(Scripture Reading Exercise.)

THE LIMITATIONS OF OUR REVELATIONS.

SPECIAL TEXT: "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and darkness was upon the face of the deep; and the spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters." Gen. i:1, 2.^[1]

NOTES.

1. View of the Universe, (a) Mediaeval: In past ages what was called the geocentric theory, that is, earth-center theory, respecting the universe prevailed. It was believed that the earth was in shape flat, and the immovable center of the universe; that about it circled sun, moon and stars in regular order. Indeed it was supposed that the specific and only purpose for which the sun was formed was to give light and heat to the earth; and the moon and stars were formed to give light by night in the absence of the sun. Above the earth was bent the vast dome of the blue sky, its edges apparently resting on the supposed circumfluous waters. Above the blue sky was heaven, the abode of God and the blest; and under the earth was the dark region of hell, into which was thrust the wicked—the damned. It was believed that God, about six thousand years ago, created by a word, out of nothing, all this universe—earth, sun, moon, stars, and all things in the earth. That man and all living creatures were moulded from the dust, and then had breathed into them the spirit of life, and so became living creatures. This was the view "authoritatively asserted by the church." (Draper.)

2. Views of the Universe, (b) Modern: The views expressed in note 1, however, by our modern knowledge is changed. The modern view enforced by absolute knowledge respecting the universe is thus stated by John W. Draper: "As there are other globes like our earth, so, too, there are other worlds like our solar system. There are self-luminous suns exceeding in number all computation. The dimensions of the earth pass into nothingness in comparison with the dimensions of the solar system, and that system, in its turn, is only an invisible point if placed in relation with the countless hosts of other systems which form, with it, clusters of stars. Our solar system, far from being alone in the universe, is only one of an extensive brotherhood, bound by common laws and subject to like influences. Even on the very verge of creation, where imagination might lay the beginning of the realms of chaos, we see unbounded proofs of order, a regularity in the arrangement of inanimate things, suggesting to us that there are other intellectual creatures like us, the tenants of those islands in the abysses of space. "Though it may take a beam of light a million years to bring to our view those distant worlds, the end is not yet. Far away in the depths of space we catch the faint gleams of other groups of stars like our own. The finger of a man can hide them in their remoteness. Their vast distances from one another have dwindled into nothing. They and their movements have lost all individuality; the innumerable suns of which they are composed blend all their collected light into one pale milky glow."

"Thus extending our view from the earth to the solar system, from the solar system to the expanse of the group of stars to which we belong, we behold a series of gigantic nebula creations rising up one after another, and forming greater and greater colonies of worlds. No numbers can express them, for they make the firmament a haze of stars. Uniformity, even though it be the uniformity of magnificence, tires at last, and we abandon the survey, for our eyes can only behold a boundless prospect, and conscience tells us our own unspeakable insignificance." Draper's Intellectual Development of Europe, Vol. II, p. 299. New Witnesses for God, Vol. I (Treatise on Joseph Smith) Chapter XXVIII.

3. Larger Worlds and Larger World-Systems than Ours: "These distant suns are, many of them, much larger than our sun. Sirius, the beautiful Dog-star, is (so far as can be judged by its amount of light) nearly 3,000 times larger, and therefore its system of dependent worlds must be so much more important than those which form our solar system. Its planets may far exceed ours in size and revolve at far greater distances; for such a sun would throw its beams of light and heat very much beyond a distance equal to that of our Neptune."—Samuel Kinns, Ph. D., F. R. A. A. S., in "Harmony of the Bible with Science," second edition, p. 238.

"Man when he looks upon the countless multitudes of stars—when he reflects that all he sees is only a small portion of those which exist, yet that each is a light and life-giving sun to multitudes of opaque, and therefore invisible worlds—when he considers the enormous size of these various bodies and their immeasurable distance from one another, may form an estimate of the scale on which the world (universe) is constructed." "Intellectual Development of Europe," Vol. II, p. 279.

4. The Argument Based Upon the Data of Notes One, Two and Three: The argument to be based upon the preceding notes is this: Since our earth, and even our solar system, as presented to us by our modern knowledge, is so insignificantly small and doubtless inferior to the more splendid worlds and world-systems of the universe, it would be ridiculous to suppose that the revelations granted to us in our written scriptures were intended to cover all things pertaining to the limitless universe and its equally limitless sentient inhabitants. It is more reasonable to suppose that the revelations vouch-safed to us through our seers are revelations pertaining to our earth and associate spheres—(its heavens); our God, and those intelligences that pertain to our earth and that order of things with which it is associated.

5. The Vision of Moses: "And it came to pass, as the voice (of God) was still speaking, Moses cast his eyes and beheld the earth, yea, even all of it; and there was not a particle of it which he did not behold, discerning it by the Spirit of God. And he beheld also the inhabitants thereof, and there was not a soul which he beheld not; and he discerned them by the Spirit of God; and their numbers were great, even numberless as the sands upon the sea shore. And he beheld many lands; and each land was called earth, and there were inhabitants on the face thereof. And it came to pass that Moses called upon God, saying: Tell me, I pray thee, why these things are so, and by what thou madest them? And behold, the glory of the Lord was upon Moses, so that Moses stood in the presence of God, and talked with him face to face. And the Lord God said unto Moses: "For mine own purpose have I made these things. Here is wisdom, and it remaineth in me. And by the word of my power, have I created them, which is mine Only Begotten Son, who is full of grace and truth. And worlds without number have I created; and I also created them for mine own purpose; and by the Son I created them, which is mine Only Begotten. And the first man of all men have I called Adam, which is many." (Book of Moses—Pearl of Great Price—Ch. I).

6. The Limits of Moses' Special Revelation: "But only an account of this earth, and the inhabitants thereof, give I unto you. For behold, there are many worlds that have passed away by the word of my power, and there are many that now stand, and innumerable are they unto man; but all things are numbered unto me, for they are mine and I know them. And it came to pass that Moses spake unto the Lord, saying: 'Be merciful unto thy servant, O God, and tell me concerning this earth, and the inhabitants thereof, and also the heavens, and then thy servant will be content.' And the Lord God spake unto Moses, saying: "The heavens, they are many, and they cannot be numbered unto man; but they are numbered unto me, for they are mine. And as one earth shall pass away, and the heavens thereof, even so shall another come; and there is no end to my works, neither to my words. For behold, this is my work and my glory—to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man. And now, Moses, my son, I will speak unto thee concerning this earth upon which thou standest; and thou shalt write the things which I shall speak." (Book of Moses—Pearl of Great Price—Ch. I:35-40.)

"And it came to pass that the Lord spake unto Moses, saying: Behold, I reveal unto you concerning this Heaven, and this Earth; write the words which I speak. I am the Beginning and the End, the Almighty God; by mine Only Begotten I created these things; yea, in the beginning I created the heaven, and the earth upon which thou standest. And the earth was without form, and void; and I caused darkness to come up upon the face of the deep; and my Spirit moved upon the face of the water; for I am God. And I, God, said: Let there be light; and there was light."—Thence the revelation proceeds much as in Genesis, chapters one and two. (See Book of Moses—Pearl of Great Price—Ch. II:1-3.)

Footnotes

1. "In the Beginning:" When the Bible says, "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth"; and "thus the heavens and the earth were finished and all the hosts of them," it has reference not to any "absolute beginning," or "absolute finishing," but only to the "beginning" and "finishing" as pertaining to our earth and the order of creation with which it is connected, and the "hosts" that pertain to our order of existence, not absolutely to all existences.