James E. Talmage and the theory of evolution

[Richard Sherlock is a Professor of Philosophy at Utah State University in Logan, Utah. What follows is excerpted from his 1978 article, "A Turbulent Spectrum: Mormon Responses to the Darwinist Legacy," Journal of Mormon History 4, 45-69; as reprinted in The Search for Harmony, Salt Lake: Signature Books, 1993, 67-91. The note numbers appear in square brackets and the parenthesized numbers at the end of each paragraph are page numbers in The Search for Harmony.]

There is not one set of truths in religion and another set of truths in science. All truths are part of one whole, one set of truths that do not conflict. This conviction led several important church authorities to attempt to account in some way for the mass of evidence that conflicted with the traditional views of the Creation and the coming of Adam. (71)

The first church leader to attempt a reconciliation of sorts was Apostle James E. Talmage, a trained geologist, president of two universities, and a man who believed that modern scientific discoveries were important and could not be denied outright. But though he was sympathetic to science, his religious convictions prevented him from becoming an unqualified supporter of evolution. Ultimately he retreated into the world view of Bishop Ussher and the coming of Adam at 4004 B.C.E. (71)

Talmage did not write or publish a great deal on evolution. His first discussion of the matter came in 1890 before he became an apostle. At the time he was president of LDS College in Salt Lake City and taught geology and natural science at the school. In an address to teachers in Utah County, he discussed evolution at some length. This speech set a pattern for Talmage's later discussions of evolutionary theory and the ideas surrounding it.[11] (71)

In the speech Talmage distinguished between a general idea of evolution as a theory of development or change and the specific hypothesis of natural selection and organic mutability advanced by Darwin and his followers. Demonstrating a wide acquaintance with the history of evolutionary thought, he discussed the background of the Darwinian synthesis in Buffon, Lamarck, and Erasmus Darwin, Charles Darwin's grandfather. (71-72)

Talmage criticized the evolutionary ideas of Darwin's most prominent supporter, Thomas Huxley. He dismissed the idea that life originated in some primordial protoplasm as the result of chance occurrence. Any such generation had not been demonstrated, he argued, and all attempts to find or create such matter had failed. Hence on this point the theistic conclusion was obvious: "Without spontaneous generation 'miracle' in the words of Strauss was and is still necessary to explain the advent even of the hypothetical primordial germ."[12] (72)

Then he proceeded to argue against the central thesis of Darwinian synthesis, the organic mutability of species. The fixity of species was a hallmark of Talmage's thinking. Variations do occur, he admitted, but he called his audience's attention to the sterility of hybrids as a classic example of the "law" that species reproduce only "after their own kind." Each creation was a special work of the Creator adapted to its specific environment: "The insect is fitted for its abode on the leaf; the fish for the water; the bird for the air; each beast for its allotted life; and so man for his. No one form can be transmuted into another. The thought that it could be otherwise is far more wild than the alchemist's dream of transmuting base lead into royal gold. In the fable of old the frog burst when it tried to appear as an ox. Each after its kind—each to its sphere—this is the song of nature; and all praise to nature's God."[13] (72)

This hostility to the idea of mutability of species did not prevent Talmage from adopting the language of evolution. There was, he said, a "true evolution" that was not subject to the attacks that he launched. This true evolution was signified by the idea of development and growth. "Is evolution true?" he asked. "Aye: true evolution is true. The evolution that means advancement, progress, growth to a full realization of the intended measure of all things, that is true."[14] (72)

In line with many others, Talmage regarded Mormonism as the best expression of this true evolution. What more lavish evolutionary thought was there than that people could progressively develop into gods? The evolutionist who failed to see the cosmic evolution of the spirit in humankind was truly blind. Men were not the offspring of other animals, they were the offspring of God. They were evolving, developing, and progressing into divine beings themselves."[15] (72-73)

Talmage recognized that certain hard facts from geological and paleontological studies could not be ignored. He seems to have been convinced of the necessity to account in some fashion for these well established facts. The most important statement from him in this regard was his 1931 address, "The Earth and Man," but during the same time period Talmage answered many letters on topics surrounding evolutionary theory. With these sources it is not difficult to reconstruct the main contours of his thinking. (73)

