Breaking Satan’s Great Chain of Darkness

Gary T. Wright

Breaking Satan’s Great Chain of Darkness

After his Zion was taken up into heaven, Enoch was given a vision of all the nations of the earth. That vision included a terrifying scene involving Lucifer—

And he beheld Satan; and he had a great chain in his hand, and it veiled the whole face of the earth with darkness and he looked up and laughed, and his angels rejoiced. (Moses 7:26)

I have often wondered what constituted that great chain of darkness which Satan held. Recently I have come to understand that at least one link of it is contemporary mainstream science.

A role that mainstream science has undertaken over the last century and a half is to convince mankind that the entire universe and the miracle of life are merely the results of random events; thus implying there is no Creator. As a result, virtually all Christian denominations (including the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) are losing young adults in large numbers to the deadly clutches of atheism that logically follow such ubiquitous claims.

Some fundamental teachings of mainstream science are—

• Any hypothesis that includes divine intervention is pseudoscience (i.e., without scientific foundation)
• Organic evolution, as proposed by Charles Darwin, is responsible for all life on earth.
• The geologic and fossil records support Darwinian evolution.
• Life is an accidental, unguided, amoral, “meaningless episode.”

As Dr. Michael Ruse, a leading voice for evolution, wrote, “God is dead, so why should I be good? The answer is that there are no grounds whatsoever for being good … Morality is flimflam.”

With such a view of life, it is no wonder that the world’s morals have been degrading so rapidly!

Mainstream science was not always so antagonistic toward religion. The Fathers of Science, including Galileo, Newton, Mendel, and Einstein, all believed in God and had no problem attesting to His role in the universe as the Creator.

Science changed in 1859 when Charles Darwin published On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection. His book received nearly universal acceptance by science, governments, and—surprisingly—clergy. Then in 1877, Lewis H. Morgan’s book Ancient Society and John Wesley Powell (director of the U.S. Geological Survey) promoted an “evolutionary stairway” that augmented Darwinian evolution and cemented it as “truth” rather than theory. By the late 1800s, the world no longer had a need for God as the Creator.

The evolution of man has been a topic of debate among Church General Authorities since the early 1900s. News of discoveries such as Piltdown Man, Peking Man, Java Man, and other fossils undoubtedly fueled this debate. Elder Brigham H. Roberts, senior president of the First Council of Seventy, certainly knew about such discoveries when he expressed his belief in pre-Adamites to the First Presidency early in 1931. Elder James E. Talmage, an Apostle contemporary with Elder Roberts, taught against Darwinian Evolution but ironically believed in pre-Adamites. However, Elder Joseph Fielding Smith, an Apostle who later became President of the Church, firmly argued against pre-Adamites and organic evolution to the First Presidency later in 1931.¹ Elder Smith also authored the book Man: His Origin and Destiny at the request of other members of the Quorum of the Twelve. This book documents Elder Smith’s position, which was based on the scriptures, common sense, and relevant, non-mainstream science of the time.

Elder Smith referred to organic evolution in the preface of his book as, “false teachings, so destructive of faith in God.” Man: His Origin and Destiny has been criticized by certain LDS believers in Darwinian evolution. Elder Ezra Taft Benson, President of the Quorum of the Twelve, offered the following rebuttal² at BYU on March 28, 1976 to one such criticism—

“One of our Church educators published what he purports to be a history of the Church’s stand on the question of organic evolution. His thesis challenges the integrity of a prophet of God. He suggests that Joseph Fielding Smith published his work, Man: His Origin and Destiny, against the counsel of the First Presidency and his own Brethren. This writer’s interpretation is not only inaccurate, but it also runs counter to the testimony of Elder Mark E. Petersen, who wrote this foreword to Elder Smith’s book, a book I would encourage all to read. Elder Petersen said: ‘Some of us [members of the Quorum of the Twelve] urged [Elder Joseph Fielding Smith] to write a book on the creation of the world and the origin of man…. The present volume is the result. It is a most remarkable presentation of material from both sources [science and revelation] under discussion. It will fill a great need in the Church and will be particularly invaluable to students who have become confused by the misapplication of information derived from scientific experimentation.’

“When one understands that the author to whom I alluded is an exponent of the theory of organic evolution, his motive in disparaging President Joseph Fielding Smith becomes apparent. To hold to a private opinion on such matters is one thing, but when one undertakes to publish his views to discredit the work of a prophet, it is a very serious matter.

“It is also apparent to all who have the Spirit of God in them that Joseph Fielding Smith’s writings will stand the test of time.”

In 1980, Elder Bruce R. McConkie, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, gave a speech at BYU titled “The Seven Deadly Heresies.” In this speech, Elder McConkie positioned organic (i.e., Darwinian) evolution as one of the seven deadly heresies. When his speech was later published, it included the following statements regarding evolution—

“These are questions to which all of us should find answers. Every person must choose for himself what he will believe.”

