One of the most hotly debated subjects in Christian theology is about Biblical interpretation. Is the Bible actually inerrant or merely authoritative? One point of view holds that the Bible is the inerrant word of God, meaning the words of the Bible came directly from God, essentially using the writers as scribes. The other point of view holds that the Bible is merely authoritative, meaning that it reflects the words of men, guided by divine inspiration.
To take the public's pulse on this and other religious issues, Gallup conducted their annual Values and Beliefs poll from May 8-11, 2014. A sample of 518 U.S. adults provided these responses:
-- 28 percent believe the Bible is the actual word of God and is to be taken literally, word for word. This means they consider the Bible to be "inerrant"; some use the phrase "God-breathed". But note that most of these people probably eat shellfish and pork, and virtually none of them practice animal sacrifice or stone adulteresses.
-- 47 percent believe the Bible is the inspired word of God, but that not everything in it should be taken literally. While they acknowledge the authenticity of the Bible, they do not consider it "inerrant" because it was recorded by imperfect human beings using imperfect human syntax. Imperfection cannot produce perfection. This come closest to the doctrinal position expressed by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which states in the Eighth Article of Faith, "We believe the Bible to be the word of God as far as it is translated correctly..." So 47 percent of respondents effectively embrace the LDS belief about the authenticity of the Bible.
-- 21 percent believe the Bible is an ancient book of fables, legends, history, and moral precepts recorded by man.
However, to help clarify where the non-literal believers stand on God's role in the Bible, Gallup asked 510 respondents in a second poll a different question that offered a fourth choice: saying the Bible is the actual word of God, but with multiple interpretations possible. Here's the split:
-- 28 percent believe the Bible is the inspired word of God, but that not everything in it should be taken literally.
-- 28 percent believe the Bible is the actual word of God, but multiple interpretations are possible.
Only 22 percent still thought the Bible should be taken word for word, and only 18 percent still considered it a book of fables.
Of course, the LDS Church is the only Christian church (other than its derivatives) that also accepts the Book of Mormon as the authoritative word of God. It seems rather odd that, 184 years after the initial publication of the Book of Mormon, not a single known prominent pastor, priest, or preacher has accepted and taught the Book of Mormon alongside the Bible to his flock. One is not actually required to join the LDS Church to accept the Book of Mormon; one merely has to have an open mind and consider the fact that our Heavenly Father always desires to communicate with us and would not be so cruel as to slam the windows of heaven shut for all eternity in 100 A.D.
On June 2nd, Gallup released the results of another poll taken in their Values and Beliefs survey. A total of 1,028 U.S. adults sounded off on creationism:
-- 42 percent believe that God created humans in present form. This come closest to the doctrinal position expressed by the LDS Church, but we do not believe the world was created in seven calendar days.
-- 31 percent believe that humans evolved from other life forms, but that God guided the process.
-- 19 percent believe that humans evolved from other life forms, and God was not involved.
It seems like many people already accept aspects of Mormon doctrine without actively realizing it.
Showing posts with label creation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label creation. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 4, 2014
Sunday, March 16, 2014
Science Catching Up With Scripture: Alberta Professor Graham Pearson Thinks Brown Diamond May Reveal Fountains Of The Great Deep Which Contributed To The Great Flood
Much of Christianity, including Mormonism, holds that the Great Flood of Noah's day was a worldwide event covering even the tops of the highest mountains. The magnitude of the flood resulted not only from the "windows of heaven" dispensing copious rainfall, but also from the "fountains of the great deep" breaking up. The applicable verse from Genesis 7:11-12:
Many have speculated that the aquifers beneath the surface of the earth constituted the "great deep". But now a team of scientists from the University of Alberta led by Professor Graham Pearson have gone far beyond this theory. During an excavation in the Juina area of Mato Grosso, Brazil, Pearson discovered a seemingly worthless brown diamond which contains a sample of ringwoodite, a stone formed under extreme pressure inside the Earth’s mantle. And this sample of ringwoodite was found to consist of 1.5 percent water. This finding suggests to Pearson and his team that there could be an ocean’s worth of water more than 300 miles under the Earth’s surface that equals the known water content across the entire planet. A preview of the full report is published in Issue 507 of Nature; read more about Professor Pearson's background HERE.
