ADAM - CREATOR OR CREATED?

On April 9, 1852. Brigham Young, the second president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latterday Saints, delivered probably the most controversial sermon of his life and in the history of his church. Speaking in the Tabernacle in Salt Lake City he proclaimed:

"Now hear it, O inhabitants of the earth. Jew and Gentile, Saint and sinner, When our father Adam came into the garden of Eden, he came into it with a celestial body and brought Eve one of his wives with him. He helped to make and organize this world. He is Michael the Archangel, the Ancient of Days! about whom holy men have written and spoken He is our Father and our God and the only God with whom we have to do" (Journal of Discourses vol. 1 p. 50).

For years Mormon authorities have attempted to discredit young's claim by stating that he was either misquoted or misunderstood. However there is ample evidence in circulation that will show that Young was not misquoted or misunderstood, and that he did make this statement with the authority of a Mormon prophet and was not just making his own personal ideas public.

First of all Brigham could not at all be accused of merely injecting his own thoughts concerning Adam, for he claimed in l870 that he had NEVER YET preached a sermon and sent out to the children of men that they may not call Scripture" (Journal of Discourses V.13 Pg 95). By this it should be understood that Brigham was speaking as a "prophet" when he delivered his Adam-God sermon 18 years earlier. Mormon authorities have also argued that Brigham was not speaking as a prophet because he did not begin his statement with "thus saith the Lord." However, this controversy was erased on Feb. 26, 1980, when Ezra Taft Benson declared that a prophet does not have to precede his message with "Thus saith the Lord." (Ogden Standard Examiner, p. 2a. Feb. 26,1980). Evidence does show that Brigham believed that God had revealed the doctrine to him (Deseret News, June 14, 1873).

COULD HE HAVE BEEN MISUNDERSTOOD?

The possibility of Brigham's message being misunderstood is very unlikely. There is far too many documents in existence showing that he was understood to mean exactly what he said, that Adam was actually God. Four years after the initial sermon. Heber C. Kimball, first counsellor to Brigham Young, stated:

"I have learned by experience that there is but one God that pertains to this people, and He is the God that pertains to this earth the first man. That first man sent his own Son to redeem the world, to redeem his brethren; his life was taken, his blood shed, that our sins might be remitted. That Son called twelve men and ordained them to be Apostles..." (Journal of discourses. vol. 4 p.1).

It is evident that the one sent to redeem the world is none other than Jesus Christ. But what did Kimball mean by the "one God" who sent Him. Mormons have argued that this first man was God the Father. This is by far not in harmony with other Mormon teaching for The Father God is offspring from another God, who was a man, who is from another God, who was a man. No way could He be the first man. Who is this first man Kimball is talking about? Moses 1:34, from the Pearl of Great Price says it is Adam!

Mormonism has never denied the fact that it teaches that God the Father had sexual relations with the Virgin Mary thereby producing the child Jesus. Brigham even touched on this subject that April day in 1852 when he said:

"When the Virgin Mary conceived the child Jesus, the Father had begotten him in his own likeness. He was not begotten by the Holy Ghost. And who is the Father, HE IS THE FIRST OF THE HUMAN FAMILY...." (Journal of Dis. courses. v. 1 p. 50).

Who is the Father? Brigham says .. He is the first of the human family. Who is the "First of the human family?" Let us have Mormon Apostle Bruce McConkie explain:

"That is, ADAM was placed on earth as the first of the human family..." (Mormon Doctrine p. 17).

By his own words Bruce McConkie inadvertently tells us that Brigham did actually believe Adam was God, the Father of Jesus Christ.

HOW COULD YOUNG COME UP WITH SUCH AN IDEA?

There are a number of ways a person can fall into the trap of accepting false doctrine. Though Brigham's teaching is highly unorthodox when compared with the Bible. He is not at all far off when it comes to Mormon doctrine. Long before Young made his April 9th speech, Joseph Smith had declared that Adam was the Ancient of days.

"Daniel in his seventh chapter speaks of the Ancient of days, he means the oldest man, our Father Adam..."(Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith p. 157).

The portion of scripture that Joseph Smith is referring to reads:

"I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the son of Man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days and they brought him near before him" (Daniel 7:13).

Mormons to this day contend that this is speaking of Jesus Christ coming before Adam. However, Revelation 5 sheds a little more light. Here the same story is repeated only this time by the Apostle John. We find one is sitting on the throne just as in the book of Daniel. Jesus Christ approaches the throne and takes the seals of Judgment from the Father God. How do we know it is God the Father who sits on the throne? Because John 5:22 states that the Father hath committed all judgment unto the Son. This is a partial fulfillment of that scripture. By Mormons insisting that it is Adam that sits on this throne they are in all actuality proclaiming Adam to be God. According to Mormonism, Brigham was right.

MODERN LDS VIEWS CONCERNING ADAM

Today the Mormon church emphatically denies the doctrine proclaimed by Young. They even go as far as saying that this teaching was "alleged" to be taught by early church authorities. Instead of calling it a doctrine they now refer to it as the Adam-God "theory". President Spencer Kimball at a Priesthood session of Conference in October of 1976 made this Statement:

"We warn you against the dissemination of doctrines which are not according to the scriptures and which are alleged to have been taught by some of the General authorities of past generations, such, for instance is the Adam-God theory.

"We denounce that theory and hope that everyone will be cautioned against this and other kinds of false doctrine. (Church News Oct. 9. 1976).

Bear in mind that the Mormon church still recognizes Brigham Young as being a true prophet of God. If so, then we have a problem concerning Spencer Kimball's authenticity as a true Mormon Prophet for Brigham declared on that same day in 1852:

"Now let all who may hear these doctrines, pause before they make light of them, or treat them with indifference, for they will prove their salvation or damnation" (Journal of Discourses v. 1 P. 51).

THE ADAM OF THE BIBLE

The Adam we read about in the Bible was a created being whom God made to have fellowship with Him. This fellowship was broken when Adam sinned. The Bible says in the book of Romans that it was by this man Adam that sin entered the world (5:12). The first Adam represents man's failure to abide by God's Law. The second Adam, Jesus Christ, makes it possible that man can pass from that dead sinful state and be made alive. "For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive" (l Cor. 15:22).

Christ became this second Adam that He might bring us back into the fellowship of God by our faith in Him. All He asks is that we put our total trust in Him. Until you make that decision to trust in Christ, believing that He paid the total debt for sins, you will remain separated from God. Why not trust Him now? Wouldn't you rather meet Jesus Christ as your Saviour in the next life. instead of as your judge? Admit your need and seek Him today.

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