Man. All mankind was “in the beginning with God” (D&C 93:29). Joseph Smith taught “the mind or intelligence which man possesses is co-equal with God himself…. There never was a time when there were not spirits; for they are co-equal with our Father in heaven” (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 353). When editing this sermon, Church historian B. H. Roberts said the word co-equal should read co-eternal and blames the discrepancy on the stenographer’s reporting. Brigham Young stated, “It is fully proved in all the revelations that God has ever given to mankind that they naturally love and admire righteousness, justice and truth more than they do evil” (Journal of Discourses 9:305).

In the Bible, man had his beginning on the sixth day of creation. His disobedience in the Garden of Eden caused man to take on a sinful nature. Romans 3:11-18 describes man as one who is in rebellion against God. “There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God…. Their throat is an open sepulchre…. Whose mouth is full of cursing…. Whose feet are swift to shed blood…. There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

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