ion of
the spiritual realm. The world of nature is defective. Look at it clearly,
casting aside all superstition and imagination. If you should leave a man
uneducated and barbarous in the wilds of Africa, would there be any doubt
about his remaining ignorant? God has never created an evil spirit; all
such ideas and nomenclature are symbols expressing the mere human or
earthly nature of man. It is an essential condition of the soil of earth
that thorns, weeds and fruitless trees may grow from it. Relatively
speaking, this is evil; it is simply the lower state and baser product of
nature.

It is evident therefore that man is in need of divine education and
inspiration; that the spirit and bounties of God are essential to his
development. That is to say, the teachings of Christ and the prophets are
necessary for his education and guidance. Why? Because they are the divine
gardeners who till the earth of human hearts and minds. They educate man,
uproot the weeds, burn the thorns and remodel the waste places into
gardens and orchards where fruitful trees grow. The wisdom and purpose of
their training is that man must pass from degree to degree of progressive
unfoldment until perfection is attained. For instance, if a man should
live his entire life in one city, he cannot gain a knowledge of the whole
world. To become perfectly informed he must visit other cities, see the
mountains and valleys, cross the rivers and traverse the plains. In other
words, without progressive and universal education, perfection will not be
attained.

Man must walk in many paths and be subjected to various processes in his
evolution upward. Physically he is not born in full stature but passes
through consecutive stages of foetus, infant, childhood, youth, maturity
and old age. Suppose he had the power to remain young throughout his life.
He then would not understand the meaning of old age and could not believe
it existed. If he could not realize the condition of old age he would not
know that he was young. He would not know the difference between young and
old without experiencing the old. Unless you have passed through the state
of infancy how would you know this was an infant beside you? If there was
no wrong how would you recognize the right? If it were not for sin how
would you appreciate virtue? If evil deeds were unknown how could you
commend good actions? If sickness did not exist how would you understand
health? Evil is non-existent; it is