Genetic Traces and The Second Testament of Jesus Christ

Genetic Traces and The Testaments of Jesus Christ

Brent Anderson

Since the time of Adam and Eve, there has been a division of men and women with regards to those who believe in God the Father or not. While the discussion is two-sided, it is important to understand that Christians are a minority in the world’s population. For our purposes, we will focus on the chain of events that originated with Adam & Eve and the resultant testaments of Jesus The Christ in light of the genetic revelations of our time.

Adam and Eve were the first two witnesses of our Father’s plan of salvation. Their witness was that mankind was and is the creation of God the Father, and that they, Adam & Eve, would be followed by the Savior, Jesus the Christ, who would be born to their linage in the meridian of time. They further testified that he would be the Father’s first-born son in the flesh, and Savior of the World.

Adam and Eve, for their part, had to make a decision to assume a mortal, or fallen state becoming subject to physical death. Symbolically, this choice represents the same decision that each of us made, prior to this life, to become mortal. That choice, in the interest of God’s justice and love, had to be counterbalanced with a method or way for each of us to return to our Home after passing the tests of mortality. That method was supplied by the birth, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. With his resurrection, the harvest began of all those who had lived or would live on this Earth, including those that lived before the coming of Adam & Eve. The harvest metaphor describes a process that is spiritual in nature, and includes all those who are living, and all who those who have ever lived on this Earth. The nature of this work is simply that of teaching all (even those who are dead) the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This means that all those who have never, or never adequately, heard the teachings of Jesus Christ will be given the chance to accept or reject the saving grace of our Lord’s sacrifice as they please.

The unbelievers are always puzzled by the depth of belief found in those who have been converted by the spirit of God. They can never understand where this intensity comes from, unless they themselves seek out and then receive the revelations of the spirit. Those who have this knowledge know that it transcends all other knowledge (experience), and so they in turn have difficulty in understanding why those who don’t believe can continue in their unbelief.

Those who recorded the two testaments of Jesus Christ have only one point of view, and that is the divinity and mission of Jesus Christ and nothing else. Their perceptions, were and are, myopic in that they presume that all men on hearing the word of God must surely be converted. The truth is, and has always been, that only a few will hear the word and then in turn seek the spirit, which brings true conversion. So naturally, the prophets, ancient and modern, write and testify as though there is no other belief system in the world, because for them there is not. Upon reading these testaments many mistakenly feel that this Gospel is, and always has been, a major player in the affairs of men. If you consider either of the testaments, they give the impression that the majority of all people in their lands were believers. This has never been the case. The people of God have been a small minority in the ancient lands of Palestine, America and in the modern world.

The world population consists of billions of people who have not heard of Jesus Christ, let alone Adam & Eve. Indeed, the influence of broader Christianity, which would include all Christians of all denominations, is still a small minority of the world population. Those who accept both scriptural witnesses of Jesus Christ are any even smaller minority. This has been the situation throughout the history of mankind, despite the best efforts of those who have and will testify to the divinity of Jesus Christ. This is the reason that the Savior used the parable of yeast and bread, so that we might understand the difficulty of the task. It is the duty and honor, of every convert to belief in the Father and his Son Jesus the Christ, to become like the yeast is to bread and work toward the conversion of all mankind as though it were possible.

In recent years, a new science has arisen, which allows scientists to examine and draw conclusions from the genetic material that is an integral part of each of us. Some who would fight against the belief in God and Christ have made claim that analysis of genetic material disproves the existence of Adam and Eve. There have been newspaper headlines proclaiming that a genetic Eve existed 150,000 years ago, during a time when mankind had been reduced to a small number of individuals by environmental calamity. Others have said that the Book of Mormon history is in error, because after testing for Middle Eastern genetic material in Native Americans only a small percentage was found. These assumptions and declarations are false, but to understand why we must first understand how genetic studies are done, and also consider the history of the times when pivotal events occurred.

