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2011 1
Mormon Cosmogony:
Scientific and Scriptural Creation Accounts
UES Gospel Study Group
Brent J. Belnap
OUR PLACE IN THE
UNIVERSE
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-wheel making 10,000
revolutions a minute. Man is a sick fly taking a
dizzy ride on it. Religion is the theory that the wheel
H. L. Mencken, 20th Century social critic and
freethinker
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LATTER-DAY COSMOLOGY
AND COSMOGONY
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worlds without number have I created; and I also created
them for mine own purpose; and by the Son I created them,
which is mine Only Begotten. . . . For behold, there are many
worlds that have passed away by the word of my power. And
there are many that now stand, and in-numerable are they unto
man; but all things are numbered unto me, for they are mine and
I know them. . . . The heavens, they are many, and they cannot
be numbered unto man; but they are numbered unto me, for they
are mine. And as one earth shall pass away, and the heavens
thereof even so shall another come; and there is no end to my
works, neither to my words. For behold, this is my work and my
glory to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life
Moses 1:33, 35, 37-39
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faith we understand that the worlds were
framed by the word of God, so that things which are
Hebrews 11:3
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which has power, dominion, and authority over all
things: by it they exist, by it they are upheld, by it
they are changed, or by it they remain, agreeably to
the will of God. Without it, there is no power, and
without power there could be no creation, nor
Lectures on Faith, 1:24
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wonder, majesty and glory: Angels move from place to place by virtue of
this power it is by reason of it that they are enabled to descend from
heaven to earth; . . . the whole visible creation, as it now exists, is the effect
of faith It was faith by which it was framed, and it is by the power of faith
that it continues in its organized form, and by which the planets move round
their orbits and sparkle forth their glory: . . . As faith, then, is the principle by
which the heavenly hosts perform their works, and by which they enjoy all
their felicity, we might expect to find it set forth in a revelation from God as
the principle upon which his creatures, here below, must act, in order, to
obtain the felicities enjoyed by the saints in the eternal world, and that when
God would undertake to raise up men for the enjoyment of himself, he would
teach them the necessity of living by faith, and the impossibility there was of
their enjoying the blessedness of eternity without it, seeing that all the
blessings of eternity are the effects of faith.
Lectures on Faith, 7:4-6
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been worlds like this, and . . . there never will be a
time when there will not be worlds organized and
Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, 8:81
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into existence, and undergoing changes and passing
through the same experience we are passing through.
. . . and every earth, and the people thereof, in their
turn and time, receive all that we receive, and pass
Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, 14:71-72
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baptized with water, will be baptized by fire and the
Holy Ghost, and by-and-by will be prepared for the
Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, 8:83
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scale of the universe, does not desire to keep pace
with it? . . . O man, remember the future destiny and
glory of the earth, and secure thine everlasting
inheritance upon the same, that when it shall be
glorious, thou shalt
Orson Pratt, Journal of Discourses, 1:333-34
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kingdoms; for there is no space in
the which there is no kingdom; and there is no kingdom in which there is no space, either
a greater or a lesser kingdom. And unto every kingdom is given a law; and unto every
law there are certain bounds also and conditions. All beings who abide not in
those conditions are not justified. . . . He comprehendeth all things, and all things are
before him, and all things are round about him; and he is above all things, and in all
things, and is through all things, and is round about all things; and all things are by him,
and of him, even God, forever and ever. And . . . he hath given a law unto all things, by
which they move in their times and their seasons; And their courses are fixed, even the
courses of the heavens and the earth, which comprehend the earth and all the planets.
And they give light to each other in their times and in their seasons, in their minutes, in
their hours, in their days, in their weeks, in their months, in their years all these
are one year with God, but not with man. The earth rolls upon her wings, and
the sun giveth his light by day, and the moon giveth her light by night, and the stars also
give their light, as they roll upon their wings in their glory, in the midst of the power of
God. Unto what shall I liken these kingdoms, that ye may understand? Behold, all these
are kingdoms, and any man who hath seen any or the least of these hath seen God
moving
Doctrine and Covenants 88:36-39, 41-47
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corruptible thing, both of man, or of the
beasts of the field, or of the fowls of the heavens, or
of the fish of the sea, that dwells upon all the face of
the earth, shall be consumed; And also that of
element shall melt with fervent heat; and all things
shall become new, that my knowledge and glory
may dwell upon all the
Doctrine and Covenants 101:24-25
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day when the
Lord shall come, he shall reveal all things Things
which have passed, and hidden things which no man
knew, things of the earth, by which it was made, and
the purpose and the end thereof Things most
precious, things that are above, and things that are
beneath, things that are in the earth, and upon the
Doctrine and Covenants 101:32-34
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hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have
entered into the heart of man, the things which God
hath prepared
1 Corinthians 2:9
COSMOGONY:
CREATION ACCOUNTS
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Quran, Sura 51:48
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creatio ex nihilo
creatio ex materia
ex nihilo nihil fit
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made by him; men were made by
him; all things were made by him, and through him,
and of him. . . . Man was also in the beginning with
God. Intelligence, or the light of truth, was
not created or made, neither indeed can be. . . . The
elements are eternal, and spirit and element,
inseparably connected, receive a fulness
Doctrine and Covenants 93:10, 29, 33
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Genesis 1-2 Creation Account
Day 1: heaven, earth, waters, light/darkness
Day 2: firmament divided from waters
Day 3: waters, dry land, vegetation
Day 4: lights in firmament: sun/moon/stars
Day 5: sea creatures, fowls
Day 6: cattle, creeping things, beasts, mankind
Day 7: Sabbath
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Temple Creation Account
organize world
Day 2: divide seas and earth
Day 3: divide light from darkness
Day 4: all manner of vegetation
Day 5: all manner of life: beasts, fowl, fishes,
insects, and all other forms of animal life
the Garden of Eden
Day 7: rest from labors for a season
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Science Creation Account
Big Bang
Basic Particles
Expansion
Star Formation
Galaxy Formation
Group, Cluster Formation
Ultimate fate:Big Freeze?
Big Crunch?
Big Rip?
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Science Creation Account
Earth:
Stellar nursery/presolar nebula
Protoplanetary disk
4.57 billion y/a: Earth formed
4.53 bya: Moon formed giant impact?
Primordial atmosphere/oceans
4 bya: first life may have appeared
3.5 bya: magnetic field established
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