Was There Death Before Adam?

Oct 2010 Issue

By Steven E. Jones, BYU Professor of Physics, Emeritus
Many LDS students face a dilemma: animal fossils and other evidence seem to show that death occurred hundreds of thousands of years ago. Yet the Book of Mormon and other scriptures speak of the fall of Adam as introducing death into the world (e.g., 2 Nephi 2:22, Moses 6:48). The apparent contradiction troubles many. Nor is the timing of death’s entry into the world a minor point, for it strikes at the central doctrine of Christ’s atonement, as Elder McConkie succinctly stated:

“Now if Adam did not fall and bring death into the world, there would be no need for the atoning sacrifice of Christ. If there were no atonement to ransom fallen beings and creatures from the effects of the fall, there would be no resurrection, no immortality, no salvation, no eternal life; and if all these things should vanish away, we could discard God himself, and our faith would be vain.” He continues, “Death began, as far as this earth is concerned, after and as a result of the fall of Adam. There was no death for man or for any form of life until after Adam transgressed. (2 Nephi 2:22).” [B.R. McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, SLC: Bookcraft, 1966, p. 254, 185.]

Another LDS scholar states:

“On the other hand, to limit and insist upon the whole of life and death to this side of Adam’s advent to the earth, some six or eight thousand years ago, as proposed by some, is to fly in the face of the facts so indisputably brought to light by the researcher of science in modern times, and this as set forth by men of the highest type in the intellectual and moral world…” [B.H. Roberts, “The Truth, the Way, the Life.”]

Can we reconcile the scientific evidence of ancient life and death with scriptural proclamations about Adam’s fall and the atonement? Yes, we can…

UNDERSTANDING “DEATH”

Let us examine what is meant by “death”. For science, death implies a cessation of regeneration and chemical activity of a physical organism. But death in the scriptures signifies a separation of the spirit from the body, and in this distinction we find answers. [Matthew 27:50; Alma 11:42.] Science has nothing to say about the existence of spirits — since this goes beyond what can be seen/measured.

Recalling “the spirit and the body are the soul of man.” [D&C 88:15], we are ready to think about the man Adam as the first “living soul” on earth:

“And the Gods formed man from the dust of the ground, and took his spirit (that is, the man’s spirit), and put it into him; and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul.” (Abraham 5:7) “And I, the Lord God, formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul, the first flesh upon the earth, the first man also; nevertheless, all things were before created.” (Moses 3:7)

We see that a body had been prepared — we are not told in any detail how this was done — and that Adam’s spirit was placed into this body which had been prepared, so that Adam was in the scriptural sense the first living soul or man on the earth.

But what does the scripture mean, “nevertheless, all things were before created”? [Moses 3:7] It may sound contradictory. What I am now suggesting, is that the bodies for man and other living things were indeed created or organized from the dust of the earth over eons of time before Adam, but that independent spirits were not placed into the bodies until Adam. Thus, Adam was in fact the first living soul on the earth (the “first flesh” in this sense), and his transgression brought death into the world, that is, a separation of spirit from body. [Moses 6:48] Christ’s atonement was then needed to overcome the effects of the fall, so that the body could be restored to the spirit in the resurrection.

Do I posit that plants and animals lived and “died” on the earth before Adam? In the scientific sense of death, yes, but without separate spirits so that death did not occur in the scriptural sense. When the time was right, when an ecological niche was in particular prepared for man, then Adam’s spirit was placed into a human body and he became the first “living soul” on this earth.

I invite you to re-read the accounts of creation from Moses and Abraham and other Prophets (and listen to the temple account) as I have done, and determine for yourself whether this thought serves to harmonize the scriptures with the testimony of the rocks, which after all have the same Author.

But how then could creatures be animated before Adam?

“And the earth was without form, and void; and I caused darkness to come up upon the face of the deep; and my Spirit moved upon the face of the water; for I am God.” [Moses 2:2; Genesis 1:2] “And the Gods said: Let us prepare the waters to bring forth abundantly the moving creatures that have life…” “And the Gods prepared the waters that they might bring forth great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters were to bring forth abundantly after their kind; and every winged fowl after their kind. And the Gods saw that they would be obeyed, and that their plan was good.” [Abr. 4:20-22]

These scriptures indicate that the Gods, through that Spirit which moved upon the waters, caused the beasts to be fruitful before Adam. Simultaneously, spirits were formed in a pre-mortal existence for all living creatures. These processes took six periods of unspecified length to accomplish. When bodies were prepared and matching spirits prepared separately in another realm, then these individual spirits were placed into the bodies, beginning with Adam.

There is a distinct and emphasized change with Adam, for “in the Garden of Eden, gave I unto man his agency” [Moses 7:32]. I suggest that at the time of Adam, independent spirits were for the first time placed in the bodies that had been formed; man now had his agency.

REGARDING THE THEORY OF EVOLUTION

Now I hasten to say that I am not here trying to harmonize the scriptures with the theory of organic evolution proposed by Darwin. It seems fruitless to try to reconcile scripture to a scientific theory which is itself in a state of flux as more data comes to light.

At the same time, there are observations of fossils that show unequivocally that plants and animals lived well over 20,000 years ago, that is, before the time of Adam. If there was a progression of life on earth toward greater complexity, as the fossils show, I have no problem accepting the testimony of the scriptures cited above that this progress was ordered and caused by God. Moreover, this picture seems consistent with our scientific understanding of the laws of nature, that is, an intelligence can cause systems to go “uphill”, improving from lower forms of life to much more complex forms, without violating the Second Law of Thermodynamics. LDS scientist Henry Eyring puts it this way:

“In my judgment, anyone who denies the orderly deposition of sediments with their built-in radioactive clocks places himself in a scientifically untenable position… I might say in this regard that in my mind the theory of evolution has to include a notion that the dice have been loaded from the beginning in favor of more complex life forms. That is, without intelligent design of the natural laws in such a way as to favor evolution from lower forms to higher forms, I don’t think the theory holds water.” (Henry Eyring, Reflections of a
Scientist, SLC: Deseret Book, 1983.)

CONCLUSION

The Lord said that “all things are created and made to bear record of me… things which are on the earth, and things which are in the earth, and things which are under the earth, both above and beneath: all things bear record of me.” [Moses 6:63] If this is true, do not the fossils in the earth also testify of their Creator? I find it so.

To me, the fossils speak of a God who caused the earth to bring forth physical bodies over millions of years. This seems like a very long time to us now; but God views time differently. [Psalms 90:4] Meanwhile, our spirits lived in a separate sphere for eons of time with our Heavenly Parents. Finally, when all was ready, independent spirits of all living things were placed in those bodies to undergo an earth experience, beginning with Adam, the first “living soul.” This view gives an appreciation for the preparation of our physical bodies and their great importance in God’s eternal plan for our progression and happiness.