Note: this is the second of a three-part series of explanations from Elder Bruce R. McConkie about the Adam-God theory, as part of a larger six-part sub-series on the same subject. See the first and third parts for further information. The material is being presented in roughly chronological order, with exceptions.
Unlike most of the material in this
blog series, the single lengthy quotation below is not found in Determining Doctrine. The following
remarkable rendition speaks for itself:
Bruce R. McConkie:
Every insightful student [of the
gospel] will see . . . a total and complete refutation of one of the great
heresies of our dispensation, a heresy that refuses to die and continues to
live because it is nourished and spread by the enemies of the Church. We speak
of the so-called Adam-God doctrine.
There is no better way to refute a
heretical doctrine than by teaching the true doctrine. . . .
Error always dies when truth is
born. As the rising sun of a new day destroys the darkness of the night, so
truth automatically causes falsehood to fade away into a forgotten nothingness.
Darkness cannot exist when light abounds.
But because
some, for ulterior and private reasons of their own, choose to toy with, keep
alive, and sponsor these false concepts, it seems wise to [give] a few pointed
expressions in this field. . . . It . . . seems appropriate to expose the
foolishness and falsity of the views some hold about the common father of all
mankind.
Surely the
day is long past in which we should seek to sweep this false and heretical
doctrine under a rug of fear and uncertainty. Those who have chosen to inform
themselves in this field of gospel scholarship know that Latter-day Saint
literature contains statements, expressions, views, opinions, and personal
notions relative to it. To deny the existence of the source material or to
attempt to explain away plain statements that have a clear and obvious meaning
does little more than further the cause of those who choose to use material for
their own purposes. To say the authors of these false views were misquoted is
nonsense. They said what they said and their words are preserved for anyone to
study. The issue is not whether the Adam-God doctrine was taught on some
occasions—the fact is, it was—but the issue is whether the doctrine is true;
whether it is the accepted doctrine of the Church; and whether even great and
good men can have private opinions that do not accord with the mind and will of
the Lord.
As
doctrines go the so-called Adam-God concept is one of the favorites of those
cultists and excommunicated persons who engage in or lean toward the now banned
and forbidden practice of plural marriage. It affords them the opportunity to
claim that former Presidents of the Church both taught the Adam-God doctrine
and endorsed the practice of plural marriage, whereas each of these concepts is
now rejected by those who direct the destiny of the great latter day kingdom.
These cultists teach that Adam is God and should be worshipped; that the
present church leaders have fallen away from the faith of their forebears in
this respect; and that it is thus easy to see why they have gone astray in
forbidding the practice of plural marriage.
This
doctrine is also one of the delights of anti-Mormons in general because, as
they argue and suppose, it pits one prophet against another, thus showing that
the Church and kingdom is devoid of the inspiration of heaven. And it is much
easier for them to generate animosity against us by condemning what they say we
believe than to face up to the scriptural realities which we do in fact
espouse.
Allowing
for the usual changing and differing views among those who comprise the groups
who dispense the Adam-God philosophy, this doctrine is in general: That Adam is
our father and our God, and the only God with whom we have to do; that he is
God the Eternal Father; that he is the father of our spirits; that he is the
father of the Lord Jesus Christ both as to his spirit body and his mortal body;
that he is superior to and above Christ in the eternal scheme of things; and
that he came to earth with Eve, one of his wives, to commence the peopling of
the earth, which he as the Almighty had created.
Some of the
source material setting forth these matters has come down to us in a garbled
and unedited form. The views expressed in some sermons were not recorded
verbatim; shorthand as we know it was not in general use. Attempts were often
made to record in longhand the gist and general thoughts involved. There was
ample room for error, and the various accounts may not accurately reflect the
views of their authors. Speaking extemporaneously, as the practice was in the
early days of the dispensation, some of the speakers may not have expressed
accurately or wisely some of the thoughts in their minds. Some of their views
may be explained as in harmony with accepted gospel truths. Nearly all, however,
are the private opinions of their authors and should never have been set forth
for public consumption. And some of the views expressed are false and should be
rejected. Indeed, they must be rejected if men are to build on the foundation
of eternal truth and work out their salvation by worshipping in the true and
proper manner.
Because the
basic Adam-God concepts are false, the most that can be said for them is that
the Lord permitted them to be preached in order to test his people. As part of
working out his own salvation every man must choose between truth and error,
accepting the one and rejecting the other. Unless and until he is able to do
this he has not grown spiritually to the point of being an heir of salvation.
