The Search for Harmony: Essays on Science and Mormonism

The conservatives, science often seems to be at cross-purposes with God, as anthropologists dig up hominids, astronomers talk about the end of the universe, quantum physicists dismiss the possibility of prophecy, and genetic researchers produce offspring from a single parent. Traditionalists wonder where the divine order is in all of this.There was a time when Latter-day Saints seemed impervious to such theological conundrums. The assumption was that LDS teachings were scientific and that research would prove the truth of Mormonism. Books were written about "rational theology" and "Joseph Smith as scientist." Students at church schools celebrated Darwin's birthday without hint of controversy, believing that evolution confirmed eternal progression.In The Search for Harmony fifteen scholars document the striking reversal over the past half-century beginning with Joseph Fielding Smith's and James E. Talmage's clash over the age of the earth. Although the church sided with Talmage at the time, the membership eventually accepted Smith's views, and the rhetoric of other church leaders' sermons became increasingly hostile toward empiricism. Contributors suggest that this antagonism could be averted to the benefit of the church. They explain why in light of the details of both science and LDS theology.