As I mentioned earlier, Brigham Young was the proponent of the so-called Adam-God doctrine, which stated that Adam was God and God was Adam, our one true Father, and “the only God with whom we have to do.” [1]
I was not aware of this doctrine for most of my life.
This doctrine, and the fact that it was taught widely amongst church officials and members, even in circles as intimate as the endowment ceremony, have been scrubbed from the history of the church as neatly as if it were chalk on a sidewalk. But it was not chalk on a sidewalk. It was “revelation” then, and “revelation” then must be “revelation” now, or the revelator is not a revelator but a fraud.
But who is the fraud? Is it Brigham Young? Or are the frauds the ones who tried to scrub his teachings from history?
Apostle Bruce R. McConkie was one of these men. In a speech to teachers of the Church, Bruce discussed the provenance of the Adam God theory. He did not assign it to Brigham Young. In fact, he expressed no knowledge of the provenance:
“Here is a list of false doctrines that if someone teaches he will be damned. And there is not one of these that I have ever known to be taught in the Church, but I am giving you the list for a perspective because of what will follow. Teach that God is a spirit, the sectarian trinity. Teach that salvation comes by grace alone, without works. Teach original guilt, or birth sin, as they express it. Teach infant baptism. Teach predestination. Teach that revelation and gifts and miracles have ceased. Teach the Adam-God theory.” [2]
Could it be that Elder McConkie simply didn’t know that Brigham Young was the creator of the doctrine, and, in denouncing it, could it be that he unknowingly denounced a former church President, even condemning him to damnation?
No.
He gave his speech in September of 1981. Just seven months prior, he wrote this in a letter to BYU professor Eugene England:
“Yes, President Young did teach that Adam was the father of our spirits, and all the related things that the cultists ascribe to him. This, however, is not true. He expressed views that are out of harmony with the gospel . . .
I think you can give me credit for having a knowledge of the quotations from Brigham Young relative to Adam, and of knowing what he taught under the subject that has become known as the Adam God Theory.” [3]
The prophet knew. The prophet lied.
[1] Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, vol. 26, 1854
[2]Bruce R. McConkie, “The Foolishness of Teaching,” in The Voice of My Servants: Apostolic Messages on Teaching, Learning, and Scripture, ed. Scott C. Esplin and Richard Neitzel Holzapfel (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University; Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2010), 69–96.
Elder Bruce R. McConkie (1915–85) was a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles when this article was published. Address to religious educators on September 18, 1981, published in Religious Educator 6, no. 1 (2005): 1–21
[3] Bruce R. McConkie, Letter to Eugene England, Feb. 19, 1981
