Why is it that so much of our history is distorted or downright incorrect? There is a constant battle between who is right and who is wrong. That is why this world is truly Satan’s until the Lord comes and establishes His perfect government. Like the Bible says, men today are, “Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.” 2 Tim. 3:7
“I have come to believe that it is the tendency for many members of the Church who spend a great deal of time in academic research to begin to judge the Church, its doctrine, organization, and leadership, present and past, by the principles of their own profession. Ofttimes this is done unwittingly, and some of it, perhaps, is not harmful.” The Mantle Is Far, Far Greater Than the Intellect Elder Boyd K. Packer
“This problem has affected some of those who have taught and have written about the history of the Church. These professors say of themselves that religious faith has little influence on Mormon scholars. They say this because, obviously, they are not simply Latter-day Saints but are also intellectuals trained, for the most part, in secular institutions. They would that some historians who are Latter-day Saints write history as they were taught in graduate school, rather than as Mormons.” The Mantle Is Far, Far Greater Than the Intellect Elder Boyd K. Packer
President Harold B. Lee,
Cautioned that some people may not follow the line of authority in the Church:
“We call upon you holders of the priesthood to stamp out any such [false doctrines] and to set to flight all such things as are creeping in, people rising up here and there who have had some ‘marvelous’ kind of a manifestation, as they claim, and who try to lead the people in a course that has not been dictated from the heads of the Church.
Joseph Smith wrote:
“The great difficulty lies in the ignorance of the nature of spirits, of the laws by which they are governed, and the signs by which they may be known; if it requires the Spirit of God to know the things of God; and the spirit of the devil can only be unmasked through that medium, then it follows as a natural consequence that unless some person or persons have a communication, or revelation from God, unfolding to them the operation of the spirit, they must eternally remain ignorant of these principles. … Whatever we may think of revelation, … without it we can neither know nor understand anything of God, or the devil.” (History of the Church, 4:573–74.)
False Doctrine
“I do not know all of the providences of the Lord, but I do know that he permits false doctrine to be taught in and out of the Church and that such teaching is part of the sifting process of mortality.” Bruce R. McConkie, McConkie’s 1981 letter to BYU
BYU’s 2017 Department of Geological Sciences Hates New Science
* (See Below)
When I was a college student there were many discussions on the question of organic evolution. I took classes in geology and biology and heard the whole story of Darwinism as it was then taught. I wondered about it. I thought much about it. But I did not let it sway me, for I read what the scriptures said about our origins and our relationship to God.” (Gordon B. Hinckley, Faith: The Essence of True Religion, p. 18.)
Our Church is Neutral on Evolution
“The Church has no official position on the theory of evolution. Organic evolution, or changes to species’ inherited traits over time, is a matter for scientific study. Nothing has been revealed concerning evolution. Though the details of what happened on earth before Adam and Eve, including how their bodies were created, have not been revealed, our teachings regarding man’s origin are clear and come from revelation.” https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/new-era/2016/10/to-the-point/what-does-the-church-believe-about-evolution.html?lang=eng
Why? Editors Opinion
Many intellectuals and scientists love sharing the quote above which says, “The Church has no official position on the theory of evolution.” The Church has also said they are neutral on the Geography of the Book of Mormon. These statements by the Church however don’t say that we have to be neutral about these things. I believe the Church is telling us to search and pray for ourselves. The Church can’t teach us everything as we are accountable for our own spiritual growth as we learn in this life. We should read, study and search for evidences about all things, and by the Spirit we may know ALL THINGS! Moroni 10:5
When the Prophet and others received the “shot”, I didn’t immediately say, “oh wow that means I need to do the same.” Taking the shot was not a commandment, but highly encouraged. The Prophet and others said to be a good global citizen and they had listened to competent Doctors. The problem was, I personally had heard from competent Doctors as well that said the shot could be deadly and not to take it. I felt I was being a good global citizen by warning others to not take the shot, and look, in March 2023, I was correct. I received personal revelation and I was blessed. It doesn’t mean the Prophet was wrong, he was just stressing the fact that we all need to consider things that may benefit us.
