askandanswer

I like to think that I'm too well-mannered to laugh at the views and opinions of others, but sometimes the temptation arises. To think that God would allow His prophet to teach false doctrine about His character and nature for 25 years, especially after he and His Son appeared in person to Joseph Smith - well that's an example of when I'm tempted. To quote again from a previously quoted from talk: Fourth: The prophet will never lead the Church astray. President Wilford Woodruff stated: “I say to Israel, The Lord will never permit me or any other man who stands as president of the Church to lead you astray. It is not in the program. It is not in the mind of God.” (The Discourses of Wilford Woodruff, selected by G. Homer Durham [Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1946], pp. 212-213.) If Brigham Young did indeed teach the Adam-God theory - and I have never looked into the matter myself, and nor do I intend to because it is so unimportant - and God allowed him to continue teaching this, I would be inclined to accept that there must be some truth to it. However, I say this from the position of one who has never looked at the idea or its associated teachings.

From the ABC, Australia' government funded national broadcaster a few days ago: https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2024-04-13/how-fast-can-a-womat-actually-run-faster-than-usain-bolt/103648118 How fast does a wombat really run? An investigation into the 40 kph phenomenon

I came to the same conclusion as @Vort and @NeuroTypical. And that led me to ponder how it can be said that as part of the atonement, Christ endured all and more that any mortal can, will, or has ever been called on to endure because all unbaptised mortals, and probably, occasionally, some baptised mortals, live without the influence or presence of any member of the Godhead in their lives. I’ve no doubt that Christ did descend below all, but I can’t see how He might have gone through the experience that is the ordinary condition of most mortals in not having a member of the Godhead present in their lives. My lack of understanding of this experience in no way reduces the reality of it, it just raises, what is for the moment, a question to think about.

I think we can agree on two things; 1) that the Adam-God theory was once taught in the church and 2) now it is not being taught in the church. I'm not sure, from those two facts, whether we can reliably come to the conclusion that it was a) taken away from the church and b) the reason for that presumed taking away was because of the wickedness of the church.

Was there ever a time in the life of Christ when at least one member of the Godhead was not present?

Clearly there still exists enough light and truth about this doctrine for you to have studied it extensively. That makes it hard for me to see how this knowledge has been taken away.

1. Because methods of publication and distribution were not as fast or as widespread as they are now. Compare with how long it took to publish and disseminate the Book of Mormon to England and Canada with how long it takes to do the same with a publication today. 2. Because there were fewer organisations and individuals that were inclined to make the kinds of attacks we are now seeing. Levels of hate, and the organisations of the haters seem to be higher and better organised now than previously. 3. Those who were inclined to make such attacks were focussed on bigger targets rather than a new and obscure group that only had a significant presence in a few US states. I've noticed some changes in the world since I've been in it, and no doubt there were some changes between 1830 and my arrival. Changed circumstances sometimes require a response and sometimes that response involves doing things differently.

To publish the revelations in a publicly available book is to make them available to the world and we know who is the god of this world. I can see some advantages in not signaling your moves to the opposition. I'm not saying this is the reason why the revelations are no longer made publicly available in the way that they used to be, but this possibility does have some plausibility

Perhaps it might be more correct to say that his head was re-placed - from his shoulders to the ground.

This is something that interests me as well. I've always wondered what it would be like to make an error. Sometimes I think about deliberately making an error just to see what it would feel like, but when I actually try to, I just don't know how to do it. (Well, not always )

Yes, this is true. But this doesn't explain why there hasn't been a single revelation quoting the words of God directly that has been added to our scriptures since 1847. The question is why this is? Because it is not necessary.

Perhaps you missed my earlier post on the previous page where I responded to this question. Here is the essence of that post. From a talk that I know some people here highly appreciate https://speeches.byu.edu/talks/ezra-taft-benson/fourteen-fundamentals-following-prophet/ Sixth: The prophet does not have to say “Thus saith the Lord” to give us scripture. Sometimes there are those who haggle over words. They might say the prophet gave us counsel but that we are not obligated to follow it unless he says it is a commandment. But the Lord says of the Prophet Joseph, “Thou shalt give heed unto all his words and commandments which he shall give unto you” (D&C 21:4; italics added). I note that this talk was also quoted in the October 2010 session of General Conference. I did a quick search of the scriptures searching for the phrase "Thus saith the Lord" using the search function on the church website. I acknowledge that is not always a reliable search function. The search returned a lot of results for the Old Testament, the Book of Mormon and the Doctrine and Covenants, one result for the Pearl of Great Price, and no results for the New Testament, when the Lord actually said quite a few things. We should not discount what Christ said in the New Testament simply because it is not preceded by "Thus saith the Lord." Despite the absence of the use of the phrase "Thus saith the Lord" I would value the inspired messages of the Lord contained in our General Conference reports more highly than all the scriptures that say "Thus saith the Lord." I'm often puzzled why people think that the word of the Lord given to people in cultures far distant from our own in time and distance is of equal or greater value than the word of the Lord given to prophets living here and now. The past is a foreign country. Addressing your point about no visions since 1918, if Proverbs 29:18 is true, that where there is no vision, the people perish, it is probable that the reverse is also true - where there is vision the people perish not. With its continuing rate of growth, the church and its members, are flourishing more than perishing, so I guess we can assume that there is vision. Who has it, and where its recorded, is not always clear, but I think its as clear as it needs to be for the Lord's purposes. In addition, I suspect that to be a special witness of Christ, as are, and have been, all of the apostles, you probably need to have witnessed something. I would be happy to consider whatever they have witnessed to be a vision, or something equivalent.

I have some uncertainties about the idea that there is a connection between the availability of the word of God and the wickedness/righteousness of the inhabitants of the world. If people are being bad then perhaps they need more of the word of God to help them become better. If people are being good, then they should be brought to a higher level through the receipt and application of more of the Word. I also have some uncertainties about the idea that there has been a reduction in the quality and quantity of the word of God being received today because the people are wicked and undeserving / unheeding. I reject the notion that the word of God today is being held back because of the wickedness of the people. Never in the history of humanity, not even when Christ was on the Earth has there been such an abundance of the word of God as there is today. More of His word can be found in more places than ever before, and more comes almost every day. I don’t know if we can make any reliable conclusions about the wickedness and righteousness of the people today compared to other times but the multiplicity of temples around suggests that the balance today tips more towards being more righteous.

A latter-day Prophet describing how he received revelation https://www.thechurchnews.com/1998/8/1/23250349/inspiration-came-for-smaller-temples-on-trip-to-mexico/

From a talk that I know some people here highly appreciate https://speeches.byu.edu/talks/ezra-taft-benson/fourteen-fundamentals-following-prophet/ Sixth: The prophet does not have to say “Thus saith the Lord” to give us scripture. Sometimes there are those who haggle over words. They might say the prophet gave us counsel but that we are not obligated to follow it unless he says it is a commandment. But the Lord says of the Prophet Joseph, “Thou shalt give heed unto all his words and commandments which he shall give unto you” (D&C 21:4; italics added). And speaking of taking counsel from the prophet, in D&C 108:1, the Lord states: “Verily thus saith the Lord unto you, my servant Lyman: Your sins are forgiven you, because you have obeyed my voice in coming up hither this morning to receive counsel of him whom I have appointed” (italics added). Said Brigham Young, “I have never yet preached a sermon and sent it out to the children of men, that they may not call scripture” (Journal of Discourses, 26 vols. [London: Latter-day Saints’ Book Depot], 13:95).