the world centuries ago. The choice, it is declared, is either backward to the brute, or forward to the superman."