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Chapter 3 The
Creation
1 Thus saith the Lord your God, even Jesus Christ, the Great I AM, Alpha
and Omega, the beginning and the end, the same which looked upon the wide
expanse of eternity, and all the seraphic hosts of heaven, before the world
was made;
2 The same which knoweth all things, for all things are present before
mine eyes;
3 I am the same which spake, and the world was made, and all
things came by me.
4 I am the same which have taken the Zion of Enoch into mine own bosom;
and verily, I say, even as many as have believed in my name, for I am Christ,
and in mine own name, by the virtue of the blood which I have spilt, have I
pleaded before the Father for them. D&C 38:1-4 Introduction This
chapter will look at the official positions of the LDS church, regarding the
creation of Adam and Eve, plants, animals and the earth itself; including both
ancient scriptures and modern revelation. More will
be said about Adam himself, later in this book. The Book of Moses Account
of the Creation Let us
begin with the seven days of the creation of the earth and all living things. This is
from Moses chapter 2.
1 And it came to pass that the Lord spake unto Moses, saying: Behold, I
reveal unto you concerning this heaven, and this earth; write the words which I
speak. I am the Beginning and the End, the Almighty God; by mine Only
Begotten I created these things; yea, in the beginning I created the
heaven, and the earth upon which thou standest.
2 And the earth was without form, and void; and I caused darkness to
come up upon the face of the deep; and my Spirit moved upon the face of the
water; for I am God. Moses 2:1-2 In these
versus it is clear that the "heaven" and the "earth" were
created "by mine Only Begotten," who would be Jesus Christ. Thus, Christ is said to be the creator, under
the direction of the "Almighty God." On the
"third day" (versus 11-12) God created the grass, the herb yielding
seed, the fruit tree yielding fruit, etc. On the
"fifth day" (versus 20-23) God created certain animals. This included: "moving creatures"
in the water, the fowls which fly above the earth, the whales, and the winged
fowl. On this day, only creatures in the
water and creatures in the air were created. On the
"sixth day" (versus 24-25) the other animals were created. This included: cattle, creeping things,
beasts of the earth, etc. Also on
this "sixth day" (versus 26-29 especially) God created man, meaning
Adam. Now we go
to Moses Chapter 3. Chapter 3 starts out
on the "seventh day."
2 And on the seventh day I, God, ended my work, and all things which I
had made; and I rested on the seventh day from all my work, and all things
which I had made were finished, and I, God, saw that they were good;
3 And I, God, blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it; because that
in it I had rested from all my work which I, God, had created and made. Moses 3:2-3 While God
rested on the seventh day, God also explains that everything He had created so far had only been created spiritually
(note below: "for in heaven created I them"):
5 And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every
herb of the field before it grew. For I, the Lord God, created all things,
of which I have spoken, spiritually, before they were naturally upon the face
of the earth. For I, the Lord God, had not caused it to rain upon the face
of the earth. And I, the Lord God, had created all the children of men; and not
yet a man to till the ground; for in heaven created I them; and there
was not yet flesh upon the earth, neither in the water, neither in the air;
6 But I, the Lord God, spake, and there went up a mist from the earth,
and watered the whole face of the ground.
7 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; nevertheless, all things
were before created; but spiritually were they created and made according
to my word.
8 And I, the Lord God, planted a garden eastward in Moses 3:5-8 In verse 5 (note
that we are now in the seventh day) God notes that He "had created all the
children of men; and not yet a man to till the ground; for in heaven created I
them; and there was not yet flesh upon the earth, neither in the water, neither
in the air;" Thus, after
the end of day 6, every creature God had created, including mankind; had only
been created spiritually and they were still living in "heaven." Then in
verse 6 God notes that a "mist" was provided to the earth. The first
thing God created physically, meaning physically on this earth, was Adam (verse
7). However, in
verse 8 it clarifies that the Garden was created before Adam because it states:
"And I, the Lord God, planted a garden eastward in In verse 9 God
physically creates all of the plants and animals (perhaps meaning the plants
and animals which were not put in the garden). In verse 17
the definition of "day" is given, namely a thousand years. The context of this verse is that "in
the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die." This prophesy was fulfilled because Adam died
prior to living to a thousand years because he partook of the forbidden fruit. Also, in
verse 19 it clarifies that "every beast of the field, and every fowl of
the air" were created "out of the ground." It also says these things had "living
souls."
