Hi Sweetie!!!!

I found a few of Joseph F. Smith’s beliefs in the Doctrines of Salvation that I think you’ll enjoy reading:

“While it is true that all things were created spiritually, or as spirits, before they were naturally upon the face of the earth, this creation, we are informed, was in heaven. This applies to animals of all descriptions and also to plant life, before there was flesh upon the earth, or in the water, or in the air.

“There is no account of the creation of man or other forms of life when they were created as spirits. There is just the simple statement that they were so created before the physical creation. The statements in Moses 3:5 and Genesis 2:5 are interpolations thrown into the account of the physical creation, explaining that all things were first created in the spirit existence in heaven before they were placed upon this earth.

“Now what is a spiritual body? It is one that is quickened by spirit and not by blood. Our Father in heaven and our Savior and all those who have passed through the resurrection have physical bodies of flesh and bones, but their bodies are quickened by spirit and not by blood, hence they are spiritual bodies and not blood bodies. The immortal body is quickened by spirit, but the mortal body is quickened by blood.

“Now when Adam was in the Garden of Eden, he was not subject to death. There was no blood in his body and he could have remained there forever. This is true of all the other creations.

“Since Adam was the first man on the earth, that does away with the false notion that there were pre-Adamites

And finally, with respect to the earth: “The earth itself must die and receive its resurrection.” DoS V1. Pp 75-82.

JFS’s comment about Adam not having blood is interesting. It does make sense if you’re a scriptural literalist, which would imply that the forbidden fruit physically changed the nature of Adam and Eve’s bodies.

Having a spiritual creation of all living things also makes some sense. We had a spiritual creation, of course, living in the Pre-Existence as spirits, and if animals, plants, the earth, etc., will all die and be resurrected, I suppose their following the same spiritual and physical creation cycle as man seems reasonable.

I LOVE YOU!!!! I hope you have a wonderful week and are filled with the Holy Ghost always.

Dad

© Roger Malmrose 2020