The 1911 Evolution Controversy at BYU-Walk Down Memory Lane

[_Fence Sitter]

Probably most of you here are aware of this tidbit from the past, but for those of you who don't know about this or even those who do but can't remember the details, here is a short essay by Gary Bergera written in 1985 about BYU, evolution, higher criticism, Joseph F. Smith & censorship. It is a quick read.

Enjoy

The 1911 Evolution Controversy at Brigham Young University by
Gary James Bergera

[_Gadianton]

a hundred years later and BYU somehow managed to go backward from then.

[_Fence Sitter]

a hundred years later and BYU somehow managed to go backward from then.

I think BYU has moved forward, at least from the 1911 stance, in regards to teaching physical science that contradict Biblical timelines and creation stories, though I am certain there is an awareness of those conflicts by the faculty. I remember my geology professor stating emphatically at the beginning of the semester that he "would not be taking any religious questions."

On the other had, regarding Biblical criticism, that censorship seems alive and well to a certain extend. BYU fired the brilliant Biblical scholar David P. Wright in 1988 who was given three reasons for his dismissal.
1. That he believed (even though he did not teach it) the Book of Mormon was best explained as a 19th century text.
2. That he taught Biblical prophets generally spoke for their time and did not have in mind events far into the future.
3. And, he taught the he was skeptical of the historical accuracy of the Old Testament.

A few years later Phillip Barlow in his Mormons and the Bible (another victory for Satan in the title) observed:

Among LDS religious educators, historico-critical methods are discreetly appropriated by a minority, attacked by another minority, but often simply ignored, either because teachers are innocent of the [a stunning admission!], contemptuous of them, or because they believe their public use might cost them their jobs. See pg 161

20 years later we see Barlow's observations still hold at BYU in the failure to hire the eminently qualified David Bokovoy because he studied under David Wright.

I think Mormon's knowledge of the Bible in the 21st century is like being able to extensively explain Newton's work while simultaneously knowing nothing about Einstein.

[_Stem]

I think there were times in its history where the Church had opportunity to make strides forward. This story represents one fo them. The Church could have really made some moves forward, instead they stopped any notion of progress, right in its tracks.

It's been over 100 years and it feels to me like the Church is about where it was then, in many ways.

[_oliblish]

There is a new exhibit at the Bean Museum at BYU:

New Bean Museum exhibit explores evolution
https://news.byu.edu/news/new-bean-museum-exhibit-explores-evolution





I think this is encouraging.

[_Gadianton]

I partially agree, Fence Sitter. On the same page with Bible Scholarship, clearly, Bokovoy's story also reflects 100+ years of stagnation or worse on behalf of BYU. I say worse because grading on the curve with today's advancements.

As for evolution, I took biology elsewhere but I'd heard about the biology dept. standing up to the religion dept. On the other hand, I had a chemistry teacher who noted that radio-carbon dating was suspect in order to make the class feel better about the age of the earth. Also around the time I was there, another BYU Chemist published a piece in the Ensign saying that evolution runs contrary to thermodynamics. Unthinkable.

But the really interesting part to me was that in the article you cited, the three intellectuals in trouble weren't just teaching the age of the earth and saying "let's not get into it" they were going rogue and creating gospel theories to mach science. And even further, the delegate from SLC was partial to their cause, and tried to cover for them as much as he could! Imagine if L. Whitney Clayton had been that guy? For a few minutes, I was almost proud of my Mormon heritage. Imagine how things could have been different today: the Book of Mormon might be regarded as fiction, and those who maintain literal geography laughed at as the counterfactual mythology dictates that we never believed anything crazy like that. Mopologetics as we know it might never have come to be.