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1944 —
The Restoration of All Things
In 1944, when Joseph Fielding Smith present a series of radio
talks on "Fundamental Principles of the Gospel, Heber J. Grant was still
President of the Church. These talks were later published in book form in
the book The Restoration of All Things. In this book, Elder Smith
explained the doctrine of no death before the fall as follows:
"By partaking of the fruit, not only did death come
upon Adam, but the Lord said to him, 'Cursed is the ground for thy
sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; thorns
also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the
herb of the field.'
"From this we learn that this curse was not on the earth until after
Adam transgressed. Since that day sickness, temptation, sin and death,
have been the common lot of man. He has been forced to contend with
adverse conditions; the spirit of hate, envy, strife, has ruled the
earth and man has earned his bread by the sweat of his brow, and we see
all things as they were in the beginning changed and a different order
of things prevailing. In the restoration all must be brought back again
to this primitive condition....
"When Adam fell, he brought death into the world, and that death was
passed on to every living creature, even the earth, itself, partook of
the fall.... The earth is now growing old. Soon it is to be changed and
brought back very largely to the condition in which it was found before
man transgressed in the Garden of Eden and brought upon himself and the
earth the temporal change. In this changed condition, which is shortly
to take place, the earth will endure for one thousand years as a
terrestrial sphere in purity and sanctification."
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