The Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ and Evolution is designed to help students reconcile faith in the Savior with scientific understanding of evolution. Published by BYU Life Sciences, the book affirms the Church’s neutral stance on evolution, corrects common misconceptions, and offers practical tools for bridging religion and science. In this interview, co-editor Jamie Jensen shares the book’s origins, purpose, and why this kind of reconciliation matters.
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???? This is part of a series on faith and evolution. Other interviews explore topics like Doctrine and Covenants 77 and the 1909/1925 First Presidency statements.
Table of Contents
- Origin and Purpose of the Book
- Institutional Context and Church Endorsement
- Faith, Doctrine, and Evolution
- Misconceptions and Student Questions
- Scripture and Context
- Broader Implications and Educational Value
- Final Reflections
Origin and Purpose of the Book
Why Was The Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ and Evolution Created?
Ultimately, the BYU evolution book was published to provide students with a tool to help them embrace truths discovered through science about the origins and history of modern-day diversity while maintaining a strong and unflappable testimony in the Savior Jesus Christ, His restored Gospel, and the Plan of Salvation.
For years, I have taught biology at BYU and watched students wrestle with evolution, sometimes for the first time in their lives—and how to reconcile it with the religious beliefs they hold dear.
I have seen them reach out, sometimes in desperation, for a bridge, for resources to help them overcome cognitive conflict, and for advice on adjusting their schemas to accommodate additional truths they are learning. At the beginning of my career here, I watched them struggle with a lack of readily available resources about this topic.
Don’t get me wrong, many amazing people who have come before me at BYU have worked hard to help students, but the resources were not necessarily easily accessible or compiled in one place. My lab (my students and graduate students) and I have worked hard to prepare a set of resources and a central location to host them. But our sphere of influence has been limited by our limited ability to reach all those who are seeking.
We set out to find the best experts.
Five and a half years ago, the editors of this book (myself included) were approached by BYU Studies to consider compiling an academic collection of essays that address both religious and scientific components of the evolution-religion complexity. We thought it was a great idea, and we set out to find the best experts in both religion and evolutionary science who shared a genuine desire to help students (and all members of the Church) find successful reconciliation.
Through a long and convoluted series of events, most of which had nothing to do with evolution and all of which were well beyond our control, we decided the best way to get this tool into the hands of students in the most efficient and accessible manner was to publish it through the BYU College of Life Sciences.
Institutional Context and Church Endorsement
Does BYU Publication Imply Church Endorsement?
It would be presumptuous of me to offer any inferences to members regarding the meaning of the publication venue. The Church has a neutral stance toward evolution (as it does toward DNA technologies, Alzheimer’s disease, or selective plant breeding, for example).
When I, as a BYU researcher, publish an article showing the success of a “flipped” classroom over a traditional classroom, it does not serve as an endorsement by the Church of “flipped classrooms”. It is simply the dissemination of truth, something that our Church values.
Scholars have worked intensely to ensure that all it contains is in harmony with the gospel.
This book should be seen as a publication by faithful religious and scientific scholars who have worked intensely to ensure that all it contains is in harmony with the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ.
That being said, The Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ and Evolution underwent rigorous editing and review by BYU leadership, so they are very aware of and okay with its content.
How Can Learning to Assess That Kind of Inference Help Students Better Evaluate Sources in Other Subjects?
This is one of the learning outcomes that we, as a University, strive to press upon our students. It’s what we call information literacy. We want our students to be able to judge the reliability of sources and consume information intelligently.
We encourage students to ask about the authors’ credentials.
We encourage students to ask about the authors’ credentials—do they have expertise in the subject about which they are speaking? Do they have biases or an agenda that might influence their communication?
The Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ and Evolution is a collection written by people who:
- Have deep expertise in their subject matter
- Have a solid testimony of the Restored Gospel
- Have values consistent with promoting readers’ testimonies
What Is the Church’s Current Position on Evolution?
The Church does not have an official position on evolution, or you could say, it has a “neutral” position.
Here is the latest from the Church:
The packet also included an entry from the 1992 publication The Encyclopedia of Mormonism, produced with Church leader approval, which explained that “the scriptures tell why man was created, but they do not tell how.
