Though Richards and most of the other Church authorities accepted their prophet's declaration as the word of God, there was one member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles who openly opposed Brigham in his views. That man was Orson Pratt. Under the date of September 17, 1854, LDS Apostle Wilford Woodruff recorded in his journal the details of a confrontation between Young and Pratt. Pratt had been writing and publishing a monthly periodical which contained doctrine contrary to the Mormon President. When Young declared some of Orson's doctrines to be false, Pratt retaliated against the prophet by voicing his disbelief in the Adam-God doctrine:
Brother Pratt also thought that Adam was made of the dust of the Earth Could not believe that Adam was our God or the Father of Jesus Christ President Young said that He was that He came from another world & made this brought Eve with him partook of the fruits of the Earth begat children & they ware Earthly & had mortal bodies & if we were faithful we should become Gods as He was. He told Brother Pratt to lay aside his Philosophical reasoning & get revelation from God to govern him & enlighten his mind more...
This dispute between the Mormon Prophet and his Apostle continued for several years. Because of his disbelief in the Adam-God teaching and in other doctrines of Young, Pratt was for years upon the point of being severed from the Church (31).
In October of 1854, the Mormon Church held it's semi-annual Conference. The session of October 8 was help out of doors in the open air. The congregation, which numbered in thousands, heard Brigham Young deliver what was perhaps the most colorful discourse ever presented in the history of the Mormon Church. Addressing this immense gathering upon the subject of the identity of God, Young made the following statements:
...my text is in the Bible and reads as follows: "And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou has sent." I will now put another text with this and then offer a few remarks. It is one of the sayings of the Apostle Paul:"For though there be that are called Gods, whether in heaven or in earth (as there be Gods many and Lords many) but to us there is but one God, the Father of whom all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him." This God is the father of our Lord Jesus Christ and the father of our spirits...
Now if you believe what you have heard me say you will believe there are Lords many, and Gods many; and you will believe that unto us, the inhabitants of the earth there is but one God with whom we have to do...
You and I have only one God to whom we are accountable, so we will let the rest along, and search after the one we have to do with; let us seek after him, the very being who commenced this creation...
But let us turn our attention to the God with which we have to do. I tell you simply, he is our father; the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the father of our spirits...
I tell you more, Adam is the father of our spirits. He had lived upon an earth; he did abide his creation, and did honor to his calling and priesthood, and obeyed his master or Lord, and probably many of his wives did the same and they lived, and died upon an earth and then were resurrected again to immortality and eternal life...
I reckon that Father Adam was a resurrected being, with his wives and posterity, and in the Celestial kingdom they were crowned with glory, immortality, and eternal lives,with thrones, principalities and powers; and it was said to him it is your right to organize the elements; and to your creations and posterity there shall be no end...
Our spirits and the spirits of all human family were begotten by Adam and born of Eve (32).
At no previous time had Brigham gone into as much detail concerning Adam as he did during this discourse. While the Mormon prophet had formerly taught that Adam was the God and Father of Jesus Christ and the father of men's spirits, he had never expounded upon Adam's pre-earthly course of life as he did during this 1854 conference.
To fully comprehend the implications of Brigham's statements concerning Adam's pre-earthly development and advancement from stage to stage, it is necessary to understand the Mormon doctrine of "eternal progression." Mormonism's fifth President, Lorenzo Snow, summarized this doctrine with his aphorism:
As man is, God once was; As God is, man may become.
The doctrine of eternal progression states that God the Father was once a man who lived, died, and was resurrected upon an earth similar to ours. By his faithfulness to the commandments of his God he progressed and advanced from degree until he was crowned with exaltation, or Godhood. Having become God, he was then given the privilege of creating this world and being the Lord over it. He and his wife then begot the spirits which would later enter into the fleshly tabernacles which he would form for them. In a discourse in September of 1856, Brigham, Young described this progression to exaltation which God the Father had passed through:
...our father in heaven is exalted and glorified. he was received His thrones, His principalities and powers, and He sits as a governor, as a monarch, and overrules kingdoms, thrones, and dominions that have been bequeathed to Him, and such as we anticipate receiving. While He was in the flesh, as we are, He was as we are. But it is now written of Him that our God is as a consuming fire, that He dwells in everlasting burnings,...God is the Father of our spirits; He begat them and has sent them here to receive tabernacles...(33).
This same doctrine of eternal progression teaches that men today, if faithful as their God was, will continue on the road of progression until they too are exalted and crowned with Godhood. They will then not only receive eternal life, but they will as Gods be given "eternal lives" or the power of eternal increase. They will then have the ability to organize a world and to be the progenitors of the spirits of its inhabitants. In a discourse delivered during a special conference in August of 1852, Brigham, Young described this process:
After men have got their exaltations and their crowns - have become Gods, even the sons of God - are made Kings of kings and Lords of lords, they have the power then or propagating their species in spirit; and that is the first of their operations with regard to organizing a world. Power is then given to them to organize the elements, and then commence the organization of tabernacles (34).
