The Creation

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In regard to the teaching of evolution, Pres Joseph F. created things were to fall they must be created in a
Smith said: higher state than the state they would be in after the
“In reaching the conclusion that evolution Fall. To fall is to go downward, or forward, not
would be best left out of discussions in our Church upward” (Bruce R. McConkie, Sermons and Writings of Bruce R.
schools, we are deciding a question of propriety and McConkie [Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1998], 194).

are not undertaking to say how much of evolution is

true, or how much is false. The Church itself has no 2. The Nature of Intelligence:
philosophy about the modus operandi employed by "The Lord made it known to Moses (See
the Lord in His creation of the world.” The Juvenile Book of Moses Chap. 3.) and also to Abraham
Instructor 46 (April 1911): 208. (Abraham Ch. 3) and it is expressed in several
revelations, that man was in the beginning with
WHAT WE DO NOT KNOW: God. In that day, however, man was a spirit
unembodied. The beginning was when the councils
1. Our Knowledge is Limited to What is met and the decision was made to create this earth
Necessary to Understand the Fall & Atonement that the spirits who were intended for this earth,
“Our analysis properly begins with the frank should come here and partake of the mortal
recital that our knowledge about the Creation is conditions and receive bodies of flesh and bones.
limited. We do not know the how and why and when The doctrine has prevailed that matter was created
of all things. Our finite limitations are such that we out of nothing, but the Lord declares that the
could not comprehend them if they were revealed to elements are eternal. Matter always did and,
us in all their glory, fulness, and perfection. What has therefore, always will exist, and the spirits of men as
been revealed is that portion of the Lord's eternal well as their bodies were created out of matter. We
word which we must believe and understand if we are discover in this revelation that the intelligent part of
to envision the truth about the Fall and the Atonement man was not created, but always existed. There has
and thus become heirs of salvation. This is all we are been some speculation and articles have been
obligated to study. written attempting to explain just what these
“In a future day the Lord will expect more of 'intelligences' are, or this 'intelligence' is, but it is
his Saints in this regard than he does of us. ‘When the futile for us to speculate upon it. We do know that
Lord shall come, he shall reveal all things,’ our latter- intelligence was not created or made and cannot be
day revelations tell us—"Things which have passed, because the Lord has said it. There are some truths it
and hidden things which no man knew, things of the is well to leave until the Lord sees fit to reveal the
earth, by which it was made, and the purpose and the fulness." (Joseph Fielding Smith, Church History and Modern Revelation,
end thereof." (D&C 101:32-33.) Pending that 1:401.)