Church History Topics: Organic Evolution
In 2016, the Church’s youth magazine published articles on pursuing scientific truth. These articles reiterated that “the Church has no official position on the theory of evolution” and characterized it as a “matter for scientific study.”
“No stance” doesn’t mean we are free to deny scientific truth.
However, I think people misinterpret “no stance” to mean we are free to deny scientific truth.
The First Presidency reminded us:
Our religion is not hostile to real science. That which is demonstrated, we accept with joy.
Deseret Evening News December 17, 1910, part 1 p.3
For example, just because the Church is “neutral” or “takes no stance” on the science that says cigarette smoking causes lung cancer does not mean that we, as members, should feel equally justified in a pro- and con-stance toward smoking.
We follow good science.
In The Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ and Evolution, we tried to approach good science and good theology, offering readers the best evidence on both fronts to help them make an informed decision about evolution.
What Do the 1909 and 1925 First Presidency Statements Reveal About the Church’s View on Evolution Today?
Ah! Great question. I would refer you to the excellent and in-depth analysis of the 1909 and 1925 First Presidency Statements written by Dr. Ben Spackman, contained in the book. He does an excellent job of laying out the historical context and the accompanying assumptions underlying these statements. I would do it an injustice if I tried to summarize that here!
???? Stay tuned! An interview with Ben Spackman will be published later this year.
Faith, Doctrine, and Evolution
Does Accepting Evolution Undermine Core Gospel Principles?
Many of our theology-based authors did an excellent job of intertwining these gospel principles with sound science. I think I can speak for all the authors in saying that we do not see a fundamental conflict between the principles of the Fall, the Atonement, or any revealed truth, and the science of evolution as we understand it today.
In this book, we always put the truthfulness of the Gospel as our first and underlying assumption. Readers should walk away from this book with a strengthened testimony of the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ.
How Does This Book Go Beyond Affirming the Compatibility of Science and Faith to Help Students Live That Reconciliation?
I love this question. We wanted to offer practical ways to reconcile and options for viewing these epistemologies in harmony.
Religious Context
The book’s first section examines the religious context—what we know about Genesis, reading the scriptures in context, and understanding core doctrines.
Scientific Perspectives
The second section provides the scientific perspective on evolution—how science works, how evolution works, what evidence we have, and how humans fit into the evolutionary story.
Reconciliation Stories
The third section is key, though. We provide numerous stories of reconciliation. These authors offer practical ways to reconcile evolution with religious faith, and they bear testimony of their Savior and the Restored Gospel.
I sincerely hope that readers walk away with practical tools for reconciliation.
(Incidentally, I have already “beta tested” a few of these articles with students, and their responses were overwhelmingly positive. One student even came up to me and asked, “Where can I find more information like this?!”)
Misconceptions and Student Questions
What Are Common Latter-day Saint Misconceptions About Evolution and Faith?
I’ve found that most misconceptions fall into two main categories: misunderstandings about interpreting scripture and confusion about what evolution actually claims.
Misconceptions About Faith
From the “faith” side, the main misconceptions stem from a lack of understanding of religious epistemology and scriptural interpretation.
Through my research, I have worked with a variety of faiths, and I have learned that our members receive far less “training” or education in scriptural hermeneutics or even scriptural history.
On one hand, I love that our Church spends most of its time instructing the youth about the true principles we gain from reading the scriptures and living the Gospel.
Those are some of the big ones.
On the other hand, we spend far less time helping our youth understand the historical contexts of the Bible, the genres of each book, and even the history of the core principles of Christianity. This leads to some misconceptions about interpretation, about what “literal” actually means, and about how to read scriptures in context.
Misconceptions About Evolution
From the “evolution” standpoint, misconceptions abound—and understandably so. Evolution is a complicated scientific field fraught with many terms and theories, and many people never really got a thorough education in the subject.
This comes from a variety of causal factors, from high school teachers who may feel uncomfortable teaching it to self-exclusion from learning due to ideological concerns.
Common Latter-day Saint misconceptions about evolution include:
- Evolution is directional
- Humans are the “most advanced”
- Evolution is random
- Evolution explains the origin of life
- Humans come from monkeys
- Organisms can “choose” how they adapt.
