LDS Freedom Forum

This comment was made to me on another internet forum. How would you answer


"I find it hard to believe Adam and Eve, who named them Adam and Eve, when they had children then we are all related and committed incest of some sort.

What colour was Adam and Eve and why are not every person's the same colour, a uni colour.

How did all the different races happen and why the different colours if these two were created from the same creator."

https://www.lds.org/topics/family-procl ... g&old=true

"A PROCLAMATION TO THE WORLD
The First Presidency and Council of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

WE, THE FIRST PRESIDENCY and the Council of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, solemnly proclaim that marriage between a man and a woman is ordained of God and that the family is central to the Creator’s plan for the eternal destiny of His children.

ALL HUMAN BEINGS—male and female—are created in the image of God. Each is a beloved spirit son or daughter of heavenly parents, and, as such, each has a divine nature and destiny. Gender is an essential characteristic of individual premortal, mortal, and eternal identity and purpose.

IN THE PREMORTAL REALM, spirit sons and daughters knew and worshipped God as their Eternal Father and accepted His plan by which His children could obtain a physical body and gain earthly experience to progress toward perfection and ultimately realize their divine destiny as heirs of eternal life. The divine plan of happiness enables family relationships to be perpetuated beyond the grave. Sacred ordinances and covenants available in holy temples make it possible for individuals to return to the presence of God and for families to be united eternally.

THE FIRST COMMANDMENT that God gave to Adam and Eve pertained to their potential for parenthood as husband and wife. We declare that God’s commandment for His children to multiply and replenish the earth remains in force. We further declare that God has commanded that the sacred powers of procreation are to be employed only between man and woman, lawfully wedded as husband and wife.

WE DECLARE the means by which mortal life is created to be divinely appointed. We affirm the sanctity of life and of its importance in God’s eternal plan.

HUSBAND AND WIFE have a solemn responsibility to love and care for each other and for their children. “Children are an heritage of the Lord” (Psalm 127:3). Parents have a sacred duty to rear their children in love and righteousness, to provide for their physical and spiritual needs, and to teach them to love and serve one another, observe the commandments of God, and be law-abiding citizens wherever they live. Husbands and wives—mothers and fathers—will be held accountable before God for the discharge of these obligations.

THE FAMILY is ordained of God. Marriage between man and woman is essential to His eternal plan. Children are entitled to birth within the bonds of matrimony, and to be reared by a father and a mother who honor marital vows with complete fidelity. Happiness in family life is most likely to be achieved when founded upon the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ. Successful marriages and families are established and maintained on principles of faith, prayer, repentance, forgiveness, respect, love, compassion, work, and wholesome recreational activities. By divine design, fathers are to preside over their families in love and righteousness and are responsible to provide the necessities of life and protection for their families. Mothers are primarily responsible for the nurture of their children. In these sacred responsibilities, fathers and mothers are obligated to help one another as equal partners. Disability, death, or other circumstances may necessitate individual adaptation. Extended families should lend support when needed.

WE WARN that individuals who violate covenants of chastity, who abuse spouse or offspring, or who fail to fulfill family responsibilities will one day stand accountable before God. Further, we warn that the disintegration of the family will bring upon individuals, communities, and nations the calamities foretold by ancient and modern prophets.

WE CALL UPON responsible citizens and officers of government everywhere to promote those measures designed to maintain and strengthen the family as the fundamental unit of society."

https://www.lds.org/manual/jesus-the-ch ... 3?lang=eng

Answers may be found in Jesus The Christ by James E. Talmage.