millennial day it is our responsibility to believe and

accept that portion of the truth about the Creation that 3. How Long a “Day” Is.
has been dispensed to us in our dispensation… ¨ "But first, what is a day? It is a specified
“The fall of Adam and the atonement of Christ time period; it is an age, an eon, a division of
are linked together—inseparably, everlastingly— eternity; it is the time between two identifiable
never to be parted. They are as much a part of the events. And each day, of whatever length, has the
same body as are the head and the heart, and each duration needed for its purposes. One measuring rod
plays its part in the eternal scheme of things. is the time required for a celestial body to turn once
“The fall of Adam brought temporal and on its axis. … [See Abraham 3:4.]
spiritual death into the world, and the atonement of "There is no revealed recitation specifying
Christ ransomed men from these two deaths by that each of the 'six days' involved in the Creation
bringing to pass the immortality and eternal life of was of the same duration. …
man. This makes the Fall as essential a part of the "… Abraham gives a blueprint as it were of
plan of salvation as the very Atonement itself… the Creation. He tells the plans of the holy beings
“Now, even as the Atonement grows out of who wrought the creative work. After reciting the
the Fall, so the Fall grows out of the Creation. If all events of the 'six days' he says: 'And thus were their
things had not been created in the very way in which decisions at the time that they counseled among
they were created, there could have been no fall. If
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themselves to form the heavens and the earth.' (Abr. the Nebular Theory assumed; but this conception
5:3.) has given way to the later thought that the earth as a
"Then he says they performed as they had solid spheroid has resulted from the bringing
planned, which means we can, by merely changing together of particles once diffused in space -- this
the verb tenses and without doing violence to the being the basis of the Planetesimal Hypothesis.
sense and meaning, also consider the Abrahamic But this we know, for both revealed and
account as one of the actual creation." (McConkie, "Christ discovered truth, that is to say both scripture and
and the Creation," p. 11.) science, so affirm -- that plant life antedated animal
4. When “The Beginning” Was: existence and that animals preceded man as tenants
"In the beginning God created the heaven and of earth...
the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; The oldest, that is to say the earliest, rocks
and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the thus far identified in land masses reveal the
Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters." fossilized remains of once living organisms, plant
(Gen. 1:1-2). and animal. The coal strata, upon which the world of
“Any question as to when that beginning was industry so largely depends, are essentially but
is largely futile because [it is] unanswerable. In the highly compressed and chemically changed
first place we have no time unit by which to measure vegetable substance. The whole series of chalk
back through the ages to the time at which, so far as deposits and many of our deep-sea limestones
the earth is concerned, time began. contain the skeletal remains of animals. These lived
“Years are as inadequate in any attempted and died, age after age, while the earth was yet unfit
survey of the stages of earth development as are miles for human habitation. (Elder James E. Talmage, “The Earth and
Man,” see http://users.bestweb.net/~evolve/Talmage1931.html
to the astronomer who would span the distances of
interstellar space. He speaks in terms of light-years,
such unit being the distance traversed by a ray of light WHAT WE DO KNOW
speeding on at the rate of approximately 186,000
miles per second throughout a year. 5. The Purpose of Creation
Secondly, we are without information as to "The whole object of the creation of this
what stage of earth development is indicated by "the world is to exalt the intelligences that are placed
beginning." And what is a beginning in nature? At upon it, that they may live, endure, and increase for
best it is but a new start in advance of what had ever and ever" (Brigham Young, Discourses of Brigham Young, p. 57).
passed up to that point of time; and every beginning is
an ending of what went immediately before, even as 6. Prior to Physical/Spiritual Creation was a
every consummation is a commencement of Spirit Creation
something greater, higher, and therefore superior to "There is no account of the creation of man
the past. or other forms of life when they were created as
To the thoughtful mind there can be no spirits. There is just the simple statement that they
confusion of the beginning spoken of in the opening were so created before the physical creation. The
verse of genesis with the advent of man upon the statements in Moses 3:5 and Genesis 2:5 are
changing earth; for by the scriptural record itself we interpolations thrown into the account of the
learn of stage after stage, age after age of earth physical creation, explaining that all things were
processes by which eventually this planet became first created in the spirit existence in heaven before
capable of supporting life -- vegetable, animal and they were placed upon this earth." (Joseph Fielding Smith,
human in due course. Doctrines of Salvation, 1:75–76.)

Whether or not scientists have been able to 7. Spirit is Matter.