First let us consider the organic molecules (Genes), on which the designs for our bodies are recorded. Using the tools of modern science this genetic inheritance can be used to help us identify our ancestors and ourselves, or even criminals who leave behind hair or other bits of their bodies at crime scenes. It is amazing that such an extraordinary amount of information can be, and is, contained within the nucleus of each one of our bodies’ cells. This information, or software, is written on the giant molecules that we call DNA. We can compare this organic software to the software used to run our computers, but there really is no comparison, because the biological system is far more complex, having a data storage system that is phenomenally greater while smaller than any computer currently envisioned by man. It is interesting to note that the codes of computer software are written in a binary number system with digits of 0 and 1. While DNA’s code is composed of a far more complex quaternary number system (four base units or digits). The storage medium for our biological software is unimaginably small; so small that it fits within the nucleus of each cell of our bodies, while that of any of our computers is the size of a small book or larger. From this, it is evident that the biological system of software and software storage is currently far beyond any of our own electrical computing devices and software strategies. This situation is likely to remain for a great deal of time despite the huge gains that occur almost daily with human technologies.

Our desire to understand human history and ancestry has led genetic scientists to focus on the DNA outside of the cell nucleus, or in the mitochondria, these structures are found within all human cells including every egg cell, but significantly excluding sperm cells. (Mitochondria are the energy sources for cells; they oxidize sugar to provide energy packed molecules that are used for the motivation of all the cells of our bodies.) Because mitochondria propagate asexually, they represent an easier target for genetic studies. Mitochondrial DNA (hereafter referred to as MDNA) allows geneticists to analyze some of our genetic software without the constant shuffling that occur, with each new generation, within nuclear DNA (the software for the construction of our bodies). MDNA is passed unchanged from mother to daughters and sons. A son however, cannot pass along MDNA to any of his children, because of a lack of mitochondria in sperm cells. So we see that it represents a record, through time, of the random changes (mutations) that occur within MDNA through a long chain of mothers and daughters to the present. (It should be noted that books have been written concerning this subject, so this effort is far from a complete description of this scientific discipline, but should be enough for our purposes here.)

Understanding the process of estimating the passage of time based on genetic changes requires analysis of patterns using statistical tools in conjunction with sophisticated software. Analogy can help us understand this seemingly complex process. Consider then that we look at a woman’s MDNA as a pattern on a piece of paper with dots representing mileposts on the MDNA. These mileposts are the same easily identified portions of the MDNA that researches have used for some time, and they are not difficult to isolate or identify with modern techniques. Our imagined piece of paper would present us with a consistent pattern, or picture, that would be recognizable from woman to woman, but with differences that would help identify one family from others. More importantly, a picture of a woman’s MDNA would match her children’s exactly (with a small statistical chance of a mutation within a mitochondria of an egg that is released and then fertilized to become a new person, who would then have slightly different MDNA). Over time, new dots would appear on our imaginary paper representing these random mutations that accumulate with time. These mutations, though random in nature, occur at a fairly constant rate when evaluated over time. This then is used to establish the base rate of change that allows a researcher to compare several contemporary individuals who share a common maternal ancestor and estimate fairly accurately how long ago that ancestor lived.

While that may sound complex, it is not. The process is simply one of eliminating non-matching mutations in the modern samples and counting how many of these mutations must be eliminated before arriving at the matching or the base pattern of the matching ancestor. The number of mutations thus eliminated times the known mutation rate per year approximately equals the elapsed time period. The method of analyses is very straightforward. So in essence we have a built in clock that ticks silently within each of us recording elapsed time within our maternal family trees, or more appropriately our MDNA.

Another interesting focus for MDNA analysis is that of identifying and tracing tribal or ethnic groups around the world. This tool is one that relies on the fact that, throughout most of time that man has been on the Earth, females and families tended to remain near their birthplace. This fact allowed for the accumulation of closely related individuals in the many isolated regions of the Earth. As a consequence, it is easy to establish where an individuals MDNA came from in terms of the ethnic groups and locales of our human family. This is a rather good tool for tracing genetic heritage and family origins for the present. As time goes by the human race will become more homogenous, this because of the current increasing ease of travel with subsequent intermarriage of far-flung groups, and this tool will become slowly less effective when used for this purpose.

