Was Adam a Cave Man? NO!

Questions Answered: Were there “pre-Adamites” or pre-human beings prior to Adam being placed upon the earth? Were animals also “placed” upon the earth? Was Adam a cave-man? Are the world’s teachings about how language and civilization progressed accurate?

Commentary

By JosephSmithFoundation.org

Cave men form an integral part of our culture. Schools use them for mascots, classes in universities are devoted to them, but is there any truth in the foundations of these stories? Joseph Fielding Smith, after rehearsing what the world believes about prehistoric man, commented:

This is a very pretty story with just one defect—it is not true! ¹

Did man begin as a savage, seeking shelter in caves and fashioning tusks or stone for weapons? Did he begin by speaking in grunts and finally develop language? Did he develop from the Stone Age, through the age of metals, and so on until today? What has the Lord revealed regarding the origin of civilizations. Joseph Fielding Smith taught that the scriptures give an entirely different account:

The first man was instructed by the best Teacher man ever had, for he was taught of God, and spoke the language of the Most High, in which angels conversed. This language he taught to his children. ²

President Brigham Young added that Adam being the first man and receiving no instruction from previous ages, as there were none, needed the Lord to reveal to him how to build fires, farm and all else needed to sustain life.

. . . the Lord had to reveal to our first parents the modus operandi of the manufacture of an apron of fig leaves. And when they wanted a little copper made up, after having found the ore, the Lord had to come along and show them how to do it; and how to manufacture the iron. How simple this is! It is beneath the notice of the intelligence and science that are in the world now; the scientific men of the present time say those were the days of ignorance. ³

Far from being an ignorant savage the first man, Adam, was actually far more intelligent than the most learned today. Because he was taught directly by the Lord he was able to advance to a status of civility unknown to us. The Pearl of Great Price speaks of the advanced status and language which Adam possessed:

. . . a book of remembrance was kept, in the which was recorded, in the language of Adam, for it was given unto as many as called upon God to write by the spirit of inspiration; And by them their children were taught to read and write, having a language which was pure and undefiled. ⁴

As Brigham Young taught, this is a very different account than the world’s wisdom advances. No grunts, moans and slow development of language over eons of time. How then did we come to the use of the defiled languages that we employ today and find throughout the world? The Book of Mormon records that in the days of the brother of Jared the pure language given by God still existed among at least some people. Because of wickedness the Lord confounded the language and scattered the people. The Lord took this pure language away from all but those who followed the prophet. Thus, rather than language evolving from grunts to what is known today, language has actually become degraded and degenerate. We do not now possess the intelligence and language of the Brother of Jared whose words would overpower the reader. The prophet Moroni, lamenting over the loss of this ability to write with such skill, explained that the Brother of Jared’s writings were:

. . . mighty even as thou art, unto the overpowering of man to read them. ⁵

If the first man, Adam, was so advanced, then where did the evidence of prehistoric man come from? Elder Mark E. Peterson of the Quorum of the Twelve explained:

How do we explain “cave man” and “early man” and “stone age man”? They are simply a result of deterioration and retrogression. They fell away from a better life, that which was known by the first man, Adam. ⁶

We can easily understand that man rises and falls as he keeps the laws of God. In the world today there are societies of varying development. Some live in refinement and enjoy the very best the world has to offer. Others live in deserts, jungles or plains with little or no education scavenging for subsistence. This does not prove that one is prehistoric and that the other has advanced longer. Clearly opportunity, light and knowledge could change this almost immediately. Either society could rise or sink in one generation. One example of this is in the Book of Mormon. Nephi and Laman both lived in Jerusalem and were raised with gospel light, education and refinement. In their lives Nephi rose yet higher and became even more noble. Laman conversely, was cursed becoming like a flint and living in the wilderness akin to an animal. ⁷ If Adam was not the descendant of savages, who was he? What was his genealogy? President Joseph Fielding Smith taught this fundamental truth:

. . . God is the “first of the human family.” This same doctrine was taught by Joseph Smith. It is a fundamental doctrine of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. . . . literally, God is our Father; that men are of the same race-the race called humans; and that God, the Progenitor, or Creator, is the Father of the human race. . . . It is a doctrine common to the Latter-day Saints, that God, the Great Elohim, is the First, or Creator, of the human family. ⁸

For additional information concerning the doctrine that Adam was born a physical son of God please see this FAQ. Therefore, rather than Adam bearing “. . . in his bodily frame the indelible stamp of his lowly origin” ⁹ as Charles Darwin taught, Adam was born of the Father with a near perfect body. If this were not true God could save our Spirit bodies, but never our physical bodies. President Boyd K. Packer taught this fundamental truth in these words:

