--- title: Improvement Era description: Monthly periodical of the Mormon church, 1897 onward. This library holds the issues of November 1897 to December 1930. authors: - John A. Widtsoe collections: - periodicals tags: - magazine - improvement-era periodical: Improvement Era volume: 7 number: 9 published: 1904-07 publisher: Young Men’s Mutual Improvement Associations publisher_place: Salt Lake City language: en type: magazine reference: 'John A. Widtsoe, "Joseph Smith as Scientist. IX," *Improvement Era* 7, no. 9 (July 1904): 699–705.' source: url: https://archive.org/details/improvementera0709unse transcription: Transcribed from the Internet Archive scan of each issue (the item for each issue is named in the issue's own source); unnumbered advertising leaves are omitted, printed page numbers are kept as page markers. identifier: improvementera0709unse start_page: 699 end_page: 705 rights: status: public-domain basis: US publication 1930 or earlier (published 1904-07) source: https://archive.org/details/improvementera0709unse publication_year: 1904 note: The Internet Archive item metadata carries a blanket "© Copyright by Intellectual Reserve, Inc." notice. The library owner judged it inapplicable because this issue was published in 1904, before 1931; a scan-level notice does not restore copyright. --- # Joseph Smith as Scientist. IX JOSEPH SMITH AS SCIENTIST. BY DR. JOHN A. WIDTSOE, DIRECTOR OF THE AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION, LOGAN, UTAH. IX.— GEOLOGICAL TIME. God speaks in various ways to men. The stars, the clouds, the mountains, the grass and the soil, are all, to him who reads aright, forms of divine revelation. Many of the noblest attri- butes of God may be learned by a study of the laws according to which Omnipotent Will directs the universe. Nowhere is this principle more beautifully illustrated and confirmed than in the rocks that constitute the crust of the earth, and on which is written in simple plainness the history of the earth almost from that beginning, when the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. For centuries, men saw the rocks, their forms and their adaptation to each other, without understand- ing the message written in them. Only, as the wonderful nine- teenth century approached, did the vision open, and the interpreta- tion of the story of the rocks become apparent. How the earth first came into being has not yet been clearly revealed. From the first, however, the mighty forces which act today, have shaped and fashioned the earth and prepared it for man's habitation. Water, entering the tiny cracks of the rocks, and expanding as, in winter, it changed to ice, crumbled the mighty mountains; water, falling as rain from the clouds, washed the rock fragments into the low-lying places to form soil; the water in mighty rivers chiseled the earth with irresistible force, as shown by the Grand Canyon of the Colorado. The internal heat of the earth, aided by the translocation of material by water, produced large cracks in the earth's crust, through which oceans of molten matter flowed and spread themselves over the land; the same heat appeared in volcanoes, through which were spurted liquid earth, cinders and foul gases; as the earth heat was lost, the crust cooled, contracted and great folds appeared, rec- ognized as mountains, and as time went on, many of the moun- tains were caused to sink and the ocean beds were brought up in their stead. Wonderful and mighty have been the changes on the earth's surface since the Lord began its preparation for a race of men. In the beginning, it appears that water covered the whole earth. In that day, the living creatures of earth dwelt in the water, and it was the great age of fishes and other aquatic ani- mals. Soon the first land lifted itself timidly above the surface of the ocean, and formed inviting places for land animals and plants. Upon the land came, first, according to the story of the rocks, a class of animalsknown as amphibians, like frogs, that could live both in water and on land; and associated with them were vast forests of low orders of plants, that cleared the atmos- phere of noxious gases, and made it fit for higher forms of life. Then followed an age in which the predominating animals were gigantic reptiles, a step higher than the amphibians, but a step lower than the class of mammals to which man belongs. During the age of these prehistoric monsters, the earth was yet more fully prepared for higher life. Following the age of reptiles, came the age of mammals, which still persists, though, since the coming of man upon the earth, the geological age has been known as the age of man. This rapid sketch of the geological history of the earth does very poor justice to one of the most complete, wonderful and beautiful stories brought to the knowledge of man. The purpose of this paper is not, however, to discuss the past ages of the earth. It is, of course, readily understood that such mighty changes as those just described, and the succession of different kinds of organic life, could not have taken place in a few years. Vast periods of time must of necessity have been required for the initiation, rise, domination and final extinction of each class of animals. A year is too small a unit of measurement in geologi- cal time; a thousand years or, better, a million years, would more nearly answer the requirements. It is possible in various ways to arrive at a conception of the age of the earth since organic life came upon it. For instance, :the gorge of the Niagara Falls was begun in comparatively recent JOSEPH SMITH AS SCIENTIST. 