The Theory of Evolution as to the Origin of Man

We live in an age when academics, even some who teach it at Church schools, believe in evolutionary theory as to the origin of man.  Such nonsense misses the point that has been stressed so many times lately by general authorities concerning Heavenly Parents.  Heavenly Parents are the source of all of us as to our spirit creation.  They are also the Two who birthed Adam and Eve in this world prior to the Fall.  Here is the best response to such this idea of evolution by one of the great servants of the Lord.

President Boyd K. Packer:  “NO IDEA has been (1) more destructive of happiness, no philosophy has (2) produced more sorrow, more (3) heartbreak, more (4) suffering and (5) mischief, no idea has (6) contributed more to the erosion of the family than . . .guess what he would say (?)

Here’s his answer: “The idea that we are not the offspring of God, but only advanced animals.  There flows from that idea the not too subtle perception that we are compelled to yield to every carnal urge, are subject to physical but not to moral law….The man-from-animal theory has been passed about enough to be pronounced true on the basis of general acceptance.  Because it seems to offer logical explanation for some things, it is widely taught and generally accepted as the solution to the mystery of life.”  “The Fountain of Life;” The Things of the Soul, 105-117.

“Now in conclusion:  It is my conviction that to the degree the theory of evolution asserts that man is the product of an evolutionary process, the offspring of animals--it is false!  What application the evolutionary theory has to animals gives me no concern.  That is another question entirely, one to be pursued by science.  But remember [even then], the scriptures speak of the spirit in animals and other living things, and of each multiplying after its own kind….

(D&C 77:2; 2 Ne. 2:22; Moses 3:9; Abr. 4:11-12, 24).

I am sorry to say, the so-called theistic evolution, the theory that God used an evolutionary process to prepare a physical body for the spirit of man, is equally false.  I say I am sorry because I know it is a view commonly held by good and thoughtful people who search for an acceptable resolution to an apparent conflict between the theory of evolution and the doctrines of the gospel.  I give six reasons for my conviction:

Reasons for my conviction

1. The revelations from God. . .If the theory of evolution applies to man, there was no Fall and therefore no need for an atonement, nor a gospel of redemption, nor a redeemer.  (This is a very important point.  If there was no Fall, the whole plan of salvation falls apart.  There is no need for Jesus Christ in such a theory.)

2. An understanding of the sealing authority with its binding of the generations into eternal families cannot admit to ancestral blood lines to beasts.  Let me repeat:  An understanding of the sealing authority with its binding of the generations into eternal families cannot admit to ancestral blood lines to beasts.  That should be reason enough for any endowed and sealed Latter-day Saint!  (This is probably the simplest yet most profound point of his six reasons.)

3. Statements of the prophets and apostles. 

            When the First Presidency speaks, we can safely accept their word (D&C 124:45-46.) quotes from two First Presidency statements.  (I didn’t reference the talk by the First Presidency – too long to include here.)

4. Moral laws of force and validity.  If the laws of genetics alone governed the reproduction             and adaptation of living things, then the theory of evolution might convincingly apply to man.  But they do not.  There are moral laws of force and validity which govern that spiritual part of man, the power to reason, the conscience, which animals do not possess. Can you not see how careful, how clear, the adversary is?  He need not even challenge the existence of moral laws; simply convince us that, as animals, we are not accountable and therefore exempt from them.  To regard myself as but an animal would cost me my agency, my accountability; I would forfeit justice, mercy, love, faith, the Atonement--all that endures beyond mortality-values more dear than life itself.  I will not do it!

5. The word beauty.  Beauty itself cannot be imagined as having come by accident.  The precision, harmony, and symmetry of the physical universe and the compelling interrelationship of natural laws with the spirit and emotion of mankind attest to an order directed by divine intelligence.  Those reasons leave questions yet unanswered.  How old is the earth?  I do not know!  But I do know that matter is eternal (D&C 93:33).  How long a time has man been upon the earth?  I do not know!  But I do know that man did not evolve from animals.

6. The Light.  I said I would give six reasons for my conviction.  I listed only five.  The sixth is personal revelation.  Most of you know how to receive revelation. "Study it out in your mind, then...ask" (D&C 9:8.)

Here we are, spirit children of God, clothed in flesh, sojourning in mortality for a season.  Know that your body is the instrument of your mind, and the foundation of your character.  Do not mortgage your soul for unproved theories; ask, simply ask!  I have asked, but not how man was created; I have asked if the scriptures are true.  And I have a witness and a testimony, and I give it unto you:  That Jesus is The Christ, the Son of God; that he is our Redeemer and our Messiah; that there was the fall of man; and that he is our Mediator and our Redeemer; that he wrought the Atonement; that he is our Lord.  I know him.  I bear to you a witness of him, a special witness of him.”  (‘The Law and the Light,’ The Book of Mormon:  Jacob Through Words of Mormon, To Learn with Joy, (Religious Study Series, 1988, Vol. 4:21-26.)