Joseph Smith as Scientist: A Contribution to Mormon Philosophy Part 1

Joseph Smith as Scientist.

by John A. Widtsoe.

Preface

In the life of every person, who receives a higher education, in or out of schools, there is a time when there seems to be opposition between science and religion; between man-made and G.o.d-made knowledge.

The struggle for reconciliation between the contending forces is not an easy one. It cuts deep into the soul and usually leaves scars that ache while life endures. There are thousands of young people in the Church to-day, and hundreds of thousands throughout the world, who are struggling to set themselves right with the G.o.d above and the world about them. It is for these young people, primarily, that the following chapters have been written.

This volume is based on the conviction that there is no real difference between science and religion. The great, fundamental laws of the Universe are foundation stones in religion as well as in science. The principle that matter is indestructible belongs as much to theology as to geology. The theology which rests upon the few basic laws of nature is unshakable; and the great theology of the future will be such a one.

"Mormonism" teaches and has taught from the beginning that all knowledge must be included in the true theology. Because of its comprehensive philosophy, "Mormonism" will survive all religious disturbances and become the system of religious faith which all men may accept without yielding the least part of the knowledge of nature as discovered in the laboratories or in the fields. The splendid conceptions of "Mormonism" concerning man and nature, and man's place in nature are among the strongest testimonies of the divine nature of the 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 many generations to come. The attempt has been made to sketch, briefly, the relation of "Mormonism" to some features of modern scientific philosophy, and to show that not only do "Mormonism" and science harmonize; but that "Mormonism" is abreast of the most modern of the established views of science, and that it has held them many years--in some cases before science adopted them. The only excuse for the scant treatment of such an important subject is that it is as extensive as the duties of a busy life would allow. In the future, the subject may be given a fuller treatment.

Some readers may urge that "the testimony of the Spirit," which has been the final refuge of so many Christians, has received little consideration in the following chapters. This is due to the avowed purpose of the work to harmonize science and religion, on the basis of accepted science. "Mormonism" is deeply and rationally spiritual; the discussion in this volume is confined to one phase of Gospel philosophy.

The majority of the following chapters were originally published in the _Improvement Era_ for 1903-1904 as a series of articles bearing the main t.i.tle of this book. These articles are here republished with occasonal changes and additions. The new chapters have been cast into the same form as the original articles. The publication as independent articles will explain the apparent lack of connection between the chapters in this book. The statements of scientific facts have been compared very carefully with standard authorities. However, in popularizing science there is always the danger that the simplification may suggest ideas that are not wholly accurate. Those who have tried this kind of work will understand and pardon such errors as may appear. However, corrections are invited.

My thanks are due and cheerfully given the management of the _Improvement Era_ for the help and encouragement given. I am under especial obligations to Elder Edward H. Anderson, the a.s.sociate editor of the _Era_, to whose efforts it is largely due that this volume has seen the light of day. I desire to render my thanks also to the committee appointed by the First Presidency to read the ma.n.u.script, Elders George Albert Smith, Edward H. Anderson and Joseph F. Smith, Jr.

This volume has been written in behalf of "Mormonism." May G.o.d speed the truth!

INTRODUCTORY.

Chapter I.

JOSEPH'S MISSION AND LANGUAGE.

[Sidenote: Scientific discussions not to be expected in the Prophet's work.]

The mission of Joseph Smith was of a spiritual nature; and therefore, it is not to be expected that the discussion of scientific matters will be found in the Prophet's writings. The revelations given to the Prophet deal almost exclusively with the elucidation of so-called religious doctrines, and with such difficulties as arose from time to time in the organization of the Church. It is only, as it appears to us, in an incidental way that other matters, not strictly of a religious nature, are mentioned in the revelations. However, the Church teaches that all human knowledge and all the laws of nature are part of its religious system; but that some principles are of more importance than others in man's progress to eternal salvation.[A]

While on the one hand, therefore, it cannot reasonably be expected that Joseph Smith should deal in his writings with any subject peculiar to natural science, yet, on the other hand, it should not surprise any student to find that the Prophet at times considered matters that do not come under the ordinary definition of religion, especially if they in any way may be connected with the laws of religion. Statements of scientific detail should not be looked for in Joseph Smith's writings, though these are not wholly wanting; but rather, we should expect to find general views of the relations of the forces of the universe.

