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."