Refuting and Correcting BYU’s False Doctrine on the Origin of Man #45 - The Second law of Thermodynamics

(by Dennis B. Horne)

Elder George R. Hill III, Formerly of the Seventy, excerpt from “Seek Ye Diligently”:

 

            The theory of evolution as presently taught posits that higher forms of life arose gradually from lower stages of living matter. Inheritable genetic changes in offspring are assumed to be spontaneous rather than the result of arranged or directed forces external to the system.

            This theory conflicts with a basic law of chemistry, the second law of thermodynamics, which states in part that it is not possible for a spontaneous process to produce a system of higher order than the system possessed at the beginning of the change.

Refuting and Correcting BYU’s False Doctrine on the Origin of Man #44 - Eve

(by Dennis B. Horne)

Note: Perhaps I shouldn’t have, but I used some sarcasm to make the point below:

 

            Poor confused Eve: according to BYU evolutionists her mother (or other ancestor) was an animal, evidently some kind of almost human ape or neanderthal, and not her resurrected Heavenly Mother. In Eve’s delusions about her state of existence in the garden of Eden, having partaken of the forbidden fruit and listened to Adam (her husband) prophesy under the power of the Holy Spirit, “heard all these things and was glad”—so she lied and said: “Were it not for our transgression we never should have had seed, and never should have known good and evil, and the joy of our redemption, and the eternal life which God giveth unto all the obedient” (Moses 5:10-11). Having got everything wrong, and not understanding that she was a product of organic evolution, “Eve blessed the name of God, and they made all things known unto their sons and their daughters.” I assume from all of this that the BYU biologists (and also the feminists) are ashamed of Eve for not knowing as much as they do about how she was created and lived; after all, she only heard it from God Himself.

President Ezra Taft Benson’s Special Witness of Jesus Christ

[Readers desiring to obtain their own hardback copies of volume one of I Know He Lives: How 13 Special Witnesses Came to Know Jesus Christ can find copies on sale here  Softbound copies can be purchased here, on sale. An ebook (Kindle) edition is available on Amazon here, for cheap. The Amazon page also includes the Introduction and first chapter of volume one for free.]

(by Dennis B. Horne)

  

There have been many in this dispensation who have seen Him.

As one of those special witnesses so called in this day,

I testify to you that He lives.

  

            “I cannot recall a time that I did not believe in Jesus Christ,” President Ezra Taft Benson said. “It seems that the reality of His life, death, and resurrection has always been a part of me. I was reared in a home by faithful parents who earnestly believed in and testified of Christ, for which I am most grateful.”[1] Elder Benson’s father, George T. Benson Jr., the grandson of Apostle Ezra T. Benson, brought a beautiful influence into the Benson home located in the small town of Whitney, Idaho. “When my own father went on a mission, . . .” Elder Benson said, “There came into that home a spirit of missionary work that has never left it, . . .”[2]

 

Refuting and Correcting BYU’s False Doctrine on the Origin of Man #43 - Scripture Study Aids included with the Standard Works

 (by Dennis B. Horne)

             While it is true that the Bible study aids, such as the dictionary, are not canonized scripture,[1] they are still purposely published with the scriptures. I rhetorically ask—would the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve include the (thoroughly revised and corrected) dictionary with the canonized scriptures if they didn’t approve of the doctrine it taught? I think not. I also think it foolish to believe otherwise, as Ben Spackman does. On this question, Elder Boyd K. Packer wrote: “Only the scriptural text itself is recognized as scripture. All the other materials were included to be of help to Church members in their study of the scriptures. . . . All that went into it was read and approved by the Brethren.”[2]

            One sign that solid work was done on the Bible Dictionary is indicated by how few substantial changes were made in it when it was reviewed for the updated 2013 edition of the scriptures. The chapter summary for the verses (2 Nephi 2:22-25) disputed by the biologists only says, “Adam fell that men might be”—but that says everything. The chapter summary for Moses 3 also says a lot: “God created all things spiritually before they were naturally upon the earth—He created man, the first flesh, upon the earth.”

