The knowledge of good and evil
is a knowledge of opposites. Brigham Young taught the importance
of experiencing opposites:
"The reason of our being
made subject to sin and misery, pain, woe, and death, is,
that we may become acquainted with the opposites of happiness
and pleasure. The absence of light brings darkness, and
darkness an appreciation of light; pain an appreciation
of ease and comfort; and ignorance, falsehood, folly, and
sin, in comparison with wisdom, knowledge, righteousness,
and truth, make the latter the more desirable to mankind.
Facts are made apparent to the human mind by their opposites.
We find ourselves surrounded in this mortality by an almost
endless combination of opposites, through which we must
pass to gain experience and information to fit us for an
eternal progression" (Journal of Discourses,
11:42).
Likewise, Elder Orson Pratt
said:
"Suppose you had never
tasted anything that was sweet--never had the sensation
of sweetness--could you have any correct idea of the term
sweetness? No. On the other hand, how could you understand
bitter if you never had tasted bitterness? Could you define
the term to them who had experienced this sensation, or
knew it? No... The tree of knowledge of good and evil was
placed there that man might gain certain information he
never could have gained otherwise; by partaking of the forbidden
fruit he experienced misery, then he knew that he was once
happy, previously he could not comprehend what happiness
meant, what good was; but now he knows it by contrast, now
he is filled with sorrow and wretchedness, now he sees the
difference between his former and present condition, and
if by any means he could be restored to his first position,
he would be prepared to realize it, like the man that never
had seen the light"(Journal of Discourses,
1:285-286).
Negative Consequences
The negative side of all this
is that the acquirement of knowledge of good and evil brings
dire consequences both in mortality and
in eternity. Enoch taught: "Because of that Adam fell,
we are; and by his fall came death; and we are made partakers
of misery and woe. Behold Satan hath come among the children
of men, and tempteth them to worship him; and men have become
carnal, sensual, and devilish, and are shut out from the
presence of God" (Moses 6: 49).
The Book of Mormon confirmed
this saying that the Fall of Adam brought upon Adam, Eve,
and "all mankind a spiritual death as well as a temporal,
that is, they were cut off from the presence of the Lord"
(Alma 42:7,9; see also 2 Nephi 2:21; 9:6; Mosiah 16:3; Alma
12:22; 22:12; Helaman 14:16; Mormon 9:12). Together these
two deaths comprise what the Book of Mormon calls the "first
death" (2 Nephi 9:15; Alma 11:45; Helaman 14:16). Mormon
also called it "the curse of Adam" (Moroni 8:8).
With the fall the physical
nature of Adam and Eve changed. In the garden, Adam and
Eve were in a deathless state. Because of the fall, their
bodies became mortal, subject to all of the ills and imperfections
of mortality. This mortal condition continued with their
children.
Because of this, little children
are born into a fallen condition. Elder Orson Pratt explained
further: "Spirits, though pure and innocent, before
they entered the body, would become contaminated by entering
a fallen tabernacle; not contaminated by their own sins,
but by their connection with a body brought into the world
by the fall, earthly, fallen, imperfect, and corrupt in
its nature. A spirit, having entered such a tabernacle,
though it may commit no personal sin, is unfit to return
again into the presence of a holy Being..."("The
Pre-existence of Man," The Seer, Vol. 1, No.
7, [July, 1853]. Republished by Eugene Wagner, Salt Lake
City, p. 98)
This teaching is not to be
confused with the theory of original sin espoused
by many Christian theologians wherein the total depravity
of man is inborn.(For an explanation of original sin, see
Bruce R. McConkie, Mormon Doctrine [Salt Lake City:
Bookcraft, 1966], 550; and Byron R. Merrill, "Original
Sin," Encyclopedia of Mormonism, 3:1052-1053.)
The spiritual death of Adam
and Eve was dramatically symbolized by Adam and Eve's expulsion
from the Garden of Eden. After leaving the garden, "cherubim
and a flaming sword" were placed at the entrance of
the garden (Moses 4:31) to physically stop Adam and Eve
(and their posterity) from coming into the presence of God
and partaking of the tree of life (Moses 5:4) and, as made
clear in the Book of Mormon, thus living forever with the
consequences of the knowledge of good and evil (Alma 12:26-27;
42:3-5).
The cherubim represent the
justice of God that will not allow unworthy beings to come
into his presence (the same symbol or metaphor as the river
of filthy water in Lehi's dream of the tree of life — 1
Nephi 8:13-26; 12:18). They are what Brigham Young taught,
"the angels who stand as sentinels" guarding the
way "to the presence of the Father"(Brigham Young,
Journal of Discourses 2:31; also Discourses
of Brigham Young, Compiled by John A. Widtsoe,. [Salt
Lake City: Deseret Book, 1978] p. 416; Teachings of
Presidents of the Church: Brigham Young [Published
by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1997],
p. 302).