see, however dimly, the way by which the earth as an We . . . state that spirit is a substance; that it is
orb in space was formed, matters little except as a material, but that it is more pure, elastic and refined
subject of academic interest. For many years it was matter than the body; that it existed before the body,
very generally believed that the earth, once formless can exist in the body; and will exist separate from
and void, passed through stages of cooling of the body, when the body will be mouldering in the
superheated gas to liquid, thence to the solid state, as dust; and will in the resurrection, be again united
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with it. (Joseph Smith in an editorial in the Times and Seasons, 1 April 1842. "It was Jesus Christ, our Redeemer, who,
HC 4:575) under the direction of his Father, came down and
8. The Creation Involved Organizing Matter organized matter and made this planet. …
"Now, the word create came from the word "… It is true that Adam helped to form this
baurau which does not mean to create out of nothing; earth. He labored with our Savior Jesus Christ. I
it means to organize; the same as a man would have a strong view or conviction that there were
organize materials and build a ship. Hence, we infer others also who assisted them. Perhaps Noah and
that God had materials to organize the world out of Enoch; and why not Joseph Smith, and those who
chaos—chaotic matter, which is element, and in were appointed to be rulers before the earth was
which dwells all the glory. Element had an existence formed? …
from the time he had. The pure principles of element "… The account of creation in Genesis was
are principles which can never be destroyed; they not a spirit creation, but it was in a particular sense,
may be organized and re-organized, but not a spiritual creation. …
destroyed. They had no beginning, and can have no "… the account in Genesis one and two, is
end." (Smith, Teachings, pp. 350–52.) the account of the physical creation of the earth and
all upon it, but the creation was not subject to mortal
9. Intelligence is Eternal (See also DC 93) law until after the fall. It was, therefore, a spiritual
“The first principles of man are self-existent creation and so remained until the fall when it
with God. God himself, finding he was in the midst of became temporal, or mortal." (Joseph Fielding Smith, Doctrines
of Salvation, 1:74–77.)
spirits and glory, because he was more intelligent,
saw proper to institute laws whereby the rest could 14. The Situation Was Quite a Bit Different
have a privilege to advance like himself.” (Joseph Smith in Before the Fall
King Follett Discourse, Nauvoo, 7 April 1844. HC 6:308, 312, 314) “But of the tree of knowledge of good and
evil, thou shalt not eat of it; for in the time that thou
10. We Knew What We Were Getting Into. eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die. Now I,
“The organization of the spiritual and Abraham, saw that it was after the Lord’s time,
heavenly worlds, and of spiritual and heavenly which was after the time of Kolob; for as yet the
beings, was agreeable to the most perfect order and Gods had not appointed unto Adam his reckoning”
harmony: their limits and bounds were fixed (Abr. 5:13).
irrevocably, and voluntarily subscribed to in their President Joseph Fielding Smith stated that
heavenly estate by themselves, and were by our first in this verse the Lord “revealed to Abraham that
parents subscribed to upon the earth. Hence the Adam was subject to Kolob’s time before his
importance of embracing and subscribing to transgression.” According to President Brigham
principles of eternal truth by all men upon the earth Young, Abraham 5:13 also means that before the
that expect eternal life. (Joseph Smith in remarks upon the death of Fall of Adam, the earth was near the very throne of
James Adams, Nauvoo, 9 October 1843. HC 6:51)
God. But when the Fall occurred, the earth literally
11. A Physical Body is Essential to Salvation. fell or moved from the physical presence of God to
“We came to this earth that we might have a its present position in our solar system. When all the
body and present it pure before God in the celestial effects of the Fall of Adam are finally overcome, the
kingdom. The great principle of happiness consists in earth will literally move back into the presence of
having a body. The devil has no body, and herein is God. Here are President Young’s words: “When the
his punishment. He is pleased when he can obtain the earth was framed and brought into existence and
tabernacle of man, and when cast out by the Savior he man was placed upon it, it was near the throne of
asked to go into the herd of swine, showing that he our Father in heaven. … But when man fell, the
would prefer a swine's body to having none. All earth fell into space, and took up its abode in this
beings who have bodies have power over those who planetary system. … This is the glory the earth came
have not. (Joseph Smith, The Words of Joseph Smith, p. 60; standardized) from, and when it is glorified it will return again
unto the presence of the Father, and it will dwell
12. Many Were Involved in the Creative Process there, and these intelligent beings that I am looking
at, if they live worthy of it, will dwell upon this
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earth (JD 17:143)” (Andrew C. Skinner, cited in “The Book of
Abraham: A Most Remarkable Book,” Ensign, Mar. 1997, 16)

15. “Evolution” in Encyclopedia of Mormonism

Evolution
Author: Evenson, William E.

The position of the Church on the origin of man was

published by the First Presidency in 1909 and stated
again by a different First Presidency in 1925: The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, basing its
belief on divine revelation, ancient and modern, declares
man to be the direct and lineal offspring of Deity….
Man is the child of God, formed in the divine image and
endowed with divine attributes (see Appendix,
"Doctrinal Expositions of the First Presidency").

The scriptures tell why man was created, but they do not
tell how, though the Lord has promised that he will tell
that when he comes again (D&C 101:32-33). In 1931,
when there was intense discussion on the issue of
organic evolution, the First Presidency of the Church,
then consisting of Presidents Heber J. Grant, Anthony
W. Ivins, and Charles W. Nibley, addressed all of the
General Authorities of the Church on the matter, and
concluded, Upon the fundamental doctrines of the
Church we are all agreed. Our mission is to bear the
message of the restored gospel to the world. Leave
geology, biology, archaeology, and anthropology, no
one of which has to do with the salvation of the souls of
mankind, to scientific research, while we magnify our
calling in the realm of the Church….

Upon one thing we should all be able to agree, namely,

that Presidents Joseph F. Smith, John R. Winder, and
Anthon H. Lund were right when they said: "Adam is
the primal parent of our race" [First Presidency Minutes,
Apr. 7, 1931].

https://eom.byu.edu/index.php/Evolution )