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According to Mormon doctrine, when Christ was resurrected, so were many of the saints that had died:

"And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many." (Matthew 27:52–53)

"Verily I say unto you, I commanded my servant Samuel, the Lamanite, that he should testify unto this people, that at the day that the Father should glorify his name in me that there were many saints who should arise from the dead, and should appear unto many, and should minister unto them. And he said unto them: Was it not so?" (3 Nephi 23:13)

Is it safe to assume that all the prophets that died before Christ were resurrected at this time? And that Adam (Michael), and Noah (Gabriel), and John the Baptist, etc., all have resurrected bodies now?

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    How do you claim that Adam = Michael and Noah = Gabriel?
    – user17640
    Dec 18, 2014 at 1:33
  • @31415926 - It's been revealed by modern day prophets, throught revelation, that those Angels were born to earth as the prophets Adam and Noah. You can find out more on LDS.org
    – ShemSeger
    Dec 18, 2014 at 2:48

2 Answers 2

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I would say it is not safe to assume they are not, but I think we only know for sure of John the Baptist, Peter and James as having resurrected bodies, for the reason that they layed their hands on Joseph Smith's and Oliver Cowdery's heads to transfer the priesthood (see D&C 13).

A scripture that seems to indicate most, if not all, ancient prophets and many others are also resurrected is

D&C 138:50-53

50 For the dead had looked upon the long absence of their spirits from their bodies as a bondage.

51 These the Lord taught, and gave them power to come forth, after his resurrection from the dead, to enter into his Father’s kingdom, there to be crowned with immortality and eternal life,

52 And continue thenceforth their labor as had been promised by the Lord, and be partakers of all blessings which were held in reserve for them that love him.

Just for reference, the bible also speaks of resurrection of saints together with Jesus,

Matthew 27:52-53

52 And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose,

53 And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many.

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  • John doesn't have a resurrected body, he was transfigured to live until the second coming.
    – ShemSeger
    Dec 4, 2014 at 14:59
  • @ShemSeger Ok, granted. I delete him then
    – kutschkem
    Dec 4, 2014 at 15:07
  • What happened to the saints? Did they go back to their graves? Willingly? Dec 4, 2014 at 18:17
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    @gideonmarx Jesus didn't go back to his grave either, are you trying to troll? Look here for a question regarding the resurrected saints: christianity.stackexchange.com/questions/9246/…
    – kutschkem
    Dec 5, 2014 at 8:41
  • We also know that Abraham has a resurrected, exalted body -- so even though the scriptures don't mention Gabriel and Michael by name as being resurrected (that I know of), they most probably have been by now.
    – Matt
    Dec 21, 2014 at 16:44
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The main reason it says "many" rather than all is because some were called to remain as missionaries in the spirit world (See D&C 138:30-31). So beyond those we know are resurrected (such as 'Abraham' who is already exalted - see D&C 132:29), we can only speculate. It is safe to assume given the passages quoted that not all these 'Old Testament' saints were resurrected at this time.

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