Listening to mainstream science today, we are told that essentially all scientists accept Darwinian evolution as being the source of all life on earth. This is not a true statement.

In order to prove its inaccuracy, the Discovery Institute ³ published an article in 2006 that stated, “Over 500 doctoral scientists have now signed a statement publicly expressing their skepticism about the contemporary theory of Darwinian evolution.” As of January 2016, 966 such scientists had signed A Scientific Dissent From Darwinism, which reads:

“We are skeptical of claims for the ability of random mutation and natural selection to account for the complexity of life. Careful examination of the evidence for Darwinian theory should be encouraged.”

Who are these scientists that are skeptical? Interestingly, they come from a range of highly respected scientific institutions, such as those in the following incomplete list—

• Air Force Institute of Technology
• California Institute of Technology
• Columbia University
• Cornell University
• Federal University of Rio de Janeiro
• French Atomic Energy Agency
• Harvard University
• Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
• Los Alamos National Laboratory
• Massachusetts Institute of Technology
• Moscow State University
• NASA Langley Research Center
• National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
• Oxford University
• Paris University
• Smithsonian Institution
• Stanford University
• University of Heidelberg
• University of London
• University of Rotterdam
• US National Academy of Sciences
• American Association for the Advancement of Science
• Russian Academy of Natural Sciences
• Ukrainian National Academy of Sciences
• University of Cambridge
• University of Hong Kong
• USSR Academy of Sciences
• Yale University

There are many more scientists who have a Master of Science degree, such as myself, who also do not believe Darwinian evolution is responsible for life on earth. However, the Discovery Institute will only allow scientists with doctoral degrees to sign A Scientific Dissent From Darwinism.

Why are these scientists skeptical? Ironically, the answer lies in mainstream science’s current understanding of DNA and biological information.

In the spring of 2011, a landmark symposium was held at Cornell University in New York to review the latest scientific research on biological information. 24 papers, written by 29 different scientists, were presented. These authors represented the scientific disciplines of evolutionary theory, molecular biology, genetics, whole organism biology, developmental biology, physics, biophysics, mathematics, linguistics, information theory, computer science, numerical simulation, and thermodynamics. The proceedings of this symposium were published by World Scientific in 2013 under the title Biological Information—New Perspectives

The scientists who authored the papers (some are atheists) generally agreed on the following three significant⁴ points—

1. Information is the key to understanding life. Within the simplest cell there exists an immense flow of information through a mind-boggling system of information networks. There is constant and multidirectional communication between proteins, RNAs, and DNAs, and these biological information networks are in many ways similar to the Internet.

2. These biological information systems appear to greatly surpass human information technologies. Such information systems cannot possibly operate until all the countless components of the system are in place—including hardware, software, multiple languages, storage/transmission of communicable prescriptive information units, error testing/correction systems, designated senders/receivers, etc. Such systems must be comprehensive and coherently integrated before they can effectively operate.

3. The enormous amounts of information found within any cell, and the irreducibly complex nature of information systems, can no longer rationally be attributed to just the mutation/selection process. New perspectives are needed that might help us better understand the nature, origin, and maintenance of biological information.

I believe that, had Elders Talmage and Roberts had access to the groundbreaking science that is alluded to above, they would have conceded that Darwinian evolution does not ever happen—since they were both truth seekers. Unfortunately, it took 72 years after Elders Talmage and Roberts passed away (both in 1933) before science gained sufficient understanding of DNA and the incredibly complex and marvelous biological information it contains to arrive at the truth regarding the impossibility of Darwinian evolution occurring. Ironically, it took a Christian scientist with the genetic expertise and moral courage to challenge mainstream science regarding evolution. Thanks to Dr. John C. Sanford, the truthfulness of the First Presidency’s 1909 official statement on The Origin of Man is now confirmed with scientific proof. That publication stated—

“It is held by some 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. These, however, are the theories of men. The word of the Lord declared that Adam was ‘the first man of all men’ (Moses 1:34), and we are therefore in duty bound to regard him as the primal parent of our race.”

Dr. Sanford’s honest and comprehensive scientific work, which is based on the science of many other genetic scientists who believed in Darwinian evolution, has shown the truth that the human genome (i.e., the complete set of our hereditary information—in other words, the biological book of life of the human race) is actually deteriorating. In fact, the genomes of all living things are deteriorating. This fact should not be a surprise to Latter-day Saints who understand that a law of mortality is that all things deteriorate over time.

Contemporary Darwinian evolution theory insists that mutations of the genome, coupled with natural selection over millions of years, actually create new biological information—meaning that it naturally goes in the opposite direction of mortal deterioration.

A famous scientist named Sir Frederick Hoyle was an atheist who believed in Intelligent Design, as explained⁵ in this statement—

“If one proceeds directly and straightforwardly in this matter, without being deflected by a fear of incurring the wrath of scientific opinion, one arrives at the conclusion that biomaterials with their amazing measure of order must be the outcome of intelligent design.”

