When any disaster occurs, people look somewhere to place blame. In a maturing society, the better approach is to examine the data objectively. When this approach is applied to the Willie and Martin handcart disaster, two major problems emerge for the companies: one was the late start, and the other was inadequate food supplies. The …
Speaker: Trent D. Stephens
Evolution, Intelligent Design, And The Church
Eighty years after the Scopes trial, the teaching of evolution in public classrooms has once more taken center stage. Unfortunately, rational discussion on the matter has often taken a back seat to half-truths, hype, and hysteria. This panel is designed to give attendees the background in science needed to distinguish truth from hype and to …
PANEL. THE BOOK OF MORMON QUANDARY
Over the past two decades, scientific research has emerged which challenges the LDS church’s explanation for the origins of the Book of Mormon. How should we as Church members respond to the questions this research raises? Considering the implications of these findings, how might we as individuals shift our personal philosophy, religious belief and practice, …
NEPHI AND ME: PERSONAL JOURNEYS WITH THE BOOK OF MORMON
Book of Mormon studies have broken open in recent decades, leading to many new, and widely different, theories about its historicity, origins, theology, and function. But despite this flurry of activity among scholars, apologists, and revisionists, until recent publicity over DNA studies and the Church’s response caught their attention, very few Latter-day Saints had really …
DNA and Lamanite Identity: A Panel Discussion
DNA and Lamanite Identity: A Panel Discussion Science often complicates the sancta simplicitas of theology. Genetic research promises to help genealogists define and refine family trees. But this technological blade can cut both ways. What is a benefit to LDS genealogists may be a detriment to Book of Mormon literalists. Initial findings of geneticists have …
Evolution and Mormonism: A Quest for Understanding
Evolution and Mormonism: A Quest for Understanding What is a Latter-day Saint to do when faced with the compelling data and persuasive arguments for the theory of organic evolution? Can she or he acknowledge the power of this scientific data and still remain in good standing with the Church? Can the theory of human origins …
Paper 1 – DNA On The Witness Stand Pager Paper 2 – The Tree Of Life
Paper 1 – DNA On The Witness Stand Pager 1- Examples from today’s headlines illustrate the forensic application of DNA techniques to identify individuals and establish relatedness between family members. These very same techniques, accepted as authoritative in the court room, are applied by science to address the question of humans’ nearest relatives in the …