Adam-God Doctrine

Janis Hutchinson has a good series on the LDS perspective on God and the Trinity.  Part three includes this short discussion on the Adam-God doctrine which Brigham Young claimed was revealed to him by God.  Her site is also a good one for overall studies of the LDS.

The Adam-God doctrine

Before we move on to the Mormon perspective of God and the Trinity, I need to say that none of the beliefs concerning the Mormon godhead that I will be quoting have, to my knowledge, been "officially" repudiated by the First Presidency except one—the Adam-God doctrine: 

A nutshell description: Brigham Young taught that Adam was God (a resurrected man from a previous world who earned his Godhood). Adam, along with his plural wives was the literal father of our spirits, after which he condescended to come to earth bringing Eve, one of his wives, with him so he could also start off the human race physically. He then returned to heaven where he serves as the God of this world. Later, he returned to earth to literally sire Jesus. (For more information, go to www.utlm.org. click on “Topical Index,” then “Adam-God Doctrine.)

The Adam-God "theory," as it is generally referred to, was dismissed in 1892 through a letter to the Honorable A. Saxey, Provo Utah, by Pres. Joseph F. Smith who stated the reason as being: "The Doctrine was never submitted to the Councils of the Priesthood nor to the Church for approval or ratification and was never formally or otherwise accepted by the Church. It is therefore in no sense binding upon the Church."

After the turn of the century the church openly took the position that it no longer needed to be taught. Then, in 1976, Pres. Spencer W. Kimball said, "We denounce [the] theory and hope that everyone will be cautioned against this and other kinds of false doctrine." But, in a private interview, Kimball is reported to have said that he did not say the doctrine that Brigham Young taught was false, but that the interpretation and understanding of the doctrine often used by Fundamentalists and apostates does not reflect what Brigham Young really meant. (Cited at Wikipedia)

In 1981, Bruce R. McConkie reprimanded a BYU professor for teaching it, stating it to be "false doctrine," and stated that anyone believing it will be "damned." He failed to mention that if that's so, then Brigham Young who taught it must of necessity also be damned. (See Bruce McConkie's "Letter of Rebuke to Professor Eugene England" at http://tinyurl.com/cw8bbnl)