February 22, 2022
Adam Made of the Dust of the Earth
Joseph F. Smith
(Desert Evening News, Dec. 27, 1913, Sec III, p. 7;
Deseret News: Church Section, Sept. 18, 1936, pp, 2, 8).
I know that my Redeemer liveth; . . . I know that God is being with body, parts, and passions and that His Son is in His own likeness, and that man is created in the image of God. The Son, Jesus Christ, grew and developed into manhood the same as you or I, as likewise did God, His Father grow and develop to the Supreme Being that He now is. Man was born of woman; Christ the Savior, was born of woman and God, the Father was born of woman. Adam, our earthly parent, was also born of woman into this world, the same as Jesus and you and I."
Brigham Young
(Journal of Discourses, 26 vols., 3:, p.319)
“Though we have it in history that our father Adam was made of the dust of this earth, and that he knew nothing about his God previous to being made here, yet it is not so; and when we learn the truth we shall see and understand that he helped to make this world, and was the chief manager in that operation. “He was the person who brought the animals and the seeds from other planets to this world, and brought a wife with him and stayed here. You may read and believe what you please as to what is found written in the Bible. Adam was made from the dust of an earth, but not from the dust of this earth. He was made as you and I are made, and no person was ever made upon any other principle”.
Pearl of Great Price Institute Student Manual
Moses 3:7. Man Was Formed “from the Dust of the Ground”?
Moses 3:7. Man Was Formed “from the Dust of the Ground”?
Elder Bruce R. McConkie wrote: “Those natural elements that make up the physical earth are sometimes referred to in the scriptures as dust. Thus Adam was created from the dust of the ground meaning that the physical body which he received was created from the elements of the earth. (Gen. 2:7; Moses 3:7; Abra. 5:7; D&C 77:12.) Similarly all men are created from the dust of the earth; that is, the elements organized into a mortal body are assembled together through the birth process (Moses 6:69)” (Mormon Doctrine, 209).
In the physical creation, man became a “living soul” (see Moses 2:26–27; see also D&C 88:15). This means his spirit body gained a physical body of flesh and bones. President Joseph Fielding Smith explained that the bodies of Adam and Eve were at first “quickened [made alive] by spirit and not by blood. … After the fall, which came by a transgression of the law under which Adam was living, the forbidden fruit had the power to create blood and change his nature and mortality took the place of immortality, and all things, partaking of the change, became mortal” (Doctrines of Salvation, 1:77). Thus, in the Fall, Adam and Eve became the first beings upon the earth who were mortal flesh, or subject to death.
Adam - Immortal vs Mortal Body
Fall of Adam (Bible Dictionary)
The process by which mankind became mortal on this earth. The event is recorded in Gen. 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 were 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 (Hel. 14:16–17).The fall was no surprise to the Lord. It was a necessary step in the progress of man, and provisions for a Savior had been made even before the fall had occurred. Jesus Christ came to atone for the fall of Adam and also for man's individual sins.
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 Ne. 2:15–26; 9:6–21; Mosiah 3:11–16; Alma 22:12–14; 42:2–15; D&C 29:34–44; Moses 5:9–13. See also Flesh.
Land All One Continent During Adam's Time
D&C 133:23–24 - Will the Continents Be Rejoined?
(Doctrine and Covenants Student Manual)
Genesis
indicates that in the early history of the world the land masses were
united. Moses recorded that one of the great-great-grandsons of Shem was
named Peleg (a Hebrew word meaning division) because “in his days was
the earth divided” (Genesis 10:25).
Many scholars have passed this reference off as meaning some sort of
cultural or political division, but modern prophets have taught that
this statement should be taken literally.
An article published early in the history of the Church under the direction of the Prophet Joseph Smith stated: “The Eternal God hath declared that the great deep shall roll back into the north countries and that the land of Zion and the land of Jerusalem shall be joined together, as they were before they were divided in the days of Peleg. No wonder the mind starts at the sound of the last days!” (“The Last Days,” Evening and Morning Star, Feb. 1833, p. 1.)
President Joseph Fielding Smith wrote: “If … the earth is to be restored as it was in the beginning, then all the land surface will again be in one place as it was before the days of Peleg, when this great division was accomplished. Europe, Africa, and the islands of the sea including Australia, New Zealand, and other places in the Pacific must be brought back and joined together as they were in the beginning.” (Answers to Gospel Questions, 5:74.)
