Entropy and Steady-State Creationism

This is a paper I wrote for Prof. Isaacs' English class:

What is meant by steady-state creationism, here anyways, is that the universe is and always was and everything today has been made inside of this infinite universe. This is most often the belief held by Mormons and so they will be suspect. It is hard to find a clear doctrine or set explanation of Mormon cosmology or creation because much of it varies from member to member so guidelines must be set for what is meant by it. This will set the basis to be compared with the second law of thermodynamics which is one of the most proven laws of science. With this in mind, any contradiction found between entropy and this form of creationism would only go to say that the latter is not true.

“To create is to organize. It is an utterly false and uninspired notion to believe that the world or any other thing was created our of nothing... The Elements are eternal.”1 From this short quote one can infer what Mormons believe about how things came to be: Things are and were today and yesterday forever and ever. What is foundational (infinite) to Mormon Creationism is not God as in the Judaeo-Christian tradition, but rather it is the universe which is an impossibility of metaphysics based on other LDS doctrines. Simply put, if the universe is infinite then god/gods cannot be infinite because infinity is not a variable, one infinite can not exist within another, and also the gods themselves were created which means they had a starting point; infinity has no beginning or end. Mormon theology presents the gods as infinite; this is impossible. Also, the elements themselves can not be eternal/infinite. This would be because it contradicts with their idea of god, but more than that it does not work with the second law of thermodynamics. A contradiction with such a well founded law should be clear evidence that the doctrine of the church is in error and that Joseph Smith was not a true prophet.

“[...]The second law of thermodynamics is that things become more disorderly, or have less information over time. That is, the universe starts out in a state of low entropy, where there is much order, and then steadily moves to a state of high entropy, where there is increasing disorder.”2 A good example of entropy would be leaving a glass of ice water on the counter. After time the ice cube melts and becomes one with the rest of the water in the glass. The contents of the glass become less stratified over time, less ordered, structured, and thus carry less information. Can this glass be taken to the cosmic scale? This law would be easier to apply to a grander scale because it is a general law about how things interact with one another. Since we are looking at the grand scheme of things we can rule of the instances of non-entropy and say that this would have happened in the whole universe gradually over time.

“Entropy measures the spontaneous dispersal of energy: how much energy is spread out in a process, or how widely spread out it becomes — at a specific temperature.”3 There are many types of energies, not just electricity like most of us probably think when we hear the word energy. So basically entropy applies to all matter and is not restricted to just temperature or the changing of matter from solid to liquid, sublimation. At maximum entropy energy become irrelevant because all things are basically equal and things are not able to change or progress anywhere, for example a piece of iron cannot rust or even, like a tire with a hole punched in it will leak air, at maximum entropy the air will not go anywhere.

What does all this talk about entropy mean to Mormonism? Going back to the first quote up above, “all things are eternal,” this can not be because in an infinite amount of time maximum entropy would surely have been reached. Mormons believe that the universe and all its matter have always been, that it has no beginning or end. With what we know about entropy one should clearly be able to see that this Mormon doctrine is clearly in error. The doctrine that the universe is eternal seems to fit more with the modern scientific theory came to be, the big bang theory. This theory says that something can not be made out of nothing, just like mormons will tell you. This over looks something though, if the matter always was for all of existence, eternity/infinity, then entropy would have maxed itself out by this time. So even though this Mormon doctrine is somewhat in line with what most scientists are saying about creation we know that because of entropy that even that theory isn't even true.

Mormonism presents a serious problem to the body of Christ, “For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform signs and wonders, to lead astray, if possible, the elect.”4 Mormon missionaries try very had to appear as if they are christians, but they are not (“false christs”) and they uses this “christianity” to try and turn Christians to their faith. This is the very thing Christ warns us against so, it is very important to us as Christians to stand on guard against it. In 1 Thessalonians it says, “but test everything; hold fast what is good.”5 Hold onto the good of the Bible onto all Christ's words and test the supposed truths of Mormonism and you will see that it does not stand. The second law of thermodynamics stands boldly against the lies of the LDS Church proving that the most fundamental parts of their theology are utterly wrong. With all this said, a Christian must love a Mormon to try and show him the love of God. Remember not to be angry with Mormons, remember that through the grace of God they too could be saved, thus they are our brothers and need our prayers.

Bibliography

1. Thomas, Daniel G. The Mormon Scrapbook. Kokomo: Providence Publications, 2004. “Creation” p.110 Quote: Smith, Joseph. Mormon Doctrine, McConkie, p. 169
2. Beckwith, Francis J., and Stephen E. Parrish. See the Gods Fall. Joplin, College Press Publishing Company, 1997.
3. Lambert, Frank. A Student’s Approach to the Second Law and Entropy. February 2006, http://www.entropysite.com/students_approach.html
4. Mark 13:22 (English Standard Version)
5. 1 Thessalonians 5:22 (English Standard Version)

Did Joseph Smith Know Hebrew?

Joseph Smith in his King Follett Discourse introduces many new doctrines to his followers, one of them is the plurality of gods. He comes to this conclusion through a misunderstanding of scripture by way of a misunderstanding of the Hebrew Language.

