B. H. Roberts

“ To him no part of the universe is godless. In the swaying to and fro of molecules and the ceaseless pulsations of ether, in the secular shiftings of planetary orbits, in the busy work of frost and raindrop, in the mysterious sprouting of the seed, in the everlasting tale of death and life renewed, in the dawning of the babe's intelligence, in the varied deeds of men from age to age, he finds that which awakens the soul to reverential awe; and each act of scientific explanation but reveals an opening through which shines the glory of the Eternal Majesty. ”

“ Whither shall I go from thy spirit, or whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me. If I say surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me. Yea the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee. ”

“ That being true, the sin against the Holy Ghost must be the most appalling act that can enter into human experience. Perhaps the most heinous crime known to human law is the crime of murder, wherein innocent blood is shed. But that sin which effectually kills spirit-life, which has for its victim not a human being but a divine being—that overtops in atrocity any possible physical murder. In this concluding chapter of our treatise let us contemplate this awful sin—this master crime. ”

“ This holy Trinity of Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, the Godhead, constitutes for the Christian the creating, sustaining, redeeming, witnessing power of the universe—the supreme God. In this Godhead righteousness, and holiness, and truth, and knowledge, and wisdom and power, and glory, and justice, and mercy and love, and all that we do or can recognize as belonging to the divine nature abound in their perfection. This Godhead is the source of spiritual power and light and glory; to whom man owes first allegiance; who is the true and only object—but singularly as well as in unity—of man's worship ”

“ It has come to our life-feast as a guest unbidden and unwelcome; but it has come to stay with us, and already proves more genial than was expected. Deadening, cramping finality has lost its" charm for him who has tasted of the ripe fruit of the tree of knowledge. In this broad universe of God's wisdom and love, not leashes to restrain us are needed, but wings to sustain our flight. ”

“ One Divine Nature in Many Persons: One divine nature, then, is the conclusion; but a divine nature in manifold persons, many, though indeed one, because harmonized into unity of purpose, and will; one divine spirit, rising from one divine nature—though participated in by many; a spirit rising from all Intelligences who have attained to the divine nature and unity in all and through all, manifesting God in his splendor and glory, as creating, sustaining, and guiding power in the universe—both Immanent and personal. ”

“ How could a power or influence of the Father intercede with the Father? How could a power or influence groan with groanings unutterable? Would the Father intercede with himself? The absurdity of supposing the Holy Spirit to be a mere property or influence of the Father, instead of being an intelligent agent of himself, is so great, that we do not feel disposed to bring further evidence or proof to establish the distinct identity of the two. ”

“ But those who, in contemplating Nature, have found their attention arrested by this extraordinary dividing-line severing the visible universe eternally into two: those who in watching the progress of science have seen barrier after barrier disappear—barrier between plant and plant, between animal and animal, and even between animal and plant—but this gulf yawning more hopelessly wide with every advance of knowledge, will be prepared to attach a significance to the Law of Biogenesis and its analogies more profound perhaps than to any other fact or law in Nature. ”

“ Will everything else in the natural world unfold its order, and yield to science more and more a vision of harmony, and religion, which should complement and perfect all, remain a chaos? From the standpoint of revelation no truth is more obscure than conformity to type. If science can furnish a companion phenomenon from an every-day process of the natural life, it may at least throw this most mystical doctrine of Christianity into thinkable form. Is there any fallacy in speaking of the embryology of the new life? Is the analogy invalid? ”

“ But the first Personage was proposing the plan for "adding upon" these spirits of heaven. He was planning for their increase in honor and glory for ever and ever; and that through development; though increasing their intelligence, knowledge, wisdom and spiritual power; by experiences to be obtained in earth-life among broken harmonies, when fidelity to truth and virtue and God should be tested, where men should find themselves. He was "fathering" them. Just as in being "Creator" he not only creates—causes to exist—but he cares for the "creation," he sustains it ”

“ Here, then, is an ultimate religious truth of the highest possible certainty—a truth in which religions in general are at one with each other, and with a philosophy antagonistic to their special dogmas. And this truth, respecting which there is a latent agreement among all mankind from the fetish-worshiper to the most stoical critic of human creeds, must be the one we seek. If Religion and Science are to be reconciled, the basis of reconciliation must be this deepest, widest, and most certain of all facts—that the Power which the Universe manifests to us Is utterly inscrutable. ”

“ The earth rolls upon her wings, and the sun giveth his light by day, and the moon giveth her light by night, and the stars also give their light, as they roll upon their wings in their glory, in the midst of the power of God. ”

“ Nature, to the modern eye, stands broken in two. The physical Laws may explain the inorganic world: the biological Laws may account for the development of the organic. But of the point where they meet, of that strange borderland between the dead and the living. Science is silent. It is as if God had placed everything in earth and heaven in the hands of Nature, but reserved a point at the genesis of Life for His direct appearing. ”

