[Footnote A: Key to Theology, 5th ed., p. 46.]
[Footnote E: Roberts, Mormon Doctrine of Deity, pp. 278, 279.]
Numerous other authorities might be quoted to prove that the above is the "Mormon" view.[A]
[Footnote A: See especially the Prophet Joseph Smith's Sermon, Contributor, vol. 4, pp. 256-268.]
In this chapter the intention has not been to explain fully the doctrines of Joseph Smith relating to the nature of man, but to call attention to the fact that the present scientific conception of the nature of living things is the same as that of "Mormonism." That "Mormonism" goes farther than science, and completes the explanation, is to the credit of the Prophet.
It must not be forgotten that in stating the doctrine that man is organized from the eternal elements and elementary forces of the universe, in such a way as to produce the phenomena of higher life, Joseph Smith anticipated the workers in science by nearly a generation.
How wonderful was this boy-prophet of "Mormonism," if all this was orginated within his own mind! At every point of contact, the sanest of modern philosophy finds counterpart in the theological structure of the Gospel as taught by Joseph Smith. Is the work divine?
[Sidenote: Faith is the assurance of the existence of "things not seen."]
For the government of the individual the first principle in Mormon theology is faith. Joseph Smith defined faith in the words of the Apostle Paul, "Now, faith is the substance of things hoped for; the evidence of things not seen." To this the Prophet added "From this we learn that faith is the assurance which men have of things which they have not seen."[A] On this principle, with this definition, many young persons who have ventured upon the sea of unbelief have wrecked the religion of their childhood; for, the human mind, in some stages of its development, is disinclined to accept as knowledge anything that can not be sensed directly.
[Footnote A: Doctrine and Covenants, Lecture I, verses 8, 9.]
Nowadays, the young doubter who can not accept as the foundation of his religion "things which he has not seen," usually turns for comfort and future growth to the results of science. There he finds truths upon truths, glorious in their beauty and susceptibility to direct and unmistakeable proof; and soon he declares that in so-called natural science, there is no need of faith, for, if a person has only advanced far enough, every concern of science may be known through one, two or several senses.