Talmage began by admitting that the earth was considerably older than humanity. How old he did not know, but the church made no pronouncement on such matters and if geologists said that it was very old then that was probably true. Such a concession as this would not produce shock waves anywhere. American theologians had been saying it since the 1830s without great difficulty, and inside the LDS church many were prepared to accept it. His next move was more challenging. Plants and animals had existed for ages before the coming of man. Furthermore they had lived and died during these countless ages. This was the major concession in the 1931 address: "According to the conception of geologists the earth passed through ages of preparation during which countless generations of plants and animals existed in great variety and profusion and gave in part the very substance of their bodies to help form certain strata which are still in existence as such." (73)

As it stands this statement could be interpreted as merely a report of what geologists believe about earth history. But in a letter a few months later he was explicit about his own belief: "I cannot agree with your conception that there was no death of plants and animals anywhere upon this earth prior to the transgression of Adam, unless we assume that the history of Adam and Eve dates back many hundreds of thousands of years. The trouble with some theologians—even including many of our own good people—is that they undertake to fix the date of Adam's transgression as being approximately 4000 years before Christ and therefore about 5932 years ago. If Adam was placed upon the earth only that comparatively short time ago the rocks clearly demonstrated that life and death have been in existence and operative in this earth for ages prior to that time."[16] Talmage admitted life and death of animals for those countless ages but still believed in the biblical chronology for the coming of Adam.[17] (73-74)

If Adam only came 4,000 years before Jesus Christ, then Talmage was clearly headed for difficulty. In the 1931 speech he tentatively suggested that there might have been men on earth before Adam—"pre-Adamic men." He suggested that whatever came before the "Adamic race" (his term) was a completely different dispensation with which we are not to be concerned. Talmage realized that dogmatic assertions were not helpful. In his journal on the day the First Presidency gave its decision in the controversy between Smith and Roberts, he wrote, "This is one of the many things on which we cannot preach with assurance, and dogmatic assertions on either side are likely to do harm rather than good."[18] (74)

In a letter written a few months before his death, Talmage articulated his fundamental scheme of reference which had varied little in forty years: "Undoubtedly true evolution is true, meaning progress from the lower to the higher, from the simple to the more complex. We cannot sweep aside all the accumulated knowledge in geology, archeology or any other branch of science simply because our interpretation of some isolated passage of scripture may seem to be opposed thereto. I do not believe that Adam derived his mortal body by evolutionary processes from the lower animals. The adamic race of men are of an entirely different order."[19] In the end Talmage's thinking on evolution is an amalgam of diverse impulses, the mark of a man with divided loyalties. As a scientist he knew that the evidence could not be denied. But the safe harbor of special creationism was appealing to him. (74)

Notes

[11] James E. Talmage, The Theory of Evolution (Provo, UT: Utah County Teachers Association, 1890). (88)

[12] Ibid., 9. (88)

[13] Ibid., 17. (88)

[14] Ibid., 16. (88)

[15] James E. Talmage, "What Mormonism Stands For," Liahona 6 (Feb. 1909): 829-32; and Talmage, "Fallen But He Shall Rise Again," Improvement Era 22 (Oct. 1919): 1067-68. (88)

[16] James E. Talmage, "The Earth and Man," Deseret News, 21 Nov. 1931; also Talmage to Bee Gaddie, 28 Mar. 1930, Talmage Papers, LDS archives; Conrad Wright, "The Religion of Geology," New England Quarterly 14 (Fall 1941): 335-58; Talmage, "The Earth and Man"; Talmage to Heber Timothy, 28 Jan. 1932, Talmage Papers. (88)

[17] Talmage to Daryl Shoup, 10 Dec. 1930, and Talmage to Heber Timothy, 19 Mar. 1932, Talmage Papers. (88)

[18] Talmage, "The Earth and Man," 5; Talmage Journal, 7 Apr. 1931, Archives and Manuscripts, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah. (88)

[19] Talmage to F. C. Williamson, 22 Apr. 1933, Talmage Papers. (88)

[The above is excerpted from Richard Sherlock, "A Turbulent Spectrum: Mormon Responses to the Darwinist Legacy," Journal of Mormon History 4, 45-69; as reprinted in The Search for Harmony, Salt Lake: Signature Books, 1993, 67-91.]