Romans 8:16-17 and Brigham's Adam-God Doctrine

This article will explain the basics of the Adam-God doctrine in which Adam as a man on a previous earth became a “god”. Next it will then explain how Romans 8:16-17 supports the doctrine that a man can become a “god”. And then it will explain how all who gain exaltation as a “god” are in unity as the one GOD of scripture.

One understanding of Adam-God doctrine

Brigham taught that on a PREVIOUS earth Adam was faithful to his Savior, and was resurrected as a "god". Just like D&C 132:37 reveals that Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are now “gods”. And Brigham taught that the resurrected Adam was the Father of spirits for this earth, Jesus being his firstborn spirit. Then Adam as Michael participated in the creation of this earth with Jehovah to provide mortal bodies for his spirit children. Michael in the creation was a resurrected Being, so the Creator Jehovah in Brigham's doctrine was also resurrected, and not Jesus.

Romans 8:16-17

“The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and JOINT-HEIRS with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also GLORIFIED TOGETHER.”

Do not children have the potential to become what they are children of? If one “inherits” what God has, are they not equal with God?

This makes no sense, of course, to non-Mormon faiths that believe that God is not a Being, but an immaterial body-less Essence totally unlike His supposed “children”. In those faiths Jesus inherits nothing since he is the very immaterial Essence he inherits from.

If one accepts the Holy Ghost in the Godhead is the spirit of a man then since he is not the Savior he is the example of others besides the Savior inheriting exaltation.

So in Brigham's doctrine the two "gods" being “glorified together” that created our earth as directed by Elohim are Jehovah (a Savior of the previous earth) and Michael/Adam (a Joint-heir and “god” like Abraham).

None of us can become a Savior, but we can become like Adam and Eve; and Adam is the Father of our spirit. So Adam is OUR "Father and God", and we have the potential to become an Adam or Eve on a future earth and provide mortal bodies for our spirit children. “As man now is, God once was; as God now is, man may be.” – Lorenzo Snow

Jesus is the Only Begotten Son of the Creator Jehovah in the flesh, and the only one that advances to the office of a Jehovah. So the Creator Jehovah is the Father and God of Jesus. Jesus as a Jehovah has a higher Priesthood than the father of his spirit Adam. Joseph in Egypt ruling over his father and brothers is a type of Christ.

The one GOD

The ONE God that is eternal, infinite and unchangeable in Mormon theology is not one finite Being like the resurrected Jesus or his resurrected Father or their resurrected Joint-heirs. It is the entire divine Lineage they are in. In other words, the Elohim of Genesis 1 that speaks as “Us” and creates both male and female in “Our” image. Collectively the divine Elohim Lineage has all tri-omni power creating worlds without end. But individually they are eternal living Beings like Jesus and his Joint-heirs in eternal progression and yet in John 17 type unity as ONE God.

The Adam-God teachings can be understood as the way the three Creators from their Celestial Earth are creating a mitosis like copy of themselves and earth to continue creation. Adam will speak for the Elohim on the resurrected earth; Jesus will be the Jehovah; and Abraham and others will be the Michaels.

Here is an article explaining evidence that the resurrected Jesus and his Father, the Creator and O.T. Jehovah, are both a Jehovah. LINK