Thursday, March 22, 2007

The Search for Harmony: Essays on Science and Mormonism

The following book is now online:

The Search for Harmony
Essays on Science and Mormonism
GENE A. SESSIONS and
CRAIG J. OBERG, EDITORS
Essays on Mormonism Series No. 6

http://www.signaturebookslibrary.org/harmony/introduction.htm


To religious conservatives, science often seems to be at
cross-purposes with God--anthropologists digging up hominids,
astronomers talking about the universe coming to an end, quantum
physicists dismissing the possibility of prophecy, and genetic
researchers producing offspring from a single parent. Traditionalists
wonder where the divine order is in all of this.

Mormons were once confident that science would prove the "rationality"
of LDS theology. Books were written about "Joseph Smith as scientist"
and students at church schools celebrated Charles Darwin's birthday
without hint of controversy, believing that evolution confirmed the
Mormon doctrine of eternal progression.

The editors of this volume document the striking "retreat from
science" on the part of Latter-day Saints over the past three-quarters
of a century and suggest that this needless path could be averted to
the benefit of the church. They indicate how a friendlier relationship
might be established between science and religion.

1. Scientific Foundations of Mormon Theology
2. The New Biology and the Mormon Theology
3. The 1911 Evolution Controversy and Brigham Young University
4. Inner Dialogue: James Talmage's Choice of Science as a Career, 1876-84
5. A Turbulent Spectrum: Mormon Reactions to the Darwinist Legacy
6. The B. H. Roberts/Joseph Fielding Smith/James E. Talmage Affair
7. Harvey Fletcher and Henry Eyring: Men of Faith and Science
8. Agreeing to Disagree: Henry Eyring and Joseph Fielding Smith
9. Seers, Savants, and Evolution: The Uncomfortable Interface
10. Organic Evolution and the Bible
11. Fossils and the Scriptures
12. Adam's Navel
13. Astrophysics and Mormonism: Parallel Paths to Truth
14. Science: A Part of or Apart from Mormonism?
15. Eternal Progression: The Higher Destiny
16. Science and Mormonism: A Review Essay
Epilogue: An Official Position

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