You grew up thinking that it gave you absolute, dependable answers that you could trust. It made you feel secure, like you could make sense of the world through its power. Then you gradually learned it didn't have all the answers, that it's most beloved leaders sometimes were just plain wrong, that their biases had occasionally distorted their teachings and doctrines, that there were even serious errors in the writings and teachings you once felt were sure standards of truth. Their errors might be understandable in retrospect and could be steadily corrected over time, but it left you doubting, at least sometimes. You came to realize that human error and uncertainty was everywhere, and that many teachings and paradigms required a question mark over them because so much ultimately was tentative and could one day be revised, even reversed. The world was no more so snug and secure, and you could no longer put your full faith, at least not blind faith, in that system you once trusted so much.

Sadly, you could no longer could you put all your faith in science.

Some of us religious folks can relate to that.

Whether it's science or religion, anything that has to go through human hands and minds is subject to errors in expression, transmission, understanding, interpretation, and even basic printing and translation. Whether it's Mormon history, understanding the scriptures, interpreting the world around us, making sense of the teachings of leaders or the workings of the Spirit as we pray, there is always uncertainty and the possibility of error. There will be disappointments. And yet, in spite of the uncertainty, there are great gems of truth that we have discovered that bring bright new light to our view. From the First Law of Thermodynamics to the foundations of the Atonement of Jesus Christ, there are grand principles that we may not fully understand, but which serve as precious foundations for further knowledge.

Yes, there are questions and errors and embarrassing moments, but this is mortality, the time when we see through a glass darkly, knowing that there is more light and understanding to come in a more perfect day. We plod forward with faith, conducting our experiments in mortality the best we can with our limited labs and failing equipment, taking some steps in light and some in faith, being confused in some areas but seeing patterns of truth unfold in others. It's a difficult journey, but whining is no help and the uncertainty is no excuse for retreating in ignorance or giving up.

There is truth, there is a God, there is a Christ, and there are abundant evidences to confirm that and more. Yet we are left on our own so much of the time, needing to seek and remember and relearn many basic truths, one experiment after another. It's mortality. Let's get used to it and move forward in faith and knowledge.
Continue reading at the original source →