View source for Brigham Young on creation

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==Question: Was Brigham Young a "young earth creationist"?==
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===Whether or not a prophet knows how old the earth is says nothing about whether he can teach the truths about Jesus Christ necessary for salvation===

It is claimed that Brigham Young was a "young earth creationist" ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Young_earth_creationism YEC]).  This is someone who believes the earth was created in the recent past, usually 6-7,000 years ago, based upon a literal and fundamentalist reading of Genesis. For example, critic George D. Smith writes that
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Brigham Young ridiculed geologists who "tell us that this earth has been in existence for thousands and millions of years."<ref name = "gds">{{CriticalWork:Smith:Nauvoo Polygamy|pages=277}}</ref>
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*Did Brigham Young ridicule geologists who believe that the earth has existed for millions of years?
*Was Brigham a young earth creationist?
*Does Brigham knowledge (or lack of) regarding modern science challenge his status as a prophet?

{{GLS-Nauvoo Polygamy-FARMS-Long}}

The meaning of the passage is completely reversed when viewed in context. Brigham was ''not'' mocking those who accept an earth greater than six thousand years old&mdash;he is giving this idea his provisional approval and insists that while young earth creationism (as we would call it) may be a problem for traditional Christians, it is not a problem for the Latter-day Saints. An examination of the passage cited by George D. Smith (displayed in <span style="color:blue">blue</span>) in context clearly shows this:

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You take, for instance, our geologists, and they <span style="color:blue">tell us that this earth has been in existence for thousands and millions of years.</span> They think, and they have good reason for their faith, that their researches and investigations enable them to demonstrate that this earth has been in existence as long as they assert it has; and they say, "If the Lord, as religionists declare, made the earth out of nothing in six days, six thousand years ago, our studies are all vain; but by what we can learn from nature and the immutable laws of the Creator as revealed therein, we know that your theories are incorrect and consequently we must reject your religions as false and vain; we must be what you call infidels, with the demonstrated truths of science in our possession; or, rejecting those truths, become enthusiasts in, what you call, Christianity."
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In these respects we differ from the Christian world, for our religion will not clash with or contradict the facts of science in any particular...whether the Lord found the earth empty and void, whether he made it out of nothing or out of the rude elements; or '''whether he made it in six days or in as many millions of years, is and will remain a matter of speculation in the minds of men unless he give revelation on the subject.''' If we understood the process of creation there would be no mystery about it, it would be all reasonable and plain, for there is no mystery except to the ignorant.<br>
{{JDfairwiki|author=Brigham Young|vol=14|disc=16|start=115|end=116|date=May 14, 1871}} {{ea}}
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Whether or not a prophet knows how old the earth is says nothing about whether he can teach the truths about Jesus Christ necessary for salvation.

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However, in this case, some critics have twisted the documentary sources to make Brigham Young say something that is completely the opposite of what he intended.

For example, George D. Smith writes that

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Brigham Young ridiculed geologists who "tell us that this earth has been in existence for thousands and millions of years."<ref name="gds"></ref>
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G. D. Smith quotes ''Journal of Discourses'', 12:271, for this assertion. He gets the citation wrong (it is at 14:115) but he might benefit from reading 12:271—it provides Brigham’s insistence that plural marriage had little to do with early persecution of Joseph and the church. 

What did Brigham really say?

===Brigham in his own words===

The source cited says nothing of the kind. Brigham begins by remarking that he is not surprised that unbelief prevails, since apostate “religious teachers of the people advance many ideas and notions for truth which are in opposition to and contradict facts demonstrated by science.” To Brigham, this state of affairs creates a conflict in which men of science must reject truths discovered through science if they are to accept creedal Christianity. He then proceeds to give an example: “You take, for instance, our geologists, and they tell us that this earth has been in existence for thousands and millions of years. They think, and they have good reason for their faith, that their researches and investigations enable them to demonstrate that this earth has been in existence as long as they assert it has.”

There is no ridicule here: Brigham points out that geologists “have good reason” to believe that the earth is extremely old. “If the Lord, as religionists declare, made the earth out of nothing in six days, six thousand years ago,” Brigham has the geologists reply, “our studies are all vain; but by what we can learn from nature and the immutable laws of the Creator as revealed therein, we know that your theories are incorrect and consequently we must reject your religions as false and vain.” 

Concludes Brigham, “In these respects we differ from the Christian world, for our religion will not clash with or contradict the facts of science in any particular. You may take geology, for instance, and it is a true science; not that I would say for a moment that all the conclusions and deductions of its professors are true, but its leading principles are.”<ref>{{JDfairwiki|author=Brigham Young|title=Attending Meetings—Religion & Science—Geology—The Creation|vol=14|disc=16|start=115|end=116|date=14 May 1871}}</ref>

{{SeeAlso|DNA_Evidence_for_Book_of_Mormon_Geography_(DVD)/BYU_criticized_for_teaching_evolution|l1=BYU criticized for teaching evolution and 'old earth'}}

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{{Critical sources box:Brigham Young/As Young Earth Creationist/CriticalSources}}
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[[es:Pregunta: ¿Brigham Young fue un "joven creacionista de la tierra"?]]
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