=Article 1.=--We believe in God, the Eternal Father, and in His
Son, Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost.
=1. The Existence of God.=--Since faith in God constitutes the
foundation of religious belief and practice, and inasmuch as a
knowledge of the attributes and character of Deity is essential to an
intelligent exercise of faith in Him, this subject claims first place
in our study of the doctrines of the Church.
=2.= The existence of God is scarcely a question of rational dispute;
nor does it call for proof by the feeble demonstrations of man's
logic, for the fact is admitted by the human family practically
without question, and the consciousness of subjection to a supreme
power is an inborn quality of mankind. The early scriptures are in no
sense devoted to a primary demonstration of God's existence, nor to
attacks on the sophistries of atheism; and from this fact we may infer
that the errors of doubt developed in some period later than the
first. The universal assent of mankind to the existence of God is at
least a strongly corroborative truth. There is a filial passion within
human nature which flames toward heaven. Every nation, every tribe,
every individual, yearns for some object of reverence. It is natural
for man to worship; his soul is unsatisfied till it finds a deity.
When men through transgression first fell into darkness concerning the
true and living God, they established for themselves other deities;
and so arose the abominations of idolatry. And yet, terrible as these
practices are, even the most revolting idolatries testify to the
existence of a God by declaring man's hereditary passion for worship.
Plutarch has wisely remarked of ancient conditions: "If you search the
world, you may find cities without walls, without letters, without
kings, without money; but no one ever saw a city without a deity,
without a temple, or without prayers." This general assent to a belief
in the existence of Deity is testimony of a high order; and in this
connection the words of Aristotle may be applied:--"What seems true to
some wise men is somewhat probable; what seems true to most or all
wise men is very probable; what most men, both wise and unwise, assent
to, still more resembles truth; but what men generally consent in has
the highest probability, and approaches so near to demonstrated truth,
that it may pass for ridiculous arrogance and self-conceitedness, or
for intolerable obstinacy and perverseness, to decry it."[48]
[48] See Notes 1, 2, and 3.
=3.= The multiplicity of evidence upon which mankind rest their
conviction regarding the existence of a Supreme Being, may be
classified, for convenience of consideration, under the three
following heads: