Mormon Cosmogony: Scientific and Scriptural Creation Accounts

UES Gospel Study Group Brent J. Belnap

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OUR PLACE IN THE UNIVERSE

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The cosmos is a gigantic fly-wheel making 10,000 revolutions a minute. Man is a sick fly taking a dizzy ride on it. Religion is the theory that the wheel was designed and set spinning to give him a ride. H. L. Mencken, 20th Century social critic and freethinker

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LATTER-DAY COSMOLOGY AND COSMOGONY

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And worlds without number have I created; and I also created them for mine own purpose; and by the Son I created them, which is mine Only Begotten. . . . For behold, there are many worlds that have passed away by the word of my power. And there are many that now stand, and in-numerable are they unto man; but all things are numbered unto me, for they are mine and I know them. . . . The heavens, they are many, and they cannot be numbered unto man; but they are numbered unto me, for they are mine. And as one earth shall pass away, and the heavens thereof even so shall another come; and there is no end to my works, neither to my words. For behold, this is my work and my gloryto bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.

Moses 1:33, 35, 37-39

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Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear. Hebrews 11:3

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Faith, then, is the first great governing principle which has power, dominion, and authority over all things: by it they exist, by it they are upheld, by it they are changed, or by it they remain, agreeably to the will of God. Without it, there is no power, and without power there could be no creation, nor existence! Lectures on Faith, 1:24

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[I]t is by reason of [faith] that all the hosts of heaven perform their works of wonder, majesty and glory: Angels move from place to place by virtue of this powerit is by reason of it that they are enabled to descend from heaven to earth; . . . the whole visible creation, as it now exists, is the effect of faith It was faith by which it was framed, and it is by the power of faith that it continues in its organized form, and by which the planets move round their orbits and sparkle forth their glory: . . . As faith, then, is the principle by which the heavenly hosts perform their works, and by which they enjoy all their felicity, we might expect to find it set forth in a revelation from God as the principle upon which his creatures, here below, must act, in order, to obtain the felicities enjoyed by the saints in the eternal world, and that when God would undertake to raise up men for the enjoyment of himself, he would teach them the necessity of living by faith, and the impossibility there was of their enjoying the blessedness of eternity without it, seeing that all the blessings of eternity are the effects of faith.

Lectures on Faith, 7:4-6

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There never has been a time when there have not been worlds like this, and . . . there never will be a time when there will not be worlds organized and prepared for intelligent beings to dwell upon. Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, 8:81

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And they [other worlds] are continually coming into existence, and undergoing changes and passing through the same experience we are passing through. . . . and every earth, and the people thereof, in their turn and time, receive all that we receive, and pass through all the ordeals that we are passing through. Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, 14:71-72

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[The earth] abides the law of its creation, has been baptized with water, will be baptized by fire and the Holy Ghost, and by-and-by will be prepared for the faithful to dwell upon. Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, 8:83

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Who, in looking upon the earth as it ascends in the scale of the universe, does not desire to keep pace with it? . . . O man, remember the future destiny and glory of the earth, and secure thine everlasting inheritance upon the same, that when it shall be glorious, thou shalt be glorious also. Orson Pratt, Journal of Discourses, 1:333-34

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All kingdoms have a law given; And there are many kingdoms; for there is no space in the which there is no kingdom; and there is no kingdom in which there is no space, either a greater or a lesser kingdom. And unto every kingdom is given a law; and unto every law there are certain bounds also and conditions. All beings who abide not in those conditions are not justified. . . . He comprehendeth all things, and all things are before him, and all things are round about him; and he is above all things, and in all things, and is through all things, and is round about all things; and all things are by him, and of him, even God, forever and ever. And . . . he hath given a law unto all things, by which they move in their times and their seasons; And their courses are fixed, even the courses of the heavens and the earth, which comprehend the earth and all the planets. And they give light to each other in their times and in their seasons, in their minutes, in their hours, in their days, in their weeks, in their months, in their yearsall these are one year with God, but not with man. The earth rolls upon her wings, and the sun giveth his light by day, and the moon giveth her light by night, and the stars also give their light, as they roll upon their wings in their glory, in the midst of the power of God. Unto what shall I liken these kingdoms, that ye may understand? Behold, all these are kingdoms, and any man who hath seen any or the least of these hath seen God moving in his majesty and power.

