After my return from Arizona, a controversy arose in the settlement, on points of doctrine principally between myself and Brother Myron Abbott. We mutually agreed to submit our views to the High Council. I was permitted by the Council to submit mine in writing. Here is their decision which they made before they received my report:

Councilor Charles Smith then made the following motion: “That it is the sense of this Council that it is an error to believe or teach that Adam was not an immortal or resurrected being when he came to this earth, also that we pray to Adam as our God and it is wrong to teach that Adam is one of the Godhead.” Seconded by Councillor D. H. Cannon. Carried unanimously, J. W. McAllister, Clerk of Court Council.

Report to the Council

To the High Council of Saint George Stake of Zion

Having been represented before you as not believing certain doctrines as held to be correct by Myron Abbott and others; and not being present at the Council when represented because of sickness, and having heard the minutes read since and with your permission to answer the charges in writing, I herewith submit to you my belief and unbelief.

1st I do not believe that Adam is the father of Jesus Christ, and the God we worship, and the God of this earth. That the Council has decided on as I believe. Now, I wish to present to the Council my views fully on this subject, that those who read may not misjudge my views.

I herewith submit to you the Scriptural references as I have them in mind. First, I will take the word of the Lord to Abraham. Pearl of Great Price page 52: “And the angel of his presence stood by me, and immediately loosed my bands, and his voice was unto me: Abraham! Abraham! behold, my name is Jehovah.” Now, who is this God that ministered unto Abraham ? The same that ministered unto Moses. Bible, Exodus 6 chapt. 3 verse.” And I appeared unto Abraham, and Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of God almighty, but by my name Jehovah was I not known to them.” This same God that appeared unto Joseph Smith in the Kirtland Temple D and C Sect. 110, verses 2, 3, 4: “We saw the Lord standing upon the breastwork of the pulpit, before us, and under his feet was a paved work of pure gold in color like amber. His eyes were as a flame of fire, the hair of his head was white like the pure snow, his countenance shone above the brightness of the sun, and his voice was as the sound of the rushing of great waters, even the voice of Jehovah, saying—I am the first and the last, I am he who liveth, I am he who was slain, I am your advocate with the Father.”

Now we will let the Book of Mormon make plain who this God Jehovah is. BOM p. 311, v. 5 [3 Nephi 15:5]: “Behold I am he that gave the law, and I am he who covenanted with my people Israel; therefore, the law in me is fulfilled, for I have come to fulfill the law; therefore it hath an end.” When did Jesus Christ covenant with them? Hundreds of years before he took a tabernacle of flesh. BOM 503, 14 [3 Nephi 11:14]: “Arise and come forth unto me, that ye may thrust your hands into my side, and also that ye may feel the prints of the nails in my hands and in my feet, that ye may know that I am he God of Israel, and the God of the whole earth, and have been slain for the sins of the world.” Verse 17: “Hosanna! blessed be the name of the Most High God! And they did fall down at the feet of Jesus, and did worship him.”

I will give you a few more references and show that he is the God of Enoch. Pearl of Great Price pg. 31 [Moses 6:43]: “And Enoch continued his speech, the Lord which spake with me, the same is the god of Heaven, and he is my God, and your God, and ye are my brethren, and why counsel ye yourselves, and deny the God of heaven?”

Why counsel we ourselves and seek to supplant the God of heaven with some other God? PoGP, p. 45 [Moses 7:69]: “And it came to pass that Zion was not, for God received it up into his own bosom, and form thence went forth the saying, Zion is fled.”

What God is this that took the Zion of Enoch into his own Bosom? Let the D & C answer, Sec. 38:1-4: “Thus saith the Lord your God even Jesus Christ, the Great I Am, Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the same which looked upon the wide expanse of eternity, and all the seraphic hosts of heaven, before the world was made; I am the same which have taken the Zion of Enoch into mine own bosom; and verily, I say, even as many as have believed in my name, for I am Christ and in mine own name, by the virtue of the blood which I have spilt, have I pleaded before the Father for them.”

This ought to settle the question on this item of doctrine to those who believe in revelation.

