Chapter III: Part 3

That the different particles of a spirit are not all in actual contact is very evident from the fact that a spiritual body can alter its dimensions by condensation or expansion. It is also evident from the fact of its entering into union with flesh and bones, and also withdrawing itself at death. If the particles were in contact, and inseparably connected, there would be no possibility of getting in and out of a fleshly body, unless by entirely dissolving its parts. But, as it is, each refined particle of the spirit can, like heat or electricity, pass between the fleshly particles; and thus the whole body of spiritual particles can liberate themselves; and by their own self-moving powers and free will, can still preserve and maintain their own organization. Here is manifested the great superiority of spiritual matter to all other matter; each particle has the power of self-motion. The whole mass of particles have power to preserve themselves in an organized form as long as they please. Should they, by any contingency, be disarranged, as in passing in or out of a body, they can with the greatest ease, resume their former position, and maintain their bodily organization either in or out of a fleshly tabernacle.

Mr. Taylder, in speaking of the seven devils which possessed Mary Magdalene, says, if they were material they must have "_condensed_ themselves into a very small space." He then remarks, "No doubt the reader questions the possibility of any sane person, first embracing and then calmly propagating such errors. (Taylder's Tract, page 28.) But we calmly ask Mr. Taylder, which would be the most reasonable and philosophic,--to believe that seven substances could all occupy the same space at the same time, or to believe, as we do, in the _condensation_ of substance? The former is an admitted absurdity, but the latter is something that is constantly taking place in a great variety of substances. None could believe the former, unless his mental vision was obscured and his eyes blinded by the absurd insane notions of priestcraft and false tradition; but any man of sound sense, who dares think for himself, could believe the latter, because it does not involve an absurdity.

"The Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove" upon the Saviour, and like "as cloven tongues of fire" on the apostles. "How can a dove," inquires Mr. Taylder, "extend through all space and intermingle with all the matter?" "It is (he asserts) a clear impossibility." We readily admit that a dove or a cloven tongue of fire cannot be omnipresent. It is, as Mr. Taylder says, "_a clear impossibility_." And it is likewise just as impossible for a _person_ to be everywhere present, as it is for a dove. Why should our author suppose it possible for a person to be everywhere present, when he admits that a dove could not be in such a condition? The "_cloven tongues of fire_" that appeared unto the disciples on the day of pentecost, were only parts of that all-wise substance which extends through space. The cloven tongue of fire which rested upon one man, was not the same that rested upon all the others; hence there was a _plurality_ of them that appeared. The prophet Joel informs us, that in the last days the Spirit shall be poured out upon _all flesh._ No two persons can receive the same identical particles of this Spirit at the same instant; a part therefore of the Holy Spirit will rest upon one man, and another part will rest upon another. If the Spirit rests upon all flesh at the same time, then there will be as many parts of the Spirit as there are distinct individuals in whom it dwells. No one of these parts of the Spirit can be everywhere present any more than a dove. Each part can occupy only one place at a time. If the whole be infinite in quantity, it can extend through infinite space; if it be finite in quantity, it can only occupy finite space.

That different parts of this spirit can assume different shapes, is evident from its appearing as a dove at one time, and as cloven tongues of fire at another. It is also evident from the fact of the Saviour's speaking of the Holy Spirit as a personage. "Howbeit, when _he_ the Spirit of truth, is come, HE will guide you into all truth; for HE shall not speak of himself, but whatsoever HE shall hear, that shall HE speak: and HE will shew you things to come." (John, xvi., 13.) There is no more inconsistency in one part of the Holy Spirit existing in the form of a person, than there is in another part existing in the form of a dove, and several other parts existing in the form of cloven tongues of fire.

