Writing in
1924, Frederick J. Pack (1875-1938), who was a professor of geology at BYU,
wrote the following wherein he used geology and other sciences to appreciate
and expand one’s knowledge of the scriptural accounts of creation:
Manner of
Creation. The
Biblical narrative is exceedingly brief; its details furnish no clue of the
manner in which Deity wrought his purposes. The inference is warranted,
however, that whenever God spoke, His commands were obeyed. The statement “Let
there be light; and there was light” is suggestive of this conclusion.
Moreover, the record leaves no room for doubt that Deity was master of the
situation and that the results were in harmony with His will.
The geological record, on the other hand, is
replete with illustrations of the manner in which the earth reached its present
state of existence. According to the most widely accepted hypothesis of earth
origin, the material now comprising the planet on which we live is believed to
have been brought together from a pre-existing, fragmentary state, probably
derived from disrupted spheroidal massages. The processes of accretion were
orderly and in strict conformity with the laws of nature. Nothing occurred
fortuitously, or as the result of chance. During its early stages of growth the
earth was without an atmosphere or a hydrosphere—air or water. Gradually,
however, these two indispensable components were systematically added.
Widespread up and down movements of the earth’s crust changed the geography in
such a manner that parts of the sea bottom were slowly transformed into land
masses. At a later time the destructive action of frost, rain, and wind finally
converted a part of the rock surface into soil. Next came the appearance of
primitive life, first presumably, plants, followed by animals. Later these
primitive plants and animals were replaced by more and more advanced ones, each
of which left the record of its existence in the sediments of time.
The geological record comprises two long
lines of growth; one relates to the physical earth and the other to animals and
plants. Each line shows an almost endless series of progressive events and each
bears unmistakable evidence of evolutionary development.
Earth history, therefore, reveals the story
or an orderly progressive creation. It begins with an almost endless amount of
poorly specialized material, and from this unseemly mass it traces the
development of the earth, together with its animal and plant life, up to their
present state of existence. Briefly, earth history reveals the story of the
greatest miracle Deity has ever wrought—the creation of a highly specialized
world out of mass of vastly simpler materials.
Certain interpretation of the Biblical
account have pictured Deity in the role of Master Potter actually molding the
earth into form with His own hands. Adherents of this view sometimes insist
that God made the earth out of a condition of nothingness. Such opinions are,
of course, wholly imaginative and without foundation in record. It is far more reasonable
to believe that Deity’s creative ability is due to His mastery of the laws of
nature, and therefore, that by means of His super-intelligence he directed the
forces of natural law and thus brought the earth into existence. (Frederick J.
Pack, Science and Belief in God: A
Discussion of Certain Phases of Science and their Bearing Upon Belief in the
Supreme Being [Salt Lake City: Deseret News, 1924], 251-53)
Elsewhere,
Pack offers the following cautious but hopeful qualification of the relationship
between science (here, geology and related fields) and Scripture:
It is, of course, impossible to draw sharp
lines of comparison between two records that were made from such widely
divergent viewpoints. They were not written for the same purpose nor in the
same language. One of them stresses that God is the creator of the universe and
the other emphasizes the manner in which the work was accomplished, yet in
different languages and with different intents they unite in telling the same story
off the Master Builder and His Product. (Ibid., 260)
It is refreshing
to see that, as far back as 1924, LDS experts in various sciences did not view
science and religion as being in conflict, but that science can add to one’s
appreciation of religion and vice versa.