The Need for the Atonement
The scriptural account records
that after Adam and Eve were driven from the garden, they
"began to till the earth, and to have dominion over
all the beasts of the field, and to eat [their] bread by
the sweat of [their] brow." Further, "Adam knew
his wife, and she bare unto him sons and daughters, and
they began to multiply and to replenish the earth. And from
that time forth, the sons and daughters of Adam began to
divide two and two in the land, and to till the land, and
to tend flocks, and they also begat sons and daughters"
(Moses 5:1-3).
Though much time and energy
were spent in eking out a life for themselves and their
children in that virgin world, Adam and Eve had not forgotten
God. They must have felt the pangs of their fallen condition.
Being expelled from the presence of God must have at times
been overwhelming. They must have wondered what they could
do to return back into God's presence.
We are told that "Adam
and Eve, his wife, called upon the name of the Lord, and
they heard the voice of the Lord from the way toward the
Garden of Eden, speaking unto them, and they saw him not;
for they were shut out from his presence" (Moses 5:4).
Though we are not specifically told what they prayed for,
the account tells us that the Lord told them to "worship
the Lord their God" and to "offer the firstlings
of their flocks, for an offering unto the Lord." Adam
responded obediently by offering sacrifices to God (Moses
5:5).
Through the offering "of
the firstlings of their flocks," Adam was introduced
to the atonement of Jesus Christ. The account reads: "And
after many days an angel of the Lord appeared unto Adam,
saying: Why dost thou offer sacrifices unto the Lord? And
Adam said unto him: I know not, save the Lord commanded
me. And then the angel spake, saying: This thing is a similitude
of the sacrifice of the Only Begotten of the Father, which
is full of grace and truth" (Moses 5:6-7). Adam and
Eve were taught that acceptance back into the presence of
God would be possible only through the atoning sacrifice
of Jesus Christ.
The things taught Adam were
accompanied by the witness of the Holy Ghost: "And
in that day the Holy Ghost fell upon Adam, which beareth
record of the Father and the Son, saying: I am the Only
Begotten of the Father from the beginning, henceforth and
forever, that as thou hast fallen thou mayest be redeemed,
and all mankind, even as many as will" (Moses 5:9).
Difference Between Adam's
Fall and Individual Sins
Adam was taught that the atonement
would be made effective for each person through the exercise
of faith, repentance, and reception of the Holy Ghost (Moses
5:8; 6:51-52). Adam was confused. The only way to initiate
mortality was by eating the forbidden fruit. Why must there
be an atonement made for something that he was supposed
to do? So he asked, "Why is it that men must repent
and be baptized in water? (Moses 6:53)
Atonement for Adam's Fall
In response the Lord first
said: "Behold I have forgiven thee thy transgression
in the Garden of Eden" (Moses 6:51-53). Adam and Eve
had acted appropriately in the garden by eating
the fruit thus opening the way for God's children to come
to mortality. However, eating the fruit brought upon Adam,
Eve, and all mankind, mortal and eternal consequences. An
atonement must be made in order to free man from these consequences.
Orson Pratt taught of the role of the Christ's atonement
in freeing man from the consequences of Adam's fall:
"We believe that through
the sufferings, death, and atonement of Jesus Christ all
mankind, without one exception, are to be completely and
fully redeemed, both body and spirit, from the endless banishment
and curse to which they were consigned by Adam's transgression;
and that this universal salvation and redemption of the
whole human family from the endless penalty of the original
sin, is effected without any conditions whatever on their
part; that is, they are not required to believe or repent,
or be baptized, or do anything else, in order to be redeemed
from that penalty; for whether they believe or disbelieve,
whether they repent or remain impenitent, whether they are
baptized or unbaptized, whether they keep the commandments
or break them, whether they are righteous or unrighteous,
it will make no difference in relation to their redemption,
both soul and body, from the penalty of Adam's transgression."
(Remarkable Visions (No pub. nor date), 12.)
Because of Christ's atonement
for Adam's transgression, the Lord forgave them unconditionally
for their transgression in the garden: Adam and Eve did
not need to repent of their eating of the forbidden fruit.
"Hence came the saying abroad among the people, that
the Son of God hath atoned for original guilt [Adam's transgression
in the garden]" (Moses 6:54).
Atonement for Individual
Sins
The Lord then explained why
men have need of repentance and baptism: "Inasmuch
as thy children are conceived in sin, even so when they
begin to grow up, sin conceiveth in their hearts, and they
taste the bitter, that they may know to prize the good"
(Moses 6:55). The meaning of this statement is clear when
the following is understood: Though Adam's transgression
in the garden was unconditionally forgiven, the consequences
of his transgression would have lasting effects upon all
mankind.