In an introduction to a book on continental drift, a scientist writes:
An article published early in the history of the Church under the direction of the Prophet Joseph Smith stated: “The Eternal God hath declared that the great deep shall roll back into the north countries and that the land of Zion and the land of Jerusalem shall be joined together, as they were before they were divided in the days of Peleg. No wonder the mind starts at the sound of the last days!” (“The Last Days,” Evening and Morning Star, Feb. 1833, p. 1.)
President Joseph Fielding Smith wrote: “If … the earth is to be restored as it was in the beginning, then all the land surface will again be in one place as it was before the days of Peleg, when this great division was accomplished. Europe, Africa, and the islands of the sea including Australia, New Zealand, and other places in the Pacific must be brought back and joined together as they were in the beginning.” (Answers to Gospel Questions, 5:74.)
In an introduction to a book on continental drift, a scientist writes:
“Formerly,
most scientists regarded the earth as rigid and the continents as
fixed, but now the surface of the earth is seen as slowly deformable and
the continents as ‘rafts’ floating on a ‘sea’ of denser rock. The
continents have repeatedly collided and joined, repeatedly broken and
separated in different patterns, and, very likely, they have grown
larger in the process.
“This scientific revolution, as others before it, was long in the making, but it was not until the late 1960s that it began to succeed. At a meeting of the world’s geophysicists in August of 1971, it was made clear that the notion of continental drift, which had been heresy only a few years before, had become the orthodoxy of the great majority.” (Continents Adrift, preface.)
Though the time of this division of the land is placed much earlier by scientists than by the biblical chronology, the idea of one land mass is widely accepted. This revelation in Doctrine and Covenants 133 declares that sometime in the future that geographical unity will be restored.
See also - Reference for Gondwanaland (Supercontinent)
Adam Clarke's Bible Commentary of Genesis 10:25
Verse 25. "Peleg" - From glp palag, to divide, because in his days, which is supposed to be about one hundred years after the flood, the earth was divided among the sons of Noah. Though some are of opinion that a physical division, and not a political one, is what is intended here, viz., a separation of continents and islands from the main land; the earthy parts having been united into one great continent previously to the days of Peleg. This opinion appears to me the most likely...
President John Taylor (The Government of God, Ch.12)
“How far the flood may have contributed to produce the various changes, as to the division of the earth into broken fragments, islands and continents, mountains and valleys, we have not been informed; the change must have been considerable. But after the flood, in the days of Peleg, the earth was divided.-See Gen. 10:25,-a short history, to be sure, of so great an event; but still it will account for the mighty revolution which rolled the sea from its own place in the north, and brought it to interpose between different portions of the earth, which were thus parted asunder, and moved into something near their present form; this, together with the earthquakes, revolutions, and commotions which have since taken place, have all contributed to reduce the face of the earth to its present state; while the great curses which have fallen upon different portions, because of the wickedness of men, will account for the stagnant swamps, the sunken lakes, the dead seas, and great deserts”.
“This scientific revolution, as others before it, was long in the making, but it was not until the late 1960s that it began to succeed. At a meeting of the world’s geophysicists in August of 1971, it was made clear that the notion of continental drift, which had been heresy only a few years before, had become the orthodoxy of the great majority.” (Continents Adrift, preface.)
Though the time of this division of the land is placed much earlier by scientists than by the biblical chronology, the idea of one land mass is widely accepted. This revelation in Doctrine and Covenants 133 declares that sometime in the future that geographical unity will be restored.
See also - Reference for Gondwanaland (Supercontinent)
Adam Clarke's Bible Commentary of Genesis 10:25
Verse 25. "Peleg" - From glp palag, to divide, because in his days, which is supposed to be about one hundred years after the flood, the earth was divided among the sons of Noah. Though some are of opinion that a physical division, and not a political one, is what is intended here, viz., a separation of continents and islands from the main land; the earthy parts having been united into one great continent previously to the days of Peleg. This opinion appears to me the most likely...
President John Taylor (The Government of God, Ch.12)
“How far the flood may have contributed to produce the various changes, as to the division of the earth into broken fragments, islands and continents, mountains and valleys, we have not been informed; the change must have been considerable. But after the flood, in the days of Peleg, the earth was divided.-See Gen. 10:25,-a short history, to be sure, of so great an event; but still it will account for the mighty revolution which rolled the sea from its own place in the north, and brought it to interpose between different portions of the earth, which were thus parted asunder, and moved into something near their present form; this, together with the earthquakes, revolutions, and commotions which have since taken place, have all contributed to reduce the face of the earth to its present state; while the great curses which have fallen upon different portions, because of the wickedness of men, will account for the stagnant swamps, the sunken lakes, the dead seas, and great deserts”.
