“I see no reason why Mormons cannot, fully and without apology, embrace Darwinian evolution.” – Steven Peck “What sort of God could, would, and did create the world through evolution?” – Wesley J. Wildman When I was a freshman in High School, I wrote a bitter anti-evolution paper as a response to learning about organic evolution in Earth Science. I was dead-set against the theory of organic evolution. In college, I approached the subject with a renewed open mind. I fasted, studied, prayed, and, not insignificantly, earned a degree in biology. I extensively reviewed First Presidency statements relevant to organic evolution, heard BYU professors (notably Bill Bradshaw and Duane Jeffrey) lecture on the subject, and read some apostolic statements on the constellation of related matters. I also read Kenneth Miller’s Finding Darwin’s God, which is in the top five list of books I recommend to others. Dawkin’s The Selfish... Read the rest of this entry »
Archive for the ‘evolution’ Category
The Plasticity of Personhood
Qui in utero est, pro jam nato habetur, quoties de ejus commodo quaeritur- “he who is in the womb is considered as already born as far as his benefit is considered.” I remember asking my physiology teacher, Dr. Rhees, a question during class one day. “When does the spirit enter the body?” The gentle, ailing man raised his hands and slowly took a step or two back: “I don’t know, I’m not qualified to say.” I thought that was a cop-out. The answer to that question can prove the crux of bioethics issues such as abortion, stem cell research, and embryo screening (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preimplantation_genetic_diagnosis). *disclaimer- much of what follows lacks organization and is speculative* Up until now I have relied on a binary understanding that a given spirit is either A) God’s offspring or B) God’s creation. There’s no gray here: nice, clean, black and white. I know that painfully few realities in this mortal... Read the rest of this entry »
“Worlds Without Number have I Created”
Today, in the Gospel Essentials class, we discussed the Creation. This study (and lesson) is based upon Moses 1:27-42, and Moses 2-3. The purpose of this particular study was to understand the nature of the revelation given to Joseph Smith about how God revealed to Moses the creation of all things. In order to understand [...] AKPC_IDS += "128877,";Popularity: unranked [?] Read More →