189 - Is Evolution a Threat to Faith? | Church History Matters I Science & Religion Series

Church History Matters

Scripture Central

Religion & Spirituality:christianity, Christianity, Religion & Spirituality

4.9 • 2K Ratings

🗓️ 27 January 2026

⏱️ 85 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

How should Latter-day Saints think about evolution—and has that thinking changed over time? In this episode, hosts Casey Griffith and Scott Woodward explore why members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are uniquely positioned to engage the conversation between evolution and Christian faith without fear or false dichotomies. Drawing on LDS scripture, prophetic teachings, and historical context, Casey and Scott trace how Latter-day Saint perspectives on creation, science, and revelation have developed over time, and why ongoing revelation allows room for both faithful belief and scientific discovery. Rather than framing evolution as a threat, this conversation invites viewers into a more nuanced, faithful approach—one that embraces truth wherever it is found and models how believers can wrestle honestly with complex questions in a modern scientific world.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	What is the official position of the church on evolution?
0:04.0	I was kind of trained to avoid controversy, but it seems like that's what we swim it.
0:08.4	Like moths to the flame.
0:10.4	What's your doctrinal confidence level that evolution is true or false based on the scriptures?
0:14.8	If evolution is true, the church is false.
0:18.0	I was a little bit surprised to see that Elder McConkey, who, you know,
0:23.0	putting this in a talk called the Seven Deadly Heresies sounds like a direct condemnation.
0:27.5	Here's another one from Elder James E. Tamich, who was a member of the 12 and also a geologist.
0:32.4	He said, quote, evolution is true. Good luck trying to figure out how time works for God.
0:37.1	Do you and I see over and over again students who struggle in their faith.
0:41.2	If there is one scientific issue that has been hotly debated both within and outside the church
0:48.6	as possibly being in conflict with our religious views, it's... Hi, Scott Woodward. How are you doing?
0:57.6	So great, man.
0:58.8	Excited to talk today about a very controversial and marvelous topic.
1:07.5	Evolution.
1:08.3	Yeah, yeah.
1:09.3	We're not seeking controversy.
1:11.9	I mean, I don't think we started this just because we do like to talk about stuff
1:17.2	like this, but sometimes I feel guilty because in my early career, I was kind of trained
1:21.9	to avoid controversy, but it seems like that's what we swim in, right?
1:25.7	That's what we're like. Like mods to the flame.
1:28.9	Yeah, we are drawn to the controversies.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Scripture Central, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Scripture Central and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.