The Fall of Adam & Eve

The Three Pillars of Eternity

Moses 4

Moses 4:1-6 Before the story of the Fall unfolds we are introduced to Satan (crucial context for the story of fallen man).

“Lucifer sought to dethrone God, to sit himself on the divine throne, and to save all men without reference to their works. He sought to deny men their agency so they could not sin. He offered a mortal life of carnality and sensuality, of evil and crime and murder, following which all men would be saved…. Bruce R. McConkie Quorum of the Twelve (The Millennial Messiah, p.666)

“Lucifer and his lieutenants preached another gospel, a gospel of fear and hate and lasciviousness and compulsion. They sought salvation without keeping the commandments, without overcoming the world, without choosing between opposites.” Bruce R. McConkie Quorum of the Twelve (The Millennial Messiah, p.666)

“Satan (it is possible) being opposed to the will of his Father, wished to avoid the responsibilities of this position [redeemer], and rather than assume the consequences of the acceptance of the plan of the Father, he would deprive man of his … agency, and render it impossible for him to obtain that exaltation which God designed. John Taylor President (Mediation and Atonement [1882], pp )

he probably intended to make men atone for their own acts by an act of coercion, and the shedding of their own blood as an atonement for their sins “It would further seem probable that he refused to take the position of redeemer, and assume all the consequences associated therewith, but he did propose, as stated before, to take another plan and deprive man of his agency, and he probably intended to make men atone for their own acts by an act of coercion, and the shedding of their own blood as an atonement for their sins.” John Taylor President (Mediation and Atonement [1882], pp )

Why the Fall? To Enable Procreation To Introduce Opposites (evil, misery, death, ect. in the right way)

we had to have the evil “Now… we had to have not only just the good but we had to have the evil in order that we could choose between the two. Now you think about that for a moment. If everything were good in the world and there were none evil, would you be able to choose anything but good? Harold B. Lee President (Teachings of the Presidents of the Church, Harold B. Lee, 13-14)

the only way there could be … agency in the individuals who live upon this earth is to have both the good and the bad and each one of us given the opportunity to choose for ourselves “If everything were evil in the world, if there wasn’t any good to choose, could you choose anything else but evil? When you think about it for a moment, the only way there could be … agency in the individuals who live upon this earth is to have both the good and the bad and each one of us given the opportunity to choose for ourselves.” Harold B. Lee President (Teachings of the Presidents of the Church, Harold B. Lee, 13-14)

The Event of the Fall

Two Conflicting Commands?

Now this is the way I interpret [Moses 3:16-17]: The Lord said to Adam, “Here is the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. If you want to stay here, then you cannot eat of that fruit. If you want to stay here, then I forbid you to eat it. But you may act for yourself, and you may eat it if you want to. And if you eat it, you will die.” Joseph Fielding Smith Quorum of the Twelve (“Fall—Atonement— Resurrection—Sacrament,” in Charge to Religious Educators, 2nd ed. [1982], 124)

“Adam and Eve... were willing to transgress knowingly and consciously (the only way they could "fall" into the consequences of mortality, inasmuch as Elohim certainly could not force innocent parties out of the garden and still be a just God) only because they had a full knowledge of the plan of salvation, which would provide for them a way back from their struggle with death and hell.” Jeffrey R. Holland Quorum of the Twelve (Christ and the New Covenant, p )

Elohim certainly could not force innocent parties out of the garden and still be a just God “Adam and Eve... were willing to transgress knowingly and consciously (the only way they could "fall" into the consequences of mortality, inasmuch as Elohim certainly could not force innocent parties out of the garden and still be a just God) only because they had a full knowledge of the plan of salvation, which would provide for them a way back from their struggle with death and hell.” Jeffrey R. Holland Quorum of the Twelve (Christ and the New Covenant, p )

it was necessary that sin should enter into the world “Some may regret that our first parents sinned. This is nonsense…. I will not blame Adam or Eve, why? Because it was necessary that sin should enter into the world; no man could ever understand the principle of exaltation without its opposite; no one could ever receive an exaltation without being acquainted with its opposite.” Brigham Young (Discourses of Brigham Young, p.103)

they were ordained of God to do what they did, and it was therefore expected that they would eat of the forbidden fruit “Adam and Eve came to this world to perform exactly the part that they acted in the Garden of Eden; and I will say, they were ordained of God to do what they did, and it was therefore expected that they would eat of the forbidden fruit in order that man might know both good and evil by passing through this school of experience which this life affords us.” Wilford Woodruff (Journal of Discourses, 23:125)

The Effects of the Fall

 To Eden To Eternal Life  “When Adam fell, it was as if the human race had fallen into a pit, from which they were powerless, by any act of their own, to emerge; having no means whereby to climb up and out, and not even knowing how to climb [or that they even need to]….

