William E. Harris discusses Brigham's teachings concerning Adam coming from another planet as a resurrected being; theorizes that Adam, as a celestial being, had the power to resurrect their own body.
- Type
- Book
- Source
- William E. Harris LDS
- Hearsay
- Direct
- Reference
William E. Harris, From Man to God: An LDS Scientist Views Creation, Progression, and Exaltation (Bountiful, UT: Horizon Publisher & Distributors, Inc., 1989), 114-16
- Scribe/Publisher
- Horizon Publishers
- Audience
- Reading Public
PDF- Transcription
Adam and the Dust of the Earth
Adam’s parents could not have come here to give birth to Adam because Adam was the first flesh on the earth. (See page 34) Being the first flesh has also been interpreted as being the first mortal. But if mortality also included animals, this interpretation does not make sense since dinosaurs, etc. had long since died before the last of Eden. Our conclusion is, Adam was a resurrected man who traveled here as a spirit and his physical body was reassembled form the elements of this earth.
Brigham Young indicated that Adam came from another planet. The Bible says Adam was made from the dust of the earth. Both, in my opinion, are correct! Such apparent contradictions have been the excuse some have used to reject the Bible or the church. God has indicated that those inheriting the Celestial Kingdom will have, not the privilege or blessing to come forth, but the ‘power’ to come forth in the first resurrection. Joseph Smith talks about having the “power of the resurrection pass upon us”. Celestial beings must eventually get the power to resurrect their own bodies.
The resurrection of celestial bodies is not the matter-of-act event envisioned for lesser bodies. The power of resurrection is necessary in order to live in everlasting burnings and to sit in celestial glory. It may well be that only spirit bodies are able to exist in everlasting burnings and when on missions requiring physical bodies, the power of resurrection is needed.
- BHR Staff Commentary
In ibid., 115n13, we read:
B. H. Roberts states that an immortal being cannot die. But what about Christ? Mosiah stated that Christ’s life was endless, yet it “ended” for nearly three days. The only sense that Christ’s life was endless was in that he could have resurrected his body any time he chose, just as he allowed his body and spirit to be separated as he chose. He received the power to do these things form his Father in Heaven. Does he still have these powers today or did someone take these gifts from him? if not, we must conclude that he could lay down his body, travel as a spirit and then clothe his spirit with element any time he chose to do so.
In the Oath and Covenant of the Priesthood, Christ states that he will give everything that his father has given him to those who magnify the priesthoods they receive. Did Adam qualify for such in the world he lived in, before he was asked to come here and temporarily set aside his immortality to begin the human race?
Was Adam and Eve Celestial or Terrestrial? Translated beings are Terrestrial and are ministering angels to planets. As far as the assignment to be the parents of the human race is concerned they probably could have been either Celestial or Terrestrial. But the importance of Adam, the Ancient of Days, the Archangel, the Co-creator of the earth, the father of the human race, and without question one of the Gods in the Grand Council, seems more consistent with Celestial than Terrestrial beings. Celestial beings are independent and have great power and authority to create; Terrestrial beings are dependent and are ministering angels who have not yet reached perfection.
A Celestial Adam would only have to lose his memory to lose the knowledge it takes to sustain his physical body to die. A Terrestrial Adam has his physical body sustained by a celestial being, who would imply discontinue that assignment and allow Adam to die after he partook of the forbidden fruit. We can see that a Terrestrial body would have been a handicap during the creation.
In either case Adam and Eve probably traveled here as spirits, and if Celestial, clothed their spirit with the dust of this earth. If Terrestrial, someone else accomplished this “resurrection.”
- Citations in Mormonr Qnas
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