That the all-powerful matter called the Holy Spirit is very widely diffused, is evident from the fact that the time will come when it will be poured out upon all flesh. It is very certain that the Psalmist had some idea of the immense quantities of this substance, and of its extensive diffusion, when he exclaims, "Whither shall I go from thy Spirit?" &c. The Spirit of God moved upon the face of the deep, and by his Spirit the heavens were garnished. When we speak of the Spirit of God, extending through all space, we do not mean that it absolutely fills every minute portion of space, for if this were the case, there would be no room for any other matter. A substance, to absolutely fill all space, would be an infinite solid, without pores and immovable in all its parts; therefore, the Spirit exists in different parts of space in greater or less degrees of density, like heat, light, or electricity. It is this glorious and all-powerful substance that governs and controls all other substances by its actual presence, producing all the phenomena ascribed to the laws of nature; in it we exist, we live, we move, and by it we receive wisdom and knowledge, and are guided into truth in proportion as we permit it to dwell within us and receive its heavenly teachings.

2.--"The next consideration," says our author, "is their denial of the infinity, perfection, and omnipresence of the Godhead." (Taylder's Tract, page 31.) Under this head he quotes many passages of scripture to show that the presence of God fills heaven and earth, and that the heaven of heavens cannot contain him. All these things we freely admit. The Holy Spirit is called God in the scriptures, as well as the Father and Son. This, we presume, Mr. Taylder will admit. It is God, the Holy Spirit, then, that is everywhere, substantially and virtually. The Holy Spirit is infinitely perfect and wise, one in substance, but one in wisdom, power, glory, and goodness. Jesus prayed that all his disciples might be made one, as he and his Father are one. If Jesus and the Father are one person, then all the disciples must, according to the prayer of Jesus, lose their individual identity and become one person: this would be perfect nonsense. Therefore, Jesus and the Father are two persons or two substances, the same in kind but not the same in identity--in the same sense that his disciples are different persons: and, consequently, distinct substances. His disciples are to be made one with him, and with each other, the same as Jesus and the Father are one; that is, they are to be one in wisdom, power, and glory, but not in person and substance. The substance of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost are three distinct substances, as much as the substance of three men are distinct.

These three substances act in concert in the same way that all the innumerable millions of his disciples, after they are glorified, will act in concert. The disciples will then be like him. Their glorified bodies will be similar to that of Christ's but not the same as Christ's: they will all maintain their separate individualities, like the Father and Son. The one-ness of the Godhead may be in some measure illustrated by two gallons of pure water, existing in separate vessels, representing the Father and Son, and an ocean of pure water, representing the Holy Spirit. No one would say of these three portions of water that they were identically the same. Every portion would be a separate substance of itself, but yet the separate portions would be one in kind--one in quality, but three in separate distinct identities. So it is with the Godhead so far as the spiritual matter is concerned. There is the same power, wisdom, glory, and goodness in every part, and yet every part has its own work to perform, which accords in the most perfect harmony with the mind and will of every other part.

Each atom of the Holy Spirit is intelligent, and like all other matter has solidity, form, and size. It is because each acts in the most perfect unison with all the rest that the whole is considered one Holy Spirit. All these innumerable atoms are considered one Holy Spirit in the same sense that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are considered one God. The immense number of atoms, though each is all-wise and all-powerful, is, by virtue of their perfect concord and agreement, but one Holy Spirit, the same as the intelligent particles of a man's spirit are, by their peculiar union, but one human spirit. Their unity or oneness does not consist in that inexplicable, incomprehensible, imaginary something without extension or parts, as taught in the first of the "Thirty-nine Articles," but it consists in a unity or oneness of wisdom, power, and glory, each part performing its own splendid works and operations in union with the mind and will of every other part. No one part can perform any work but what is the mind of the whole. Therefore, in this sense it is the same mind--the same will--the same wisdom that pervades the whole.