 To Eden To Eternal Life 

 To Eden To Eternal Life  What is our common inheritance in “the pit” of mortality? Moses 6:48-49 We will all Die Partake of Misery & Woe Satan is here Temptations abound Carnal, Sensual, Devilish Shut Out from God

The Natural Man is… Carnal: not spiritual; inclined toward worldly things Sensual: seeks to please and gratify the physical senses. Devilish: inclined to do evil. God’s Commandments not natural neither carnal nor sensual “My commandments are spiritual; they are not natural nor temporal, neither carnal nor sensual.” (D&C 29:35) Vs.

Vs. The Holy Ghost Entices our Spirit Satan Entices our Flesh Internal Battle (Built-in Opposition)

Repentance requires spiritual dominion over appetites of the flesh.... Whenever we allow uncontrolled appetites of the body to determine behavior opposed to nobler promptings of the Spirit, the stage is set for misery and grief. Russell M. Nelson Quorum of the Twelve (BYU Speeches, 29 March 1987)

The precise nature of the test of mortality, then, can be summarized in the following two questions: 1.Will my body rule over my spirit, or will my spirit rule over my body? 2.Will I yield to the enticings of the natural man or to the eternal man? That, brothers and sisters, is the test. We are here on the earth to develop godlike qualities and to learn to bridle all of the passions of the flesh (Alma 38:12). David A. Bednar (Ricks College Devotional January 11, 2000)

“The men and women, who desire to obtain seats in the celestial kingdom, will find that they must battle every day.” Brigham Young (Discourses of Brigham Young, p.392)

The Fall & the Problem of Evil

“If God is good and all powerful, why does He permit so much human suffering? Why does He allow so much evil to be in the world he created?”

“We cannot say that [God] would like to help but cannot: God is omnipotent. We cannot say that he would help if he only knew: God is omniscient. We cannot say that he is not responsible for the wickedness of others: God creates those others. Indeed an omnipotent, omniscient God [who creates all things absolutely—i.e., out of nothing] must be an accessor before (and during) the fact to every human misdeed; as well as being responsible for every non-moral defect in the universe.” (Antony Flew, “Theology and Falsification,” New Essays in Philosophical Theology [London: SCM Press, 1955])

Jeffrey R. Holland Quorum of the Twelve (Christ and the New Covenant, p.203) “In doing so [falling], Adam and Eve answered forever the plaintive question that is so often heard: ‘If there is a God, why is there so much suffering in the world?’ The answer to that is we now live in a fallen world filled with opposites, a world in which God is the most powerful but decidedly not the only spiritual influence. As part of the doctrine of opposition, Satan is also at work in the world, and we knew before we came here that he would bring grief and anguish with him.

Jeffrey R. Holland Quorum of the Twelve (Christ and the New Covenant, p.203) “Nevertheless, we (through Adam and Eve) made the conscious choice to live in and endure this mortal sphere of opposition in all things, for only through such an experience was godly progress possible. Adam and Eve—and we—knowingly and lovingly absolved God of the responsibility for the ‘thorns and thistles’ of a fallen world that was personally chosen by us, not capriciously imposed by him.

Jeffrey R. Holland Quorum of the Twelve (Christ and the New Covenant, p.203) “We wanted the chance to become like our heavenly parents, to face suffering and overcome it, to endure sorrow and still live rejoicingly, to confront good and evil and be strong enough to choose the good. In this telestial, mortal world filled with competing voices, enticements, and experiences, we get a lifetime of opportunity to refine and strengthen these virtues.”

Temple Implications?

The Presence of God (Celestial)

Paradisiacal State (Terrestrial)

Lone and Dreary World (Telestial)

End