For our purposes, it is only necessary to understand some of the basics in order to consider the meshing of this genetic clock with the history found within the two written testaments of Jesus Christ (The Bible and the Book of Mormon). The histories we speak of here are that of Adam & Eve in the case of the Bible and that of the ancestry of Lehi in the Book of Mormon. Both present possible studies that might be addressed using the science we have talked about to this point

We will begin with a careful consideration of the history of Adam and Eve and how it fits with modern MDNA analysis in establishing our human families. There are some facts that must be clearly stated if we are to make any sense of this subject, and the first is that the first “parents” were not physically the father and mother of all living men and women. What they were was the spiritual Father and Mother of all mankind. They were a transplant or inoculation, of an Earth, that was already home to myriads of life forms including man. The Earth at that time can be compared, as above, to a mixture of wheat flour, salt and water with Adam and Eve acting as the yeast. The Lord Jesus Christ also used this analogy of the yeast in his teaching because the first “parents” and their children were the infinitesimally small additive to a world that was already populated with men and women (approximately 10 million). Our Father had created this world, over a period of millions of years (time periods days etc.) for the express purpose of providing his children with a place for testing. His creation used the natural laws of this universe including evolution. Therefore, before the advent of Adam and Eve, the world was innocent, as no spiritual law had been given to the existing human (referred to biblically as the daughters (sons) of men) inhabitants of the Earth. Stated once again in the time before Adam & Eve, all creatures on the Earth lived innocently in accordance to the natural laws of this Universe. The most obvious result of these laws was that all on Earth lived the law of survival of the fittest. With the introduction of Adam and Eve it became, the higher law, love your neighbor as yourself for those who received the teachings of the Father and the Son.

Genetically Adam and Eve shared their MDNA with the woman that the Father selected to act as physical parent (mother) of Adam and Eve. Adam and Eve then assumed the role of Spiritual Mother and Father by bringing the spiritual law of Heaven and the Father to the Earth. (See God Man and the Universe the unification of science and religion by Brent Anderson: Chapter one ((http://www.xmission.com/~pba)). The birth of Adam and Eve was somewhat like the miraculous birth of Jesus Christ (The Fathers first born in the flesh). The only difference was that the ovum that were to become the first Parents were manipulated by altering existing genetic material donated by a woman and a man. These two have never been spoken of before but they were the first Humans to be translated or sanctified by the Father. The Father manipulated the woman’s Ova genetically so that the twins were born with bodies that would be immortal given the right conditions. That the Earth did not represent the right conditions is testified by their eventual deaths and the long slow decline in life spans of their descendents. Along with this came an equally slow decline in fertility within the inbred descendant families that followed. (See chapter two of God Man and the Universe with accompanying charts) As we consider Abraham it is obvious that fertility with his first wife, Sarah, (who was also a part of the inbred family) was a great worry. Also we see that their lifetimes were vastly shorter than those of Adam and Eve (186years versus 900 plus). Fertility for Abraham and non-related females was exceptional as we witness the many offspring of Hagar, the Egyptian, fathered by Abraham. From the time of Abraham the Adamic genetic line was increasingly diluted by the addition of the genetic material of the “daughters of man”. Eventually the children of Israel would share the same genetics and MDNA as their neighbors and brothers, the Arabs. We have no way of knowing whether the matriarchal MDNA line from Eve has extended into the modern world but it is immaterial whether it does for our discussion, because, as we have noted the original MDNA that both Adam and Eve shared came from a woman of the world (a daughter of men) and she would not have been much different from any other woman of the Earth. She was a product of the creation prior to Adam and Eve and she afterward lived in the Garden of Eden established for the training that Father had in mind for Adam and Eve. This training made it possible for them to become the first witness’s (in the mouth of two witnesses shall all things be established) of the Father’s law and his kingdom for this creation. But even so they were given a choice to fruitlessly remain within the Garden or join their brothers and sisters in the world and begin the harvest of souls. They eventually chose the path that Father wished them to follow and thus the beginning of the Kingdom of God on Earth.

At the time of the introduction of Adam and Eve (around 3500 BC), the world’s total population of humans stood at approximately 10 million (10 million at 5000 BC J. Bradford Delong: Berkley). Analysis of MDNA places a bottleneck in human population at around 150,000 BC in which one woman’s MDNA is identified as the precursor for that of all modern humans. That woman was not Eve, but rather a part of the long line of predecessors leading to the Eventual introduction of Adam & Eve who were the first Spiritual leaders on this Earth.

Therefore, if we were to apply MDNA analysis as a method of identifying the children of Adam and Eve as a separate group, we would not be successful for the reasons that: They were by virtue of Eve’s mother’s MDNA very much the same as that of the general population. This does not mean that their nuclear DNA wouldn’t have been quite remarkable if we had a sample of it. That nuclear DNA or what is left of it is now very dilute. Indeed it is probable that almost all modern men and women have small amounts of that DNA within their genetic makeup.

