1909 The Origin of Man

The First Presidency: President Joseph F Smith, John R Winder (First Counselor), Anthon H Lund (Second Counselor)

        The first decade of the twentieth century witnessed many significant inventions and scientific discoveries. Max Planck published a paper in 1900 that is frequently cited as the beginning of the study of quantum physics¹. On December 12, 1901, Guglielmo Marconi received the first radio transmission to traverse the Atlantic Ocean². By 1903, Hubert Booth’s horse drawn vacuum cleaners were making the rounds in the streets of Europe.³ The Wright brothers made their first successful airplane flight of 120 feet in twelve seconds on December 17, 1903.⁴ In 1905, young Albert Einstein published four notable papers inaugurating the study of modern physics.⁵ Richard Dixon Oldham published a paper in 1906 articulating reliable evidence for the existence of the earth’s core.⁶ In the same year, Albert L. Marsh received a patent for a nickel-chrome alloy that led to the development of the first electric toasters--as well as many other modern appliances.⁷ The modern era of science and innovative technology was well underway. While science was moving rapidly forward in 1909, 235 scientists from 167 countries around the world gathered at Cambridge University to celebrate the contributions of Charles Darwin in honor of the 100th anniversary of his birth and the 50th anniversary of his first full-length treatise on his evolutionary theories, The Origin of Species.⁸ Other similar commemorative events were held in 1909.⁹ His more focused theories on the origin of human life in The Descent of Man were published in 1871.

       While many people welcomed new knowledge and the modern conveniences that often accompanied it, tension between science and religion (a centuries-old conflict by this time) had been increasing throughout the nineteenth century¹⁰. Modern academic and scientific advancements were also impacting the study of religion. One such movement was known as the “higher criticism” approach to the Bible, which employed academic and scholarly means to the understanding of scriptural texts.¹¹ Some nineteenth- and early twentieth-century religionists welcomed such investigations. For example, an advertisement in the Salt Lake Tribune from this time period announced a lecture by a Reverend William Thurston Brown to be held in Ogden, Utah, entitled, “Man’s Animal Origins.”¹² Others were more concerned by these developments. For example, Pope Pius X¹³ rejected many of the modernist intellectual reforms with a formal papal encyclical.¹⁴

        As “inquiries [had arisen] from time to time respecting the attitude of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints” upon such questions, the First Presidency asked Elder Orson F. Whitney,¹⁵ of the Quorum of Twelve Apostles, to draft a statement on the matter “in relation to the origin of man” (Improvement Era, Nov. 1909, p. 75). “James E. Talmage, noted scientist and former president of the University of Utah, who would be called to the apostleship two years later; John A. Widtsoe, also a noted scientist and president of Utah State, who would be called to the apostleship twelve years later; and George H. Brimhall, the president of Brigham Young University, were invited into some of those councils”¹⁶ with the First Presidency, who approved and issued the final draft of the 1909 Exposition as “the position held by the Church upon this important subject” (Ibid.). Joseph F. Smith was then serving as President of the Church with John R. Winder as First Counselor and Anthon H. Lund as Second Counselor.

        In addition to counseling with each other and others whom they felt were knowledgeable upon the subject, it is clear that the First Presidency also studied and pondered the scriptures extensively while preparing this Exposition.

        An important doctrinal starting point in relation to the origin of humankind is mentioned several times in this Exposition, namely that the “Father is in the form of man” (Improvement Era, Nov. 1909, p. 77). “It was in this form that the Father and the Son, as two personages, appeared to Joseph Smith” (Ibid.). “God Himself is in the form of a man” (Ibid., p. 79). “God Himself is an exalted man, perfected, enthroned, and supreme” (Ibid., p. 81). Given this premise, the First Presidency concludes: “Man began life as a human being, in the likeness of our heavenly Father” (Ibid., p. 80). Thus, God is clearly portrayed as the progenitor and pattern for the entire human race.

        While the Exposition does not make any statement regarding the theory of evolution as a whole, when it comes to the origin of humankind, it clearly asserts that ideas that “Adam was not the first man upon this earth, and that the original human being was a development from lower orders of the animal creation...are the theories of men” (Improvement Era, Nov. 1909, p. 80). In conjunction with this statement, the First Presidency also affirms the need for revelation in this matter, noting that “all revelations from heaven are harmonious with each other” (Ibid., p. 76) and, “never, unaided, will [humans] discover the truth about the beginning of human life. The Lord must reveal Himself, or remain unrevealed; and the same is true of the facts relating to the origin of Adam’s race--God alone can reveal them” (Ibid., pp. 80-81). On the matter of human origins, the First Presidency concludes: “The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, basing its belief on divine revelation, ancient and modern, proclaims man to be the direct and lineal offspring of Deity” (Ibid., p. 81). And again: “All men and women are in the similitude of the universal Father and Mother, and are literally the sons and daughters of Deity” (Ibid., p. 78). Because of this divine lineage, the Exposition concludes by reiterating the eternal potential for all people: “Man is the child of God, formed in the divine image and endowed with divine attributes, and even as the infant son of an earthly father and mother is capable in due time of becoming a man, so the undeveloped offspring of celestial parentage is capable, by experience through ages and aeons, of evolving into a God” (Ibid., p. 81).

        While not all questions received by the First Presidency pertaining to the subject of evolution were deemed “vital from a doctrinal standpoint,” they demonstrated in this Exposition their desire to reaffirm vital truths that “are closely connected with the fundamental principles of salvation” (Improvement Era, Nov. 1909, 75). The 1909 Exposition captures and articulates core truths about God and our relationship to Him that continue to inspire, enlighten, and comfort Latter-day Saints around the world.