An understanding of the sealing authority with its binding of the generations into eternal families cannot admit to ancestral blood lines to beasts. ¹⁰

Adam, who was born a son of God, is the father of the human race. Although he stands next to the Lord Jesus Christ in authority, righteousness and glory, very few have had a correct understanding of who he was and is. The Prophet Joseph Smith testified of the status of Adam:

Father Adam was one of the most noble and intelligent characters who ever lived. He began his earth life as a son of God, endowed with the talents and abilities gained through diligence and obedience in pre-existence. He is the head of all gospel dispensations. ¹¹

It is interesting that Joseph Smith wasn’t just guessing on this or merely teaching something he had read. He actually saw Adam on multiple occasions! He knew him! It is interesting that when the devil appeared as an angel of light on the banks of the Susquehanna River, who was it that came and detected him? Of all of the people it could have been, it was Adam. The origin of life on this earth was not prehistoric but refined and learned. The origin of language was not grunts, but the tongue of heaven. The physical bodies of our first parents were not diseased and degenerate as man is today, but near perfect in health. President John Taylor and other prophets testified of the previous condition of this earth. Please see the FAQ describing the original state of the earth and how it compares with today. As mentioned above, Adam was born as a physical son of God the Father. How did the other forms of life originate on this earth? They were placed here. President Joseph Fielding Smith explained this placement:

“. . . does it not appear to you that it is a foolish and ridiculous notion that when God created this earth he had to begin with a speck of protoplasm, and take millions of years, if not billions, to bring conditions to pass by which his sons and daughters might obtain bodies made in his image? Why not the shorter route and transplant them from another earth as we are taught in the scriptures? Surely to any reasonable mind, the Lord would not have to start with an amoeba, pass through the stage of lower fish to higher fish to reptiles to apes and to man! When we stop to consider how perfect are the workings of God; how thorough he is and orderly, surely these theories flatten out and are without substance. ¹²

The doctrine that life was placed upon this earth is taught everywhere. It can be observed when visiting the temple, it is repeated in the scriptures and in the writings of the presidents of the Church. It has been taught by the First Presidency and apostles of the Lord during the entire history of the Church. To find countless references do a find on this FAQ compilation (CTRL + f). Any place where the Lord or his prophets speak of life originating on this earth, they use the word ‘placed’. Life was placed here, it did not evolve! This includes plants animals and man. Seeds were planted, which originated on another earth, and then animals and man were placed here as well. The supporting statements are almost countless. Nearly every President of the Church has made a statement on the origin of life using the word ‘placed’. Finally, in closing, President Harold B. Lee in a First Presidency message, given while president of the Church, taught clearly that those who cannot accept what has been revealed by the Lord concerning pre-Adamites are weak in the faith.

“I was somewhat sorrowed recently to hear someone, a sister who comes from a church family, ask, “What about the pre-Adamic people?” Here was someone who I thought was fully grounded in the faith. I asked, “What about the pre-Adamic people?” She replied, “Well, aren’t there evidences that people preceded the Adamic period of the earth?” I said, “Have you forgotten the scripture that says, ‘And I, the Lord God, formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul, the first flesh upon the earth, the first man also….’” ¹³ I asked, “Do you believe that?” She wondered about the creation because she had read the theories of the scientists, and the question that she was really asking was: How do you reconcile science with religion? The answer must be, If science is not true, you cannot reconcile truth with error .” ¹⁴

Prophetic Statements

First Presidency Messages

“It is held by some that Adam was not the first man upon this earth, and that the original human being was a development from lower orders of the animal creation. These, however, are the theories of men. The word of the Lord declares that Adam was ‘the first man of all men’ ¹⁵, and we are therefore in duty bound to regard him as the primal parent of our race.” ¹⁶¹⁷

Joseph Smith

#1: The Priesthood was first given to Adam. He obtained the First Presidency, and held the keys of it from generation to generation. He obtained it in the creation, before the world was formed, as in Genesis 1:20, 26, 28 . He had dominion given him over every living creature. He is Michael the Archangel, spoken of in the Scriptures. Then to Noah, who is Gabriel: he stands next in authority to Adam in the Priesthood. He was called of God to this office, and was the Father of all living in his day, and to him was given the dominion. These men held keys first on earth, and then in heaven.