Perhaps this is why Paul said to the Corinthian Saints: “I hear that there be
divisions among you,” meaning that they did not all believe the same doctrines
and teach the same truths. They should have been perfectly united in all
things, but they were not. “For there must be also heresies among you,” Paul
continued, “that they which are approved may be made manifest among you.” )1
Cor. 11:18-19.) That is, the heresies taught by and among the true saints were
the means of testing them. Perhaps, also, the existence of heresies in the true
Church is what Nephi had in mind when he said of an apostate Christendom:
“Their churches have become corrupted; . . . they have all gone astray save it
be a few, who are the humble followers of Christ.” All of those in the churches
of modern Christendom have forsaken the truths of salvation except the few who
are members of the newly restored Church, The Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints. “Nevertheless, they”—those in the true Church—“are led, that
in many instances they do err because they are taught by the precepts of men.”
(2 Ne. 28:12-14.)
With
reference to the Adam-God heresy, we note such scriptural verities as the
following:
1.
There were in preexistence three separate and
distinct persons—Elohim, Jehovah, and Michael. Elohim and Michael were not the
same person.
2.
Elohim is God the Eternal Father; as the Supreme
Being he is God above all. Michael is, therefore, subject to him.
3.
Jehovah was the Firstborn spirit son of Elohim.
He advanced and progressed, became like unto Elohim, and was a member of the
Godhead. The Godhead presides over all others. Michael is, therefore, subject
to both Elohim and Jehovah.
4.
Elohim is God the First; Jehovah is God the
Second; the Holy Ghost is God the Third. These three comprise the Godhead.
Michael is not one of them, but is in eternal subjection to them.
5.
Jehovah and Michael are both spirit children of
Elohim. They are both, therefore, along with all the spirit hosts of heaven,
subject to Him whose offspring they are.
6.
Jehovah became a God in preexistence; he was the
Lord Omnipotent while yet a spirit being. Michael became the Archangel who thus
had pre-eminence, not over the Gods, but over the angelic hosts. It is one
thing to be a God, another to be an Archangel. Gods take precedence over angels
of every rank and status.
7.
Elohim is the God of Jehovah and of Michael.
They both serve and worship him and are, therefore, subject to him. As Jehovah
came to earth to do the will of his Father who sent him, so also was it with
Michael during his mortal ministry.
8.
Elohim was a resurrected personage, having a
body of flesh and bones; Jehovah and Michael were spirit beings having bodies
made of spirit element. Only resurrected beings can beget spirits; one spirit
cannot beget another; and, therefore, Michael is not the father of spirits.
9.
The ultimate creative power rested with Elohim.
He sent Jehovah and Michael (and the noble and great ones associated with them)
to create this earth and its aerial heavens. Michael, therefore, is not the
Creator in the sense of having creative powers of his own. Rather, as with
Enoch and Abraham and Moses and a host of others, all of whom participated in
the creation, Michael acted by delegated authority.
10. There
were in the Garden of Eden three separate and distinct persons—they were
Elohim, Jehovah, and Michael. Elohim had a resurrected body of flesh and bones;
he was and is a Man of Holiness, a Holy Man. Jehovah was then a spirit man, his
birth into mortality being some four thousand years in the future. Michael had
a body of flesh and bones which was not yet subject to death. Elohim and
Jehovah gave direction to Michael, even as they had done in preexistence.
Michael, therefore, was in no sense supreme, and he did not act independently
as a God.
11. All
men in all ages have been commanded to worship Elohim (the Father), in the name
of Jehovah (the Son), by the power of the Holy Ghost. Michael is not involved
in this system of worship, except that he advocates and teaches it and does
himself worship in this way. All men have direct access to the Father; they do
not pray to Jesus, to the so-called saints, to Michael, or to any other
creatures in heaven or on earth. Elohim is the object and center of all saving
worship; he is the only God whom men worship in this sense. Michael, therefore,
though he is now exalted to Godhood of his own, is not the only God with whom
we have to do.
12. Both
Elohim and Jehovah are known as the God of our Fathers, though generally
Jehovah is the one involved. Michael does not fit in as a God in dealing with
men; he is, rather, a servant of the Almighty—speaking, doing, and ministering
as Deity directs.
13. Jehovah
is the Promised Messiah who came to ransom man from the spiritual and temporal
death brought into the world by the fall of Adam (Michael). Michael is not
Jehovah and he was not appointed to ransom men from the effects of his own
fall. That was not the work of an Archangel but of a God.