Doctrine and Covenants 88:36-39, 41-47

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And every corruptible thing, both of man, or of the beasts of the field, or of the fowls of the heavens, or of the fish of the sea, that dwells upon all the face of the earth, shall be consumed; And also that of element shall melt with fervent heat; and all things shall become new, that my knowledge and glory may dwell upon all the earth. Doctrine and Covenants 101:24-25

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Yea, verily I say unto you, in that day when the Lord shall come, he shall reveal all thingsThings which have passed, and hidden things which no man knew, things of the earth, by which it was made, and the purpose and the end thereofThings most precious, things that are above, and things that are beneath, things that are in the earth, and upon the earth, and in heaven. Doctrine and Covenants 101:32-34

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Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. 1 Corinthians 2:9

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COSMOGONY: CREATION ACCOUNTS

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We have built the heaven with Our own hands, and We are Steadily Expanding it. Quran, Sura 51:48

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creatio ex nihilo
ex nihilo nihil fit

creatio ex materia
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The worlds were made by him; men were made by him; all things were made by him, and through him, and of him. . . . Man was also in the beginning with God. Intelligence, or the light of truth, was not created or made, neither indeed can be. . . . The elements are eternal, and spirit and element, inseparably connected, receive a fulness of joy. Doctrine and Covenants 93:10, 29, 33

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Genesis 1-2 Creation Account

Day 1: heaven, earth, waters, light/darkness Day 2: firmament divided from waters Day 3: waters, dry land, vegetation Day 4: lights in firmament: sun/moon/stars Day 5: sea creatures, fowls Day 6: cattle, creeping things, beasts, mankind Day 7: Sabbath

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Temple Creation Account

Day 1: yonderorganize world Day 2: divide seas and earth Day 3: divide light from darkness Day 4: all manner of vegetation Day 5: all manner of life: beasts, fowl, fishes, insects, and all other forms of animal life Day 6: Adam (man) and Eve; introduction into the Garden of Eden Day 7: rest from labors for a season

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Science Creation Account

Big Bang Basic Particles Expansion Star Formation Galaxy Formation Group, Cluster Formation Ultimate fate:

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Big Freeze? Big Crunch? Big Rip?

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Science Creation Account

Earth: Stellar nursery/presolar nebula Protoplanetary disk 4.57 billion y/a: Earth formed 4.53 bya: Moon formedgiant impact? Primordial atmosphere/oceans 4 bya: first life may have appeared 3.5 bya: magnetic field established
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Science Creation Account

Earth (continued): 3.46 bya: earliest dated fossilized bacteria Photosynthesis > ozone / UV radiation shield Supercontinents: Rodinia, Pannotia, Pangaea 542-251 mya: Paleozoic EraCambrian explosion > P-T mass extinction 251-65 mya: Mesozoic Eraends with extinction of dinosaurs 65 mya-present: Cenozoic Erarise of mammals; appearance of humans
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Goldilocks Planet

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Magnetic field; inner core Strong surface gravity and density Quick rotation Molten core; solid crust; plate tectonics Protective Moon, outer gas giant planets Distance from Sun Liquid water Atmosphere Axial tilt Elements
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[T]he course of the Lord is one eternal round. 1 Nephi 10:19 (cf. Alma 7:20; 37:12; Doctrine and Covenants 3:2; 35:1)

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SCIENCE AND SCRIPTURE:

UNITY? DISHARMONY?

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[S]eek learning, even by study and also by faith. Doctrine and Covenants 88:118 And that same sociality which exists among us here will exist among us there, only it will be coupled with eternal glory, which glory we do not now enjoy. Doctrine and Covenants 130:2 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. 2 Timothy 2:15
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