See also my document “In Favor of Science” quotes compiled which potentially support some of the ideas of organic evolution, or other contemporary science, if such is backed by evidence (the theories are often not).

Beware this topic is controversial, some views of past church leaders may not represent official church views, and official LDS doctrine is found at ChurchOfJesusChrist.org.

 

– “Various views have been expressed by other Church leaders on this subject over many decades; however, formal statements by the First Presidency are the definitive source of official Church positions. It is hoped that these materials will provide a firm foundation for individual study in a context of faith in the restored gospel.” (Approved by the Board of Trustees, June 1992.) (Part of the BYU packet on Evolution) (http://biology.byu.edu/DepartmentInfo/EvolutionandtheOriginofMan.aspx)

-see BYU Evolution packet, mandatory reading for all BYU students as they take their general education courses at BYU, explaining official Church statement on the creation. It has First Presidency Statements in the creation, and reminds us that definitive statements on Church doctrine come from clearly declared messages from the First Presidency.

See it at at http://biology.byu.edu/DepartmentInfo/EvolutionandtheOriginofMan.aspx.

-“Diversity of opinion does not necessitate intolerance of spirit, nor should it embitter or set rational being against each other. The Christ taught kindness, patience, and charity.

Our religion is not hostile to real science. That which is demonstrated, we accept with joy; but vain philosophy, human theory and mere speculations of men, we do not accept nor do we adopt anything contrary to divine revelation or to good common sense. But everything that tends to right conduct, that harmonizes with sound morality and increases faith in Deity, finds favor with us no matter where it may be found.” (excerpt from the BYU packet on evolution)(from “WORDS IN SEASON FROM THE FIRST PRESIDENCY”: Deseret Evening News December 17, 1910, part 1 p.3)

Summary of Some of the Ideas on creation which are treated in this text:

-Eternal cycle of God’s

-Man transplanted to earth from another planet. Humans always are born of woman. (Brigham Young, Joseph Fielding Smith)

-Rib of Adam to make Eve is symbolic not literal. (Kimball)

-7 creative periods in making of earth (Joseph Smith)

-Genesis theory of time moving slower for the first several days of creation.

-Creation for a day then let it grown in it’s own a while, aka space between the days of creation.

-Materials from other planets brought to this one just like the humans and animals were brought as the prophet said. Hence Carbon dating shows things as very old.

-No death before Adam. See 2 Nephi, McConkie “The Seven Deadly Heracies.”, etc. Says things dying and evolving before Adam not true; the Fall of Adam brought death into the world. Hence Christ overcomes that Fall in his Resurrection, wherein he overcomes death.

(Further consideration of these points follows:)

 

-“(2-3) How Old Is the Earth?

“Even when it is realized that chapter 1 of Genesis does not describe the beginning of all things, or even the starting point of mankind, but only the beginning of this earth, it cannot be said definitively when that beginning was. In other words, the scriptures do not provide sufficient information to accurately determine the age of the earth. Generally speaking, those who accept the scriptural account subscribe to one of three basic theories about the age of the world. All three theories depend on how the word day, as used in the creation account, is interpreted.

“The first theory says that the word day is understood as it is used currently and therefore means a period of 24 hours. According to this theory, the earth was created in one week, or 168 hours. Thus, the earth would be approximately six thousand years old. (Many scholars agree that there were approximately four thousand years from Adam to Christ and that there have been nearly two thousand years since Christ was born.) Very few people, either members of the Church or members of other religions, hold to this theory, since the evidence for longer processes involved in the Creation is substantial.

“A second theory argues that Abraham was told through the Urim and Thummim that one revolution of Kolob, the star nearest to the throne of God, took one thousand earth years (see Abraham 3:2–4). In other words, one could say that one day of the Lord’s time equals one thousand earth years. Other scriptures support this theory, too (see Psalm 90:4; 2 Peter 3:8; Facsimile No. 2 from the book of Abraham, figures 1, 4). If the wordday in Genesis was used in this sense, then the earth would be approximately thirteen thousand years old (seven days of a thousand years each for the Creation plus the nearly six thousand years since Adam’s fall). Some see Doctrine and Covenants 77:12 as additional scriptural support for this theory.

“Although the majority of geologists, astronomers, and other scientists believe that even this long period is not adequate to explain the physical evidence found in the earth, there are a small number of reputable scholars who disagree. These claim that the geologic clocks are misinterpreted and that tremendous catastrophes in the earth’s history speeded up the processes that normally may take thousands of years. They cite evidence supporting the idea that thirteen thousand years is not an unrealistic time period. Immanuel Velikovsky, for example, wrote three books amassing evidence that worldwide catastrophic upheavals have occurred in recent history, and he argued against uniformitarianism, the idea that the natural processes in evidence now have always prevailed at the same approximate rate of uniformity. These books are Worlds in Collision, Ages in Chaos, and Earth in Upheaval. Two Latter-day Saint scientists, Melvin A. Cook and M. Garfield Cook, have also advocated this theory in their book Science and Mormonism. A short summary of the Cooks’ approach can be found in Paul Cracroft’s article “How Old Is the Earth?” (Improvement Era, Oct. 1964, pp. 827–30, 852).

“A third theory says that the word day refers to a period of an undetermined length of time, thus suggesting an era. The word is still used in that sense in such phrases as “in the day of the dinosaurs.” The Hebrew word for day used in the creation account can be translated as “day” in the literal sense, but it can also be used in the sense of an indeterminate length of time (see Genesis 40:4, where day is translated as “a season”; Judges 11:4, where a form of day is translated as “in the process of time”; see also Holladay, Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament, pp. 130–31). Abraham says that the Gods called the creation periods days (see Abraham 4:5, 8).

“If this last meaning was the sense in which Moses used the word day,then the apparent conflict between the scriptures and much of the evidence seen by science as supporting a very old age for the earth is easily resolved. Each era or day of creation could have lasted for millions or even hundreds of millions of our years, and uniformitarianism could be accepted without any problem. (For an excellent discussion of this approach see Henry Eyring, “The Gospel and the Age of the Earth,” [Improvement Era, July 1965, pp. 608–9, 626, 628]. Also, most college textbooks in the natural sciences discuss the traditional dating of the earth.)

“While it is interesting to note these various theories, officially the Church has not taken a stand on the age of the earth. For reasons best known to Himself, the Lord has not yet seen fit to formally reveal the details of the Creation. Therefore, while Latter-day Saints are commanded to learn truth from many different fields of study (see D&C 88:77–79), an attempt to establish any theory as the official position of the Church is not justifiable.” (Old Testament Manual of the Church ch. 1) (https://www.lds.org/manual/old-testament-student-manual-genesis-2-samuel/genesis-1-2-the-creation?lang=eng)

-“Ammon said unto him: I am a man; and man in the beginning was created after the image of God, and I am called by his Holy Spirit to teach these things unto this people, that they may be brought to a knowledge of that which is just and true;” (Alma 18:34 from The Book of Mormon)

-“Q. What are we to understand by the sounding of the trumpets, mentioned in the 8th chapter of Revelation?A. We are to understand that as God made the world in six days, and on the seventh day he finished his work, and sanctified it, and also formed man out of the dust of the earth, even so, in the beginning of the seventh thousand years will the Lord God sanctify the earth, and complete the salvation of man, and judge all things, and shall redeem all things, except that which he hath not put into his power, when he shall have sealed all things, unto the end of all things; and the sounding of the trumpets of the seven angels are the preparing and finishing of his work, in the beginning of the seventh thousand years—the preparing of the way before the time of his coming.” (D&C 77:12)

 

-“I remember when I was a college student there were great discussions on the question of organic evolution. I took classes in geology and biology and heard the whole story of Darwinism as it was then taught. I wondered about it. I thought much about it. But I did not let it throw me, for I read what the scriptures said about our origins and our relationship to God. Since then I have become acquainted with what to me is a far more important and wonderful kind of evolution. It is the evolution of men and women as the sons and daughters of God, and of our marvelous potential for growth as children of our Creator.” —(President Gordon B. Hinckley, “God Hath Not Given Us the Spirit of Fear,” Ensign, Oct. 1984, 5.)(http://www.lds.org/new-era/2004/05/my-answer-to-evolution?lang=eng)

 

-Hugh Nibley comments pubished in the New Era at ( https://www.lds.org/new-era/1973/09/the-genesis-of-the-written-word?lang=eng&query=evolution)

 

–“There is no salvation in a system of religion that rejects the doctrine of the Fall or that assumes man is the end product of evolution and so was not subject to a fall.

True believers know that this earth and man and all forms of life were created in an Edenic, or paradisiacal, state in which there was no mortality, no procreation, no death.

In that primeval day Adam and Eve were “in a state of innocence, having no joy, for they knew no misery; doing no good, for they knew no sin.” (2 Ne. 2:23.)

But in the providences of the Lord, “Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy.” (2 Ne. 2:25.)

By his fall, Adam introduced temporal and spiritual death into the world and caused this earth life to become a probationary estate.” (The Caravan Moves On by Elder Bruce R McConkie) (https://www.lds.org/general-conference/1984/10/the-caravan-moves-on?lang=eng&query=evolution#watch=video)

 

-President Eyring at a Stake Conference said he doesn’t know what happened before Adam but he knows that Adam fell and because of that we need a redeemer, whom is Jesus Christ.