701 days, yet, judging by the rate at which the falls are now receding, itmust have been at least 31,000 years since the making of the gorge was first begun, and it may have been nearly 400,000 years.* Lord Kelvin, on almost purely physical grounds, has estimated that the earth cannot be more than 100,000,000 years old, but that it may be near that age.f It need not be said, probably, that all such calculations are very uncertain when the actual number of years are considered; but, all human knowledge, based upon the present appearance of the earth and the laws that control known phenomena, agree in indicating that the age of the earth is ex- treme, running in probability into millions of years, and it all must have been hundreds of thousands of years since the first life was placed upon earth. When these immense periods of time were first suggested by students of science, a great shout of opposition arose from the camp of the theologians. The Bible story of creation had been taken literally, that in six days did the Lord create the heavens and the earth; and it was held to be blasphemy to believe anything else. The new revelation, given by God in the message of the rocks, was received as a man-made theory, that must be crushed to earth. It must be confessed that many of the men of science, exulting in the new light, ridiculed the story told by Moses, and claimed that it was an evidence that the writings of Moses were not inspired, but merely man-made fables. The war between the Mosaic and the geological record of crea- tion became very bitter and lasted long, and it led to a merciless dissection and scrutiny of the first chapter of Genesis, and the evi- dences upon which rests the geological theory of the age of the earth. However, when the din of the battle grew faint, and the smoke cleared away, it was quickly perceived by the unbiased on- lookers, that the Bible and science had both gained bj the conflict. Geology had firmly established its claim, that the earth was not made in six days of twenty-four hours each; and the first chapter of Genesis had been shown to be a marvelously truthful record of the great events of creation. * Dana's New Text Book of Geology, t^. 375. t Lectures and Addresses, vol. 2, p. 10. Moses, in the first chapter of Genesis, enumerates the order of the events of creation. First, light was brought to the earth and was divided from darkness, ''and the evening and the morning were the first day." Then the firmament was established in the midst of the waters, "and the evening and the morning were the second day." After each group of creative events, the same ex- pression occurs, "and the evening and the morning were the third [fourth, fifth, and sixth] days." Those who insisted upon the literal interpretation of the language of the Bible maintained that the word day, as used in Genesis 1, referred to a day of twenty-four hours, and that all the events of creation were consummated by an all-powerful God in one hundred and forty- four earthly hours. An examination of the original Hebrew for the use of the word trans- lated "day" in Genesis, revealed that it refers more frequently to periods of time of indefinite duration.* When this became clear, and the record of the rocks became better known, some theolo- gians suggested, that as we are told that a thousand years are as one day to God, the day of Genesis 1 refers to periods of a thou- sand years each. This did not strengthen the argument. The best opinion of today, and it is well-nigh universal, is that the Mosaic record refers to indefinite periods of time corresponding to the great divisions of historical geology. Even as late as the sixties and seventies of the last century this question was still so unsettled as to warrant the publication of books defending the Mosaic account of creation.t In 1830, certain visions given to the Jewish lawgiver Moses, were revealed to the Prophet Joseph Smith. These visions are now incorporated with other matter in the Pearl of Great Price, under the title. The Book of Moses. In chapter two of this book is found an account of the creation, which is nearly identical with the account found in Genesis 1. The slight variations which occur tend only to make the meaning of the writer clearer. In this account, the expression "and the evening and the morning were the first [etc.] day," occurs just as it does in the Mosaic account in * Compare The Mosaic Record of Creation, A. McCaul, D. D., p. 213. t For instance Aids to Faith, containing McCaul's most able discus- sion. The Origin of the World, J. W. Dawson. — JOSEPH SMITH AS SCIENTIST. 703 the Bible. In 1835 certain ancient records found in the catacombs of Egypt fell into the hands of Joseph Smith, who found them to be some of the writings of Abraham, while he was in Egypt. The translation of these records is also found in the Pearl of Great Price, under the title, The Book of Abraham. In the fourth and fifth chapters of the book is found an account of the creation ac- cording to the knowledge of Abraham. The two accounts are essentially the same, but the Abrahamic version is so much fuller and clearer that it illumines the obscurer parts of the Mosaic ac- count. We shall concern ourselves here only with the variation in the use of the word "day." In Genesis 1 : 5 we read, "And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day." The corresponding period is discussed in the Book of Abra- ham 4: 5 as follows: ''And the Gods called the light Day, and the darkness they called Night. And it came to pass that from the evening until morning they called night; and from the morning until the evening they called day; and this was thefirst, or the begin- ning, of that which they called