19 And out of the ground I, the Lord God, formed every beast of the
field, and every fowl of the air; and commanded that they should come unto
Adam, to see what he would call them; and they were also living souls; for I,
God, breathed into them the breath of life, and commanded that whatsoever Adam
called every living creature, that should be the name thereof.
20 And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to
every beast of the field; but as for Adam, there was not found an help meet for
him. Moses 3:19-20 These
animals had been previously created spiritually. Because these animals were named by Adam, in
the Garden of Eden, it is not clear whether the animals were created as part of
the Garden or Eden, or they were created after Adam was put into the Garden of
Eden (verses 19-20). Then, in
verses 21 and 22 Eve is created physically:
21 And I, the Lord God, caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam; and he
slept, and I took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh in the stead thereof;
22 And the rib which I, the Lord God, had taken from man, made I a
woman, and brought her unto the man.
23 And Adam said: This I know now is bone of my bones, and flesh of my
flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of man. Moses 3:21-23 Thus, in
summary, all living things were first created spiritually in "heaven"
in this order: 1) Plants
(Day 3) 1) Those
animals which lived in the waters and in the air (Day 5) 2) The rest
of the animals (Day 6) 3) All
human beings (Day 6) Then, in
Day 7 God created these things physically, in this order: 1) The
Garden of Eden, 1) Adam 2) The rest
of the plants (or were some or all of them part of the creation of the Garden?) 3) The
animals (or were some or all of them part of the creation of the Garden?) 4) Eve The account
in the Book of Moses is very different than the account in the Bible. In fact, the account in the Book of Moses was
the original account. The account in the
Bible is the original account after it had been changed by errors in
transcription, errors in translation, lost sections or by intentional changes. Note that
Chapter 1 of the Book of Moses is not in the Bible at all. It had been removed either by error or
intentionally. The first chapter of
Moses will be discussed in a future chapter. The Book of
Moses was first published in 1831, 28 years before A person
would say that the account in the Book of Moses does not agree with the data of
scientists, who claim that dinosaurs and other creatures lived on this earth
long before any human beings (i.e. Adam and Eve). Dinosaurs,
and other extinct species, will be discussed in another chapter. Also note
in the Book of Moses that Eve was the "mother of all living," meaning
that all human beings are descended from Adam and Eve (Moses 4:26). As a final
note to this section on the Book of Moses; based on the scriptures and by
statements of prophets in this dispensation; it is certain that the premortal
world is not part of the account of the creation of this world, as mentioned in
the scriptures. In other words, it is
certain that the preexistent world existed long before the creation of the
earth even started. One
evidence for this is that when Christ went down to create the earth, he was
already alive as a spirit, as were others whom He took with him (see Abraham
3:24, mentioned below). These others
would have already been living in the premortal world. Thus, the preexistent world preceded the
creation of this earth and is not part of the seven thousand years mentioned
for the creation of the earth. The Book of Abraham
Account Abraham lived
before Moses and Abraham received his understanding of the creation through the
Urim and Thummin, which was a device which allowed a prophet to behold great
things. Here are
some passages from Abraham, chapter 3:
1 And I, Abraham, had the Urim and Thummim, which the Lord my God had
given unto me, in
2 And I saw the stars, that they were very great, and that one of them
was nearest unto the throne of God; and there were many great ones which were
near unto it;
3 And the Lord said unto me: These are the governing ones; and the name
of the great one is Kolob, because it is near unto me, for I am the Lord thy
God: I have set this one to govern all those which belong to the same order as
that upon which thou standest.
4 And the Lord said unto me, by the Urim and Thummim, that Kolob was
after the manner of the Lord, according to its times and seasons in the
revolutions thereof; that one revolution was a day unto the Lord, after
his manner of reckoning, it being one thousand years according to the
time appointed unto that whereon thou standest. This is the reckoning of the
Lord's time, according to the reckoning of Kolob. . . .
8 And where these two facts exist, there shall be another fact above
them, that is, there shall be another planet whose reckoning of time shall be
longer still;
9 And thus there shall be the reckoning of the time of one planet above
another, until thou come nigh unto Kolob, which Kolob is after the reckoning of
the Lord's time; which Kolob is set nigh unto the throne of God, to govern all
those planets which belong to the same order as that upon which thou standest. Abraham 3:1-4, 8-9 [Abraham] The
location of Kolob and the throne of God is, of course, unknown. Abraham not
only saw the stars, but also the spirits of people before they came to earth.
