Evolution and Mormonism: God as the Great Scientist

I have heard the following, in various phrasing, many times in my life:

Evolution is a Godless/Planless model of Science.

That has been the motto of pretty much every theist who opposes evolution since evolution first was articulated. It just isn’t the “given” that it is presented as being by those theists, especially within a theology that disavows creation ex nihilo.  For those who are open to symbolic mythology to explain the literal, Mormonism can be harmonized with evolution much more easily (and, imo, is much more compatible with evolution) than most other Christian theologies. 

Let me try to explain why I say that:

Mormonism is the most “evolutionary” theology in all of Christianity when it comes to the life of our spirits – and the interaction of the physical and the spiritual – and the very nature of matter – and other fundamental aspects of our eternal existence.

It’s one thing to argue against “Godless evolution” (which I do) and quite another to argue that the concept of physical evolution is antithetical to Mormonism (which makes absolutely no sense to me, especially given our belief that ALL matter is eternal and even our spirits are “physical” when it comes right down to it).

Again, at its heart, Mormon theology is evolutionary in nature – as it posits that something not like God in the beginning becomes like God through a series of changes to its core state of being. It posits that we started out as one thing and literally will evolve into something very different. God is the director of this growth and change – the great scientist, if you will, who takes intelligences and works with them until they become Gods.