Key to the Science of Theology

In Short

This work is a foundational text of mid-nineteenth-century Latter Day Saint thought, written to explain the author’s theology as a systematic philosophy of nature, government, and eternity. It defines the "science of theology" as the study of the laws governing the physical and spiritual universe, spanning from the creation of elements to the destiny of resurrected humanity. The book has endured as a primary reference for those seeking to understand the core metaphysical arguments, the concept of a tangible God, and the social structures of the early faith.

The Story

The narrative of the book is not a traditional story of characters, but a sweeping, epic history of human understanding and spiritual loss. It begins by establishing that the knowledge of God was once a precise science understood by the ancients—a "key" that allowed figures like Moses, Elijah, and Joseph to command elements, communicate with angels, and understand the deep mysteries of existence.

The argument progresses through a historical narrative of decline. The author posits that this science was lost through cycles of apostasy and human corruption, both in the ancient Near East and on the Western Hemisphere, where records of ancient American civilizations supposedly document a similar rise and fall of divine knowledge. The world, he argues, has spent centuries in a "dreary night" of spiritual ignorance, characterized by "priestcraft" and the inability to grasp the tangible reality of the divine.

The turning point of the book arrives with the "restoration" of this science in the nineteenth century. The author describes this era as a time of immense physical and political progress, where humanity’s mastery over fire, steam, and electricity mirrors the need for a new, revealed spiritual order. He introduces Joseph Smith as the central figure—a "restorer" commissioned by heaven to hold the keys to this lost knowledge. The text paints a harrowing picture of the opposition this movement faced, culminating in the violent persecution and death of the Prophet, which the author frames as the inevitable resistance of a dark world against a new, brighter dispensation.

The final arc of the argument shifts from history to the mechanics of the afterlife. It outlines a detailed, progressive destiny for the human soul, describing the spirit world as a place of continued learning, the resurrection as a literal reanimation of the physical body, and the different "kingdoms" of glory that await the faithful. The story concludes with a vision of celestial exaltation, where the righteous become "kings and queens of eternity." The author insists that this is not a metaphorical state but a literal, social, and familial existence, where the highest levels of progress involve the continuation of marriage and the eternal increase of posterity. He presents this system as the only pathway to becoming like God, emphasizing that those who do not adopt these specific ordinances will remain forever in a "single state," serving as ministering spirits to those who have achieved the full, royal destiny of the family of God.

How It Unfolds

The loss of knowledge The text traces the historical disappearance of divine truth from the earth, arguing that the modern religious world is suffering from a "doleful" lack of spiritual keys. It asserts that the miraculous power once held by the prophets has ceased, leaving behind empty rituals rather than the living science of theology.

The restoration of truth The author pivots to the nineteenth century as the era of recovery, identifying the United States as the necessary, free environment for this new dispensation to take root. He frames Joseph Smith as an essential messenger whose mission was to reconnect humanity to the original, ancient powers of the heavens.

The physics of the divine The middle chapters argue that God, angels, and the human spirit are composed of tangible, eternal elements, rejecting the idea that anything can be created from "nonentity." By comparing spiritual influence to the properties of electricity, the author attempts to rationalize miracles as natural, scientific occurrences.

The afterlife and exaltation The concluding sections detail the stages of existence beyond the grave, from the spirit world to the final resurrected state. The author defines the ultimate goal of human life as the achievement of "celestial glory," which involves the sealing of eternal family ties and the potential to rule as gods in the future.

The People

The book centers on two key figures: the eternal, divine Parent in heaven and the nineteenth-century prophet Joseph Smith.

The Father is presented as a physical, perfect being—a "specimen of Divine, eternal Humanity"—who desires to share his power and intelligence with his children. He is not a distant, abstract force but a literal, governing head who presides over a vast, organized empire. His primary desire is to bring his children back to his presence, and he stands ready to impart his attributes to those who seek them through the prescribed ordinances.

Joseph Smith acts as the crucial earthly intermediary. Described as the "Elias" and "Restorer," he is the figure who holds the keys of the current age, tasked with re-establishing the "Apostolic commission." The author depicts him as a man of great foresight whose success and increasing influence triggered the "frenzy and madness" of his enemies. Joseph Smith is portrayed as a hero who defended his community with a legion of supporters, yet ultimately succumbed to a state-sanctioned conspiracy. His life is characterized by his role as a bridge; he is the one through whom the "ancient archives" of the Western Hemisphere are opened, and through whom the "keys of initiation" are restored to a world desperate for order.

In Its Own Voice

Regarding the necessity of the physical body in the divine plan:

"He is thus prepared with organs and faculties adapted to the possession and enjoyment of every element of the physical or spiritual worlds, which can gratify the senses, or conduce to the happiness of intelligences."

Reflecting on the author's view of the "Christian" world's current state:

"With as much propriety it might be contended, that the magnet had been perpetuated, but had lost its magnetic properties; that water was perpetuated with all its virtues, but had lost its power to quench thirst, or seek its own level; that fire was still fire, but had lost its heat."

Describing the nature of the spirit as an eternal, physical substance:

"Spirit is matter, and matter is full of spirit."

What It's Really About

At its core, this book is an argument for the "materiality" of the divine. It seeks to collapse the distinction between the physical and the spiritual, asserting that both are part of the same eternal reality governed by unchanging, observable laws. The central question is how humanity can ascend from a mortal, finite existence to a state of godhood. The book answers this by proposing a structured, hierarchical system of "keys," "ordinances," and "covenants" that bind the individual to a divine family. It is a work obsessed with the idea of agency and the potential for eternal growth, suggesting that the universe is a vast, laboratory-like space where intelligent beings progress by mastering the natural laws that the Creator himself obeys.

Why Read It Today

Reading this work feels like stepping into the high-stakes, argumentative intellectualism of the nineteenth-century American frontier. It will appeal to readers who are interested in the historical development of American religious thought, particularly those who enjoy dense, uncompromising, and highly systematic theological manifestos. It offers a fascinating look at how one leader attempted to reconcile the "scientific" spirit of his age with a literal, visionary reading of the Bible.

However, the book is not an easy read. The prose is often ornate, heavy with nineteenth-century rhetorical flourishes and a sense of urgent, sometimes polemical, superiority. Its period attitudes toward "priestcraft" and other denominations are blunt, and its discussion of social structures—including the justification of plural marriage as a restoration of ancient patriarchal law—is presented with an absolute, matter-of-fact certainty that may jar modern sensibilities. Those who engage with it will find a persistent, driving logic that demands the reader accept its premises as self-evident truths. What stays with the reader is the author's relentless conviction that the universe is not a mystery, but a vast, orderly, and ultimately reachable system designed for the expansion of the human family. It is an artifact of a time when the horizon of human possibility felt infinite.