[Footnote A: "And truth is knowledge of things as they are, and as they were and as they are to come."--Doctrine and Covenants, 93:24.

"Teach ye diligently and my grace shall attend you, that you may be instructed more perfectly in theory, in principle, in doctrine, in the law of the Gospel, in all things that pertain unto the Kingdom of G.o.d, that are expedient for you to understand;

"Of things both in heaven and in the earth, and under the earth; things which have been, things which are, things which must shortly come to pa.s.s; things which are at home, things which are abroad; the wars and the perplexities of the nations, and the judgments which are on the land, and a knowledge also of countries and kingdoms,

"That ye may be prepared in all things when I shall send you again to magnify the calling, whereunto I have called you, and the mission with which I have commissioned you."--Doctrine and Covenants, 88:78-80.

"And verily, I say unto you, that it is my will that you should hasten to translate my Scriptures, and to obtain a knowledge of history, and of countries, and of kingdoms, of laws of G.o.d and man, and all this for the salvation of Zion."--Doctrine and Covenants, 93:53.

"It (theology) is the science of all other sciences and useful arts, being in fact the very foundation from which they emanate. It includes philosophy, astronomy, history, mathematics, geography, languages, the science of letters, and blends the knowledge of all matters of fact, in every branch of art and research.......All that is useful, great and good, all that is calculated to sustain, comfort, instruct, edify, purify, refine or exalt intelligences, originated by this science, and this science alone, all other sciences being but branches growing out of this, the root."--Pratt, Key to Theology, chap. 1.]

[Sidenote: Man must not expect direct revelation in matters that he can solve for himself.]

It is not in harmony with the Gospel spirit that G.o.d, except in special cases, should reveal things that man by the aid of his natural powers may gain for himself. The Lord spoke to the Prophet as follows:--"Behold, you have not understood; you have supposed that I would give it unto you, when you took no thought, save it was to ask me; but, behold, I say unto you, that you must study it out in your mind; then you must ask me if it be right, and if it is right I will cause that your bosom shall burn within you; therefore, you shall feel that it is right."[A] Such a doctrine makes it unreasonable to look to the Prophet's work for a gratuitous ma.s.s of scientific or other details, which will relieve man of the labor of searching out for himself nature's laws. So well established is this principle that in all probability many of the deepest truths contained in the writings of Joseph Smith will not be clearly understood, even by his followers, until, by the laborious methods of mortality, the same truths are established. It is even so with the principles to be discussed in the following papers. They were stated seventy years ago, yet it is only recently that the Latter-day Saints have begun to realize that they are identical with recently developed scientific truths; and the world of science is not yet aware of it. However, whenever such harmony is observed, it testifies of the divine inspiration of the humble, unlearned boy prophet of the nineteenth century.

[Footnote A: Doctrine and Covenants 9:7, 8.]

[Sidenote: The absence of the language, details and methods of science in the Prophet's writings proves him unfamiliar with the written science of his day.]

The Prophet Joseph does not use the language of science; which is additional proof that he did not know the science of his day. This may be urged as an objection to the a.s.sertion that he understood fundamental scientific truths, but the error of this view is easily comprehended when it is recalled that the language of science is made by men, and varies very often from age to age, and from country to country. Besides, the G.o.d who spoke to Joseph Smith, says, "These commandments were given unto my servants in their weakness, after the manner of their language, that they might come to understanding."[A]

If G.o.d had spoken the special language of science, the unlearned Joseph Smith would not, perhaps, have understood. Every wise man explains that which he knows in the language of those to whom he is speaking, and the facts and theories of science can be quite easily expressed in the language of the common man. It is needless to expect scientific phraselogy in the writings of Joseph Smith.

[Footnote A: Doctrine and Covenants 1:24.]

