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Science and the Church of Jesus Christ/Pre-Adamites
This page is based on an answer to a question submitted to the FAIR web site, or a frequently asked question.
Question
I am preparing to teach a Sunday School lesson on the creation, and surely the students will bring up the evidence of creatures that looked a lot like man, who lived and made tools, painted paintings, etc., all before what could be the existence of Adam. How do we answer who they were? Are they like animals? We clearly have evidence that they have lived here on this planet.
Answer
There has been a great deal of controversy among Church members over the issue of pre-Adamites. Some general authorities accepted their existence, while others completely denied it. (The most famous disagreement was between Elders B.H. Roberts and Joseph Fielding Smith.)
Probably the best approach is the one taken by Dr. Hugh Nibley:
- Do not begrudge existence to creatures that looked like men long, long ago, nor deny them a place in God's affection or even a right to exaltation — for our scriptures allow them such. Nor am I overly concerned as to just when they might have lived, for their world is not our world. They have all gone away long before our people ever appeared. God assigned them their proper times and functions, as he has given me mine — a full-time job that admonishes me to remember his words to the overly eager Moses: "For mine own purpose have I made these things. Here is wisdom and it remaineth in me." (Moses 1:31.) It is Adam as my own parent who concerns me. When he walks onto the stage, then and only then the play begins.[1]
Endnotes
- [note] Hugh W. Nibley, "Before Adam," The Collected Works of Hugh Nibley, Volume 1: Old Testament and Related Studies (Deseret Book: 1986), pp. ??–?? *
Further reading
FAIR wiki articles
FAIR wiki articles
FAIR web site
- FAIR Topical Guide: Evolution
- FAIR Topical Guide: Science and Religion
- Trent D. Stephens, "Evolution and Latter-day Saint Theology: The Tree of Life and DNA," paper given at the 2003 FAIR Conference. FAIR link
External links
- Eyring-L FAQ: Evolution
- Michael R. Ash, "The Mormon Myth of Evil Evolution," Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 35 no. 4 (Winter 2002), 19–38. PDF link
- Richard F. Haglund, Jr., "Science and Religion: A Symbiosis," Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 8 no. 3–4 (Autumn/Winter 1973), 23–37.off-site
- Duane E. Jeffery [Jeffrey in original], "Seers, Savants and Evolution: The Uncomfortable Interface," Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 8 no. 3–4 (Autumn/Winter 1973), 41–69.off-site PDF link
- Edward L. Kimball, "A Dialogue with Henry Eyring," Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 8 no. 3–4 (Autumn/Winter 1973), 99–108.off-site
- Morris S. Petersen, "Do we know how the earth’s history as indicated from fossils fits with the earth’s history as the scriptures present it?," Ensign (September 1987): 27.off-site,off-site
- William Lee Stokes, "An Official Position," Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 12 (Winter 1979), 90–92.off-site
- Michael F. Whiting, "Lamarck, Giraffes, and the Sermon on the Mount (Review of Using the Book of Mormon to Combat Falsehoods in Organic Evolution by Clark A. Peterson)," FARMS Review of Books 5/1 (1993): 209–222. off-site
Printed material
- Richard E. Sherlock and Jeffrey E. Keller, "'We Can See No Advantage to a Continuation of the Discussion': The Roberts/Smith/Talmage Affair," Dialogue 13/3 (Fall 1980): 63–78. *
- Jeffrey E. Keller, "Discussion Continued: The Sequel to the Roberts/Smith/Talmage Affair," Dialogue 15/1 (Spring 1982): 79–98. *
- Michael R. Ash, "The Mormon Myth of Evil Evolution," Dialogue 35/4 (Winter 2002): 19–38. *