Lessons on the Plan of Salvation
Lesson No. Fourteen
Fossils and the Doctrine of Creation
Introduction – The Falls of the Ohio River near Louisville Kentucky have one of the great fossil beds in all the world, dating approximately 400 million years ago. There are vast numbers of fossils of plants and animals that thrived in prehistoric waters at this location. The fact that these fossils exist causes many to wonder about the scriptural account of creation. I believe the existence of fossils can be reconciled with the Scripures.
The creation of the earth has three parts – The basics of what has been revealed are:
- The spirit creation – In the pre-earth existence we, as spirit children of Heavenly Parents, were begotten of Them. Also, in the pre-earth existence the spirit earth and spirits of all other life forms were created.
- The physical creation – Next came the creation of the physical earth and its preparation to sustain higher life as we now know it. Many preparatory life forms, including dinosaurs, and organic matter that is the source of our oil, gas, and coal deposits, were placed on the earth.
- The sanctification of the earth – This is the final part of the physical creation. Before Adam and Ever and other higher life forms were brought to the physical earth it was “sanctified” (Abraham 5:3) or elevated to an immortal condition. This resulted in the elimination of all prehistoric and preparatory life forms. They had accomplished their purpose which was to help prepare the earth as a suitable place for children of God to live while in mortality.
All higher life, culminating with Adam and Eve, that God put on the sanctified and immortal earth were also immortal and not subject to death. Everything was now in place so that Adam and Eve could choose to fall, death would result, and the plan of salvation would go forward.
The Prophet Joseph Smith reconciled the existence of fossils with the scriptures – In explaining the book of Revelation the Prophet taught important creation doctrine concerning the creation of the physical earth and what it means for God to “sanctify it”.
“We are to understand that as God made the world in six days, and on the seventh day he finished his work, and sanctified it, and also formed man out of the dust of the earth, even so, in the beginning of the seventh thousand years will the Lord God sanctify the earth, and complete the salvation of man…” (D&C 77: 12, emphasis added).
From this scripture we learn that the earth is to be sanctified both in the beginning and in the end of its temporal existence. In both cases the process of sanctification follows the same pattern. In the beginning, God “finished his work” and all preparatory life forms that could not abide a higher order were removed, but their prior existence is confirmed by the fossils that remain. The earth was then “sanctified” (D&C 77:12) and raised to a higher level in preparation for the arrival of Adam and Eve and other higher life forms.
In like manner, at the end of the earth’s temporal existence, those who cannot live in a higher order will be removed, and the earth will be sanctified and raised to a higher order to accomodate the Savior’s millennial reign.
Testimony – I believe the thoughts presented here are consistent with the doctrine of creation and the plan of salvation. However, I look forward to the time when all things will be revealed (see 2 Nephi 27:10-11) including a greater knowledge of the creation.
Furthermore, what has now been revealed about the creation is sufficient for us to understand that the creation is a necessary part of the plan of salvation, and that the plan of salvation is the greatest manifestation of the love our Heavenly Father has for his children.