18 Howbeit that he made the greater star; as, also, if there be two
spirits, and one shall be more intelligent than the other, yet these two
spirits, notwithstanding one is more intelligent than the other, have no
beginning; they existed before, they shall have no end, they shall exist after,
for they are gnolaum, or eternal.
19 And the Lord said unto me: These two facts do exist, that there are
two spirits, one being more intelligent than the other; there shall be another
more intelligent than they; I am the Lord thy God, I am more intelligent than
they all. . . .
22 Now the Lord had shown unto me, Abraham, the intelligences that were
organized before the world was; and among all these there were many of the
noble and great ones;
23 And God saw these souls that they were good, and he stood in the
midst of them, and he said: These I will make my rulers; for he stood among
those that were spirits, and he saw that they were good; and he said unto me: Abraham,
thou art one of them; thou wast chosen before thou wast born. Abraham 3:18-19 [Abraham] With
regards to the actual creation of the earth, this is what Abraham was shown:
24 And there stood one among them that was like unto God, and he said
unto those who were with him: We will go down, for there is space there,
and we will take of these materials, and we will make an earth whereon these
may dwell;
25 And we will prove them herewith, to see if they will do all things
whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them;
26 And they who keep their first estate shall be added upon; and they
who keep not their first estate shall not have glory in the same kingdom with
those who keep their first estate; and they who keep their second estate shall
have glory added upon their heads for ever and ever. Abraham 3:24-26 [Abraham] The Book of
Abraham also describes the war in heaven, which took place in the preexistent
world where we all lived:
27 And the Lord said: Whom shall I send? And one answered like unto the
Son of Man: Here am I, send me. And another answered and said: Here am I, send
me. And the Lord said: I will send the first.
28 And the second was angry, and kept not his first estate; and, at that
day, many followed after him. Abraham 3:27-28 [Abraham] In chapter
4 the creation begins. Note that in the
account of Abraham the term "Gods" is used. Note these versus from chapter 4:
1 And then the Lord said: Let us go down. And they went down at the
beginning, and they, that is the Gods, organized and formed the heavens and the
earth.
2 And the earth, after it was formed, was empty and desolate, because
they had not formed anything but the earth; and darkness reigned upon the face
of the deep, and the Spirit of the Gods was brooding upon the face of the
waters.
3 And they (the Gods) said: Let there be light; and there was light.
4 And they (the Gods) comprehended the light, for it was bright; and
they divided the light, or caused it to be divided, from the darkness.
5 And the Gods called the light Day, and the darkness they called Night.
And it came to pass that from the evening until morning they called night; and
from the morning until the evening they called day; and this was the first, or
the beginning, of that which they called day and night. Abraham 4:1-5 [Abraham] The
"Lord" is the Savior, who actually created the earth and all that is
on the earth. However, when the Savior
is talking to those who went with him, the Book of Abraham refers to them collectively
as "the Gods." The rest of
the account of the creation, in the Book of Abraham, is similar enough to the
Book of Moses, that it will not be repeated. The Official LDS Position
- 1909 In the LDS
church, formal pronouncements of the First Presidency are considered church
doctrine. In 1909, the First Presidency
of the church issued a formal statement on the church's position on the
creation. This same
statement was republished in the February, 2002 Ensign and can be found online
on the "www.lds.org" website. The vast
majority of the quote is related to Adam and Eve and their descendants (which
includes all humans). We will
start by looking at the statement of the 1909 First Presidency: Quote #1:
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. The Origin of Man, Improvement Era, Nov. 1909, 75–81 Thus, it is
clear that the official position of the LDS church is that Adam and Eve were
not descended from lower animals, meaning they were not created by a series of
accidents (i.e. "evolution") or by God controlling the mutations of
the DNA of lower animals, as the next quote further clarifies. Quote #2:
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, Improvement Era, Nov. 1909, 75–81 In this
quote it is stated that Adam (and presumably Eve as well), either began his
life as an adult male (and female) or as a human germ or embryo. Either way, Adam (and Eve) were directly
created by God and were not descended from lower animals. The LDS
church views a human being as a combination of a spirit body and a physical
body. The spirit body is literally the offspring
of God. Quote #3: "The Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints, basing its belief on divine revelation, ancient and modern,
proclaims man to be the direct and lineal offspring of Deity. God Himself is an
exalted man, perfected, enthroned, and supreme. By His almighty power He
organized the earth and all that it contains, from spirit and element, which
exist coeternally with Himself. . . .
