No question that most mainstream Mormons subscribe to literalism. But I would argue that another, perhaps overriding feature of Mormonism, is its lack of an official creed or formalized, systematized theology. Along those lines, there is in Mormonism a powerful implicit or explicit strain of embracing all truths or good or ideas from whereever found.

Thus, while literalism is dominant among most members, and perhaps in correlated materials produced by the Church, the absence of a creed or systematized theology allows us to explore all sorts of alternative, free wheeling discussion and explanations of life and reality and meaning. See, e.g., http://pc2009.confreaks.com.

In my judgment, the absence of metaphor in LDS theology leaves no possibility for the competing claims of science and religion to be resolved or even discussed. The result is an absurdly contradictory metaphysical system which uses the most ordinary canons of truth to assess the likelihood of the most unbelievable events (how can anyone even claim to “know” the truth of Mormonism’s founding events in the same way they know what they had for breakfast that morning?)

With the so-called “theological turn,” post-modernism has taken up the question of faith in earnest but Mormonism has no category of faith comparable to that found in any of the other world religions — in fact the “traditional” concept of faith seems weird and repugnant to Mormons, because it posits something beyond a horizon that Mormonism assumes is just the boundary of the physical universe, and therefore meaningless.

And whereas post-modernism offers at least the potential of a phenomenological critique of capitalism (Milbank, et al.) Mormonism simply deifies material progress, which means that it is less of a religion than a metaphysical movement within the history of American capitalism.

http://www.brettandcatherine.com/uploads/5/5/9/9/559987/the_orgin_of_man.pdf

If you are looking for the long-term position of the Church on the matter, I suggest you grab one of the several published anthologies of statements by General Authorities between Joseph Fielding and Gordon Hinckley.

http://www.amazon.com/Mormonism-Evolution-Authoritative-LDS-Statements/dp/1589580931

I’m also particularly interested in a topic another commenter noted: how Mormons understand evolution, given their belief in that the deity is of the same “species” as human beings.

Is there an official church teaching on this subject?

Thanks in advance.

From the outside, it is difficult to understand these things as Mormons do.

As a (highly) amateur scholar on these matters, I do not see how Mormons continually ‘erase’ such ‘authoritative’ positions made by your leaders. It happens across the board, over and over.

I suppose from the inside this looks like the continuing guidance of the Spirit made possibly by prophetic leadership. Fair enough. But from the outside it looks patently ridiculous and it makes it difficult to take your claims with intellectual seriousness, insofar as they are always open to revision as situations require.

Thanks for your response.

It would seem from my outside perspective that Mormons have a great deal more invested in the literal historical truth of Genesis than other churches.

Having done a bit of reading in this area, it is overwhelmingly clear that the LDS church taught that Adam and Eve were historical persons. Joseph Smith even pointed out the altars that they used in Eden/Missouri, only to call to mind the silliest (sorry) example.

My question is: Do rank and file Mormons believe this? Are they taught this?

Thanks,

Ricahrd

I don’t believe in the “supernatural” (depending on how you define the word). My God is a REAL person, who operates according to means and laws. I acknowledge the existence of concepts and processes beyond my current comprehension, but my own mental limitations do not make these phenomena (walking on water, ascending into the sky without an aircraft, resurrecting the dead, etc.) any less “natural.”

The natural/supernatural dichotomy is an arbitrary human invention. Who started it, the ancient Greeks?