Evolution

Mormon Scientist

 

I recently read the book “Mormon Scientist” by Henry Eyring about his grandfather Dr. Henry Eyring. My initial purpose in reading was because I had heard Dr. Eyring was a believer in evolution, a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, and a very prominent scientist. I had heard many stories about Dr. Eyring from the talks and devotionals given by his son, Henry B. Eyring. I was interested in hearing what evidence Dr. Eyring gave to support his belief in evolution, and how he reconciled it with his beliefs in the Gospel.

As it turns out, evolution is not discussed much in the book. There is little evidence in the book that he believed in evolution. It did give some examples of how he responded to people who wrote him asking for advice on the topic but his responses were often to people who were ardently against evolution. He responded in ways to control contention. I enjoyed one response he gave when he said, “I believe whichever way it(The Creation) turns out to have actually been(accomplished).” So he may have believed, but he was open to be wrong.

            I enjoyed the book, but this article is not a review or a critique of “Mormon Scientist” I would like to put forward my belief of how the creation of our human family was accomplished. I believe it is important to understand in order to comprehend our purpose and potential.

The idea that we evolved from monkeys and further back from a single-celled organism is false. Not because of any interpretation of archeological finds, or that the idea of evolution threatens the possibility of God. But because as Paul the apostle said it, “we are the offspring of God.”

I am saying that we are descendants of Adam and Eve. In the scriptures in multiple places it gives genealogy. One of those places is in Luke 3, which says, “Which was the ^ason of Enos, which was the son of Seth, which was the son of ^bAdam, ^cwhich was the ^dson of God.” In Moses it says the same thing, “And this is the genealogy of the sons of Adam, who was the ^ason of God, with whom God, himself, conversed.” Now, I know it could be said that Adam was symbolically the son of God because God did create Adam in whatever way he did so we say he was Gods son. That God couldn’t come and create life the way you and I do, like it would be blasphemous or something. But read in Acts 17; 28,29 “For in him we ^alive, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his ^boffspring. Forasmuch then as we are the ^aoffspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto ^bgold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man’s ^cdevice.” These verses are saying we shouldn’t think of God as something so sacred that he can’t be thought of and discussed as doing things in ways that would be impossible for us to understand. We can and should understand the things of God. In Abraham 1; 3, it give further insight into the creation of Adam. Speaking of the priesthood, Abraham wrote, “It was ^aconferred upon me from the fathers; it came down from the fathers, from the beginning of time, yea, even from the beginning, or before the foundation of the earth, down to the present time, even the right of the ^bfirstborn, or the first man, who is ^cAdam, or first father, through the fathers unto me.” Notice how Abraham calls Adam the firstborn? Abraham knew how Adam was created. The same way you and I were created, except by Heavenly Parents.   

As Latter-Day Saints, this isn’t too much of a stretch. We have the understanding that we have the potential to become like God. To inherit all that God has. Including the attributes of omnipotence, omnipresence, and omniscience. We often call upon our understanding of the pre-existence to explain this potential, that we are the spirit children of God, and that gives us the seeds of Godhood.  But knowing that we are the descendants of God physically gives us so much more understanding, hope and appreciation for the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ. The seed of Godhood don’t just come from our spirit, it comes from our physical lineage too.

This could seem to be a contraction to the scriptures that say Jesus Christ is the Only Begotten of the Father. But we have to take that title of the Savior in context. Christ was the Only Begotten of the Father in the flesh, the flesh meaning the carnal flesh, the flesh that is corruptible and decays and dies. We know Christ inherited these traits from his mother. Adam, being born of two perfect, immortal Parents physically, had a perfect, immortal body. Which changed to a mortal body when Adam partook of the fruit of the tree of life. (See BD; Fall of Adam)

Knowing these things, we can see the danger in believing we descended from anything other then God. Believing in Macroevolution denies us the peace and wonder we feel when we understand that we are Children of God. Satan doesn’t want us to understand our potential or our roots because he wants us to be miserable like him. So he has infused this lie into our society, which many people even inside the church believe. Discover your potential, know that you are a Child of God!