God's holy dwelling place, is literal, local, real, and to its occupants, it is visible and tangible. It is by no means a matterless, passionless, mystical region of extatic and endless songs from the lips of immaterial spirits, offered in praise to some Great Spirit, equally passionless and immaterially chaotic, spreading infinitely through all space without centre or circumference. If such is the God that men expect to adore in heaven, mankind would present but a faint image of him, yea, even Jesus, who partook of man's likeness, could not have been the brightness of the Father's glory, and express image of his person. He declares that He has given us an image and likeness of himself in the person of man. But who would ever recognise their Father and Jesus in the person of a boundless, centreless being, of no body or parts, infinitely expanded.
But it is sometimes urged that man only resembles God in his moral attributes. Morally, says the divine and doctor, man bears the image of God. Aye, indeed! The absurdity of such a supposition is still greater. By moral, I must then understand, that the resemblance between God and man, consists in their being of like social, civil, and religious temperament and affection. Other things being equal, a holy man as Adam originally was, would cherish the same propensities with God—have a similar sense of justice and truth according to the measure of knowledge belonging to each. But the absurdity and query are here: an immaterial, infinitely expanded God, without physical form and locality, is as unlike to man as light to darkness, or as the most diverse animals can be supposed to be, and cannot in the nature of things have those sympathies and moral sensibilities that man has. Material sensibilities must differ from those which are immaterial, as much as the elements of land and water differ.
My sheet being full, allow me to subscribe myself
Your friend and servant,
ORSON SPENCER.
LETTER IX.
THE PRIESTHOOD.
Liverpool, September 30, 1847.
Reverend and Dear Sir,—In close connexion with an account of the character of God, I will proceed to give you a brief and succint description of THE PRIESTHOOD. It is feared, however, that the present subject will not be more congenial to your views than the foregoing. Still it shall be treated according to the spirit of the scriptures of the Old and New Testament, which you ardently profess to believe.