The Creation of the Earth

Readings: 

The Prophet Joseph Smith
Origin of the Materials Used in the Creation of the Earth
In A Compendium of the Doctrine of the Gospel, by Elder Franklin Dewey Richards & James A. Little

"This earth was organized or formed out of other planets which were broken up and remodeled and made into the one on which we live." (January 5, 1841)

Pres. Brigham Young
Duration of the Creation
Discourses of Brigham Young, p.100

"It is said in this book (the Bible) that God made the earth in six days.

"This is a mere term, but it matters not whether it took six days, six months, six years, or six thousand years. The creation occupied certain periods of time. We are not authorized to say what the duration of these days was, whether Moses penned these words as we have them, or whether the translators of the Bible have given the words their intended meaning. However, God created the world.

"God brought forth material out of which he formed this little terra firma upon which we roam. How long had this material been in existence? Forever and forever, in some shape, in some condition. We need not refer to all of those who were with God, and who assisted him in this work. The elements form and develop, and continue to do so until they mature, and then they commence to decay and become disorganized. The mountains around us were formed in this way. By and by, when they shall have reached their maturity, the work of disintegration and decay will commence. It has been so from all eternity, and will continue to be so until they are made celestial."

Pres. Brigham Young
Transplants from Other Worlds
Journal of Discourses 7:285-286

"Shall I say that … the seeds of every plant composing the vegetable kingdom were brought from another world? This would be news to many of you.

"Who brought them here? It matters little to us whether it was John, James, William, Adam, or Bartholomew who brought them, but it was some Being who had power to frame this earth with its seas, valleys, mountains, and rivers and cause it to teem with vegetable and animal life.

"... When you tell me that father Adam was made as we make adobies from the earth, you tell me what I deem an idle tale. … There is no such thing in all the eternities where the Gods dwell. Mankind are because they are offspring of parents who were first brought here from another planet, and power was given them to propagate their species, and they are commanded to multiply and replenish the earth."

Elder Bruce R. McConkie
The 2.5 Billion Years
The Mortal Messiah, 1:32-33

"Brother W.W. Phelps says, 'And that eternity [the one during which Christ's doings have been known], agreeable to the records found in the catacombs of Egypt, has been going on in this system [not this world] almost two thousand five hundred and fifty-five millions of years.' (Times and Seasons 5:758.)

"That is to say, the papyrus from which the Prophet Joseph translated the Book of Abraham, to whom the Lord gave a knowledge of his infinite creations, also contained this expression relative to what apparently is the universe in which we live, which universe has been created by the Father through the instrumentality of the Son.  The time mentioned has no reference, as some have falsely supposed, to the period of this earth's existence."

Additional Information on the Creation

"... Sister Eliza R. Snow ... told ... that she heard the Prophet say that when the ten tribes were taken away, the Lord cut the earth in two, Joseph striking his left hand in the center with the edge of his right to illustrate the idea, and that they were on an orb or planet by themselves, and when they returned with the portion of this earth that was taken away with them, the coming together of these two bodies or orbs, would cause a shock and make the earth ‘reel to and fro like a drunken man.’

"She also stated that he said the earth was now ninety times smaller than when first created or organized." (Diary of Charles Walker, p. 691, March 10, 1881)

. . . . . . . .

"Question: How can the stars fall from heaven to earth when they (as far as we know) are much larger than the earth?

... The stars which will fall to earth, are fragments which have been broken off from the earth from time to time, in the mighty convulsions of nature. Some in the days of Enoch, some perhaps in the days of Peleg, some with the ten tribes, and some at the crucifixion of the Messiah. These all must be restored again at the "times of restitution of all things." This will restore the ten tribes of Israel; and also bring again Zion. even Enoch's city.

... When these fragments (some of which are vastly larger then the present earth) are brought back and joined to this earth, it will cause a convulsion of nature.

... The earth will be many times larger than it is now." (Elder Parley P. Pratt , Millennial Star 1:258, Feburary 1841)

Summary on the Creation of the Earth

• The creation of this earth was an organized effort supervised by God, and carried out by an unknown number of pre-mortal spirits in authority
• Technical" details about the creation have not been revealed; and so far we know this much:
  • Earth was organized out of existing materials, at least some of which came from previously destroyed planets
  • The creation was accomplished in 7 work periods of unknown duration--but we don't know whether these 7 work periods were consecutive
• At the end of the creation process, this earth was a perfect sphere with a natural environment beyond mortal comprehension, where death did not exist
• The man and the woman were crowning jewels of the creation