Joseph Smith the Prophet declared that there is a plurality of gods. An indication of such plurality runs through the scriptures, ancient and modern. In the very beginning of time Adam and Eve were promised that they should "be as gods" (Genesis 3:50; and Jesus reminded the Jews that in their scriptures it was written "ye are gods." (John 10:34. Paul spoke of "lords many and gods many." (I Cor 8:5.) Modern revelation presents the same truth when it says "according to that which was ordained in the midst of the Council of the Eternal God of all other gods before this world was." (D. & C. 121:32.) . . . The word "father" is also applied to different personages. . . Adam likewise being the first man, has been called the father. (D. & C. 29:34.) This is not an uncommon use of the word. . . . A good example of the unfounded foolish notions that may arise from careless reading is the famous discourse of Brigham Young, used by apostates and enemies of the Church. (see Journal of Discourses, 1:50. In this address Brigham Young spoke of Adam as our father and our god.

Reference to the preceding and following paragraphs of the sermon makes clear the intention of the speaker. President Young used the words as titles. The apostate world had long taught that Adam and Eve were the basest and most sinful of the human race. They had brought sin into the world. President Young, in contravention of this false teaching, pointed out that Adam, a son of God of high degree, was called to be the progenitor of the human race. What he did was in harmony with a preordained plan. Adam was in reality the noblest of mankind and would ever stand at the head of his earth family, as the presiding officer and patriarch, even as a god. These were the clear ideas of Brigham Young. Every con- temporary commentator, and there were several, speaking from personal knowledge of President Young, made this intention and doctrine clear. (See Millennial Star, 15:801.)

In the sermon referred to, President Young places Adam unequivocally as a separate character, "Michael," under the dominion of the Trinity. "The earth was organized by three distinct characters, Elohim, Yahovah, and Michael." There was no substituting of Adam for the God to whom we pray. Likewise, the term "father" was consistently applied by Brigham Young to Adam, because Adam ' was associated with Jesus Christ in the making of the earth; and also in a more literal sense, because, as the first man, he was the father of the race. Yet there are those who have nursed the irrational conclusion that President Young implied that Adam and God, the Father, are one and the same individual.

Brigham Young's much-discussed sermon says that "Jesus was begotten in the flesh by the same character that was in the Garden of Eden, and who is our Father in heaven." Enemies of the church, or stupid people, reading also that Adam is "our father and our God," have heralded far and wide that the Mormons believe that Jesus Christ was begotten of Adam. Yet, the rational reading of the whole sermon reveals the falsity of such a doctrine. It is explained that God the Father was in the Garden of Eden before Adam, that he was the Father of Adam, and that this same personage, God the Father, who was in the Garden of Eden before Adam, was the Father of Jesus Christ, when the Son took upon himself a mortal body. That is, the same personage was the Father of Adam and of Jesus Christ. In the numerous published sermons of Brigham Young this is the doctrine that appears; none other. The assertion is repeatedly made that Jesus Christ was be- gotten by God, the Father, distinct by any stretch of imagination from Adam. This is a well-established Latter-day Saint doctrine.

Absurdities of the first order may arise unless the meanings of words are carefully sought. And any statement in doubt should be compared with other statements on the same subject by the same speaker. Then the true meaning will be revealed

Again, the warning: Read the scriptures with care; do not become mystified by words; remember that the same word is often used in several ways; and defeat the evil one who is the lover of confusion. And, there is no profit in dealing with those who deliberately and usually unscrupulously "wrests" the scriptures. They do not love the truth.