W01 Enrichment One in Thine Hand

In his book entitled Standing for Something, President Gordon B. Hinckley said “I relish any opportunity to acquire knowledge.” The voice of the Prophet is the same as the voice of God. As we strive to provide for our survival through faith, men and women are expected to be skilled enough both in the things of this world and of the Kingdom of God in order to conform with the absolute truth. These truths can be reached either through observation or revelation. As we all are scientists from different perspectives, we need to use all the available methods to reach a scientific theory. Dr. Dan Moore and Dr. Brian Tonks briefly explain that as disciple scholars, we must use our Heavenly Father’s words (scriptures) and works (creation) to identify, understand, and apply the discovered and revealed truth. Although there is no intelligence that surpasses God, God revealed to us what is necessary for our time being; Elder Bednard explained it in these words and said “ it is contrary to the economy of heaven for the Lord to repeat to each of us individually what He has already revealed to us collectively.” Revealed truth stands as the best guideline in our discovery of hidden truths - it provides us with the WHY but the most common stumbling block is to understand the HOW. We know by revelation that the earth is God’s creation and we understand the reason for the creation but the “how” the creation has been completed requires scientific knowledge hence the Lord wants us to be students of good books.

As part of their study, research, and observations, scientists create theories that provide clear explanations of their results which in return improve our human conditions (e.g. Technology). These theories also connect unrelated observations such as the fossil record and finally guide future research. Based on this knowledge, we can assume that scientific and religious knowledge are complementary. Helaman 12:15 revealed to us that surely it is the earth that moveth and not the sun, which is scientifically proven nowadays. Science remains for me the best tool I can use to convince people logically and faith remain the best religious tool that prepares my learning pace.

Once on the path of learning, one should be careful not to fall into extremism – a zealous adherence to one’s viewpoint. Speaking of extremism, we can categorize them into two. First, the religious fundamentalist considers their religious teachings superior by seeing the others as evil. And last, the scientific fundamentalist believes that their knowledge and conclusions are true and all remaining are false. These two types create crises of faith in the learner. Nevertheless, there is another type of learning method called “disciple scholar”; with a pure desire of his/her heart, this learner combines and reconciles God’s words and God’s works to create an impact on the civilization. Hence, there shouldn’t be any conflict between science and religion. President Rusell M. Nelson said that “conflict only arises from an incomplete knowledge of either science or religion or both.” We have examples such as the theory of evolution; the LDS Church has no official position on this matter because it is not yet revealed to us and believes that that is a matter for scientific study. Another fundamentalist example is found in the Islamist statement that “Muhammad is the final prophet in Islam, known as the Seal of the Prophets.” We believe that a prophet is an essential tool in the Kingdom of God. He teaches us God’s will and reveals His divine character to us. 

It is clear that fundamentalists can not build peace. They easily fall into dictatorship and have an ineffective ability to listen to others. On the other hand, a disciple scholar has the ability to humble himself, put his/her opinion aside, and listen to the inner sound of perfection to create solutions, not for himself/herself but for the benefit of the humanity – that’s the purpose of a true scientist.