Man, what a poor article. I'm sure you are a kind well meaning person, but I think you haven't studied evolution, and nor has Boyd K Packer or Elder Nelson!!

Evolution is a fact! Molecular biology, paleontology, plate tectonics, radio active dating techniques and our understanding of DNA biochemistry and genetics all provide mountains of evidence that evolution happened. Go do your research. Evolution is not something you 'chose' to believe in or not, just as you do not 'chose' to believe in gravity.....it's there!

Don't be lazy....find out for yourself!

Good luck n best wishes!

You limit potential responses to fit a desired goal.

A difference sufficient to prevent reproduction between two species of salamander IS a creation of a different life form.

I also seek to go with prophets and apostles when they speak from the Spirit. I also have no problem with them having well-intentioned though erroneous opinions. Agency is a good thing with General Authorities.

wilt

Man, what a poor comment. I'm sure you are a kind well meaning person, but I think you haven't studied philosophy of the sociology of science...

You see, there is no such thing as a fact which is free of both values and presuppositions which can simply be "there" regardless of the mental choices which you make.

Don't be lazy... find out for yourself!

(I know that sounded more than a little sarcastic, but hopefully it showed how counter-productive your tone was.)

Ezekiel,

Thanks for reading and commenting.

1. Usefulness of evolution. If your point #1 is to be taken somewhat as a criticism of my post, then perhaps you did not read all of my post, particularly the part that mentions the importance of evolution in biology and in health care where evolutionary understanding is needed to combat pathogens.

I wrote:
"Let’s take evolution, for example. Now there’s an important theory. I’ve been told that it is a fundamental theory underlying most of biology, so it must be a good thing to learn. I can think of a healthcare application. Given the rate at which pathogens like viruses and bacteria are mutating and circumventing our ability to prevent and fight off diseases, it is really important that we have a good understanding of evolution."

2. Among skeptics, I am a bit unusual in the sense that I do not believe that Church has taken an official stance. I think the Church is wise to avoid meddling in scientific affairs. In Galilean fashion, the Church recognizes that it is in the business of teaching people how to go to heaven, not how the heavens go or anything under them go - that is science's domain. I don't know 100% how Adam and Eve came into existence, so I agree with you on the uncertainty surrounding that issue. However, the gospel clearly teaches that the creation was purposeful and directed. Now, notwithstanding differences of opinion from theistic evolutionists, I don't see how natural selection acting on random mutations in the genome can result in a specific creation that suited the Lord's purposes. I don't fault theistic evolutionists for believing otherwise; we just disagree, that's all.

3. Your biggest problem with my post is my claim that the study of science will lead to personal apostasy. Well, I never made that claim. I asserted that it may lead to personal apostasy if one does not hearken unto the counsels of the Lord.

I wrote:
“Education is a great blessing . . . . The Lord’s counsel is as follows: to be learned is good, if one hearkens unto the counsels of God. So study the theories of mankind. Acquire as much secular knowledge as you can. Do personal research into a secular hypothesis. Those are good things, as long as you hearken unto the counsels of God while acquiring knowledge.”

In all fairness, I think that anytime someone reads an evolution-themed post from a skeptic, they expect the worse and read everything as being criticism. This post is not like that, so perhaps that is a source of the confusion.

Regards.

DC

What is the alternative?

There is no reason to believe that God didn't guide the evolutionary process to create life on Earth. The Bible and Book of Mormon don't contradict evolution at all, actually. What most faithful believers who also believe in evolution believe is that God used the process of evolution to create life here on Earth.

"Ezekial, in your point #2, you suggest the church has never taken a stand." If you got this impression from my comments, I wasn't speaking clearly enough.

Let's consider a few questions to help us get to a point where we can understand one another.

Question #1: Did God create the Earth and life thereon?

Answer: Yes, the prophets and scriptures testify of this, and we can receive a spiritual affirmation of this through pondering, prayer, and a personal witness from the Holy Ghost. We know that God created the heavens and the Earth, and that he created man in his own image purposefully.

Question #2: WHY did God create the Earth and life thereon?

Answer: God created the Earth for man to have a testing ground, and a place to have stewardship over. The Earth and all life on it is an essential part of His great plan of happiness. We are here because he loves us, and wants us to receive every blessing he could possibly give to us. We are here to learn and grow, to learn from our mistakes, to learn to love and support one another, and to draw near to our Saviour and, through His grace, be saved.

Question #3: HOW did God create the Earth?

Answer: This answer is really tricky. The Genesis and PoGP accounts both speak in very cryptic and vague terms about the creation. How did God create the heavens and the Earth? If we limit ourselves only to scripture, we end up with "he created them spiritually first, then physically." That still only explains what he did, not how he did it.

