Brigham's Adam-God Theory

In my last post I commented that if it turns out that Brigham is wrong, that wouldn't threaten my faith. Here is why. I have often posted on logical fallacies (see here). I also have previously posted on the fact that prophets can be in error and still be prophets (see here). I know of no place in all of scripture that states that prophets are perfect and can make no mistakes. Nathan was wrong as we covered here. Using the strict standard that our enemies use for us, Jesus would have been wrong as explained here.

Now I admit that this Adam-God theory of Brigham's looks looney on the surface. I actually think that Elden Watson's (probably the leading scholar on Brigham Young) explanation is probably best. But prophets are human, they make mistakes. Our position has consistently been that a prophet is only a prophet when he is acting as such. The rest of the time he is a man. To discover that Brigham was a man with flaws doesn't threaten my faith. I never thought he was perfect to begin with.

PS I won't be surprised if I learn that Thomas S. Monson (the living prophet today) isn't perfect either.

Some Explanations for Adam-God

Scholars and defenders of Mormonism have offered several possible explanations for Brigham's Adam-God statements. Here are a few of the theories:

1. Brigham was speaking of Adam in the context of Adam being the patriarch of the human family.
2. Transcription errors
3. Adam was a name/title for God as well as the actual name for the first man
4. Brigham was wrong

I find # 1 and #2 a bit hard to swallow. Brigham's statements just don't square with the first theory and there would have to be a lot of transcription errors for the second theory to hold any water. Personally, I don't buy either of them.

There does seem to be some merit for the last 2 theories however. We know that Elias is a name/title for prophets who are forerunners; and we also know there was at least one prophet with the name of Elias so there is a scriptural pattern. I give this theory credibility because its author, Elden Watson, is an unusually knowledgeable scholar on Brigham Young who also has a firm understanding of our doctrine. His credibility gives this theory credibility.

I also think there is a lot of merit to theory #4, that Brigham was wrong. While I'm reluctant to take this position out of faith in modern prophets; my faith would not be tested even if this turned out to be the case. I will explain why in my next post.

H/T FAIR Wiki

Adam-God Theory II

Brigham Young gave over 1,500 sermons that were recorded by transcribers. Many of these were published in the Journal of Discourses, the Deseret Evening News, and other Church publications. In about 20 of these he brought up the subject of God the Father's relationship to Adam. He made the best known, and probably earliest, controversial statement in a sermon given on 9 April 1852:

Now hear it, O inhabitants of the earth, Jew and Gentile, Saint and sinner! When our father Adam came into the Garden of Eden, he came into it with a celestial body, and brought Eve, one of his wives, with him. He helped to make and organize this world. He is MICHAEL, the Archangel, the ANCIENT OF DAYS! about whom holy men have written and spoken—He is our FATHER and our GOD, and the only God with whom WE have to do. Every man upon the earth, professing Christians or non-professing, must hear it, and will know it sooner or later. They came here, organized the raw material, and arranged in their order the herbs of the field, the trees, the apple, the peach, the plum, the pear, and every other fruit that is desirable and good for man; the seed was brought from another sphere, and planted in this earth. The thistle, the thorn, the brier, and the obnoxious weed did not appear until after the earth was cursed. When Adam and Eve had eaten of the forbidden fruit, their bodies became mortal from its effects, and therefore their offspring were mortal.

Based on these remarks, and others he made in public and in private, it is apparent that Brigham Young believed that:

• Adam was the father of the spirits of mankind, as well as being the first parent of our physical bodies.
• Adam and Eve came to this earth as resurrected, exalted personages.
• Adam and Eve fell and became mortal in order to create physical bodies for their spirit children.
• Adam was the spiritual and physical father of Jesus Christ.

Brigham claimed to have received these beliefs by revelation, and that he learned it from Joseph Smith. While this doctrine was never canonized, Brigham expected other contemporary Church leaders to accept it, or at least not preach against it. (Orson Pratt did not believe it, and he and Brigham had a number of heated conversations on the subject.) H/T FAIR Wiki

That this was his teaching seems to be above dispute. In upcoming posts we will address some interpretations behind these strange teachings and the logical fallacy that our enemies employ in addressing this topic.

Missionaries in Haiti Safe

This article indicates that all of the LDS missionaries in Haiti are safe. It also explains what the Church is doing to assist these victims of the earthquake in this poverty-ravaged nation. We will return to our usual theme in the next post. In the meantime LDS readers of this blog might consider making a contribution to this effort by giving to Humanitarian Aid on Sunday.

Adam-God Theory

There is evidence that Brigham taught that Adam, the first man, was God the Father. Since this teaching runs counter to the story told in Genesis critics accuse Brigham of being a false prophet. Since modern Latter-day Saints do not believe Brigham's "Adam-God" teachings, critics also accuse us of either changing our teachings or rejecting the teachings of prophets that we find uncomfortable or unsupportable.

Both charges are serious and both charges have some merit. Addressing this will not be as simple as dismissing most of the claims we have addressed so far. Followers of this blog know that we often require several posts to tell the whole story of both our critics and my reply. This will be no different. Stay tuned!

Is Anyone Reading This?

Is anyone reading this? Please comment if you would like me to continue.