One example:

"In accordance with the plan adopted in the council of the Gods, man was created as an embodied spirit; his tabernacle of flesh was composed of the elements of earth. He was given commandment and law, and was free to obey or disobey—with the just and inevitable condition that he should enjoy or suffer the natural results of his choice. Adam, the first man placed upon the earth in pursuance of the established plan, and Eve who was given unto him as companion and associate, indispensable to him in the appointed mission of peopling the earth, disobeyed the express commandment of God and so brought about the “fall of man,” whereby the mortal state, of which death is an essential element was inaugurated. It is not proposed to consider here at length the doctrine of the fall; for the present argument it is sufficient to establish the fact of the momentous occurrence and its portentous consequences. The woman was deceived, and in direct violation of counsel and commandment partook of the food that had been forbidden, as a result of which act her body became degenerate and subject to death. Adam realized the disparity that had been brought between him and his companion, and with some measure of understanding followed her course, thus becoming her partner in bodily degeneracy. Note in this matter the words of Paul the apostle: “Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression.”

The man and the woman had now become mortal; through indulgence in food unsuited to their nature and condition and against which they had been specifically warned, and as the inevitable result of their disobeying the divine law and commandment, they became liable to the physical ailments and bodily frailties to which mankind has since been the natural heir. Those bodies, which before the fall had been perfect in form and function, were now subjects for eventual dissolution or death. The arch-tempter through whose sophistries, half-truths and infamous falsehoods, Eve had been beguiled, was none other than Satan, or Lucifer, that rebellious and fallen “son of the morning,” whose proposal involving the destruction of man’s liberty had been rejected in the council of the heavens, and who had been “cast out into the earth,” he and all his angels as unembodied spirits, never to be tabernacled in bodies of their own. As an act of diabolic reprisal following his rejection in the council, his defeat by Michael and the heavenly hosts, and his ignominious expulsion from heaven, Satan planned to destroy the bodies in which the faithful spirits—those who had kept their first estate—would be born; and his beguilement of Eve was but an early stage of that infernal scheme."
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https://www.lds.org/manual/jesus-the-ch ... 5?lang=eng

"The Gospel of Jesus Christ was revealed to Adam. Faith in God the Eternal Father, and in His Son the Saviour of Adam and all his posterity, repentance of sin, water baptism by immersion, and the reception of the Holy Ghost as a divine bestowal were proclaimed in the beginning of human history as the essentials to salvation. The following scriptures attest this fact. “And thus the Gospel began to be preached, from the beginning, being declared by holy angels sent forth from the presence of God, and by his own voice, and by the gift of the Holy Ghost” (Moses 5:58). The prophet Enoch thus testified: “But God hath made known unto our fathers that all men must repent. And he called upon our father Adam by his own voice, saying: I am God; I made the world, and men before they were in the flesh. And he also said unto him: If thou wilt turn unto me, and hearken unto my voice, and believe, and repent of all thy transgressions, and be baptised, even in water, in the name of mine Only Begotten Son, who is full of grace and truth, which is Jesus Christ, the only name which shall be given under heaven, whereby salvation shall come unto the children of men, ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, asking all things in his name, and whatsoever ye shall ask, it shall be given you” (Moses 6:50–52; read also 53–61). “And now, behold, I say unto you: This is the plan of salvation unto all men, through the blood of mine Only Begotten, who shall come in the meridian of time” (62). “And it came to pass, when the Lord had spoken with Adam, our father, that Adam cried unto the Lord, and he was caught away by the Spirit of the Lord, and was carried down into the water, and was laid under the water, and was brought forth out of the water. And thus he was baptised, and the Spirit of God descended upon him, and thus he was born of the Spirit, and became quickened in the inner man. And he heard a voice out of heaven, saying: Thou art baptised with fire, and with the Holy Ghost. This is the record of the Father, and the Son, from henceforth and for ever” (64–66).
Compare D&C 29:42.

34 Wherefore, verily I say unto you that all things unto me are spiritual, and not at any time have I given unto you a law which was temporal; neither any man, nor the children of men; neither Adam, your father, whom I created.

35 Behold, I gave unto him that he should be an agent unto himself; and I gave unto him commandment, but no temporal commandment gave I unto him, for my commandments are spiritual; they are not natural nor temporal, neither carnal nor sensual.