14. Resurrected
beings cannot die. Their bodies and spirits are inseparably connected to all
eternity. They can never again see corruption. It is spirit, not blood, that
flows in their veins. God the Father (falsely assumed by some to be Adam) could
not, therefore, come to earth as the first man, bring death into the world, and
thus introduce mortality through his fall.
15. It
is almost beyond belief that anyone would think that the Eternal Elohim, under
the name Adam, would come to earth, fall from an Edenic state, and then live in
sorrow and sin for nine hundred and thirty years. Can a God fall? Can anyone
seriously suppose or imagine that the Almighty would forsake his throne to be a
mortal again and to work out his salvation anew? Can a saved being become
unsaved so as to start out all over again and see if he is really worthy of the
salvation he had already gained? These ideas are too absurd to be worthy of
serious consideration.
16. Jehovah
was the Only Begotten Son of Elohim, meaning the only one ever born with mortal
flesh as the Son of the Eternal Father. He was thus the literal Son of God.
That his father was not Michael is shown by two obvious facts: (1) Michael had
lived and died and his spirit was then in the world of spirits awaiting the day
of his resurrection; and (2) spirits cannot procreate; it is simply not in
their power to have offspring.
17. Jehovah
is the Atoning One. His atoning sacrifice brings to pass the immortality and
eternal life of man. Now, if Adam is God the Father, can anyone seriously
suppose that it would take the atonement of the Son to expiate the sins of the
Father? Such a notion is almost too foolish to refute.
18. Similarly,
Jehovah brought to pass the resurrection of all men. If Adam is God the Father,
can anyone seriously suppose that Elohim, being Adam and having died (an
absurdity in itself), could not be resurrected except by the power of his Son.
Again we are refuting a notion that is so foolish it makes one wonder how far
astray men can go.
19. Michael
holds the keys of salvation under the counsel and direction of the Holy One who
is the Lord Jehovah. He is, therefore, as we have so repetitiously recited,
subject to the Holy One of Israel. It is against all reason to suppose that the
Father (if he were Adam) would be subject to the Son.
20. Jehovah
will come to Adam at Adam-ondi-Ahman to receive back again those keys by which
Adam has been directing Jehovah’s work on earth. Michael will then report his
stewardship and give account to his Lord of all his acts and ministry. Having
received back the keys the Lord Jesus will be prepared to rule personally on
the earth and not through agents and servants. It will be Jehovah, not Michael,
who will reign over the earth during the millennium.
All of this brings us back to the
scriptural premise that it is life eternal to know the Everlasting Elohim, who
is the Father, and to know Jehovah, who is the Son. No one can ever worship the
Father in spirit and in truth, until he learns who the Father is, and that all
worship of him must be done in the name of the Son. And no one can ever gain
eternal life until he knows these holy beings in the sense of being like
them—of thinking what they think, of saying what they say, and of doing what
they do. It is self-evident, therefore, that there is no salvation in muddying
the eternal springs of truth with heresy and falsehood about Adam our father,
who is not our God, but is the great High Priest and Patriarch of the human
race. Men are free to do so if they choose, but it will be at the peril of
their salvation; and unless they repent they will never gain the rewards that
might have been theirs.
What then of Michael our Prince? We
answer:
Michael led the armies of the Lord
when there was war in heaven, but the issue then at stake was whether men
should accept the plan of the Father, or seek salvation in some other way, as
Lucifer contended.
Michael stood next to Jehovah in
the creation of this earth and all that on it is, but he was not of himself the
almighty author and originator of all things.
Michael became Adam our father, the
first man, the first flesh upon the earth. He was commanded by Elohim and
Jehovah to fall, and to introduce mortality, death, and a probationary estate.
This he did.
Adam was and is the presiding High
Priest over all the earth. He is the great Patriarch of the human race and
presides over all his children. As the patriarchal and spiritual head of all
men, he directs the Lord’s affairs on earth where their salvation is concerned.
He holds the keys of salvation and is the head of all gospel dispensations.
Angels minister at his behest; revelations come when he so decrees; and the
work of the Lord, in all ages, is under his direction.
As the Ancient of Days he shall sit
in glory, as ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands,
minister before him. He will then account to the son of Man for his stewardship
and will give back the keys of governance over the earth to Him whose they are.
Michael’s trump shall call the dead
forth in the resurrections of the just and of the unjust; and he shall sit in
judgment upon all those who have obeyed the law of Christ and made themselves
worthy of exaltation.