From the Edmonton Journal:
Professor Pearson acknowledges that the finding, the first of its kind, does not flatly settle the water theory, which remains highly controversial. But it could explain where all the additional water necessary to flood the entire earth up to an altitude of 30,000 feet could have come from. Since Pearson alludes to the possibility that the tectonic plates may be thinned and corroded by the presence of water, this suggests that the breach of the great deep's "fountains" may have been triggered by a huge undersea earthquake, although Genesis 7:11-12 does not suggest that an earthquake preceded the Great Flood. But then again, if there was such an earthquake, it may not have been felt at Noah's location. Pearson is not certain if this trapped water is ocean water sucked downward several hundred million years ago as tectonic plates shifted in a process called subduction, or if it is could be primordial water trapped as the Earth formed 4.5 billion years ago. The Guardian provides an illustration showing exactly where this water may be; another illustration was published by Geekosystem.
Note: Mormon doctrine does NOT hold that the earth was created in six 24-hour days. Most Mormons believe the "days" are actually six creation periods or epochs, the precise length of which has not been revealed. FAIR Mormon discusses some prevailing schools of thought in the LDS community.
Meanwhile, another scientist cautiously endorses Professor Pearson's theory. University of Bayreuth geochemist Hans Keppler cautions that although no firm conclusions can be made based on the single ringwoodite sample, he accepts the basic notion that the most likely scenario does in fact point to large reservoirs of water trapped deep underground.
I just love it when science catches up to scripture. Why must we be bullied into choosing between faith and science? Doesn't the inspiration for both come from the Same Source?
11 In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened.
12 And the rain was upon the earth forty days and forty nights.
Many have speculated that the aquifers beneath the surface of the earth constituted the "great deep". But now a team of scientists from the University of Alberta led by Professor Graham Pearson have gone far beyond this theory. During an excavation in the Juina area of Mato Grosso, Brazil, Pearson discovered a seemingly worthless brown diamond which contains a sample of ringwoodite, a stone formed under extreme pressure inside the Earth’s mantle. And this sample of ringwoodite was found to consist of 1.5 percent water. This finding suggests to Pearson and his team that there could be an ocean’s worth of water more than 300 miles under the Earth’s surface that equals the known water content across the entire planet. A preview of the full report is published in Issue 507 of Nature; read more about Professor Pearson's background HERE.
From the Edmonton Journal:
“What you can definitely say from our finding is that there are oases of water, wet spots, in the deep Earth. Now, if you extrapolate it to the whole of this area we call the transition zone, it means there might be the same mass of water as what’s held in all of the world’s oceans.”
Professor Pearson acknowledges that the finding, the first of its kind, does not flatly settle the water theory, which remains highly controversial. But it could explain where all the additional water necessary to flood the entire earth up to an altitude of 30,000 feet could have come from. Since Pearson alludes to the possibility that the tectonic plates may be thinned and corroded by the presence of water, this suggests that the breach of the great deep's "fountains" may have been triggered by a huge undersea earthquake, although Genesis 7:11-12 does not suggest that an earthquake preceded the Great Flood. But then again, if there was such an earthquake, it may not have been felt at Noah's location. Pearson is not certain if this trapped water is ocean water sucked downward several hundred million years ago as tectonic plates shifted in a process called subduction, or if it is could be primordial water trapped as the Earth formed 4.5 billion years ago. The Guardian provides an illustration showing exactly where this water may be; another illustration was published by Geekosystem.
Note: Mormon doctrine does NOT hold that the earth was created in six 24-hour days. Most Mormons believe the "days" are actually six creation periods or epochs, the precise length of which has not been revealed. FAIR Mormon discusses some prevailing schools of thought in the LDS community.
Meanwhile, another scientist cautiously endorses Professor Pearson's theory. University of Bayreuth geochemist Hans Keppler cautions that although no firm conclusions can be made based on the single ringwoodite sample, he accepts the basic notion that the most likely scenario does in fact point to large reservoirs of water trapped deep underground.
