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Prophets or
Evolution - An LDS Perspective Chapter 11 Adam and
Eve or George and
Mary? "“The Priesthood was first
given to Adam; he obtained the First Presidency, and held the keys of it from
generation to generation. He obtained it in the Creation, before the world was
formed, as in Gen. 1:26, 27, 28. He had dominion given him over every living
creature. He is Michael the The Priesthood is an everlasting
principle, and existed with God from eternity, and will to eternity, without
beginning of days or end of years [see Joseph Smith Translation, Hebrews 7:3].
The keys have to be brought from heaven whenever the Gospel is sent. When they
are revealed from heaven, it is by Adam’s authority. Daniel in his seventh chapter speaks
of the Ancient of Days; he means the oldest man, our Father Adam, Michael; he
will call his children together and hold a council with them to prepare them
for the coming of the Son of Man [see Daniel 7:9–14]. He (Adam) is the father
of the human family, and presides over the spirits of all men, and all that
have had the keys must stand before him in this grand council. … The Son of Man
stands before him, and there is given him glory and dominion. Adam delivers up
his stewardship to Christ, that which was delivered to him as holding the keys
of the universe, but retains his standing as head of the human family. … The Father called all spirits
before Him at the creation of man, and organized them. He (Adam) is the head,
and was told to multiply. The keys were first given to him, and by him to
others. He will have to give an account of his stewardship, and they to him." The Teachings of Joseph Smith Adam and Eve The most
important difference between the theory of evolution and LDS doctrine, from the
perspective of nature, is the origin of human beings. To LDS
doctrine, and other Christian religions, human origins began with Adam and Eve
being created directly by God in the Garden of Eden. Human
beings are species: homo sapiens; and
subspecies: sapiens. Because we are the only living subspecies in homo sapiens, we are frequently just
referred to as homo sapiens. For the purposes of this chapter, we will be
exact and refer to humans as: homo
sapiens sapiens. The first
two homo sapiens sapiens are critical
to the evolution debate since the entire theory of evolution seeks to explain
how they came to exist by a series of accidental mutations of DNA. According
to the laws of biology, there had to be a first male and a first female homo sapiens sapiens to mate and start
the human race. It is only the first
couple to have a child, and from which all modern humans have descended
(according to the theory of evolution), which we are interested in in this
chapter. So what
were the names of the first two true homo
sapiens sapiens from which all modern humans are descended and which had exactly the same DNA as modern
humans? According
to LDS doctrine, they were named Adam and Eve. The
scientific establishment has not identified or named any fossils as being the
first two true homo sapiens sapiens;
so herein we will simply call them George and Mary. Thus,
according to the Bible and other scriptures, you and I are descended from Adam
and Eve. But according to the theory of
evolution, you and I are descended from George and Mary, who lived more than
100,000 years ago. What is a
"Species?" There is
more than one definition of "species." In this book a "species" is defined
by a unique "DNA structure." A
"DNA structure" means that every individual in a "species,"
by definition, has DNA which is the same length, has the same set of genes, in
the same locations on the DNA, etc. etc.
In other words, a "species" is defined by a unique DNA structure. Thus, by definition, the first true homo sapiens sapiens had exactly the same DNA structure as modern humans (if
they are claimed to be the same species we modern humans are). This is an important concept and it is driven
by the definition of a "species," which means they had to have had the
exact same DNA structure as
each of us. Whether
Adam and Eve were the first humans (i.e. true homo sapiens sapiens) or whether George and Mary were the first
humans (i.e. true homo sapiens sapiens),
they had exactly the same DNA structure as every human being on earth today and
they were the first to have this structure. Frequently
when watching television shows on paleontology you will hear a fossil described
as being from an animal which was "near human." George and Mary were not "near human."
Let me repeat that. George and
Mary, by definition, were not
"near human." By definition,
because they had the same exact DNA structure as modern humans, they were
"pure humans" and were true homo
sapiens sapiens and had exactly the same DNA structure as modern humans. In this
chapter we are only interested in pure homo
sapiens sapiens, and nothing else. George and Mary - A
Slight Improvement According
to the theory of evolution, all new species were "slight
improvements" over some prior species.