And finally, himself exalted as a God,
Michael shall rule and reign forever over all those who have risen to a like
state of Godhood with him. He shall preside to all eternity over the great
chain of exalted beings from this earth. There will be none greater of all
earth’s inhabitants than he; or, rather, he will be the greatest of all, and all
others will be in subjection to him, as he is in subjection to the Gods in the
Godhead.
But with it all—great and glorious
as his position is—he is not our God, and he with us does and will worship Elohim,
and in the name of Jehovah, by the power of the Holy Ghost, through all the
endless ages yet to be.
We are left with but one question
of any appreciable import. It is: why does the source material about the
Adam-God notion exist; or, otherwise expressed, why did some of our early
Brethren express the views about Adam which are attributed to them?
There is a good and compelling
answer which will find acceptance in the hearts of those who understand how
revelation comes, the nature of the prophetic office, and what the Lord has in
mind in the testing and proving of his people. To those who do not understand
these things there is no answer—they would not receive it though it came from
the angels who surround the Great White Throne—for they do not want to
understand the issues or to set the matters at rest. Be it remembered that it
is apostates, cultists, rebellious church members, and avowed anti-Mormons who
keep these issues alive. As far as the faithful members of the Church are
concerned, there is no Adam-God problem. They know, for instance, that in 1916
the constituted heads of the Church issued a formal proclamation entitled: “The
Father and the Son: A Doctrinal Exposition by the First Presidency and the
Twelve.” This official pronouncement has the effect of negating all heretical
views about Adam’s supposed status as our God.
As this present author has written
elsewhere: “With all their inspiration and greatness, prophets are yet mortal
men with imperfections common to mankind in general. They have their opinions
and prejudices and are left to work out their own problems without inspiration
in many instances. Joseph Smith recorded that he ‘visited with a brother and
sister from Michigan, who thought that “a prophet is always a prophet,”; but I told
them that a prophet was a prophet only when he was acting as such.’ (Teachings, p. 278.) Thus the opinions
and views even of prophets may contain error unless those opinions and views
are inspired by the Spirit. Inspired statements are scripture and should be
accepted as such. (D&C 68:4.)
“Since ‘the spirits of the prophets
are subject to the prophets’ (1 Cor. 14:32), whatever is announced by the
presiding brethren as counsel for the Church will be the voice of inspiration.
But the truth or error of any uninspired utterance of an individual will have
to be judged by the standard works and the spirit of discernment and
inspiration that is in those who actually enjoy the gift of the Holy Ghost.
“President Joseph Fielding Smith
has said: ‘It makes no difference what is written or what anyone has said, if
what has been said is in conflict with what the Lord has revealed, we can set
it aside. My words, and the teachings of any other member of the Church, high
or low, if they do not square with the revelations, we need not accept them.
Let us have this matter clear. We have accepted the four standard works as the
measuring yardsticks, or balances, by which we measure every man’s doctrine.
“‘You cannot accept the books
written by the authorities of the Church as standards of doctrine, only in so
far as they accord with the revealed word in the standard works.
“‘Every man who writes is
responsible, not the Church, for what he writes. If Joseph Fielding Smith
writes something which is out of harmony with the revelations, then every
member of the Church is duty bound to reject it. If he writes that which is in
perfect harmony with the revealed word of the Lord, then it should be
accepted.’ (Doctrines of Salvation,
vol. 3, pp. 203-204)” (Mormon Doctrine,
2nd ed., pp. 608-609.)
Further, when prophets are acting
as such and do in fact receive revelations, the thoughts thus impressed upon
their minds by the Lord must be expressed in language that is comprehensible to
those to whom the message is sent. If an angel comes to deliver a message—since
angels speak by the power of the Holy Ghost—the angelic visitant will choose
the exact wording of the revealed truth. But ordinarily the Lord will leave the
human vessel free to choose the appropriate words in which the heaven-originated
verities should be couched. “These commandments are of me,” the Lord tells us
with reference to the revelations in the Doctrine and Covenants, “and were
given unto my servants in their weakness, after the manner of their language,
that they might come to understanding.” (D&C 1:24.)
We are thus faced with the fact
that prophets, being mortal, and not all having the same spiritual stature,
have personal opinions of their own which sometimes conflict with each other
and are false. Ordinarily they wisely refrain from teaching their private
views, but occasionally, because men are imperfect, even those of prophetic
stature fall short of the divine standard, and expressions are made that do not
accord with those in the Standard Works by which all truths—prophetic
utterances included—must be judged.