I could keep going, but those are some big ones.
What Questions Do BYU Students Most Often Ask About Evolution?
By far, the most common question that BYU students ask me is:
- “What about Adam and Eve? Where do they fit in?”
Several of the articles in this book touch on Adam and Eve (see, for example, Frederick, Spackman—“(No) Death…”, Ogden, Bybee). However, given that there is no revelation that specifically answers this question and there is no scientific way to test for Adam and Eve, all we can do is offer possible interpretations.
Our goal is not to convince you that one explanation is “right”. There is no “right” in this case. When my students ask this, I offer them four or five different possibilities and then prompt them to think about their own reconciliations of this.
But we do affirm in this book what the Church affirms in the 1925 First Presidency Statement, that “Adam, our great progenitor, “the first man,” was, like Christ, a pre-existent spirit, and, like Christ, he took upon him an appropriate body, the body of a man, and so became a “living soul.”
How Is Evolution Taught in the BYU Life Sciences Curriculum?
Evolution is taught in its full scientific splendor. You will find all the scientific content taught in an evolutionary biology course at Harvard or Yale in a biology classroom at BYU.
Reconciliatory Teaching Framework
However, we also explicitly bathe the content taught in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. One of the BYU AIMS is that our courses will be “spiritually strengthening”. We take this very seriously in the College of Life Sciences.
We will teach evolution in a way that allows students to maintain their faith (and hopefully strengthen it). We use a reconciliatory framework to help students do this. (This framework has been tested extensively in my lab for its success in promoting scientific understanding and its non-effect or even boosting effect on student religiosity.)
How Does the Book Relate to the BYU Evolution Packet?
The book includes an article by Dr. Ben Spackman that specifically addresses each of the statements currently included in the BYU Evolution Packet.
We adhere to this packet in asserting the Church’s position on evolution. However, we also include more current statements about evolution, which are highlighted in the new Church History Topics essay on “Organic Evolution.”
Scripture and Context
How Does the Ancient Context of Genesis Affect Faith and Science Discussions?
As a non-expert in the field of ancient scripture, my best answer is to refer you to several articles in our book that go in depth on answers to this exact question.
- “From Biology Major to Religion Professor.” Specifically, I would recommend starting with Dr. Josh Sears’ article.
- “The Genesis Creation Account in Its Ancient Context.” Then, I would read Dr. Avram R. Shannon’s article.
- “When Worlds Collided.” I also highly recommend Dr. Kyle Greenwood’s approach in his article. Dr. Greenwood is a renowned theologian who is not a member of our Church but has deep expertise in scriptural interpretation.
I can testify that as I have learned more about this by reading these specific articles, my testimony has been strengthened tremendously. I have found a deep sense of peace in pursuing my scientific curiosity about evolution.
Broader Implications and Educational Value
Why Does It Matter Whether Religious Students Engage Seriously With Evolution?
Great question. One of the most common questions people in the Church ask me is, “Why does it matter? Why do you care so much?” This is the driving force behind my opening article in the book, “Accepting Evolution: Why Does It Matter?”
We make better decisions when we accept truth.
I won’t restate what I said in there—go read it—but I’ll give you a teaser:
- We make better decisions for ourselves and the good of humanity when we accept truth.
If I knew that eating bacon every morning was bad for me because a doctor told me so, but I didn’t accept it, I’m not likely to change my eating habits. But I will suffer the consequences of my behavior, whether I accept it or not.
If I’ve been told that antibiotic abuse breeds antibiotic-resistant bacteria because of the principles of natural selection, but don’t accept this as accurate, I’m not likely to be selective in my antibiotic use. But I will suffer the consequences of MRSA or C-diff whether I accept it or not.
As Church members, we embrace all truth and believe it will be circumscribed into one great whole.
So, it matters to me that students learn and engage, rather than regurgitate evolutionary understanding.
How Does the Book Help Students Grow Comfortable With Uncertainty?
Rarely, at least in a science class, do we talk about the religious aspects of this intersection. I think this is where our book offers a unique tool. Most of the resources we have created previously are focused on science.
The Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ and Evolution offers an accurate and in-depth treatise of the religious and scientific sides of the intersection by experts in each field, making it a more complete resource for students.
How Can Faith–Science Reconciliation Apply to AI and Future Technologies?
This is a fascinating and important question. I think the principles in this book definitely apply to other areas where students may need to harmonize faith and science. We demonstrate how to gather expertise on both faith and science to reconcile evolution with religion. These same principles can be applied elsewhere.
In my article “Accepting Evolution: Why Does It Matter?” I outline a few reasoning patterns that help reconcile these two epistemologies (science and religion). You can read more in-depth about these in a recent publication by my colleague, Dr. Seth Bybee, and me: Let’s Talk About Science and Religion, available at Deseret Book.
Among these reasoning patterns are understanding that science is agnostic (without belief), avoiding placing God in gaps in our scientific understanding, and being comfortable with uncertainty, recognizing its power to move us forward in discovering truth.
I firmly believe, as President Russell M. Nelson stated:
All truth is part of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Whether truth comes from a scientific laboratory or by revelation from the Lord, it is compatible.
Russell M. Nelson during the dedication of the BYU Life Sciences Building, April 9, 2015.
Final Reflections
What Do You Hope All Readers Take Away From the BYU Evolution Book?
Ultimately, I hope readers will come away with a greater understanding of scientific truths and a greater testimony of Jesus Christ and His Restored Gospel.
I hope that readers will keep their minds and spirits open to receiving truth, whether it comes from science or revelation.
Did you enjoy this article?
About the Interview Participant
Jamie L. Jensen is a professor of biology at Brigham Young University and co-editor of The Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ and Evolution. She holds a PhD in Biology with an emphasis in Biological Science Education from Arizona State University and an MS in Zoology from BYU. Her research centers on helping students reconcile faith and science through culturally competent teaching practices. Dr. Jensen has received multiple awards for excellence in teaching and scholarship, and she has presented at institutions including the Smithsonian, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, and the National Association of Biology Teachers.
Further Reading
- What Does D&C 77 Say About the Age of the Earth?
- What are the First Presidency’s Evolution Statements?
- Can Faith and Science Coexist in the Search for Truth?
- What Did Brigham Young Teach About Adam and God?
- Did Hugh Nibley Fake His Notes?
BYU Evolution Book Resources
- The Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ and Evolution (BYU Life Sciences) [PDF]
- New Book (and New Essays!) on the Church, Science, and Evolution (benspackman.com)
- New Book on the Gospel and Evolution Published by BYU (Mormonomics)
- BYU Studies, Evolution, and Faith: Some Clarification (benspackman.com)
- Another Mistaken BYU Harmonize-Evolution-with-Doctrine Movement (Truth Will Prevail)
One reply on “What Should Latter-day Saints Know About BYU’s Evolution Book?”
I recently finished reading “The Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ and Evolution.” As a retired geology professor, the book addresses issues that I have explored for 50 years. As expected, the book makes a compelling case for accepting evolution. The doctrinal/theological case is less well developed. Although argued against in some places, it appears that several of the contributors hold concordist views (i.e., an actual Adam integrated within human evolution). I find that this view creates numerous troubling questions. What is the status of Adam’s (and Eve’s) parents? Are they fully human? If so, is salvation available to them or are they as those who live without the law “saved.” If they are not fully human, this would suggest that the parents and children are fundamentally and profoundly different from each other which is inconsistent with evolution in which parent and children are the same (e.g., “monkeys do not birth human”). Additionally, if all humans are descendants of Adam and Eve, what was the fate of Adam and Eve fellow hominids of their families (and communities) into which they were born? I have resolved this for myself by maintaining non-concordist view that Adam and Eve are not actual beings and that the early chapter of Gensis say nothing about the science of the physical world but rather describes its authors thoughts on spiritual relationship between (and among) God, humans, time, and the cosmos. If an actual Adam is a requirement of our faith. I am forced to agree with Joseph Fielding Smith and his protégé Burce R. McConkie that evolution is a heresy. From my own experience it is difficult to fully participate when one’s co-religionists view them and call them out as a heretic.