THE FOOLISHNESS OF GOD

And the Wisdom of Men

"For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God. . . . Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men." (Cor. 1:18, 25.)

So spake Paul in olden days, and he knew whereof he spake. Rich in the learning of Jews and Greeks, ripe in scholarship and experience, he possessed breadth of foresight and depth of insight far exceeding the average capacity of men; and to these superior qualifications of mind must be added the transcendent spiritual endowments of the apostle, the prophet, the seer, the revelator.

His abnegation and humility are no less striking than the incontestable sincerity and genuineness of his avowals. Inspired philosopher as he was, he discriminated with keen perception and clear vision between knowledge and wisdom, and with masterly skill contrasted the fallible teachings of men with the unshakable averments of prophecy.

The Greeks of Paul's time prided themselves on their learning, philosophy, and science, much of which last was "falsely so called." By such the preaching of the cross, the teachings of the Gospel, the precepts of eternal life were accounted but vain babblings. Those pagan Greeks were mindtrained but spirit-dwarfed. And that type of misshapen monstrosity is not yet extinct.

The brutal protagonists of autocratic tyranny, whose barbarous kultur impels to crimes innumerable and atrocities indescribable, profess to regard the might of righteousness as but maudlin sentiment and puerile weakness. Boastful of material achievements and the temporary success of their diabolical system of selfishness and arrogance, they blaspheme the name and power of the living God, whose will it is that every soul be free.

The Gospel of Jesus Christ is the embodiment of the Divine will and purpose. That Gospel enjoins obedience to righteous law as the guaranty of individual liberty. It endures as the unchanging expression of eternal wisdom, though by carnally-minded sinners ridiculed as foolishness.

As early as 1833, in a revelation through the prophet Joseph Smith, the Lord declared that both strong drinks and hot drinks were injurious to the body. In that period the use of alcoholic beverages was common, and the consumption of hot drinks, particularly as tea and coffee, was well nigh universal. Promulgation of the Divine warning against these harmful customs was treated as a fad born of fanaticism. Inexorable fact has compelled acknowledgment of the Word of Wisdom (see D&C, Sec. 89) as the pronouncement of Nature's God. Prohibition of the use of intoxicants has become a question of supreme international importance. The efficiency of armies and navies is seen to be gravely conditioned thereby. Some of the world's most eminent surgeons aver that the habitual use of hot drinks is one of the most effective causes of gastric ulcer and cancer, which are classed among the deadliest of maladies.

The same revelation voices a direct inhibition against the use of tobacco by man, and this avowal, now branded as extreme and uncalled for, is destined yet to become the basis of secular enactment.

The immoderate use of flesh foods was specified by Divine utterance as harmful. The exigencies of war enforced restriction of meat eating, and the nation was bettered thereby.

Unchastity, the dominant vice of the ages, has been tolerated as an irrepressible feature of the social system, and this notwithstanding the warning fiat of Jehovah against marital infidelity and sexual sin in all its hideous phases. The imperative demand for efficiency in this crucial age of stress and struggle has literally forced a measured though lamentably inadequate acceptance of the Divine requirement, for the statistical data of incapacity due to so-called social diseases are so astounding and show a condition so frightful as to make plain that the very foundations of civilization are jeopardized.

Men have been prone to turn deaf ears to the voice of God, delivered through the prophets always in season to avert threatening calamities; and have rested in the lethal contentment of self-confident ability to deal in their own way with the problems of life. How surpassingly wiser would it be, as shown in the light of our dearly-bought experience, to acknowledge the wisdom of God's beneficence, and profit thereby. Prophecy is direct and sure, science laggard and tentative. One is the advance message from God, the other man's belated and ofttimes distorted version of the truth.

Mormonism proclaims the Gospel of Christ as the panacea for the ills of men and nations. Its proclamation to the world is the assurance of peace on earth and good will among men, through obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel. The veriest moiety of the wisdom of God transcends the accumulated knowledge of men in its entirety.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is calling aloud to every nation, kindred, tongue and people: Have faith in God. Deal justly with one another. Make amends for past wrongs before opportunity is forfeited. Strive to enter in at the gate to the Kingdom of God while yet you may, for verily the time is short, and the coming of the Lord is near. Repent and be baptized, every one of you, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, by which ye shall be guided in the paths of truth and inherit salvation at the great and terrible day of the Lord which is nigh, even at your doors.