36 And it came to pass that Adam, being tempted of the devil—for, behold, the devil was before Adam, for he rebelled against me, saying, Give me thine honour, which is my power; and also a third part of the hosts of heaven turned he away from me because of their agency;

37 And they were thrust down, and thus came the deviland his angels;

38 And, behold, there is a place prepared for them from the beginning, which place is hell.

39 And it must needs be that the devil should tempt the children of men, or they could not be agents unto themselves; for if they never should have bitter they could not know the sweet—

40 Wherefore, it came to pass that the devil tempted Adam, and he partook of the forbidden fruit and transgressed the commandment, wherein he became subject to the will of the devil, because he yielded unto temptation.

41 Wherefore, I, the Lord God, caused that he should be cast out from the Garden of Eden, from my presence, because of his transgression, wherein he became spiritually dead, which is the first death, even that same death which is the last death, which is spiritual, which shall be pronounced upon the wicked when I shall say: Depart, ye cursed.

42 But, behold, I say unto you that I, the Lord God, gave unto Adam and unto his seed, that they should not die as to the temporal death, until I, the Lord God, should send forth angels to declare unto them repentance and redemption, through faith on the name of mine Only Begotten Son.

43 And thus did I, the Lord God, appoint unto man the days of his probation—that by his natural death he might be raised in immortality unto eternal life, even as many as would believe;

https://www.lds.org/scriptures/dc-testa ... ang=eng#41

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“God himself was once as we are now, and is an exalted Man, and sits enthroned in yonder heavens! That is the great secret. If the veil was rent to-day, and the Great God who holds this world in its orbit, and who upholds all worlds and all things by his power, was to make himself visible,—I say, if you were to see him to-day, you would see him like a man in form—like yourselves in all the person, image, and very form as a man; for Adam was created in the very fashion, image, and likeness of God, and received instruction from, and walked, talked and conversed with him, as one man talks and communes with another.”—Joseph Smith; see Compendium. 190.

https://www.lds.org/manual/jesus-the-ch ... 1?lang=eng
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https://www.lds.org/topics/fall-of-adam?lang=eng

"In the Garden of Eden, God commanded, “Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it, nevertheless, thou mayest choose for thyself, for it is given unto thee; but remember that I forbid it, for in the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die” (Moses 3:16–17). Because Adam and Eve transgressed this command and partook of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, they were cast out from the presence of the Lord (see D&C 29:40–41). In other words, they experienced spiritual death. They also became mortal—subject to physical death. This spiritual and physical death is called the Fall.

As descendants of Adam and Eve, we inherit a fallen condition during mortality (see Alma 42:5–9, 14). We are separated from the presence of the Lord and subject to physical death. We are also placed in a state of opposition, in which we are tested by the difficulties of life and the temptations of the adversary (see 2 Nephi 2:11–14; D&C 29:39; Moses 6:48–49).

In this fallen condition, we have a conflict within us. We are spirit children of God, with the potential to be “partakers of the divine nature” (2 Peter 1:4). However, “we are unworthy before [God]; because of the fall our natures have become evil continually” (Ether 3:2). We need to strive continually to overcome unrighteous passions and desires.

Repeating the words of an angel, King Benjamin said, “The natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam.” King Benjamin warned that in this natural, or fallen, state, each person will be an enemy to God forever “unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father” (Mosiah 3:19).

The Fall is an integral part of Heavenly Father’s plan of salvation (see 2 Nephi 2:15–16; 9:6). It has a twofold direction—downward yet forward. In addition to introducing physical and spiritual death, it gave us the opportunity to be born on the earth and to learn and progress. Through our righteous exercise of agency and our sincere repentance when we sin, we can come unto Christ and, through His Atonement, prepare to receive the gift of eternal life. The prophet Lehi taught:

“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.

“And [Adam and Eve] 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.

“But behold, all things have been done in the wisdom of him who knoweth all things.

“Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy.

“And the Messiah cometh in the fulness of time, that he may redeem the children of men from the fall” (2 Nephi 2:22–26; see also 2 Nephi 2:19–21, 27).

Adam and Eve expressed their gratitude for the blessings that came as a result of the Fall:

“Adam blessed God and was filled, and began to prophesy concerning all the families of the earth, saying: Blessed be the name of God, for because of my transgression my eyes are opened, and in this life I shall have joy, and again in the flesh I shall see God.