Personal Revelation
The Prophet also said, “Learn for yourself—right now at your age—how to receive personal revelation. And nothing will make a bigger difference in your life than that!” Hope of Israel Russell M. Nelson
“You don’t have to wonder about what is true. You do not have to wonder whom you can safely trust. Through personal revelation, you can receive your own witness that the Book of Mormon is the word of God, that Joseph Smith is a prophet, and that this is the Lord’s Church. Regardless of what others may say or do, no one can ever take away a witness borne to your heart and mind about what is true.
I urge you to stretch beyond your current spiritual ability to receive personal revelation, for the Lord has promised that “if thou shalt [seek], thou shalt receive revelation upon revelation, knowledge upon knowledge, that thou mayest know the mysteries and peaceable things—that which bringeth joy, that which bringeth life eternal.” Revelation for the Church, Revelation for Our Lives by President Russell M. Nelson
Evolution
Supposedly those writers at FAIR Mormon use Elder Holland’s statement below as he says, “I do not know the details of what happened on this planet before that”, to feel they can tell us all about evolution as they are smarter than the Prophets. This secular society needs to have the faith of the Brethren and end this tremendous amount of time spent in promoting evolution of ape to man and from nothing comes something.
Why is it no surprise that a vast number of those who believe in the Mesoamerican Theory of the Book of Mormon also believe man came from nothing, Noah’s flood is a myth, the Earth is billions of years in creation, and believe in Pre-Adamites?
WE DID NOT COME FROM AN APE OF THIS I AM MOST CERTAIN! MAN DID NOT EVOLVE FROM NOTHING! ADAM WAS PLACED ON THE EARTH IN ABOUT 4,000 BC! THE MATERIALS OF THE EARTH ARE BILLIONS (innumerable) OF YEARS OLD, BUT THE CREATION IS THOUSANDS OF YEARS OLD, NOAH’S FLOOD IS REAL, and if there is ever a difference between Scripture and Science, always choose Scripture!
“One need not look far into science to discover it consists too generally of a maze of facts and theory so closely interwoven that even the most learned and honorable scientist (to say nothing of the intellectually dishonest one or the novice) may have difficulty in distinguishing readily between truth and theory.” — Joseph Fielding Smith Man, His Origin and Destiny
See my blog titled EVOLUTION AT BYU here:
DNA & Dating Dinosaurs DVD
Could a Single Experiment Change Much of Science? Could Modern Science Have Some Things Wrong? Are All the Creation Accounts Actual or Myths? Is Evolution Being Taught as Fact at BYU? Can We Trust the Scriptures & Prophets? Are Our Youth Being Taught the Truth? Was There a Real World-Wide Flood? Did Adam and Eve Really Exist?
Join scientific researcher, author and international lecturer Rod Meldrum as he introduces a paradigm-altering experiment that may forever change the very foundations of science as we know it. Learn about a new millennial science, called the Universal Model, that provides the hard scientific evidences of the processes by which:
1- This magnificent Earth may have actually formed out of water.
2. How, and how long it took, for dinosaurs and trees to fossilize.
3. How a world-wide catastrophic flood at the time of Biblical Noah happened.
4. How mankind’s place in the Universe came through Adam and Eve.
Yes, We Really Can Trust the Scriptures and Prophets!
For 7 years Rod Meldrum was the head scientific researcher for Dean Sessions, author of The Universal Model. Rod gives many presentations about how science and the scriptures go hand in hand including the one above called, DNA and Dating Dinosaurs.
What Is The Universal Model?
