Our Marvelous Potential

What did Paul mean by the words, a sound mind? I think he meant the basic logic of the gospel. To me the gospel is not a great mass of theological jargon. It is a simple and beautiful and logical thing, with one quiet truth following another in orderly sequence. I do not fret over the mysteries. I do not worry whether the heavenly gates swing or slide. I am only concerned that they open. I am not worried that the Prophet Joseph Smith gave a number of versions of the first vision anymore than I am worried that there are four different writers of the gospels in the New Testament, each with his own perceptions, each telling the events to meet his own purpose for writing at the time.

I am more concerned with the fact that God has revealed in this dispensation a great and marvelous and beautiful plan that motivates men and women to love their Creator and their Redeemer, to appreciate and serve one another, to walk in faith on the road that leads to immortality and eternal life.

I am grateful for the marvelous declaration that “the glory of God is intelligence, or, in other words, light and truth.” (D&C 93:36.) I am grateful for the mandate given us to “seek ye out of the best books words of wisdom” and to acquire knowledge “by study and also by faith.” (D&C 88:118.)

I remember when I was a college student there were great discussions on the question of organic evolution. I took classes in geology and biology and heard the whole story of Darwinism as it was then taught. I wondered about it. I thought much about it. But I did not let it throw me, for I read what the scriptures said about our origins and our relationship to God. Since then I have become acquainted with what to me is a far more important and wonderful kind of evolution. It is the evolution of men and women as the sons and daughters of God, and of our marvelous potential for growth as children of our Creator.

Gordon B. Hinckley  "God Hath Not Given Us the Spirit of Fear" October 1984 Ensign