The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1910-10-28
THE TEACHING OF SCIENCE.

Former President Wilford Woodruff
livercd April s. 1857, found in the Jour.
nal of Discourses, volume -, page %
expressed himself as follows:
Now. whatever l. might have obtained
in the shape OF learning, by searching
and study respecting the arts anC
! sciences of mcn-whatever principles
researches. yet, If the prophet OF God
should tell me that a certain principle
or theory which ] might have learned
was not true. / do not care what my
IL my duty, at the suggestion OF my file
| leader. TO abandon that principle or
theory Surprising he were 10 say the
principles by which YOU arc governed arc
not right, that they were incorrect, what
would be my duty j answer that IL
would be my duty To lay those principles
aside and take up those that might be
laid down by the servants Of God.
That this was an ingenious and child,
like statement of the crudcst sort of
credulity must be admitted. 1t must
also be admitted that while it is pos
sibe that the prophets. secrs and reve-
lators still hold TO that doctrine-and
very likely IL is so-thcre has been
some advance away from that condition
by some Of the Mormon school teachers
1t appears, for instance, that complaint
was recently made by some person that
Professor Ralph Chambcrlin, who occ,I-
pies the chair of biology in tho B. Y,
University, and is a man of undoub ID
learning and capacity, holds TO tho doc
trip nf nrolniinn ID
series of articles for publication based
ON that theory He sent them to the
Improvement Era, Of which President
Joseph +. Smith is editor Smith re-
iected those articles. Then they were
sent TO the B. y school paper, "White
and Blue and were published there.
This made n commotion; President
Brlmhall called the editor of the school
paper on the carpet, but the student
stood pat. Then President Joseph L.
Smith. John Henry Smith, +. NJ. Lyman,
O.. i. Whitney and d. o. Mckay went
down to Provo, as President John Tsy-
lor Of the Mormon church sent word
when inc city council of Salt Lake
adopted standard time, "to have it
stopped until it could be inquired into. -
These church worthless went there,
searched the thing out, and three Of
them agreed with President Brimhall
that such doctrine ought not TO be
taught in the school or printed in the
school paper. President Joseph f.
Smith, John Henry Smith, aud +. NJ.
LYMAN. being of the old hardshcll
school. denounced the idea Of such teach
ings; but Apostles Whitney and McKay
pointed out that the educational world
was accepting evolution as science
established beyond doubt, and if the
church school did not accept il and
teach it, the students would go where
they could be taught The sciences. This
argument. being of the same nature that
President Smith urged in behalf Of the
selling of liquor by tho u. G. NJ. l. drug
store, appealed to him, and he finally
agreed that evolution, might be taught
III the Provo church school 1t will be
remeni bcred that President Smith in his
tabernacle address on the liquor ques-
tion, said that it was right for the Il.
G. M. j. drug store 70 sell booze, because
il il didn't the brethren would 90 else.
where to trade so in this case the ar
gumcnt that captured Brother Joseph
was that the students who wanted to be
taught true science would 20 elsewhere
to learn IT. Ii was commercial prop
osition in both cases with Joseph i. He
81, ,e -
his mind not being broad enough to UNI
derstand that. God might work through
evolution as we'll as through au imme-
diate special creation. lTo probably
would not care for any argument on that