[Sidenote: It is unreasonable to do only what is fully understood.]
Men say at times that they will do nothing which they do not fully understand, and therefore they will not be baptized. It would be as unreasonable for a man to say that because he does not fully understand why a certain winding of the wire is necessary to produce electricity he will not produce this wonderful natural force. All theology and all science contain laws that must be obeyed in order to obtain certain results, although the full reasons for the required combinations are not understood.
He who is baptized, enters the Kingdom of God. He who throws acid on metal enters the kingdom of hydrogen; he who grinds the lens right, enters the kingdom of the stars; he who uses antisceptics right, enters the kingdom of lower life, and he who winds the wire correctly, enters the kingdom of electricity. Yielding obedience to any of these various laws, is a form of baptism, which gives entrance to a kingdom.
The essential virtue of baptism is obedience to law. The prime value of any natural law is attained only after obedience has been yielded to it. Baptism is conformity to certain details in entering God's Kingdom. Scientific baptism is conformity to certain details in entering the kingdom of science. Only by baptism can a man attain salvation; only by using lenses of the right curvature can a man view the stars. Religious success does not rest in the degree to which every law is explained; but rather in the degree to which all known laws are obeyed. Scientific success does not rest upon the degree to which every law is explained; but rather in the degree to which every discovered law is obeyed and applied for man's advancement.
In science and in theology man must be content "to see through a glass, darkly." Until the essential nature of infinitude itself shall be understood, man must be content to learn to use unexplained laws. Science is the great explainer, but she explains relations and not the absolute foundations of phenomena.
After faith or knowledge has been obtained, the alpha and omega of religious or scientific progress is obedience. The cry of universal nature is, Obedience!
Viewed rationally, therefore, the baptism taught in theology is an ordinance which has its counterpart in every department of science. Joseph Smith was strcitly scientific in classing baptism as the third great principle governing human action.