A dichotomy of opinion exists among church members today. Largely influenced by Smith, McConkie, and Benson, evolution is rejected by a large number of conservative church members. A minority accept evolution, supported in part by the debate between B. H. Roberts and Joseph Fielding Smith, in part by a large amount of scientific evidence, and in part by Joseph F. Smith's words that "the church itself has no philosophy about the modus operandi employed by the Lord in His creation of the world." Meanwhile, Brigham Young University, the largest private university owned and operated by the church, not only teaches evolution to its biology majors, but has also done significant research in evolution. BYU-I, another church-run school, also teaches it.Trent D. Stephens, D. Jeffrey Meldrum, & Forrest B. Peterson, Evolution and Mormonism: A Quest for Understanding (Signature Books, 2001).
a dichotomy of opinion exists among church members today largely influenced by smith mcconkie and benson evolution is rejected by a large number of conservative church members a minority accept evolution supported in part by the debate between b h roberts and joseph fielding smith in part by a large amount of scientific evidence and in part by joseph f smith's words that "the church itself has no philosophy about the modus operandi employed by the lord in his creation of the world" meanwhile brigham young university the largest private university owned and operated by the church not only teaches evolution to its biology majors but has also done significant research in evolution byu-i another church-run school also teaches ittrent d stephens d jeffrey meldrum & forrest b peterson evolution and mormonism a quest for understanding (signature books 2001)