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B.H. Roberts vs. Joseph Fielding Smith on Evolution

Benjamin Park, Historian

14,394 views

In 1931, two major Latter-day Saint thinkers collided over evolution—and the debate helped shape Mormon attitudes toward science for generations. This video explores the remarkable confrontation between B.H. Roberts and Joseph Fielding Smith over evolution, death before Adam, biblical interpretation, and Roberts's ambitious manuscript The Truth, The Way, The Life. What began as a proposed Church curriculum became one of the most consequential intellectual disputes in modern Mormon history.

We trace the debate from the 1911 BYU evolution controversy and the rise of American fundamentalism through Roberts's attempt to reconcile Mormon theology with modern science, Joseph Fielding Smith's opposition, the First Presidency's 1931 response, and James E. Talmage's The Earth and Man. We also examine how Joseph Fielding Smith's views became increasingly influential after Roberts and Talmage died, setting the stage for another transformation in the relationship between Mormonism, evolution, and science at BYU decades later.

BYU Studies edition of Roberts’s Manuscript: https://byustudies.byu.edu/product/th...

Signature Books’s edition of Roberts’s Manuscript: https://byustudies.byu.edu/product/th...

James Allen’s essay on the story behind the debate: https://byustudies.byu.edu/article/th...

Benjamin Spackman’s dissertation: https://benspackman.com/2024/12/disse...

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Books:
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Video Chapters:
00:00 Evolution Crisis
02:05 Darwinism Context
04:16 BYU Crisis
05:31 Channel Update
07:44 B.H. Roberts
08:54 Lost Masterpiece
10:51 Roberts Solution
11:53 Church Review
12:49 Smith Objects
14:50 Joseph Smith
15:50 Creationist Influence
16:50 Apostle Debate
18:44 Church Response
19:34 Talmage Responds
20:34 Smith Ascends
21:36 Long Legacy
22:38 Lost Manuscript
23:45 Further Reading

#MormonHistory #LDSHistory #Evolution #mormonismo

About This Channel:
Welcome to the channel! I’m Dr. Benjamin Park—historian, author, professor, and unapologetic history geek. If you're tired of hearing that everything is unprecedented or nothing like this has ever happened before, you're in the right place. This channel dives into the complex (and fascinating) intersections of American religion, politics, and culture. I bring history out of the ivory tower and into real-world conversations—making it relevant, accessible, and even a little fun. Expect weekly deep dives, quick takes on current events, book recommendations, and sharp insights from the past to help us understand our present. From Mormon history to the abolitionist movement and beyond, let’s unpack how we got here—and where we might be going. Subscribe and geek out with me on the power of the past.

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Views expressed on this channel are those of the presenter and not his employer.

20 Comments

@stephenjackson7797 2 weeks ago

Can't wait for Friday. I had Dr. Duane Jeffery as a professor when I attended BYU in the 70s. His teachings caused quite a stir among conservative Mormon religionists, and got me into trouble at my ward when I recited him.

@bens5507 2 weeks ago

Thanks for the shoutout!

@spencergreen4296 2 weeks ago

Man, I kept thinking that younger BH Roberts was Neitzche... uncanny.

@ejonesca 2 weeks ago (edited)

I've heard Eyring mention his father having similar respectful disagreements with JFS regarding evolution.

@Rozzboy 2 weeks ago

Stoked for the Peck interview

@brienbrockbank3231 2 weeks ago

Thanks Ben! I was just thinking about this topic this morning and how it was a major instigator for my deconstruction from Mormonism. Lo and behold, you uploaded this video the same morning. Thanks for always delivering such high-quality videos accessible to a lay audience like myself.

@Mike-r4z8v 2 weeks ago

Thank you!

@mbanks7969 2 weeks ago

That First Presidency statement must have been the one I came across when I was trying to square away Mormonism with science during university! Glad I ran into that instead of Joseph "Nepobaby" Fielding Smith, which probably was avoided as I did not have easy access to my father's library at the time.

@piapia-d9g 2 weeks ago

Banger of a vid Dr. P!
And JUST YESTERDAY, I was relating this story of the 1930 pre-Adamite discussion, BH Roberts, JFieldingS, etc. (though not nearly in as great detail as you did) - way too funny on the timing there!
Had your video come out last week, I might have done it better...heh.

No, it wasn't in one of those (as you put it) sexually-charged Sunday school presidency meetings. 🤣

@Juju.in.Yarnia 2 weeks ago

My testimony became that God is the god of the universe so the scientific laws are his laws. I got really into math and science as part of my worship of god. I became a Navy Nuke (navy nuclear power plant operator) Engineering Laboratory Technician. I served for 7 years.

