New Church web site and March Ensign both affirm the divine, as opposed to evolutionary, origin of man (part two)

In the March 2008 Ensign and on the new Church web site, Elder Russell M. Nelson expresses admiration for the complexity of the human body and its divine creation:

"My long road to become a doctor of medicine was only the beginning.  After that came years of hospital work, research, specialty training, and certifying examinations.  Then followed many years of teaching, service, and the challenges of the newly emerging field of open-heart surgery, all of which brought me to a profound reverence for the structure and function of the human body.  I was convinced that its creation was divine."  ("Faith in Jesus Christ," Ensign, Mar 2008, pp.24–30; see also the Church's new Web site about Jesus Christ.)

Elder Nelson's current article is reminiscent of a speech he gave 21 years ago.  ("The Magnificence of Man," BYU Speeches, March 29, 1987; published in New Era, Oct 1987, p.44 and Ensign, Jan 1988, p.64.)

Both the current article and the 1987 speech review briefly what happens at conception and both talk about early child development.  Both discuss the formation of a tiny heart at 22 days, blood circulation at 26 days, and the formation of eyes, ears, and fingers.  Both examine several distinctive features of the eyes, ears, and heart.  Both emphasize the protection provided by paired organs and the two routes of blood supply that protect single organs.  Both point out that pain protects against injury and antibodies protect against infection.  Both highlight the body's ability to repair and renew itself.  Both cite the body's ability to regulate temperature and control the level of essential elements and constituents.

All of this leads Elder Nelson (then and now) to the conclusion that the body was created by God in the image of God and he cites scripture to support this conclusion.  In the earlier talk, Elder Nelson expressed the following as a natural corollary to his belief in man's divine origin:

"I believe all of those scriptures that pertain to the creation of man.  But the decision to believe is a spiritual one, not made solely by an understanding of things physical, for we read that  ' the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.'  (1 Cor. 2:14.)

"It is incumbent upon each informed and spiritually attuned person to help overcome such foolishness of men who would deny divine creation or think that man simply evolved.  By the Spirit, we perceive the truer and more believable wisdom of God.

"With great conviction, I add my testimony to that of my fellow Apostle Paul, who said,  ' Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? ' "

Throughout his service in the Quorum of the Twelve, Elder Nelson's views on creation and evolution have not varied.  During a press interview less than a year ago, he said:

"We believe that God is our creator and that he has created other forms of life.  It's interesting to me, drawing on my 40 years experience as a medical doctor, how similar those species are.  We developed open-heart surgery, for example, experimenting on lower animals simply because the same creator made the human being.  We owe a lot to those lower species.  But to think that man evolved from one species to another is, to me, incomprehensible....  Man has always been man.  Dogs have always been dogs.  Monkeys have always been monkeys.  It's just the way genetics works.  ("In Focus: Mormonism in Modern America," May 16, 2007, Pew Forum interview.)

Because of Elder Nelson's intimate knowledge of the inner workings of the human body, he is "convinced that its creation was divine."  Thus, for him it is "foolishness [to] deny divine creation or think that man simply evolved."