AUTHOR’S PREFATORY NOTE: The subjects embraced in this essay cover areas far beyond the academic expertise of any one person. Accordingly, I do not intend this analysis to be anything more than a starting point for discussion clearly needed in contemporary Mormonism. I seek public input from dedicated students who will seriously avail themselves of at least several of the critical books before venturing into the discussion.

Since delivering this presentation at the 2004 Salt Lake Sunstone Symposium, I have learned that a manuscript dealing with the Noachian Flood, authored by two BYU faculty members, has been in review at BYU Studies for many months. Interested readers should watch for the appearance of that analysis as well.