Scientific details are almost wholly wanting in the writings of Joseph Smith. Had the Prophet known the science of his day, his detailed knowledge would have been incorporated somehow in his writings. The almost complete absence of such scientific detail as would in all probability have been used, had the Prophet known of it, is additional testimony that he did not get his information from books.

Finally, another important fact must be mentioned. Men in all ages have speculated about the things of the universe, and have invented all kinds of theories to explain natural phenomena. In all cases, however, these theories have been supported by experimental evidence, or else they have been proposed simply as personal opinions. Joseph Smith, on the contrary, laid no claim to experimental data to support the theories which he proposed, nor did he say that they were simply personal opinions, but he repeatedly a.s.serted that G.o.d had revealed the truths to him, and that they could not, therefore, be false. If doctrines resting upon such a claim can be shown to be true, it is additional testimony of the truth of the Prophet's work.

[Sidenote: Purpose of the following chapters.]

In the following chapters it will be shown, by a series of comparisons, that, in 1833, or soon thereafter, the teachings of Joseph Smith, the Mormon Prophet, were in full harmony with the most advanced scientific thought of today, and that he antic.i.p.ated the world of science in the statement of fundamental facts and theories of physics, chemistry, astronomy and biology.

THE FUNDAMENTAL CONCEPTS OF THE UNIVERSE.

Chapter II.

THE INDESTRUCTIBILITY OF MATTER.

[Sidenote: Until recent days many believed that matter could be created or destroyed.]

It was believed by the philosophers of ancient and mediaeval times, especially by those devoted to the study of alchemy, that it was possible through mystical powers, often of a supernatural order, to annihilate matter or to create it from nothing. Men with such powers transcended all known laws of nature, and became objects of fear, often of wors.h.i.+p to the ma.s.ses of mankind. Naturally enough, the systems of religion became colored with the philosophical doctrines of the times; and it was held to be a fundamental religious truth that G.o.d created the world from nothing. Certainly, G.o.d could do what his creatures, the magicians, were able to do--that part of the reasoning was sound.

In support of this doctrine, attention was called to some of the experiences of daily life. A piece of coal placed in a stove, in a short time disappear--it is annihilated. From the clear air of a summer's day raindrops start--created out of nothing. A fragment of gold placed in contact with sufficiently strong acids, disappears--it is destroyed.

[Sidenote: Matter is eternal, its form only can be changed.]

Towards the end of the eighteenth century, facts and laws of chemistry were discovered, which enabled scientists to follow in great detail the changes, visible or invisible, to which matter in its various forms is subject. Then it was shown that the coal placed in a stove unites with a portion of the air entering through the drafts, and becomes an invisible gas, but that, were this gas collected as it issues from the chimney, it would be found to contain a weight of the elements of the coal just equal to the weight of the coal used. In a similar manner it was shown that the raindrops are formed from the water found in the air, as an invisible vapor. The gold dissolved in the acid, may be wholly recovered so that every particle is accounted for. Numerous investigations on this subject were made by the most skillful experimenters of the age, all of which showed that it is absolutely impossible to create or destroy the smallest particle of matter; that the most man can do is to change the form in which matter exists.

After this truth had been demonstrated, it was a necessary conclusion that matter is eternal, and that the quant.i.ty of matter in the universe cannot be diminished nor increased. This great generalization, known as the law of the Persistence of Matter or Ma.s.s, is the foundation stone of modern science. It began to find general acceptance among men about the time of Joseph Smith's birth, though many religious sects still hold that G.o.d, as the Supreme Ruler, is able at will to create matter from nothing. The establishment of this law marked also the final downfall of alchemy and other kindred occult absurdities.

[Sidenote: Mormonism teaches that all things are material.]

No doctrine taught by Joseph Smith is better understood by his followers than that matter in its elementary condition is eternal, and that it can neither be increased nor diminished. As early as May, 1833, the Prophet declared that "the elements are eternal,"[A] and in a sermon delivered in April, 1844, he said "Element had an existence from the time G.o.d had. The pure principles of element are principles which can never be destroyed; they may be organized and reorganized, but not destroyed. They had no beginning, and can have no end."[B]