“And Eve, his wife, heard all these things and was glad, saying: Were it not for our transgression we never should have had seed, and never should have known good and evil, and the joy of our redemption, and the eternal life which God giveth unto all the obedient” (Moses 5:10–11).
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https://www.lds.org/scriptures/gs/fall- ... e?lang=eng

"The process by which mankind became mortal on this earth. When Adam and Eve ate of the forbidden fruit, they became mortal, that is, subject to sin and death. Adam became the “first flesh” upon the earth (Moses 3:7). Latter-day revelation makes clear that the Fall is a blessing and that Adam and Eve should be honoured as the first parents of all mankind.

The Fall was a necessary step in man’s progress. Because God knew that the Fall would occur, He had planned in the premortal life for a Saviour. Jesus Christ came in the meridian of time to atone for the Fall of Adam and also for man’s individual sins on condition of man’s repentance."

In the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die, Gen. 2:17 (Moses 3:17).

She took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, Gen. 3:6 (Moses 4:12).

As in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive, 1 Cor. 15:22.

All mankind were in a lost and in a fallen state, 1 Ne. 10:6.

The way is prepared from the fall of man, 2 Ne. 2:4.

After Adam and Eve had partaken of the forbidden fruit, they were driven out of the Garden of Eden, 2 Ne. 2:19.

Adam fell that men might be, 2 Ne. 2:15–26.

The natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, Mosiah 3:19.

Aaron taught Lamoni’s father about the Fall, Alma 22:12–14.

There must be an atonement made or else all mankind are fallen and lost, Alma 34:9.

Our first parents were cut off both temporally and spiritually from the presence of the Lord, Alma 42:2–15 (Hel. 14:16).

Because of the Fall our natures have become evil, Ether 3:2.

By the transgression of these holy laws man became fallen man, D&C 20:20 (D&C 29:34–44).

As thou hast fallen thou mayest be redeemed, Moses 5:9–12.

By reason of transgression cometh the Fall, Moses 6:59.

Men will be punished for their own sins, A of F 1:2.

https://www.lds.org/general-conference/ ... l?lang=eng

"Adam and Eve knew God personally. They saw him and talked with him. They were taught the gospel of Jesus Christ even in that early time—which was long before the Lord’s earthly ministry, for Jesus had been appointed to be the Savior during our premortal existence.

The plan of salvation, therefore, was instituted among these first human beings, Adam and Eve and their children. Angels taught them. The family believed. They were baptized and began to serve God. (See Moses 5.)

The scriptures say that as Adam tilled the ground and cared for the cattle and the sheep, Eve “did labor with him” (Moses 5:1).

They were highly intelligent people, not at all like either the hominids or the cavemen some claim the first humans to have been. They were well educated, having been taught by the Lord himself. What an education! What an instructor!

Think of it, and remember that “the glory of God is intelligence, or in other words, light and truth” (D&C 93:36). These gifts were imparted to Adam and Eve and their family. No one else could teach them, because they were the first human beings. That task was left to the Lord and his angels.

Adam and Eve had many sons and daughters. Among them were Seth and Abel, faithful to the Lord in all their ways. And then there was Cain!

They taught their children to read and write, “having a language which was pure and undefiled,” given them by God (see Moses 6:6).

“And a book of remembrance was kept” among them, recorded in the language of Adam, and all who called upon God were allowed to write in this pure and undefiled tongue, by the spirit of inspiration (see Moses 6:5–6).

“And thus the Gospel began to be preached, from the beginning, being declared by holy angels sent forth from the presence of God, and by his own voice, and by the gift of the Holy Ghost” (Moses 5:58).

“And from that time forth, the sons and daughters of Adam began to divide two and two in the land, and to till the land, and to tend flocks, and they also begat sons and daughters” (Moses 5:3).

It was a glorious period—until Satan came among them. That evil person defied the teachings of God and said to the children of Adam, “Believe it not,” and from that time some of the family loved Satan more than God (see Moses 5:13). They apostatized from the truth.