I just love it when science catches up to scripture. Why must we be bullied into choosing between faith and science? Doesn't the inspiration for both come from the Same Source?
Saturday, October 31, 2009
The Latter-Day Saints Perspective On The Creation And Eternal Progression Of Mankind, According To Dr. Eric Skousen's "Earth In The Beginning"
The purpose of this post is to provide an abbreviated explanation of the doctrine of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints regarding the eternal progression of mankind. In short, to provide answers on what we believe regarding the three important questions: Where we came from, why we are here, and where we can go. In some cases, actual doctrine is seasoned with informed speculation by educated Mormons; the speculation is OK as long as it merely supplements existing doctrine rather than contradicting it.
One difficulty lies in the ambiguity and the brevity of the account of the Creation. We only have the accounts put forth in the Old Testament (Genesis) and the Pearl of Great Price (Abraham) to draw from. On the surface, it appears that the two accounts are redundant. But on page 26 of the 1999 edition of his book "Earth In The Beginning", Dr. Eric Skousen attempts to clarify the redundancy. He describes the creation in terms of three epochs:
-- The First Epoch: The spirit creation, or the creation of the spirit earth and its embellishment with spirit life forms, including the spirit family of our Heavenly Father (that's us, folks). This is described in Genesis Chapter 1.
-- The Second Epoch: The creation of the physical earth and its preparation to sustain modern life forms. This is described in Abraham Chapter 4 in the Pearl of Great Price; it is NOT described in Genesis.
-- The Third Epoch: The arrival of modern life forms on the newly-created physical earth, including Adam and Eve. During this epoch, all life on earth is sanctified and not initially subject to death. The subsequent Fall of Adam and Eve introduced death to the earth. This is described in Genesis Chapter 2.
But how did it all begin? In summary, we began as organized intelligences, were encountered by a master creator (our Heavenly Father, known as Elohim) who offered us the opportunity to be organized, tested, and tabernacled. We accepted, and those of us who proved most capable during this initial testing were tabernacled in spirit after the image of God. After reaching maximum progress within a spirit tabernacle, we were then offered the opportunity to take the next step by coming to a mortal world where sin and opposition exist to take on a mortal tabernacle. After we die and leave our mortal tabernacles behind, depending upon our progress on earth, we will then be resurrected where spirit and mortal tabernacles will be eternally reunited, and assigned to one of four levels of glory or kingdoms.
One difficulty lies in the ambiguity and the brevity of the account of the Creation. We only have the accounts put forth in the Old Testament (Genesis) and the Pearl of Great Price (Abraham) to draw from. On the surface, it appears that the two accounts are redundant. But on page 26 of the 1999 edition of his book "Earth In The Beginning", Dr. Eric Skousen attempts to clarify the redundancy. He describes the creation in terms of three epochs:
-- The First Epoch: The spirit creation, or the creation of the spirit earth and its embellishment with spirit life forms, including the spirit family of our Heavenly Father (that's us, folks). This is described in Genesis Chapter 1.
-- The Second Epoch: The creation of the physical earth and its preparation to sustain modern life forms. This is described in Abraham Chapter 4 in the Pearl of Great Price; it is NOT described in Genesis.
-- The Third Epoch: The arrival of modern life forms on the newly-created physical earth, including Adam and Eve. During this epoch, all life on earth is sanctified and not initially subject to death. The subsequent Fall of Adam and Eve introduced death to the earth. This is described in Genesis Chapter 2.
But how did it all begin? In summary, we began as organized intelligences, were encountered by a master creator (our Heavenly Father, known as Elohim) who offered us the opportunity to be organized, tested, and tabernacled. We accepted, and those of us who proved most capable during this initial testing were tabernacled in spirit after the image of God. After reaching maximum progress within a spirit tabernacle, we were then offered the opportunity to take the next step by coming to a mortal world where sin and opposition exist to take on a mortal tabernacle. After we die and leave our mortal tabernacles behind, depending upon our progress on earth, we will then be resurrected where spirit and mortal tabernacles will be eternally reunited, and assigned to one of four levels of glory or kingdoms.
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