Mormonism and the Return of Christ

In Missouri, Mormons see Adam’s fall after Garden of Eden and Jesus’ return

Jose Rangel got out of his minivan and stretched before helping his elderly mother from the passenger seat. Rangel's wife and children spilled out of the side door into the manicured parking lot. What could be a scene from any American family's summer visit to a state park was actually a spiritual pilgrimage. The Rangels were at Adam-ondi-Ahman, a mysterious plot of land 70 miles north of Kansas City that is owned and maintained as a sacred site by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

"This place is very important to the church," said Rangel, who had brought his mother to the site while she was visiting from Mexico. "When Jesus Christ comes for the second time, this is where he's going to come."

"And," Rangel's daughter Nefertiti, 15, added, "this is where it all started."

Mormons believe that in June 1838, Smith received a revelation from God that this Mormon farming settlement of between 500 and 1,000 was to be called Adam-ondi-Ahman -- a translation from "the original language spoken by Adam," according to the church, that means, "Valley of God, where Adam dwelt."

Church doctrine makes reference to the place as the site where Adam and Eve went after God banished them from the Garden of Eden. It's also regarded as a gathering place for the faithful at the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.

Today, many Mormons say they give Adam-ondi-Ahman little thought. Columbia University scholar and practicing Mormon Richard Bushman even calls it "Mormon lore." And yet, many Mormons believe this plot of land has been used by outsiders to cast Mormonism as weird. There's even a Missouri Garden of Eden reference in the hit Broadway musical "The Book of Mormon," which pokes gentle fun at elements of the faith.

Portrayals of Mormonism that gravitate toward the edges of the faith's doctrine are rooted in human nature, some scholars say. We are more drawn to the unusual and exotic than to the normal and bland. A Missouri Garden of Eden is more interesting than traditional belief in Jesus Christ.

http://www.religionnews.com/faith/beliefs/In-rural-Missouri-Mormons-see-Adams-fall-after-Garden-of-Eden-and-Jesus

[TBC: Traditional belief or not, the question remains: "What do the Scriptures say?" Zechariah:14:4And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south.
See All... tells us, "And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south."]