These dissenters lost the Spirit of God and as a result became carnal, sensual, and devilish (see Moses 5:13). With these evil attributes always comes retrogression. We should not be surprised, therefore, to hear of cavemen living in the dawn of time.

One of these dissenters was Cain. He made a dreadful covenant with Lucifer and persuaded others to follow him. “Adam and his wife mourned before the Lord, because of Cain and his brethren” (Moses 5:27).

Cain hated righteous Abel and coveted his flocks. He was encouraged by Satan, who told him he could obtain Abel’s sheep if he would kill his brother and thus seize possession.

The first murder resulted. Rebuked by the Lord and cursed because of his tragic sin, Cain left Adam-ondi-Ahman and went to live in a place called Nod.

The Church of Jesus Christ was well established in the time of Adam (see Joseph Smith, Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, comp. Joseph Fielding Smith, Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1938, pp. 157, 169). Men like Seth and Enos grew to become the early patriarchs of the Church, and through them a long line of priesthood leaders was established.

Adam held the keys of the First Presidency and stood directly after the Savior in authority (see Teachings, p. 168). He received those keys in the Creation, according to the Prophet Joseph Smith, who added, “Christ is the Great High Priest; Adam next” (Teachings, pp. 157–58).

Who was Adam that he was privileged to begin the human race here on earth? Had he been some very special personage in the premortal world?

Indeed, Adam was very special and very important. Before coming into mortality, he was known as Michael. The Prophet Joseph Smith clearly identifies both Adam and Michael as one and the same person, an angel, the chief angel, or archangel, of heaven, the special servant of God and Christ.

When Michael came into mortality he was known as Adam, the first man, but he was still his own self. Although he was given another name, that of Adam, he did not change his identity.

After his mortal death he resumed his position as an angel in the heavens, once again serving as the chief angel, or archangel, and took again his former name of Michael.

In his capacity as archangel, Adam, or Michael, will yet perform a mighty mission in the coming years, both before and after the Millennium. This is startling, but the scriptures declare it.

One important assignment that awaits him is to be the angel to sound the trumpet heralding the resurrection of the dead. The scripture reads, “Behold, verily I say unto you, before the earth shall pass away, Michael, mine archangel, shall sound his trump, and then shall all the dead awake, for their graves shall be opened, and they shall come forth” (D&C 29:26).

What a marvelous calling for Adam, or Michael. But note that even in this assignment, which is yet future, he still will be an angel—the archangel, but an angel nevertheless.

Section 107 of the Doctrine and Covenants, dated March 28, 1835, identifies him as an angel as of that date—little more than a hundred years ago—and calls him “Michael, the prince, the archangel” (D&C 107:54).

During the Millennium the devil will be bound, but afterward will be freed for a short time, during which he will rally his evil forces to make one final assault upon God.

Who will lead the defending armies of the Lord? None other than Michael himself, whose position as archangel qualifies him to be the captain of the Lord’s host. Is he not the chief of the angels? Then should he not lead them into battle against Lucifer?

As the archangel he continues to serve the interests of the Lord with respect to this earth. His ultimate exaltation, of course, is fully assured, but it must await the completion of his work here.

Seven angels are to sound trumpets to announce a series of events to precede the second coming of the Savior. Michael will be the seventh of those angels.

Says the scripture:

“And Michael, the seventh angel, even the archangel”—and please note here how the Lord still identifies him strictly as an angel, for that is his status—and now I repeat this scripture:

“And Michael, the seventh angel, even the archangel, shall gather together his armies, even the hosts of heaven. … And then cometh the battle of the great God; and the devil and his armies shall be cast away into their own place.” (D&C 88:112, 114; emphasis added.)

Then can anyone honestly mistake the identity of Adam, or Michael? Even after the thousand years of the Millennium are over he will still retain his status as an angel—the archangel—and a resurrected man.

