Here is my outline for my lesson on the Fall of Adam And Eve. I have only used quotes from apostles and Prophets. I didn't want there to be any hesitancy, and I didn't want to speculate. I don't feel this is a gospel topic that people really should speculate about. If you have any questions, you can email me(email address is on the sidebar) or leave a comment. I would love to share other things that I have but am very hesitant to share it on the blog. If you are interested in other material, drop me a line. I got most of my material from my old stake president and a CES teacher. Enjoy!
Modern Revelation and the Fall
Mainstream Christianity Views Adam and Eve as villains, but what insights do we gain from Modern Revelation?
1. The importance of the doctrine of the Fall
Christians (and even Muslims) know the story of the Fall of Adam. However, their views of the fall differ greatly from the beliefs that we as Latter-day Saints hold. We are going to discuss (please discuss, ask questions) some of the areas where our beliefs differ from the commonly held beliefs and why understanding these differences are of fundamental importance in understanding the Plan of Salvation.
QUOTE 1
God himself, the Father of us all, ordained and established a plan of salvation whereby his spirit children might advance and progress and become like him. It is the gospel of God, the plan of Eternal Elohim, the system that saves and exalts, and it consists of three things. These three are the very pillars of eternity itself. They are the most important events that ever have or will occur in all eternity. They are the Creation, the Fall, and the
1 Pillars of Eternity Quotes
1. Quote 2
2. Quote 3 Fall – “But, be it remembered, the
3. Quote 4 Creation – “And be it also remembered that the Fall was made possible because an infinite Creator…made the earth and man and all forms of life in such a state that they could fall…thus was introduced the type and kind of existence needed to put into operation all of the terms and conditions of the Father’s eternal plan of salvation.” McConkie
2. The nature of Adam and Eve
A. Who are Adam and Eve? What do we know about their pre-mortal condition?
a. Manual Pg 27 paragraph 2
B. What insight does this provide?
a. They were the noblest of Father’s Children
b. They were given the honor of bringing mortality into the world. They were the best Heavenly Father had to offer.
3. Two Commandments
A. If it was God’s plan that Adam and Eve were to stay in the garden then why would God plant a tree that, by partaking from, would get Adam and Eve expelled from the Garden?
a. Quote 5 The Lord said to Adam, here is the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If you want to stay here then don’t partake of the fruit. If you want to stay here then I forbid you to eat of this fruit. Mortality was initiated through the eating of the forbidden fruit, if you want to call it forbidden, but I think the Lord made it clear that it was not forbidden. In order to comply with the great plan of happiness, Adam had Eve were forbidden to stay in the Garden of Paradise. Adam could not multiply until he had partaken of the fruit of this particular tree and brought upon himself mortality, which was inevitable and necessary in the great plan of salvation. And in fact the Lord forbade Adam and Eve to stay in Eden. He merely said to Adam, if you want to stay here, this is the situation. But you may act for yourself and you may eat of it if you want. If you desire to stay in the Garden of Eden, I forbid you to eat it. Joseph Fielding Smith, Address given at the Salt Lake Institute of Religion, 14 Jan 1961
b. The Tree of Knowledge was given to provide opposition and allow man to have agency (2 Nephi 2:11-12,15-16)
B. Why was having children so important
a. Allow all of God’s children to receive bodies and then ultimately exaltation
b. By having children it increases our chances for sorrow and also for happiness
4. Innocent not Ignorant
A. Adam and Eve were Innocent
B. They were not ignorant, they knew the plan
a. Quote 6 These terrible risks of sorrow and death were facts Adam and Eve were willing to face in order that “men might be”. But they – like us – were able and willing to venture these only with the knowledge that there would be safety at the end of the day for those who wanted it and lived for it. They were willing to transgress knowingly and consciously (the only way they could “fall” into the consequences of mortality, insamuch 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. As Adam would later say, “Blessed by the name of God, for because of my transgression my eyes are opened, and in this life I shall have joy, and again in the flesh I shall see God. Jeffrey R. Holland, Christ and the New Covenant, p 202-203
C. Partaking of the fruit was a conscious decision
a. Satan thought that he was destroying the plan, but he “knew not the mind of God” (Moses 4:6)
5. Blessings of the Fall
A. Mainstream Christianity doesn’t see fall as a blessing
a. Adam and Eve saw their fall as a blessing (Moses 5:10-11)
B. They could have kids, all mankind could partake of salvation
C. They could know good and evil, experience the opposition
D. They could progress and achieve salvation
E. Agency and Accountability (2Nephi 2:27)
A. Who are Adam and Eve? What do we know about their pre-mortal condition?
a. Manual Pg 27 paragraph 2
B. What insight does this provide?
a. They were the noblest of Father’s Children
b. They were given the honor of bringing mortality into the world. They were the best Heavenly Father had to offer.
3. Two Commandments
A. If it was God’s plan that Adam and Eve were to stay in the garden then why would God plant a tree that, by partaking from, would get Adam and Eve expelled from the Garden?
a. Quote 5 The Lord said to Adam, here is the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If you want to stay here then don’t partake of the fruit. If you want to stay here then I forbid you to eat of this fruit. Mortality was initiated through the eating of the forbidden fruit, if you want to call it forbidden, but I think the Lord made it clear that it was not forbidden. In order to comply with the great plan of happiness, Adam had Eve were forbidden to stay in the Garden of Paradise. Adam could not multiply until he had partaken of the fruit of this particular tree and brought upon himself mortality, which was inevitable and necessary in the great plan of salvation. And in fact the Lord forbade Adam and Eve to stay in Eden. He merely said to Adam, if you want to stay here, this is the situation. But you may act for yourself and you may eat of it if you want. If you desire to stay in the Garden of Eden, I forbid you to eat it. Joseph Fielding Smith, Address given at the Salt Lake Institute of Religion, 14 Jan 1961
b. The Tree of Knowledge was given to provide opposition and allow man to have agency (2 Nephi 2:11-12,15-16)
B. Why was having children so important
a. Allow all of God’s children to receive bodies and then ultimately exaltation
b. By having children it increases our chances for sorrow and also for happiness
4. Innocent not Ignorant
A. Adam and Eve were Innocent
B. They were not ignorant, they knew the plan
a. Quote 6 These terrible risks of sorrow and death were facts Adam and Eve were willing to face in order that “men might be”. But they – like us – were able and willing to venture these only with the knowledge that there would be safety at the end of the day for those who wanted it and lived for it. They were willing to transgress knowingly and consciously (the only way they could “fall” into the consequences of mortality, insamuch 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. As Adam would later say, “Blessed by the name of God, for because of my transgression my eyes are opened, and in this life I shall have joy, and again in the flesh I shall see God. Jeffrey R. Holland, Christ and the New Covenant, p 202-203
C. Partaking of the fruit was a conscious decision
a. Satan thought that he was destroying the plan, but he “knew not the mind of God” (Moses 4:6)
5. Blessings of the Fall
A. Mainstream Christianity doesn’t see fall as a blessing
a. Adam and Eve saw their fall as a blessing (Moses 5:10-11)
B. They could have kids, all mankind could partake of salvation
C. They could know good and evil, experience the opposition
D. They could progress and achieve salvation
E. Agency and Accountability (2Nephi 2:27)
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