Beliefs on Darwin's evolution vary from religion to religion

According to Evenson, "the LDS Church has really been careful over the years not to get into a box where they are taking a position that later gets undermined by science and other developments of human knowledge. I don't think that's well understood by people who would like to have this be a settled issue."

A reading of the official statements, which also include 12 that are not a part of the "BYU packet," shows a subtle evolution of response. In 1909, Joseph F. Smith, John R. Winder and Anthon H. Lund of the First Presidency wrote that Adam is the "primal parent of our race" and that the church "proclaims man to be the direct and lineal offspring of Deity."

In a 1992 section on evolution in the Encyclopedia of Mormonism, the church-sanctioned entry reads that: "The scriptures tell why man was created, but they do not tell how, though the Lord has promised that he will tell that when he comes again." It ended with a reiteration that "Adam is the primal parent of our race."

Ten years later, President Gordon B. Hinckley was quoted as saying, "What the church requires is only belief 'that Adam was the first man of what we would call the human race.' Scientists can speculate on the rest."

Some religions are more eager to speak out against Darwin. Fundamentalist Christians take the Bible literally that God created the Earth in six days, and have made clear their position on the teaching of evolution.

Muslims believe that Adam was the first human but have not publicly joined in the debate over evolution. It's also not a matter of debate within the Muslim community, says Imam Shuaib-Ud Din of Khadeeja Mosque in West Valley City. "It's probably a debate within the very intellectually elite, but for most of the people, it's a 'no-brainer.' God created Adam, and that's the end."

"Scientific theories change over time," he adds. "If science someday proves Darwin's theory to be a fact, without a speck of doubt, then we would somehow find a way to make it compatible with the word of God."

Orthodox Judaism, too, has a literal approach to creation, taken from the Old Testament and the Talmud, known collectively as Torah.

"Torah does not believe in evolution," said Rabbi Benny Zippel of Chabad Lubavitch of Utah. "Torah believes that during the six days of creation, God created man in God's image."

The Reform Jewish tradition, on the other hand, takes the Bible less literally, says Rabbi Tracee Rosen of Congregation Kol Ami. "We don't have any problem whatsoever with issues of science and faith conflicting with each other," she says.