The Bible/Science

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Mormonism, science and the Bible

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• Biblical archaeology compared to the Book of Mormon
• Mormonism and the reconciliation of the Flood of Noah with scripture and Church teachings
• The Mormon view of the creation of the earth

Biblical archaeology compared to the Book of Mormon

Jump to details:

• Question: What criticisms are raised with regard to Book of Mormon archaeology compared to that of the Bible?
• Question: What archaeological evidence might be considered the minimal irrefutable proof needed to convince a non-believing world of the authenticity of the Nephite scripture?
• Question: How would an archaeologist distinguish a Christian's pot from that of a non-Christian?
• Question: What do we find when we turn to the records of the ancient (i.e. before A.D. 400) Americas?
• Question: How would Book of Mormon archaeology compare to that of the Bible?
• Question: What do we find in Mesoamerican archaeology with respect to place names, such as city names?
• Question: How does archaeology in the Old World compare to the first chapters in the Book of Mormon?
• Question: How does archaeology in the New World fit with the Book of Mormon?
• Question: Did Dee F. Green say that there is no such thing as Book of Mormon archaeology?
• Question: Should there be archaeological evidence for the Book of Mormon?
• Question: Does the Smithsonian Institution send out a letter regarding the use of the Book of Mormon as a guide for archaeological research?

The Flood

Jump to details:

• Question: Does the Church teach that the flood was a global event?
• What is genre?
• What is "concordism"?
• What is the genre of the flood story?
• What else can ancient near eastern culture teach us about the flood story?
• Does the New Testament tell us anything that can help?
• Question: Doesn't the Bible say that the continents were divided immediately after the Flood?

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Articles about Bible

Latter-day Saints and the Bible	The Bible as the word of God The 8th Article of Faith The King James Version The Joseph Smith Translation of the Bible
Reliability of the Bible	Biblical inerrancy Textual variants in the Bible Textual criticism of the Bible Doctrinal completeness of the Bible The documentary hypothesis
Understanding the Bible	The Creation The Flood Understanding biblical numbers and stories Authorship of New Testament books Pauline teachings Scriptural interpretations Old Testament practices Violence in the scriptures
The Bible and the Book of Mormon	Bible passages in the Book of Mormon The New Testament and the Book of Mormon KJV italicized text in the Book of Mormon KJV translation errors in the Book of Mormon Joseph Smith Translation and the Book of Mormon The Apocrypha and the Book of Mormon Isaiah and the Book of Mormon The documentary hypothesis and the Book of Mormon

The Bible/Science

The Mormon view of "Creatio ex nihilo"

Jump to details:

• 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

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

Jump to details:

• 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?

Mormonism and the theory of evolution

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

Belief in a literal Adam and Eve

Jump to details:

• 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?

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

Jump to details:

• 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"

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 details:

• 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?