Some time ago, the Church was compelled to issue
a press release explaining how to approach Mormon doctrine. Among the comments made by the anonymous author(s) is the following:
Some doctrines are more important than others and might be considered core doctrines. For example, the precise location of the Garden of Eden is far less important than doctrine about Jesus Christ and His atoning sacrifice. The mistake that public commentators often make is taking an obscure teaching that is peripheral to the Church’s purpose and placing it at the very center. This is especially common among reporters or researchers who rely on how other Christians interpret Latter-day Saint doctrine.It is well established that it is impossible to determine what, if anything, the LDS Church officially teaches unless you are an active, believing Latter-day Saint, which is why they all uniformly agree what "official doctrine" means. Nevertheless, how could anyone get the ludicrous impression that the Church in any way gives a crap where the Garden of Eden was precisely located?
Some historical background may help before we explain how a notorious rascal misled the world about what the Church believes. The Church owns property in Spring Hill, Missouri, where it intends to build a temple one of these days. This prospective temple will apparently be known as
"the Adam-ondi-Ahman" temple. The Church explains that:
The valley of Adam-ondi-Ahman was revealed to Joseph Smith to be the place where Adam blessed his posterity after being driven from the Garden of Eden.The Encyclopedia of Mormonism, which
is not an official publication of the Church, but merely an encyclopedia prepared by a board at an LDS Church-owned university working closely with Church officials, and hosted on the internet by that same church-owned university,
explains that:The Prophet's revelations indicated several things about the area: (1) the Garden of Eden was located in Jackson County, Missouri, and after Adam was expelled from the garden, he went north to Adam-ondi-Ahman; (2) three years before Adam's death, he gathered the righteous of his posterity to Adam-ondi-Ahman and bestowed upon them his last blessing; (3) this site would be the location of a future meeting of the Lord with Adam and the Saints, as spoken of by the prophet Daniel.And Adam-ondi-Ahman is the subject of
Section 116 of the Doctrine and Covenants.And then you have statements in the historical record like
these:Wilford Woodruff gave an account of President Brigham Young saying that "Joseph, the Prophet, told me that the Garden of Eden was in Jackson County, Missouri. When Adam was driven out he went to the place we now call Adam-ondi-Ahman, Daviess County, Missouri. There he built an altar and offered sacrifices."
Orson Pratt defined the words Adam-ondi-Ahman from the Adamic language as, "valley of God, where Adam dwelt."Or you can learn about Adam-ondi-Ahman being the place Adam went after being kicked out of the Garden of Eden by taking a look at
The Joseph Smith Papers. Joseph Fielding Smith, who had only the most rudimentary and vague notions about what the LDS Church may or may not teach, said:
This council in the valley of Adam-ondi-Ahman is to be of the greatest importance to this world. At that time there will be a transfer of authority from the usurper and impostor, Lucifer, to the rightful King, Jesus Christ. Judgment will be set and all who have held keys will make their reports and deliver their stewardships, as they shall be required.In summary, we can clearly see that the LDS Church could not possibly care less what the precise location of the Garden of Eden may or may not be.
Where, then, did this idea come from that the Church really gives any particular importance to the precise location of the place where Adam lived and where Jesus Christ and all righteous Saints will meet together to usher in the end of the world?
If you've been following this thread, you can probably make an educated guess.
In a completely unrelated coincidence, having noting whatever to do with anything that the Prophet Joseph Smith ever said or did, William Wines Phelps composed hymn #49,
"Adam-ondi-Ahman."There is no evidence that anything that Joseph Smith ever said, wrote, did, suggested, implied, made a joke about, or worked on had any connection at all to W.W. Phelps going rogue and making up this hymn as a personal side project.
And now the modern Church has to correct the mistaken impressions that Phelps' ultra vires pet project created.
It's always Phelps.
That son of a bitch.