Why Adam-ondi-Ahman is sacred
Lorenzo D. Barnes gave these 5 reasons why Adam-ondi-Ahman is sacred:
1. It was the cradle of civilization, where motal family life began, and it the home of Adam and Eve, where Adam began to till the earth and rear a family. (Genesis 3: 23-24 and Moses 5:1-2)
2. It was Adams home. Because of Adams role, with statue and power second only to Christ, he sat in the council of the gods in planning and creating as Micheal(Abraham 3:22-24) he let the righteous in the war in heaven(Revelations 12:7-9); he brought mortality and death ot men on earth as part of the gospel dispensation; and he restored keys to Joseph Smith (Doctrine and Covenants 128:21)
3. It is where the fullness of the gospel was first taught to man. (Moses 5:57-59)
4. It is where Adam offered sacrifices and an angel appeared(Moses 5:5-8)
5. It is where Adam gave his last blessing to his posterity(Doctrine and Covenants 107: 53-57)
(Sacred Places p 381)
Visiting Adam-ondi-Ahman
Adam-ondi-Ahman is huge! The area is thousands of acres. When we were there, we were the only people around and it is very quiet. When we went to see Adam-ondi-Ahman I expected more information around the are, like the importance of this sacred place, and what happened in the past in this location. There was maybe 10 sign posts total, and no one around to ask questions. Right before we went to leave, a car of senior missionaries showed us and they had a little more information on the area, which really helped, but we still left with a million questions. Hopefully our journey of learning will help others, we have broken down Adam-ondi-Ahman into multiple blog posts, that we will link at the bottom.
Sites at Adam-ondi-Ahman
There are three sites at Adam-ondi-Ahamn.
Tower Hill: Tower Hill is the hill adjoining Spring Hill, Church leaders called the area Spring Hill before the prophet Joseph Smith named it Adam-Ondi-Ahman. This is recorded in the shortest revelation in Doctrine and Covenants 116:
"Spring Hill is named by the Lord Adam-ondi-Ahman because, said he, it is the place where Adame shall come to visit his people, or the Anient of Days shall sit."
Tower and Altar at Adam-ondi-Ahman
Tower Hill, the was named by the prophet Joseph Smith when he was in the are staying with Lyman Wight. The prophet saw the hill and went to the top of the hill and found a pile of rocks. Joseph Smith said this pile of rocks were once an alter it looked as though it said "in consequence of the remains of an old Nephitish altar and Tower".
Recordings say "Nephitish Altar or Tower" was on the "highest point of the bluff" "at the point of the hill that formed a curvature" and "on a high mountain".
When the tower was first located by the Prophet Joseph Smith, it was composed of a loose pile of rocks on and in a mound of mixed dirt and rocks. The mound was about 36 feet in diameter and about 36 inches higher than the surrounding ground level. Some of the rocks appeared reddish as a result of burning and were scattered sometime in piles about two feet deep on top of the mound. The Saints also "supposed there had been an ancient city of the Niphites".
There are two accounts one by Oliver B. Huntington and one by Orange Wight of Diahman, that specify that the Tower was separate from the "Alter Site", but other than those two accounts no one else recorded that the Altar of Adam was different than that pile of stones. So, in addition to that pile of rocks being a Niphitish Altar or burial mound it is the site of Adams Altar. It was built after Adam was cast from the Garden of Eden.
B.H. Roberts said this about this altar:
"It was at this altar, according to the testimony of Joseph Smith, that the patriarchs associated with Adam and his company, assembled to worship their God. Here their evening and morning prayer ascended to heaven with the smoke of the burning sacrifice, prophetic and symbolic of the greater sacrifice yet to be, and here angels instructed them in heavenly truths."
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