Mr. Taylder, in order to establish his views of a god without parts, quotes from the theological works of a very celebrated writer on the omnipresence of God, which reads as follows:--

"The essential presence is without any division of himself. I fill heaven and earth, not part in heaven and part in earth: I fill one as well as the other. One part of his essence is not in one place, and another part of his essence in another place; he would then be changeable, for that part of his essence which was now in this place he might alter to another, and place that part of his essence which were in another place to this; but he is undivided everywhere. It is impossible that one part of his essence can be separated from another: for he is not a body, to have one part separable from another. The light of the sun cannot be cut into parts; it cannot be shut into any place, and kept there; it is entire in every place: shall not God, who gives the light that power, be much more present himself? Whatsoever hath parts is finite, but God is infinite; therefore, hath no parts of his essence. Besides, if there were such a division of his being, he would not be the most simple and uncompounded being, but would be made up of various parts; he would not be a spirit, for parts are evidences of composition, and it could not be said that God is here or there, but only a part of God is here and a part of God is there. But he fills heaven and earth; he is as much a God in the earth beneath as he is in heaven above. 'The Lord he is God in heaven above and upon the earth beneath; there is none else.'--Deut. iv. 39. Entirely in all places, not by scraps and fragments of his essence." (Charnock on the "Omnipresence of God.")

Of all the absurdities ever imagined up by mortal man in relation to God, the above caps the climax. "One part of his essence," says Charnock, "is not in one place and another part of his essence in another place." How does he exist? According to this theologian, the whole of the essence of God entire must exist in every place. The whole of his essence, not a part, must exist in every cubic inch of space. In one cubic foot of space, according to Charnock, there would be seventeen hundred and twenty eight cubic inches, each containing the whole of the essence of God. As each cubic inch of space is susceptible of being divided into an infinite number of fractional spaces, each fractional space must contain the whole of the essence of God; hence the whole of his essence would be repeated an infinite number of times in every cubic inch. Therefore, if the whole of the essence of God constitutes God, we shall have an infinite number of gods in every cubic inch of space.

But the absurdity does not stop here. Charnock admits the omnipresence of God; he supposes his essence to fill the infinity of space. Now the whole of this infinitely extended essence must exist in the smallest fractional space that can be imagined, and must be repeated an infinite number of times in all finite spaces, in order that the whole of his essence may be in every possible space.

"It is impossible," says Charnock, "that one part of his essence can be separated from another." But, we ask, are not the different parts of space separated from each other? And if he fills all space, then his essence that is in one part of space must be separate from his essence in another part of space. If the whole of his essence occupies a cubic foot of space on the earth, and the whole of his essence occupies another cubic foot of space at the distance of the sun, how is it that these essences at this great distance are not separate from each other? But does not every school-boy know that the whole of any essence cannot be in two separate places at the same instant? And does not every one know that the whole of an essence, infinitely extended, cannot possibly exist in a finite space.

Charnock endeavours to illustrate his absurdities by referring to the rays of light. "The light of the sun," he says, "cannot be cut into parts,"--_it is entire in every place_." What does this great theologian mean by this? Does he mean that the light of the sun is without parts like his god? or that the whole light of the sun is in every place? Does the whole light of the sun enter our eyes or only a part of his rays? If the whole light of the sun "is entire in every place," then the intensity of his light must be equal in all places. If this be the case, philosophers must be entirely mistaken, for they say that light varies in intensity inversely as the square of the distance from the luminous body; they inform us that a body situated at twice or three times the distance of the earth from the sun will enjoy only one-fourth or one-ninth of the amount of light that we enjoy; but how could this be possible, if the whole light of the sun, instead of part, "is entire in every place?"

It takes light over eight minutes to come from the sun to the earth. Charnock says, "The light of the sun cannot be cut into parts." This is not true; for if an opaque body, one million of miles in diameter, were to be placed at any given instant half way between the earth and sun, the light of the sun would still continue to be seen for upwards of four minutes after the intervention of this body. The rays of light between the earth and the opaque body would be entirely cut off from the rays on the opposite side of the body.

