Topical Guide/Science and Religion

FAIR Answers Wiki Table of Contents

    TOPICS

• Age of Earth (Link)
• Archaeology (Link)
• Creation (Link)
• DNA research (Link)
• Evolution (Link)
• Hoaxes (Link)
• Miracles (Link)
• Noah's Flood (Link)

Mormonism and science

Jump to Subtopic:

• Mormonism and the determination of truth
• The Mormon view of the creation of the earth
• Latter-day Saint approaches to science
• Astronomy and the Book of Abraham
• Archaeology and the Book of Mormon
• The Book of Mormon and DNA evidence
• Latter-day Saint attitudes toward science
• Mormonism and science/Global or local flood

Mormonism and the determination of truth

Jump to Subtopic:

• Are Mormonism and science compatible?
• The "burning in the bosom" in Mormonism as a method of determining truth

Latter-day Saint approaches to science

Jump to Subtopic:

• Archaeology and the Book of Mormon
• The Book of Mormon and DNA evidence
• Mormonism and the reconciliation of the Flood of Noah with scripture and Church teachings

The Mormon view of the creation of the earth

Jump to Subtopic:

• Doctrine & Covenants 77:6 refers to "this earth during the seven thousand years of its continuance"
• Death before the Fall
• Belief in a literal Adam and Eve
• Fall of Adam and Eve
• Mormonism and the reconciliation of the Flood of Noah with scripture and Church teachings
• The Mormon view of "Creatio ex nihilo"
• Mormonism and the theory of evolution

Doctrine & Covenants 77:6 refers to "this earth during the seven thousand years of its continuance"

Jump to Subtopic:

• Question: How do we reconcile the actual age of the earth to the "seven thousand years of its continuance" mentioned in D&C 77:6?
• Brigham Young (1871): "whether the Lord...made it in six days or in as many millions of years, is and will remain a matter of speculation in the minds of men unless he give revelation on the subject"
• John S. Lewis: "Considering that Doctrine and Covenants 77:6 refers to “…this earth during the seven thousand years of its continuance, or its temporal existence,” what led Phelps to speak of Earth as 2,555 million years old?"
• Improvement Era 1909 regards an ancient earth as consistent with scripture
• John A. Widtsoe in Improvement Era 1909 on the age of the earth
• Charles W. Penrose in Improvement Era 1909 on the age of the earth
• James E. Talmage, a geologist, spoke of the earth forming from other bodies
• Question: Was Brigham Young a "young earth creationist"?
• Question: How do dinosaurs fit into God's plan?

Mormon perspectives on the concept of death on the entire earth before the Fall of Adam

Jump to Subtopic:

• Question: What does the Church teach on the subject of death before the Fall of Adam?
• Question: Was there no death on the entire earth before the Fall?
• Question: What was the state of things on the Earth prior to the placement of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden?
• Question: What changes have been made to the Gospel Principles manual regarding the question of death on the earth before the Fall of Adam?
• Question: Is the concept of no death before the fall on the entire earth Church doctrine?
• Question: Did procreation exist before the Fall of Adam?
• Question: How does the Church explain the existence of human-like beings on the earth prior to Adam?
• First Presidency statement (1931): "Leave geology, biology, archaeology and anthropology, no one of which has to do with the salvation of the souls of mankind, to scientific research"

Belief in a literal Adam and Eve

Jump to Subtopic:

• Question: Can Latter-day Saints have a non-literal view of the creation story, or have a somewhat more mythic view of the first five books of Moses given the Church's teaching of a historical Adam?
• Question: What is the Church's position on Adam and Eve?
• First Presidency statement (1931): "Leave geology, biology, archaeology and anthropology, no one of which has to do with the salvation of the souls of mankind, to scientific research"
• Question: How does the Church explain the existence of human-like beings on the earth prior to Adam?

Fall of Adam and Eve

Summary: If it was God's plan for Eve to eat the fruit, then why did God forbid it? Why did God not simply create Adam and Eve as mortals?

Jump to Subtopic:

• Question: If God intended the Fall of Adam and Eve, why did he forbid the fruit? Why did he not simply create them as mortals?
• Question: If "the wages of sin is death" as described in Romans 6:23, and the fall of Adam and Eve was a transgression rather than a sin, then why did it introduce death into the world?
• Question: How did the transgression of Adam and Eve introduce sin into the world?
• Question: If the transgression of Adam and Eve was actually a blessing for them, then why did they feel guilty and afraid when God approached them in the Garden of Eden after they committed their transgression?
• Question: If the transgression of Adam and Eve resulted in physical and spiritual death, then why are we only subject to spiritual death for eternity if we do not repent?

