Adam and Eve

Were Adam and Eve created in the image of God?

Joseph Smith taught humans are uncreated, co-eternal spirit intelligences with God, but he does not indicate which God. 

Only the bodies of Adam and Eve were created in the image of God because it is believed they always existed as eternal intelligences. "Man was also in the beginning with God. Intelligence, or the light of truth, was not created or made, neither indeed can be. For man is spirit. The elements are eternal, and spirit and element, inseparably connected, receive a fulness of joy" (Doctrine and Covenants 93:29,33).  Spirits always existed - God never had the power to create them at all (Teachings of Presidents of the Church - Joseph Smith, chapter 17, page 210, online, exhibit e).

"Howbeit that he made the greater star; as, also, if there be two spirits, and one shall be more intelligent than the other, yet these two spirits, notwithstanding one is more intelligent than the other, have no beginning; they existed before, they shall have no end, they shall exist after, for they are gnolaum, or eternal" (Abraham 3:18).

Did Adam and Eve have spiritual bodies or physical bodies before the Fall?  This is a little bit confusing so I'll have to draw some teachings from several sources.

Gospel Principles says, "When Adam and Eve were placed in the Garden of Eden, they were not yet mortal. In this state, they would have had no children (2 Nephi 2:23). There was no death. They had physical life because their spirits were housed in physical bodies made from the dust of the earth (see Moses 6:59; Abraham 5:7). They had spiritual life because they were in the presence of God. They had not yet made a choice between good and evil" (, chapter 6, p. 28)

But page 29 says, "Because of the Fall, we are blessed with physical bodies, the right to choose between good and evil, and the opportunity to gain eternal life. None of these privileges would have been ours had Adam and Eve remained in the garden."

Since there was no death, how did they already have physical bodies (page 28) when the Fall is said to have brought death and the blessing of a physical body (page 29)?

And several references in Religion 430-431 - Doctrines of the Gospel Student Manual say that they (with the plants and animals) did not have physical bodies before the Fall. Chapter 8, page 19 says, "Before the Fall the earth and all things 
upon it existed in a spiritual state (see 2 Nephi 2:22; Moses 3:5–7)."  Point A1.

"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” (Joseph Fielding Smith, Doctrines of Salvation, 1:76–77)." (chapter 8, pages 19-20)

Which part of Gospel Principles is correct in light of the other manual's teachings?

This also seems to teach that Adam and Eve's disobedience brought mortality and physical bodies to all other creations too. Is that true?

Page 24 (in both the 1997 and 2008 versions of Gospel Principles) indicates the animals already had reproductive powers before Adam 
and Eve were created.

"Then He created the animals—fish, cattle, insects, and birds of all kinds. These animals had the ability to reproduce their own kind."

But how could the animals in a spiritual state (without physical bodies) have the ability to procreate?

Now let's turn to something in a canonized scripture.  According to the Pearl of Great Price, Adam and Eve did not have a body of flesh and bones originally when they were created in the Garden of Eden. “And man became a living soul, the first flesh upon the earth, the first man also” (Moses 3:7). It would appear from this that the animals did not have physical bodies before the fall of Adam and Eve?

How was Eve formed?

Several places in the Book of Mormon and the Bible indicate that Eve was formed from the literal rib of Adam. But chapter 7 (page 18) of the Religion 430-431 - Doctrines of the Gospel Student Manual says of the creation of Eve, "the story of the rib, of course, is figurative" (exhibit f). This is also repeated
in another church manual. "Former President Kimball taught that Eve was not literally created from Adam's rib. He said, "the story of the rib, of course, is figurative" ("The Blessings and the Responsibilities of Womanhood", Ensign, March 1976, p. 71) (Religion 327 - The Pearl of Great Price Student Manual, p.11)

This is contradicted in an October 1987 General Conference teaching.

"From the rib of Adam, Eve was formed (see Gen. 2:22; Moses 3:22; Abr. 5:16). Interesting to me is the fact that animals fashioned by our Creator, such as dogs and cats, have thirteen pairs of ribs, but the human being has one less with only twelve. I presume another bone could have been used, but the rib, coming as it does from the side, seems to denote partnership. The rib signifies neither dominion nor subservience, but a lateral relationship as partners, to work and to live, side by side."