day and night." It is to be noted that in Abraham's version names were given to the intervals between evening and morning, and morning and evening; but absolutely nothing is said about a first day: the state- ment is simply made, that this was the beginning of the alternating periods of light and darkness which they, the Gods, had named night and day. According to this version, the first creative period occu- pied an unknown period of time. "And God called the firmament In Genesis 1: 8 it further says : Heaven, And the evening and the morning were the second day." The corresponding passage in the Book of Abraham 4: 8, reads, "And the Gods called the expanse Heaven. And it came to pass that was from evening until morning that they called night; it and it came to pass that it was from morning until evening that they called day, and this was the second time that they called night and day." Here it must be noted that nothing is said about a second day. It is said that it was the second time that they called day which leaves the second creative period entirely indefinite so far as time limits are concerned. In Genesis 1 : 13, it reads, "and the evening and the morning were the third day." In Abraham 4: 13, the corresponding passage reads, "And it came to pass that they numbered the days; from the evening until the morning they called night; and it came to pass, from the morning until the evening they called day; and it was the third time." Here it is explicitly stated that the Gods numbered the days,evi- dently,they counted the days that had passed during the third creative period, and it was the third time that the numbering had been done. Again, the third creative period is left indefinite, as to time limits. Gen. 1 : 19, reads, "And the evening and the morning were the fourth day." Correspondingly, in Abraham 4: 19, is found, "And it came to pass that it was from evening until morning that it was night; and it came to pass that it was from morning until evening that it was day; and it wa,s the fourth time." This quotation from Abraham, standing alone, would be some- what ambiguous, for it might indicate that it was the fourth time that the periods between evening and morning, and morning and evening were called night and day. In the light of previous pas- sages, however, the meaning of the passage becomes clear. Certainly there is nothing in the verse to confine the fourth creative period within certain time limits. The fifth day in Genesis closes as does the fourth; and the fifth time in Abraham closes as does the fourth. The remarks made concerning the fourth creative period apply to the fifth. Concerning the sixth creative period. Gen. 1: 31, says, "And God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day." Of the same period, Abraham says, "And the Gods said: We will do everything that we have said, and organize them; and be- hold, they shall be very obedient. And it came to pass that it was from morning until evening that they called night; and it came to pass that it was from evening until morning that they called day; and they numbered the sixth time." As in the previous periods, the sixth ended by the Gods num- bering the days of the creative period; the sixth period, like those preceding, being undeterminate as to time. JOSEPH SMITH AS SCIENTIST. 705 Repeated reading and study of the Abrahamic account, as re- vealed through Joseph Smith, make it certain beyond doubt that the intent is to convey the idea that the creative periods included much time, and that, at the end of each period, the measure of night and day, was applied to the period, in order that its length might be determined. Whether or not the different creative periods represented days to the mighty beings concerned in the creation, we do not know, and it matters little to the argument of this article.* Now, then, we must remember that Joseph Smith made this translation long before the theologians of the world had consented to admit that the Mosaic days meant long periods of time; and long before geology had established beyond question that immense time periods had been consumed in the preparation of the earth for man. Joseph Smith, the humble, unlearned, despised boy, unfamiliar with books and the theories of men, stated with clear and simple certainty, if his works be read with the eye of candid truth, this fundamental truth of geological science and the Bible, long before the learned of the world had agreed upon the same truth.t Standing alone, this fact might be called a chance coincidence, a result of blind fate. But recalling that it is one of many similar and even more striking facts, what shall be said? Has ever im- postor dared what Joseph Smith did? Has ever false prophet lived beyond his generation, if his prophecies were examined? Shall we of this foremost age accept convincing, logical truth, though it run counter to our preconceived notions? Glorious were the visions of Joseph the Prophet; unspeakable would be our joy, should they be given to us. (to be continued.) * The writer understands the creation, reported in Abraham, 4th chapter, to be spiritual in its nature; but he also believes that this spiritual account is a perfect picture of the actual material creation. If chapter 4 of Abraham represents the Gods planning creation, the measuring of time becomes easily understood. It then means, "How long will it take to accomplish the work?" All this, however, has no bearing upon the present argument. t It may be remarked that other geological doctrines were taught by the Prophet, that science has since confirmed. One of these was dis- cussed by Dr. J. E. Talmage in the Improvement Era, Vol. 7, p. 481.