Lesson 6 - Genesis 1–2; Moses 2–3; Abraham 4–5

The Creation

Primordial Soup

Theory that life began in a pond or ocean as a result of the combination of chemicals and some sort of energy

2nd Law of Thermodynamics

• Credited to German Scientist Rudolf Clausius

• “The entropy of the universe tends to a maximum.”

• Entropy = Heat = Chaos

Conservation of Matter• What is matter?• General term for the substance of which all

physical objects consist.• Matter cannot

be created or destroyed.

• Einstein: E = mc2

• D&C 131:7

Moses 2 – Seven “Days”Find the Verbs:1. v4 – “I, God, divided the light from the darkness”2. v6 – “I said: Let it divide the waters from the waters”3. v9 – “Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together”

v11 – “Let the Earth bring forth grass”4. v14 – “Let there be lights in the firmament… to divide the day

from the night”5. v20 – “Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving

creature that hath life”6. v26 – “Let us make man in our own image”7. 3:3 – “I, God, blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it”

What is a “day”?Six days “is a mere term, but it matters not whether it took six days, six months, six years, or six thousand years. The creation occupied certain periods of time. We are not authorized to say what the duration of these days was, whether Moses penned these words as we have them, or whether the translators of the Bible have given the words their intended meaning. However, God created the world. God brought forth material out of which he formed this little terra firma upon which we roam. How long had this material been in existence? Forever and forever, in some shape, in some condition”

- Brigham Young

Who Created the Earth?

• Moses 1:33• Moses 2:5“this I did by the word of my power”• Abraham 4:1“they, that is the Gods, organized and formed the heavens and the earth”• Who else? – Abraham 4:24

Natural Selection (Peppered Moth)

Adapted to Clean Tree

Adapted to Polluted Tree

Evolution (Warning: Opinion)

• Just an extension of Natural Selection over billions of years

• Peppered moth is an example of “Human-powered Natural Selection”

• Could the creation simply be “God-powered” natural selection over billions of years?

Moses 3:5

• “For I, the Lord God, created all things,… spiritually, before they were nturally upon the face of the earth.”– Created our Spirits– Created our Natural Body– v7 – “breathed into his nostrils the breath of life”– Created our Spiritual Body

• “I… had not caused it to rain upon the face of the earth.”

• Instead a mist came. Why?

Genesis 1:26-27

• What does it mean to you to be created in the image of God? in His likeness?

• What characteristics and qualities have we received from Him?

• What does this mean for our Eternal progression?

Elder Neal A Maxwell

http://broadcast.lds.org/visual-resources/old-testament/2011-03-008-christ-the-creator-1000k-eng.mp4

Notebook Ideas

• Thinking about the past few days of discussion about the creation of life and the universe, how has your perspective changed when you hear “I am a child of God”?

• How does your relationship with God change as you learn more about Him?

• Where do you see proof of God’s creation in your every day life?