It matters not whether the corpuscular or the undulatory theory of light be adopted--whether the particles of light emanate from the sun or merely vibrate; each atom is separate from every other atom, and each is only a part of the great whole. An infinite number of parts enter into the vast assemblage of luminous atoms. Light radiates from the sun in all directions, and fills the surrounding spaces by a part being in one space and a part in another, and not, like Mr. Charnock's god, the whole being repeated in every part of space. That part of the essence of light which is in one place, cannot by any possibility be in any other place at the same instant. In one sense it may be said to be one light, or the same light, because the properties are alike. Each particle is a distinct, separate essence from every other particle, but the qualities of each are alike or similar. Therefore, in this sense we may speak of the light of the sun as _one_ light, though it possesses an infinite number of parts, the same as we speak of God being one God, though the parts of his essence are infinite in number. Mr. Charnock says, "Whatsoever hath parts is finite, but God is infinite, and, therefore, hath not parts of his essence." Space likewise is infinite, and therefore, according to this gentleman's logic, it can have no parts. Duration is infinite, and, therefore, it also must be without parts. What would a cubic inch of space be? Any man that was not insane would at once say that it is a part of space. Therefore, if an infinite space or an infinite duration can have parts, why not an infinite essence have parts?

"The Lord he is God in heaven above and upon the earth beneath; there is none else."--Deut. iv. 39. Such a passage when referring to the person of God, should be understood the same as we would understand a similar expression concerning any earthly ruler: for instance, it can be said of her Majesty, she is queen in Great Britain and also in Canada, and there is none else; that is, there is none else that is queen in these two places. This would have no reference to her person being in these two places at the same time; it only shows that she should be the only acknowledged queen in these two places. But when God says, "I fill heaven and earth," he has reference to his Holy Spirit, a part of which fills heaven, and another part fills the earth. That part which fills the earth has the same wisdom, knowledge, glory, and power as the part that fills the heaven; hence, though distinct and separate essences, their perfections and attributes are one. One wisdom--one glory--one power, pervade every part of this glorious essence. This oneness is such that the part which fills the earth will never act contrary to the will of the part which fills the heavens. The essence possesses a plurality of parts, but the wisdom possesses no divisibility of parts; it is infinite wisdom in every part. Wisdom cannot be divided into parts any more than love, hope, joy, or fear. A truth is identically the same truth whether possessed by one or a million of persons, and is not susceptible of being divided into fractions. The Holy Spirit is called "_The Spirit of Truth_." Though the essence that possesses this truth may be divided into an infinite number of parts, occupying an infinite number of separate spaces, yet the truth that pervades them all is ONE truth. It is the indivisibility and unity of these perfections or qualities that constitute the oneness of the Godhead.

3.--Mr. Taylder supposes my assertion that "there is no such thing as moral image," to be unscriptural, and that "it denies in some respects the moral perfections of the Godhead." (Taylder's Tract, page 33.)

We still maintain that there cannot be any such thing as moral image independently of an essence or substance to which it belongs. And this is the only sense which we intended to convey in our tract on the "KINGDOM OF GOD." Indeed, it is there expressly said, that "Morality is a property of some being or substance. A property without a substance or being to which it appertains is inconceivable. A property can never have figure, shape, or image of any kind." This is a truth admitted by all philosophers. Sir Isaac Newton in the Scholium, at the end of the "_principia_," in speaking of God says, "He is omnipresent, not by means of his _virtue_ alone, but also by his _substance,_ for virtue cannot subsist without substance." Virtue or morality cannot subsist without _substance;_ hence it can have no _image_ without substance. Substance alone can have an image. Such an image may have the property of virtue, or of morality, and by reason of this property may be called a virtuous image, or a moral image. It is in this sense alone that the apostle Paul applies the term image to the new man. "Ye have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge, after the image of him that created him." Col. iii. 10. "Ye have put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness." Eph. iv. 24. Now what is this new man? It is the spirit of man renewed in its properties, but not changed in its substance or essence. This substance previously to the renewal of its qualities was immoral, after the renewal it became moral or virtuous, possessing the same quality in a degree as the substance or image of the Deity. The substance of the Deity may be termed a moral substance or image, the same as the substance of gold is called a yellow substance, or yellow image, if it resembles a person. The yellowness of gold could not be an image independently of the substance, neither could the morality of the Deity be an image independently of his essence.