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 the undeveloped offspring of
celestial parentage is capable, by experience through ages and aeons, of
[progressing] into a God." The Origin of Man, Improvement Era, Nov. 1909, 75–81 There is a
lot in this quote, but one of the things it states is that the spirit of a
human being is literally the offspring of God: "proclaims man to be the direct and lineal offspring of Deity." This quote
also makes it quite clear that we, being literal children of God, have the
capacity to become like our Father in Heaven: "... even as the infant son of an earthly father and mother is capable
in due time of becoming a man, so the undeveloped offspring of celestial
parentage is capable, by experience through ages and aeons, of [progressing]
into a God." With
regards to plants and animals, there is but one paragraph on this issue: He formed every plant that grows and
every animal that breathes, each after its own kind, spiritually and temporally—“that
which is spiritual being in the likeness of that which is temporal, and that
which is temporal in the likeness of that which is spiritual.” He made the
tadpole and the ape, the lion and the elephant, but He did not make them in His
own image, nor endow them with godlike reason and intelligence... The Origin of Man, Improvement Era, Nov. 1909, 75–81 This
clearly states that all animals were created spiritually and temporally. In other words, animals have a spirit. Life needs the spirit. This excludes any possibility for the theory
of evolution to be compatible with LDS doctrine. Prophetic Comment President
John Taylor (LDS church president: 1880 - 1887) wrote, prior to the above 1909
statement: "The animal and vegetable
creations are governed by certain laws, and are composed of certain elements
peculiar to themselves. This applies to man, to the beasts, fowls, fish and
creeping things, to the insects and to all animated nature; each one possessing
its own distinctive features, each requiring a specific sustenance, each
having an organism and faculties governed by prescribed laws to perpetuate its
own kind. So accurate is the formation of the various living creatures that
an intelligent student of nature can tell by any particular bone of the
skeleton of an animal to what class or order it belongs. These principles do not change, as
represented by evolutionists of the Darwinian school, but the primitive
organisms of all living beings exist in the same form as when they first
received their impress from their Maker. . . . If we take man, he is said
to have been made in the image of God, for the simple reason that he is a son
of God; and being his son, he is, of course, his offspring, an emanation from
God, in whose likeness, we are told, he is made. He did not originate from a
chaotic mass of matter, moving or inert, but came forth possessing, in an
embryotic state, all the faculties and powers of a God. And when he
shall be perfected, and have progressed to maturity, he will be like his
Father -- a God; being indeed his offspring. As the horse, the ox, the
sheep, and every living creature, including man, propagates its own species and
perpetuates its own kind, so does God perpetuate his." President John Taylor Most people
would be shocked to find out that God has children. Others would be shocked to find out that we are his children!! Can it be
any more clear that each species on this earth was created directly and
independently and started with perfect DNA?
President Taylor, the book of Abraham and the book of Moses all make
this very clear. No species was ever
derived from another species. But far
more importantly, the literal truth is that we; as the literal children of God,
have the potential to be like God, our parent. The Rest of the Creation The
creation of the earth, Adam and Eve, and the plants and animals was not the end
of the creation. Other very important
events had to happen before the human race could get started. While Adam
and Eve existed, at this point, they were pure and innocent and knew nothing
about sin. This is
Lehi, speaking to his son Jacob, though he uses the term "sons":
14 And now, my sons, I speak unto you these things for your profit and
learning; for there is a God, and he hath created all things, both the heavens
and the earth, and all things that in them are, both things to act and things
to be acted upon.
15 And to bring about his eternal purposes in the end of man,
after he had created our first parents, and the beasts of the field and the
fowls of the air, and in fine, all things which are created, it must needs
be that there was an opposition; even the forbidden fruit in opposition to
the tree of life; the one being sweet and the other bitter.
16 Wherefore, the Lord God gave unto man that he should act for
himself. Wherefore, man could not
act for himself save it should be that he was enticed by the one or the other.
17 And I, Lehi, according to the things which I have read, must needs
suppose that an angel of God, according to that which is written, had fallen
from heaven; wherefore, he became a devil, having sought that which was evil
before God.
