id="id00063">Chapter 19. **The Organization of the Church**

  The General Authorities—The Stakes of Zion—The Wards of the
  Stakes—The Priesthood in Stakes and Wards—Auxiliary
  Organizations—All Must Work—The Tenure of Office—An Unpaid
  Ministry—Appointments in the Priesthood—Common Consent—Bestowal
  of the Priesthood.

Chapter 20. **The Authority of the Priesthood**

  The Foundation of Authority—Absolute Authority—Derived Authority—
  The Authority of Office—Authority and Free Agency—Authority Over
  Self—The Exercise of Authority—The Unrighteous Exercise of
  Authority—The Church Authoritative.

Chapter 21. **Obedience**

  The Restraint of Nature—An Active Condition—The Restraint of Man—
  The Life of Law—Disobedience—The Church Worth Having.

Chapter 22. **A Missionary Church**

  A Church with a Purpose—The Hope of Today—Temporal Salvation—The
  Foreign Mission System—The Home Mission Service—For the Common
  Good.

Chapter 23. **Temple Ordinances**

  Educational—Symbolism—Covenants—Blessings—Temple Authority—
  Possible Repetition.

MAN AND MAN.

Chapter 24. **The Brotherhood of Man**

  Common Origin—Common Purposes—Common Destiny—Inter-Dependence—
  Brothers.

Chapter 25. **The Equality of Man**

  The Pre-existent Effort—The Earth Effort—The Variety of Gifts—The
  Equality of Opportunity—Unequal Equality—The Test of Equality.

Chapter 26. **Mutual Support**

The Duty of the Strong—Co-operation—Education.

Chapter 27. **The United Order**

  Purpose—Historical—Co-operation—Tithing—Voluntary Offerings—The
  Common Good.

Chapter 28. **Work for the Dead**

  All Must Be Saved—Earthly Ordinances—A Work of Love—The Need of
Records—The Result.

Chapter 29. **Marriage**

  Eternity of Sex—The Waiting Spirits—The Meaning of the First
  Command—The Family—Celestial Marriage—The Sealing Powers.

Chapter 30. **The Community**

Community Defined—The Individual in the Community—The Rights of the Community—Training for the Community—The Supremacy of the Community.

MAN AND NATURE.

Chapter 31. **Man and Nature**

The Intelligence of Nature—A Living Earth—The Lower Animals—All for the Use of Man—Man's Conquest of Nature—Miracles—Harmony of Man and Nature.

MAN AND HIMSELF.

Chapter 32. **The Sound Body**

  The Importance of the Body—Food—Exercise—Rest—Stimulants—Moral
  Purity—The Gospel and the Sound Body.

Chapter 33. **Education for the Inner Life**

  The Senses—The Reasoning Power—The Feelings—The Spiritual Sense—
  Symbolism—Education.

Chapter 34. **Satisfaction with Daily Work**

  Variety of Earthly Tasks—All Work May Be Intelligent—Nothing
  Temporal—Subjection to Self.

Chapter 35. **The Hope of Tomorrow**

  Today—Tomorrow—The Resurrection—Our Place in the Hereafter—The
  Destiny of Man.

Chapter 36. **The Law of the Earth**

The Unknown Meaning—The Earth Law—To Love God—To Love a Neighbor as Oneself—The Triumph of Man.

APPENDIX—References to Authorities

INDEX

Rational Theology.

CHAPTER 1.

THE MEANING OF THEOLOGY.

Earth, stars and the vastness of space; yesterday, today and tomorrow, and the endlessly increasing knowledge of the relations of forces, present an illimitable universe of numberless phenomena. Only as a whole, and in general outline, can the human mind understand the universe. In its infinite variety of expressions, it wholly transcends the human mind.

**Man in the Universe.** In the midst of this complexity, man finds himself. As he progresses from childhood to manhood, and as his slumbering faculties are awakened, he becomes more fully aware of the vastness of his universe and of the futility of hoping to understand it in detail.

Nevertheless, conscious man can not endure confusion. From out the universal mystery he must draw, at least, the general, controlling laws, that proclaim order in the apparent chaos; and, especially is he driven, by his inborn and unalterable nature, to know, if he can, his own place in the system of existing things. Every normal man desires and seeks an understanding of his relation to all other things, and practically every man has worked out for himself, on the basis of his knowledge, some theory which explains, more or less satisfactorily, the mystery of star and earth and man and life. No other quest is followed by man with such vigorous persistence, as is that of establishing an intelligible and satisfactory philosophy of earth-life.

**A Man's Religion.** The philosophy, or system of thought, adopted to explain man's place in nature determines largely the joy and manner of a man's life. If the philosophy be poor and loose, life will be confused; if rich and firm, life will be clear cut, and if law be made supreme, life will be orderly. Those who have no religion at all become the playthings of unknown forces. Every act of a man's life is influenced by the philosophy of his life. It is the most important product of an individual life, and is the most compelling power in life.

In a broad sense, the philosophy, according to which a man orders his life, may be called that man's religion. It may or may not involve the idea of God or an organized body of believers. If it guides a life, it is that life's religion, whether it leads to weakness or to strength.

**Theology Defined.** Since all men are placed in the same universe, with approximately the same powers, and under conditions nearly alike, it is possible for each person to establish for himself a religion as above defined, for the guidance of his life. All religions must be organized from the content of the one, and so far as we know, the only universe; and the presumption would be, therefore, that the religions of all men should be the same, in as far at least as men are the same. In fact, however, during the course of human history, many more or less dissimilar religions have been established and accepted. True, most of these religions show close kinship, but the vital differences are often very great. For instance, the religions of men fall naturally into two great classes: those that adopt as their central idea a great governing intelligence and power—a God; and those that refuse to include a God in their system of thought.

A religion which accepts the idea of a God is a theology. The great majority of the religions of men are theologies, for the majority of men believe in some form of personal divine power.