{"id":51004,"date":"2025-08-20T04:14:25","date_gmt":"2025-08-20T10:14:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/?p=51004"},"modified":"2025-08-20T11:14:15","modified_gmt":"2025-08-20T17:14:15","slug":"book-review-the-restored-gospel-of-jesus-christ-and-evolution","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/2025\/08\/book-review-the-restored-gospel-of-jesus-christ-and-evolution\/","title":{"rendered":"Book Review: The Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ and Evolution"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ and Evolution <\/em><\/a>represents one of the most ambitious and carefully framed efforts to date to navigate the intersections of evolutionary science and the doctrines of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Edited by Jamie L. Jensen, Steven L. Peck, Ugo A. Perego, and T. Benjamin Spackman, BYU\u2019s Evolution Book<\/a> combines perspectives from scientists, religious educators, and historians to model how faithful Latter-day Saints might approach the complexities of science and revelation without resorting to false dichotomies.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

One of the great strengths of this book is its careful attention to how scripture and the teachings of Church leaders are interpreted. Several chapters resist the temptation to collapse scripture into scientific categories. For instance, Kyle Greenwood situates biblical cosmology within the ancient Near Eastern context, helping readers recognize that Genesis reflects symbolic and theological concerns rather than modern science. Avram R. Shannon\u2019s treatment of the Creation narrative similarly emphasizes the function of scripture as sacred story, not laboratory manual. Nicholas J. Frederick\u2019s essay on the seven seals and the age of the earth<\/a> highlights the principle of continuing revelation: what matters most in Latter-day Saint theology is not the exact chronology of creation but the divine purpose guiding it. Joshua M. Sears also provides insight into interpretative strategies for Church doctrine and the teachings of Church leaders.<\/p>\n

T. Benjamin Spackman\u2019s chapter, \u201c(No) Death before the Fall?\u201d deserves particular praise. He traces the history of how Latter-day Saints have interpreted the Fall in relation to mortality, demonstrating that popular assumptions about a deathless prelapsarian world are both late and inconsistent with scriptural texts. By recovering earlier, more nuanced voices and situating them within the broader Christian tradition, Spackman models a responsible engagement with prophetic statements: distinguishing between binding doctrine and well-intentioned but non-canonical speculation. Collectively, these essays exhibit methodological sophistication that will be of great interest to scholars of Mormon thought and to Latter-day Saints seeking clarity about what scripture and prophets teach\u2014and what they do not. This area alone makes The Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ and Evolution<\/em> one of the most important contributions to Latter-day Saint literature this year.<\/p>\n

Equally valuable are the essays that explain how science functions as a way of knowing. Steven Peck argues that Latter-day Saints can trust science \u201cin the same way scientists do,\u201d not because it is infallible, but because its methods of testing, revision, and replication reliably produce knowledge about the natural world. Seth Bybee provides a crisp overview of the evidence for human evolution, covering genetics, comparative anatomy, and the fossil record in language that is accessible to the educated layperson. Heath Ogden and Tyler Kummer clarify what evolution is\u2014and is not\u2014dispelling common misconceptions that continue to circulate among church members. (As a side note, I was amused to learn that Pok\u00e9mon is a source of some of those misconceptions, since the pocket monsters undergo a metamorphosis into stronger forms as they grow, which is referred to as evolution in the game. I’m a fan of Pok\u00e9mon, but quickly understood that what they call evolution is different from what scientists call evolution.)<\/p>\n

These chapters are particularly effective when read in tandem with Jensen\u2019s introductory essay, \u201cAccepting Evolution: Why Does It Matter?\u201d She rejects the language of \u201cbelief\u201d in evolution, urging readers instead to recognize acceptance as a matter of evidence rather than faith. At the same time, she underscores that learning to reconcile scientific truths with religious belief can safeguard testimonies, protect youth from unnecessary crises of faith, and prevent the adoption of pseudo-scientific alternatives.\u00a0Jensen and her colleagues show particular sensitivity in helping readers, especially students, avoid \u201cGod of the gaps\u201d thinking and binary choices between faith and science. Their \u201creconciliation approach,\u201d tested in classrooms at Brigham Young University, offers a powerful way of teaching evolution without undermining belief.<\/p>\n

At the same time, some chapters of the book are not written for every audience. Several contributions are aimed less at general readers than at educators\u2014BYU faculty, seminary and institute instructors, and science teachers in religious contexts. James Porter and Michael Whiting explore the role of evolutionary biology at BYU, documenting the challenges and successes of teaching in a university sponsored by a faith community. Danny Ferguson and colleagues offer evidence-based strategies for helping religious students accept evolution without abandoning their faith, introducing what Jensen and her collaborators call the \u201creconciliation approach.\u201d This model\u2014rooted in cultural competence, careful boundary-setting between science and religion, and openness to uncertainty\u2014has already demonstrated measurable success in BYU classrooms.\u00a0The result is that not every chapter will speak equally to a general audience.<\/p>\n

The editors wisely conclude the volume with Spackman\u2019s essay on the First Presidency statements of 1909 and 1925<\/a>, followed by the full texts of official statements on evolution issued by Church leaders. This section is invaluable, both as a reference for students and as a reminder that, while the Church has consistently affirmed divine purpose in creation, it has never canonized a particular mechanism. The inclusion of these historical documents situates the present conversation within more than a century of internal debate, showing both continuity and diversity of thought among prophets and apostles.<\/p>\n

In sum, this book represents a landmark in Mormon studies of science and religion. By combining doctrinal sensitivity, scientific rigor, and pedagogical innovation, it offers a blueprint for how future generations of Latter-day Saints might pursue the ideal of learning \u201cby study and also by faith.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

For more book reviews and forthcoming books, see Mormon Studies Books in 2025<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ and Evolution represents one of the most ambitious and carefully framed efforts to date to navigate the intersections of evolutionary science and the doctrines of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Edited by Jamie L. Jensen, Steven L. Peck, Ugo A. Perego, and T. Benjamin Spackman, BYU\u2019s Evolution Book combines perspectives from scientists, religious educators, and historians to model how faithful Latter-day Saints might approach the complexities of science and revelation without resorting to false dichotomies.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10397,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[52],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-51004","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-book-reviews"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51004","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10397"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=51004"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51004\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":51017,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51004\/revisions\/51017"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=51004"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=51004"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=51004"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}