SCRIPTURE READING EXERCISE.

THE MODERN SCRIPTURES—(B) THE PEARL OF GREAT PRICE.

SPECIAL TEXT: "If two things exist, and there be one above the other, there shall be greater things above them. * * * * Now, if there be two things, one above the other, and the moon be above the earth, then it may be that a planet or a star may exist above it; * * * * as also if there be two spirits, and one shall be more intelligent than the other, yet those two spirits notwithstanding one is more intelligent than the other, have no beginning; they existed before, they shall have no end, they shall exist after, for they are gnolaum, or eternal. * * * * These two facts do exist, that there are two spirits, one being more intelligent than the other; there shall be another more intelligent than they; I am the Lord thy God, I am more intelligent than them all."—THE LORD TO ABRAHAM.

NOTES.

1. The Book of Abraham: The Book of Abraham, no less than the Book of Moses, is immensely rich in doctrine and historical incident. Of the latter the fact of the large influence (if not identity) of Egyptian religious ideas in Chaldea in the days of Abraham; the descent of the cursed or black race from Cain, the first murderer; their preservation through the flood by the wife of Ham—"Egyptus, which in the Chaldean signifies 'Egypt,' which signifies that which is forbidden," implying that Ham had married into that race which was forbidden to the "sons of God," and were cursed as pertaining to the Priesthood; the origin also of the Egyptians—these things constitute the chief historical items that are contributed by the book. As to doctrines, perhaps the most important are the pre-existence of spirits, and the eternal existence, yet varying grades of intelligences, (chap. iii); the choice of the more noble spirits as God's rulers in the earth (Ibid); the purpose of the earth life of these eternal intelligences, viz., to be "added upon," which means growth, increase of knowledge through experience, enlarged wisdom, broader intelligence, increased power and glory, Moses' "tasting the bitter that they may know how to prize the good" (Book of Moses, chap. vi:55); and the plurality of Gods implied in the fact that in his creation story Abraham uses the plural form throughout in reference to the divine Beings engaged in the work of creation—"And the Gods said let there be light,"—and the Gods called the light day," etc. We might claim for this book also the revelation of scientific truth in the Abrahamic system of astronomy, but that is too large a subject for treatment in a note; and therefore the student is referred to the very excellent work of Elder Geo. Reynolds, "The Book of Abraham: Its Authenticity Established as a Divine and Ancient Record." And also New Witnesses for God, Vol. I, chapters xxviii, xxix, and xxx. It should be said that it is more than sixty years since the Abrahamic system was first announced by the Prophet; and it is interesting to note the fact that though the heavens have been constantly searched by powerful telescopes during that time, nothing has yet been discovered which at all conflicts with it. On the contrary much has been learned which tends to confirm it. What God revealed on this most important and interesting branch of knowledge far outstripped at the time it was published, what scientists had learned or speculative philosophers had conjectured; and with confidence those who accept that revelation may watch the slow but important discoveries of astronomers which will yet demonstrate the truth of that system which God has revealed. It represents the universe as planned on a scale so magnificent that it is worthy of the intelligence of a God as its Creator. Such ideas of the construction of the universe that they are worthy of revelation; they carry with them by the very force of their grandeur the evidence of their truth; and when it is remembered that they were brought forth by a young man wholly separated from the centers of scientific thought, unacquainted with the speculations of philosophers, and without any previous knowledge of astronomy, it is not difficult to believe that he received his knowledge of them from the writings of one inspired or taught of God; and that he himself was gifted with divine power to translate those ancient writings, and hence himself a prophet and seer inspired of God."

2. Astronomy in Ancient Egypt: "The more carefully one studies the great work of Copernicus [the father of modern astronomy] the more surprised he will be to find how completely Ptolemy [the Egyptian] furnished him both ideas and material. If we seek the teachers and predecessors of Hipparchus, the Greek, (160-125 B. C.) we find only the shadowy forms of Egyptian and Babylonian priests, whose names and writings are all entirely lost. In the earliest historic ages, men knew that the earth was round; that the sun appeared to make an annual revolution among the stars; and that eclipses were cause by the moon entering the shadow of the earth, or the earth that of the moon." (Popular Astronomy, Simon Newcomb, Introduction, p 2.) It is not at all improbable that among the Egyptian and Babylonian priests above spoken of, "whose names and writings are all entirely lost," that Abraham may have had a place.

3. The Influence of Abraham on Egyptian Thought: That Abraham was in Egypt is clear both from the Bible and the writings of Josephus. The latter after relating all that the Bible does, only in greater detail, adds to the account that the Egyptian king made Abraham a large present in money; "and gave him leave to enter into conversation with the most learned among the Egyptians; from which conversation, his virtue and his reputation became more conspicuous than they had been before. For whereas the Egyptians were formerly addicted to different customs, and despised one another's sacred and accustomed rites, and were very angry one with another on that account, Abraham conferred with each of them, and confuted the reasonings they made use of, every one for his own practices; he demonstrated that such reasonings were vain, and void of truth; whereupon he was admired by them, in those conferences, as a very wise man, and one of great sagacity, when he discoursed on any subject he undertook; and this was not only in understanding it, but in persuading other men also to assent to him. He communicated to them arithmetic, and delivered to them the science of astronomy; for before Abraham came into Egypt, they were unacquainted with those parts of learning; for that science came from the Chaldeans into Egypt, and from thence to the Greeks also." (Antiquities of the Jews, Bk I, chap. xiii.)