Scientific evidence of evolution does not preclude the existence of God

As a scientist, one challenge often faced when you believe in God is that scientific inquiry indicates a need to remove any predisposed notions, and purely look at the facts. Facts from biology and evolutionary science often seem at odds with the concept of a supreme being, as there is ample evidence that we did evolve. There is also a large amount of evidence of the big bang, as well as the nature of the formation of the Earth, including periods stretching over billions of years of nebulae activity, collisions, heating, cooling, climate change, volcanic activity, condensation, and formation of plants, trees, and animals through evolution. However, proof of scientific facts don't disprove God.

One specific challenge that is often presented to Christianity is the mismatched concept of the creation occurring in only 7,000 years, based on a belief held that a "day" to God is 1,000 years. Peter 3:8 is often used as the source for the comparison of God’s time to man’s, however, if you read the scripture, Peter does not say that “The direct comparison of one day of God’s is 1,000 years to man” He says “a day to God is like 1,000 years to man.” (King James translation) He isn’t giving a specific translation of time, he is explaining that a day for God is a really long time to man. In his day, the concept of a million, or even a billion years wasn't understood by most of the general populace, if even understood or comprehended by even the most educated of philosophers. To further clarify this point, we can turn to the Book of Mormon. Alma 40:8 explains that time is not measured to God, but only to man.
Taken in this light, Genesis 1 (or Moses 2, depending on what you are reading) suddenly makes more sense with the timelines which science has uncovered. “One day” means a really long time to man, not a specific time frame. Seven days could very well be 7 billion years, 8 billion years, or 20 trillion years. The bottom line is that scientific minded Christians don’t really believe that the earth was created in 7,000 years, and can be open to concepts of creation that supersede general belief.

Regarding evolution, multiple times throughout the scriptures, there is mention that we are created from “the dust of the Earth” and “to dust we shall return”. How is saying that particulate matter was formed together to create man any different from saying that ammonia and methane combined to create the basis for life? Think of how a prophet of old, in a world where such chemicals had not yet been discovered by the science of his time, would describe the process of vapors combining to form a life if shown to him by God. Now, I don't understand exactly how the creation of man occurred. However, I strongly believe we are truly sons and daughters of God. I don't pretend to understand that concept, it is one of those things I simply take on faith.

The bottom line is truly that we do not know exactly how the scriptures match up with science. The automatic exclusion of religion from scientific inquiry is wrong however. Nothing in science disproves the existence of God. The argument that God was somehow created by ancient man to explain why it was OK to die is flawed as there is no hard evidence to back it up. This concept is simply a theory created by those who do not want to face the reality that God is real, and want to live their lives without having to answer to a higher authority. There are, however, multiple volumes of scripture, corroborated by cohorts of their times that do document and confirm the visitation, power, and existence of God, as well as the ministry of his son, Jesus Christ.

Atheists, if you are right, and there is no God, and death is the end, and my consciousness will simply cease to exist, I will never know the difference. I will have lived my life happily believing that there is a ultimate purpose, that I had a goal beyond simply survival. I will die with a smile on my face, fully expecting to see God… and then I will see nothing, and will no longer exist.

However, if I am right, you will have lived your life in defiance to God’s commandments, refusing to acknowledge the higher power which protects, provides, and guides you. You will die fearfully, frantically trying to hold on to every last breath, terrified that everything is all coming to an end. But it won’t. Now, the next portion, I have considered multiple times. Once, I thought that the realization of life after death would bring sorrow, and shame that signs were ignored and missed throughout life. However, I have begun to come to the conclusion that for an atheist to die and meet God would be the most wonderful thing ever for that person. Think of the joy of realizing that life does not end, but continues. Think of how happy they will be to discover that they do get to keep living, they get to keep experiencing joy, emotion, happiness, friends, family; life. Think of how exciting seeing a loving God would be. I do think that there will be sadness at a wasted life as they realize that they should have known all along that the afterlife is real, but they will be so happy to be home, that it will hardly matter.

I testify that death is not the end. I have felt and experienced multiple things that prove this to me. I know that life continues. I testify that if you are sealed with proper authority, your marriage also continues. I am so excited to spend eternity with my sweetheart. I say this in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.