Editor’s note: “The Spoken Word” is shared by Lloyd Newell each Sunday during the weekly Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square broadcast. This will be given Sunday, May 19, 2024.
The oldest existing university in all of Asia was established more than 400 years ago here in Manila, Philippines. The University of Santo Tomas is named for the renowned Dominican priest Thomas Aquinas, a revered theologian and philosopher. This university is the largest Catholic university in the world in a single campus, and it stands as a beautiful monument to a long-standing devotion to education.
It feels fitting that this impressive university, so deeply rooted in the history of the Philippines, would also have religious roots. There is definitely something godly about education, about teaching and learning, about stretching the mind and deepening understanding. It has been said that “education is the key that will unlock the door of opportunity” (“Let Virtue Garnish Thy Thoughts Unceasingly,” by President Gordon B. Hinckley, Ensign or Liahona, May 2007, page 116.) And that door is not just academic or financial; it’s also spiritual. To increase in knowledge and truth is to grow a little closer to the all-knowing God of truth. We fulfill His purpose in our lives, at least in part, by becoming lifelong learners whose education never ends.
Learning is as eternal as God Himself, and it blesses both the mind and the spirit, the brain and the heart. Over the four centuries since the University of Santo Tomas was founded, people have too often assumed that there is a conflict between study and faith. But education for eternity comes “by study and also by faith” (see Doctrine and Covenants 88:118; emphasis added). We don’t have to leave our faith at the door of the school or our reason at the door of the church. We need both.
President Russell M. Nelson, renowned heart surgeon and President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, explains: “There is no conflict between science and religion. Conflict only arises from an incomplete knowledge of either science or religion, or both” (President Russell M. Nelson “Faith and Science,” by Jamie Jensen, Impact, July 26, 2022, lifesciences.byu.edu). By study and faith, by schoolwork and soul-work, we gain knowledge with eternal value. If we use that knowledge to help others, the joy of our discovery expands.
When the Lord Jesus Christ invited those who “labour and are heavy laden” to come unto Him, He added, “Learn of me; … and ye shall find rest unto your souls” (Matthew 11:28-29; see also Doctrine and Covenants 19:23). That’s an education of the highest kind. It’s an education of light and truth, of the head and the heart — education that will last forever.
Tuning in …
The “Music & the Spoken Word” broadcast is available on KSL-TV, KSL News Radio 1160AM/102.7FM, KSL.com, BYUtv, BYUradio, Dish and DirecTV, SiriusXM (Ch. 143), tabernaclechoir.org, youtube.com/TheTabernacleChoir and Amazon Alexa (must enable skill). The program is aired live on Sundays at 9:30 a.m. Mountain Time on these outlets. Look up broadcast information by state and city at musicandthespokenword.com/viewers-listeners/airing-schedules.