The spiritual substance of man was formed in the beginning after the same image as the spiritual substance of the persons of the Father and Son. Previously to the fall these spirits were all moral in their nature; by the fall the spirits of men lost their morality and virtue, but not their essence--that continued the same; by the new birth man regains his morality and virtue, while the essence remains the same; it now becomes a moral virtuous image, whereas the same substance was before immoral. Paul, in speaking of the resurrection, says, "As we have borne the image of the earthly, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly." I Cor. xv. 49.

This cannot mean a heavenly image without substance; for when man rises from the dead, he certainly will rise with flesh and bones. The immortal bodies of the saints when they rise from the grave "will be fashioned," as Paul says, "like unto the glorious body of Jesus Christ." As Jesus ascended into heaven with a body of flesh and bones, so will his saints bear the same image, having flesh and bones after "the image of the heavenly." That these glorious bodies of immortal flesh and immortal bones will be moral images, in the sense above stated, there is no doubt. But such a thing as a moral image in the sense that the immaterialists use the term, is a clear impossibility. Such an image, as we remarked in our treatise on the "KINGDOM OF GOD," never can and never will have "an existence only in the brains of modern idolaters."

4.--Mr. Taylder falsely accuses us of denying "the _personality_ of each person in the Trinity, making each to be only a part in the Godhead." (Taylder's Tract, page 34.)

This author very well knows that the personalities in the godhead are not denied by us. It will be seen on the very pages to which he has so frequently referred, that we believe the Father and Son to be two separate distinct personages, as much so as fathers and sons of the human race; it will there be seen that we also believe the Holy spirit to be a separate distinct substance from the two substances of the Father and Son. That all may see that this author has wrongfully accused us of denying "the personality of each person in the Trinity," we make the following extract from our treatise on the "KINGDOM OF GOD."

"The Godhead consists of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The Father is a material being. The substance of which he is composed is wholly material. It is a substance widely different in some respects from the various substances with which we are more immediately acquainted. In other respects it is precisely like all other materials. The substance of his person occupies space the same as other matter. It has solidity, length, breadth, and thickness, like all other matter. The elementary materials of his body are not susceptible of occupying, at the same time, the same identical space with other matter. The substance of his person, like other matter, cannot be in two places at the same instant. It also requires _time_ for him to transport himself from place to place. It matters not how great the velocity of his movements, _time_ is an essential ingredient to all motion, whether rapid or slow. It differs from other matter in the superiority of its powers, being intelligent, all-wise, and possessing the power of self-motion to a far greater extent than the coarser materials of nature. "God is a _spirit_." But that does not make him an immaterial being--a being that has no properties in common with matter. The expression, "_an immaterial being_," is a contradiction in terms. Immateriality is only another name for nothing. It is the negative of all existence. A "_spirit_" is as much _matter_ as oxygen or hydrogen. It has many properties in common with all other matter. Chemists have discovered between fifty and sixty kinds of matter; and each kind has some properties in common with all other matter, and some properties peculiar to itself which the others do not inherit. Now, no chemist in classifying his substances would presume to say, this substance is material, but that one is immaterial, because it differs in some respects from the first. He would call them all material, though they in some respects differed widely. So the substance called spirit is material, though it differs in a remarkable degree from other substances. It is only the addition of another element of a more powerful nature than any yet discovered. He is not a being "without _parts_," as modern idolators teach; for every whole is made up of parts. The whole person of the Father consists of innumerable parts; and each part is so situated as to bear certain relations of distance to every other part. There must also be, to a certain degree, a freedom of motion among these parts, which is an essential condition to the movements of his limbs, without which he could only move as a whole.

"All the foregoing statements in relation to the person of the Father, are equally applicable to the person of the Son.

