Question
Dear Gramps,
I just read the question about why Eve was taken from Adam’s rib and not another body part, to which you answered that it is allegorical. Next, you stated that Adam and Eve were born as we are born (which I take to mean a physical birth). What I am not understanding is, as a celestial being (God) can procreate and produce spirits, but how is an actual BODY created? If it’s the same way we are physically created here on earth, wouldn’t it mean that the spirits that Heavenly Father and Mother had already created in spirit form would have to be re-created or re-conceived in physical form?
Mindy
Answer
Dear Mindy,
Let’s go over it again and see if we can be a little more specific on this fundamental issue. Adam and Eve were born in a terrestrial world of terrestrial parents. When they migrated to the planet earth, it was also a terrestrial kingdom. Under the direction of the Father and the Son, Adam was the chief organizer of this earth. He brought the plants and animals here from other worlds.
Of course their spirits were the literal spirit children of our Father in Heaven, as were our own spirits. When Adam fell, the earth fell also and became a telestial kingdom, with physical birth, mortality and death imposed on all living beings–plants and animals.
Those who accept the gospel of Jesus Christ in mortality and “live by every word that proceedeth forth from the mouth of God” (Doctrine & Covenants 84:44), including the sacred temple ordinance of the husband and wife being sealed together for time and for all eternity, will inherit a celestial kingdom, and will achieve exaltation in that kingdom. As exalted beings they will be able to procreate. However, the children born to exalted beings will be spirits–i.e. the children will be composed of spirit matter only. They will need to continue their eternal growth by being born in a mortal world, thus receiving a physical body of flesh and bone. They would also have the possibility of achieving an eternal adulthood and become like their heavenly parents.
Gramps
