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JOSEPH SMITHASSCIENTIST
A CONTRIBUTION TOMORMON PHILOSOPHY
BY
John A. Widtsoe, A. M., Ph. D.
THE GENERAL BOARD
YOUNG MEN'S MUTUAL IMPROVEMENT
ASSOCIATIONS
SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH
1908
Copyright1908by John A. Widtsoe.
Preface
In the life of every person, who receives a higher education, in orout of schools, there is a time when there seems to be oppositionbetween science and religion; between man-made and God-made knowledge.The struggle for reconciliation between the contending forces is notan easy one. It cuts deep into the soul and usually leaves scars thatache while life endures. There are thousands of young people in theChurch to-day, and hundreds of thousands throughout the world, who arestruggling to set themselves right with the God above and the worldabout them. It is for these young people, primarily, that thefollowing chapters have been written.
This volume is based on the conviction that there is no realdifference between science and religion. The great, fundamental lawsof the Universe are foundation stones in religion as well as inscience. The principle that matter is indestructible belongs as muchto theology as to geology. The theology which rests upon the few basiclaws of nature is unshakable; and the great theology of the futurewill be such a one.
"Mormonism" teaches and has taught from the beginning that allknowledge must be included in the true theology. Because of itscomprehensive philosophy, "Mormonism" will survive all religiousdisturbances and become the system of religious faith which all menmay accept without yielding the least part of the knowledge of natureas discovered in the laboratories or in the fields. The splendidconceptions of "Mormonism" concerning man and nature, and man's placein nature are among the strongest testimonies of the divine nature ofthe work founded by Joseph Smith, the Prophet.
This little volume does not pretend to be a complete treatment of"Mormon" philosophy; it is only a small contribution to the subject.There is room for elaboration and extension in this field for manygenerations to come. The attempt has been made to sketch, briefly, therelation of "Mormonism" to some features of modern scientificphilosophy, and to show that not only do "Mormonism" and scienceharmonize; but that "Mormonism" is abreast of the most modern of theestablished views of science, and that it has held them many years—insome cases before science adopted them. The only excuse for the scanttreatment of such an important subject is that it is as extensive asthe duties of a busy life would allow. In the future, the subject maybe given a fuller treatment.
Some readers may urge that "the testimony of the Spirit," which hasbeen the final refuge of so many Christians, has received littleconsideration in the following chapters. This is due to the avowedpurpose of the work to harmonize science and religion, on the basis ofaccepted science. "Mormonism" is deeply and rationally spiritual; thediscussion in this volume is confined to one phase of Gospelphilosophy.
The majority of the following chapters were originally published inthe Improvement Era for 1903-1904 as a series of articles bearingthe main title of this b