What Do Mormons Believe About The Genesis Creation Story?

[Holly3278]

I was just wondering if Mormons have an official position on the creation story of Genesis. Is theistic evolution (God guided evolution) an acceptable belief in the LDS church? Do Mormons believe that God literally created the universe in 6 24 hour days and rested on the 7th 24 hour day? Is there an official position on the creation story in the LDS church?

[Traveler]

I was just wondering if Mormons have an official position on the creation story of Genesis. Is theistic evolution (God guided evolution) an acceptable belief in the LDS church? Do Mormons believe that God literally created the universe in 6 24 hour days and rested on the 7th 24 hour day? Is there an official position on the creation story in the LDS church?
[/b]

LDS are encouraged to read the scriptures - including Genesis and the creation. I am a scientist and member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I believe that evolution is a means of creation. I believe every human concieved begins as a zygote and evolves into a human and that all humans are created by that same process - including Adam. I believe the universe is between 12 and 15 billion years old.

I express my opinion as my opinion among fellow members and I have never been told that I cannot express my opinion or that it is in conflict with offical doctrine. But I have also never thought that my opinion was the offical doctrine or can be expressed as official doctrine. It is my understanding that it is the offical doctrine of the LDS that many details of the creation are not included in the Genessis story of creation - when G-d provides the details then such details will become offical doctrine.

The Traveler

[Holly3278]

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I was just wondering if Mormons have an official position on the creation story of Genesis. Is theistic evolution (God guided evolution) an acceptable belief in the LDS church? Do Mormons believe that God literally created the universe in 6 24 hour days and rested on the 7th 24 hour day? Is there an official position on the creation story in the LDS church?
[/b]

LDS are encouraged to read the scriptures - including Genesis and the creation. I am a scientist and member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I believe that evolution is a means of creation. I believe every human concieved begins as a zygote and evolves into a human and that all humans are created by that same process - including Adam. I believe the universe is between 12 and 15 billion years old.

I express my opinion as my opinion among fellow members and I have never been told that I cannot express my opinion or that it is in conflict with offical doctrine. But I have also never thought that my opinion was the offical doctrine or can be expressed as official doctrine. It is my understanding that it is the offical doctrine of the LDS that many details of the creation are not included in the Genessis story of creation - when G-d provides the details then such details will become offical doctrine.

The Traveler [/b][/quote]

Ah okay thanks.

[Snow]

I was just wondering if Mormons have an official position on the creation story of Genesis. Is theistic evolution (God guided evolution) an acceptable belief in the LDS church? Do Mormons believe that God literally created the universe in 6 24 hour days and rested on the 7th 24 hour day? Is there an official position on the creation story in the LDS church?
[/b]

Which creation story are you talking about specifically. The bible has two conflicting versions.

[insertwittynamehere]

Paladin,
Just as Traveler, I am a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and we do believe the Bible to be the word of God as far as it is translated correctly as stated in the eighth article of faith. Just like Traveler, dont quote The Church on this one but this is one of my person thoughts on the topic. We know from the Pearl of Great Price in the Book of Abraham that 1,000 years in our time is a day to the Lord. Well, like I said, these have been my personal thoughts on the topic.. if it took the Lord 7 days to create everything.. if we convert that into our time.. that could possibly make it 7,000 years.. possibly enough time for some form of evolution. I'm not saying I believe in any specific type of evolution or that I believe in the evolutionary theory because I know that The Lords hand is behind EVERY scientific occurence. Or, on the contrary, every scientific occurence happens BECAUSE of The Lord. BUt, that is a thought that has occured to me.
I dont really know anything so like I said.. I'm just sharing lowly thoughts.. dont quote me and please dont argue me... they really are just lowly thoughts in this case.

--insert

[Dr T]

6 days to create 1 day to rest. Do you all think he was tired or was it symbolic?

[applecore]

I was just wondering if Mormons have an official position on the creation story of Genesis. Is theistic evolution (God guided evolution) an acceptable belief in the LDS church? Do Mormons believe that God literally created the universe in 6 24 hour days and rested on the 7th 24 hour day? Is there an official position on the creation story in the LDS church?
[/b]

I'm not Mormon, RLDS but I can try to answer that. In Genesis the first chapter is speaking of one creation and in chapter two it is speaking of another. Chapter one is describing the spiritual creation. Chapter two is describing the physical creation. Genesis 2:4,5 These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens. And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew: for the Lord God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, [b]and there was not a man to till the ground.[/b]
God had already created everything but not a man to till the ground? We don't know the process of the physical creation, we're not given that information. We do know He created all things through His only Begotten Son Jesus. Confusion over creation has tripped up many a christain and caused them to loose faith in their faith.

[prisonchaplain]

Let me add to Paladin's question. Would not the beliefs surrounding premortal existence, as well as God's progression to perfected deity, lend themselves to favor theistic evolution vs. the idea that we are living in the 5767th year of this world's creation (as my Chabad-Lubavitch calender informs me)?

I mention this because many non-religious folk in my community assume that LDS parents/school board members will join creationist evangelicals in trying to infiltrate public school curriculum with "religious propaganda." My response was that I thought LDS theology actually lended itself to viewing evolution favorably. Comments?

[Traveler]

Let me add to Paladin's question. Would not the beliefs surrounding premortal existence, as well as God's progression to perfected deity, lend themselves to favor theistic evolution vs. the idea that we are living in the 5767th year of this world's creation (as my Chabad-Lubavitch calender informs me)?

I mention this because many non-religious folk in my community assume that LDS parents/school board members will join creationist evangelicals in trying to infiltrate public school curriculum with "religious propaganda." My response was that I thought LDS theology actually lended itself to viewing evolution favorably. Comments?
[/b]

I believe evolution should be taught as scientific truth. I do have a problem with teaching evolution as random chance. I find no real evidence that random chance can exist. In a complex system such as evolving life in a echo system like earth it is over symplistic to assume randomness. The chaos theory math model indicates that although the permatations of many parameters aproaches orders of magnitudes of complexity does not mean that they are random - just that we have difficulity in tracking all contributing parameters is no reason to believe there are not relationships and therefore randomness.

The problem in my mind is that "Intellligent Design" has become just another form of creationist theory attempting to explain a 6,000 year old earth and that just does not fit the evidence. It is an effort the try to make the evidence fit a theory.

I personally have no problem in teaching science in schools. I also believe religion should also be taught in schools as a bassis for understanding culture and history. We really cannot understand the evolution of laws without understanding the effects of religion on society.

And you know me - math should be taught by experts in math not by some nut case that objects to math. Likewise religion should be taught by devout members of the religion being studied and not some nut case that objects to religion. I do not think believing in religion qualifies someone for science any more than believing in science qualifies someone to teach religion.

The Traveler

[Maureen]

I personally have no problem in teaching science in schools. I also believe religion should also be taught in schools as a bassis for understanding culture and history. We really cannot understand the evolution of laws without understanding the effects of religion on society.[/b]

Agreed, I would have loved that when I was in school.

M.