-“even a four-year-old knows that a chick will not be a dog, nor a horse, nor even a turkey. It will be a chicken. It will follow the pattern of its parentage. She knew that without having had a course in genetics, without a lesson or a lecture.” (General Conference Adress “The Patturn of Our Parentage” by Elder Boyd K Packer of The Quorum of The 12 Apostles) (https://www.lds.org/general-conference/1984/10/the-pattern-of-our-parentage?lang=eng&query=evolution)

-“Anyone who believes and teaches of God the Father, and accepts the divinity of Christ, and of the Holy Ghost, teaches a plurality of Gods.” (General Conference Adress “The Patturn of Our Parentage” by Elder Boyd K Packer of The Quorum of The 12 Apostles) (https://www.lds.org/general-conference/1984/10/the-pattern-of-our-parentage?lang=eng&query=evolution)

-*Political agenda may influence what science textbooks say.

-“No lesson is more manifest in nature than that all living things do as the Lord commanded in the Creation. They reproduce “after their own kind.” (See Moses 2:12, 24.) They follow the pattern of their parentage. Everyone knows that; every four-year-old knows that! A bird will not become an animal nor a fish. A mammal will not beget reptiles, nor “do men gather … figs of thistles.” (Matt. 7:16.)

In the countless billions of opportunities in the reproduction of living things, one kind does not beget another. If a species ever does cross, the offspring cannot reproduce. The pattern for all life is the pattern of the parentage.

This is demonstrated in so many obvious ways, even an ordinary mind should understand it. Surely no one with reverence for God could believe that His children evolved from slime or from reptiles. (Although one can easily imagine that those who accept the theory of evolution don’t show much enthusiasm for genealogical research!) The theory of evolution, and it is a theory, will have an entirely different dimension when the workings of God in creation are fully revealed.

Since every living thing follows the pattern of its parentage, are we to suppose that God had some other strange pattern in mind for His offspring? Surely we, His children, are not, in the language of science, a different species than He is?” (https://www.lds.org/general-conference/1984/10/the-pattern-of-our-parentage?lang=eng&query=evolution)(“The Pattern of Our Parentage by President Boyd K Packer)

 

-“Well, now, Brother William, when the house of Israel begins to come into the glorious mysteries of the kingdom, and find Jesus Christ, whose going forth, as the prophets said, have been from of old, from eternity: and that eternity, agreeably to the records found in the catacombs of Egypt, has been going on in this system, (not this world) almost two thousand five hundred and fifty-five millions of years: . . . it almost tempts the flesh to fly to God, or muster faith like Enoch to be translated and see and know as we are seen and known!” (William W. Phelps, Times and Seasons, January 1, 1845, Vol 5, No. 24)

(*God doing as he is now for the past 2.5 billion years, earth some of it’s materials are 4.5 billion years old, so God could have used materials from other planets which were broken down to make this earth.) (for more insight into this passage, refer to http://www.rogerknecht.com/uploads/2011/12/The_Kolob_Theorem.pdf)

-Another quote affirming what we read above, “The life that God lives is named eternal life. His name, one of them, is “Eternal,” using that word as a noun and not as an adjective, and he uses that name to identify the type of life that he lives. God’s life is eternal life, and eternal life is God’s life. They are one and the same. Eternal life is the reward we shall obtain if we believe and obey and walk uprightly before him. And eternal life consists of two things. It consists of life in the family unit, and, also, of inheriting, receiving, and possessing the fullness of the glory of the Father. Anyone who has each of these things is an inheritor and possessor of the greatest of all gifts of God, which is eternal life.

Eternal progression consists of living the kind of life God lives and of increasing in kingdoms and dominions everlastingly. Why anyone should suppose that an infinite and eternal being who has presided in our universe for almost 2,555,000,000 years, who made the sidereal heavens, whose creations are more numerous than the particles of the earth, and who is aware of the fall of every sparrow—why anyone would suppose that such a being has more to learn and new truths to discover in the laboratories of eternity is totally beyond my comprehension.

Will he one day learn something that will destroy the plan of salvation and turn man and the universe into an uncreated nothingness? Will he discover a better plan of salvation than the one he has already given to men in worlds without number?

The saving truth, as revealed to and taught, formally and officially, by the Prophet Joseph Smith in the Lectures on Faith is that God is omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent. He knows all things, he has all power, and he is everywhere present by the power of his Spirit. And unless we know and believe this doctrine we cannot gain faith unto life and salvation.” (Bruce R. McConkie, “The Seven Deadly Heracies”

(http://speeches.byu.edu/?act=viewitem&id=658)

-“The scriptures tell why man was created, but they do not tell how, though the Lord has promised that he will tell that when he comes again (D&C 101:32-33). In 1931, when there was intense discussion on the issue of organic evolution, the First Presidency of the Church, then consisting of Presidents Heber J. Grant, Anthony W. Ivins, and Charles W. Nibley, addressed all of the General Authorities of the Church on the matter, and concluded,

Upon the fundamental doctrines of the Church we are all agreed. Our mission is to bear the message of the restored gospel to the world. Leave geology, biology, archaeology, and anthropology, no one of which has to do with the salvation of the soul of mankind, to scientific research, while we magnify our calling in the realm of the Church….

Upon one thing we should all be able to agree, namely, that Presidents Joseph F. Smith, John R. Winder, and Anthon H. Lund were right when they said: “Adam is the primal parent of our race” [First Presidency Minutes, April 7, 1931].” (from BYU Packet on Evolution http://biology.byu.edu/DepartmentInfo/EvolutionandtheOriginofMan.aspx) (ENCYCLOPEDIA OF MORMONISM: EVOLUTION)

 

-“Man is the child of God, formed in the divine image and endowed with divine attributes, and even as the infant son of an earthly father and mother is capable in due time of becoming a man, so that undeveloped offspring of celestial parentage is capable, by experience through ages and aeons, of evolving into a God.” (“MORMON” VIEW OF EVOLUTION: A Statement by the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) (http://biology.byu.edu/DepartmentInfo/EvolutionandtheOriginofMan.aspx)

-President Joseph Fielding Smith said, “Our Father in Heaven, according to the Prophet, had a Father, and since there has been a condition of this kind through all eternity, each Father had a Father.”

(Doctrines of Salvation, Bookcraft, 1955, vol 2, pg 47) (This is cited here as well in a good explanation of astronomy http://www.rogerknecht.com/uploads/2011/12/The_Kolob_Theorem.pdf)

-Brigham Young explained that “there never was a time when there were not Gods and worlds and when men were not passing through the same ordeals that we are now passing through.” (Deseret News, 16 Nov. 1859, page 290)

-Elder Orson Pratt speaking on space filled with kingdom upon kingdom said,

“Perhaps you may ask me why I dwell on this . . . subject. In answer, why did the Lord dwell upon it forty-two years ago, if he did not want us, in some measure, to understand it? Would he speak at random? Would he give a revelation without expecting that the people would even try to understand it? If the Lord wished us to understand something, and condescended to reveal something, why should we . . . think that we are stepping over our bounds in trying to comprehend approximately what the Lord desired us to understand . . . It is an old sectarian whim and notion, to suppose that we must not try to understand revelation.

. . . . Do not suppose, however, that those first principles [of the gospel] are the only ones to be learned; do not become stereotyped in your feelings, and think that you must always dwell upon them and proceed no further. If there be knowledge concerning the future, . . . the present, . . .[the] past, or any species of knowledge that would be beneficial to the mind of man, let us seek it; and that which we cannot obtain by using the light which God has placed within us, by using our reasoning powers, by reading books, or by human wisdom alone, let us seek to a higher source—to that Being who is filled with knowledge, and who has given laws to all things and who, in his wisdom, goodness, justice and mercy, controls all things according to their capacity, and according to the various spheres and conditions in which they are placed.” (Orson Pratt, March 14, 1875, Salt Lake City, 16th Ward, reported by David W. Evans)

–-Some from this earth Abraham etc. already are God’s exalted D&C132:37, “37 Abraham received concubines, and they bore him children; and it was accounted unto him for righteousness, because they were given unto him, and he abode in my law; as Isaac also and Jacob did none other things than that which they were commanded; and because they did none other things than that which they were commanded, they have entered into their exaltation, according to the promises, and sit upon thrones, and are not angels but are gods.”

-The Prophet Joseph Smith himself publicly taught the doctrine the following year, 1844, during a funeral sermon of Elder King Follett: “God himself was once as we are now, and is an exalted man, and sits enthroned in yonder heavens! … It is the first principle of the Gospel to know for a certainty the Character of God, and to know that we may converse with him as one man converses with another, and that he was once a man like us; yea, that God himself, the Father of us all, dwelt on an earth, the same as Jesus Christ himself did.” (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, sel. Joseph Fielding Smith, Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1938, pp. 345–46.) (https://www.lds.org/ensign/1982/02/i-have-a-question?lang=eng)

-“When you tell me that father Adam was made as we make adobes from the earth, you tell me what I deem an idol tale. When you tell me that the beasts of the field were produced in that manner, you are speaking idle words devoid of meaning. There is no such thing in all the eternities where the Gods dwell. Mankind are here because they are the offspring of parents…and power was given them to propagate their species, and they were commanded to multiply and replenish the earth” (Journal of Discourses [of Brigham Young], 7:285; Discourses of Brigham Young, 104-5)

-President Joseph Fielding Smith said “Life did not commence upon this earth spontaneously. Its origin was not here. Life existed long before our solar system was called into being….The Lord has given us the information regarding his creations, and how he has made many earths…and when the time came for this earth to be peopled, the Lord, our God, transplanted upon it from some other earth, the life which is found here” (Doctrines of Salvation 1:139-40).

-“The writings of Abraham, Moses, and Enoch as recorded in the Pearl of Great Price and the writings of Lehi and Nephi as recorded in the Book of Mormon are a great asset in understanding the purpose and intent of the earliest Old Testament writings. For example, they make very clear the origin and nature of man.

For many years I had an assignment from the First Presidency to serve on what was known as the Church Publications Committee. We were expected to read and pass upon material submitted for use in the study courses of our auxiliary organizations. In reading these materials my spirit was sometimes offended by the use of language which expressed the views of those who did not believe in the mission of Adam. I have reference to words and phrases such as “primitive man,” “prehistoric man,” “before men learned to write,” and the like. Sometimes these terms are used in ways which evidence a misunderstanding of the mission of Adam. The connotation of these terms, as used by unbelievers, is out of harmony with our understanding of the mission of Adam, as taught by such teachers as Enoch, Moses, and Nephi. Adam fell that men might be” (2 Ne. 2:25). There were no pre-Adamic men in the line of Adam. The Lord said that Adam was the first man (see Moses 1:34, Moses 3:7; D&C 84:16). The Lord also said that Adam was the first flesh (see Moses 3:7), which, as I understand it, means the first mortal on the earth. I understand from a statement made by Enoch, in the book of Moses, that there was no death in the world before Adam (see Moses 6:48; 2 Ne. 2:22). Enoch also said that a record of Adam was kept in a book which had been written under the tutelage of the Almighty himself…I am not a scientist. I do not profess to know much about what they know. My emphasis is on Jesus Christ, and him crucified, and the revealed principles of his gospel. If, however, there are some things in the strata of the earth indicating there were men before Adam, then they were not the ancestors of Adam. And we should avoid using language and ideas that would cause confusion on this matter. (President Marion G Romney, https://www.lds.org/ensign/1980/09/records-of-great-worth?lang=eng)

-“It is held by some that Adam was not the first man upon this earth and that the original human being was a development from lower orders of the animal creation. These, however, are the theories of men. The word of the Lord declared that Adam was “the first man of all men” (Moses 1:34), and we are therefore in duty bound to regard him as the primal parent of our race. It was shown to the brother of Jared that all men were created in the beginning after the image of God; whether we take this to mean the spirit or the body, or both, it commits us to the same conclusion: Man began life as a human being, in the likeness of our Heavenly Father.

True it is that the body of man enters upon its career as a tiny germ embryo, which becomes an infant, quickened at a certain stage by the spirit whose tabernacle it is, and the child, after being born, develops into a man. There is nothing in this, however, to indicate that the original man, the first of our race, began life as anything less than a man, or less than the human germ or embryo that becomes a man.” (“The Origin of Man” by The First Presidency of the Church, then being Joseph F. Smith, John R. Winder, and Anthon H. Lund, Improvement Era, Nov. 1909, 80) (https://www.lds.org/ensign/2002/02/the-origin-of-man?lang=eng)

-Joseph Smith said “this earth was organized or formed out of other planets which were broken up and remodeled and made into the one on which we live.” (Ehat and Cook, Words of Joseph Smith, 60)(see also “Discourse, 5 January 1841, as Reported by William Clayton,” josephsmithpapers.org; spelling and punctuation standardized).).

-“… In the translation ‘without form and void’ it should read ‘empty and desolate.’ The word ‘created’ should be formed or organized” (Joseph Smith in “Discourse, 5 January 1841, as Reported by William Clayton,” josephsmithpapers.org; spelling and punctuation standardized).

-“God brought forth material out of which he formed this little terra firma upon which we roam. How long had this material been in existence? Forever and forever, in some shape, in some condition” (Discourses of Brigham Young, sel. John A. Widtsoe [1954], 100).

 

-Joseph Smith teaches a sermon saying matter is eternal see “The King Follett Sermon” at https://www.lds.org/ensign/1971/04/the-king-follett-sermon?lang=eng

-Joseph Smith said “You ask the learned doctors why they say the world was made out of nothing, and they will answer, “Doesn’t the Bible say he created the world?” And they infer, from the word create, that it must have been made out of nothing. Now, the word create came from the word baurau, which does not mean to create out of nothing; it means to organize; the same as a man would organize materials and build a ship. Hence we infer that God had materials to organize the world out of chaos—chaotic matter, which is element, and in which dwells all the glory. Element had an existence from the time He had. The pure principles of element are principles which can never be destroyed; they may be organized and re-organized, but not destroyed. They had no beginning and can have no end.” (History of the Church, 6:308-9; see also D&C 93:33, see also https://www.lds.org/ensign/1971/04/the-king-follett-sermon?lang=eng).

-“As to this man, Joseph Smith, let us say—

Here is a man who was chosen before he was born, who was numbered with the noble and great in the councils of eternity before the foundations of this world were laid.

Along with Adam and Enoch and Noah and Abraham, he sat in council with the Gods when the plans were made to create an earth whereon the hosts of our Father’s children might dwell.

Under the direction of the Holy One and of Michael, who became the first man, he participated in the creative enterprises of the Father.” (Ensign, May 1976, 94, see also https://www.lds.org/general-conference/1976/04/joseph-smith-the-mighty-prophet-of-the-restoration?lang=eng)

-““God Himself was once as we are now, and is an exalted man, and sits enthroned in yonder heavens! That is the great secret. If the veil were rent today, and the great God who holds this world in its orbit, and who upholds all worlds and all things by His power, was to make Himself visible,—I say, if you were to see Him today, you would see Him like a man in form—like yourselves in all the person, image, and very form as a man; for Adam was created in the very fashion, image and likeness of God, and received instruction from, and walked, talked and conversed with Him, as one man talks and communes with another. …” (Joseph Smith [manual], 40, see also https://www.lds.org/manual/teachings-joseph-smith/chapter-2?lang=eng

-“All men and women are in the similitude of the universal Father and Mother and are literally the sons and daughters of Deity.” (Messages of the First Presidency, 4:203, see also https://www.lds.org/ensign/2002/02/the-origin-of-man?lang=eng)

 

-“The creation occupied certain periods of time. We are not authorized to say what the duration of these days was” (Discourses of Brigham Young, sel. John A. Widtsoe [1954], 100).

-Elder Bruce R. McConkie of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles explained that a day “is a specified time period; it is an age, an eon, a division of eternity; it is the time between two identifiable events. And each day, of whatever length, has the duration needed for its purposes. …

-“There is no revealed recitation specifying that each of the ‘six days’ involved in the Creation was of the same duration” (“Christ and the Creation,” Ensign, June 1982, 11).

-Elder Russell M. Nelson: “The entire Creation was planned by God. …I testify that the earth and all life upon it are of divine origin. The Creation did not happen by chance. … The Creation itself testifies of a Creator” (“The Creation,” 84–85).

 

-“All human beings—male and female—are created in the image of God. Each is a beloved spirit son or daughter of heavenly parents, and, as such, each has a divine nature and destiny. Gender is an essential characteristic of individual premortal, mortal, and eternal identity and purpose” (Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2010, 129).

-“The Lord [brought] together Adam and Eve, his first male and first female on this earth, and perform[ed] a holy marriage ceremony to make them husband and wife. They were quite different in their makeup, with different roles to play. Hardly had he performed the ceremony than he said to them: ‘Multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion’ (Gen. 1:28)” (Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Spencer W. Kimball [2006], 192).

-“Grand as it is, planet Earth is part of something even grander—that great plan of God. Simply summarized, the earth was created that families might be” (“The Creation,” by Elder Russell M Nelson 85).

 

-“President Spencer W. Kimball taught that “the story of the rib, of course, is figurative” (“The Blessings and Responsibilities of Womanhood,” Ensign, Mar. 1976, 71). The rib symbolizes the side-by-side partnership of equality of Adam and Eve and all married couples.”

-“The rib, coming as it does from the side, seems to denote partnership. The rib signifies … a lateral relationship as partners, to work and to live, side by side” (Elder Russell M Nelson “Lessons from Eve,” Ensign, Nov. 1987, 87). (see also https://www.lds.org/manual/old-testament-seminary-teacher-manual/introduction-to-the-book-of-genesis/lesson-9-moses-3-genesis-2-abraham-5?lang=eng)

-President Joseph Fielding Smith explained:

“There is no account of the creation of man or other forms of life when they were created as spirits. There is just the simple statement that they were so created before the physical creation. The statements in Moses 3:5 and Genesis 2:5 are interpolations thrown into the account of the physical creation, explaining that all things were first created in the spirit existence in heaven before they were placed upon this earth” (Doctrines of Salvation, comp. Bruce R. McConkie, 3 vols. [1954–56], 1:75–76). (see also https://www.lds.org/manual/old-testament-seminary-teacher-manual/introduction-to-the-book-of-genesis/lesson-9-moses-3-genesis-2-abraham-5?lang=eng)

-In 1909 the First Presidency stated:

“It is held by some that Adam was not the first man upon this earth and that the original human being was a development from lower orders of the animal creation. These, however, are the theories of men. The word of the Lord declared that Adam was ‘the first man of all men’ (Moses 1:34), and we are therefore in duty bound to regard him as the primal parent of our race. It was shown to the brother of Jared that all men were created in the beginning after the image of God; whether we take this to mean the spirit or the body, or both, it commits us to the same conclusion: Man began life as a human being, in the likeness of our Heavenly Father.

“True it is that the body of man enters upon its career as a tiny germ embryo, which becomes an infant, quickened at a certain stage by the spirit whose tabernacle it is, and the child, after being born, develops into a man. There is nothing in this, however, to indicate that the original man, the first of our race, began life as anything less than a man, or less than the human germ or embryo that becomes a man” (in “The Origin of Man,” Ensign, Feb. 2002, 30).

-President Spencer W. Kimball testified that all human beings are descended from Adam and Eve:

“Adam and Eve were the progenitors of the race. They were the first father and mother, and all the children of mortality are the offspring of this couple” (“The Lord’s Plan for Men and Women,” Ensign, Oct. 1975, 4).

