Farewell to Eden: Coming to Terms With Mormonism and Science (Hardcover)

Anderson's geology chapter explains why since, in the creation story of the Mormon scriptures, the "absolute time scales are wrong, and the relative time scales are wrong, and the order of events is wrong, then everything is wrong that can be wrong."

His astronomy chapter states, "It's hard to imagine two ways of looking at the cosmos more different than modern cosmology and LDS doctrine. ... More massive stars tend to rotate faster ... This is the opposite of what we see in Joseph Smith's cosmology where the greatest star in the universe rotates ... only once every thousand years. ... According to LDS theology, the sun and other stars get their light from Kolob ... [but] the sun's source of energy is internal, and not external; it does not get its light from any other star."

His archeology chapter states that the claims of the Book of Mormon "disagree in almost every detail with the scientific evidence."

Anderson's final chapter poignantly describes the difficult adjustment of lifelong Mormons attempting to come to terms with their realization that so many acknowledged scientific facts are not sensibly reconcilable with LDS doctrines.

Imagine my surprise upon finding out they were wrong.

This is a story of discovery and of finding the freedom to think for one's self. It's my story. I'm the author, and I wrote it for two reasons. First, I wrote it as a way of validating the greatest life decision I've ever made - the decision to leave Mormonism. Mormonism is far more than a religion. It's a fraternity, too, where loyalty is prized and disloyalty punished. By leaving I'm now branded a "son of perdition," and the label has cost me some of my dearest friendships.

Secondly, I've written for other Mormons (or investigators) who may be puzzling over the same questions that plagued me. There is a simple solution to the intellectual conundrum, but it isn't what the "brethren" tell you. I hope these pages can give you some comfort in knowing your concerns are not the product of faithlessness, but that of an inquiring mind.

Because this is such an emotionally charged subject, I've described my personal experience growing up in the LDS Church, which is the subject of the entire first chapter. After introducing you to my background I next discuss a little LDS history and a lot more about what constitutes Mormon doctrine. I've looked especially at how members of the church arrive at collective doctrines, how they perceive public preaching by their leaders, and church views on prophecy, authority, and revelation.

Even though our culture couldn't exist without the benefits of science, many people are unfamiliar with the way science works and its philosophical underpinnings. Since my book is about the ways in which Mormonism conflicts with science, I've also included a chapter on the subject of science, describing what it is, what is isn't, and illustrating how it works with a few simple examples.

The real meat of the book starts after I've described my personal background (and unavoidable biases) and the chapters on "What is Mormonism" and "What is science." I begin with the most spectacularly successful scientific theory in history - quantum mechanics. Though many Mormons are probably unaware of the issues here, quantum mechanics holds real problems for Joseph Smith's unique doctrine that God is a resurrected, glorified, and physical man, and that he also knows everything - past, present, and future. To help make the subject more tractable I begin with a section that clearly delineates Mormon doctrine on the subject, followed by a second section describing the relevant science. The chapter ends by comparing and contrasting the two. I've used this general outline throughout the other chapters, too, and I hope the result is a book that's not only a helpful reference guide on Mormonism, but interesting reading regarding many aspects of modern science as well.

One of the things I hope you learn from reading my book is the impressive scope of scientific theories that are in direct conflict with Mormon doctrine. In the remaining chapters I describe conflicts between Mormonism and geology, astronomy, physics, and anthropology. These conflicts arise in such diverse LDS doctrines as the notion that earth once orbited near a distant star named Kolob, and only recently took up its place in the solar system after Adam fell. Other problematic LDS doctrines include the universal flood (which, of course, isn't limited to just Mormonism), anti-evolution scriptures and prophetic proclamations, and the notion that the ancient Americans are Hebrews who arrived from the Old World a scant 2600 years ago.

I've also included some material in the appendix that I hope you find interesting and useful. For example, there's a short analysis of the statistical distribution of month-dates in the Book of Mormon that strongly suggest it's a fabrication. And there's a decent index that'll hopefully help you look up subjects long after you've read it.

In writing my book I not only wanted to make clear the existence of conflicts between Mormonism and science, I wanted to express my feeling regarding why these problems are significant and what might be done about them. That's the subject of my last chapter, which describes the importance of not allowing a religion's myths to become so important that they drown out the ethical and moral aspects that really should be the primary focus.

Best regards,

Duwayne Anderson