"The Holy Spirit being one part of the Godhead, is also a material substance, of the same nature and properties in many respects, as the spirits of the Father and Son. It exists in vast immeasurable quantities, in connexion with all material worlds. This is called God in the Scriptures, as well as the Father and Son. God the Father and God the Son cannot be everywhere present; indeed they cannot be even in two places at the same instant: but God the Holy Spirit is omnipresent--it extends through all space, intermingling with all other matter, yet no one atom of the Holy Spirit can be in two places at the same instant, which in all cases is an absolute impossibility. It must exist in inexhaustible quantities, which is the only possible way for any substance to be omnipresent. All the innumerable phenomena of universal nature are produced in their origin by the actual presence of this intelligent all-wise and all-powerful material substance called the Holy Spirit. It is the most active matter in the universe, producing all its operations according to fixed and definite laws enacted by itself, in conjuction with the Father and the Son. What are called the laws of nature are nothing more nor less than the fixed method by which this spiritual matter operates. Each atom of the Holy Spirit is intelligent, and like other matter has solidity, form, and size, and occupies space. Two atoms of this spirit cannot occupy the same space at the same time. In all these respects it does not differ in the least from all other matter. Its distinguishing characteristics from other matter are its almighty powers and infinite wisdom, and many other glorious attributes which other materials do not possess. If several of the atoms of this Spirit should exist united together in the form of a person, then this person of the Holy Spirit would be subject to the same necessity as the other two persons of the Godhead, that is, it could not be everywhere present. No finite number of atoms can be omnipresent. An infinite number of atoms is requisite to be _everywhere_ in infinite space. Two persons receiving the gift of the Holy spirit, do not each receive at the same time the same identical particles, though they each receive a substance exactly similar in kind. It would be as impossible for each to receive the same identical atoms at the same instant, as it would be for two men at the same time to drink the same identical pint of water." (Kingdom of God. Part I, page 4.)

From this extract it will be perceived that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, are believed by us to be three distinct material substances, the same in kind, but not the same in identity. The person of the Father is a body of Spirit, consisting of parts. Mr. Taylder enquires, "What does the author mean by 'the _elementary_ materials of his body?' Is his body a compounded substance, capable of being reduced to original and simple elements?" We answer that the _elements_ of his body are the different parts of which it consists. The _whole,_ being "_compounded_" of "_elementary_" parts.

The Godhead may be further illustrated by a council, consisting of three men--all possessing equal wisdom, knowledge, and truth, together with equal qualifications in every other respect. Each person would be a separate distinct person or substance from the other two, and yet the three would form but ONE council. Each alone possesses, by supposition, the same wisdom and truth that the three united or the ONE council possesses. The union of the three men in one council would not increase the knowledge or wisdom of either. Each man would be _one part_ of the council when reference is made to his person; but the wisdom and truth of each man would be the _whole_ wisdom and truth of the council, and not a part. 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 dwell in the Father--the _whole_ dwells in the Son--the _whole_ is possessed by the Holy Spirit. "The Holy Spirit is _one part_ of the Godhead" in essence; the _whole_ of God in wisdom, truth, and other similar qualities. If a truth could become three truths, distinct from each other, by dwelling in three persons or substances, then there would be _three_ Gods instead of _one_. But as it is, the Trinity is _three_ in essence but _one_ in truth and other similar principles. The oneness of the Godhead, as described in the Scriptures, never was intended to apply to the essence, but only to the perfections and other attributes.

If the Father possess infinite wisdom and knowledge, why, some may ask, can he not get along with his work without the assistance of the Son and Holy Spirit? We answer, the Son is necessary to reconcile fallen man to the Father: the Holy Spirit is necessary to sanctify and purify the affections of men, and also to dwell in them as a teacher of truth. Immense quantities of this substance are also necessary in order to be present in connexion with all other substances, to control and govern them according to fixed and definite laws that good order and harmony may obtain in every department of the universe. The Father and Son govern the immensity of creation, not by their own actual presence, but by the actual presence of the Spirit. The union of the three does not give any additional wisdom and knowledge to either, but by the union, they are able to carry on certain works which could not be carried on by one singly. One singly, as for instance the Father, could have power to do all things not inconsistent with his perfections and attributes, that is, he could act where he was present, but without the assistance of the Holy Spirit or some other being, he being a person, could not act where he is not present. By the union of the three, each is able to act in all places through the assistance of the others. The persons of the Father and Son can be in heaven, and yet, through the agency of the spirit, act upon the earth. An omnipresent person is impossible, but an omnipresent substance, diffused through space, is not only consistent, but reasonable. Persons through the medium of such an all-wise and all-powerful substance, can exercise Almighty power, at the same time in the most distant departments of creation. Without such a substance with which they were in union, they could not carry on the grand and powerful operations of universal nature; for no substance can act where it is not present.

