week 2: truth seeker

What is truth? How can we seek it? How do academic scholarship and religious discipleship fit together? These questions have been discussed in more than one of my classes, so I wanted to share some of the things I've learned over the past couple weeks.

In the Doctrine and Covenants, a book of modern revelations in the Latter-day Saint scripture canon, we are told to "seek learning, even by study and also by faith" (D&C 88:118, emphasis added). The Lord also tells us, "Yea, behold, I will tell you in your mind and in your heart, by the Holy Ghost, which shall come upon you and which shall dwell in your heart" (D&C 8:2, emphasis added).

Study and faith. Mind and heart. Science and religion. Scholarship and discipleship. These things sometimes seem like opposites, but I've come to realize that they don't actually have to conflict at all. I have a testimony that God gave us a mind and a heart with the intention that we would use both in our quest for truth. We need both. Truth isn't limited to scientific studies and academic research, nor is it limited to the scriptures and the words of the prophets.

Here are two of my favorite quotes about this idea from church leaders:

"All truth is part of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Whether truth comes from a scientific laboratory or by revelation from the Lord, it is all compatible...conflict only arises from an incomplete knowledge of either science or religion, or both."
- President Russell M. Nelson (emphasis added)

"For a disciple of Jesus Christ, academic scholarship is a form of worship. It is actually another dimension of consecration. Hence one who seeks to be a disciple-scholar will take both scholarship and discipleship seriously....How else could one worship God with all of one's heart, might, mind, and strength?"
- Elder Neal A. Maxwell (emphasis added)

I love this. If something is true, it will fit together with all other truth. Disciple-scholars are not afraid of truth, because they know that scientific truths will fit with religious truths in perfect harmony. Science and religion answer different questions. Science answers the physical ones, like the whats, the whens, the wheres, and the hows of our coming to be. Religion answers eternal questions, like the who created us, and why. The only reason they don't always with each other is because we don't even have close to all the answers!

Keeping all this in mind, I want to share some of the things we talked about in class about Christ and the Creation.

In the books of Genesis, Moses, and Abraham, we get three different accounts of the creation of the world. There is a lot of deep, esoteric doctrine here, and a lot of unanswered questions. But here are some truths that I have come to know for certain: Christ created the world, under the direction of the Father. He took chaos and gave order to it. the earth was created for the purpose of being a temporary home for mortals, and the eventual permanent home of those who will be exalted.

There are tons of other things I don't know for certain. For example, whether the creation took six literal days, or if "days" can be taken to meant periods of time that took millions of years. I don't know exactly when and where dinosaurs and human evolution fit on the creation timeline, but I think they go somewhere. I don't know if it was just God the Father and Jehovah present during the creation, or if there were others there as well. I just don't know.

I've got a lot of questions, some of which science answers, some of which religion answers, and many of which, neither one of them do. And guess what? It's okay. It's actually perfectly fine. It doesn't affect my testimony, it doesn't cause me to doubt. I find a lot of comfort in these words from the Lord in the Doctrine and Covenants:

32 Yea, verily I say unto you, in that day when the Lord shall come, he shall reveal all things—

33 Things which have passed, and hidden things which no man knew, things of the earth, by which it was made, and the purpose and the end thereof—

34 Things most precious, things that are above, and things that are beneath, things that are in the earth, and upon the earth, and in heaven.

(D&C 101:32-24, emphasis added)

I have probably read these verses several times without realizing their power. We are going to find out someday, how everything was created, and why, and what is going to happen to this earth. For that reason, I'm not worried. I'm not worried about the compatibility of religion and science, because I know that once we have a complete knowledge, all truths will perfectly comply with each other.

If there's one thing you take away from this, I hope it's that seeking truth requires an open heart and an open mind, and that sometimes, uncertainty is okay. Neither study or faith is more important than the other, but rather, complete truth cannot be found without both of them working together. The Holy Ghost will confirm truth when ask God in faith, after you have studied it out for yourself.

I just want to end with sharing some truths I know. I know God is my Father, and that I am His literal spirit daughter. I know that Christ is the Creator and Redeemer of the earth. I know the scriptures are true. I love learning, whether it's from my textbook or from the word of God, and I love my Savior, who is the source of all truth.

If you want to learn more, lds.org is the official website for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. For more about Jesus Christ, go here. If you want to know more about the Doctrine and Covenants, go here. You can read the three different accounts of the Creation found in Latter-day Saint scripture canon, in Genesis 1-2, Moses 2-3, Abraham 4-5. Also, if you're interested, you can read the official church statement about the creation from November 1909, and some clarification from April 1910, in The Improvement Era in the first paragraph on page 570. Thanks for visiting!

Insights taken from / catalyzed by Prof. Tyler Griffin's 01/16/18 and 01/18/18 lectures, REL A 250, Brigham Young University.
Additional insights taken from / catalyzed by Prof. Larry Nelson's 01/12/18 and 01/17/18 lectures, SLF 200, Brigham Young University.
Artwork: "Jehovah Creates the Earth" by Walter Rane.