The Fall - Earth Fell
The Book of Abraham: A Most Remarkable Book
By Andrew Skinner
Ensign March 1997
The book of Abraham makes another unique contribution to our understanding by explaining the physical location of the earth in the universe at the time this sphere was created, before the actions of Adam and Eve brought on the Fall. Note the references to time in the following verse:
“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” (Abr. 5:13).President Joseph Fielding Smith stated that in this verse the Lord “revealed to Abraham that Adam was subject to Kolob’s time before his transgression."
According to President Brigham Young, Abraham 5:13 [Abr. 5:13] also means that before the Fall of Adam, the earth was near the very throne of God. But when the Fall occurred, the earth literally fell or moved from the physical presence of God to its present position in our solar system. When all the effects of the Fall of Adam are finally overcome, the earth will literally move back into the presence of God. Here are President Young’s words:
“When the earth was framed and brought into existence and man was placed upon it, it was near the throne of our Father in heaven. … But when man fell, the earth fell into space, and took up its abode in this planetary system. … This is the glory the earth came from, and when it is glorified it will return again unto the presence of the Father, and it will dwell there, and these intelligent beings that I am looking at, if they live worthy of it, will dwell upon this earth.”
Read the full text HERE
The Fall - Earth Fell
Ensign March 1997
The Book of Abraham: A Most Remarkable Book
By Andrew Skinner
The book of Abraham makes another unique contribution to our understanding by explaining the physical location of the earth in the universe at the time this sphere was created, before the actions of Adam and Eve brought on the Fall. Note the references to time in the following verse:
“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” (Abr. 5:13).
President Joseph Fielding Smith stated that in this verse the Lord “revealed to Abraham that Adam was subject to Kolob’s time before his transgression."
According to President Brigham Young, Abraham 5:13 [Abr. 5:13] also means that before the Fall of Adam, the earth was near the very throne of God. But when the Fall occurred, the earth literally fell or moved from the physical presence of God to its present position in our solar system. When all the effects of the Fall of Adam are finally overcome, the earth will literally move back into the presence of God. Here are President Young’s words:
“When the earth was framed and brought into existence and man was placed upon it, it was near the throne of our Father in heaven. … But when man fell, the earth fell into space, and took up its abode in this planetary system. … This is the glory the earth came from, and when it is glorified it will return again unto the presence of the Father, and it will dwell there, and these intelligent beings that I am looking at, if they live worthy of it, will dwell upon this earth.”
Read the full text HERE
November 17, 2021
Liberty Jail
June 2, 2021
Bruce R. McConkie - Interpretation of Scripture
INTERPRETATION OF SCRIPTURE
DNTC, VOLUME 3, PAGE 356
Let it be said; let it be written; let it be known– in all places, among every people, in all ages, from creation’s morn to all eternity– that all scripture comes from God, by the power of the Holy Ghost, and means only what He who knows all things intended it to mean!...
Unless and until a scripture means to man what it means to God, man has not caught the vision of the truth taught, or comprehended the doctrine being revealed. Two persons, two groups of theologians, or two churches cannot reach divergent conclusions as to the meaning of any scripture and both of them be right. And be it known, on earth and in heaven, now and forever, that truth only will prevail!
Discerning of Spirits
DISCERNING OF SPIRITS
Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith
Page 204–206
As part of a long discussion of true and false spirits, and in explaining how they may be distinguished, the Prophet Joseph Smith said:
“A man must have the discerning of spirits before he can drag into daylight this hellish influence and unfold it unto the world in all its soul-destroying, diabolical, and horrid colors; for nothing is a greater injury to the children of men than to be under the influence of a false spirit when they think they have the Spirit of God. Thousands have felt the influence of its terrible power and baneful effects. Long pilgrimages have been undertaken, penances, endured, and pain, misery and ruin have followed in their train; nations have convulsed, kingdoms overthrown, provinces laid waste, and blood, carnage and desolation are habiliments in which it has been clothed.”