Thus, George and Mary, if they came to exist by evolution, only
represented a slight improvement over their closest ancestor (i.e. their parents,
who by definition had a different DNA structure than they did). The theory
of evolution claims that species on this earth have gradually improved from
species to species. These small
improvements gave the new species a slight advantage. By taking advantage of this slight advantage,
"survival of the fittest" secured their place in history (or until
some future species or event annihilated them). "Natural selection acts only by
taking advantage of slight, successive variations. She can never take a great and sudden leap,
but must advance by short and sure, though slow steps. Charles Darwin, The Origin of Species Thus, according
to the theory of evolution, their poster children of the human race, George and
Mary, would have only been a slight improvement over their parents (most likely
George and Mary, if evolution were true, would have been siblings for reasons
beyond the scope of this chapter). Thus, since
modern humans have, by definition, the exact same DNA as George and Mary
(assuming the theory of evolution is true), and because George and Mary were
only slight improvements over their parents and other ancestors; then it can be
logically concluded that modern humans
are only slight improvements over the parents (and close ancestors) of George
and Mary, if evolution is true. We will see
if the evidence from life on this planet fits the theory of evolution's claims
of small improvements. Modern Military Weapons Before
talking about Adam and Eve or George and Mary any more; it is necessary to
introduce the reader to some of the weapon systems of the U.S. Army and other
military branches. You will understand
why this discussion is necessary in a moment. Let us
take, for example, the Abrams tank. It
can fire very, very powerful projectiles, which are shot from a 120 mm M256
smoothbore barrel. It also has several
other potent weapons. It can fire its
main gun while it is traveling at full speed as soldiers look through 6
different periscopes. Even if the tank
is moving up and down over the terrain it can still fire its main gun at any
time. Its aim is aided by a laser
rangefinder. Inside the
tank are multiple computers. Let us talk
about one of them, the FBCB2/BFT. This
is a device that includes a computer, a satellite receiver and a satellite
transmitter. The
computer has a display which shows a map of the general area the tank is
located in. On the computer display is a
map superimposed with “icons,” or symbols, which represent where other friendly
units are located (i.e. other Army, Marine, etc. units). As part of
the FBCB2/BFT computer is a transmitter which sends a signal to a satellite so
that other friendly units will know the exact location of the tank at any given
time. The FBCB2/BFT also displays icons
where the Army intelligence people estimate the enemy forces are located. Thus, aside
from having incredible fire power and armor, those inside the tank can know exactly
where other nearby soldiers are located and other soldiers can know exactly where
they are located. Let us also
talk about UAVs (Unmanned Ariel Vehicles).
These are small airplanes (actually, some of them are very large) which
have no pilot (i.e. they are “unmanned”).
At any given time there will be several of these airplanes in the air in
In other
words, the pilot of an airplane in The UAVs
can take incredible photographs continuously, showing congregations of people
or individuals. Military intelligence (these
are people, not a concept) must sort out who is friendly and who is not. My personal
favorite weapon is the B-2 bomber. It is
the most potent long-range bomber on earth (in 2009). I have seen them fly and they are
unbelievably impressive. Many of
them are based near highway I-70 in the middle of In fact,
when the U.S. Army goes to battle, incredible technology goes with them. What has been discussed here is only the tip
of the iceberg of military weapons and is all public information. Back to George and Mary Our concern
in this chapter is to talk about the first true homo sapiens sapiens because, if evolution were true, George and
Mary would have had, by definition, the exact same DNA as modern humans. Trying to
get a paleontologist to say definitely which fossil represents the oldest homo sapiens sapiens (meaning the oldest
fossil which had exactly the same DNA as modern humans) is a difficult
task. It is a moving target and you are
never quite sure who to ask. For
example, one of the oldest fossils, which some claim had very similar DNA as we
humans, lived in eastern However,
these fossils are also referred to as “near-modern humans.” What does that mean? Either they had the exact same DNA as modern humans or they did not. If they did not, then they were not homo sapiens sapiens and they were not
George or Mary - period. Regardless
of what fossil(s) end up being touted as having exactly the same DNA as modern humans, the homo sapiens sapiens, let us assume that
scientists eventually concur that the oldest fossils to have the exact DNA as
modern humans, the homo sapiens sapiens,
are at least 100,000 years old. While
new fossils may some day push that number forward or backward, for now this is
the number that this chapter will deal with. This means
that there was a male homo sapiens
sapiens and a female homo sapiens
sapiens roaming the earth (most likely in Africa or Neanderthals
became extinct around 26,000 years ago (living approximately from 350,000 B.C.