18 And because he had fallen from heaven, and had become miserable
forever, he sought also the misery of all mankind. Wherefore, he said unto Eve, yea, even that
old serpent, who is the devil, who is the father of all lies, wherefore he
said: Partake of the forbidden fruit, and ye shall not die, but ye shall be as
God, knowing good and evil. 2 Nephi 2:14-18 [Lehi] In other
words, the creation, by itself, was not sufficient to get the human race
started. To fulfill God's plan,
opposition (i.e. the choice to choose between good and evil), had to be part of
the plan.
28 And I, the Lord God, said unto mine Only Begotten: Behold, the man
is become as one of us to know good and evil; and now lest he put forth his
hand and partake also of the tree of life, and eat and live forever,
29 Therefore I, the Lord God, will send him forth from the Garden of
Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken;
30 For as I, the Lord God, liveth, even so my words cannot return void,
for as they go forth out of my mouth they must be fulfilled.
31 So I drove out the man, and I placed at the east of the Garden of
Eden, cherubim and a flaming sword, which turned every way to keep the way of
the tree of life. Moses 4:28-31 [Lord God] It was the
intent of God to expose Adam and Eve to sin, just like all of us who have
achieved accountability have been exposed to sin. Thus, God allowed satan to tempt Adam and Eve
while still in the garden. While this
might seem like a fairy tale to those who believe in evolution, it makes
perfect sense that God Himself cannot tempt any man to do evil. Thus, satan was allowed to tempt Adam and
Eve. The key
here is that God cannot tempt a person to do evil. Thus, since God had created Adam and Eve, an
outside party had to come forth to tempt them.
Satan, who desires the destruction of all mankind, was thus allowed to
tempt Adam and Eve.
19 And after Adam and Eve had partaken of the forbidden fruit they were
driven out of the garden of Eden, to till the earth.
20 And they have brought forth children; yea, even the family of all the
earth.
21 And the days of the children of men were prolonged, according to
the will of God, that they might repent while in the flesh; wherefore, their
state became a state of probation, and their time was lengthened, according
to the commandments which the Lord God gave unto the children of
men. For he gave commandment that all
men must repent; for he showed unto all men that they were lost, because of the
transgression of their parents. 2 Nephi 2:19-21 [Lehi] When Adam
and Eve transgressed, they were cast out of the garden. But this was all part of God's plan. There was a plan to remove their sins from
them (and that plan was the atonement of Christ), on the condition of
repentance. But another
part of the plan was that Adam and Eve, being cast out of the garden, would be
given many opportunities to choose between right and wrong. If they chose the right, and they were given
a chance to repent, then the atonement could be put into effect and they could
eventually return to God.
22 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 forever, and had no end.
23 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.
24 But behold, all things have been done in the wisdom of him who
knoweth all things.
25 Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy. 2 Nephi 2:19-21 [Lehi] The purpose
of life is to have joy (see the last verse), but we cannot appreciate joy until
we understand misery, and we cannot comprehend "good," until we
understand evil. Adam and
Eve, once removed from their state of innocence, were allowed to progress and
return to God, but in a state of much greater knowledge and understanding.
26 And the Messiah cometh in the fulness of time, that he may redeem the
children of men from the fall. And
because that they are redeemed from the fall they have become free forever,
knowing good from evil; to act for themselves and not to be acted upon, save it
be by the punishment of the law at the great and last day, according to the
commandments which God hath given.
27 Wherefore, men are free according to the flesh; and all things are
given them which are expedient unto man.
And they are free to choose liberty and eternal life, through the great
Mediator of all men, or to choose captivity and death, according to the
captivity and power of the devil; for he seeketh that all men might be
miserable like unto himself. 2 Nephi 2:19-27 [Lehi] Because of
God's plan, we are free to choose between good and evil. In other words, because of the atonement, our
choices, whether good or bad, can result in joy or misery, respectively. Thus, Adam
and Eve were central to the transition between being in a state of innocence
(i.e. in the garden) and allowing all mankind to have a choice between good and
evil. Had Adam
and Eve not partaken of the fruit, all of use would have been stopped in our
progression and we would all still be living in the preexistent world. Thus, the
creation of the earth included a plan to allow each of us the opportunity to
choose between right and wrong and to allow us the choice to repent when we
choose the wrong. The Garden
of Eden was a key part of the overall plan. |