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Show 179 science, mathematics and the gospel. good wishes.51 Please accept my kindest An LDS woman from Arizona, after reading Eyring's book and some discussion with her husband about the possibility of pre-Adamites and such things as the theory that this earth was created-from the materials of an older one and contained the remains of another civilization, decided to ask for Eyring's opinion. He graciously responded: I was trained as a mining engineer so that the evidence seems to me to point toward an age of the earth between four and five billion years and to the existence of pre-Adamic man. I don't think that it is reasonable to explain the observed geologic formations on the theory that they were moved from some other worlds, I have no difficulty in re- conciling myself to the other idea of life before Adam and to a great age of the earth. Our scriptural accounts are brief and don't seem to me to rule out these possibilities. The scriptural emphasis is on God's dealings with Adam and his descendants and the treatment of pre-Adamic history is sketchy, no doubt for a good reason. It seems, to me, clear that the Lord used the Prophet 'Joseph to restore His gospel. This is the important thing for me. Just how He runs the world, I'm obliged to leave up to Him. All I egg do is find out how he does it by every means available. In l967, President N. Eldon Tanner, of the Church's First Presidency, wrote Eyring, asking about how to respond to a letter he had received asking why the Church's Brigham Young University required their teachers to acquire a Doctors degree, for many times LDS teachers lost their faith when they sought the wisdom of the world. Eyring wrote: The gospel embraces all truth. Brigham Young especially emphasized the propriety of seeking all truth. The assumption that because a man understands something about the operation of the Universe, he will necessarily be less faithful is a gratuitous assumption contradicted by numberless examples. God, who understands all about the Universe, is, apparently, not troubled by this knowledge. Some people drift when they study, but some people drift If the Church espouses the cause of when they don't study. ignorance, it will alienate more people than if it advises |
