Global or local Flood
From FAIRMormon
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Contents |
Criticism
Modern scientific knowledge regarding the diversity of species, language and evidence of continuous human habitation does not support the Biblical story that a global flood wiped out most life as recently as 4,400 years ago. Critics claim that LDS scriptures require Mormons to believe in a global flood, and that if LDS doctrine or leaders are fallible in their statements concerning the flood, then they must be wrong about other Church doctrines as well.
Source(s) of the criticism
- Simon Southerton, Losing a Lost Tribe: Native Americans, DNA, and the Mormon Church (Salt Lake City, UT: Signature Books, 2004) 143, 203. ( Index of claims )
- Internet message boards
Response
Belief in a global flood within the Church
Although this criticism is directed at the LDS church, it is really directed at anyone who believes in a literal reading of the Old Testament. LDS leaders have in the past taught the concept of a global flood based upon such a reading. Although the idea of the global flood has been used as an example, Church leaders have never stated that a belief in a global flood is necessary for salvation.
Gen. 7:19-23 reads:
- 19 And the waters prevailed exceedingly upon the earth; and all the high hills, that were under the whole heaven, were covered.
- 20 Fifteen cubits upward did the waters prevail; and the mountains were covered.
- 21 And all flesh died that moved upon the earth, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of beast, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth, and every man:
- 22 All in whose nostrils was the breath of life, of all that was in the dry land, died.
- 23 And every living substance was destroyed which was upon the face of the ground, both man, and cattle, and the creeping things, and the fowl of the heaven; and they were destroyed from the earth: and Noah only remained alive, and they that were with him in the ark.
A similar reference to the destruction of all flesh from off the earth is found in Latter-day scripture in Mos. 8:25-30. These passages have long been interpreted to mean that the entire globe was covered by water (although one is left to wonder how "the mountains were covered" by water which was only "fifteen cubits" deep — approximately 23 feet.) The primary reason for this global interpretation is the use of the word "earth." When modern readers see the word "earth," they envision the entire planetary sphere. However the concept of a spherical earth "did not appear in Jewish thought until the fourteenth or fifteenth century."[1] The word "earth," as used in the Bible, simply refers to solid ground or land, as opposed to water (see Gen. 1:10 — "God called the dry land Earth; and...the waters called he Seas....").
The concept of a global flood has become further reinforced within the Church by the fact that modern day prophets and apostles have taught that the flood washed away the earth's wickedness. For example, in 1880 Elder Orson Pratt stated that God "required our globe to be baptized by a flow of waters, and all of its sins were washed away, not one sin remaining."[2] Joseph Smith, Jr. taught that Noah was born to save seed of everything when the earth was washed of its wickedness by the flood.[3]
Are Church members required to believe in a global flood?
The early prophets and apostles taught their beliefs regarding a global flood using the scriptures. Modern scientific knowledge was unavailable to them, and they taught concepts which were in accordance with the popular belief. In modern times a belief in a global flood event, while still widely-held within the Church, does not constitute a critical part of Latter-day Saint theology.[4]
Conclusion
Like other Christians, Latter-day Saints hold different views on the issue of whether Noah's flood was local or global. Members of any given LDS congregation may have of a variety of points of view, and many have no firm opinion one way or the other.
A belief in either a global or local flood is not a requirement for Latter-day Saints; traditionally, many earlier members and leaders endorsed the global flood views common in society and Christendom generally. The accumulation of additional scientific information have led some to conclude that a local flood — one limited to the area in which Noah lived — is the best explanation of the available data. People of either view, or neither, can be members in good standing.
Endnotes
- [back] History of the Church 1:283; Evening and Morning Star, August 1832;
- Orson Pratt, "The Earth's Baptism In Water," Journal of Discourses, reported by George F. Gibbs, John Irvine, and others, (1 Aug. 1880), Vol. 21 (London: Latter-day Saint's Book Depot, 1881), 323. off-site
- [back] Duane E. Jeffery, "Noah’s Flood: Modern Scholarship and Mormon Traditions," Sunstone (Issue #134) (October 2004): 27–45. off-site
- [back] Duane E. Jeffery, "Noah’s Flood: Modern Scholarship and Mormon Traditions," Sunstone (Issue #134) (October 2004): 31–32. off-site Jeffrey notes that ideas of a global flood may have resulted from a widespread local problem. A current hypothesis that has been gaining ground since 1998 is that a significant flooding event occurred in the area now occupied by the Black Sea. Evidence has been discovered which has led a number of researchers to believe that the Black Sea area was once occupied by a completely isolated freshwater lake at a much lower level than the ocean. The theory is that the sea level rose and eventually broke through the Bosporus shelf, resulting in a rapid flooding event which would have wiped out all life living along the shores of the lake (see p. 34). Whether this is the source for the Genesis flood remains conjecture.