Perhaps the objector may refer to matter attracting matter as a proof that it can act where it is not present. But we are bold to affirm that such a thing as attraction cannot possibly exist. For matter to draw distant matter towards itself, and consequently act where it is not present, would be as utterly impossible as it would be for a person to be in two or more places at the same time. All the phenomena of universal gravitation can be accounted for upon principles infinitely more simple and consistent, than to ascribe to matter the impossible power of acting where it is not present. The author may, at some future time, give his views with regard to the powers of nature, and the laws by which it is governed. But to enter in this work into a full development of our theory in relation to those intricate though sublime subjects, would be a digression foreign to the objects we have in view in this treatise.

No doubt many apparent objections to our views of the Godhead will arise in the minds of many who nave been traditionated in the absurd doctrines of immaterialism. Not long since a series of questions were propounded to the Latter-day Saints by the Rev. F. Austin, a Roman Catholic minister, a few of which, relating to the nature of God, we insert here together with our answers. (The whole series of questions, together with the answers, will be published in the "Millenial Star.")

Question.--"If the God of the Mormonites be like a man in figure, we must suppose the organs of the senses to have the same uses, and to be dependent on the same sources for information; his ears, in consequence, for hearing must be dependent on the transmission of sound. How, then, can he hear his people praying to him in Europe when he is in America?"

Answer.--Because the _figure_ of two substances are alike, that is no evidence that the _qualities_ of the two substances are alike. A wax figure may be in the shape of a man, and yet, we all know, that it has not the qualities of a man. A wise man may have the figure of a foolish man, and yet be far superior to him in the qualities of wisdom, knowledge and understanding. God may have the figure of a man, and yet have many qualities and susceptibilities which man has not got. The resemblance of figure, then, has nothing to do, as to whether other qualities shall be alike or unlike. The spiritual body of the Deity is altogether a different kind of substance from the fleshly body of man, yet they may resemble each other in figure. The substances are entirely different, therefore, though the figures should resemble each other, this is no evidence that all the qualities must be alike. The ear of the fleshly body may be affected by the vibrations of our atmosphere; the ear of a spiritual body may be affected in an entirely different manner, and yet their figures may resemble each other. The ear of the fleshly body may be affected by the vibrations of many elastic substances besides the atmosphere. Sound is conveyed through various mediums with different degrees of velocity. The ear of the spiritual body may be affected, not only by the atmosphere and other elastic mediums which affect the ear of flesh, but it also may be affected by a vast number of other more subtle and refined mediums, which may transfer sound with a velocity immensely superior to any motion with which we are acquainted. A refined medium which would convey sound with no greater velocity than that of light, would carry information from Europe to America in less than the sixtieth part of a second. But if God foreknows all things, he must have foreknown all about our prayers millions of ages before we were born, and must also have foreknown the precise time when we would pray, and the kind of spirit or feeling, and the degree of faith that would accompany each prayer; and if he knew all these things before they come to pass, he must certainly know them the moment they do come to pass; and, therefore, with a foreknowledge of all things, there would be no necessity for his receiving information of our prayers by the transmission of sound; he would know and understand our prayers the moment they were offered up, the same as he knew them and understood them in ages before they were offered up. "He that formed the ear shall he not hear." Because God knows the nature of music, that is no reason why he may not rejoice in hearing music. One use, then, of the ears of his spiritual body is, no doubt, to hear and rejoice in delightful music, not that it increases his knowledge, but it is joyful to his ear. The ear of man serves a double purpose; it is not only a medium of information, but a medium of sounds that are delightful to the mind. The ear of the Lord may be delighted with sounds, though he receive no additional knowledge by those sounds.