DISCERNING OF SPIRITS
Bruce R. McConkie
Mormon Doctrine, page 270–273
It follows that the discerning of spirits is and can be practiced in righteousness only where the true Church and kingdom of God is found.
In the final analysis, it takes apostles, prophets, priesthood, the gift of the Holy Ghost, and a knowledge of God’s laws and the manner in which he operates, in order to separate the spirits into their two opposing camps.
Only where these things are found can error be segregated from truth, because only there are the channels of revelation open.
False Prophets and False Teachers
President Russell M. Ballard
Beware of False Prophets and False Teachers
General Conference - October 1999
Read it HERE
May 25, 2021
Class Cancelled for may 26th
Class is cancelled for May 26th.
Work is in overload mode right now but we'll be back at it next week - June 2nd.
Same time - same place. Hope to see you then.
Have a great week and a safe and wonderful holiday weekend.
April 13, 2021
March 31, 2021
Emma Smith - An Elect Lady
“Although her strength was exhausted, still her spirits were the same, which, in fact, was always the case with her, even under the most trying circumstances. I have never seen a woman in my life who would endure every species of fatigue and hardship from month to month and from year to year with that unflinching courage, zeal, and patience which she has ever done; for I know that which she has had to endure-she has been tossed upon the ocean of uncertainty-she has breasted the storms of persecution, and buffeted the rage of men and devils, which would have borne down almost any other woman.”
Lucy Mack Smith speaking about Emma Smith
"The Revised and Enhanced History of Joseph Smith By His Mother"
Articles about Emma
(Click on the title to read)
March 17, 2021
March 16, 2021
Spencer W. Kimball - Peter Whitmer, Sr Farmhouse
Spencer W. Kimball speaks at the reconstructed farmhouse of Peter Whitmer Sr
during the April 1980 General Conference.
History of the Whitmers and Peter Whitmer Sr's home.
The Only True and Living Church
Joseph Smith and "The Only True and Living Church"
Robert R. Millet
1. It does not mean that men and women of other Christian faiths are not sincere believers in truth and genuine followers of the Christ.
2. It does not mean that they are worshiping “a different Jesus,” as many in the Christian world often say of the Latter-day Saints.
3. It does not mean we believe that most of the doctrines in Catholic or Protestant Christianity are false or that the leaders of the various branches of Christianity have improper motives.
4. It does not mean that the Bible has been so corrupted that it cannot be relied upon to teach us sound doctrine and provide an example of how to live.
5. It does not mean that God disapproves of or rejects all that devoted Christians are teaching or doing, where their heart is, and what they hope to accomplish in the religious world.
6. It does not mean that God-fearing Christians who are not Latter-day Saints will not go to heaven.
7. Our belief that we are “the only true and living church” does not mean that Latter-day Saints desire to “do their own thing” or face social challenges on their own.
What the "only true church" does mean:
1. “The word only,” Elder Neal A. Maxwell wrote, “asserts a uniqueness and singularity about [the Church] as the exclusive ecclesiastical, authority-bearing agent for our Father in heaven in this dispensation.”
The word true is derived from the Old English word treowe, meaning honest, upright, virtuous, straightforward, loyal, faithful, steady and steadfast, constant, fitting, proper, consistent with fact, conforming with reality, conforming to a standard or pattern, accurately positioned, germane, correctly balanced or aligned, precise, and secure. It is related closely to such words as trust, truce, and betrothed. Thus, to refer to the restored Church as “the only true church” is to speak of it as being the most steady, sure, and solid institution on earth, the closest to the pattern of the primitive Christian Church, in terms of dispensing the mind and will of God and enjoying His complete approbation. It does not suggest that other churches are mostly false or that their teachings are completely corrupt.
2. “The only true and living church” means that doctrinal finality rests with apostles and prophets, not theologians or scholars.
3. It means that while God will bless and strengthen and lead any person who follows the divine light within (see John 1:9), each man or woman is responsible to be true to that light which leads unto all truth, to seek, search, weigh, and prove all things.
Read the full article HERE
March 10, 2021
Woman and the Priesthood References
Click on the titles or book images to access the links:
by: Barbara Morgan Gardner
by: President Russell M. Nelson
By: Julie B. Beck
By: Sister Jean B. Bingham, Sister Sharon Eubank, Sister Reyna I. Aburto
by: President M. Russell Ballard
by: Bonnie L. Oscarson
Linda K. Burton
President Dallin H. Oaks
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