Further reading
FAIR wiki articles
| Evolution |
- Creatio ex nihilo
- Death before the Fall
- Dinosaurs
- Evolution (official statements)
- Noah's flood
- Pre-Adamites
- Procreation before the Fall
- Un-official primary sources on evolution
FAIR web site
| Evolution links to FAIR |
- FAIR Topical Guide: Evolution FAIR link
- FAIR Topical Guide: Noah's flood FAIR link
- FAIR Topical Guide: Science and Religion FAIR link
- Trent D. Stephens, "Evolution and Latter-day Saint Theology: The Tree of Life and DNA," paper given at the 2003 FAIR Conference. FAIR link
External links
| Evolution links |
- Eyring-L FAQ: Evolution off-site
- Michael R. Ash, "The Mormon Myth of Evil Evolution," Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 35:4 (Winter 2002): 19–38. PDF link
- Robert R. Bennett, "Science vs. Mormonism: The Dangers of Dogmatism and Sloppy Reading, Review of Farewell to Eden: Coming to Terms with Mormonism and Science by Duwayne R. Anderson," FARMS Review 18/2 (2006): 1–43. off-site PDF link wiki
- Donald Q. Cannon, Larry E. Dahl, and John W. Welch, "The Restoration of Major Doctrines through Joseph Smith: The Godhead, Mankind, and the Creation," Ensign (January 1989): 27–33. off-site
- A. Kent Christiansen, webpage with letter to and from David O. McKay on subject of Church's official position. off-site
- Richard F. Haglund, Jr., "Science and Religion: A Symbiosis," Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 8:3–4 (Autumn/Winter 1973): 23–37. off-site
- Duane E. Jeffery [Jeffrey in original], "Seers, Savants and Evolution: The Uncomfortable Interface," Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 8:3–4 (Autumn/Winter 1973): 41–69. off-site PDF link
- Jeffrey E. Keller, "Discussion Continued: The Sequel to the Roberts/Smith/Talmage Affair," Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 15:1 (Spring 1982): 79–98. off-site
- Edward L. Kimball, "A Dialogue with Henry Eyring," Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 8:3–4 (Autumn/Winter 1973): 99–108. off-site
- Morris S. Petersen, "Do we know how the earth’s history as indicated from fossils fits with the earth’s history as the scriptures present it?," Ensign (September 1987): 27. off-site, off-site
- Frank B. Salisbury, "The Church and Evolution: A Brief History of Official Statements, Review of Mormonism and Evolution: The Authoritative LDS Statements by William E. Evenson and Duane E. Jeffery," FARMS Review 18/1 (2006): 307–311. off-site PDF link wiki
- Frank B. Salisbury, "Creation by Evolution? Review of Evolution and Mormonism: A Quest for Understanding by Trent D. Stephens," FARMS Review 18/1 (2006): 313–319. off-site PDF link wiki
- Richard Sherlock, "Mormonism and Intelligent Design," FARMS Review 18/2 (2006): 45–81. off-site PDF link wiki
- Richard E. Sherlock and Jeffrey E. Keller, "'We Can See No Advantage to a Continuation of the Discussion': The Roberts/Smith/Talmage Affair," Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 13:3 (Fall 1980): 63–78. off-site
- William Lee Stokes, "An Official Position," Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 12:3 (Winter 1979): 90–92. off-site
- Clayton M. White and Mark D. Thomas, "On Balancing Faith in Mormonism with Traditional Biblical Stories: The Noachian Flood," Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 40:3 (Fall 2007): 85–110. PDF link
- Michael F. Whiting, "Lamarck, Giraffes, and the Sermon on the Mount (Review of Using the Book of Mormon to Combat Falsehoods in Organic Evolution by Clark A. Peterson)," FARMS Review of Books 5/1 (1993): 209–222. off-site PDF link
Printed material
| Evolution printed works |
- William E. Evenson and Duane E. Jeffrey, Mormonism and Evolution: The Authoritative LDS Statements (Draper, Utah: Greg Kofford Books, 2006), 1. ISBN 1589580931. off-site
- Duane E. Jeffery, "Noah’s Flood: Modern Scholarship and Mormon Traditions," Sunstone (Issue #134) (October 2004): 27–45. off-site
- Boyd K. Packer, "The Law and the Light," in Jacob through Words of Mormon: to Learn with Joy: papers from the Fourth Annual Book of Mormon Symposium, edited by Monte S. Nyman and Charles D. Tate, (Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, distributed by Bookcraft, 1990), 1–31. ISBN 0884947343. ISBN 978-0884947349. GL direct link
- Trent D. Stephens, D. Jeffrey Meldrum, Forrest B. Peterson, Evolution and Mormonism: A Quest for Understanding (Salt Lake City, Utah: Signature Books, 2001), 1. ISBN 1560851422.