-“Abraham learned that bodies in space have different periods of revolution and that they move in their own time frames of reference (Abr. 3:4). Each planet, or star, operates according to a time base which is set by its location from a central, governing body. …

“To further clarify, let us consider a moon explorer who is faced with an extended stay on the moon’s surface. After a while, he finds it more convenient to redefine his time base in terms of the sun’s motion across the moon sky (his new environment). Following the method he remembers from his experiences on earth (the old environment), he defines the moon day as beginning when the sun rises at one place on the horizon and ending when the sun sets on the opposite horizon. …

“Long after the moon days, months and years are well established for the intrepid moon voyager, he compares his moon system to the earthly calendar. He finds that one full moon day (complete rotation) corresponds to approximately 29 earth days. … The moon observer agrees that his day passes much slower than the days that are reckoned on the earth” (Fred Holmstrom, “Astronomy and the Book of Abraham,” Sidney B. Sperry Symposium, 1982: The Pearl of Great Price [1982], 110–11). (https://www.lds.org/manual/the-pearl-of-great-price-student-manual/the-book-of-abraham?lang=eng)

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-Joseph Smith said the days of creation were 7 creative periods.

-Pres of church JFS? the one near time of James E Talmage said it was literal like the Genesis says about the 7000 years;

James E Talmage says longer than above Prophet when he was an Apostle, the timing being similar to the scientific discoveries. “The contention was the problem” Pres Eyring taught about the two going back and forth against each other.

-D&C 93:16 teaches Christ’s wasn’t a perfect understanding from the get go of his mortal life either; and the bible speaks of him increasing is wisdom and stature before God and man in Luke 2:52).

-Prophetic teachings are at times symbolic; there are many examples, like Isaiah saying the stars would fall out of the sky when really the earth is moving. But maybe the stars will fall out of the sky, other stars moving along with the earth, being ready for their progression to another kingdom as well, and there could be some small objects impacting the earth as well. Also consider Isaiah seeing our day and saying that our chariots are without end, referring to modern day cars (see “A Marvelous Work and a Wonder” by Elder LeGrand Richards).

-Joseph Smith admitted he did not know all when he said that “all will be revealed” (D&C 76:7 is one of the several references).

-A prophet can speak his opinion at times, like Brigham Young saying one thing in the morning in a sermon, then later than afternoon says that was Brigham Young speaking, now I’ll speak to you as prophet, and he spoke totally opposite of his morning sermon. But lets not get too carried away with this. Much of what we have is from the Journal of Discourses of these brethren. Also see what Joseph Smith said, “… Men are in the habit, when the truth is exhibited by the servants of God, of saying, All is mystery; they have spoken in parables, and, therefore, are not to be understood. It is true they have eyes to see, and see not, but none are so blind as those who will not see; and, although the Savior spoke this to such characters, yet unto His disciples he expounded it plainly; and we have reason to be truly humble before the God of our fathers, that He hath left these things on record for us, so plain, that notwithstanding the exertions and combined influence of the priests of Baal, they have not power to blind our eyes, and darken our understanding, if we will but open our eyes, and read with candor, for a moment.” (History of the Church, 2:265–66; second, third, and fourth sets of bracketed words in first paragraph in original; punctuation and grammar modernized; from a letter from Joseph Smith to the elders of the Church, Dec. 1835, Kirtland, Ohio, published in Messenger and Advocate, Dec. 1835, pp. 225–26.)(https://www.lds.org/manual/teachings-joseph-smith/chapter-25?lang=eng#7-36481_000_029)(Chapter 25: Truths from the Savior’s Parables in Matthew 13

Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph Smith, (2011), 292–305)

-*maybe dinosaurs not carnivorous since there was no death before Adam; or had meat trees (ask a good chemist he will say you can make a meat culture without slaying a beast) or like the Millennial lion who will eat straw. Or perhaps something changed in the body of a dinosaur at death causing it to eat meat. This would be similar to Adam, for he lived on fruit before the Fall! Physical changes were made to his body at the occurrence of the Fall.

-*maybe fossils on this earth came from dinosaurs from other worlds; all input into the making of this globe so we could have fossil fuels, the Lord having foreknowledge knowing that we could use such.

-There was no death from before The Fall of Adam see 2 Nephi 2:22 (were it not for the Fall of Adam all would have remained in the state it was in at the time of it’s creation) and McConkie on “7 deadly Heracies” (speaks further on how things living and dying and evolving in this manner before Adam did not occur, for the Fall brought death into the world).

-*maybe all the forms of dinosaurs we’ve found fossils for lived in earth at eden time (we are uncertain how long the Eden period was, but some good sources suggest 1000 years, the same length of time as the Millennium will be (see “The Kolob Theorem”).

-*perhaps the earth was created in 7 days of God. 7 thousand years to us. and periods between those creative periods there were, and hence things grew and multiplied therein. hence the creating happen in 7k of our years, and time between allowing sciences’ current findings.

-Evolution theories of Darwin etc not true says Bruce R. McConkie in “The 7 Deadly Heracies”

-*perhaps the creation happened in 7,000 years, but it looks like the earth were billions of years old because the materials used to make the earth were ancient in and of themselves. The matter used to make this world could be as ancient as God himself (perhaps 2.5 billion years old or older since he used existing material even in the beginning of his creations, and 2.5 billion is a number from “7 Deadly Heracies” by McConkie, adapted from W.W. Phelps in the early days of the restored church).

-*Geologists teach that earth material dates back aprox. 4.5 billion years, perhaps that is how long ago the old star that was dead, decomposed, and used for the making of this earth.

-Joseph Smith taught the matter is never created or destroyed, so it would make sense that ancient materials were used in making this earth.

-*The idea that we evolved from apes into humans goes against everything we know about having a pre mortal existence, and eternal spirits which could think and obey God and appear in his image. See BYU Evolution Packet at http://biology.byu.edu/DepartmentInfo/EvolutionandtheOriginofMan.aspx.

-For more interesting things about the creation not cited here, see “The Kolob Theorem” (see post on this blog for a summary and quotes from of the text, or see the full online text fully sourced from author at  http://www.rogerknecht.com/uploads/2011/12/The_Kolob_Theorem.pdf). Therein is considered the finite time length of an “eternity” and quotes from an Apostle on how long God has been creating worlds. Also further insight into the possible meaning of Christ’s atonement being in “the meridian of time“.

 

 

 

 

 

-“He was then told that the blood of bulls and goats, of rams and lambs should be spilt upon the altar as a type of the great and last sacrifice which should be offered up for the sins of the world. The first principle, then, ever taught to Father Adam was faith in the Messiah, who was to come in the meridian of time to lay down his life for the redemption of man.” (Wilford Woodruff, Journal of Discourses, 26 vols. [London: Latter-day Saints’ Book Depot, 1854-1886], 23: 126

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-“We all need to take a careful inventory of our performance and also the performance of those over whom we preside to be sure that we are teaching the “great plan of the Eternal God” to the Saints. Are we accepting and teaching what the revelations tell us about the Creation, Adam and the fall of man, and redemption from that fall through the atonement of Christ?” (Ezra Taft Benson, The Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson [Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1988], 28 – 29)

 

-“We [must] measure every teaching to be found in the world of book learning by the teachings of revealed truth, as contained in the gospel of Jesus Christ. If we find in a school text claims that contradict the word of the Lord as pertaining to the creation of the world, the origin of man, or the determination of what is right or wrong in the conduct of human souls, we may be certain that such teachings are but the theories of men.” (Harold B. Lee, Stand Ye In Holy Places, Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Company, 1975. p. 73)

 

-“When our first parents fell from their paradisaical state, they were brought in contact with influences and powers of evil that are unnatural and stand in opposition to an endless life. So far as mankind yield to these influences, they are so far removed from a natural to an unnatural state—from life to death” (President Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, 26 vols. [London: Latter-day Saints’ Book Depot, 1854-1886], 9: 304)

 

-“It is very true, had not sin entered into the world, and opposition been introduced, death would not have entered” (Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, 1:235)

 

 

-“Sin came through the fall, and death by sin” (Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, 26 vols. [London: Latter-day Saints’ Book Depot, 1854-1886], 8: 127 – 128)

 

– “they transgressed a command of the Lord, and through that transgression sin came into the world. . . . Then came the curse upon the fruit, upon the vegetables, and upon our mother earth; and it came upon the creeping things, upon the grain in the field, the fish in the sea, and upon all things pertaining to this earth, through Man’s transgression.” (Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, 10:312)

 

 

-“Now, restoration signifies a bringing back, and must refer to something which existed before . . . when a prophet speaks of the restoration of all things, he means that all things have undergone a change, and are to be again restored to their primitive order, even as they first existed. . . . “First, then, it becomes necessary for us to take a view of creation, as it rolled in purity from the hand of its Creator; and if we can discover the true state in which it then existed, and understand the changes that have taken place since, then we shall be able to understand what is to be restored

. . . the beasts of the earth were all in perfect harmony with each other; the lion ate straw like the ox—the wolf dwelt with the lamb—the leopard lay down with the kid—the cow and bear fed together, in the same pasture . . . . all was peace and harmony, and nothing to hurt nor disturb, in all the holy mountain.

. . . the earth yielded neither noxious weeds nor poisonous plants, nor useless thorns and thistles; indeed, every thing that grew was just calculated for the food of man’ beast, fowl, and creeping thing; and their food was all vegetable….This scene, which was so beautiful a little before, had now become the abode of sorrow and toil, of death and mourning: the earth groaning with its production of accursed thorns and thistles; man and beast at enmity .  . . . Soon man begins to persecute, hate, and murder his fellow; until at length the earth is filled with violence; all flesh becomes corrupt, the powers of darkness prevail . . . But men have degenerated, and greatly changed, as well as the earth.” (John Taylor, The Government of God.” [Liverpool: S. W. Richards, 1852], 105.)

