5. The Cultivation of Thought-Power: Thought upon a subject in any broad sense embraces substantial knowledge of all the facts, and all the reasoning that may be based upon the facts. Education in the proper sense is the cultivation of the power of thought, with the added power of expressing those thoughts in some forceful manner. "How then," asks Mr. Pittinger, whom we so frequently quoted in lessons of this class in Year Book No. l, "How, then, shall thought-power be increased? There is no royal road. Every one of the faculties by which knowledge is accumulated and arranged or digested into new forms grows stronger by being employed upon its own appropriate objects." Mental activity is the means by which the material of knowledge is gathered, and all faculties strengthened for future gathering. Each fact gained adds to the treasury of thought. A broad and liberal education is of exceeding advantage. This may or may not be of the schools. Indeed, they too often substitute a knowledge of words for a knowledge of things. That fault is very serious * * * * * for the only way by which even language can be effectively taught, is by giving terms to objects, the nature of which has been previously learned. But many persons need to speak who cannot obtain an education in the usual sense of the word—that is, college or seminary training. Must they keep their lips forever closed on that account? By no means. A thousand examples, some of them the most eminent speakers the world has produced, encourage them to hope. Let such persons learn all they can. Wide, well-selected, and systematic reading will do wonders in supplying the necessary thought-material. Every book of history, biography, travels, popular science, which is carefully read, and its contents fixed in the mind, will be available for the purposes of public speech. Here a word of advice may be offered, which, if heeded, will be worth many months of technical education at the best colleges in the land; it is this: Have always at hand some work that in its own sphere possesses real and permanent merit, and read it daily until completed. If notes are made of its contents, and the book itself kept on hand for reference, so much the better. If some friend can be found who will hear you relate in your own words what you have read, this also will be of great value. Many persons, especially in our own country, [America] spend time enough in reading the minute details of the daily papers to make them thoroughly acquainted in ten years with forty volumes of the most useful books in the world. Think of it! This number may include nearly all the literary masterpieces. Which mode of spending the time will produce the best results? One newspaper read daily would amount to more than three hundred in a year, and allowing each paper to be equal to ten ordinary book pages, the result would be three thousand pages annually, or six volumes of five hundred pages each. In ten years this would reach sixty volumes! This number, comprising the world's best books in history, poetry, science, and general literature, might be read slowly, with meditation and diligent note-taking by the most busy man who was willing to employ his leisure in that way. * * * * * Neither will the speaker have to wait until any definite quantity of reading has been accomplished before it becomes serviceable to him. All that he learns will be immediately available, and, with proper effort, the facility of speech and the material for speaking will keep pace with each other."
PART II.
Antediluvian Dispensations.
LESSON VII.
(Scripture Reading Exercise.)
THE ADAMIC DISPENSATION—I.
| ANALYSIS. | REFERENCES. |
| I. Dispensation—Definition of. | Note 1. Gen. ii:26, 27, c. f. ch. ii:4-9. Book of Moses ch. ii:26,27, cf. ch. iii:4-8. Book of Abraham ch. iv:26-31; also v:7-9 and 14-18. Key to Theology ch. vi, Mormon Doctrine of Deity ch. vii. Note 2. |
| II. Advent of Adam upon the Earth. | Gen. i:28; Book of Moses ch. ii:28. Book of Abraham iv:28. Note 3. |
| III. The Commandments Given. 1. Be Fruitful. 2. Partake not Forbidden Fruit. | Gen. ii:15-17. Book of Moses ch. iii:15-17; ch. v:8, 9, 11-13. Mormon Doctrine of Deity ch. vii. Note 4. |
NOTES.
1. Dispensation: A dispensation, without reference to any specific application or limitations of the term, is the act of dealing out or distributing, such as the dispensation of justice by courts, the dispensation of blessings or afflictions by the hand of Providence. Theologically a dispensation is defined as one of the several systems of bodies of law in which at different periods God has revealed His mind and will to man, such as the Patriarchal Dispensation, the Mosaic Dispensation, or the Christian Dispensation. The word is also sometimes applied to the periods of time during which the said laws obtain. That is, the period from Adam to Noah is usually called the Patriarchal Dispensation. From Noah to the calling of Abraham, the Noachian Dispensation; and from Abraham to the calling of Moses, the Abrahamic Dispensation. But the word dispensation as connected with the Gospel of Jesus Christ means the opening of the heavens to men; the giving out or dispensing to them the word of God; the revealing to men in whole or in part the principles and ordinances of the Gospel; the conferring of divine authority upon certain chosen ones, by which they are empowered to act in the name, that is, in the authority of God, and for Him. That is a dispensation as relating to the Gospel.
2. The Advent of Adam on Earth: The earth, "warmed and dried by the cheering rays of the now resplendent sun, is prepared for the first seeds of vegetation. A royal planter now descends from yonder world of older date, and bearing in his hand the choice seeds of the older Paradise, he plants them in the virgin soil of our new born earth. They grow and flourish there, and, bearing seed, replant themselves, and thus clothed the naked earth with scenes of beauty and the air with fragrant incense. Ripening fruits and herbs at length abound. When lo! from yonder world is transferred every species of animal life. Male and female, they come, with blessings on their heads, and a voice is heard again, "Be fruitful and multiply." Earth, its mineral, vegetable and animal wealth, its Paradise prepared, down comes from yonder world on high a son of God, with his beloved spouse. And thus a colony from heaven * * * * * is transplanted on our soil. The blessings of their Father are upon them, and the first great law of heaven and earth is again repeated, "Be fruitful and multiply." Hence, the nations which have swarmed our earth. In after years, when Paradise was lost by sin; when man was driven from the face of his heavenly Father, to toil, and droop, and die; when heaven was veiled from view, and, with few exceptions, man was no longer counted worthy to retain the knowledge of his heavenly origin; then darkness veiled the past and future from the heathen mind; man neither knew himself, from whence he came, nor whither he was bound. At length a Moses came, who knew his God, and would fain have led mankind to know Him too, and see Him face to face. But they could not receive His heavenly laws or bide His presence. Thus the holy man was forced again to veil the past in mystery, and in the beginning of his history assign to man an earthly origin. Man, moulded from the earth as a brick! Woman, manufactured from a rib! Thus, parents still would fain conceal from budding manhood the mysteries of procreation, or the sources of life's everflowing river, by relating some childish tale of new-born life, engendered in the hollow trunk of some old tree, or springing with spontaneous growth like mushrooms from out the heaps of rubbish. O man! when wilt thou cease to be a child in knowledge?"—Parley P. Pratt's "Key to the Science of Theology" chap. VI.