“The purpose of science is to describe and explain Nature so that we can understand and comprehend it, but where do we learn these things simply, in a way that makes sense? For many decades, a number of incorrect theories and misleading philosophies have formed the foundation of ‘modern’ science. Now, newly discovered scientific truths in the Universal Model have revealed long-hidden natural laws that explain Nature’s workings in an easily comprehensible format. We invite all to explore and experience the adventure of learning by investigating new discoveries about the Earth and our Universe found in the UM. These scientific truths establish a New Millennial Science destined to take us through the current millennium to heights of knowledge and discovery never before imagined.” The Universal Model Home Page
“We must keep in mind that He [Christ] is allowing the wheat and tares to grow up together for a season, and by and by the tares will be gathered together and be burned up. Before the burning though, there will be a judgement, and the Lord is allowing us each right now to work out our salvation or damnation. Those that have the facts before them and reject them (see below) will pay the ultimate price, but there also must be a Great Divide that is taking place right now (talked about in the BoM and in the last chapter of Vol II of UM [Universal Model] – the Human Model) to clearly mark each of us to which side we are on.
Joseph Fielding Smith wrote:
“One need not look far into science to discover it consists too generally of a maze of facts and theory so closely interwoven that even the most learned and honorable scientist (to say nothing of the intellectually dishonest one or the novice) may have difficulty in distinguishing readily between truth and theory.” — Man, His Origin and Destiny
This is the purpose of the UM, to take this maze (the modern science puzzle that makes no sense – everything from nothing) and replace it with Nature’s Puzzle – they way things really are.
Melvin A. Cook in the Intro of: Man, His Origin and Destiny also said:
“Unfortunately, owing to the strong desire of scientists to display their brilliance and ingenuity, there is a tendency for theory to become the objective instead of a means to the end. Theory then not only loses its real value, but actually becomes a stumbling block to progress. Its inventor and disciples become so engrossed in the theory that they lose sight of its fundamental purpose, the quest for truth. This condition was shockingly illustrated in my presence at a meeting of scientists when one of great renown met a factual objection with the statement, “I am more concerned with the elegance of the theory than the truth of it.” — Man, His Origin and Destiny
Therefore, the Lord will judge these so-called intellectuals to whether they want to follow and learn of the Truth (which is literally Christ) or not. The sad thing is that most do not realize following Christ means following and seeking out for the Truth.
The UM has already produced experiments for the first time that are “more than words” (for example it has created sandstone and petrified wood which are identical to how Nature produced it in only a few days). The UM does not just have “alternative explanations” to how things are done in Nature, it has the ONLY explanation in hundreds of instances where modern science admits their theories cannot explain such and such natural phenomena. So ‘producing’ more ‘things’ is not the solution. Science is about demonstrating the true nature of Nature, it is not technology, which is only a tool that helps us understand it better.
Therefore, we cannot expect the leaders of science today to ever change their religion of atheism and accept the truth. It’s just not going to happen. For the UM to gain a much wider acceptance, it will have to be promoted full time to a much greater degree and I will personally have to be involved with this with others. This means I will be involved in debates and interviews and making many more recordings for the Web with influencers.
Although each Volume of the UM stands alone and has more new natural law than produced by modern science over the last century, Vol III does have double the amount of natural law as the other two volumes and many more experiments seen for the first time. Being able to demonstrate the true models of both matter and energy is more than any physicist or chemist or cosmologist has ever dreamed of, as this alone changes all their fields of study – and the UM does this. It also shows the errors in the physics of the Big Bang and proves the Universe is not expanding, but rotating in a Revolutionary Universe. It really is beyond what any scientist could dream about – yet it is all real and empirically demonstrated.” Dean Sessions-Founder and Author of the “Universal Model, A New Millennial Science“
None of us . . . knows enough. The learning process is an endless process. We must read, we must observe, we must assimilate, and we must ponder that to which we expose our minds. I believe in evolution, not organic evolution, as it is called, but in the evolution of the mind, the heart, and the soul of man. I believe in improvement. I believe in growth.‖ (Gordon B. Hinckley, Teachings of Gordon B. Hinckley, p. 298.)