Now in regard to the law of adoption: I believe it is a correct principle and when it runs in the lineage it looks consistent, but the adoption of one man to another out of the lineage, I do not understand and or that reason I would not enter into it. And adopting the dead to the living is as adopting the father to the son. I don’t believe there is a man on earth that thoroughly understands the principle. If there is, I have never heard it taught so I could understand it. I believe it is permitted more to satisfy the minds of the people for the present until the Lord reveals more fully on the principle.

In regard to Adam coming forth in the creation a resurrected Celestial being and a God; having had a second probation on another planet, and that his body was of the dust of another planet. I do not believe this item of doctrine, and I will give you the scriptural references as I believe them.

First, the sacred record as given to us is for the earth and the heavens belonging to this earth. Where is what the Lord said to Moses. PoGP p. 7 [Moses 2:1]: “And it came to pass that the Lord spake unto Moses, saying: Behold, I will reveal unto you concerning this heaven, and this earth; write the words which I speak. I am the Beginning and the End, the Almighty God, by mine Only Begotten I created these things; yea, in the beginning I created the heaven and the earth upon which thou standest.”

Now this record has come to us direct from the heavens through the Prophet Joseph Smith. Shall we receive it in whole or in part? If it is not all correct, what confidence can we have in any other communication which has come from the same source?

Here is what the Brother of Jared says. BOM p. 577, 12 [Ether 3:12]: “And he answered, Yea, Lord, I know that thou speakest the truth for thou art a God of truth and canst not lie.”

D & C Sect. 3, v. 22 [Third Lecture on Faith, paragraph 22], The words of the Prophet Joseph: “And again, the idea that he is a God of truth and cannot lie, is equally as necessary to the exercise of faith in him, as the idea of his unchangeableness.”

We will now take the record of the creation PoGP p. 68 [Abraham 5:7]: “And the gods formed man form the dust of the ground, and took his spirit (that is, the man’s spirit), and put it into him; and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul.”

This is plain to me that Adam came to this earth a personage of Spirit. He might have been Celestial spirit, because he kept a Celestial law in his first estate. What ground was Adam’s body taken from? That which he was sent forth from the garden of Eden to till. PoGP p. 17 [Moses 4:19]: “I, the Lord God, will send him forth from the Garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.” BoM p. 306, 3 [Alma 42:2]: “For behold, after the Lord God sent our first parents forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence they were taken.”

According to the words of the Prophet Joseph the ground that Adam tilled was in Jackson Co. Mo. or not far from there. What God formed men from the dust of the earth? The Lord that created them. D & C Sect. 29, 34 v.: “Wherefore, verily I say unto you that all things unto me are spiritual, and now at any time have I given unto you a law which was temporal; neither any time have I given unto you a law which was temporal; neither any man nor the children of men; neither Adam, your father, whom I created.” How could Jesus Christ have created Adam in the garden of Eden if he came to the earth with a resurrected Celestial body; and Jesus Christ the God of heaven and of the whole earth and a personage of spirit in the creation?

Some may think that Jesus had a resurrected body when he came down to create the earth. If he did, what did he do with it when he was born of the Virgin Mary? For the body that was crucified was the one he took to heaven with him.

Here is what he said in Third Nephi p. 476, v. 13 [3 Nephi 1:13]: “Lift up your head and be of good cheer; for behold the time is at hand, and on this night shall the sign be given, and on the morrow come I into the world, to show unto the world that I will fulfil all that which I have caused to be spoken by the mouth of my holy prophets.”

That was on this continent, and on the morrow he was going to enter the infant tabernacle, that was to be born of the Virgin Mary, in Bethlehem Judea.

Now if Jesus could come down in the creation of a personage of spirit why not Adam also?

I understand that the family of spirits—Jesus Christ at their head—had not received a second estate and that was why this earth was created. I believe Adam’s body was an immortal body before the fall, and the same law that produced his body in the creation is the same law by which the whole human family will obtain their resurrection.

Question: It is possible for a resurrected being, having received an exaltation to lay off that body and become a fallen being? To me it is not possible. Here is my proof. BoM 267, 45 v. [Alma 12:45]: “Now, behold, I have spoken unto you concerning the death of the mortal body, and also concerning the resurrection of the mortal body. I saw not you that this mortal body is raised to an immortal body, that is from death, even from the first death unto life. That they can die no more; their spirits uniting with their bodies, never to be divided; thus the whole become spiritual and immortal, that they can no more see corruption.”