Refuting and Correcting BYU’s False Doctrine on the Origin of Man #42 - An Apostolic Reading Committee Halts Elder B. H. Roberts’s Book Teaching Some False Doctrines

(by Dennis B. Horne) 

            The below are comments given by an internal reading committee made up of members of the Quorum of the Twelve in 1929, regarding questionable doctrinal assertions made in Elder B. H. Roberts’s book manuscript, The Truth, The Way, The Life. These comments, made by the committee in their official responses to their reading of Elder Roberts’s book, are an exceptional example of the work done by these internal Church reading (or early “correlation”-type) committees. Because Elder Roberts would not revise his book in conformity with their wishes, it was not published as originally planned by the Church and desired by Elder Roberts. Then, in the early 1990s, a group of scholars at Brigham Young University reviewed the recently declassified work and its history, and published it with their commentary and the reading committee’s comments as well. Two papers were prepared by the reading committee, one titled, “Doctrinal points questioned by the Committee which read the Manuscript of Elder B. H. Roberts, entitled—The Truth, The Way, The Life.” and the other “List of Points on Doctrine in Question by the Committee in Relation to B.H. Roberts’s Ms.” There were also notes included of a report made by the chairman of the committee, Elder George Albert Smith, to their Quorum President, Rudger Clawson. The committee was made up of George Albert Smith, Joseph Fielding Smith, David O. McKay, Stephen L Richards, and Melvin J. Ballard. For a complete review of this committee’s work, see B. H. Roberts, The Truth, The Way, The Life: An Elementary Treatise on Theology, John W. Welch, ed. (Provo, Utah: BYU Studies, 1994). The following selected items are taken from this publication, the reading committee’s comments on Roberts’s statements coming from the footnotes. Page numbers are given after each excerpt. (See also James B. Allen, “The Story of The Truth, The Way, The Life,” BYU Studies 33, no. 4 [1993], 691-741.)

            Other doctrines are considered and commented on besides evolution and the origin of man, but those were among the main issues that were objected to as Elder Roberts set them forth wrong in his book:

Refuting and Correcting BYU’s False Doctrine on the Origin of Man #41 - A Purpose of Apostles

(by Dennis B. Horne) 

            The below material is presented to help readers decide for themselves if the Lord allows His Prophets and Apostles to continually mislead the church by teaching false doctrine on the origin of man, instead of the true doctrine of the BYU biologists teaching evolution. We must ask ourselves if the doctrine of the origin of man—the origin of Adam and Eve—is to be taught to the Church by the BYU Biology Department and BYUSQ, or if it comes via Church leaders that hold the keys of the Kingdom.

            But first I quote from comments I noticed on the liberal-dissident blog “By Common Consent” when evolution was being discussed:

“With all due respect to Russell Nelson as a human being – I suspect he knows very little (as do most people) about evolutionary biology. His ignorance is most apparent with that “explosion in a printing shop” comment. That’s not an uncommon argument from creationists and ID folks. It makes absolutely no sense and displays a lack of knowledge of the natural and life sciences. Now, it is perfectly fine if Nelson and company want to have those views, but to stand up at the pulpit or pen an article in the Ensign as a leader of the church bears the weight of authority when, frankly, they do not have the authority to speak on those topics.”

President Spencer W. Kimball’s Special Witness of Jesus Christ

[Readers desiring to obtain their own hardback copies of volume one of I Know He Lives: How 13 Special Witnesses Came to Know Jesus Christ can find copies on sale here  Softbound copies can be purchased here, on sale. An ebook (Kindle) edition is available on Amazon here, for cheap. The Amazon page also includes the Introduction and first chapter of volume one for free.]

 (by Dennis B. Horne) 

I want to add to these testimonies of these prophets

my testimony that I know that He lives.

And I know that we may see him.

            “Just the other day one of my brethren came into the office to talk to me intimately and confidentially. After closing the door, he said, ‘Spencer, your father was a prophet. He made a prediction that has literally come to pass, and I want to tell you about it.’ He continued, ‘Your father talked with me. . . . You were just a little boy and you were sitting there, milking the cows, and singing to them as you milked. Your father turned to me and said, ‘brother, that boy, Spencer, is an exceptional boy. He always tries to mind me, whatever I ask him to do. I have dedicated him to be one of the mouthpieces of the Lord—the Lord willing. You will see him some day as a great leader. I have dedicated him to the service of God, and he will become a mighty man in the Church.’”[1] So related Elder Kimball at the beginning of his first General Conference address.