to 24,000 B.C.). Note that these dates
are always subject to change without notice. Cro-Magnon
(the “earliest modern people in Regardless
of what dates are used for the first homo
sapiens sapiens DNA, it appears to paleontologists that Neanderthals,
Cro-Magnon and homo sapiens sapiens
(i.e. our DNA) all co-existed at some point in time, meaning they all lived on
the earth at the same time for many centuries. It is
doubtful that paleontologists will ever admit that the first true homo sapiens sapiens (i.e. our DNA) came
on the scene less than 10,000 years ago, because that would be an admission
that Adam and Eve (the Biblical chronology puts Adam and Eve at approximately
6,000 years ago, or 4,000 B.C.) was possibly true. So whatever
dates are used by the scientific establishment for the first true homo sapiens sapiens DNA, we will assume
scientists will always pick a date at least 20,000 years ago. Right now we will use 100,000 years. The point
is that when the first homo sapiens
sapiens arrived on the scene, with the exact same DNA as modern humans,
either the Cro-Magnon or the Neanderthals or both were still around, according
to paleontologists. These would likely
have been considered enemies of the true homo
sapiens sapiens. George and Mary 100,000
Years Ago At the time
George and Mary lived, the world was very primitive. Crude tools, crude weapons, etc. were the
rule of the day. By "crude weapons"
I am not talking about a crude Abrams tank, I am talking about a crude stone
arrow strapped to a crude stick. The
military tactics of the day were equally crude. Now let us
think about George and Mary. They had
the same exact DNA as any man and woman of today, by definition. In fact, we can say with total confidence
that if George and Mary had been born in 1965, they could have gone to college
and each gotten a PhD. Since the
differences between a male DNA and a female DNA have nothing to do with
intelligence, it is safe to assume that George and Mary had equal intelligences
relative to each other, since they had the same DNA (as far as intelligence is
concerned, but not as far as reproductive features are concerned). Now let us
think about this. Because George and
Mary had exactly the same DNA as modern humans, by definition; had they been
born in 1965, they could have helped design and fly the B-2 bomber. They could have helped design the electronics
in Army satellites. They could have
helped design and drive the Abrams tank or design the FBCB2/BFT software or
design and fly UAVs. They could have
designed the Hubble space telescope, which is used by astronomers, and they
could have helped design the rocket engines which put the Hubble telescope into
orbit. And so on. Why do I
say these things? Because if the theory
of evolution is correct, George and Mary would have had the same DNA as we
modern humans have. Thus, they would
have had exactly the same mental abilities as we have and; had they been
trained as we are trained. Now what is
wrong with this picture? What is
wrong is that evolution claims that evolutionary changes in species are very
small and very subtle and very slight.
That is the entire argument to counteract the statistical problems the
theory of evolution faces. These very
small improvements create a very small “advantage” to their survival, but yet
enough for them to survive. George and
Mary could have survived in the world of 100,000 years ago if they had they
been able to strap a rock on a stick better than the Neanderthal. They could have survived if they had invented
the bow and arrow (even a very crude bow and arrow). They could have survived if they had invented
a way to tie a rock on a strap, on one end of the strap, and a stick on the
other end of the strap (i.e. a crude mace). The problem
is that if George and Mary could have designed and flown a B-2 bomber in
100,000 B.C. they did not represent small improvements on the DNA of their
parents (if evolution is true and if they were truly homo sapiens sapiens). Anyone with
our DNA structure, including George and Mary, could have helped design and fly the
B-2 bomber or UAVs. George or Mary could
have flown an F-22 Raptor fighter jet or an F-35 Lightening II fighter jet, as
good as anyone today - had this equipment existed in 100,000 B.C. Evolutionists
have a major problem. Why did George and
Mary have intelligences incomprehensively superior to the other living beings
of their day? Why did they have
intelligences far, far beyond what they needed to survive? Why did they not have a small evolutionary
jump in intelligence? Why did they
represent a gigantic, colossal, titanic evolutionary leap? Furthermore,
if George and Mary represented only a slight improvement over their parent
species, why did their parent species go extinct? Evolutionists
like to study the gap in intelligence between ancestors of the first homo sapiens sapiens. It is not about a gap in intelligence, it is
about a humongous overkill. An
intelligence that is so far superior to other creatures of their day that is was
not even funny. An intelligence not just
capable of carving a better arrow tip, but designing a B-2 bomber and writing
the FCBC2/BFT software, 100,000 years ago!! George and
Mary do not fit the model of the theory of evolution. Not even close. As another
example, George and Mary could have survived in their day if their eyes had
been good enough to see 300 yards away.