This is what happened with
reference to the Adam-God notions. All the days of his life, for instance,
President Brigham Young—who perhaps stands next to the Prophet Joseph Smith in
spiritual stature in this whole dispensation, and who, calling out the name of
Joseph as he departed this life, has gone on to a glorious exaltation—all the
days of his life President Young taught what we have taught about the Godhead
and about Adam and the doctrine of exaltation. It is the Church doctrine, and
it was his doctrine. But on a few isolated occasions he expressed some private
views which might well have been left unsaid. These views conflict with and are
contrary to his life-long teachings. As it happens the private views are false.
It is just that simple. Prophets occasionally express some uninspired
conclusion because a prophet is not always a prophet, only when he is acting as
such.
Also by way of illustration: Paul
sought to solve some exceedingly difficult social and doctrinal problems for
the Corinthians. He identified some of his counsel as coming from the Lord;
other parts were set forth as his opinion only; and with reference to yet other
matters, he was not sure whether the Lord approved them or they were his
private views only. Hence, he gave his best judgment, with the appended
caution: “I think also that I have the Spirit of the Lord.” All of his personal
views were identified as such and he said pointedly that they came not by way
of commandment. (1 Cor. 7.) There were thus occasions where even Paul did not
act in his prophetic capacity.
Alma has left us some rather
ambiguous statements about the resurrection, saying frankly that he did not
know the answers to some matters but would give his opinion. (Alma 40.) If he
had known what we know about the resurrection, he would certainly have
expressed himself in a better way on the issues he was then presenting. Moses,
who had no equal among all the prophets of Israel, yet, at the waters of
Meribah, being for a moment devoid of the Spirit, took credit for what the Lord
did, and was therefore denied the privilege of entering the promised land.
(Num. 20:10-13.) Noah—who as Gabriel stands next in authority to Michael
himself; who was chosen to carry the message of a Savior to Joseph and Mary;
who “was a just man and perfect in his generations” (Gen. 6:9.)—yet on one
occasion lay drunken and naked in his tent to the great embarrassment of his
sons. (Gen. 6:19-25.) Peter, in the courts of Caiphas, denied with an oath that
he so much as knew who Jesus was. Paul delivered an improper rebuke to the high
priest. And so it goes. It is not the practice of the scriptures to preserve
accounts of the faults and foibles of the Lord’s anointed, but there are enough
allusions, here and there, to let us know that prophets are mortal and do err,
except when they are moved upon by the power of the Spirit.
Obviously those who are wise will
follow the scriptures and the true teachings of Brigham Young, and of all the
prophets, and not be led astray by a few misstatements of the moment. A little
self-introspection will be profitable in this respect. Who is there among us
whose every word has been proper and discreet and true? How often have all of
us expressed views that would have been better left unsaid!
Let us all be reminded of these
wise words of Paul: “Let the prophets speak two or three, and let the other
judge.” Let the judgment be passed on the words of the prophets by others who
hold the same high and holy status. “If any thing be revealed to another that
sitteth by, let the first hold his peace.” If one prophet misstates the mind
and will of the Lord, let him be corrected by others of prophetic stature to
whom the word of the Lord is clear on the point involved. “for ye may all prophesy
one by one, that all may learn, and all may be comforted.” God is no respecter
of persons and he will reveal to all of his prophets the same truths he gives
to any one of the others—such revelation coming as soon as the other prophets
are prepared spiritually to receive what one of their number has received. “And
the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets.” Those who are
prophets will judge and set in order all that their fellow prophets say. The
voice of any one prophet is subject to the overruling guidance and direction of
the united voices of all the prophets. If any one prophet gives a personal view
that is in error, his brethren, holding a like prophetic status with him, will,
by their united voice let it be known what the mind and will and voice of the
Lord is on the point under consideration. “for God is not the author of
confusion, but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints.” (1 Cor.
14:29-33.)
Thus, no
one in or out of the Church will ever be led astray or be taught false doctrine
when he hears the united voice of the First Presidency and the Twelve Apostles
of the Lamb, who hold the keys of the kingdom, who preside over and direct the
Lord’s affairs on earth, and who are the ultimate and final arbiters, under
God, of the truth and divinity of those things the almighty has given to men on
earth. When this truth sinks into the hearts of men, they will have no
uncertainties about the Adam-God heresy or about any other principle that is
believed or taught which is out of harmony with the whole plan of salvation,
which is rejected by the united voice of the First Presidency and the Twelve,
and which therefore is not the mind and will and voice of the Lord to the
world. (Bruce R. McConkie, selection from unpublished manuscript, 281-99.)
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