>With the Fall, the physical
nature of Adam and Eve changed. They became mortal or natural,
subject to all the ills of mortality including the capacity
to sin. This mortal condition would be passed on to their
posterity. Of this, Elder Bruce R. McConkie wrote: "The
natural birth creates a natural man, and the natural man
is an enemy to God. In his fallen state he is carnal, sensual,
and devilish by nature. Appetites and passions govern his
life and he is alive — acutely so — to all that is evil
and wicked in the world"(A New Witness for the
Articles of Faith [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1985],
p. 282).
Further, the world into which
Adam's posterity would be born is a sinful world where men
have become "carnal sensual and devilish" (Moses
5:13). Therefore, the enticement of sin will be continually
before Adam's posterity. Being born in a natural body and
into a sinful world, Adam's posterity would thus be "conceived
in sin." In such a condition, when they begin to grow
up, sin conceiveth in their hearts, and they taste the bitter,
that they may know to prize the good."
When this happens, each person
suffers a personal fall, doomed to endure the eternal consequences
of their own actions. Though man is not responsible for
Adam's fall, they are accountable for their own actions
while in mortality. (This is the meaning of the second Article
of Faith: "We believe that men will be punished for
their own sins, and not for Adam's transgression" —
see Joseph Fielding Smith, Doctrines of Salvation,
2:49.)
Orson Pratt taught that the
"universal redemption from the effects of original
sin, has nothing to do with redemption from our personal
sins; for the original sin of Adam, and the personal sins
of his children, are two different things" (Journal
of Discourses, 1:329). The atonement for the fall of
Adam will not save each man from his personal sins. An individual
atonement is required. Thus a modern revelation states that
the mission of Christ was to redeem "mankind from the
fall, and from individual sins" (D&C 138:19).
Adam and the Ordinances
of the Priesthood
Adam learned that the atonement
for personal sin is conditional! He was taught
that Christ's atonement for personal sin would become effective
only after an individual exercises faith in Christ,
repents of his sins, and enters into the priesthood ordinances
outlined by the Lord (see Moses 6:58-68).
Desiring to overcome his personal
spiritual fall, Adam entered into the ordinances prescribed
by the Lord. The scriptural account gives this description
of the ordinances: "He was baptized, and the Spirit
of God descended upon him, and thus he was born of the Spirit,
and became quickened in the inner man." After being
baptized and receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, he entered
into "the order of him who was without beginning of
days or end of years, from all eternity to all eternity"
(Moses 6:64-67).
What was the "order"
that Adam entered into? President Ezra Taft Benson explained:
"When our Heavenly Father
placed Adam and Eve on this earth, He did so with the purpose
in mind of teaching them how to regain His presence. Our
Father promised a Savior to redeem them from their fallen
condition. He gave them the plan of salvation and told them
to teach their children faith in Jesus Christ and repentance.
Further, Adam and his posterity were commanded by God to
be baptized, to receive the Holy Ghost, and to enter into
the order of the Son of God. (See Moses 6.) To enter into
the order of the Son of God is the equivalent today of entering
into the fulness of the Melchizedek Priesthood, which is
only received in the house of the Lord." ("What
I Hope You Will Teach Your Children About the Temple,"
Ensign, Aug. 1985, p. 8)
Becoming Sons of God
Because Adam had received these
ordinances, the Lord said: "Thou art after the order
of him who was without beginning of days or end of years,
from all eternity to all eternity." He then said: "Behold,
thou art one in me, a son of God; and thus may all become
my sons." (Moses 6:67-68). This statement teaches that
having passed through the ordinances of the priesthood,
Adam was called a son of God! Further, all could become
sons of God in the same way.
But are we not taught that
we are already sons and daughters of God? Why would we have
to go through priesthood ordinances to become what we already
are? The answer: when one is called "a son of God,"
it means he or she is entitled to inherit all the Father
has. But because of the Fall of Adam, each person born into
the world has inherited a fallen, mortal condition. As such,
they have lost their inheritance as a child of God and are
subject instead to inherit the misery of their fallen condition.
In order to escape this fate
and receive the fulness of the Kingdom of God, each person
must be re-inherited by becoming a "son of God"
again. The Lord declared: "I say unto you, that as
many as receive me, to them will I give power to become
the sons of God" (D&C 11:30; see also, 3 Ne. 9:17;
Moroni 7:26, 48; D&C 34:3; 35:2; 45:8; Moses 7:1). The
power to become sons of God is obtained by receiving all
the priesthood ordinances of the gospel by which men become
adopted into the family of God (see Bruce R. McConkie, Mormon
Doctrine, 2nd ed., rev. (Salt Lake City: Bookcraft,
1966), p. 394).