The Priesthood is an everlasting principle, and existed with God from eternity, and will to eternity, without beginning of days or end of years. The keys have to be brought from heaven, whenever the Gospel is sent. When they are revealed from heaven, it is by Adam’s authority. Daniel vii. speaks of the Ancient of Days. He means the oldest man—our Father Adam (Michael). He will call his children together and hold a council with them to prepare them for the coming of the Son of Man. He (Adam) is the Father of the human family, and presides over the spirits of all men; and all that have had the keys must stand before him in this grand council. This may take place before some of us leave this stage of action. The Son of Man stands before him, and there is given him glory and dominion. Adam delivers up his stewardship to Christ—that which was delivered to him as holding the keys of the universe, but retains his standing as head of the human family.

The spirit of man is not a created being: it existed from eternity, and will exist to eternity. Anything created cannot be eternal; and earth, water, &c, had their existence in an elementary state from eternity. Our Saviour speaks of children and says, “Their angels always stand before my Father.” The Father called all spirits before him at the creation of man, and organized them. He (Adam) is the head, and was told to multiply. The keys were first given to him, and by him to others. He will have to give an account of his stewardship, and they to him. ¹⁸

#2: The Priesthood was first given to Adam. . . . He obtained it in the Creation, before the world was formed, as in Genesis 1:26, 27, 28 . He had dominion given him over every living creature. . . . Daniel in his seventh chapter speaks of the Ancient of days; he means the oldest man, our Father Adam, Michael, he will call his children together and hold a council with them to prepare them for the coming of the Son of Man. He (Adam) is the father of the human family, and presides over the spirits of all men, and all that have had the keys must stand before him in this grand council. . . . Adam delivers up his stewardship to Christ, that which was delivered to 88V M6OKhim as holding the keys of the universe, but retains his standing as head of the human family.

The spirit of man is not a created being; it existed from eternity, and will exist to eternity. Anything created cannot be eternal; and earth, water, etc., had their existence in an elementary state, from eternity. . . . The Father called all spirits before Him at the creation of man, and organized them. He (Adam) is the head, and was told to multiply. The keys were first given to him, and by him to others. He will have to give an account of his stewardship, and they to him. ¹⁹

#3: In the beginning God called Adam by His own voice. “And the Lord called unto Adam and said unto him, Where art thou? And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked, and hid myself.” ²⁰ Adam received commandments and instructions from God: this was the order from the beginning. That he received revelations, commandments and ordinances at the beginning is beyond the power of controversy; else how did they begin to offer sacrifices to God in an acceptable manner? And if they offered sacrifices they must be authorized by ordination. ²¹

#4: Father Adam was one of the most noble and intelligent characters who ever lived. He began his earth life as a son of God, endowed with the talents and abilities gained through diligence and obedience in pre-existence. He is the head of all gospel dispensations. ²²

#5: God himself was once as we are now, and is an exalted man, and sits enthroned in yonder heavens! That is the great secret. If the veil were rent today, and the great God who holds this world in its orbit, and who upholds all worlds and all things by his power, was to make himself visible,—I say, if you were to see him today, you would see him like a man in form—like yourselves in all the person, image, and very form as a man; for Adam was created in the very fashion, image and likeness of God, and received instruction from, and walked, talked and conversed with him, as one man talks and communes with another. ²³

Thanks to Joseph Smith Foundation. They have two amazing websites:

JosephSmithFoundation.org
LDSAnswers.org

Footnotes:

1. Joseph Fielding Smith, The Progress of Man, p. 38 
2. Joseph Fielding Smith, The Progress of Man, p. 39 
3. President Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, 26 vols. [London: Latter-day Saints’ Book Depot, 1854-1886], 13: 305 – 306 
4. Moses 6:5–6 
5. Ether 12:24 
6. Mark E. Peterson, Adam: Who Is He? p. 53-55 
7. 2 Nephi 5 
8. Joseph Fielding Smith, Doctrines of Salvation, 3 vols., edited by Bruce R. McConkie [Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1954-1956], 1: 102. 
9. Charles Darwin, The Descent of Man, p. 405 
10. Boyd K. Packer, The Law and the Light 
11. Joseph Smith, Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, pp.157-159 
12. Joseph Fielding Smith, Man, His Origin and Destiny [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1954], p. 276 
13. Moses 3:7 
14. Harold B. Lee, “First Presidency Message: Find the Answers in the Scriptures,” Ensign, Dec. 1972, 2
15. Moses 1:34 
16. First Presidency of the Church, The Origin of Man, Improvement Era, Nov. 1909, 75–81 
17. Ensign, February 2002, p. 26 
18. Joseph Smith, Journal of Discourses, 26 vols. [London: Latter-day Saints’ Book Depot, 1854-1886], 6: 237 – 238 
19. Joseph Smith, Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, pp. 157-158 
20. Genesis 3:9–10 
21. Joseph Smith, Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 168 
22. Joseph Smith, Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, pp.157-159 
23. Joseph Smith, Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, pp.345