Posted by:
cytokine
(
)
Date: October 05, 2014 10:15AM
Some of you will recognize the abbreviated quote in the subject line as a statement in Bruce R. McConkie's _Mormon Doctrine_.
Since 2008, there has been a frequently-visited Wikipedia page titled "Mormon Views on Evolution":
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mormon_views_on_evolutionLately, the page has been visited about 40 times each day.
The page does a fantastic job of pointing out that LDS prophets and apostles have made declarations about biological evolution (or "the origin of man") many times, and have uniformly insisted that:
+ Adam was the first man
+ Men were made in god's image
+ Evolution is not a topic members need to analyze or debate (see the quotes that begin "Leave Geology, Biology, Archaeology, and Anthropology..." and "I tell them I am not concerned with organic evolution")
In addition, the LDS Bible Dictionary says:
"Latter-day revelation teaches that there was no death on this earth for any forms of life before the fall of Adam. Indeed, death entered the world as a direct result of the fall (2 Nephi 2:22; Moses 6:48)."
I had professors at BYU who took great pains to find "space" within LDS doctrine for the facts that support evolution. Well, when you read all the general authority quotes on evolution in one place, it becomes obvious that Bruce R. McConkie was exactly right. There is no compatibility, and well-read, true-believing Mormons who want to accept evolution cannot do so without strenuous (and embarrassing) mental gymnastics.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/05/2014 10:40AM by cytokine.