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THE KI NG' S BUS I NES S Devilish Diversions Dr. A. T. Schofield, the eminent Eng lish physician, in his new book, “ Modern Spiritism,” discusses some of the hid den dangers of Spiritism. He says that hundreds of innocent young people re gard these as popular, quite harmless, and often very amusing drawing-room diversions, being ignorant that in very many cases they have proved to be por tals to a growing and a most undesir able acquaintance with another world. Most of those who indulge in these simple beginnings, he tells us, have not the slightest intention of proceeding fur ther, and of ever becoming Spiritists, nor have they any wish to transgress in any way, or to act contrary to, their own moral or religious principles. Before they have any idea of it many find themselves more and more inter ested and involved in phenomena of in creasing significance. Raps are contin ually heard, often at night. They begin to experience a haunted feeling, and yet, though repelled, they are still more strongly attracted by a growing love for a pursuit which they are beginning to feel is unlawful, and certainly is very mysterious, and one which for many reasons they often find it advisable to keep secret. He states that scores of people in England have become lunatics because of the practices, MORMONISM The Mormon Creed Mormon elders usually have printed on the backs of their cards, the thirteen articles supposed to be the Mormon creed. It is a clever deception, con taining not one distinctly Mormon doc trine as taught by the Mormon books. The articles might be a sumpiary of the beliefs held by a dozen of the different orthodox denominations. When one has the Mormon explanation of what the words of the creed mean, it is found
that they mean something entirely dif ferent than what the unwary reader had suspected. Manifestly, this creed was designed for no other purpose than to be used as a bait to catch professing And who are the so-called inspired prophets of Mormonism, whose revela tions are exalted above the Bible? It is a matter of court record. About 1830 three designing men put their heads to gether to palm off on various commu nities in New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio; their crude religious system, the origin of which they tried to surround with great mystery. Joseph Smith, gen erally reputed to be the founder, was an ignorant man hardly able to read and write. According to his own mother, he had no knowledge of the Bible and was not even religious at the time he be came mixed up in the Mormon idea. Sidney Rigdon was a licensed Baptist minister who expounded such erratic theories that he was put out of the Bap tist church. He became a Campbellite, but he soon quarreled with Campbell and started out to give the world a new religion. Two men assisted in this scheme, Joseph Smith and Parley P. Pratt. Smith’s natural cunning enabled him within a short time to commercial ize the whole thing and to get the eccles iastical power into his own hands. As soon as Rigdon had put his spurious book of Mormon in its present shape and the new church was organized. Smith seized the reins of power which he managed to hold. Pratt lost his life at the muzzle of a gun in the hands of an enraged husband whose wife he had induced to desert her home to accom pany him to Utah as one of his plural wives. These are the three unprinci pled men who fabricated the whole Mor mon system which has deceived its thousands. The Teachings What are some of its distinctive doc- Christian people. The Originators
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