For a free PDF of quotes from Prophets about Creation and Evolution, click the link below: Creation and Evolution A witness of Prophets
The UM Is For All Lovers Of Truth by Chauncey Riddle
I have just completed reading the first two of the three systems of the new UM project of Dean Sessions. I am greatly impressed and delighted by what I found. It was like seeing an exciting, powerful new movie that deals with some of my favorite topics and concerns. To specifics:
- Sessions is right on in pointing out that much of present day science is theory oriented rather than being fact oriented as it should be. For many scientists, theory is more important than law. Scientific laws are demonstrated by facts, but theories cannot be demonstrated by facts. There are always an infinite number of possible theoretical explanations for any finite set of facts. Theories can be eliminated by facts, but only if the persons involved in evaluating them will make the correct application: face the facts. When a theory is an article of faith, many people refuse to apply the pertinent facts which should cause them to abandon a particular theory. Sessions has called attention to specific facts and laws which should cause any honest person to reject the theories of organic evolution, the great age of fossils, the magma theory of the history of the earth, etc. How refreshing to see such candor in scientific thinking!
- Sessions is also correct in showing that technology is as important as scientific theorizing. Technology enabled the work of Galileo to establish the helio-centric theory of the solar system, much to the consternation of the self-appointed scientists of his day. Sessions has shown by technology how granite rock is actually formed, as well as other minerals. He has shown how fossils are formed, such as petrified wood. Diamonds are now produced by technology. All of these technical achievements create facts and laws which every honest scientist must recognize and apply to theories affected by them. Technology trumps scientific theory because technology demonstrates what is (facts), whereas scientific theory only muses on what might be. Theory in science is actually metaphysics, not physics. Only when substantiated by facts and laws do theories become acceptable, and are always subject to elimination if new facts and laws come forth to negate them. Sessions has done an admirable job of showing how some present theoretical darlings of some scientists must be rejected.
- Session’s discussions of hydrofountains, hypretherms, the Universal Flood, organic evolution, fossils, climate, history, anthropology, etc., are all refreshing and challenging. Reading this book is having one’s imagination stretched at every turn. Every serious reader who has an interest in knowing the truth will be delighted with the challenging ideas found here.
Will there be criticisms of this work? Most certainly. What form will they take?
- One will be ignoring this work and discouraging others from reading it. Just as the politicians in charge try to marginalize everyone who is not “politically correct,” so will influential members of the science community try to ignore and belittle this work. But every honest seeker after truth will relish the opportunity to think freshly about important scientific matters, in a refined paradigm of science, and with new facts and laws to ponder.
- Some critics will say that this work should be ignored or discounted because the author, Dean Sessions, is not a professional scientist and does not have the “necessary” academic background to propound such a work. This attitude is rubbish, of course. That is like saying someone cannot run fast because they are not part of an official Olympic Team. The proof of science is not in who says it but in the physical evidence brought to bear in evaluating our ideas about this physical world we live in. Sessions is right in pointing out that theory (which cannot be proved, but can be falsified) has become more important to many current scientists than are facts. The great example of this is the theory of organic evolution which is the darling of much of academia right now and which is completely unsupported by the facts, specifically the fact that there is no observable speciation in nature. That plus the inability to prove the immense time frame necessary for the theory spell the death-knell for the theory of organic evolution for every honest person. But evolution is a religion, a matter of faith for many persons, and they would rather give up their honesty than give up their favorite irrational article of faith.
- Some will say that Sessions has picked and chosen very carefully the quotations of other writers which he cites to support his case. But that is not a fault. Every person picks and chooses among potential citations, a necessity in the flood of writings about every topic. What is most remarkable and commendable is the breadth and depth of the scholarship which Sessions exhibits in his writing. He has searched the literature of many fields of endeavor with exciting and telling results. Most people know the literature only in their own field. Sessions has no primary field and delves into what others have said from all the fields he deals with to help his readers realize what is being said and not said in the areas of his interest. Be grateful he has been selective and brings to you a summary of what others are saying.
- Sessions will possibly be proved wrong about some assertions he has made in his work. This is almost inevitable for anyone doing serious thinking and writing. But the finding of such errors will not be an embarrassment for Sessions. He will laud such finding, because that will mean that the cause of truth will be advanced. His purpose is to bring truth and light to important matters, and if his work stimulates others to produce more truth and light, even unto showing his work needs to be amended, he will be grateful. He will be grateful because he writes not to give the final word but to further the ongoing human inquiry into the powerful ideas about the true nature of the universe that give us all more understanding and power.
