BAPTISM.
A repentant man turns from previous violation of law, and accepts
every new law that may be revealed to him. Repentance is obedience;
and the repentant person is always ready to obey righteous laws.
Baptism is one of the laws of the Kingdom of God. "Except ye repent
and be baptized ye can in nowise enter the Kingdom of God." The
repentant person must of necessity accept this law with the others
with which he may be familiar.
[Sidenote: The equivalent of baptism found in science.]
Students of science, who agree that faith and repentance have a place
in science, frequently assert that the equivalent of baptism is not
found in external nature. This claim may be proved false by examining
the nature of law.
The chemist must frequently produce the gas hydrogen. To do it, an
acid must be poured upon fragments of certain metals. In thus
producing the gas, the chemist obeys law. The astronomer who studies
the stars discovers that by using a piece of glass properly ground,
his powers of vision appear to be strengthened. He therefore prepares
such lenses for his telescopes, and thus obeys law. The surgeon uses
antisceptics in the treatment of wounds because he has learned that
such application will destroy germ life, and thus the surgeon obeys
law. The electrician has found that by winding a wire in a certain
manner around iron and rotating it near a magnet, electric currents
are set up. He builds dynamos according to such principles, and thus
shows his obedience to law.
It must be noted that the scientist does not know just _why_ acid
added to metal produces hydrogen, or _why_ a certain curved lens
brings the stars nearer; or _why_ certain chemicals destroy low forms
of life or _why_ wire wound in a certain way when rotated in the
magnetic field will produce electricity. Nature requires, without
volunteering an explanation, that to produce hydrogen, see the stars,
destroy germs and produce the electric current, certain invariable
laws must be obeyed.
Baptism is essentially of the same nature. To enter the Kingdom of
God, a person must be baptized. Just _why_ baptism should be the
ordinance that opens the door, no man knows. It undoubtedly has high
symbolic value; but the symbolism might be expressed in many other
ways. All that man can do is to obey.
[Sidenote: It is unreasonable to do only what is fully understood.]
Men say at times that they will do nothing which they do not fully
understand, and therefore they will not be baptized. It would be as
unreasonable for a man to say that because he does not fully
understand why a certain winding of the wire is necessary to produce
electricity he will not produce this wonderful natural force. All
theology and all science contain laws that must be obeyed in order to
obtain certain results, although the full reasons for the required
combinations are not understood.
He who is baptized, enters the Kingdom of God. He who throws acid on
metal enters the kingdom of hydrogen; he who grinds the lens right,
enters the kingdom of the stars; he who uses antisceptics right,
enters the kingdom of lower life, and he who winds the wire correctly,
enters the kingdom of electricity. Yielding obedience to any of these
various laws, is a form of baptism, which gives entrance to a kingdom.
[Sidenote: Baptism is obedience to law.]
The essential virtue of baptism is obedience to law. The prime value
of any natural law is attained only after obedience has been yielded
to it. Baptism is conformity to certain details in entering God's
Kingdom. Scientific baptism is conformity to certain details in
entering the kingdom of science. Only by baptism can a man attain
salvation; only by using lenses of the right curvature can a man view
the stars. Religious success does not rest in the degree to which
every law is explained; but rather in the degree to which all known
laws are obeyed. Scientific success does not rest upon the degree to
which every law is explained; but rather in the degree to which every
discovered law is obeyed and applied for man's advancement.
In science and in theology man must be content "to see through a
glass, darkly." Until the essential nature of infinitude itself shall
be understood, man must be content to learn to use unexplained laws.
Science is the great explainer, but she explains relations and not the
absolute foundations of phenomena.
After faith or knowledge has been obtained, the alpha and omega of
religious or scientific progress is obedience. The cry of universal
nature is, Obedience!
Viewed rationally, therefore, the baptism taught in theology is an
ordinance which has its counterpart in every department of science.
Joseph Smith was strcitly scientific in classing baptism as the third
great principle governing human action.