Key to the Science of Theology
1852
Written in 1852 by one of the founding architects of Latter-day Saint theology, Key to the Science of Theology is a passionate argument for the radical restoration of divine knowledge in an age of accelerating intellectual progress. Parley P. Pratt observed a paradox: while science, industry, and secular learning surged forward, religious thought remained mired in calcified creeds and sectarian division. This book was his attempt to break the deadlock, offering a systematic framework that weaves together theology, law, governance, and spiritual philosophy into a unified science of the divine. Pratt believed ancient truths had been lost or corrupted across the centuries, and that their recovery would unite humanity under universal principles of enlightenment. The result is a work that feels distinctly 19th century in its optimistic faith in progress and revelation, yet resonates with perennial questions about religious authority, the relationship between ancient wisdom and modern thought, and whether spiritual knowledge can be systematized like any other discipline. For readers interested in American religious history, the intellectual world of antebellum America, or the foundations of a movement that reshaped the religious landscape of the West.
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“There is one only living and true God, without body, parts, or passions; consisting of three persons”
— Parley P. Pratt
“The modern world, called "Christian" claims to have perpetuated the system called "Christianity," while, at the same time, it declares, that the miraculous gifts of the Spirit have ceased.With as much propriety it might be contended, that the magnet “had been perpetuated, but had lost its magnetic properties; that water was perpetuated with all its virtues, but had lost its power to quench thirst, or seek its own level; that fire was still fire, but had lost its heat.””
— Parley P. Pratt
“That which, at first sight, appears to be contrary to the known laws of nature, will always be found, on investigation, to be in perfect accordance with those laws. For instance, had a sailor of the last century been running before the wind, and met with a vessel running at a good rate of speed, directly in opposition to the wind and current, this sight would have presented, to his understanding, a miracle in the highest possible sense of the term, that is, an event entirely contrary to the laws of nature, as known to him.””
— Parley P. Pratt
“Among the popular errors of modern times, an opinion prevails that miracles are events which transpire contrary to the laws of nature, that they are effects without a cause. If such is the fact, then, there never has been a miracle, and there never will be one. The laws of nature are the laws of truth. Truth is unchangeable, and independent in its own sphere. A law of nature never has been broken. And it is an absolute impossibility that such law ever should be broken.””
— Parley P. Pratt
“The spirit world is moved, the silence broken, The ancient Seers from out the ground have spoken. The appointed years on time's fleet wings have fled. And voices whisper from the ancient dead. Volumes of truth the sacred archives yield. The past, the glorious future, stand revealed.””
— Parley P. Pratt
