"The Foolishness of God Is Wiser Than Men"

About four years ago, it was my privilege to take a trip through the Black Hills of South Dakota. On that trip I visited the Mount Rushmore National Memorial, one of the modern wonders of the world. There, under the personal direction of the sculptor, Gutson Borglum, and since his passing, under the direction of his son, a monument is being created on the mountain top, cut in solid granite. The carving is of the busts of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt, former presidents of the United States. The stupendous work was commenced in 1927 and is yet under course of construction. Some idea of the size of this monument may be obtained from the statement that the head of George Washington measures 60 feet "from wig to chin," and each figure is scaled to the measure of a man 465 feet tall. While I was looking in amazement upon this monument, the guide placed in my hand a brief sketch of this gigantic venture. In it I read the following:

Mt. Rushmore itself ... is composed of living granite, it was a full fledged mountain before the Alps were formed, when the mighty Himalayas were a swamp. Geologists say the monument should endure hundreds of thousands of years—perhaps millions.

As I looked upon this scene and contemplated on the wisdom of the geologists, I thought of the words of Paul:

For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. ... Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than man.—I Cor. 1:19-25.

For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.—I Cor. 2:11.

I have often wondered why these men so learned in worldly wisdom almost universally reject all that the Lord has revealed regarding this earth and its destiny, and the destiny of man upon the face of the earth, and speak with such confidence in relation to their theories which are so greatly in opposition to all that the Lord has revealed.

"The Wisdom of Men Shall Perish"

Again I thought of the words of another ancient prophet who said:

O the vainness, and the frailties and the foolishness of men! When they are learned they think they are wise, and they hearken not unto the counsel of God, for they set it aside, supposing they know of themselves, wherefore, their wisdom is foolishness and it profiteth them not. And they shall perish.—II Nephi 9:28.

Recently a noted astronomer said that Mars is a dying planet which is shown by the redness of its color, and that eventually the absorption of the oxygen by the rocks upon the earth will bring an end to all life upon the earth. But in saying this he does not take into consideration the fact that the Lord has other plans in relation to this earth that will bring to naught all the speculations of men. The Lord prepared the end of this earth before it had a beginning.

Sir James Jeans, the noted English astronomer and scientist, said:

Into such a universe we have stumbled, if not exactly by mistake, at least as a result of what may properly be described as an accident. The use of such a word need not imply any surprise that our earth exists, for accidents will happen, and if the universe goes on for long enough, every conceivable accident is likely to happen in time. It was, I think, Huxley who said that six monkeys, set to strum unintelligently on typewriters for millions of millions of years