The Infinite Creation: Unifying Science and Latter-day Saint Theology

by Trent Dee Stephens

In a speech given at BYU in 1981, Elder Bruce R. McConkie, of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, described what he called, The Three Pillars of Eternity, "The three pillars of eternity, the three events, preeminent and transcendent above all others, are the creation, the fall, and the atonement. These three are the foundations upon which all things rest. Without any one of them all things would lose their purpose and meaning, and the plans and designs of Deity would come to naught." Elder McConkie said of these three pillars, "If we can gain an understanding of them, then the whole eternal scheme of things will fall into place, and we will be in a position to work out our salvation. If we do not build our house of salvation on a true foundation, we will never make the spiritual progress that will prepare us to enter the Eternal Presence." In a 1991 Ensign, article, the then apostle, Elder Russell M. Nelson, stated, "…before one can comprehend the atonement of Christ, one must first understand the fall of Adam. And before one can comprehend the fall of Adam, one must first understand the Creation. These three pillars of eternity relate to one another." As we seek to understand each of those three pillars of eternity, as admonished by our now President Nelson, we can conclude that the first pillar is the eternal or infinite Creation, the second is the eternal or infinite Fall, and the third is the eternal or infinite Atonement.

Kindle Edition

Published July 17, 2020

Reviews

[Roo Phillips · Rating 2 out of 5]

Stephens has a PhD in anatomy. His specialty is on the birth defects caused by the drug thalidomide. As such, he is closer in understanding the science of biology, but quite removed from physics and cosmology. His strengths in biology definitely show as he spends much more time and goes into much more depth and far less speculation when discussing topics such as organic evolution (a bit technical at times). However, there are some chapters that attempt to address spiritual unknowns and scriptural passages by means of astrophysics, quantum physics, and cosmology. Here, Stephens speculation runs rampant, and his science is atrocious. Unfortunately, he treats these sections as though they hold reasonable explanations to gospel topics, and misleads the lay reader by suggesting that there is substance to his (very) wild ideas. Take those chapters more as science fiction and focus more on the biological ones.

An example of simply incorrect discussion on physics, and how Stephens turns that into misleading gospel speculation:
"neither Hawking nor anyone else knows anything about dark matter other than it apparently has gravity. It is certainly, at least at present, not part of the visible universe (thus the term “dark”) and, therefore, cannot be assumed to either have begun at the time of the Big Bang or to be controlled by the laws that originated at the Big Bang and govern the visible universe...
Is it possible that this Kae-e-vanrash, or ke-ʹeban-raš, this grand keystone as revealed to Abraham and taught by him to the Egyptians, is another name for “dark matter,” which interconnects and governs all the heavenly bodies?"

I appreciate that he is trying to break down barriers to science for people that are more spiritually inclined and less scientifically literate. There is a lot more work to be done there. However, there are certainly more careful people engaged in doing this work than Stephens presents here. For example, you might follow the work of Ben Spackman (benspackman.com). As most who write about marrying science and religion will say, truth is truth. It's just that some definitely handle the task much more carefully than others.

[Neil Horne · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is primarily written for those who are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and yet, believe very strongly in the secular sciences as they now are. There were parts of this book that were great and do a good job discussing the creation in the restored gospel's light, however, many other parts of the book I feel have major doctrinal mis-steps. The book seems to favor secular science over doctrinal teachings by general authorities in several areas, such as evolution. There is even one part in the book notably where the author writes (paraphrasing) that if science and the religion disagree in an area that we should side with science because science is fact and the word of God can be misinterpreted or misunderstood. Rather, it should be the opposite of this! Science is still developing and coming to new information, but the facts given by God in the revealed scriptures are where safety lies and are we should trust: they are eternal truth. Each of us should strive to come to the correct understanding of what the scriptures mean and teach and then live by those tenants and doctrines wholeheartedly. Because of statements such as these and the way that some "controversial" scientific ideas are handled (for example, the author does not adequately portray what general authorities and the scriptures teach on the other non-secular side in many instances, such as with evolution), I cannot recommend this book to honest truth seekers who seek to harmonize many of the tenets of the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ with certain elements of science.

[Gene Grant · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reconciling biology and Church Doctrine

This book provides an excellent and faith promoting view of modern biology and other related fields. The author has the expertise and credentials to be persuasive and the wisdom to reconcile rather reject faith and science. A good argument for the necessity of both.

[Lynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mostly above my science comprehension level, but still very thought provoking. The book definitely expanded my ideas of creation and deepened my faith in a Divine Creator.