But yet both of them had such precise eyesight they could have flown an
F-22 Raptor 100,000 years ago. This is
another of many cases of overkill on the part of George and Mary. Adam and Eve (LDS Doctine) According
to the Bible, Book of Mormon, etc., Adam and Eve were the first two true homo sapiens sapiens. Furthermore, they had no ancestors on this
earth. Thus, according to the Bible, they
had the same exact DNA as modern humans and they were created by God about
6,000 years ago, according to most Bible scholars. Before
saying any more about Adam and Eve, let us look at the official LDS doctrine of
who Adam was. It has
already been established in this book that the Savior “created the heavens and
the earth, and all things that are in them.”
If that is not clear enough, this next verse establishes that Christ
existed prior to the world existing:
5 If they be good, to the resurrection of everlasting life; and if they
be evil, to the resurrection of damnation; being on a parallel, the one on the
one hand and the other on the other hand, according to the mercy, and the
justice, and the holiness which is in Christ, who was before the world began. 3 Nephi 26:5 [Jesus Christ in Thus, the
Savior existed prior to the creation of the earth, which obviously occurred
prior to the creation of Adam and Eve. Now let us
talk about Adam. According
to LDS doctrine, Adam was the head of the first dispensation, meaning he was a
great prophet. Furthermore, according to
LDS doctrine, Adam is the chief of all of the dispensation heads. Even Joseph Smith reports to Adam in the
spirit world. This means
that Adam is not only the patriarch of the human race, but also its spiritual
leader, under the direction of the Savior.
In other words, he was the greatest of all the prophets. Also note
this: when the Savior was talking about John the Baptist, this is what He said:
11 Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women there hath
not risen a greater than John the Baptist. Matthew 11:11 Who was not
"born of women?" Only Adam was
not "born of women," thus the Savior was essentially saying:
"Among the prophets, only Adam was greater than John the Baptist." There was a
war in heaven in the preexistence. One
side was led by satan. Who led the side
of those who were fighting for Christ?
Here is the answer (Adam is called "Michael" in these versus; satan
is called the "dragon"):
7 And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the
dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels,
8 And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.
9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil,
and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and
his angels were cast out with him. Revelations 12:7-9 Thus we see
that Adam was at the head of the spiritual army which represented Christ
Himself; the army which fought against satan and cast satan out of heaven onto
this earth still as a spirit. Adam, or
Michael, is still an important part of the plan of salvation: D&C 78:16 Adam and
satan will yet battle again, in the future, after the thousand year Millennium:
110 And so on, until the seventh angel shall sound his trump; and he
shall stand forth upon the land and upon the sea, and swear in the name of him
who sitteth upon the throne, that there shall be time no longer; and Satan
shall be bound, that old serpent, who is called the devil, and shall not be
loosed for the space of a thousand years.
111 And then he shall be loosed for a little season, that he may gather
together his armies.
112 And Michael, the seventh angel, even the archangel, shall
gather together his armies, even the hosts of heaven.
113 And the devil shall gather together his armies; even the hosts of
hell, and shall come up to battle against Michael and his armies.
114 And then cometh the battle of the great God; and the devil and his
armies shall be cast away into their own place, that they shall not have power
over the saints any more at all.
115 For Michael shall fight their battles, and shall overcome him who
seeketh the throne of him who sitteth upon the throne, even the Lamb.
116 This is the glory of God, and the sanctified; and they shall not any
more see death. Doctrine and Covenants 88:110-116 Thus, we
can conclude that Adam and Eve were among the greatest of the spirits in the
preexistence; both in terms of spirituality and
in terms of intelligence!! Thus, had Adam
and Eve been born in 1965, they could have helped design the Abrams tank or the
B-2 bomber or the FBCB2/BFT software.