I’m now ex-mo but I still believe in progress and math and science. Those are real.

@harlanlang6556 2 weeks ago

I moved to Utah in 1960 fresh out of college with a degree in biology. Every Mormon I met said that Mormon doctrine was belief in a 6,000 year old earth, and that evolution was not true. One of the main principles of biology is evolution over billions of years. I saw the fossils and understood the logic of evolution. No religious dogma made sense to me which did not include evolution. So that logically led me to question the LDS belief in prophets as guided by God to enlighten the members of the church. But then I did find a religion which did believe in evolution. That got my attention.

@richardredick7515 2 weeks ago

Professor Park, I thoroughly enjoyed this digest of a very tumultuous time in the Quorum. I have felt that the Senior Apostles well-remembered the 1890s and early 1900s, and did not wish to renew such a spirit of division in the ranks of the Brethren. That was a time period when one Apostle would not smile and say good day to an opposed Apostle - literally. So, I am not surprised that the First Presidency walked the razor's edge to avoid favoring one side or the other, and said let's discontinue this discussion. Joseph Fielding Smith was not there for those COLD DAYS, but B.H. Roberts was. He surely remembered, and likely was disappointed, but not surprised at the reaction.

And, BTW, I loved your allusion to the Scopes Monkey Trial starring CLARENCE Darrow. LOL!

Love your show!

@Johnnyrocket5834 2 weeks ago

5:10 Clarence Darrow, but it's all good.

@bburton4469 20 hours ago (edited)

One of the killed missionaries that BH brought back was my ancestor John H. Gibbs. My family still have some of the books, journals, letters, and things connecting to BHR. The rest were loaned to an "author" who said he was doing research but never returned them to my grandma. Thanks for your videos 😊

@Starbasekolob 2 weeks ago

There are two types of BYU students. Those who have taken evolution and affirm it, and those who haven’t taken the class. The Theory of evolution is one of the most supported theories we have

@stevensalisbury7913 2 weeks ago

I enjoyed the relatively balanced approach you took on this one. This was a big issue. My father, Frank B. Salisbury, wrote the book published by Deseret Book in 1977, "The Creation", which addresses some of these issues, particularly in his epilogue. My father also taught a biology class for non-science majors at Utah State University. He taught evolution but also tried to introduce the concept of creation and an omnipotent god who directed creation perhaps as an engineer. He got in trouble with the administration for doing this.

He noted there were 3 versions of the creation in our scriptures and temple, with subtle differences between them. He felt this was not a blueprint of creation but a generalized version of several concepts, such as "reproduce after their own kind," which implies species change is a singular event. Evolution as a concept is basically proven, and how it fits in the Gospel perspective is something my father wondered, and I do as well. There are certainly scenarios that would include evolution.

The pre-Adamite speculation has pretty much evaporated in church dogma, but how the somewhat limited humanoid skeletons and dinosaurs fit in the picture is a question I will have to have answered in the next life. I can't wait to meet my father, who has passed away, as I'm sure he has answers by now. We both agreed with Elder Talmage that the earth is ancient. The thought that "Yonder is matter unorganized" doesn't necessarily argue against this. His approach was that revealed truth always trumps science, and the 2 would eventually come together. I take this same approach. Revealed truth does not answer these questions clearly, nor does it intend to. I find your lectures informative, and not faith-challenging. God's revealed truth does not answer all of these difficult questions.

@joenelson5819 2 weeks ago

3:27 crazy!

@goodtoGoNow1956 2 weeks ago

I know about this story. I will be interested to see how Park spins this around.

@SantoAtheos 2 weeks ago

The LDS Church's evolving position on evolution is very interesting. The church made a short film in 1962 The Search for Truth which leaned anti- evolution. By the 1980s they edited it and gave it a more "we don't know if it's true or not" stance. I'm glad I saw the latter.
In 2012 the only two Republican candidates for US president who accepted evolution as fact were LDS- Romney and Huntsman. I found this very much in contrast to many of my BYU peers who in the mid 1990s were very much ignorant of the evidence and still very anti-evolution.

@sketchygetchey8299 2 weeks ago (edited)

Man, this stuff would have been useful when I had mission companions trying to discourage me from believing in Evolution (one of them believed that standing under a tree is the safest place during a lightning storm 😑). Instead I got Bruce R. McConkie arguments and nothing else.