Adam-god Theory (1912)

Post Date: 17th Oct, 2007 - 3:21am / Post ID: #

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Adam-god Theory (1912)

A First Presidency Letter Regarding the Adam-God Theory (1912)

From bordeglobal.com/foruminv/index.php?showforum=120 site:

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This is said to have been a letter to an unnamed member of the church
from the First Presidency dated 20 February 1912. The original is
supposed to be held in the Church Historian's Library in Salt Lake City,
Utah, USA.

Dear Brother:

Your question concerning Adam has not been answered before because of
pressure of important business. We now respond briefly, but, we hope,
plainly. You speak of "the assertion made by Brigham Young that Jesus
was begotten of the Father in the flesh by our father Adam, and that
Adam is the father of Jesus Christ and not the Holy Ghost," and you say
that Elders are challenged by certain critics to prove this.

If you will carefully examine the sermon to which you refer, in the
Journal of Discourses, Vol. 1, you will discover that, while President
Young denied that Jesus was "begotten of the Holy Ghost," he did not
affirm, in so many words, that "Adam is the father of Jesus Christ in
the flesh." He said, "Jesus, our elder brother, was begotten in the
flesh by the same character that was in the garden of Eden and who is
our Father in Heaven. Who is our "Father in Heaven"? Here is what
President Young said about him; "Our Father in heaven begat all the
spirits that ever were or ever will be upon this earth and they were
born spirits in the eternal world. Then the Lord by his power and
wisdom organized the mortal tabernacle of man." Was He in the Garden of
Eden? Surely He gave commandments to Adam and Eve; He was their Father
in Heaven; they worshipped Him and taught their children after the fall
to worship and obey Him in the name of the Son who was to come.

But President Young went on to show that our father Adam,--that is, our
earthly father,--the progenitor of the race of man, stands at our head,
being "Michael the Archangel, the Ancient of Days," and that he was not
fashioned from earth like an adobe, but "begotten by his Father in
Heaven." Adam is called in the Bible "the son of God" (Luke 3:38). It
was our Father in Heaven who begat the spirit of him who was "the
Firstborn" of all the spirits that come to this earth, and who was, also
his Father by the Virgin Mary, making him "the only begotten in the
flesh." Read Luke 1:26-35. Where is Jesus called "the only begotten of
the Holy Ghost?" He is always singled out as "the only begotten of the
Father." (John 1:14;3:16,18, &c) The Holy Ghost came upon Mary, and her
conception was under that influence, even of the spirit of life; our
Father in Heaven was the Father of the Son of Mary, to whom the Savior
prayed, as did our earthly father Adam.

When President Young asked, "who is the Father?" he was speaking of Adam
as the father of our earthly bodies, who is at our head, as revealed in
Doctrine and Covenants, Section 107, verses 53-56. In that sense he is
one of the gods referred to in numerous scriptures, and particularly by
Christ (John 10:34-36). He is the great Patriarch, the Ancient of Days,
who will stand in his place as "a prince over us forever," and with whom
we shall "have to do," as each family will have to do with its head,
according to the holy patriarchal order. Our father, Adam, perfected and
glorified as a God, will be the being who will carry out the behests of
the great Elohim in relation to his posterity. (See Daniel 7:9-14.)

While, as Paul puts it, "there be gods many and Lords many (whether in
heaven or in earth), unto us there is but one God the Father, of whom are
all things, and one Lord Jesus Christ by whom are all things." The Church
of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints worships Him, and Him alone, who is
the Father of Jesus Christ, whom He worshipped, whom Adam worshipped, and
who is God the Eternal Father of us all.

Your brethren,
Joseph F. Smith, Anthon H. Lund, Charles W. Penrose
First Presidency

Adam-god Theory (1912)

Adam-god Theory 1912 - Mormon Doctrine Studies - Posted: 17th Oct, 2007 - 3:21am

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Adam-god Theory (1912)

Adam-god Theory (1912)