I commend this work for all serious thinkers and lovers of truth. You will be challenged in reading the material. It is not “light” reading. But any effort will be well worth it.
Chauncey C. Riddle, Professor Emeritus of Philosophy, Brigham Young University, USA 10/22/2016
*A Sad Commentary about the Universal Model
Daily Universe Readers Forum April 4-10, 2017 http://newsnet.byu.edu/pdf/du20170404.pdf
BYU’s student newspaper, The Universe, printed a full-page advertisement on behalf of the “Firm Foundation Expo,” a 3-day expo that bills itself as “faithfully exploring LDS topics of our time.” In the advertisement, all of the 70+ speakers are portrayed as distinguished and as experts in some area or another.
One of those speakers is Dean W. Sessions, the author of the “Universal Model.” Mr. Sessions claims to have disproved several straightforward tenets of modern science, including the basic interior structure of the Earth (which he argues has a core of ice and liquid water) and the mass of the Earth (which he recalculates at about a third of what is known in order to fit this model). He will be speaking about his model on each day of the event.
We, members of BYU’s Department of Geological Sciences, cannot accept Mr. Sessions “Universal Model” as it runs contrary to multiple lines of empirical evidence and generations of scientific query. It would not pass expert peer review.
Students and the BYU community are reminded that organic evolution, anthropogenic climate change, radiometric dating and a 4.56 billion-year-old age of the Earth are all seriously taught on campus by professors, who are in good standing with the church, in fields directly relating to these subjects. Students may learn more about these subjects through a variety of courses offered by the Department of Geological Sciences as well as from other departments.
We, the undersigned, support the honest development of knowledge by way of the scientific method and as vetted through expert peer review. We are concerned that the presence of the aforementioned advertisement in The Universe may legitimize Dean Sessions’ “Universal Model” in the eyes of some within the community.
—Bart Kowallis, PhD, Associate Dean of CPMS; Ron Harris, PhD; Jeffrey Keith, PhD;Jani Radebaugh, PhD; Eric Christiansen, PhD; Carl Hoiland, PhD; Thomas Morris, PhD; Sam Hudson, PhD; Stephen Nelson, PhD; Geology master’s degree students:Kimberly Sowards, Colin Hale, Michael Jensen, William Meservy, TJ Slezak, Collin Jensen, Matthew Randall, Aaron Holmes, Braxton Spilker, Danielle Spencer, Rebecca Esplin, Hannah Checketts, Brian Packer, David Tomlinson, Kevin Stuart, Hanif Sulaeman, Han Deng, Joel Barker; Geology bachelor’s degree students: Torri Duncan, Jason Klimek, Brett Young, Austin Eells, Hanna Howell, Chelsea Samuelson”
It’s sad how many scholars feel they know more than most of us who are uneducated people. I feel the great and spacious building is having fun right now at our expense. May the Lord help them become humble and at least consider some of this incredible research.
The Ezra Taft Benson talk from 25 Oct 1966 at a BYU Devotional is a sobering reminder of evil people in the church with an agenda (revising church history by quoting the intellectuals and apostates and ignoring the prophets). Ezra Taft Benson said to avoid being deceived, look to the Prophet. Listen to his entire talk at https://speeches.byu.edu/talks/ezra-taft-benson/immediate-responsibility/
At the 32:07-33:02 mark, just before the above quote, President Ezra Taft Benson states the following.
“We all have stewardships for which we must account to the Lord. Unfortunately, some men who do not honor their stewardships may have an adverse effect on many people. Often the greater the man’s responsibility, the more good or evil he can accomplish. The Lord usually gives a man a long enough rope and sufficient time to determine whether that man wants to pull himself into the presence of God or drop off somewhere below. There are some regrettable things being said and done by some people in the church today. As President Clark so well warned, the ravening wolves are amongst us. From our own membership and they more than any others are clothed in sheep’s clothing because they wear the habiliments of the priesthood. We should be careful of them.”
