Sobering From the First Draughts of New Knowledge – Sunday, April 11, 1943
It has sometimes been thought that a man of science—one who had read in the rocks of the earth, things which, to some, in our limited understanding, have seemed to be in conflict with biblical statement—was a man in whom no faith could be expected —that he who probed into the unknown realm of the physical universe was necessarily atheistic or agnostic—a man who couldn’t reconcile the reality of a living, personal God with his observations as a scientist.
It is true that there are many such who must plead guilty to having become engrossed in the design while forgetting the Designer—men who, having observed all manner of unexplained wonders, have focused attention on the creation, forgetting the Creator. The investigator in the field of pure science is apt to go through many phases of doubt and belief in his groping for more light, but the mature convictions of these searchers—into the unknown inevitably lead to a recognition of the power of God, no matter by what name they choose to call it. And thoughtful and highly intelligent scholars, having sobered from the drunkenness that came with the first draughts of new knowledge, have come to know again that, from the most minute measure of energy to the largest known structure of matter, we do not and cannot understand what is behind it all except in terms of an all-embracing superior intelligence—a conclusion which stimulates faith even in the minds of some who have once been ashamed of faith.
There is no one who has sincerely pursued the search for truth, religious or scientific, physical or spiritual, but who knows that beyond lie infinite worlds yet to be discovered, and infinite truths yet to be revealed. And so great minds are becoming proud of their faith and humble in their discovery of God. And when all the superficialities of our thinking have faded away, when all of our quibbling about definitions has been settled, and when all of our confusion about terminology has been reconciled, we may come together somewhere along the journey ahead, knowing that our seemingly fundamental differences are not fundamental at all, as men, no longer vain in their groping wisdom, humbly approach the Source of all truth, and come to know the reality of the Lord God, the Father of us all.
By Richard L. Evans, spoken from the Tabernacle, Temple Square, Salt Lake City, Sunday, April 11, 1943, over Radio Station KSL and the nationwide Columbia Broadcasting System. Copyright-1943.
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April 11, 1943
Broadcast Number 0,712