Editors’ Table

IMPROVEMENT ERA

Why Apostate Christianity is Disappointing We hear much about the ineffectuality of the so-called Chris- tian churches in meeting the war conditions. It has even been stated that in the trenches there is more religion of a more toler- able kind than is found in the pulpits of the Christian churches. The ministers of the Christian churches are charged with ex- pressing "childish explosions of public hate;" whereas, from the trenches come frequently poetic contributions from the lead- ing families of the nations which contain beautiful sentiments and at the same time express neither hate nor boast of conquest. One English writer says that it is noticeable that in the poems, of which thousands have been written from the seat of war, there are certain features which are typical of the "English University spirit. The poems are markedly individual, and they are entirely free from hate and execration. There is no reviling of the enemy." He says further that : "Our young soldiers look to poetry as a deliverance from the grim necessity of the hour rather than as a means of expressing martial emotion. They do not gush concerning patriotism, but they feel it none the less." Another criticism offered against the pulpit is that it dare not raise its voice against political evils and that the churches "dare not speak the truth which they profess." When we con- sider the conditions that surround the churches of the world, it is not strange that this should be the case. They are entirely dependent upon the civil authority of the nations. In fact, kings, emperors, and kaisers, stand at the head of the church and have complete control of thought and act of those who are supposed to be ministers of Christ. How shall Ave look for vitality in the organizations of the Christian churches until they shall first be separated and delivered from the civil power which completely dominates both the pulpit and those who occupy it, until they are unable to say that their thoughts or their souls are their own! In the second place, they have received and possess no divine authority to preach and officiate in the ordinances of the gospel. The ministers preach for hire, and the hire is offered and paid by those who control them. They have no divine authority because they will not recognize it, but are sub- ject to their material masters. No wonder that through the present fearful cataclysm of war the Christian churches of En-

EDITORS' TABLE 1017

rope have spoken with contradictory voices, uttering a bewilder- ing flood of dullness with a sense of self complacency of so little value that it is completely powerless, even when contrasted with the. spiritual expressions of thoughtful men at the battle front. No wonder that a writer in the English Review, London, July, 1917, says: "The war has rent the veil of the temple in twain and reveals nothing of the least consequence behind it. That could not be otherwise while the temple remained a side chapel to Parliament and its ministers lay under the dominion of those who neither respected their achievements nor acknowl- edged their supernatural authority." We cannot count as faulty the doctrines of Christ. It is the ministerial interpretation that has gone wrong. It is an apostate Christianity. The great lesson arising from this condition is that the Church must be made free; and furthermore, it must be one in all the nations of the earth, and its authority must come from the King of kings, the Christ, through revelation, recognized and believed by the people, and not from the kings, kaisers, czars and rulers of the nations of the earth, whose power is man-made and not authorized from on high. But the fact is, there is no inde- pendence, no union, no head who can speak as one having au- thority, in the so-called Christian churches of the world. As Latter-day Saints we testify that authority to establish the true Church of Christ, to act in the ordinances of the gospel, and to speak with authority in the name of the Lord was re- stored to the earth following the visitation of God the Father and his Son, Jesus Christ, to the Prophet Joseph Smith. We believe that authority was given to him, and has been transmitted to his successors. We believe that eventually his Church will grow to fill the whole earth with the spirit of the gospel of Jesus Christ,

and imbue many peoples with the grandeur, nobility, vitality and power of his mission of peace and love and good will to mankind, which shall quell war and contention and establish the spirit ofpeace in the nations. We believe in continued direct revelation and inspiration of the Lord to the authorized leaders of the Church of Christ on earth that this glorious achievement may be accomplished. For nearly ninety years the restored gospel has been preached to the people of the world. Its delegates, clothed with authority, have delivered this great message to the nations wher- ever there has been freedom enough to admit them. They have labored by the thousands without material remuneration, not counting the sacrifice, but willing to devote their time and talent without price in this glorious service of the Master. The fearful and weighty responsibility rests upon the Latter- day Saints to continue this mighty work which has been en-