How I Understand Evolution and Geography
“The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is neutral about Evolution, Geography of the Book of Mormon, and other subjects. I discus below how this position of neutrality by the Church, allows me to receive personal revelation on various subjects. My belief is personal and does not represent the Church. I don’t feel our leaders need to always have an answer for us, but that we must search it out on our own. The leaders guide us about doctrine and revelation, which I appreciate.
I think there is importance in the Brethren being neutral on Geography, evolution and other difficult issues. They want us to gain our own witness to secondary information. They have given us sound doctrine and that is what we should focus on. I know through the Spirit that the Book of Mormon is true. However, I love to seek for other truth and as Moroni has said “I may know the truth of all things”
I believe the Land of Promise spoken of in the Book of Mormon is the United States of America. The Constitution was created by the Lord, Adam and Eve were placed on this same land and the New Jerusalem will be on this same land. No need for me to check out Mesoamerica anymore as I did for 40 years.
Just like evolution. I don’t believe we came from an ape and I know that matter cannot come from nothing. Things of course evolve or change within their own species. I don’t have to look into science to figure this out, but by the witness of what the scriptures tell us.
I don’t expect President Nelson to come right out and tell me where the Book of Mormon events happened, or if we came from an ape, I know through sound reasoning the answer that makes most sense to me. Now if the Brethren say otherwise, I would always listen to them first, and then pray about it, but in my opinion the Church is neutral on difficult issues that exist to help each of us individually come to a knowledge of the “truth of all things” as promised in the Book of Mormon. I don’t need to be commanded in all things!
“The Book of Mormon reveals that Joseph, the son of Jacob who was once sold into Egypt, foresaw the Prophet Joseph Smith and his day (see 2 Ne. 3:6-21) and noted that there would be many similarities in their lives. Centuries later, the Prophet Joseph stated, “I feel like Joseph in Egypt.” (The Personal Writings of Joseph Smith, ed. Dean C. Jessee, Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1984, p. 409; spelling modernized.)
The Book of Mormon reveals that the inheritance of Joseph, son of Israel, was not forgotten when, as promised in the Abrahamic covenant, land was distributed to the tribes of Israel. Joseph’s inheritance was to be a land choice above all others. (See Ether 13:2, 8.) It was choice not because of beauty or wealth of natural resources, but choice because it was chosen. It was to be the repository of sacred writing on plates of gold from which the Book of Mormon would one day come, choice because it would eventually host world headquarters of the restored church of Jesus Christ in the latter days.” A Treasured Testament Elder Russell M. Nelson Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles Ensign: July 1993 here:
I mention what Pres. Nelson mentioned above and ask, where was the repository of sacred writings, and where is the headquarters of the Church?, In other words, what was the Land Chosen by God? The USA. Not Greenland, not Brazil, not, Guatemala, not Quebec, but the land chosen was the heartland and the territory of the United States.
This is very simple to understand, and those who believe in a different location of the events of the Book of Mormon just don’t understand the quote by Elder Perry who said, “The United States is the promised land foretold in the Book of Mormon—a place where divine guidance directed inspired men to create the conditions necessary for the Restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ.” Elder L. Tom Perry Ensign Dec. 2012
Now you can hear below what our leaders say to us about evolution. They may be neutral, but we can know things through personal revelation. Read their words and pray about it, which is the only way to know truth.” Rian Nelson
Bruce R. McConkie
“All things are to be revealed in the millennial day. The sealed part of the Book of Mormon will come forth; the brass plates will be translated; the writings of Adam and Enoch and Noah and Abraham and prophets without number will be revealed. We shall learn a thousand times more about the earthly ministry of the Lord Jesus than we now know. We shall learn great mysteries of the kingdom that were not even known to those of old who walked and talked with the Eternal One. We shall learn the details of the creation and the origin of man and what fools mortals are to follow the fads of the evolving evolutionary nonsense that litters the textbooks of academia. Nothing in or on or over the earth will be withheld from human ken, for eventually man, if he is to be as his Maker, must know all things.” (The Millennial Messiah, pp.675-677)
“There is no harmony between the truths of revealed religion and the theories of organic evolution.” Bruce R. McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, p. 256
“Evolutionary theories assume that hundreds of millions of years were involved, first in the creation of the earth as a habitable globe, and again in the evolution of spontaneously generated, single celled forms of life into the complex and multitudinous forms of life now found on its face. We have rather specific scriptural indications that the creative period was of relatively short duration.” Bruce R. McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, p. 255
Gospel Topic Essay- Organic Evolution
“As scientists debated Darwin’s and Mendel’s theories over the following decades, people of faith grappled with the implications of organic evolution for human origins, the Creation of the earth, and the meaning of scripture. In the early 20th century, public controversy about evolution centered on “Darwinism,” or Darwin’s explanation of natural selection through random mutation. Theologians were divided over whether the findings of scientists attested to God’s creative power or denied His role in the Creation.
“Leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at the time did not take an official stance on the theory of evolution, but they did take steps to clarify the Church’s teachings related to human origins. In 1909, President Joseph F. Smith and his counselors in the First Presidency published an official declaration entitled “The Origin of Man.” Drafted by Elder Orson F. Whitney, the declaration affirmed our divine nature as children of God. The next year, President Smith urged Church leaders not to undertake “to say how much of evolution is true, or how much is false.”…
The First Presidency issued a condensed version of “The Origin of Man” in 1925 that reiterated, “All men and women are in the similitude of the universal Father and Mother and are literally sons and daughters of Deity.”…
President Heber J. Grant and his counselors in the First Presidency urged leaders not to take sides on the issue, requesting in 1931 that they “leave Geology, Biology, Archaeology and Anthropology, no one of which has to do with the salvation of the souls of mankind, to scientific research, while we magnify our calling in the realm of the Church.”…
As time went on, faithful Latter-day Saints continued to hold diverse views on the topic of evolution. Joseph Fielding Smith in his influential writings maintained the reliability of scripture as a guide to the Creation timeline. Henry Eyring, a prominent scientist and Sunday School general board member, welcomed evidence of evolutionary change and reiterated the teachings of Brigham Young, who taught that the gospel encompassed all truth, scientific or otherwise. In 1965, Church President David O. McKay worked with Bertrand F. Harrison, a botany professor at Brigham Young University, to foster greater understanding between Saints with differing viewpoints on evolution.
In the late 20th century, Church-sponsored schools expanded their educational offerings in the sciences. In 1992, the First Presidency and board of trustees at Brigham Young University approved a packet of reading material for use in science classes that presented the official 1909 and 1925 statements and other statements from members of the First Presidency on the faithful application of scientific truth. The packet also included an entry from the 1992 publication The Encyclopedia of Mormonism, produced with Church leader approval, which explained that “the scriptures tell why man was created, but they do not tell how.” In 2016, the Church’s youth magazine published articles on the pursuit of scientific truth. These articles reiterated that “the Church has no official position on the theory of evolution” and characterized it as a “matter for scientific study.” Echoing countless statements of Church leaders, the articles once again affirmed God’s role in creation and our relationship to our Heavenly Father as His children.” Gospel Topic Essay’s https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/history/topics/organic-evolution?lang=eng
