REPENTANCE.
The second principle for the government of the individual, according
to Mormon theology, is repentance. So commonly has this principle been
discussed from its relation to moral law that its counterpart in all
human effort has often been overlooked.
[Sidenote: Repentance follows faith.]
To repent is first to turn from old practices. Thus, he who violates
any of God's laws renders himself liable to certain punishment, but,
if he repents, and sins no more, the punishments are averted.
Naturally, such a change of heart and action can come only after faith
has been established. No man will change a habit without a
satisfactory reason. In fact, all the actions of men should be guided
by reason. Repentance then is a kind of obedience or active faith; and
is great in proportion to the degree of faith possessed by the
individual. Certainly, the repentance of no man can transcend his
faith, which includes his knowledge.
[Sidenote: Scientific repentance follows scientific faith.]
So it is in science. For centuries, wounds of the body were treated
according to certain methods, assumed to be correct; and, especially
in time of war, large numbers of the patients died. Then it was found
that low forms of life--the bacteria--infected the wounds, and caused
the high mortality. This led to the antiseptic treatment in surgery,
which destroys germ life, and leaves the wound absolutely clean. As a
consequence the mortality from flesh and other wounds has diminished
remarkably. The medical profession repented, or turned away, from its
former methods, and the reward was immediately felt. However, before
antisceptic surgery was finally and fully established, faith in the
practice had to be awakened among the members of the profession. A
chemist, making refined analysis may apply a certain factor, assumed
to be correct in his calculations, but in reality incorrect. As a
result, the determinations are wrong. When later, the correct factor
is discovered, and applied, the results of the work become correct.
Repentance from the previous error, changes the chemist's work from
wrong to right. In fact, in any department of knowledge, when it is
discovered that a law of nature has been violated, it becomes
necessary, if further progress is desired, to cease the violation.
Should a scientist persist in violation of a known law, he knows that
the consequences, great or small will certainly follow.
[Sidenote: Repentance means adopting new habits; not simply turning
from old ones.]
To repent is more than to turn from incorrect practices. It implies
also the adoption of new habits. The man who has turned from his sins,
may learn of a law, which he has never violated, yet which if obeyed,
means progress for him. If he does not follow such a law, but remains
neutral in its presence, he certainly is a sinner. To repent from such
sin, is to obey each higher law as it appears. In the spiritual life,
it is impossible for the person who desires the greatest joy to remain
passive in the presence of new principles. He must embrace them; live
them; make them his own.
Not only must the worker in science turn from scientific error; he
must also accept new science as it is discovered. When the chemist,
working with the best known analytical methods, learns that a more
rapid or more accurate method has been found, he must adopt the new
fact, in order to make the results of his work more accurate. When the
chemists of a hundred years ago learned of the atomic hypothesis, it
became necessary to adopt it, in order to insure more rapid progress
in chemistry. Those who failed to accept the new doctrine worked in
greater darkness, and made no material progress. Newton's doctrine of
gravitation opened a new method of investigating the universe. Those
who did not adopt it were soon outdistanced by their more active
colleagues.
In every such case, the obedience yielded to the new knowledge is a
kind of repentance. When a person, in religion or science, ceases to
break law, he ceases from active evil; when he accepts a new law, he
ceases from passive evil. No repentance can be complete which does not
cease from both active and passive evil.
[Sidenote: Repentance is active faith.]
Viewed in this manner, then, repentance is obedience to law and is
active faith. The law, before it is obeyed, must be understood--that
is, faith must precede repentance. Therefore, the obedience yielded
can increase only with the knowledge or faith of the individual. As
the Prophet Joseph Smith stated it, "No man can be saved in ignorance"
and "a person is saved no faster than he gains intelligence."
Repentance is as truly the second principle of action for individuals,
in the domain of science as of theology.