Sorenson Molecular Genealogy and the Resurrection

Some of you requested more information about the Sorenson Molecular Genealogy Foundation. According to its web site, it is the foremost collection of genetic genealogy data in the world. The data will enable genealogists to trace the deep ancestry of humanity, and, as articulated by founder James Sorenson prior to his death earlier this year, should remind “people everywhere that in a very real sense, we are all brothers and sisters.”

Of particular interest to me is that anyone can participate in the project by requesting a free participation kit. The kit will help you take a DNA sample, prepare your four generation pedigree, and return the kit for analysis and inclusion in the database.

It sounds far-fetched to some, but, as a matter of faith, I look with hope toward a day when we will prove capable of amassing or accessing (via technology not currently available to us) sufficient data regarding our ancestors to restore them to life. I see in our genealogy efforts the primitive beginning of such a work.

While I cannot prove the possibility that we, in the advanced future, will be able to trace information back from effects to causes with sufficient detail to ascertain the complex patterns (spirits, if you will) of our ancestors’ identities, I do see value in the effort. Some kinds of truths depend on our faith in them for their realization.