There are some groups within the broad Christian spectrum that deny that
Jesus is the agent of the Genesis creation, especially groups that reject the
personal pre-existence of Jesus (Christadelphians
being one such group). Commenting on the seriousness of belief in Jesus as the
author of the Genesis creation, Mark E. Petersen, at the time, a member of the
Quorum of the Twelve, wrote:
Probably the greatest
challenge to belief in Christ today is the fast-spreading denial that He is the
Creator, coming from men who would supplant the revealed truth with the very
tenuous and fragile theory that the universe and all life came about in some mysterious,
spontaneous, accidental manner.
To deny that He is
the Creator is to deny also that He is the Christ.
To deny that He is
the Creator is to deny that He can save us from our sins.
To deny that He is
the Creator is to deny that He broke the bands of death. It is to reject the
fact of the Resurrection.
To deny that He is
the Creator is to deny that He wrought out an atonement on the cross at
Calvary.
To deny that He is
the Creator is to reject His gospel and the true Christian religion. (Creator
and Savior, Ensign May 1983)
Interestingly, Petersen situated the atonement as taking place at the
cross, refuting the common anti-Mormon argument that LDS are “enemies of the
cross” and the like:
He died on the cross
to atone for the sins of all who will obey Him, and He broke the bands of death
to provide a resurrection for us all.
