The Creation

[chase]

I literally had this thought yesterday and have not been able to look into it at all, so perhaps if this prompts some thought you all could post scriptures it might bring to mind to either support or defeat the idea.

What if "the Creation" of Adam occurred in much the same way as the flood of Noah? Maybe not by water, but in a way in which Adam was the only man left. Because Noah represents creation anew. Nephi represents creation anew (on a different continent). BOJ represents creation anew (just like Nephi). Atra-hasis, Ut-Napishtim, Pharaoh, etc. On and on and on. All of these are characters who represent the renewal of creation. What if Adam was just another Noah and there were actually some sort of people before him. I know that if we take the creation narrative in a literal or quasi-literal sense that this is not possible. I may be way off and completely wrong. Just a thought I had yesterday though. What if Adam was only the "first man" in the same sense that Noah was the "first man"?

[Rick Grimes]

Adam was the first man. The geneology set forth in the scriptures ends at Adam. If, as your hypothesis would indicate, that Noah was also a "first man" and Adam was also a "first Man"; why is there a distinction in Noah having a father and Adam only having Heavenly Father? There are also numerous scripture that teach that Adam, indeed, is the father of all. His rightousness and pre-eminence over all as the father of us all, is only surpassed by Christ, Himself. Noah, as the "2nd father of us all" stands next in authority to Adam.

There simply is no evidence that this is the case. It is a thoughtful hypothesis, though.

[jwharton]

I literally had this thought yesterday and have not been able to look into it at all, so perhaps if this prompts some thought you all could post scriptures it might bring to mind to either support or defeat the idea.

What if "the Creation" of Adam occurred in much the same way as the flood of Noah? Maybe not by water, but in a way in which Adam was the only man left. Because Noah represents creation anew. Nephi represents creation anew (on a different continent). BOJ represents creation anew (just like Nephi). Atra-hasis, Ut-Napishtim, Pharaoh, etc. On and on and on. All of these are characters who represent the renewal of creation. What if Adam was just another Noah and there were actually some sort of people before him. I know that if we take the creation narrative in a literal or quasi-literal sense that this is not possible. I may be way off and completely wrong. Just a thought I had yesterday though. What if Adam was only the "first man" in the same sense that Noah was the "first man"?

The way I have been exploring looking at it of late has some similarities to your idea, but some key differences as well.

First of all, I view Adam as a flesh and bone being rather than as a flesh and blood individual like you or myself.

Look at Adam as representing a grouping of individuals unified by covenant such that they all function according to a level of enlightenment not shared by any other individuals. In this manner you can see Adam as a distinct society rather than as a single individual person.

So, what Adam represents is the concept of individuals grouping together and forming a compact to function in accordance with certain laws and commandments. The advent of Adam represents a level of spiritual enlightenment to establish a better way of functioning for society. Those who have this "spirit" or "intelligence" can be said to be alive compared to all others. Adam is the first "man" to receive the "breath of life" and become a "living" soul. There is indeed the first individual person who has this enlightenment and so you could view that individual as an Adam but the full truth as I see it is it is all those individuals who join in together by covenant and work mutually to implement its aims.

In this manner you are free to see how an advent of a new Adam could happen right here in our own recent history. For example, if you were to survey the world prior to 1800 you would see certain levels of spiritual enlightenment but you wouldn't see the fullness of the Gospel anywhere. If you defined "life" as those who were spiritually enlightened to the stature of the fullness of the Gospel, your conclusion would be that as of yet there was no "living" soul upon the earth. However, not many years later, the heavens open and a young boy by the name of Joseph Smith Jr. comes to be. Due to his great faith and yearning to know far more than is available by his surrounding contemporaries, he is enabled to penetrate the veil and have the knowledge of the fullness of the Gospel given to him. He then makes this level of knowledge and understanding available to others who it resonates with and they begin to work together to build up a covenant body of priesthood brethren to endeavor to raise mankind to this new level of "life". All those who come to this understanding are able to pass from death to life in this process. So, literally, you can look at the restoration of the priesthood and its keys being made available to a body of men by covenant to be an advent of a new Adam. And, in conjunction with that, you can look at the restoration of the church into a distinct body by covenant as an advent of a new Eve. Are we not told to collectively consider ourselves as Adam and Eve? Is not the process of becoming a member of the church simultaneously the juncture in time when we covenant to take upon ourselves the Holy Ghost? The mother of our spirit at the time of our spiritual birth is the church itself.

So, if you look at Adam as a priesthood body and if you look at Eve as a church body, then I believe you can start to unlock everything else that is hidden underneath the creation narrative.

It happened about 6,000 years ago and it is happening again as we lay the foundation for the creation that shall follow the current creation we are in the latter days of. Each creation is pattered after the same blueprint. And, what I postulate is that the 7,000 year duration of the "earth" or "world" is not something that pertains to our planet. Rather, it simply pertains to Adam's family. The planets are merely a symbol and what they represent are soul groupings with Adam's Eternal Family being the whole enchilada, so to speak.

Looking at it this way actually makes a good number of things become vastly simplified. We don't actually need to be carted off to another planet in order to become an Adam. And, for that matter, we don't become an Adam in an entirely complete sense either. Priesthood brethren become a member of Adam's body of flesh and bone and church members become a member of Eve's body of flesh and bone. (See Ephesians 5:30 for Paul giving a pretty clear definition of a flesh and bone body.)

So, for example, when you look at a lifespan of 900+ years, that makes pretty good sense when you look at that as the lifespan of a society.

So, when Adam says Eve is "bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh", it makes sense when you think that a person can be a member of both a Priesthood body and a Church body at the same time. Adam was simply saying that most if not all of the members of His body are also simultaneously members of Her body.

Anyway, perhaps that will enable you to explore some different ways of looking at Adam and Eve that you may find interesting.