Abraham Chapter 1 presents to us a man who is driven from his home by dual motivations. First, he "saw that it was needful for me to obtain another place of residence" - as anyone would after their own father offered them up as a human sacrifice. Second, he says that he was "desiring also to be one who possessed great knowledge, and to be a greater follower of righteousness, and to possess a greater knowledge". In the next several entries in this blog, I want to talk about that quest for Greater Knowledge.
I have long been a knowledge seeker. Throughout my life, many have seen me as little more than argumentative. I've been told I can argue any side of any discussion, regardless of what I actually believe, and that sometimes I seem to accept the exact opposite of whomever I am talking to. This view of me is simply a reflection of my quest for knowledge. I discovered young that contradiction is critical to finding "greater knowledge". If we simply settle for conformity, we rarely dig deeply enough to see greater truth. However, contradiction is scary. It makes us question what we thought we knew, and for some, that leads to doubt.
Doubt is the enemy of the quest for knowledge. Satan has carefully tried to craft the world into a mindset that contradictions should breed doubt, rather than learning; this principle has gained wide acceptance outside of the wold of science. In particular, the world has been taught that when religious matters are contradictory, the only resolution is to either reject both views outright, or to abandon one in the face of the other. Interestingly, we do not take the same approach to scientific contradiction.
In science, contradictions are considered opportunities for discovery. The principles of relativity, which contradicted newtonian physics, did not cause scientists to declare newton a fool; nor did they abandon the time tested theories and formulae he had developed. Rather, they realized that there was more to the puzzle, dug deeper, and came out the other side with a more complete set of tools. They realized that newton wasn't wrong, but his system was a simplified version of reality.
Why do we insist that religious contradictions should breed a loss of faith, which scientific contradictions should bree discovery and knowledge? Worse, when it is science that contradicts faith, we are taught to universally discard faith for science.
"O that cunning plan of the evil one! O the vainness, and the frailties, and the foolishness of men! When they are learned they think they are wise, and they hearken not unto the counsel of God, for they set it aside, supposing they know of themselves, wherefore, their wisdom is foolishness and it profiteth them not. And they shall perish. But to be learned is good if they hearken unto the counsels of God." - 2 Nephi 9:28-29
My next post will be an analogy of sorts. What if scientists took such a foolish approach to knowledge?
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