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?
THE LAWS GOVERNING THE INDIVIDUAL.
Chapter IX.
FAITH.
[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.
[Sidenote: Such faith lies at the formation of science.]
It is true that in the beginning of science no faith seems to be required; for every statement is based on experiments and observations that may be repeated by every student; and nothing is "taken on trust." As the deeper parts of science are explored, however, it is soon discovered that in science as in theology, a faith in "things that can not be seen," is an essential requisite for progress. In fact, the fundamental laws of the great divisions of science deal with realities that are wholly and hopelessly beyond the reach of man's five senses.