 

 

 

-“We acknowledge that through Adam all have died, that death through the fall must pass upon the whole human family, also upon the beasts of the field, the fishes of the sea and the fowls of the air and all the works of God, as far as this earth is concerned.” (Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Wilford Woodruff, 2000, p. 20) (Wilford Woodruff, Journal of Discourses, 26 vols. [London: Latter-day Saints’ Book Depot, 1854-1886], 23: 126)

 

 

– “In the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die,” and this penalty was to follow upon all flesh, all being as helpless and dependent as he was in this matter…..There is an inherent principle in man that leads him to faith in a superior or a Supreme Being, who has designed and created all things. The Bible account, being the most rational and indeed only historical one of the creation and the dealings of God with men, we are constrained to accept it, in the main, as truth…..“Death came upon us without the exercise of our agency; we had no hand in bringing it originally upon ourselves; it came because of the transgression of our first parents. Therefore, man, who had no hand in bringing death upon himself, shall have no hand in bringing again life unto himself; for as he dies in consequence of the sin of Adam, so shall he live again, whether he will or not, by the righteousness of Jesus Christ, and the power of his resurrection.”;ref27; …The death that came into the world by Adam’s transgression has been conquered, and its terror vanquished by the power and righteousness of the Son of God.”(Joseph F. Smith., Conference Report, April 1912, Afternoon Session. 135 – 136)

“In the day that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die,” and this penalty was to follow upon all flesh, all being as helpless and dependent as he was in this matter.”(Joseph F. Smith, Gospel Doctrine: Selections from the Sermons and Writings of Joseph F. Smith, compiled by John A. Widtsoe [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1939], 202) The death of the body, or natural death, is but a temporary circumstance to which all were subjected through the fall, and from which all will be restored or resurrected by the power of God, through the atonement of Christ.” (Joseph F. Smith, Gospel Doctrine: Selections from the Sermons and Writings of Joseph F. Smith, compiled by John A. Widtsoe [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1939], 16)

 

-“As we understand it the term ‘ first flesh,’ does not have reference to Adam as being the first living creature of the creation on the earth, but that he, through the ‘ fall ‘ became the first ‘ flesh,’ or mortal soul. The term ‘ flesh ‘ in reference to mortal existence is of common usage. We find it so used in the scriptures. Adam having partaken of the fruit became mortal and subject to death, which was not the condition until that time. We are taught in the Temple as well as in the scriptures that man was the last creation placed upon the earth, before death was introduced. Adam was the first to partake of the change and to become subject to the flesh.”(Review Committee to President Grant, in The Truth, The Way, The Life, 2nd edition, Provo: BYU Studies, 1996, pp.292-293. George Albert Smith was chairman of the committee, and David O. McKay, Joseph Fielding Smith, Stephen L. Richards, and Melvin J. Ballard were committee members.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

-“NO DEATH ON EARTH BEFORE FALL. The Lord pronounced the earth good when it was finished. Everything upon its face was called good. There was no death in the earth before the fall of Adam. I do not care what the scientists say in regard to dinosaurs and other creatures upon the earth millions of years ago, that lived and died and fought and struggled for existence. When the earth was created and was declared good, peace was upon its face among all its creatures. Strife and wickedness were not found here, neither was there any corruption.” (Joseph Fielding Smith, Doctrines of Salvation, Volume 1, p. 108)

 

-“So now, in the twentieth century, the doctrines of the critics of the Bible and the teachings of the organic evolutionists, have gained the ascendancy in the scientific world. It is true that in former years we lived in a Christian nation, the fact persists that now many Christian ministers, so-called, have been caught in the web of modernism and organic evolution and have rejected the fundamental doctrines of Christianity; and they, like the Christians in the days of Rome, have mingled their religious views with these modern (pagan) teachings. Because of the influence of destructive criticism and these theories of the descent of man, many ministers have rejected the fall of Adam, the atonement of Jesus Christ, and the resurrection of the dead. In fact they have come to the point where they have discarded the doctrine of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, and that he is the Only Begotten Son of God. Their Christianity, filled with abundant errors before, has sunk to a lower level. These advocates of modernism and evolutionary teachings, glory in the fact that their influence has helped to eliminate from Christianity, the “dogma of Adam’s fall,” and the “legendary husks and rinds of our sacred books.” fn One day, when they come to the judgment, they will have to give an accounting for all this mischief they have done. It may be imagined how they will feel, when they are forced to confront the thousands who have been turned away from faith in God and acceptance of his divine plan of salvation, because these enemies of truth were eager to destroy the scriptures and the mission of Jesus Christ. If great joy will be felt by the individual who has, through his humble effort, saved one soul, then how great must be the remorse of these learned men when they discover that their efforts have been the means of destroying thousands of souls?

This brings us to the discussion of what I believe to be the most pernicious doctrine ever entering the mind of man: the theory that man evolved from the lower forms of life. For its source we must go beyond the activities and research of mortal man to the author of evil, who has been an enemy of truth from the beginning before the earth was formed.” (Joseph Fielding Smith, Man, His Origin and Destiny [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1954], 132 – 133.)

-“IF EVOLUTION IS TRUE, THE CHURCH IS FALSE. If life began on the earth, as advocated by Darwin, Huxley, Haeckel (who has been caught openhanded perpetrating a fraud), and others of this school, whether by chance or by some designing hand, then the doctrines of the Church are false. Then there was no Garden of Eden, no Adam and Eve, and no fall. If there was no fall; if death did not come into the world as the scriptures declared that it did—and to be consistent, if you are an evolutionist, this view you must assume—then there was no need for a redemption, and Jesus Christ is not the Son of God, and he did not die for the transgression of Adam, nor for the sins of the world. Then there has been no resurrection from the dead! Consistently, logically, there is no other view, no alternative that can be taken. Now, my brethren and sisters, are you prepared to take this view?” (Joseph Fielding Smith, Doctrines of Salvation, 1:143.)

“Adam, our first parent,—and I believe that doctrine very firmly, which is now discounted in the world—through his transgression brought into the world death, and through death came suffering and sin. The first death that was pronounced upon him was banishment from the presence of the Lord. For Adam died two deaths, a spiritual death, or banishment from the presence of God, which is the first death, and which is like the second death which will be pronounced upon the wicked when they are cast out of the presence of the Lord; and he also died the mortal death.

Modern education declares that there never was such a thing as the “fall” of man, but that conditions have always gone on in the same way as now in this mortal world. Here, say they, death and mutation have always held sway as natural conditions on this earth and everywhere throughout the universe the same laws obtain. It is declared that man has made his ascent to the exalted place he now occupies through countless ages of development which has gradually distinguished him from lower forms of life. Such a doctrine of necessity discards the story a Adam and the Garden of Eden, which it looks upon as a myth coming down to us from an early age of foolish ignorance and superstition. Moreover, it is taught that since death was always here, and a natural condition prevailing throughout all space, there could not possibly come a redemption from Adam’s transgression, hence there was no need for a Savior for a fallen world.” (Melchizedek Priesthood, Joseph Fielding Smith, Improvement Era, 1937, Vol. Xl. May, 1937. No. 5)

-“Did Adam bring death into the world? Are we laboring under a misapprehension? Are we wrong? Is it true that millions of years before Adam came into the world death was here? . . . Are these scriptures true? Are these brethren true—and I have quoted three of the Presidents of the Church, including the Prophet [Joseph Smith] himself? Are they true, or are we to discard their teachings and the teachings of the scriptures because the philosophies of men today declare a contrary doctrine?” (Joseph Fielding Smith, Doctrines of Salvation, 3 vols., edited by Bruce R. McConkie [Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1954-1956], 1: 116.)

 

-“Is it any wonder, under such circumstances, that churches are deserted; that more than half of the population of this country has become indifferent, if not antagonistic, to religion? This, also, is just as true of other lands.” (Joseph Fielding Smith, Doctrines of Salvation, 1:315.)

-“Another thing I wish to say. A man cannot serve God and mammon. Organic evolution is destructive of faith in God. It is rebellion against him. Those who accept this pernicious doctrine cannot consistently believe in the fall of Adam. If they do not believe in the fall of Adam they cannot believe in Jesus Christ, for if Adam had not transgressed the law under which he was placed on this earth, there would have been no occasion for a redemption. How could Adam be redeemed from something that never happened. We are taught that had not Adam partaken of the forbidden fruit all things would have remained in the condition in which they were before the fall. Here is the passage:

The first death, spiritual death, came upon him at the time of his transgression. The mortal death did not overtake him for many many many years, for the Lord granted unto him a time of probation in which he was taught and instructed in the principles of the gospel and given a chance to repent, to show through his faithfulness his worthiness of redemption, and to be brought back again into the presence of God his father.

The great honor to come here and be the first parents of all men was given to Adam and Eve. They were placed by the Father in the Garden of Eden where there was no death. Adam and Eve in the condition in which they were when placed in the Garden of Eden could have lived there forever if they had not broken a law, but they would have lived alone and would have had no children. (2 Nephi 2:22–25); Moses 5:11 The Lord told them they could eat the fruit of every tree in the garden except the fruit of the “tree of the knowledge of good and evil,” and if they did eat this fruit they would surely die. Satan tempted them and they ate this fruit and broke this commandment. By doing this a change came over their bodies and they became subject to death, as the Lord has said, and they were driven out of the garden. After they were driven out children were born to them and they have spread over all the earth. All the children inherited death from our first parents, so we will all have to die as our ancestors have done before us. This made it necessary that something be done to redeem us from death and restore us to life again where there would be no death, for this trangression of Adam and Eve, placed all of us subject to Satan’s power after death.” (Your Question by Joseph Fielding Smith, Improvement Era, 1954, Vol. Lvii. August, 1954. No. 8.)