Science, however, can provide many possible explanations as to how God created the world, and how he managed to get life onto it. Evolution is just one of the many theories that has been sustained by hundreds and thousands of scientific studies. The same could be said for the larger picture of how God created the Earth, the Sun, etc. As an astronomy professor of mine explained, in order to discount the theories currently in place, you need to provide two things: 1) evidence that the current theory is false, and 2) an alternative that is able to encompass all of the research that backs up the current theory. Since the church doesn't talk about the "How" of the creation, I find that the theories are the best logical explanation. Sure, we can add our own Mormon twists to these theories. Instead of "Evolution Through Natural Selection" we can believe in "Evolution Through Divinely Guided Natural Selection." Instead of the "Big Bang Theory", we can speak of the "Devinely-Caused Big Bang Theory".

Then there's always the "Science is always changing" clause. Our understanding of how the world works is constantly changing. There are some that find this as grounds to dismiss science as a whole. I, on the other hand, find the pursuit of knowledge and truth using the scientific method fascinating. How fun is it to be able to figure out how the world works by asking the question "I wonder what happens if..." or "Maybe it works this way." Is it as straight-forward, neat, or clean as divine revelation? No, but until God explains to us exactly how He did it, the scientific method it the best way we have to gain a greater understanding of the world around us.

Admittedly, some people don't care how He did it. I'm perfectly okay with people who don't want to study astronomy, physics, biology, and chemistry. I can understand the desire to strictly focus on the spiritual side of the creation as manifested in Questions 1 & 2. Its less messy, less confusion, and "for the science people." If you do find yourself in that camp, however, don't assume that you can comment on the subject. In intentionally remaining uninformed about evolution, you give up your right to comment on the matter; you don't know the science, nor do you value it.

I think Harold B. Lee said it best. "Perhaps if we had the full story of the creation of the earth and man told to us in great detail, it would be more of a mystery than the simple few statements that we have contained in the Bible, because of our lack of ability to comprehend. Therefore, for reasons best known to the Lord, He has kept us in darkness. Wait until the Lord speaks, or wait until that day when He shall come, and when we shall be among the privileged either to come up out of our graves and be caught up into the clouds of heaven or shall be living upon the earth likewise to be so translated before Him. Then we shall know all things pertaining to this earth, how it was made, and all things that now as children we are groping for and trying to understand. Let's reserve judgment as to the facts concerning the Creation until we know these things for sure."

The only sanity in all of this comes from Ezekiel, thanks Ezekiel.

The simple explanation to the origin of life on the earth and the complex undertaking to prepare the earth for modern life is this: When God needs to introduce new life into a developing planetary system, he simply transplants this life from older stock that is already flourishing on other planets.

The interplanetary transplantation of life is not difficult to accept if we consider that God and His Son came from their glorified planet located at immense, cosmic distances from our earth to appear to the young Joseph Smith. Similarly, life forms such as plants and animals can also be transported across space from solar system to solar system.

This means that the family of the Gods are not required to create "new" life each time an earth is made. It is also not necessary to require increasingly complex life forms to somehow gradually change from "kind" to "kind" throughout the various stages of a planet's crustal preparation.

These are the "secret springs," Brigham Young taught, of all life forms that have ever existed on the earth. Among these "natural principles," he said, is the Creator's capacity to bring "animals and the seeds from other planets to this world."

Brad,

I wrote that people who embrace theories that may contradict the gospel are NOT necessarily in the throes of apostasy and I wrote that to be learned is good, including learning evolution. Also, in my last paragraph I put theistic evolutionists who hearken unto the counsels of the Lord on par with all other believers who hearken unto the Lord in terms of obtaining salvation. I am not seeing the holier than thou you say I am portraying. Perhaps you should go back and read the post.

I agree with Ezekiel and other commenters. I am a molecular genetic pathologist who regularly reads through hundreds of kilobases of human DNA sequence. I see the principles of evolutionary biology written on every patient's genetic code every day I go to work. I use these principles to help people understand their risk of disease and help physicians guide medical treatment. I know the basic principles of evolutionary biology are true. This has not been a challenge to my faith as a Latter-day Saint since someone showed me the official church statement on evolution. It was then that I realized that most of what I had been hearing in church, including from authority figures, was opinion based on the orthodox Catholic and protestant reading of the Bible and not based on revelation.

The official church statements about evolution are very open ended and not inconsistent with most evolutionary theory and all evidence that I know of. I am sure that God had a hand in the process, but it appears that God worked through principles, such as natural selection and random mutation as a general rule.

I think that any belief from "6 day creationism" to "God works subtly and consistently with observable natural principles described by the scientific community" is consistent with modern revelation, as well as all beliefs between these extremes. I try to speak gently when I bring up my scientific and medical experience in church, and I appreciate it when strict creationists do the same. I have noticed that heated arguments about this often distract from gospel teaching and the amazing non-science related truths that are taught in the Adam and Eve story.