1. See Kragh, Helge (2000), “Max Planck: The reluctant revolutionary,” Physics World, https://physicsworld.com/a/max-planck-the-reluctant-revolutionary/ , accessed June 14, 2021.
2. See “Marcon Receives Radio Signal over Atlantic,” PBS: A Science Odyssey, https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aso/databank/entries/dt01ma.html , accessed June 14, 2021.
3. See “The Invention of the Vacuum Cleaner, from Horse-Drawn to High-Tech” (2020), Science Museum, https://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/objects-and-stories/everyday-wonders/invention-vacuum-cleaner , accessed June 14, 2021.
4. See “The Wright Brothers: The inventors of the aerial age,” Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, https://airandspace.si.edu/exhibitions/wright-brothers/online/fly/1903/#:~:text=On%20December%2017%2C%201903%2C%20Wilbur,invented%20the%20first%20successful%20airplane.&... , accessed June 14, 2021.
5. See “Annus Mirabilis of Albert Einstein” (2019), Library of Congress, https://guides.loc.gov/einstein-annus-mirabilis , accessed June 14, 2021.
6. See Norton, Stephen D., “Geologist Richard Oldham's 1906 Paper On Seismic Wave Transmission Establishes The Existence Of Earth's Core And Demonstrates The Value Of Seismology For Studying The Structure Of Earth's Deep Interior,” Encylopedia.com, https://www.encyclopedia.com/science/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/geologist-richard-oldhams-1906-paper-seismic-wave-transmission-establishes-existence-earths-core-and , accessed June 14, 2021.
7. See “Toasting Albert Marsh: Nichrome and the Electric Toaster,” History Center of Lake Forest-Lake Bluff, https://lflb.passitdown.com/stories/42314 , accessed June 14, 2021.
8. See Richmond, Marsha L. (2006), “The 1909 Darwin Celebration: Reexamining evolution in the light of Mendel, mutation, and meiosis,” Isis, vol. 97, no. 3, pp. 447-484, https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/508076?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents , accessed June 14, 2021.
9. See “Darwin Day” (2021), Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darwin_Day , accessed June 14, 2021.
10. See Croce, Paul J. (1999), “Encyclopedia Entry on Nineteenth-century Science and Religion,” Stetson University, https://www.stetson.edu/artsci/american-studies/pc19thscience.php , accessed June 14, 2021.
11. See Stewart, John F. (2018), “Higher Criticism,” Encylopedia.com, https://www.encyclopedia.com/philosophy-and-religion/christianity/protestant-christianity/higher-criticism , accessed June 14, 2021.
12. See “Lecture on Man’s Origin,” January 20, 1910, Salt Lake Tribune, https://newspapers.lib.utah.edu/details?id=14230639&q=origin+of+man&sort=rel , accessed June 14, 2021. Although this lecture was advertised shortly after the 1909 Exposition was issued, it indicates an interest in the subject during the relevant time period.
13. See Editors of the Encyclopedia Britannica, “St. Pius X,” Encyclopedia Britannica, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Saint-Pius-X , accessed June 14, 2021.
14. See Pius X (1907), “Pascendi Dominici Gregis,” Vatican, https://www.vatican.va/content/pius-x/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_p-x_enc_19070908_pascendi-dominici-gregis.html , accessed June 14, 2021.
15. At this time, Elder Whitney was the third youngest in seniority in the Quorum, having been ordained an Apostle and sustained in the Quorum on April 6, 1906. Elder Whitney was considered a man of great literary talent, having written a four volume history of the state of Utah in 1892 and many other poems, hymns, articles, and so forth.
16. McConkie, Joseph F. Joseph (2013), “Doctrinal Contributions of Joseph F. Smith,” in Joseph F. Smith Reflections on the man and his times, ed. Craig K. Manscill, Brian D. Reeves, Guy L. Dorius, and J. B. Haws, pp. 17–35, https://www.vatican.va/content/pius-x/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_p-x_enc_19070908_pascendi-dominici-gregis.html , accessed June 14, 2021.

[Featured version] The 1909 Exposition was first published in the November 1909 Improvement Era on pp. 75-81:
https://catalog.churchofjesuschrist.org/assets?id=ff9fd75a-0dd0-4e9f-bb87-ba82c8721376&crate=0&index=0

Another digital version of the 1909 Exposition in the November 1909 Improvement Era is available on Archive.org:
https://archive.org/details/improvementera1301unse/page/74/mode/2up

For the benefit of Church members in Europe, the 1909 Exposition was reprinted beginning on the front page of the Millennial Star on November 18, 1909:
https://catalog.churchofjesuschrist.org/assets?id=0c7c043b-5056-41ea-9707-63aa0094a882&crate=0&index=0

The 1909 Exposition was translated into Danish and published in the Skandinaveans Stjerne on December 15, 1909, pp. 369-374:
https://catalog.churchofjesuschrist.org/assets?id=1fa07fb5-1a09-421c-88a4-575689670b64&crate=0&index=0

The 1909 Exposition was translated into Dutch and published in the December 15, 1909, issue of De Ster on pp. 385-391:
https://catalog.churchofjesuschrist.org/assets?id=345c915c-59ff-480c-a36a-0208242dfd84&crate=0&index=0

The 1909 Exposition was also republished in The Messenger, the journal for the New Zealand Mission of the Church, on January 5, 1910:
https://catalog.churchofjesuschrist.org/assets?id=5cd50701-1545-402e-8ce3-351de4c3e3cc&crate=0&index=0

The 1909 Exposition can also be found in Clark, James R. (1970, Messages of the First Presidency, 4:199-206.