Question--"If he be like man, his legs must be the organs of motion; if not, what purpose do they serve? If they are, are they good for walking through the air as well as on land? Or has he wings, or how? or some organ of motion we have not got? And if we have not sot this organ, how can we be created to his image and likeness, supposing the resemblance in every thing?"

Answer.--The resemblance between man and God has reference, as we have already observed, to the shape or figure; other qualities may or may not resemble each other. Man has legs, so has God, as is evident from his appearance to Abraham. Man walks with his legs, so does God sometimes, as is evident from his going with Abraham towards Sodom. God can not only walk, but he can move up or down through the air without using his legs as in the process of walking. (See Gen. xvii. 22; also xi. 5; also xxxv. 13.)--"A man wrestled with Jacob until the breaking of day;" after which, Jacob says--"I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved."--Gen. xxxii. 24-30. That this person had legs is evident from his wrestling with Jacob. His image and likeness was so much like man's, that Jacob at first supposed him to be a man.--(See 24th verse.) God, though in the figure of a man, has many powers that man has not got. He can go upwards through the air. He can waft himself from world to world by his own self-moving powers. These are powers not possessed by man only through faith, as in the instances of Enoch and Elijah. Therefore, though in the figure of a man, he has powers far superior to man.

Question--"When God appears surrounded with glory, is this glory essential to him or not? If essential, how can he lay it aside, as he seems to have done when he appeared to Abraham? If his appearing so does not prove it essential, how does his appearance in the form of a man prove that form essential to him?"

Answer--The glory of God is essential to him under all circumstances, whether his person is visible or invisible--whether man is permitted to behold that glory or not. He never lays aside his glory, though he may not always render it visible to mortals. "The God of glory," says the martyr Stephen, "appeared unto our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Charran"--Acts, vii. 2. But because he showed Abraham his person, it did not necessarily follow that he must also show him his glory. The person of God is one thing, and his glory is another; they are inseparably connected. He cannot divest his person of his glory, nor lay it aside, but he can hide his glory from the gaze of man, or he can reveal it and his person also, or he can reveal his person and not his glory. The visibility or the invisibility of the glory of God does not render it non-essential to him. The glory is just as essential as his image and likeness, and his image or likeness, resembling that of man's, is as essential as his glory--neither can be laid aside, though one or both may be rendered visible or invisible.

Question.--"If his presence do not extend beyond his size, that is, the size of a man, how could he divide the waters of the sea--how could he hold them up? If they were a solid mass, it might be conceived; but all the strength in the world won't hold up water; and it must be remembered that a person must be present where he acts."

Answer.--He could divide the waters of the sea, and hold them up by the actual presence of his Holy Spirit which not only moves upon the face of the waters, but is likewise in and through the waters, governing them and controlling all the elements according to the mind of God. It is the actual presence of this Spirit that produces all the phenomena ascribed to the laws of nature, as well as many of the deviations from those laws, commonly called miracles; it extends, like the golden rays of the bright luminary of heaven, through all extent; it spreads life and happiness through all the varied species of animated beings, and gilds the starry firmament with a magnificent splendor, celestial, immortal, and eternal.

_15, Wilton Street, Liverpool, July 31st, 1849_.

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R. James, Printer, 39, South Castle Street, Liverpool.

Transcriber's Note

This ebook aims to reproduce the 1849 Liverpool edition. Signature Books very kindly gave permission for the Mormon Texts Project to use the text of "Absurdities of Immaterialism" they originally published in "The Essential Orson Pratt" (as made available on their website) as a basis for this work. This text was compared to scans of the pamphlet that Google has helpfully made available. The end of the pamphlet, which was not in the Signature Books text, was produced based off the Google scans, and the rest of the text was carefully compared to the scans and in a few cases edited to conform more closely.

Footnote citations in the original have been converted to parenthetical form to improve readability. Some unmatched quotation marks have been corrected in cases where the correct placement could be established. A few typographical errors (wont for won't, actua for actual) have been corrected.

End of Project Gutenberg's Absurdities of Immaterialism, by Orson Pratt