was necessary to qualify them in the best manner for instructing and enlightening those whom they were appointed to teach, The exterior forms of truth, the great external facts of religious doctrine, they saw distinctly; and they proclaimed those truths through the world with a zeal and enthusiasm which have never been exceeded. With the utmost zeal and energy they proclaimed everywhere the great fact that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners; and with the most intense earnestness, exhorted all men to faith and obedience as the only way of salvation. But we seek in vain in the writings of the apostles for any satisfactory explanation of the manner in which the advent, death and resurrection of the Lord are made available for our redemption. The great fact, is there presented and insisted upon, in every variety of form, but the explanation of that fact is wanting. This was that great "mystery of godliness" which the apostles did not attempt to explain. Nor was an explanation needed in that age of the world. If given, it would only have been misunderstood and perverted, for the human mind was not prepared to receive it. And yet the enlightened and rational mind in the present age, necessarily seeks for such an explanation, and cannot rest satisfied without it. To withhold such knowledge, is to compel the mind to remain in a lower state in regard to the understanding of spiritual things, than it does in regard to the infinitely less important truths of natural science. For here the phenomena are not only known but they are in some measure explained, and their connection with those interior law's and principles on which they depend, is beginning to be understood. And shall the natural degree of the human mind be free, and be permitted to roam in unrestrained freedom over the broad plain of scientific truth, while the spiritual degree of the mind is enslaved and held in bondage? God forbid. The day of freedom is dawning when the Lord "will undo the heavy burdens and let the oppressed go free."
