Adam dies as the Father said he would through partaking of the
fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Adam’s spirit and body
were separated, and he did not get the resurrection of Jesus Christ. (Doctrines
of Salvation 1:105)
Joseph Fielding Smith uses Adam’s “death” as proof that he was
subject to the atonement and resurrection of Jesus Christ the same as all
mankind. This thinking is based upon assumptions which cannot be supported from
the scriptures. Firstly, it is more than likely that Adam and Eve possessed the
keys of resurrection since they had already been resurrected in a prior estate.
And Jesus said the Father has power to “take up his body again.” The Bible says
that Moses died too, but we learn from The Book of Mormon that Moses,
and possibly Alma, were translated:
Behold, this we know that he [Alma] was a righteous man; and
the saying went abroad in the church that he was taken up by the Spirit, or
buried by the hand of the Lord, even as Moses. But behold, the scriptures saith
the Lord took Moses unto himself; and we suppose that he has also received Alma
in the spirit, unto himself; therefore, for this case we know nothing
concerning his death and burial. (Alma 45:19)
Perhaps Adam’s “death” was also different than we are
accustomed to.
Some cannot accept that Adam is our Heavenly Father because Jesus
would have been Adam’s Savior. They say it would run contrary to the entire
plan of salvation. Many people assume that Adam’s need for a Savior is
demeaning. Could a son save a father and redeem Him? This author will ask only
one question: what better example could be set for us than for our Father to
descend below His exaltation and fall, thus showing us the way? We do
not know whether our Father had need of a Savior after he left this estate. But
even if He did, it would not take away from the truthfulness and splendor of
the doctrine of Adam-God. (Craig L. Tholson, Adam-God [Doctrines of the
Restoration volume 1; Payton, Utah: Publishment, 1991], 308-9)