The Remaking of Adam

25 November

Genesis 2:8 “And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed.”

A few weeks ago, the LDS Church hosted a history and doctrine symposium on three salt-lake-mormon-temple-22revelations Joseph Smith supposedly received in early Mormonism. For the sake of brevity, we’re looking at just a couple of things Alexander Baugh said during his presentation. If you’d like to read their entire article, and/or watch the video, see History and Doctrine of the Adam-ondi-Ahman Revelation Subject of Symposium Presentation.

The three revelations Smith had from 1835-1838 set the stage for the past, present, and future roles Adam would play in Mormonism. With a few revisions to biblical history, Adam was elevated from the lowly status of being the original fall guy, to the god of Mormonism, and every capacity in between. Overlooking his importance in Mormonism would be a huge mistake.

As you read over Mr. Baugh’s comments ask yourself the following questions:

Where is this in the Bible?

Does it fit with historical events of Adam’s life?

“The first of these [prophecies] occurred in early 1835 when he learned about the great council meeting held at Adam-ondi-Ahman three years previous to Adam’s death, in which the premortal Jehovah appeared to Adam and his righteous posterity.

See Doctrine and Covenants 107:53-57.

“The second instance occurred in September 1835 when Oliver Cowdery was copying into the patriarchal blessing book the patriarchal blessing given to Joseph Smith Sr. At that time the Prophet authorized the inclusion of a passage into his father’s blessing that indicated Adam was the Ancient of Days spoken of in the book of Daniel in the Old Testament who would appear in the last days to his posterity along with Jesus Christ.

For more info see emp.byu.edu

“The third revelatory occasion came on May 19, 1838, when it was revealed to Joseph Smith that the area known as Spring Hill in Daviess County, Missouri, was the ancient location of Adam-ondi-Ahman and the place where Daniel’s prophecy will take place.”

See D&C 116.

1.Why are these thing given so much weight long after the event? This looks like another retrofitting event.

“Orson Pratt’s inspired decision to include the Prophet’s relatively short but significant entry as a separate section in the 1876 edition of the Doctrine and Covenants elevated the passage to scripture, he said. “This addition provided a greater sense of spiritual meaning to both location and prophetic events Latter-day Saints believe will transpire there before the Second Coming of Christ.”

2.Why would this topic be included into scripture when Pratt had very strong disagreements with Brigham Young on the Adam-God Theory, and even raised questions to the validity of Smith’s calling as a prophet? See Polygamy & Mormon Church Leaders for more info on Pratt’s tenure as apostle.

3.Is the LDS method of including something into scripture reflective of how this worked in a biblical setting?

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