Why did Brigham Young believe Adam was God?

[_bcspace]

I know what you mean. Statements like this are really confusing.

BY also said:

The world may in vain ask the question, "Who are we?" But the Gospel tells us that we are the sons and daughters of that God whom we serve. Some say, "we are the children of Adam and Eve." So we are, and they are the children of our Heavenly Father. We are all the children of Adam and Eve, and they and we are the offspring of Him who dwells in the heavens, the highest Intelligence that dwells anywhere that we have any knowledge of. [JD 13:311-312, April 17, 1870]

[_Drifting]

I know what you mean. Statements like this are really confusing.

BY also said:

The world may in vain ask the question, "Who are we?" But the Gospel tells us that we are the sons and daughters of that God whom we serve. Some say, "we are the children of Adam and Eve." So we are, and they are the children of our Heavenly Father. We are all the children of Adam and Eve, and they and we are the offspring of Him who dwells in the heavens, the highest Intelligence that dwells anywhere that we have any knowledge of. [JD 13:311-312, April 17, 1870]

Bcspace, so you agree with ALL the things BY states as recorded in the JD or are you a selective user?

[_Fence Sitter]

I know what you mean. Statements like this are really confusing.

BY also said:

The world may in vain ask the question, "Who are we?" But the Gospel tells us that we are the sons and daughters of that God whom we serve. Some say, "we are the children of Adam and Eve." So we are, and they are the children of our Heavenly Father. We are all the children of Adam and Eve, and they and we are the offspring of Him who dwells in the heavens, the highest Intelligence that dwells anywhere that we have any knowledge of. [JD 13:311-312, April 17, 1870]

Which makes more sense when combined with this:

Brigham Young Sermon, April 9, 1852--

Our Father in Heaven begat all the spirits that ever were, or ever will be, upon this earth; and they were born spirits in the eternal world. Then the Lord by His power and wisdom organized the mortal tabernacle of man. We were made first spiritual, and afterwards temporal.

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 . . . When Adam and Eve had eaten of the forbidden fruit, their bodies became mortal from its effects, and therefore their offspring were mortal. When the Virgin Mary conceived the child Jesus, the Father had begotten him in his own likeness. He was not begotten by the Holy Ghost. And who is the Father? He is the first of the human family; and when he took a tabernacle, it was begotten by his Father in heaven, after the same manner as the tabernacles of Cain, Abel and the rest of the sons and daughters of Adam and Eve; from the fruits of the earth, the first earthly tabernacles were originated by the Father, and so on in succession. I could tell you much more about this; but were I to tell you the whole truth, blasphemy would be nothing to it, in the estimation of the superstitious and over-righteous of mankind. However, I have told you the truth as far as I have gone .... Jesus, our elder brother, was begotten in the flesh by the same character that was in the garden of Eden, and who is our Father in Heaven. Now, let all who may hear these doctrines, pause before they make light of them, or treat them with indifference, for they will prove their salvation or damnation.
I have given you a few leading items upon this subject, but a great deal more remains to be told

[_bcspace]

Which makes more sense when combined with this:

That is correct. Adam Sr. is God the Father, the "character" who was in the garden of Eden, who walked with Adam (Jr.) and who latter begat Jesus. As BY also stated:

How has it transpired that theological truth is thus so widely disseminated? It is because God was once known on the earth among his children of mankind, as we know one another. Adam was as conversant with his Father who placed him upon this earth as we are conversant with our earthly parents. The Father frequently came to visit his son Adam, and talked and walked with him; and the children of Adam were more or less acquainted with their Grandfather, and their children were more or less acquainted with their Great-Grandfather; and the things that pertain to God and to heaven were as familiar among mankind, in the first ages of their existence on the earth, as these mountains are to our mountain boys, as our gardens are to our wives and children, or as the road to the Western Ocean is to the experienced traveller. [JD 9:149]

Notice also that BY proposes that when we become Gods, we too will go to our creations as Adams and Eves (Sr) and beget physical children (Adam and Eve Jr):

After men have got their exaltations and their crowns--have become Gods, even the sons of God--are made Kings of kings and Lords of lords, they have the power then of propagating their species in spirit; and that is the first of their operations with regard to organizing a world. Power is then given to them to organize the elements, and then commence the organization of tabernacles. How can they do it? Have they to go to that earth? Yes, an Adam will have to go there, and he cannot do without Eve; he must have Eve to commence the work of generation, and they will go into the garden, and continue to eat and drink of the fruits of the corporeal world, until this grosser matter is diffused sufficiently through their celestial bodies to enable them, according to the established laws, to produce mortal tabernacles for their spiritual children. [JD 6:275, Brigham Young, August 28, 1852.]

[_The Mighty Builder]

Ah, the joys of Mormon logic. I love the fact that any information of the Mormon church always needs a preamble, long explanation or other clarification as to the reason why the doctrine, history, event, belief, etc. is true and meaningful. Simple lies for stupid people.

[_zeezrom]

I'm confused. Adam Sr. and Adam Jr.? What is this all about?

[_bcspace]

Ah, the joys of Mormon logic. I love the fact that any information of the Mormon church always needs a preamble, long explanation or other clarification as to the reason why the doctrine, history, event, belief, etc. is true and meaningful. Simple lies for stupid people.

I think it has more to do with having to unravel obfuscation from the critics than anything else. When refuting criticism of the LDS Church, one often has to start all over with the basics of elementary logic, common sense, and what was actually stated doctrinally or historically. It's a tedious but rewarding process.

[_Yoda]

So, BC, since you have previously stated that the JoD as a whole. is NOT official doctrine, but snippets which are published in official LDS materials are, where does this declaration by Brigham Young fall?

Also, as an aside, how do you characterize the temple ordinances, and basic temple script? Doctrine?

And...as far as Adam Sr. and Eve Sr. are concerned...CFR on where this is published in official Church sources. Frankly, any source other than your opinion would be helpful.

[_zeezrom]

BC is having fun.

[_bcspace]

I'm confused. Adam Sr. and Adam Jr.? What is this all about?

BY never taught an Adam-God theory. What he taught was an Adam Sr. Adam Jr. theory. I discovered this independently in 2005 in debate with stn9 on the MDD board (I still have many of those PM's), but soon after discovered that Eldon Watson had discovered it earlier and fleshed it out so I left off doing any work on it.

Basically:

"Adam Sr." and "Adam Jr."

LDS researcher Elden Watson, editor of the multi-volume Brigham Young Addresses, believes that Brigham used the term "Adam" as a name-title for both God the Father ("Adam Sr.") and the man Adam ("Adam Jr."), comparable to the way "Elias" is used as a title meaning "forerunner" and applied to various people. According to Watson, the reason modern readers miss this is our failure to take into account all of Brigham's sermons in context.[8] Watson has the advantage of being more familiar with Brigham Young's sermons than perhaps any other living researcher, and he does clearly grasp that Brigham did not equate Elohim/Jehovah/Michael with God the Father/Jesus Christ/Adam as modern Latter-day Saints do. However, Watson's theory has not been widely accepted for several reasons: (a) it is not widely known, (b) it assumes that those in Brigham Young's audience understood that he was talking about two Adams, and (c) Brigham never directly explained his Adam-God teachings in the way Watson interprets them.

It is a major apologetic explanation for the Adam-God question. Though many disagree, I personally have found that nothing can touch it.

http://en.fairmormon.org/Mormonism_and_doctrine/Repudiated_concepts/Adam-God_theory