-“Any theory that presents as a fact a statement that man has evolved from other forms, and has not always been a sentient being, capable of thought, of reasoning, is in conflict with the word of the Lord, as has been pointed out already by Elder Taylor in his remarks here yesterday. Any doctrine that presents a view contrary to that which has been given by revelation, that Adam was placed in the Garden of Eden, that by violation of the law he brought death into the world, and through that death sin and all the vicissitudes of mortality have come,—such a doctrine is in conflict with the revealed word of God.

Any doctrine that declares that man has always been a fallen creature, or in other words, subject to the mortal conditions as we find them today, strikes at the vitals of the Christian faith. Any doctrine that will say there was no Garden of Eden, no need of Adam, no transgression by our first parents, also teaches that there is no redemption from the fall and that the need of Jesus Christ as the Redeemer is unnecessary. If there had been no fall there would have been no redemption; there would have been no need of Jesus Christ coming, as he declared he did come, and as it has been declared by the prophets, to repair a broken law and to restore again that which was lost and to redeem men from the fallen condition. I think what I say is logical, reasonable, and above all, it is scriptural.” (Joseph Fielding Smith, Conference Report, October 1934, Second Day—Morning Meeting 64)

-“When Adam and Eve were placed in the Garden of Eden, they did not have to die. They could have been there to this day. They could have continued on for countless ages. There was no death then. But it would have been a terrific calamity if they had refrained from taking the fruit of that tree, for they would have stayed in the Garden of Eden and we would not be here—nobody would be here except Adam and Eve. So Adam and Eve partook. Eating of that forbidden fruit subdued the power of the spirit and created blood in their bodies. No blood was in their bodies before the Fall. The blood became the life of the body. And the blood was not only the life thereof, but it had in it the seeds of death. And so we grow old and we die. But it would have been a dreadful thing if Adam and his posterity had been forced, because of the Fall, to die and remain dead; that would have been the case had there been no redemption.” (Joseph Fielding Smith, Conference Report, April 1967, Afternoon Meeting 122)

-“If death was always here, then Adam did not bring it, and he could not be punished for it. If Adam did not fall, there was no Christ, because the atonement of Jesus Christ is based on the fall of Adam. And so we face these problems. If there is anybody here that believes that death has always been going on, and that sin was always here, he will have a difficult time to explain Adam and the fall, or the atonement. You see from these writings what a dreadful state these men get in when they do not believe in the fall and the introduction of sin into the world.” (Joseph Fielding Smith, Doctrines of Salvation, 1:119-120.)

-“At this season of the year the attention of Christians everywhere is centered on the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is well that it is so; for this is the most important event that ever occurred in our fallen world. When Adam and Eve were placed in the Garden of Eden, there was no death. It was by the violation of a commandment that brought mortality and death upon them. The Lord said to them:

‘. . . Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.’ (Gen. 2:16-17)

After they had eaten the Lord cursed the ground for their sakes and said:

‘In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the round; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.’ (Gen. 3:19) ” (Joseph Fielding Smith, Conference Report, April 1956, Afternoon Meeting 125)

-“Then what is meant by the “first flesh”? It is simple when you understand it. Adam was the first of all creatures to fall and become flesh, and flesh in this sense means mortality, and all through our scriptures the Lord speaks of this life as flesh, while we are here in the flesh, so Adam became the first flesh. There was no other mortal creature before him, and there was no mortal death until he brought it . . . ” (Joseph Fielding Smith, Seek Ye Earnestly [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1970], 281.)

-“The mortal death passed upon all men through the transgression of Adam, and every man is subject to death. Being subject to death and to sin, it is impossible for us by any act of ours to redeem ourselves from death or from our own individual sins. We are absolutely helpless. Every man that has been born into the world since the days of Adam, save the Lord Jesus Christ, has been subject to death, and under the transgression of his own sins, without the power in and of himself to redeem himself from either situation.” (Joseph Fielding Smith, Faith and Works: The Clearing of a Seeming Conflict, Improvement Era, 1924, Vol. Xxvii. October, 1924. No. 12)

-“And now, behold, if Adam had not transgressed he would not have fallen, but he would have remained in the garden of Eden. And all things which were created must have remained in the same state in which they were after they were created; and they must have remained for ever and had no end.” (Joseph Fielding Smith, Man, His Origin and Destiny [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1954], 279 – 280)

 

-“. . . so they guess that once many millions of years ago, life must have come on the earth spontaneously. They have no proof, they can discover no proof, and before any court where justice is dispensed and evidence is required, their case would have to be thrown out of court. In all seriousness, their case has been thrown out of court before the Just Judge who rules both on earth and in the heavens; and the day is not far distant when the advocates of this pernicious doctrine will have to answer for the countless souls they have blinded by their craftiness and turned away from worshiping the Living God!” (Joseph Fielding Smith, Man, His Origin and Destiny [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1954], 160 – 161.)

-“THEORY OF EVOLUTION DENIES CHRIST. Then Adam, and by that I mean the first man, was not capable of sin. He could not transgress, and by doing so bring death into the world; for, according to this theory, death had always been in the world. If, therefore, there was no fall, there was no need of an atonement, hence the coming into the world of the Son of God as the Savior of the world is a contradiction, a thing impossible. Are you prepared to believe such a thing as that? Do you believe that the first man was a savage? That he lacked in the power of intelligence? That he has been on the constant road of progression? These are the teachings of such theorists.” (Joseph Fielding Smith, Doctrines of Salvation, 1:142)

-“Perhaps it will be profitable to list a few of the basic, revealed truths concerning the origin and destiny of man and of all life — truths which are not taken into consideration by evolutionists in their theorizing and which, in most instances, are diametrically opposed to the speculative conclusions reached by them. . . . Before the fall there was neither death nor procreation. Plants, animals, and man would have continued living forever unless a change of condition overtook them; and in their then immortal condition they could not have reproduced, each after its own kind. Death and procreation pertain to mortality, that is, to the status and type of existence attained by all forms of life subsequent to the fall.

Lehi said: “If Adam had not transgressed he would not have fallen, but he would have remained in the garden of Eden. And all things which were created must have remained forever, and had no end. And they would have had no children; wherefore they would have remained in a state of innocence, having no joy, for they knew no misery; doing no good, for they knew no sin. But behold, all things have been done in the wisdom of him who knoweth all things. Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy. And the Messiah cometh in the fullness of time, that he may redeem the children of men from the fall.” (2 Nephi 2:22–26)

Eve expressed the same truth in this language: “Were it not for our transgression we never should have had seed, and never should have known good and evil, and the joy of our redemption, and the eternal life which God giveth unto all the obedient.” (Moses 5:11)

Adam’s fall brought temporal (natural) and spiritual death into the world. The temporal or natural death means that body and spirit separate, the spirit going to a world of waiting spirits to await the day of the resurrection, the body returning to the dust, the primal element, from which it was taken. The effects of this fall passed upon all created things. “Adam was appointed Lord of this creation,” Orson Pratt says, “a great governor, swaying the scepter of power over the whole earth. When the governor, the person who was placed to reign over this fair creation, had transgressed, all in his dominion had to feel the effects of it, the same as a father or a mother, who transgresses certain laws, frequently transmits the effects thereof to the latest generations.” (Joseph Fielding Smith, Man: His Origin and Destiny, p. 395)

-“Thus when man fell the earth fell together with all forms of life on its face. Death entered; procreation began; the probationary experiences of mortality had their start. Before this fall there was neither mortality, nor birth, nor death, nor — for that matter — did Adam so much as have blood in his veins (and the same would be true for other forms of life), for blood is an element pertaining only to mortality.” (Joseph Fielding Smith, Man: His Origin and Destiny, pp. 362-365; Doctrines of Salvation, vol. 1, pp. 76-77)

 

 

-“Adam and Eve … exercised their agency and of their own volition had partaken of the fruit, of which they were commanded not to eat; thus they had become subject to the law of Satan. In that disobedience, God was now free to visit upon them a judgment. They were to learn that besides God being a merciful Father, he is also a just Father, and when they broke the law they were subject to the receiving of a penalty and so they were cast out of that beautiful garden. They were visited by all the vicissitudes to which mortals from that time since have been heir. They were to learn that by their disobedience they received the penalty of a just judgment. They were forced to earn their bread by the sweat of their brow, for now they had become mortals…Pain, misery, death, all now came in their wake, but with that pain, quite like our own experiences from that time to this, there came knowledge and understanding that could never have been gained except by pain…Besides the Fall having had to do with Adam and Eve, causing a change to come over them, that change affected all human nature, all of the natural creations, all of the creation of animals, plants—all kinds of life were changed. The earth itself became subject to death. … How it took place no one can explain, and anyone who would attempt to make an explanation would be going far beyond anything the Lord has told us. But a change was wrought over the whole face of the creation, which up to that time had not been subject to death. From that time henceforth all in nature was in a state of gradual dissolution until mortal death was to come, after which there would be required a restoration in a resurrected state.” (Harold B. Lee, Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Harold B. Lee, 2000, p. 20)

-“[In the Garden of Eden] Adam and Eve, as an organized, intelligent man and woman, were here in “unmortality,” as we might say, for the purpose of becoming mortal and, through the plan of salvation, eventually returning back to the presence of the Lord. To become mortal required the interplay of free agency. Having partaken of the forbidden fruit, which was to eventually bring about the dissolution of their bodies, they became subject to death—not immediately, but after the span of their life. Now with mortal blood they beget children. Without mortality, they could not have had children and the great plan of salvation by which spirit children would come to tabernacles in the flesh would have been nullified.” (Harold B. Lee, 9/14/67)

-“By way of the Fall, the opportunity for eternal life was opened.