In Mormon theology, Adam and Eve could not have children before the Fall

2 Nephi (2:25) - "Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy".

Moses (5:11) - "And Eve, his wife, heard all these things and was glad, saying: Were it not for our transgression we never should have had seed, and never should have known good and evil, and the joy of our redemption, and the eternal life which God giveth unto all the obedient".

"When Adam and Eve were placed in the Garden of Eden, they were not yet mortal. They were not able to have children" (Gospel Principles, page 32, exhibit g).

"Because Adam and Eve had eaten the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil ... they were able to have children" (Gospel Principles, page 33, exhibit h).

"The lives of Adam and Eve changed after they ate the fruit our Father in Heaven had told them not to eat ... Their bodies changed. Now they could have children" (Gospel Fundamentals, page 23).

In Mormon theology, Adam and Eve were created without blood in their veins

This is from http://scriptures.lds.org/bdf/fllfdm :

“The process by which mankind became mortal on this earth. The event is recorded in Gen. 2, 3, 4; and Moses 3, 4. The fall of Adam is one of the most important occurrences in the history of man. Before the fall, Adam and Eve had physical bodies but no blood. There was no sin, no death, and no children among any of the earthly creations. With the eating of the “forbidden fruit,” Adam and Eve became mortal, sin entered, blood formed in their bodies, and death became a part of life”.

This church web page contradicts an earlier teaching in Gospel Principles - that teaches Adam and Eve did not have a physical body before the Fall. A physical body was a blessing for their disobedience.

Let's look at other teachings on this transformation.

Gospel Principles Chapter 5 page 28 states, "Our spirits would be given bodies of flesh and blood so they could live on earth".  But weren't Adam and Eve living in the Garden of Eden when the Mormons believe they had no blood in their veins?

Moses (6:59) - Adam and Eve were "born into the world by water, and blood, and the spirit, which I have made, and so of dust a living soul".

Mosiah (7:26-27) - "And a prophet of the Lord have they slain ... prophesied of many things ... And because he said unto them that Christ was the God, the Father of all things, and said that he should take upon him the image of a man, and it should be the image after which man was created in the beginning; or in other words, he said that man was created after the image of God, and that God should come down among the children of men, and take upon him flesh and blood, and go forth upon the face of the earth".

The passage states that Jesus took upon him the image of a man and that he also took upon him flesh and blood.  This is the same image after which man was created in the beginning, according to the Book of Mormon prophet Mosiah.

Did Adam and Eve feel joy in the Garden of Eden before the Fall?

2 Nephi 2:22-23 says Adam and Eve had no joy while in the Garden.  "And now, behold, if Adam had not transgressed he would not have fallen, but he would have remained in the garden of Eden. And all things which were created must have remained in the same state in which they were after they were created; and they must have remained forever, and had no end. And they would have had no children; wherefore they would have remained in a state of innocence, having no joy, for they knew no misery; doing no good, for they knew no sin."

Having no joy and knowing no misery classifies Adam and Eve as dead according to 2 Nephi 2:11 ("For it must needs be, that there is an opposition in all things. If not so, my first-born in the wilderness, righteousness could not be brought to pass, neither wickedness, neither holiness nor misery, neither good nor bad. Wherefore, all things must needs be a compound in one; wherefore, if it should be one body it must needs remain as dead, having no life neither death, nor corruption nor incorruption, happiness nor misery, neither sense nor insensibility"). 

But the Bible teaches Adam and Eve experienced pleasure (joy) before the Fall:  Genesis 2:9 - "And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil."   The sight of the trees brought pleasure (i.e. joy) to Adam and Eve. 

Genesis 3:6 - "And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat."   Even the sight of the forbidden fruit brought pleasure to Eve's eyes.  Pleasure is a measure of joy.

The teaching that Adam and Eve had joy (happiness) before the Fall is even taught in an official LDS magazine for young children.

"Adam and Eve were happy in their beautiful home in the Garden of Eden, for they had been given everything 
they could want for food and for pleasure. They knew nothing of evil, for their world was all good.

Often in the cool of early evening the Lord would walk and talk with them, and their happiness was complete. 
He told them that everything had been made for them to enjoy except one tree—the tree of knowledge of good 
and evil—and that they should neither touch nor eat the fruit of that tree, for if they did, they would be 
punished. Adam promised that they would not disobey this commandment."

Source: Friends magazine, February 1973, Our First Parents, click here.

Did Adam and Eve come from another planet?

The second prophet of the Mormon Church also taught that Adam and Eve (one of his polygamous wives) came from another planet.  See this article.