Now, I will give you my views in regard to father Adam. I will first take the four leading spirits in heaven. PoGP p. 63 [Abraham 3:27, 28]: “And the Lord said, who shall I send? And one answered like unto the Son of Man, here am I, send me. And another answered and said, here am I, send me. And the Lord said, I will send the first. And the second was angry and kept not his first estate, and, at that day, many followed after him.” Now, who was the first? Jesus Christ. Who the second? The devil. Who the third? Adam. See D & C Sect. 29:36: “And it came to pass that Adam being tempted of the devil (for behold the devil was before Adam) for he rebelled against me, saying, Give me thine honor, which is my power; and also a third part of the hosts of heaven turned he away from me because of their agency.” Noah was fourth. The devil fell and lost his birthright, and Adam took it and came next to the Savior.

In the sermons and writings of the Prophet Joseph in the Contributor vol. 3, 2p. [p. 33]: “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 believers up his stewardship to Christ, that which was delivered to him as holding the keys of the Universe, but retain his standing as head of the human family. Christ is the Great High Priest; Adam next.”

Adam is the Archangel of Jesus Christ. D & C Sect. 29, 26: “But behold, verily I say unto you, before the earth shall pass away, Michael, mine archangel, shall sound his trump, and then shall all the dead awake, for their graves shall be opened, and they shall come forth—yea, even all.”

Adam is a prince forever. D & C Sect. 78, v. 16: “Who hath appointed Michael, your prince, and established his feet, and set him upon high, and given unto him the days of salvation under the counsel and direction of the Holy One, who is without beginning of days or send of life.”

He is the first and seventh angel. D & C Sect. 88:113: “And Michael, the seventh angel, even the archangel, shall gather his armies, even the hosts of heaven.”

Adam will reign and rule on the earth has a mighty prince in the Millennium under Jesus Christ as God, King and law giver.

Now, in regard to Adam being a God here is what the Lord said concerning Abraham. D & C Sect. 132, 37: “They have entered into their exaltation, according to the promises, and sit upon thrones, and are not angels but are gods.”

Abraham, Issac and Jacob are Gods. Surely Noah and Adam are Gods. Do the children of Abraham worship and pray to him? I think not. Noah was the father of all living in his day. Neither do the children of Noah worship him, or Adam’s children worship him. To me there is a great difference between those Gods and the God Jesus Christ who created the earth and redeemed it.

Every God in his own order: Honor to whom honor is due; a place for everything and everything in its place.

There are no dark sayings or mysteries in the communications of God to man. If there is darkness it is in man because he will not receive the truth from heaven in the plainness that God does give it.

Here are the words of the Prophet Joseph Smith. Contributor vol. 3, p.35: “We may come to Jesus and ask him; he will know all about it; if he comes to a little child, he will adapt himself to the language and capacity of a little child.”

The words of 2nd Nephi BoM 123 [2 Nephi 31:3]: “For my soul delighteth in plainness; for after his manner doth the Lord God work among the children of men. For the Lord God giveth light unto the understanding; for he speaketh unto men according to their language, unto their understanding.”

Here is the admonition of the Prophet Joseph to us and to all Saints. Compendium p. 270, Keys—“July 2, 1839, At a meeting of the Twelve and some of the Seventies. President Joseph Smith made the following remarks. ‘O ye Twelve! and all Saints! prophit by this important key—that in all your trials, troubles, temptations, afflictions, bonds, imprisonments and death, see to it, that you do not betray heaven; that you do not betray Jesus Christ; that you do not betray the brethren; that you do not betray the revelations of God, whether in the Bible, Book of Mormon, or Doctrine and Covenants, or any other that ever was or ever will be given or revealed to man in this world. Yea in all your kickings and flounderings see to it that you do not do this thing, lest innocent blood be found on your skirts, and you go down to hell. All other sins are not to be compared to the sinning against the Holy Ghost and proving a traitor to thy brethren.’” With due respect to the Council and to all my brethren, I cannot, I dare not ignore the written word of God. I subscribe myself your friend and brother in the Gospel of Christ.

Edward Bunker