Why Latter-Day Saints and Trust Science: A Conversation with Steven L. Peck

Science is often portrayed as the opposite of faith—but what if that conflict is built on a misunderstanding of what science actually is?

In this episode of Dialogue Out Loud, Dialogue co-editor Margaret Olsen Hemming sits down with scientist, philosopher, and author Steven L. Peck to discuss his Summer 2026 Dialogue essay, “Why the Latter-day Saint Community Can Trust Science (In the Same Way Scientists Do).” Together they explore why science is more than a collection of facts or a rigid method—it’s a human enterprise rooted in humility, ethical commitments, peer review, and a willingness to follow evidence wherever it leads.

Their conversation traces the historical roots of the perceived conflict between science and religion, examines why scientific consensus deserves trust even when it changes, and reflects on what the COVID-19 pandemic revealed about the scientific process. Peck also argues that Latter-day Saints’ belief in continuing revelation should make them especially open to scientific discovery, suggesting that good science and sincere faith are not competitors but partners in the ongoing search for truth.

Steven L. Peck teaches the history and philosophy of science and bioethics at Brigham Young University and is a fellow of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship. He has published more than fifty scientific articles in evolutionary ecology, philosophy of biology, and religion and science. In addition to several novels, he is the author of Evolving Faith: Wanderings of a Mormon Biologist and Science: The Key to Theology.