Parley P. Pratt speaks about that change. He describes it thus: “We can never understand precisely what is meant by restoration, unless we understand what is lost or taken away.” And then he describes how the earth was pronounced very good. “From this we learn that there were neither deserts, barren places, stagnant swamps, rough, broken, rugged hills, nor vast mountains, covered with eternal snow; and no part of it was located in the frigid zone so as to render its climate dreary and unproductive, subject to eternal frost, or everlasting chains of ice. The whole earth was probably one vast plain, or interspersed with gently rising hills and sloping vales, well calculated for cultivation.” He is describing what he surmises may have been the glory of the Creation.” (A Voice of Warning [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1978], pp. 83, 84)

-“I was somewhat sorrowed recently to hear someone, a sister who comes from a church family, ask, “What about the pre-Adamic people?” Here was someone who I thought was fully grounded in the faith. I asked, “What about the pre-Adamic people?” She replied, “Well, aren’t there evidences that people preceded the Adamic period of the earth?” I said, “Have you forgotten the scripture that says, ‘And I, the Lord God, formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul, the first flesh upon the earth, the first man also….’ ” (Moses 3:7) I asked, “Do you believe that?” She wondered about the creation because she had read the theories of the scientists, and the question that she was really asking was: How do you reconcile science with religion? The answer must be, If science is not true, you cannot reconcile truth with error.” (Harold B. Lee, “First Presidency Message: Find the Answers in the Scriptures,” Ensign, Dec. 1972, 2.)

-“We [must] measure every teaching to be found in the world of book learning by the teachings of revealed truth, as contained in the gospel of Jesus Christ. If we find in a school text claims that contradict the word of the Lord as pertaining to the creation of the world, the origin of man, or the determination of what is right or wrong in the conduct of human souls, we may be certain that such teachings are but the theories of men.” (Harold B. Lee, Stand Ye In Holy Places, Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Company, 1975. p. 73)

 

-“Our first parents, Adam and Eve, disobeyed God. By eating the forbidden fruit, they became mortal. Consequently, they and all of their descendants became subject to both mortal and spiritual death (mortal death, the separation of body and spirit; and spiritual death the separation of the spirit from the presence of God and death as pertaining to the things of the spirit). In order for Adam to regain his original state (to be in the presence of God), an atonement for this disobedience was necessary. In God’s divine plan, provision was made for a redeemer to break the bonds of death and, through the resurrection, make possible the reunion of the spirits and bodies of all persons who had dwelt on earth. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.” (1 Corinthians 15:22 )” (Spencer W. Kimball, The Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, 15.)

-“As in Adam all die, so in Christ shall all be made alive. Adam and Eve transgressed a law and were responsible for a change that came to all their posterity, that of mortality. Could it have been the different food which made the change? Somehow blood, the life-giving element in our bodies, replaced the finer substance which coursed through their bodies before. They and we became mortal, subject to illness, pains, and even the physical dissolution called death.”(Spencer W. Kimball, The Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, 44.), (Spencer W. Kimball, “Absolute Truth”, Ensign, September 1978, p. )

 

 

 

-“When Adam intentionally and wisely partook of the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden, he brought upon all of us, his descendants, two deaths-the physical or “mortal death,” and the spiritual death or the banishment from the presence of the Lord.” (Spencer W. Kimball, The Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, 68.)

-“God has given us a plan. He has sent us all to earth to obtain bodies and to gain experience and growth. He anticipated the fall of Adam and Eve and the consequent change in their mortal condition and provided his Son Jesus Christ to redeem man from the effects of the fall.” (Spencer W. Kimball, The Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, 25)

 

-“Jesus of Nazareth was the one who, before the world was created, was chosen to come to earth to perform this service, to conquer mortal death. This voluntary action would atone for the fall of Adam and Eve and permit the spirit of man to recover his body, thereby reuniting body and spirit.” (78-06) (Spencer W. Kimball, The Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, edited by Edward L. Kimball [Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1982], 16.)

-“I am deeply concerned about what we are doing to teach the Saints at all levels the gospel of Jesus Christ as completely and authoritatively as do the Book of Mormon and the Doctrine and Covenants. By this I mean teaching the “great plan of the Eternal God,” to use the words of Amulek [75]. Are we using the messages and the method of teaching found in the Book of Mormon and other scriptures of the Restoration to teach this great plan of the Eternal God?

There are many examples of teaching this great plan, but I will quote just one. It is Mormon’s summary statement of Aaron’s work as a missionary:

And it came to pass that when Aaron saw that the king would believe his words, he began from the creation of Adam, reading the scriptures unto the king-how God created man after his own image, and that God gave him commandments, and that because of transgression, man had fallen.

And since man had fallen he could not merit anything of himself; but the sufferings and death of Christ atone for their sins, through faith and repentance. (Alma 22:12–14)

The Book of Mormon Saints knew that the plan of redemption must start with the account of the fall of Adam. In the words of Moroni, “By Adam came the fall of man. And because of the fall of man came Jesus Christ . . . and because of Jesus Christ came the redemption of man.” (Mormon 9:12)

<>Just as a man does not really desire food until he is hungry, so he does not desire the salvation of Christ until he knows why he needs Christ. No one adequately and properly knows why he needs Christ until he understands and accepts the doctrine of the Fall and its effect upon all mankind. And no other book in the world explains this vital doctrine nearly as well as the Book of Mormon.
We all need to take a careful inventory of our performance and also the performance of those over whom we preside to be sure that we are teaching the “great plan of the Eternal God” to the Saints. Are we accepting and teaching what the revelations tell us about the Creation, Adam and the fall of man, and redemption from that fall through the atonement of Christ? Do we frequently review the crucial questions which Alma asks the members of the Church in the fifth chapter of Alma in the Book of Mormon?” (Ezra Taft Benson, The Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson [Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1988], 28)

-“In the twentieth section of the Doctrine and Covenants, the Lord devotes several verses to summarizing the vital truths which the Book of Mormon teaches. (D&C 20:17–36) It speaks of God, the creation of man, the Fall, the Atonement, the ascension of Christ into heaven, prophets, faith, repentance, baptism, the Holy Ghost, endurance, prayer, justification and sanctification through grace, and loving and serving God.

We must know these essential truths. Aaron and Ammon and their brethren in the Book of Mormon taught these same kinds of truths to the Lamanite people (Alma 18:22–39) who were “in the darkest abyss”(Alma 26:3) After accepting these eternal truths, the Book of Mormon states, those converted Lamanites never did fall away. (Alma 23:6 .)” (Ezra Taft Benson, A Witness and a Warning: A Modern-Day Prophet Testifies of the Book of Mormon [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1988], 11)

-“The first marriage performed was the marriage of two immortal beings.” (Ezra Taft Benson, So Shall Ye Reap, p. 117-118

 

-“The gospel can be viewed from two perspectives. In the broadest sense, the gospel embraces all truth, all light, all revealed knowledge to mankind. In a more restrictive sense, the gospel means the doctrine of the Fall, the consequences of the fall of man that brought into the world physical and spiritual death, the atonement of Jesus Christ which brings to pass immortality and eternal life, and the ordinances of salvation.” (Ezra Taft Benson, The Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson [Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1988], 30.)

-“The Old Testament unfolds the story of the creation of the earth and mankind by God. Should we now disregard this account and modernize the creation according to the theories of the modernists? Can we say there was no Garden of Eden or an Adam and Eve? Because modernists now declare the story of the flood is unreasonable and impossible, should we disbelieve the account of Noah and the flood as related in the Old Testament? Let us examine what the Master said when the disciples came to him as he sat on the Mount of Olives. They asked him to tell them of the time of his coming and of the end of the world. Jesus answered: “But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only. But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.” (Matthew 24:36–39) In this statement the Master confirmed the story of the flood without modernizing it. Can we accept some of the statements of the Lord as being true and at the same time reject others as being false? When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him, and they discussed the matter of the death of her brother and the resurrection. Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live.” [87] Both of these statements, the one regarding Noah and the fact of the flood and the one in which he declared himself to be the resurrection and the life, were made by the Lord. How can we believe one and not the other? How can we modernize the story of the flood, or refer to it as a myth, and yet cling to the truth of the other? How can we modernize the Bible and still have it be a guiding light to us and a vital influence in our beliefs? There are those who declare it is old-fashioned to believe in the Bible. Is it old-fashioned to believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of the Living God? Is it old-fashioned to believe in his atoning sacrifice and the resurrection? If it is, I declare myself to be old-fashioned and the Church to be old-fashioned. In great simplicity, the Master taught the principles of life eternal and lessons that bring happiness to those with the faith to believe.” (Howard W. Hunter, That We Might Have Joy, p. 23.)

– “The flesh is often spoken of as being a part of our mortal or fallen nature (as in Matthew 26:41 ; Romns 7: 5, 14-23 ; Romans 8: 3 ; 1 Corinthians 3: 1–2 ; Ephesians 2: 3); as opposed to the Spirit (Romans 8: 5–9 ; Galatians 3: 3 ; Galatians 5: 17–25 ), and as needing to be overcome (Matthew 4: 4 ; Romans 8: 7, 12–13 ; Galatians 5: 17, 24 ; Galatians 6: 8 ;Colossians 2: 11 ; Colossians 3: 5 ; 1 Peter 4: 2 ; 1 John 2: 16–17 ). Since flesh often means mortality, Adam is spoken of as the “first flesh” upon the earth, meaning he was the first mortal on the earth, all things being created in a nonmortal condition, and becoming mortal through the fall of Adam. Jesus is the “Only Begotten of the Father” in the flesh, meaning he is the only one begotten of the Father into mortality” (Moses 3: 7 ). (Bible Dictionary: Flesh)

-“The process by which mankind became mortal on this earth. The event is recorded in Genesis 2, 3, 4 ; and Moses 3, 4 . The fall of Adam is one of the most important occurrences in the history of man. Before the fall, Adam and Eve had physical bodies but no blood. There was no sin, no death, and no children among any of the earthly creations. With the eating of the “forbidden fruit,” Adam and Eve became mortal, sin entered, blood formed in their bodies, and death became a part of life. Adam became the “first flesh” upon the earth (Moses 3: 7), meaning that he and Eve were the first to become mortal. After Adam fell, the whole creation fell and became mortal. Adam’s fall brought both physical and spiritual death into the world upon all mankind (Helaman 14: 16–17 ).

