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| ==Criticism==
| | < <small>[[Main Page|<i>'''Back to FAIR Answers Index'''</i>]]</small> |
| *Critics claim that Mormons believe that if there is a conflict between science and religion, that the science is incorrect.
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| *Critics claim that Mormonism reserves the right to identify scientific truth.
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| ===Source(s) of the criticism===
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| *{{AntiBook:Southerton:Losing|pages=135–136}}
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| ==Response==
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| Secular critics charge that Mormonism and science are incompatible. In fact, Dr. Simon Southerton, in his book [[Losing a Lost Tribe: Native Americans, DNA, and the Mormon Church|''Losing a Lost Tribe: Native Americans, DNA, and the Mormon Church'']] devotes a full 66 pages to a section titled "The Troubled Interface between Mormonism and Science." Critics point out that elements found in the scriptures are incompatible with current scientific beliefs.
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| Issues of a perceived incompatibility between science and religion are hardly unique to Mormonism: These issues are shared by all other Christian denominations. The result of a failure to resolve scientific and religious contradictions in one's mind can bring into doubt one's very belief that there is a God. Complicating the issue for Latter-day Saint is the fact that living prophets have sometimes expressed their own views on scientific matters, thus causing some to doubt whether or not they could truly be prophets.
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| ===Faith versus knowledge===
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| It is important to keep in mind the difference in purpose between science and the Gospel. The purpose of science is to examine the characteristics of the world around us in order to more fully understand it. A main purpose of Gospel is to teach us to develop faith. Unfortunately, the acquisition of scientific knowledge is sometimes perceived to destroy faith. The purpose of faith is to help us understand spiritual things, just as science helps us to understand physical things.
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| The exercise of faith sometimes seems to require a direct contradiction of what we "know" to to physically be true. C. Terry Warner, a professor of philosophy at Brigham Young University, expressed this issue well when he said:
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| :Because they think of science as objectively testing its theories against evidence and because they suppose that knowledge and faith are somehow opposites, they regard faith as an attitude of clinging to theological beliefs in spite of any evidence which might be found: an attitude of closing one’s eyes to and stubbornly refusing to be swayed by the facts. Keep in mind that it is a misconception of science and knowledge that I am challenging, not science and knowledge themselves.{{ref|warner1}}
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| Faith sometimes allows to to perform tasks that are beyond the scientific knowledge of our time.
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| ===Specific scientific issues which concern Latter-day Saints===
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| ====Biodiversity versus the flood of Noah====
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| {{MainArticle|wikilink=[[Global or local Flood]]}}
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| Common questions:
| | While doctrine is often the main focus of the Church of Latter-Day Saints, sometimes questions concerning how science affects and applies to the gospel arise. Below are links to multiple topics that address science in application to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. |
| *Why is there is [[Global or local Flood|no scientific evidence of a worldwide flood]]?
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| *How can the scriptures and prophets teach of a worldwide flood, when this contradicts the evidence?
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| *The biodiversity of plants and animals on the earth could not have occurred within the span a few thousand years. Even BYU professors teach this. How do they maintain their belief in God?
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| *Did the continents separate during the flood of Noah? The scriptures imply that they did. How do we reconcile this to scientific fact?
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| *Didn't Orson Pratt teach the the Flood was the baptism of the Earth?
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| ====The story of the creation and the age of the Earth====
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| Common questions:
| | <i><b> Approaching Science </i></b> |
| *Do Mormons believe that the Earth only 6000 years old? | | * [[:Mormonism and science/Determining truth]] |
| | * [[:Mormonism and science/Latter-day Saint approaches]] |
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| ====Dinosaurs====
| | <i><b> Science Concerns and Topics </i></b> |
| {{MainArticle|wikilink=[[Dinosaurs]]}}
| | * [[:Mormonism and science/Latter-day Saint attitude toward]] |
| | * [[:Mormonism and science/Creation and related issues]] |
| | * [[:Book of Mormon/Archaeology]] |
| | * [[:Book of Mormon/DNA evidence]] |
| | * [[:Mormonism and science/Latter-day Saint attitude toward]] |
| | * [[:Mormonism and science/Nature of Flood]] |
| | * [[:Intelligent life on other worlds]] |
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| Common questions:
| | {{Critical sources box:Mormonism and science/CriticalSources}} |
| *How do dinosaurs fit into Gods plan?
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| ====Evolution and the origin of Man====
| | [[de:Mormonismus und Wissenschaft]] |
| {{MainArticle|wikilink=[[Evolution]]}}
| | [[es:El Mormonismo y la ciencia]] |
| | | [[pt:Mormonismo e Ciências]] |
| Common questions:
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| *How does the Church reconcile the theory of evolution with the story of Adam?
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| *How did the diversity of humanity occur within the short span of 6000 years?
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| *Were there people other than Adam on the earth before the Fall?
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| ====Archaeology and the Book of Mormon====
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| {{MainArticle|wikilink=[[Book of Mormon archaeology]]}}
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| ====Predestination====
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| {{MainArticle|wikilink=[[Free will and science]]}}
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| ===Burning in the bosom===
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| {{MainArticle|wikilink=[[Burning in the bosom]]}}
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| Questions:
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| *Isn't the "burning in the bosom" simply the result of an electro-chemical process that occurs in the brain?
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| ===Statements made by past prophets regarding science===
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| {{MainArticle|wikilink=[[Changing doctrine]]}}
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| *Didn't Brigham Young preach that the [[Brigham Young and moonmen|sun and the moon were inhabited]]?
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| ===Genetics===
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| {{MainArticle|wikilink=[[Book of Mormon and DNA evidence]]}}
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| ==Conclusion==
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| {{nw}}
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| ==Endnotes==
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| #{{note|warner1}}{{Newera1 | author=C. Terry Warner | article=An Open Letter to Students: On Having Faith and Thinking for Yourself|date=Nov. 1971|start=14|}}
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| ==Further reading==
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| *Henry Eyring, ''Reflections of a Scientist'', (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1983)
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| ===FAIR wiki articles===
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| {{ScienceWiki}}
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| ===FAIR web site===
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| *FAIR Topical Guide:
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| ===External links===
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| ===Printed material===
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