Creationism in Mormonism

Like other Christians, Mormons believe that "God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul."(Genesis 2)[1] Mormons believe that God created the world, everything on it, and everything in space beyond the earth.

There are differences, however, in the specifics of the process of the creation as believed by Mormons and as believed by most Christians and other Creationists.

Ex Nihilo Creation and Mormonism

Ex Nihilo comes from Latin and means "out of nothing." It is used by most creationists to mean that the world was created by God out of nothingness. Mormons, on the other hand, usually believe that create is simply a synonym for organize (Bruce R. McConkie, Mormon Doctrine). Essentially, Mormons are process theologians. Joseph Smith said, "Now the word create came from the word baurau, which does not mean to create out of nothing; it means to organize; the same as a man would organize materials out of a ship. Hence we infer that God had materials to organize the world out of chaoes--chaotic matter, which is element, and in which dwells all the glory. Element had an existence from the time he had. The pure principles of element are principles which can never be destroyed; they may be organized and reorganized, but not destroyed. They had no beginning, and can have no end" (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, pp.350-352).

Mormons and Evolution

In general, many Mormons do not fully accept evolutionary theory. In 1909, an official pronouncement was made by then prophet Joseph F. Smith titled "The Origin of Man" which stated that Adam was the first man on the earth and was not the result of development from lower orders of life and that God created every form of life (Joseph F. Smith, Man: His Origin and Destiny). No prophet of the church has ever contradicted Joseph F. Smith and most speak of evolution in negative tones, but there are no recent official statements of church doctrine on this topic.

Many practicing Mormons and leaders, like other Christians, attempt to reconcile part or all of evolutionary theory with official religious doctrine and scripture. In particular, many Mormons believe in micro-evolution and in the process of natural selection. Mormons are generally science-friendly when scientific theory does not directly conflict with scripture.