Now let us consider the case of the family of Lehi, the father of the children in the Book of Mormon and his pilgrimage from Palestine to the Americas. In the first year of King Zedekiah, king of Judah, (approximately 600 BC), Lehi was visited by the Father or his witnesses and was told that the children of Israel had fallen once again into disobedience to the lesser law or the Ten Commandments. Lehi, after preaching to the citizens of Jerusalem, was threatened with death by his contemporaries. As a result, Father told him to take his family and their servants to a new promised land.

The genetic makeup of Lehi and his family was the same as that of the children of Israel at that time. The MDNA of his family matched that of the women of Israel. Their voyage led them across the sea to the west coast of Central America. The precise location of their little colony is not known, because the place names they used do not match any modern place names. The Book of Mormon is a record of the spiritual affairs of the children of Lehi, and does not contain a great deal of information about the political affairs of this people. From the few tidbits we glean, it seems that the area they first colonized had recently been swept by a war of extinction.

Historically, we are aware that the inhabitants of Central America practiced war in all its variations for many millennia before and after the arrival of Lehi’s small group on the scene. There should be no doubt that the winners of this particular war of annihilation still lived in the general area. Wars of this kind in Central America were usually the result of a long bitter rivalry between two well-matched Kings. However as in all such standoffs one group eventually gains an advantage, which leads to the eventual slaughter of all males, old women, and the removal of all nubile young women to become slaves or concubines. The elimination of all who might bring back any trace of the old rival is the ultimate goal of such a conflict so the arrival of a completely different group of people in terms of skin color and language would be deemed as a good result for the victors. These particular new inhabitants were religious by nature, rather than immediately warlike, and so would be viewed as good potential sources for trade. From the viewpoint of the conquerors, they also would have been viewed as potential subjects and allies. It is clear that this group was an extremely small minority in a vast new land.

Lehi passed leadership to his able and obedient third son Nephi. This decision was far from popular with the two older brothers Laman and Lemuel. Soon after the camp was more of less settled Laman & Lemuel conspired to kill Nephi in a plot to gain the power that they thought had improperly been given to their younger brother. This caused the first of many divisions that were to occur. Nephi upon learning of the plot by his brothers rallied all those in the camp who supported him physically and spiritually and they fled into what to them was the wilderness. All this was occurring within the empty territory left by the previous destruction of the preceding civilization, and surely under the eye of a warlord who still considered the area to be his by right of war.

It would seem plausible that soon after their arrival in this Promised Land some of the stragglers from of the war that cleared the land would seek to join with both of the recently divided groups. This inflow probably began in the very first weeks of the new colonies arrival. It can be assumed that genetically the two groups were already moving toward a genetic equilibrium with the huge existing population of Native Americans.

Forty years after the arrival in Central America the Nephites (those who followed Nephi) had already had defensive skirmishes with the Lamanites (those who followed Laman and Lemuel). The division was one of religion and ethics versus the atheists or pagan forces in the land, and it should be noted that the vast majority of the Native American population fell rather naturally into the latter group. We should not infer that the Native Americans had bought into the argument between the two groups. This would occur to a certain extent later, but for the time it was a simple matter of local politics to the powerful Indian states of the area. After Nephi’s death, Nephi’s brother Jacob described the situation thusly: (Now the people who were not Lamanites were Nephites: nevertheless they were called Nephites, Jacobites, Josephites, Zoramites, Lamanites, Lemuelites, Ishmaelites.) Jacob further states that in the future, those who followed God would be called Nephites and those who sought to destroy the Nephites would be called Lamanites.

Having established this dynamic population and then looking back through time using the methods of MDNA analysis, we would expect to find some trace amounts of Middle Eastern heritage mixed in with a lot of American Indian heritage. This is exactly what has been found with modern analysis. Some have made the argument that the Book of Mormon cannot be true because so little Middle Eastern heritage is found, but on the contrary, this is exactly what one would expect given the history in the Book of Mormon. Some have also claimed that the discovery of an MDNA Eve 150,000 years ago proves that Adam & Eve did not exist, but this statement is false given the history of the Testaments of Jesus the Christ and the very science that detractors would use to prove otherwise.