Either of them could have flown the F-22 Raptor in 4,000 B.C., had one
existed. Adam and
Eve were among the smartest of the spirits in the preexistence (i.e. the period
of time when humans were still spirits).
Thus, they were as smart as any of today's scientists, and were probably
much smarter than any of today's scientists. So yes,
Adam and Eve were very, very smart according to LDS scriptures. Information about Adam and Eve were not only
published in the Bible, but also in LDS literature long before Is Christian
doctrine, including added LDS doctrine, consistent with the concept that the
first homo sapiens sapiens (Adam and
Eve) were smart enough to help design and fly the B-2 bomber; help design and
drive the Abrams tank; etc.? Absolutely!! Thus, we
see that the theory of evolution is not consistent with the data. George and Mary would have represented huge,
huge jumps in intelligence from their parents. But we also
see that the teachings of the prophets, which were public information long
before The Ages Achieved By Our
Ancestors In the
Bible several people achieved an age of 900 years old and above. In general,
only the ages of the prophets are mentioned, but excluding wars and disease, it
is likely some non-prophets were also living to very old ages. Are such
claims consistent with the data? Actually
they are. Geneticists
constantly see the degradation of human DNA.
In fact, it is deteriorating at an alarming rate. It is called "genetic entropy." If the
Biblical account of Adam and Eve is true, and their DNA was created directly by
God, it is clear that their DNA was perfect and without flaw. Thus, it is entirely consistent with what geneticists
see in the real world; that Adam and Eve would have had much purer DNA (i.e.
free of mutations) than modern humans. Thus, they
would have lived to be much, much older than current humans. An age of over 900 years would be believable. It is also possible Eve was healthy enough,
and lived long enough, to have had many children. At the time
they lived the soil would have had optimal minerals and other nutrients in it. The food in their day was probably far
superior to modern day food because the plants (and possibly animals) had not
yet had mutations start to degrade their DNA.
Also, the earth was not over-farmed (which depletes nutrients) and food
was not loaded with artificial ingredients. Because
Adam's DNA was so perfect, it would have taken many generations for humans to
have shorter and shorter life-spans. This is
exactly what happened according to the scriptures. Likewise,
after Noah's flood, humans would have continued to have shorter and shorter
life spans due to genetic entropy. The
constant degradation of human DNA (and the degradation of plant DNA), caused
not only by mutations, but also by their lifestyles, such as being in constant
wars, lowered the life span of humans. Then when
technology improved (such as a greater variety of food caused by better growing
technology, plus improved transportation technology), humans would have been
able to eat a much better variety of foods and get a better variety of
nutrients and phytonutrients. The reasons
for short life spans were somewhat overcome, but the deterioration of DNA
continued. Today, our
life span is about 72 years. It is kept
up mostly by medical technology, food technology, distribution of food channels
(e.g. food is now routinely imported daily from But other
factors continue to hammer away at life spans.
For example, political corruption, corporate greed, war, disease, etc.
are keeping life spans from increasing the way they should by the use of modern
technology. The point
is that the Biblical account of people living for several centuries is
perfectly consistent with want geneticists actually observe in accumulating
human mutations. Thus, the
claims of the Bible fit the actual data observed by geneticists. The claims
of the theory of evolution do not fit the data at all. The fossils found by paleontologists, which
date back to 100,000, were of creatures which had very short life spans. Radiometric Dating As a side
note, where are the bones of Adam and Eve?
The answer is that Adam and Eve were resurrected (see Doctrine and
Covenants 138), thus their bones are no longer in the ground. In fact,
all of the righteous followers of Christ, who died prior to the death of
Christ, were resurrected after Christ was resurrected. Thus, their bones are not in the earth. At least several
people, who died after Christ died, have been resurrected (e.g. the prophet The reality
is that there were very, very few righteous people on this earth after 100 A.D.
(and after 300 A.D. in This means
that human bones found by paleontologists, of ancient date, such as those who
died before Christ (and possibly after Christ), are not the bones of righteous
people. These facts
may explain why so many of the bones of humans, found by researchers, have so
many of the marks of war, brutality, crude living conditions and death at a very
young age. Thus, the "data" (that
the bones of ancient, righteous and peaceful people are not found in the ground)
again fits the scriptures and the history books. More
details on radiometric dating will be discussed in a future chapter. |