In the year 1842 the Prophet Joseph Smith spoke of Michael, or Adam, who visited him. Joseph identified him as an angel even then—the archangel—and said, “The voice of Michael, the archangel; … and of diverse [other] angels, from Michael or Adam down to the present time” (D&C 128:21). He thus listed Michael, or Adam, with the other angels.

So, in 1842 Michael, or Adam, was still an angel and will continue to be so through the final winding up scene of this earth.

Adam was not our God, nor was he our Savior. But he was the humble servant of both in his status as an angel.

Then what is his relationship to the Savior and to God our Father?

Jesus Christ is the divine Son of God, the first born to our Heavenly Father in the spirit and the Only Begotten in the flesh.

Jesus is the Holy One of Israel, not Adam, not anyone else. Although we are all spirit children of the Father, Jesus is the Only Begotten of the Father, in mortality, even from the beginning, not Adam, not anyone else (see Moses 5:9). This the Lord himself says.

In the day that the gospel was given to Adam, the Holy Ghost fell upon him, and the divine voice of Jesus Christ—the Jehovah of that time—said to him by the power of the Holy Ghost: “I am the Only Begotten of the Father from the Beginning” (Moses 5:9).

Then, can anyone claim that distinction for Adam, or for anyone else? Of course not! Jesus Christ is the Only Begotten of the Father, even from the very beginning.

Shall we not in full faith accept this doctrine, which is so clearly set forth in scripture?

Christ is the Lord! He alone is our Savior!

The Apostle Paul has an interesting passage in his epistle to the Hebrews. He spoke of the Savior and declared him to be in the express image of his Father’s person. Then he asked this question: “Unto which of the angels said he [God] at any time, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee?” (Heb. 1:5; emphasis added). And of course the answer is immediate and obvious—none of them—none of the angels, not even Adam, or Michael, the chief of the angels.

Jesus of Nazareth was the Only Begotten of the Father.

In this passage Paul was speaking only of Jesus the Christ. In the very next verse, as he continued to speak of Jesus, Paul called the lowly Nazarene the first begotten and declared, “Let all the angels … worship him,” and this they did—including Adam, who adores the Only Begotten of God, the Savior Jesus Christ, and is always subservient to him.

When the Apostle John wrote one of his most familiar passages he said, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16; emphasis added).

And who was thus given of the Father to be crucified? Who wrought out the atonement on Calvary? Jesus of Nazareth! He was the Only Begotten of God. He alone was the Sacrificial Lamb slain from the beginning of the world. Adam was the Savior’s progenitor only in the same sense in which he is the ancestor of us all.

God had only one begotten son in the flesh. But Adam had many, including Cain and Abel and Seth. He lived nearly a thousand years. He could have had hundreds of children in that time.

Then how could it be said by anyone that he had “an only begotten” son? How could all of his other children be accounted for? Were they not all begotten in the flesh?

Were Cain and Abel and Seth and their brothers and sisters all orphans? Was any child ever begotten without a father? Adam was their father, and he had many sons. In no way whatever does he qualify as a father who had only one son in the flesh.

Yet God our Eternal Father had only one son in the flesh, who was Jesus Christ.

Then was Adam our God, or did God become Adam? Ridiculous!

Adam was neither God nor the Only Begotten Son of God. He was a child of God in the spirit as we all are (see Acts 17:29). Jesus was the firstborn in the spirit, and the only one born to God in the flesh.

The Almighty himself repeatedly called Jesus both his firstborn and his Only Begotten.

Then who is Adam? He is Michael the archangel, appointed by God and Christ to be the mortal progenitor of the race. At this very moment, in the year 1980, he is still in his position as the archangel whose trumpet in the final days will herald the resurrection and who will be the captain of the Lord’s hosts in the final defeat of Lucifer.

He is the “Ancient of Days” spoken of by Daniel the prophet and as such will meet the faithful in that same valley of Adam-ondi-Ahman, which is named after him (see Dan. 7:9–22; D&C 116).

At the close of this dispensation he will there deliver up his stewardship to Christ, his Master and his Savior, the Lord Jehovah, who in turn will give his accounting to the Heavenly and Eternal Father of us all (see Teachings, pp. 122, 157, 167–68, 237).