“ Mankind stand in some need of a strength superior to any strength they possess of themselves to accomplish this work of rendering pure our fallen nature. Such strength, such power, such a sanctifying grace is conferred on man in being born of the Spirit—in receiving the Holy Ghost. Such, among other things, is its office, its work. ”

“ So, when a servant of God, who has the companionship of the Holy Ghost, is filled with that Spirit, and possesses authority to act in the name of Jesus Christ, lays his hands upon one who has prepared himself through faith, repentance, and baptism, the Holy Spirit is conferred by the one who administers to him upon whom he lays his hands, and he is baptized of it. These are the laws by which the Holy Ghost is received; these are the conditions that must exist, in order that man may walk within the circle of his influence, and in the full and free enjoyment of his companionship. ”

“ The gospel is the "power of God unto salvation." [A] It is so for us—for all men. "Ye must be born again; * * * except a man be born of water and of the Spirit he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God." [B] Is this new birth possible to all? We must needs think so if the Gospel is available to all; and that is a fact so patent to both justice and revelation that it requires no discussion. "God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth on him should not perish but have everlasting life." ”

“ Why does truth make such tardy appearance in the world, and why of so partial rather than of universal distribution? How can freedom co-exist, that is, the freedom of man as a free moral agent, co-exist with the Sovereign will of the All-Powerful and Immanent God? ”

“ It is not to be wondered at that men should be ignorant, in a great measure, of the principles of salvation, and more especially of the nature, office, power, influence, gifts, and blessings of the gift of the Holy Ghost; when we consider that the human family have been enveloped in gross darkness and ignorance for many centuries past, without revelation, or any just criterion [by which] to arrive at a knowledge of the things of God, which can only be known by the Spirit of God. ”

“ As it is impossible for motion to exist without a substance, so it is equally impossible and absurd for wisdom, knowledge, goodness, love, power, will, or any other similar attribute or quality to exist separate and apart from substance; hence the 'Creative Energy' itself could not exist unless a substance existed to which it appertained. The most eminent philosophers of modern times, with very few exceptions, have considered substance necessary to the existence of every quality. These were the views of that great master spirit—the renowned Sir Isaac Newton. ”

“ Let us see if analogy will not help us here. We know that self-luminous bodies send forth vibrations that in turn produce light waves; and these acting upon the organs of sight render visible the objects from which the vibrations proceed. The sun is such a luminous body; and though its material body is some 92,000,000 of miles distant, yet to us men it is a glorious earth-presence, this sun, flooding the earth with light and warmth and life-giving power, without which all life would languish and die. ”

“ Their First Comforter or Holy Ghost has no other effect than pure intelligence. It is more powerful in expanding the mind, enlightening the understanding, and storing the intellect with present knowledge, of a man who is of the literal seed of Abraham, than one that is a Gentile, though it may not have half as much visible effect upon the body; for as the Holy Ghost falls upon one of the literal seed of Abraham, it is calm and serene; and his whole soul and body are only exercised by the pure spirit of intelligence ”

“ If it were possible to divide truth, and other qualities of a similar nature into fractions, so that the Father should have the third part of truth, the third part of wisdom, the third part of knowledge, the third part of love, while the Son and the Holy Spirit possessed the other two-thirds of these qualities or affections, then neither of these persons could make 'one God, but only a part of a God.' But because the divisibility of wisdom, truth, or love is impossible, the whole of these qualities dwells in the Father—the whole dwells in the Son—the whole is possessed by the Holy Spirit. ”

“ This is the plan of salvation unto all men, through the blood of mine Only Begotten, who shall come in the meridian of time.
"And behold, all things have their likeness, and all things are created and made to bear record of me, both things which are temporal, and things which are spiritual; things which are in the heavens above, and things which are on the earth, and things which are in the earth, and things which are under the earth, both above and beneath: all things bear record of me. ”

“ This, however, from the standpoint of modern philosophers and orthodox theologians who identify or confound the immanent power absolutely as God himself—and the only Deity with whom we have to deal—is a somewhat forcing of the human understanding—a case of "the heart breathing defiance to the intellect." "Not that the spirit cannot do this * * * but that doing it does not amount to philosophy." [D] I doubt if it amounts to religion either: for religion no less than philosophy requires harmony in things; and is necessarily a concern of the intellect as well as of the heart. ”

“ The Law of Biogenesis in the Natural World: "Let us first place vividly in our imagination the picture of the two great kingdoms of nature, the inorganic and organic, as these now stand in the light of the Law of Biogenesis. What essentially is involved in saying that there is no Spontaneous Generation of Life? It is meant that the passage from the mineral world to the plant or animal world is hermetically sealed on the mineral side. This inorganic world is staked off from the living world by barriers which have never yet been crossed from within. ”