Adam and Evolution

The LDS Church has as a core doctrine that all mankind are spirit children of our Heavenly Father. It is absolutely essential to our religion that men understand our relationship to God. Men, regardless of race, bond or free, are never to be compared to animals. Men are not just the highest animal creation. Like Christ, men are the literal spiritual offspring of God. Like Christ we were with God in the beginning and like Christ, who is the Firstborn, men are considered gods and children of god.

Rom 8:29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.
Acts 17:29 Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man’s device.
Ps 82:6 I have said, Ye are gods; and all of you are children of the most High.

Now, I have made a declaration that men are not to be compared to animals. However, science via evolution has been making these comparisons not long after this theory was first conceived. However, when Darwin first detailed evolution in his "Origin of the Species", the theory did not involve man. However, I am trained in the biological and physical sciences, and I am not ignorant of a few facts. First, animals have an almost miraculous capacity to adapt to their environment. Darwin correctly observed adaptation with regard to finch beak size in the Galapagos. The law of survival of the fittest is a true concept. The individual with the highest reproductive fitness will pass on their genes. Interesting concept here is that reproductive fitness benifits the individual, it doesn't necessarily benefit a population. Genetic variation is what benefits a population and may allow a select minority to resist or adapt to a disease or new environmental stress. These survivors may not be the considered the most reproductively fit during times of plenty, but when it comes to reproduction, nothing beats survival.

What science has not definitively shown is that while animals can adapt to a variety of environmental factors, one kind of animal has never been observed changing into another type of animal. Science has seen a squirrel adapt to living in trees and another adapt to living on the ground even until they reach the point of reproductive isolation. While reproductive isolation determines the creation of a new species, the new species in these cases is not another type of animal. In a, nother example, geneticists have determined that in some cases a single gene can result in the formation of wings in an insect or no wings. Obviously, the presence of wings vs. no wings makes a huge difference. However, also remember that while one gene can turn wings on or off, it takes many more genes for any species to form wings even if one or another genes disrupt the whole process.

Some may be surprised to discover that the LDS church does not have an official doctrine with regard to evolution itself. While the LDS Church does not have an official policy for or against animal evolution and there has been some debate over whether death in other animals existed prior to Adam, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints does maintain that man is not part of the evolutionary process. LDS would absolutely reject the notion that man are "evolved from pond scum" or that mankind are just a "pack of neurons." How God formed the body of Adam from the dust of the Earth, has not been revealed specifically.

"Diversity of opinion does not necessitate intolerance of spirit, nor should it embitter or set rational beings against each other. ... Our religion is not hostile to real science. That which is demonstrated, we accept with joy; but vain philosophy, human theory and mere speculations of men, we do not accept nor do we adopt anything contrary to divine revelation or to good common sense."

This is an interesting example of why sometimes God does not reveal everything to us. BH Roberts was one of the most outspoken proponents in favor of death before Adam. While most LDS prophets and apostles have commented that they were of the opinion that the Fall of Adam brought death into the world, the LDS Church came to the conclusion the answer to this issue was not of eternal significance to the salvation of man, and by not taking sides, this avoided contention and made sufficient room in the LDS tent for religious scientists that have faith in God and believe that science and religion can harmonize.

I was watching PBS the other day and a NOVA-like show was visiting an institute of human evolution which had numerous remains of Neanderthal and Cro-Magnon (not called that any more). It is currently believed as far as I can tell that scientists believe that Neanderthals and Early Man (Cro-Magnon), lived in Europe at the same time but didn't mix. And then by some unexplained mystery Neanderthals who are believed to have lived on the Earth as early as 600,000 bc died out after Cro-Magnon moved in about 30,000 bc.

However, I think the Bible tells us exactly what really happened. John in Revelation was shown 4 beasts who stood around the throne of God. Joseph Smith asked God if these 4 beasts represented 4 individuals or classes. Joseph Smith was told that they represented both individuals and classes. The interesting thing about these 4 magnificent beasts full of eyes and wings (knowledge and power) is that one of the 4 had the face of a man. The significance of this is that this beast with the face of a man, was not a man. Could this beast have represented the Neanderthal?

Thinking along these lines, if Neanderthal and Human's lived together, did Humans and Neanderthal ever mix? Science says no, but the Genesis story may suggest they did. Genesis tells a bazaar tale of the sons of god intermixing with the daughters of man. The result of this forbidden mixing were offspring referred to as the Giants. Could the 6-7 ft Cro-Magnon remains represent the Giants spoken of in the Bible? If Cro-Magnon are the Giants, the Bible tells us that most if not all did not survive the global flood (see Gen 6:4, Deut 2:20-21).