Although the article defends the idea that Adam is God, it does not address the most significant issues, namely, Who is the Father of spirits? and, Who is the Father of Christ? Richards asked a number of rehetorical questions one of which was,

Did he [Adam] not prove himself as worthy of that high appellation [God] as any other being that ever lived upon the earth?

The idea that Adam proved himself worthy upon this earth misses Young’s point that Adam came to this as a celestial being, not to prove himself. Concerning the fall of Adam and Eve, Richards stated:

Without it they could not have known good and evil here, and without knowing good and evil they could not become Gods, neither could their children.

This places Adam’s becoming a God after the fall, which is at odds with Young. Richards’ point is that “Michael is established as Father, Patriarch, God” because, “He is the first, the Father of all the human family,” not because he was the pre-mortal Father of the spirits of mankind.

The main point of President Young’s sermon was that Adam, not Eloheim or the Holy Ghost, was the literal Father of Christ in the flesh, a point totally ignored by Richards.