Joseph Smith as Scientist: A Contribution to Mormon Philosophy
1903
Joseph Smith as Scientist: A Contribution to Mormon Philosophy
1903
Published in 1903, 'Joseph Smith as Scientist: A Contribution to Mormon Philosophy' by John Andreas Widtsoe examines the relationship between science and the religious beliefs of Mormonism, focusing on the teachings of Joseph Smith, the founder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Widtsoe argues that scientific principles and religious doctrine are compatible, asserting that Smith's teachings anticipated modern scientific ideas. The work addresses the struggle many educated individuals face in reconciling faith with scientific understanding, promoting a holistic view of knowledge that integrates both spiritual and natural laws.
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“Knowledge, concentrated into wisdom, is the end of existence. To those who live according to God's law, knowledge will come easily. It will continue to come to his people, until it shall be the most intelligent among the nations. The Lord has said it. "How””
— John Andreas Widtsoe
“Through obedience to law, intelligence grows; by the violation of law, which is sin, it decays. It is the degree of organized intelligence that ultimately distinguishes one man from other men; men from beasts, beasts from plants, and plants from rocks. Since intelligence, as defined by Joseph Smith, corresponds with the main form of energy of the universe, the doctrine of God, and all other beings, and of life, finds expression in terms of energy. That is exactly what science demands. [Sidenote:””
— John Andreas Widtsoe
“God is an organized, material being, filled with the form of energy known as intelligence. "The glory of God is intelligence." All other forces of nature may be converted into intelligence; and from intelligence all other forces may be obtained; God is the center of these forces, and their directing power. Because of this centralization, nature is orderly. Natural laws are not, as supposed by some philosophers, accidental relations of phenomena, observed and recorded by man. The force of intelligence controls all phenomena; there is mind behind the operations of nature. God, himself a part of nature, is not the creator of nature, but the organizer and director of it. What a beautifully reasonable climax that is to the wonderful philosophy of Joseph the Prophet! The””
— John Andreas Widtsoe
“It is remarkable that Joseph Smith taught the law of evolution as an eternal truth, twenty or more years before Darwin published his views. [Sidenote:””
— John Andreas Widtsoe
“Man's presence here on earth is simply that he may better learn to understand the nature of gross matter, and thus to develop and progress more completely. It””
— John Andreas Widtsoe
“Even so, in the philosophy of Joseph Smith, the doctrine is taught that all things advance; that man shall continue to advance, in intelligence, and all pertaining to it, until he shall become as God is now. Meanwhile, our God will also increase in his fulness, and ever be a God to us. Through this doctrine, all the principles of the Gospel are made coherent.””
— John Andreas Widtsoe
“By this law, the purpose of the earth and the universe is explained to be endless growth. The law of evolution is the great cementing law of science.””
— John Andreas Widtsoe
“Only those who progress, persist; those who retrograde, die.””
— John Andreas Widtsoe
“The fourth principle in "Mormon" theology teaches that after baptism, the gift of the Holy Ghost is conferred which enlightens the mind, clears the intelligence, and brings man nearer the presence of God. So also in science, to the man who obeys the law of nature, come greater power and intelligence, to him who winds the wire right, the electric current comes, with all its latent powers. Thus is the Holy Ghost conferred in science; and thus, also, in a more subtle and greater degree is it conferred in the Church.””
— John Andreas Widtsoe
