From Richard L. Evans and his book ‘The Man and the Message:
It is interesting how, in reading scripture over and over again, one often, after many readings and a long time, quite unexpectedly, finds some word or phrase that comes into his consciousness with a new and particular meaning. I have had, within the last few hours, just such an experience.
The scripture, so familiar to you, is one of the most quoted in the Church—one which I have read most often and heard most often, even unto thousands of times— that “Whatever principle of intelligence we attain unto in this life it will rise with us in the resurrection. And if a person gains more knowledge and intelligence in this life” (and this is the phrase that struck anew only yesterday) “through their diligence and obedience than another, they will have so much the advantage in the world to come.” Not just a miscellaneous acquisition of knowledge, but knowledge and intelligence, through diligence and obedience.(See Doctrine and Covenants 130: 18-19.)
Those words are most meaningful—and I have no fear of learning, of the pursuit of knowledge for any of our young people, if they will keep in mind diligence and obedience—obedience to the commandments of God, diligence in keeping close to the Church, in keeping active, keeping prayerful, keeping clean, keeping circumspect in their conduct. It isn’t learning or the love of learning, or knowledge or the pursuit of any subject that would take from one their faith, but it is the failure to keep the commandments, the failure to feed all sides of himself.
Intelligence would not let a person lose their faith in finding truth. Learning does not lead to loss of faith. False learning might, but not true learning. Lack of learning may. Ignorance may. Failure to keep the commandments may lead to loss of faith. Loss of balance may lead to loss of faith. One may pursue learning along too narrow lines and forget to feed all sides of their self; and may forget their spirit and starve it, but not learning itself leads to loss of faith, not the search for truth, for truth cannot come in conflict with truth. One can have a pure love of learning and seek for it insatiably, and still keep a simple faith if they will keep the commandments, feed the spirit, and be patient, sweet in humility, and not commit to quick conclusions or tentative theories. If they will really seek for eternal truths, with diligence and obedience, they can keep and pursue an insatiable love of learning and still keep their faith, for “the glory of God is intelligence.”
. . . . . . . . . We don’t altogether know what faith is, or prayer, and the ultimate meaning of the power of them. We don’t altogether understand all the commandments, but the limitations of our knowledge should not keep us from observing and using them, as we pursue learning and the love of learning, keeping the commandments of God and keeping close to him and his truth, in a well balanced life, in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and using it as our standard as the measure of all things.
This I know and leave it with you as the conviction of my soul—that God lives, that Jesus is the Christ, his divine and very Son, lives and stands by his side in the Godhead; that these two did appear to a young man, more than a century ago; that we live; that God made us in his image; that he has unspeakably great eternal blessings in store for us as we will search and seek and keep the faith and keep clean, and keep his commandments and live in obedience and keep our lives balanced, and keep close to him.
In the wonderful words of Emerson: “All I have seen teaches me to trust the creator for all I have not seen.”
God bless you, my brothers and sisters, in all things as you meet the daily decisions of life and move on to those great as yet unseen activities and opportunities of eternity, toward which the ways of all of us move. ~Richard L Evans, The Man and the Message (Salt Lake City, Utah: Bookcraft, 1977) p.190-92