If any of you have been confused by false teachers who come among us, if you have been assailed by advocates of erroneous doctrines, counsel with your priesthood leaders. They will not lead you astray, but will direct you into paths of truth and salvation.

I bear you my solemn testimony that this—The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints—is indeed the church and kingdom of God. Jesus is the Christ. Spencer W. Kimball is his prophet. We are the legal and divinely chosen custodians of the restored truth.
This I testify in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen." Mark E. Petersen.

The complexity of the universe, nature, seeds, codes innately born, complexity and performance of mortal bodies, intelligence ... all proof that there is deity.

See works by Dr. William Lane Craig.

Also my favourite : Jesus The Christ by James E. Talmage
Salt Lake City, Utah. September, 1915

https://www.lds.org/manual/jesus-the-christ?lang=eng

Elizabeth wrote: ↑June 21st, 2018, 1:41 am
This comment was made to me on another internet forum. How would you answer

"I find it hard to believe Adam and Eve, who named them Adam and Eve, when they had children then we are all related and committed incest of some sort.

What colour was Adam and Eve and why are not every person's the same colour, a uni colour.

How did all the different races happen and why the different colours if these two were created from the same creator."

https://www.mormon.org/beliefs/adam-and-eve

"God’s plan of happiness for us is centred on Jesus Christ and His Atonement. This selfless act balances the scales of justice, allowing each of us to repent of our sins and be redeemed. Adam and Eve too had important roles in this divine plan. Their choices in the Garden of Eden (which led to the Fall) enabled us to receive physical bodies and continued the agency that is so crucial to our eternal progression.

In the Garden of Eden, God told Adam and Eve to have children and to know joy, but He also commanded them not to eat the fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Without transgressing the latter commandment, they could never have followed God’s first two commandments. Joseph Fielding Smith, former President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, explains that “Adam’s ‘transgression’ . . . was an essential act which opened the doors for the millions of spirits to come to this earth and receive bodies of flesh and bones preparatory to their eternal salvation and exaltation” (in Conference Report, Oct. 1966, 59). Their complicated choice was a vital part of God’s plan for us. As noted by Church scholar Robert J. Matthews: “Mortality was an essential step in the progress of the human family. . . . God does for human beings only what they cannot do for themselves. Man must do all he can for himself. The doctrine is that we are saved by grace, ‘after all we can do’ (2 Nephi 25:23)” (A Bible! A Bible! [1990], 186).

As with all choices we make, Adam and Eve’s choice to partake of the fruit had consequences. God Himself warned, “But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shall not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die” (Genesis 2:17). When God saw that Adam and Eve had eaten the fruit, they were cast out of the garden and became mortal beings, which means they would be subject to mortal death—but also that they would be able to populate the earth. As it says in Genesis, “Thou [Eve] shalt bring forth children. . . . And Adam called his wife’s name Eve; because she was the mother of all living” (Genesis 3:16, 20). God’s spirit children would now be able to have physical bodies.

Adam was the first of God’s children to come to earth. But even before he came to earth, he was involved in God’s plan of salvation. From the scriptures we learn that Adam’s premortal name was Michael; he is the same Michael who led the hosts of heaven in a war against Satan and his followers before they were cast out (see Revelation 12), never to come to earth to receive bodies and never to receive salvation. This battle took place after the Council in Heaven where God gathered all of His spirit children together to teach them about His plan of redemption.

While we typically consider opposition to be a negative thing, understanding it through the context of Adam and Eve’s experience helps us to better appreciate the opportunity each of us has to make decisions—if we didn’t have opposition, there would be no choices to be made, and so there would be no purpose in having agency. Without being able to make choices, we couldn’t learn and grow.

When considered out of context, Adam’s transgression could certainly be considered negative, as could the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ. However, these events were essential pieces of God’s plan for our happiness in this life and our salvation in the next. Adam and Eve’s choice resulted in them providing physical bodies for God’s spirit children; Jesus Christ’s choice in Gethsemane and at Calvary led to His Atonement and Resurrection, the two most significant events in the history of the world.

