FAIR's Rising Generation

Posts Tagged ‘evolution’

A key point in defending your faith is choosing your battles. It is surprising to some that certain philosophies, although held by many, or even the majority of, church members need not be defended at all. No one is under any obligation to defend the Church’s stance in a case in which the Church has no stance. It may seem obvious, but many people feel that certain ideas are fundamentally in opposition to their beliefs, when in fact, they are irrelevant. Evolution is one such issue.

Many church members are quite disturbed by the idea of organic evolution. They may take exception to the idea that man evolved from lower life forms, or that that there was death before the Fall. Perhaps they don’t think the Earth is older than 6,000 years, that humans have existed equally as long as the Earth, or that the Earth was created in exactly seven days.

Then again, there are and have been faithful LDS members (including apostles, BYU faculty members, and LDS scientists) who do believe that the Earth came into existence eons ago, that there was animal and plant death before the Fall, or even that man’s physical body (although the spirit is of divine heritage) was created over millions of years through the process of evolution.

The great part is that you can believe whatever you want and not worry about your testimony! As David O McKay once wrote in a letter to the Geology Department at BYU, “the Church has officially taken no position [on evolution].”

The scriptures tell us why the Lord created us, not how. They are designed to teach us of salvation, the atonement, and the eternal nature of our spirits, not the natural history of the Earth. I encourage anyone who reads this to come to their own conclusions and not feel pressured by the (sometimes adamant or misinformed) views of others, be they in or outside of the Church. Whatever your opinion, it has nothing to do with your standing in the Church or your salvation.

In response to a dispute between Joseph Fielding Smith, James Talmage, and B.H. Roberts on the issue of “pre-Adamites”, President Heber J Grant and the current first presidency made this statement:

Upon the fundamental doctrines of the Church we are all agreed. Our mission is to bear the message of the restored gospel to the people of the world. Leave Geology, Biology, Archaeology, and Anthropology, no one of which has to do with the salvation of the souls of mankind, to scientific research.

For a more in-depth examination of views on evolution throughout Church history, take a look at this article on the FAIR wiki. The evolution debate dates back to Joseph Fielding Smith, who was opposed to evolution, and James Talmage and B.H. Roberts, who were much more open to the idea. All were prominent members of the Church, so it’s interesting to see their take, and their ultimate decision to leave science to the scientists.