Mormonism and the reconciliation of the Flood of Noah with scripture and Church teachings

Jump to Subtopic:

• Question: How do Latter-day Saints reconcile scriptural accounts of the Flood of Noah with scientific evidence of continuous human habitation on the earth?
• John A. Widtsoe (1943): "The Old Testament records a flood that was just over fifteen cubits (sometimes assumed to be about twenty-six feet) deep and covered the entire landscape"
• Question: Why does the Church teach that the flood was a global event?
• Question: Are Church members required to believe in a global flood?
• Question: How could the Garden of Eden have been in Missouri if the Flood was local?
• Question: Doesn't the Bible say that the continents were divided immediately after the Flood?
• Question: How did ancient people of the Old and New Worlds view the "the world"?
• Question: How can one properly view events in Ether scientifically?

The Mormon view of "Creatio ex nihilo"

Jump to Subtopic:

• Question: How did the mainstream Christian view that God created the universe out of nothing originate?
• Question: What were the early Christian beliefs about the creation?
• Question: How was the doctrine of creation altered to "creatio ex nihilo"?
• Question: Does Colossians 1:16 teach that Jesus created all things out of nothing?
• Question: Does what Joseph Smith taught about the creation of spirits contradict the scriptures?
• LDS doctrine rejects Neo-Plantonic accretions, but this does not make them automatically false
• Mormons and creatio ex nihilo (creation out of nothing)
• "Smith would have held his own in debating with" Neo-Platonists, Gnostics, and early Christian theologians
• Augustine's views about matter are perhaps less coherent than Joseph Smith's
• Non-LDS Christian Stephen H. Webb: Creedal Christians can learn from LDS views about Jesus Christ and creation
• Joseph Smith's theology is not pagan—his theology is vast as the multiverse, and eliminates Neo-Platonism and Augustine

Mormonism and the theory of evolution

Jump to Subtopic:

• Statements from Church leaders on the subject of evolution
• Unofficial primary sources on evolution

Astronomy and the Book of Abraham

Summary: The Book of Abraham makes several references to astronomy which draw criticism. These articles address specific issues related to Book of Abraham astronomical concepts.

Jump to Subtopic:

• Kolob and the Book of Abraham

Book of Mormon/Archaeology

Latter-day Saint attitudes toward science

Jump to Subtopic:

• Joseph Fielding Smith's statements that men would never walk on the moon
• Brigham Young's beliefs related to science and education
• Mormonism and education: Modern perspectives
• Utah statistical claims and charges

Joseph Fielding Smith's statements that men would never walk on the moon

Jump to Subtopic:

• Question: Did Joseph Fielding Smith state that man would never visit the moon?
• Question: Was Joseph Fielding Smith issuing a prophecy when he said that men would never walk on the moon?
• Question: Did Joseph Fielding Smith acknowledge that he was wrong when he said that Man would never walk on the Moon?

Brigham Young's beliefs related to science and education

Jump to Subtopic:

• Question: Did Brigham Young actually teach that the sun and the moon were inhabited?
• Question: Did Brigham Young claim that too much education was damaging to children?

Mormonism and education: Modern perspectives

Jump to Subtopic:

• Question: Does increasing education among Mormons lead to decreased faith or religious practice?
• Question: Does the Church forbid the reading of "anti-Mormon" criticisms, or discourage its members from considering such matters?

Utah statistical claims and charges

Summary: This page indexes attacks and criticism of the Church based upon statistical analysis.

Jump to Subtopic:

• Question: Why does Utah lead the United States in subscriptions to online adult entertainment?
• Question: Is the fact that Salt Lake City has many plastic surgeons indicative of Mormon vanity and concern with appearance?
• Question: Is it true that Utah has the highest personal bankruptcy rate in the United States?
• Question: Is the suicide rate in Utah higher than the national average?
• Question: Is the rate of antidepressant use in Utah much higher among Mormons than the general population?
• Question: In Utah, are more people leaving the Church than are joining the Church?

Mormonism and science/Nature of Flood

    MEDIA

The Children of Lehi: DNA and the Book of Mormon, D. Jeffrey Meldrum and Trent D. Stephens, 2003 FAIR Conference

• Part 1: The Children of Lehi: DNA and the Book of Mormon
• Part 2: The Children of Lehi: DNA and the Book of Mormon
• Part 3: The Children of Lehi: DNA and the Book of Mormon
• Part 4: The Children of Lehi: DNA and the Book of Mormon
• Part 5: The Children of Lehi: DNA and the Book of Mormon
• Part 6: The Children of Lehi: DNA and the Book of Mormon

The Fallacy of Fundamentalist Assumptions, Blake Ostler, 2005 FAIR Conference

• Part 1: The Fallacy of Fundamentalist Assumptions
• Part 2: The Fallacy of Fundamentalist Assumptions
• Part 3: The Fallacy of Fundamentalist Assumptions
• Part 4: The Fallacy of Fundamentalist Assumptions
• Part 5: The Fallacy of Fundamentalist Assumptions
• Part 6: The Fallacy of Fundamentalist Assumptions

    PERSPECTIVES

• Science and Religion in the Encyclopedia of Mormonism