On at least three occasions, Young attributed the
Adam-God doctrine to Joseph Smith. But though the rudiments of the doctrine
derived from Smith’s Nauvoo teachings of preexistence, eternal procreation, and
generations of gods, we have no record that Smith ever equated Adam/Michael
with God the Father. Nonetheless, most of the LDS hierarchy went along with
Young and offered at least tacit support to his theory. But Apostle Orson
Pratt, unable to square the doctrine with Scripture, persistently objected. Cognizant
of its controversial nature, Young didn’t push the doctrine much after the
1850s, though he certainly never abandoned it. As a result, the LDS Church
never sustained the Adam-God doctrine as formal doctrine; the Adam-God theory
hovered in theological limbo for the duration of Young’s presidency. After his
death, LDS leaders gradually abandoned the doctrine. In time they denied it was
ever taught. (Richard Doland Ouellette, “The
Mormon Temple Lot Case: Space, Memory, and Identity in a Divided New Religion”
[PhD Dissertation; The University of Texas at Austin, May, 2012], 255-56)
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