Dear Brother:—

I seize the first opportunity afforded in which to answer your letter of the 20th inst., which I received on the 22nd. Therein you ask me to answer a question propounded to you by your family, who want to know what they shall believe, in view of the recent decision of the High Council in regard to your book "The Philosophy of Earth and of Man", and in the light also of certain sayings by the prophets, which you quote as sustaining your views, published in the aforesaid book.

My answer is this—and I say it in all kindness, for the benefit of your family and yourself: Believe in the revelations of God, in the doctrines of the Church, as accepted, taught and practiced by the Church; and do not waste your time in speculating upon the mysteries that have nothing to do with your present duties as Latter-day Saints. Rest assured that as fast as the Church is prepared to receive the mysteries of God, He will make them known through the proper channel, His mouth-piece to the church; and be assured also that until He does so, in His own appointed way, all such teachings, whether in public or in private, by tongue or by pen, are premature. God will not dishonor himself; He will not ignore His own priesthood which He has set to preside over His people; nor will He fail to inspire them from time to time, to give unto the saints either the milk of the word or the meat of the word in due season. If you truly esteem that priesthood you will submit in humility to the decision rendered by the High Council in your case, and your family should do likewise; and this is my counsel to you all as a servant of the Lord.

In regard to the sayings you quote, and to some of the views expressed in your book, I have also a few words to say. If I understand your argument aright, it is mainly devoted to the presentation of the idea that Adam and Jesus are one and the same person; that is, the same spirit in different tabernacles; and in this way you seek to explain the doctrine that Jesus Christ is both the Father and the Son. You admit the truth of that the Prophet Joseph Smith declared in relation to Adam, namely, that he is Michael, the Ancient of Days; but you do not seem disposed to allow, or you have overlooked the fact, that the same authority said in relation to Jesus, that he is Jehovah, the God of Israel (See Section 110, Doctrine and Covenants). Now if Michael and Jehovah are two separate beings,—and we certainly are taught so, not only by the sayings of the Prophet, but in sacred and holy places—then it follows of necessity that Adam and Jesus are separate beings also. And it seems to me that this should end the controversy, it being an utterance of the earthly founder of our faith, the great prophet, seer and revelator to whom Jesus Christ, our supreme head, made known the truth for the guidance of his people here on earth. Surely it is worth more than all the theories and speculations upon this point that might be indulged in, or all the private interpretations put upon the sayings of the lesser authorities are not contained within the lids of the books recognized and accepted by us as doctrinal standards of the Church. These books, I need hardly inform you, are four in number, namely, the Bible, Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants and Pearl of Great Price. While many things may be true that are not in these books, the fact remains that what is not in them and has not been accepted in General Conference, is not church doctrine, and should not be taught as such. Your book, for instance, contains some truths, but it also contains errors, and many speculations that may be either true or false; consequently it is unwise and improper to place such a book before the people. Your greatest error is in seeking to establish an identity between Adam and Christ. They never were and never will be the same person, worlds without end.

All you quote form the Prophets I accept as true, but not all the interpretation that you put upon their sayings. When I said: "Jesus Christ is our Father and God," I did not mean that Jesus was his own Father—the Father to whom he prayed, and to whom he returned to be glorified with the glory which he had with that Father before the world was. I meant that he was the Father in the sense of being the Creator, as the revelations of God declare; but he was still the Son of God, came forth from the Father, returned to Him, and while one with him in spirit, in power and in dominion, is not to be confounded with him, any more than Michael is to be confounded with Jehovah. At the same time, any being who has advanced as far as has our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ has a perfect right to say of himself, "I am the Father and the Son." Our Father Adam, our Father Abraham, and many more will yet be able to say the same; and this, I take it, is what President Young meant when he said of Father Adam, that he was the only God "with whom we will have to do." There is no necessary conflict between this and what the Prophet Joseph Smith said in relation to this one God—the one that we worship. He meant just what Paul meant: "There are Lords many and Gods many, yet to us there is but one God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ." Abinadi's testimony that God himself would come down and redeem his people stands unshaken, whether we consider that coming as vicarious or personal. It certainly was the personal coming of God in the flesh, the Father acting in, by and through the Son, for the salvation of his children. it was the Son of God that came down "from God in heaven with dyed garments." The Book of Mormon saying truly that mercy cannot rob justice, and that "one man's blood cannot atone for another man's sins;" but it nowhere says that mercy cannot temper justice and that a God cannot offer his life as a vicarious sacrifice to save fallen man from his sins. The fact that God is "an exalted man" does not weaken the proposition nor change the principle involved. What the Son sis for our salvation, according to the Prophet Joseph's interpretation, was only what he had seen his Father do at some former period of time.

And now, dear brother, may the Lord bless you and yours, and lead you by his Holy Spirit in the way of truth and righteousness.

With kindest regards, I am,

Your brother and well-wisher,

Jos. F. Smith