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William H. Chamberlin: The Rest of the Story
In 1911 a controversy at Brigham Young University over the topics of evolution and biblical higher criticism resulted in the departure of several faculty, including William H. Chamberlin.
Philip Barlow's Mormons and the Bible contains "the rest of the story," that I had not seen before.
Four years after his departure William Chamberlin was hired again at Brigham Young College in Logan and was even invited to return to BYU, although his health prevented his return and he died soon after. Adam S. Bennion, future apostle and then superintendant of the Church's educational system distributed a book about Chamberlin's life and philosophy from his office.
David O. McKay had recommended that Chamberlin be re-hired.
Calling Chamberlin "a superior man in intellect and in spirit," McKay wrote [in 1926]: "That a lofty, sincere soul like W.H. Chamberlin should have been compelled to struggle in our community and to have been misunderstood by those who should have known him best, seems to me to be nothing short of a tragedy." (Barlow, p. 138)
For more on the 1911 controversy see here.
3 comments:
The chruch has not taken a stand on this issue. Consequently, there is room in the church for believers in evolution, intelligent design and creationism.
Anonymous,
The Church's position on evolution was announced in the November 1909 Improvement Era and has been reprinted by the Church twice in recent years. The Church's 2000-2001 and 2002 reprints of the 1909 statement update its relevance and give it focus directly to the 21st century.
This formal 1909 statement contains the Church's current and official doctrinal position on evolution. It is easily and usually interpreted as anti-evolution. BYU evolutionist Duane Jeffery has called it "anti-science" [1] and "quite anti-evolutionary." [2]
You are nevertheless correct that there is room in the Church for believers in evolution.
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[1] Mormonism and Evolution: The Authoritative LDS Statements, (Salt Lake City: Greg Kofford Books, 2005), p. 30.
[2] Deseret Morning News, March 1, 2006, p. B3.
Jared*,
The firing of Chamberlin was engineered by Church President Joseph F. Smith. David O. McKay was ambivalent on evolution at best, but he was an educator and, in my experience with educators, they tend to stick together.
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