And⁶ further—

“The notion that not only the biopolymer but the operating program of a living cell could be arrived at by chance in a primordial organic soup here on the Earth is evidently nonsense of a high order.”

Hoyle made some other relevant comments about evolution in a book⁷ titled Mathematics of Evolution that was published in 1999 [highlights are mine, not Hoyle’s]—

“The aging process shows, indeed, that statements one frequently hears, to the effect that the Darwinian theory is as obvious as the Earth going round the Sun, are either expressions of almost incredible naiveté or they are deceptions … with such widespread evidence of senescence [aging]> in the world around us, it still seems amazing that so many people think it ‘obvious’ that the biological system as a whole should be headed in the opposite direction …”

“The best natural selection can do, subject to a specific environment, is hold the deleterious [i.e., harmful] mutations in check. When the environment is not fixed there is slow genetic erosion, however, which natural selection cannot prevent.”

Unlike the other scientists whose scientific work was utilized by Dr. John C. Sanford, Sir Frederick Hoyle was willing to admit that, based on the findings of his own work, natural selection is not omnipotent, and that “the biological system as a whole” is headed in a direction opposite from Darwinian evolution!

The work Dr. Sanford performed is a formal scientific proof that Darwinian evolution cannot ever occur and that the human genome is deteriorating over time. Perhaps the best way to illustrate this deterioration is to plot the lifetimes of human beings since the Flood, as shown here—

A summary of groundbreaking science that has emerged in recent times to challenge the dark chain of mainstream science’s Darwinian evolutionary theory may be summarized at a high level as follows—

1. There are no real fossils of pre-Adam transitional humans.
2. Evolution, as proposed by Charles Darwin and mainstream science, does not happen—ever!
3. Adaptive (or micro) evolution does happen and is essential to maintain life on earth.
4. Mainstream paleontology ignores the following facts: (i) no trace of transitional life forms can be found anywhere in the fossil record; (ii) the fossil record is one of stasis (showing no Darwinian evolution); and (iii) AMS carbon dating results show that no dated fossils or artifacts can be as old as 90,000 years, and most readings show an estimated age of no more than 50,000 years.
5. New groundbreaking scientific assumptions used for AMS carbon dating result in estimated ages of about 4500 years (when the great, worldwide Flood occurred).
6. Most living things that contributed to the fossil record lived at the same time.

As you can see from this summary, there is much exciting new science to learn about over which many Latter-day Saints will undoubtedly rejoice. This article has only addressed number 2. above—proclaiming that life is not an accidental, unguided, amoral, “meaningless episode.” Rather, life is the work and the glory of an eternal Creator who loves His children.

Furthermore, the liberating truths contained in this article address the counsel of Elder Bruce R. McConkie and provide the important answers to the questions to which he referred in 1980—

“These are questions to which all of us should find answers. Every person must choose for himself what he will believe.”

Standing the Test of Time—Science Proving Scripture provides real scientific evidence that organic evolution consists of “false teachings, so destructive of faith in God” as Joseph Fielding Smith so wisely wrote. Standing the Test of Time—Science Proving Scripture also exposes why the theory of Darwinian evolution is based on pseudoscience that can never be scientifically proven true.

If you would like to read for yourself the full detail behind this article, plus even more evidence that mainstream science is truly a link in Satan’s great chain of darkness, you may purchase Standing the Test of Time—Science Proving Scripture at Deseret Book stores, at Amazon.com (including a Kindle edition), or at the publisher’s website—digitalegend.com. A companion volume for Christians who are not LDS is titled Expanding the Circle—Scientific Breakthroughs that Reinforce Biblical Truths. This book covers the same science found in Standing the Test of Time—Science Proving Scripture, but does not include the modern revelation that is discussed in Standing the Test of Time—Science Proving Scripture. Expanding the Circle—Scientific Breakthroughs that Reinforce Biblical Truths may be purchased at Amazon.com (including a Kindle edition), or at the publisher’s website—digitalegend.com.

1. http://www.sciencemeetsreligion.org/lds/lds-history-evolution.php
2. http://scottwoodward.org/evolution_criticismofJFSBook.html
3. http://www.evolutionnews.org/2006/02/over_500_scientists_ proclaim_t001981.html
4. Sanford, J.C. Biological Information—New Perspectives, A Synopsis and Limited Commentary. Waterloo, NY. FMS Publications. p 2.
5. Hoyle, F. Omni Lecture. Royal Institution. London. 12 January 1982.
6. Hoyle, F. Evolution from Space. NY, NY. Touchstone Books, Simon & Schuster. 1981 pp.
7. Hoyle, F. Mathematics of Evolution. Memphis, TN. Acorn Enterprises, LLC. 1999.