"I shall comment on the very first Hebrew word in the Bible, Berosheit. I want to analyze the word; baith--in, by, through, and everything else. Rosh--the head. Sheit--grammatical termination. When the inspired man wrote it, he did not put the baith there. A man, a Jew without any authority, thought it too bad to begin to talk about the head. It read first, "The head one of the Gods brought forth the Gods"; that is the true meaning of the words. Baurau signifies to bring forth. If you do not believe it, you do not believe the learned man of God. No man can teach you more than what I have told you. Thus the head God brought forth the Gods in the grand council." (From the King Follett Discourse, can be found here)

More on this subject can be found in other writings by Smith...

". . . Paul says there are Gods many and Lords many; and that makes a plurality of Gods, in spite of the whims of all men. Without a revelation, I am not going to give them the knowledge of the God of heaven. You know and I testify that Paul had no allusion to the heathen gods. I have it from God, and get over it if you can. I have a witness of the Holy Ghost, and a testimony that Paul had no allusion to the heathen gods in the text. I will show from the Hebrew Bible that I am correct, and the first word shows a plurality of Gods; and I want the apostates and learned men to come here and prove to the contrary, if they can. An unlearned boy must give you a little Hebrew. Berosheit baurau Eloheim ait aushamayeen vehau auraits, rendered by King James' translators, "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth." I want to analyze the word Berosheit. Rosh, the head; Sheit, a grammatical termination. The Baith was not originally put there when the inspired man wrote it, but it has been since added by an old Jew. Baurau signifies to bring forth; Eloheim is from the word Eloi, God, in the singular number; and by adding the word heim, it renders it Gods. It read first, "In the beginning the head of the Gods brought forth the Gods," or, as others have translated it, "The head of the Gods called the Gods together." . . . The head God organized the heaven and the earth. I defy all the world to refute me. In the beginning the heads of the Gods organized the heavens and the earth. Now the learned priests and the people rage, and the heathen imagine a vain thing. If we pursue the Hebrew text further, it reads, "Berosheit baurau Eloheim ait aashamayeen vehau auraits"-"The head one of the Gods said. Let us make a man in our own image." I once asked a learned Jew, "If the Hebrew language compels us to render all word sending in heim in the plural, why not render the first Eloheim plural?" He replied, "That is the rule with few exceptions; but in this case it would ruin the Bible." He acknowledged I was right. . . . "(Joseph Smith, History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, ed., B.H. Roberts, from this website here).

Smith makes several mistakes when he says these things. One would be the removing of a word because some fictitious old Jew added it, "Baith." Another would be a simple mispronunciation of a word, "Rosh." Yet another would be an ignorance of the use of the plural form of certain words to denote royalty or majesty.

It seems silly to blame an old Jew just so you can make a point, which it is, but Smith gets more wrong than just this. The word "Baith" is not a word at all but the letter "bet." Also, "Rosh" isn't the way this word is pronounce, it is "Ray." The problem with this is that "Rosh" means "head" in Hebrew while "Ray" does not. So Smith is clearly in error when translates Genesis as "In the beginning the head of the gods..." To support this he uses the fact that Elohim is a plural word, but this is just a common word usage to show the majesty of someone. We see this clearly throughout the Bible where we have the plural use of Elohim followed by singular word forms such as "he."

I hope that this was informative and that it gave you a greater understanding of what Mormons actually believe and what their prophet actually taught. For more information on this very topic refer to the jewsforjudaism.org website. This here is basically a summary of what is found on there.

The Anthon Letter

I was reading a book by Gordon H. Fraser the other day called What Does the Book of Mormon Teach? and I read something something about a letter written by Charles Anthon. This letter was written to Martin Harris who showed him a manuscript that was written by Joseph Smith which supposedly was written in Reformed Egyptian. Harris showed Anthon, who was an expert in ancient languages, a manuscript that Joseph Smith had given him for the purpose of verifying its authenticity. This interaction between Harris and Anthon as well as the paper called the Anthon Manuscript has been used by Mormons as evidence that the BOM was in fact taken from plates written in Reformed Egyptian. The story according to Joseph Smith History, Martin Harris' story goes as follows:

64 “I went to the city of New York, and presented the characters which had been translated, with the translation thereof, to Professor Charles Anthon, a gentleman celebrated for his literary attainments. Professor Anthon stated that the translation was correct, more so than any he had before seen translated from the Egyptian. I then showed him those which were not yet translated, and he said that they were Egyptian, Chaldaic, Assyriac, and Arabic; and he said they were true characters. He gave me a certificate, certifying to the people of Palmyra that they were true characters, and that the translation of such of them as had been translated was also correct. I took the certificate and put it into my pocket, and was just leaving the house, when Mr. Anthon called me back, and asked me how the young man found out that there were gold plates in the place where he found them. I answered that an angel of God had revealed it unto him.

65 “He then said to me, ‘Let me see that certificate.’ I accordingly took it out of my pocket and gave it to him, when he took it and tore it to pieces, saying that there was no such thing now as ministering of angles, and that if I would bring the plates to him he would translate them. I informed him that part of the plates were sealed, and that I was forbidden to bring them. He replied, ‘I cannot read a sealed book.’ I left him and went to Dr. Mitchell, who sanctioned what Professor Anthon had said respecting both the characters and the translation.”

Anthon has quite a different story, his letter can be found here. He says that the reformed Egyptian hieroglyphics are "perfectly false" which is quite different than being more correct than anything else. Reading through the letter you will see that Anthon is trying to protect Harris from a conman, Smith wanted Harris to sell his farm in order to pay for the publishing of the Book of Mormon.

Not much of a story, I know, but it does show that there were people against the LDS church even in the most early stages of it and that Smith did all he could to cover it up.