Latter-day revelation supports the biblical account of the fall, showing that it was a historical event that literally occurred in the history of man. Many points in latter-day revelation are also clarified that are not discernible from the Bible. Among other things it makes clear that the fall is a blessing, and that Adam and Eve should be honored in their station as the first parents of the earth. Significant references are 2 Nephi 2: 15–16 ; 2 Nephi 9: 6–21 ; Mosiah 3: 11–16 ; Alma 22: 12–14 ; Alma 42: 2–15 ; D&C 29: 34–44 ; Moses 5: 9–13 .” (Bible Dictionary: Fall of Adam)

–2 Nephi 2:22, 23, 25
“Behold, if Adam had not transgressed he would not have fallen, but he would have remained in the garden of Eden. And all things which were created must have remained in the same state in which they were after they were created; and they must have remained forever, and had no end. And they would have had no children; . . . . Adam fell that men might be.”

–Moses 3:16–17
“And I, the Lord God, commanded the man, saying: Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat, But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it, nevertheless, thou mayest choose for thyself, for it is given unto thee; but, remember that I forbid it, for in the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.”

–Moses 6:59
“That by reason of transgression cometh the fall, which fall bringeth death, and inasmuch as ye were born into the world by water, and blood, and the spirit, which I have made, and so became of dust a living soul, even so ye must be born again into the kingdom of heaven, of water, and of the Spirit, and be cleansed by blood, even the blood of mine Only Begotten; that ye might be sanctified from all sin, and enjoy the words of eternal life in this world, and eternal life in the world to come, even immortal glory.”

–Abraham 5:12–13
“And the Gods commanded the man, saying: Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat, But of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it; for in the time that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die. Now I, Abraham, saw that it was after the Lord’s time, which was after the time of Kolob; for as yet the Gods had not appointed unto Adam his reckoning.”

–Moses 6:48, 59
“And he said unto them: Because that Adam fell, we are; and by his fall came death; . . . and we are made partakers of misery and woe. That by reason of transgression cometh the fall, which fall bringeth death. . .”

-Aritcle of Faith 2
“We believe that men will be punished for their own sins, and not for Adam’s transgression.”

–Mosiah 3:16, 19
“And even if it were possible that little children could sin they could not be saved; but I say unto you they are blessed; for behold, as in Adam, or by nature, they fall, even so the blood of Christ atoneth for their sins. . . . For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father.”

–D&C 29:40,42
“Wherefore, it came to pass that the devil tempted Adam, and he partook of the forbidden fruit and transgressed the commandment, wherein he became subject to the will of the devil, because he yielded unto temptation. But, behold, I say unto you that I, the Lord God, gave unto Adam and unto his seed, that they should not die as to the temporal death, until I, the Lord God, should send forth angels to declare unto them repentance and redemption, through faith on the name of mine Only Begotten Son.”

–1 Corinthians 15:22
“For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.”

–Moses 5:11
“Were it not for our transgression we never should have had seed, and never should have known good and evil, and the joy of our redemption, and the eternal life which God giveth unto all the obedient.”

–Moses 3:7
“And I, the Lord God, formed man . . . the first flesh upon the earth, the first man also . . .”

–Matthew 23: 35
“That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar.”

–Abraham 1:3
“. . . the firstborn, or the first man, who is Adam . . .”

 

 

-“In Eden we will see all things created in a paradisiacal state ‑ without death, without procreation, without probationary experiences. We will come to know that such a creation, now unknown to man, was the only way to provide for the Fall. We will then see Adam and Eve, the first man and the first woman, step down from their state of immortal and paradisaical glory to become the first mortal flesh on earth.

Mortality, including as it does procreation and death, will enter the world. And because of transgression a probationary estate of trial and testing will begin. Then in Gethsemane we will see the Son of God ransom man from the temporal and spiritual death that came to us because of the Fall.. And finally, before an empty tomb, we will come to know that Christ our Lord has burst the bands of death and stands forever triumphant over the grave.

Thus, Creation is father to the Fall; and by the Fall came mortality and death; and by Christ came immortality and eternal life. If there had been no fall of Adam, by which cometh death, there could have been no atonement of Christ, by which cometh life. (Bruce R. McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, 2d ed. [Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1966], 250)

-“Obviously, the whole doctrine of the fall, and all that pertains to it, is diametrically opposed to the evolutionary assumptions relative to the origin of species.” (Bruce R. McConkie, A New Witness for the Articles of Faith [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1985], xv)

 

 

-“Adam and Eve were first created with bodies of flesh and spirit, without blood, and were unable to die or beget children. Thus, we might describe this as a paradisaical creation.” (Russell M. Nelson, “Standards of the Lord’s Standard-Bearers,” Ensign, Aug. 1991, 5; references 1.Elder Bruce R. McConkie, April 1985 General Conference. 2.Elder Bruce R. McConkie, April 1985 General Conference.)

 

 

-For a video by Creationalists who teach the earth being 6,000 years old and supporting science, see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHesNW9WnDM   The video is called “Dinosaur didn’t die 65 millions years ago, they are still alive today – Documentary FULL”

 

 

notes from said video:

-Much lore of dragons across cultures

-Alexander the Great, Marco Polo, reported large reptiles with huge tails, or a giant lizard which frightened his army.

-Word dinosaur was invented after bible published. They use jackal now instead of dragon because of fear of evolutionists, but the word should be translated as dinosaur based on the descriptions of historians.

-One indian legend said a giant bird would bring thunder when it visited them which lived in the mountaintops. We see for a bird to live in the mountain tops it would need the updraft from a thunder storm to get there, hence the indians said it was a bird which brought lightning.

-Josephus and many prominent historians speak of the reality of dragons.

-Many things that were around in the supposed age of dinosaurs are still here today like Oak and other trees.

-Water deposited sediment is where we find most fossils. Such is like Noah’s flood time, when sudden massive amount of water comes. Most bones are very scattered since when fall to floor of ocean are devoured. Also calcium carbonate is soluble in sea water. Hence, fossils forming is a rare thing to happen.

-Mt. Saint Hellens made many layers of sediment not taking 100’s of years to form, for one day. This suprized geologists.

-Measure current lava flow from Hawaii and you won’t get 0 years old, but ancient.

-Radioactive decay rates have been at increased rates in certain periods of history one study called RATE shows.

-see vid. about 50 min in data supporting the earth being 6000 years old.

-see about 50 min in for lava flow in a canyon younger than the canyon yet measured as older than the canyon.

-see about 52 min in for C14 in several things.

-about 53 min in for dino found with blood cells in it; fresh marrow with blood vessels and being soft. This could not be if that animal died many years ago.

-Scrope said he is out to free the world of Moses; he is trying to get the world to not believe the creation account. about 56 min in.

-life were it to go from microbes to man, it would take more like googol years than billions of years, evolutionists saying billions of years can be a way of saying an impossible thing can happen.

-they say over billions of years anything is possible, but would you claim a person could win the lottery daily for 100 years daily? This is the type of claim evolutionists make.

-Evolutionists say the simplest life was long ago, like a jellyfish, but they actually have about as much DNA as we do.

-If you want to say things are by chance in being formed, what is the difference between billions of years vs. thousands of years?

-There should be millions of species between others in evolution should such be true, but there is not. People had evolution of the horse theory, that turned out to be fake. Darwin’s stages of animals etc. are no longer what we use.

-Newton, Boyle, Maxwell, Faraday, Carver, Pasteur, all these were Christian bible believing people. They have helped open us to more science than most.

-Job 40 “I made (this beast of beasts) along with you”. Some Hebrew experts say it was the largest land animal God made. It was said to have a tail like a Cedar, the tree. Consider the Cedars of Lebanon, they are huge. Another place says arms like great bars of iron.

-Job 41 Laviathon; it’s describes as leaving a trail in the mud that shatters pots etc. Describes that it has layers of shields with no gaps between them. Says they breath fire. There is a beetle that shoots hot liquid at things, the electric eel that electrocutes, the cobra that shoots poison into the eye. There is a hollow part in the dinosaurs that is unknown what is for, it could be for mixing chemicals to make fire.

-Dinosaurs on the ark of Noah? Avg. size of dinosaur is that of a goat. Animals were on the boat so they could reproduce. Science today teaches they could reproduce at age 8 to 10, so young dinosaurs would have been brought. Much of them would have been wiped out by the flood.

-There are legends of hunting dragons that is one way there are less of them.

-The ice age after the flood of Noah could have killed many dinosaurs also.

-Man think of how we come into existence randomly without a creator so they don’t have to be accountable to a creator. When Christ comes evolutionary theory will utterly go away.

-Evolutionary theory is driven by paradigms not by evidence.

-Appellation mountain and himalayas were made from the flood. There are fossils in it because animals were crushed in that in the flood.

-Today one of the biggest reasons they can’t believe in Jesus is because of what they teach in science class in school; based on what they teach in school the bible does not make sense.

-Today’s science is proving that processes that were thought to take millions of years can be done in very short periods of time.

-Man’s views and opinions are always changing; rest your hopes and views on God’s wisdom, not man’s.

-Forensic scientists were not at the crime scene; they make conclusions and suggestions on what could have happened. The judge and jury will determine the case by what the eye witness of who fired the gun from where. This is what the bible does for us.

-Evolution means survival of the fittest, and hence extinction of the unfit. But Jesus the most fit of all, died for us the unfit.

(end of notes on said video)