Having now concluded our inquiry as to the authenticity and credibility of our principal volume of scripture--the Bible; having proven, as I hope, to the satisfaction of my readers, that the Bible is authentic, and worthy of their confidence in what it says of God, of Christ and the Gospel, I have only to remark that the evidence it contains--especially when considered in connection with that found in the other scriptures, the Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants and Pearl of Great Price--is sufficient to plant in the mind an intelligent belief in God, in Christ and in the Gospel as the plan of man's redemption. And now, after so long a digression, I return to the subject of faith in God. I have already remarked[A] that faith is the first principle of religion, and that religious faith centers in God, to whom men look for salvation. I have also remarked that it is absolutely necessary for those who come to God to believe that he exists, for unless that fact is firmly fixed in their minds, men will consider themselves under no obligations to obey him. [Footnote A: Chapter vii.] The first evidence men have of the existence of God comes from tradition, from the testimony of their fathers; and this has been the case from that event known as the Fall, until the present. Nor is this evidence unworthy our serious attention; it rests upon a surer foundation than is usually accorded it. Suppose we go back to its beginning, to its first introduction into the world, and observe how well founded it is. According to the account given by Moses in Genesis, previous to the Fall, Adam associated with God; conversed with him respecting the works of creation, and gave names to the cattle, and all living things upon the earth. How long continued, or how intimate that association was, we are not informed in Genesis; but, at all events, it was long enough continued, and sufficiently intimate to fix definitely in the mind of Adam the fact of God's existence. Then when Adam and his wife transgressed God's law, their recollection of his existence did not vanish, but they tried to hide from his presence; and were afterwards visited of the Lord, who reproved them for their sin and pronounced the penalty which would overtake them for their transgression. All I wish to call attention to in this is the fact that they knew positively of the Lord's existence before their transgression, and they did not forget it after that event; but on the contrary had a lively recollection of what they had seen and heard before they fell, and related it to their children, who, in turn, transmitted it to their children, and so from generation to generation the tradition of God's existence has been handed down until the present time.