Together these heroic acts meant we could come to earth, obtain a physical body, and exercise agency. As we exercise our agency, we make important choices and experience life-defining consequences that can give us wisdom and teach us about faith, sin, repentance, and forgiveness. We experience joy and sorrow, and we discover that, despite our natural tendency to sin, the Atonement provides a way for us to draw closer to our Heavenly Father and become who we yearn to be.

This is the beautiful plan created by God, executed by Jesus Christ, and embraced by Adam and Eve, each of whom had a part in bringing about the remarkable opportunities we now enjoy on earth as God’s children.

Crucial to God’s plan were agency and opposition—these two things provided the way for us to prove ourselves and progress in our journey to return to live with our Father in Heaven. Jesus supported God’s plan, offering Himself as the one who would be sacrificed as part of that plan to pay for our sins. Satan opposed the plan and tried to suppress the agency of humankind, encouraging our Father’s children to follow him instead. Adam’s role as the archangel Michael helped ensure that God’s plan for us would be fulfilled.

The choice that Adam and Eve had to make in the Garden of Eden teaches us about opposition. In the Book of Mormon we read:

“For it must needs be, that there is an opposition in all things. If not so, . . . righteousness could not be brought to pass, neither wickedness, neither holiness nor misery, neither good nor bad. . . .

“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” (2 Nephi 2:11, 15).

“Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy. . . .

“And because that they are redeemed from the fall they have become free forever, knowing good from evil; to act for themselves. . . .

“They are free to choose liberty and eternal life, through the great Mediator of all men, or to choose captivity and death” (2 Nephi 2:25–27).

These passages help explain the noble roles of Adam and Eve, as well as to clarify the role opposition played in their lives and in our own. Adam and Eve were created in God’s image, as are we. Like them—and because of them—we have the chance to obtain physical bodies and progress on earth. We are all part of their family, and we will all have the opportunity one day to live together again with our Heavenly Father."

Elizabeth wrote: ↑June 21st, 2018, 1:41 am This comment was made to me on another internet forum. How would you answer


"I find it hard to believe Adam and Eve, who named them Adam and Eve, when they had children then we are all related and committed incest of some sort.

What colour was Adam and Eve and why are not every person's the same colour, a uni colour.

How did all the different races happen and why the different colours if these two were created from the same creator."

Was this person LDS? If they were, this is a reflection of “us” as poor teachers. We could do a better job administering the gospel to people. “We know not what we worship”.

No, the question was not from an LDS Forum.

TrueIntent wrote: ↑June 25th, 2018, 4:53 pm

Elizabeth wrote: ↑June 21st, 2018, 1:41 am This comment was made to me on another internet forum. How would you answer

"I find it hard to believe Adam and Eve, who named them Adam and Eve, when they had children then we are all related and committed incest of some sort.

What colour was Adam and Eve and why are not every person's the same colour, a uni colour.

How did all the different races happen and why the different colours if these two were created from the same creator."

Was this person LDS? If they were, this is a reflection of “us” as poor teachers. We could do a better job administering the gospel to people. “We know not what we worship”.

Elizabeth wrote: ↑June 21st, 2018, 1:41 am This comment was made to me on another internet forum. How would you answer


"I find it hard to believe Adam and Eve, who named them Adam and Eve, when they had children then we are all related and committed incest of some sort.

What colour was Adam and Eve and why are not every person's the same colour, a uni colour.

How did all the different races happen and why the different colours if these two were created from the same creator."

Its ridiculous to say we are all committing incest of sort, a genetics/DNA study would help see this.

Into Eve was a documentary about tracing the X DNA back.

And then we have Cain with his curse.

Location and time affects skin color. Otherwise we wouldn't see lighter skin the more north you go. They need to have light skin to maximize VitD in shorter summers/long winters

Is he sincere or just giving you a hard time. The incest line makes me think you have a 50/50 he's not just being a bugger.