Having an understanding of the Mormon concept of eternal progression, we can now clearly see the implications of Brigham Young's statements in his 1854 General Conference discourse. When he stated that Adam "was a resurrected being", he meant that Adam had lived, died, and had been resurrected upon another earth. By stating that Adam "in the celestial kingdom...was crowned with glory, immortality, and eternal lives", he was saying that Adam had attained to exaltation and was therefore a God. In his statement that "our spirits and the spirits of all the human family were begotten by Adam", he was claiming, in no uncertain terms, that Adam was Heavenly Father. In short, by applying these statements to Adam, Brigham meant that prior to the organization of this world Adam had advanced along the road to eternal progression and was exalted to Godhood. He would therefore be our Father and our God and the only God with whom we have to do.
Throughout the lengthy address which was delivered in the open air that day, according to the _Deseret_News_ Brigham "held the vast audience as it were spellbound" (35). Wilford Woodruff believed Brigham's address to be "the greatest sermon ever delivered to the Latter-Day Saints since they were a people" (36)
_The_Journal_of_the_Southern_Indian_Mission_ also noted Brigham Young's address, stating that it was a "discourse equaled by none" (37).
Though many were favorable impressed with Brigham's statements that afternoon, there were nevertheless some who opposed. Joseph Lee Robinson, who attended the conference, noted that Orson Pratt was among them.
Attended conference, a very interesting conference, for at this meeting President Brigham Young said thus, that Adam and Eve were the names of the first man and woman of every earth that was ever organized and that Adam and ever were the natural father and mother of every spirit that comes to this planet, or that receives tabernacles on this planet, consequently we are brothers and sisters and that Adam was God, our Eternal Father. This as Brother Heber remarked, was letting the cat out of the bag,...but behold ye there were some that did not believe these sayings of the Prophet Brigham, even our Beloved Brother Orson Pratt told me he did not believe it. He said he could prove by scriptures it was not correct. I felt very sorry to hear Professor Orson Pratt say that. I feared lest he should apostatize (38).
While Pratt was publicly denying the doctrine of the Church President, others who trusted their prophet's counsel and doctrine were adopting his revelations into their own writings. On January 9, 1855, during a social party in the Great Salt Lake City, Eliza R. Snow (39) recited the following from a poem she had written:
Father Adam, our God, let all Israel extol, and Jesus, our Brother, who died for us all:... (40).
Shortly after this a new edition of the LDS Church hymn book was printed. Among the hymns contained in the book was one which confessed Adam along with the other two members of the Godhead:
We believe in our God, the great Prince of his race, The Archangel Michael, the Ancient of Days, Our own Father Adam, earth's Lord as is plain, Who'll counsel and fight for his children again.
We believe in His Son, Jesus Christ, who in love, To his brethren and sisters, came down from above, To die to redeem them from death, and to teach To mortals and spirits the Gospel we preach.
We believe in the Spirit most holy, that's given From God our great Father, who dwells high in heaven, To instruct and enlighten, to comfort and cheer- Tongues, dreams, visions, healings proclaim it is here (41).
In the spring of 1856 another confrontation erupted between Young and Pratt over the position of Adam. Under the date of March 11, 1856, Samuel Richards recorded in his journal the events which transpired between the two that evening:
Evening with the Regency in the Upper Room of the President's office,... A very serious conversation took place between Prest. B. Young and Orson Pratt upon doctrine. O.P. was directly opposed to the Prest. views and very freely expressed his entire disbelief in them after being told by the President that things were so and so in the name of the Lord. He was firm in the Position that the Prest's word in the name of the Lord, was not the word of the Lord to him. The Prest. did not believe that Orson would ever be Adam, to learn by experience the facts discussed, but every other person in the room would if they lived faithful (42).
Brigham's statements, that Pratt would never be "Adam", suggest that the two were again disputing over the subject of the first man. Wilford Woodruff, who was also present that night, noted this indeed was the issue discussed.
I spent part of the day in the committee room and met with the regency in the evening...the subject was brought up concerning Adam being made of the dust of the earth and elder Orson Pratt pursued a course of stubbornness and unbelief in what President Young said that will destroy him if he does not repent and turn from his evil way For when any man crosses the track of a leader in Israel and tries to lead the prophet... he is no longer led by him but is in danger of falling.
A few months after this event, Brigham Young's first Counselor, Heber C. Kimbell, publicly sustained the Church President as the Prophet of God whose doctrines were inspired:
Just think of your position; you have heard the teachings and instructions of President Young, and his instructions are the word of God to us, and I know that every man and woman in this Church who rejects his testimony, and the testimony of those that he sends, rejects the testimony of God his Father. I know that, just as well as I know that I see your faces today (43).
Because rejecting Brigham's word was rejecting God, Orson Pratt was walking on thin ice. According to Wilford Woodruff, Pratt's Church membership was on the line:
President Young made some remarks about Orson Pratt and said that if he did not take a different course in his philosophy..he would not stay long in this Church (44).
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