Knowing Good and Evil

[Traveler]

What is the difference between good and evil? And why must man have a mortal (fallen) experience in order to know that difference?

The Traveler

[prisonchaplain]

What is the difference between good and evil? And why must man have a mortal (fallen) experience in order to know that difference?

The Traveler

Disobeying God is evil, and in order for Adam & Eve to know disobedience they had to disobey. There was no one else's example for them to observe. IMHO, the only power in the forbidden fruit was that consuming it was the act that led to the knowledge.

[Misshalfway]

Opposition in all things, baby!

[wsvirtue]

Evil is bad. Good is good. Any questions? Read the Bible.

[Guest tomk]

What is the difference between good and evil? And why must man have a mortal (fallen) experience in order to know that difference?

The Traveler

Moro. 7: 11, 16-17, 19, 22, 24-26

11 For behold, a bitter fountain cannot bring forth good water; neither can a good fountain bring forth bitter water; wherefore, a man being a servant of the devil cannot follow Christ; and if he follow Christ he cannot be a servant of the devil.

• • •

16 For behold, the Spirit of Christ is given to every man, that he may know good from evil; wherefore, I show unto you the way to judge; for every thing which inviteth to do good, and to persuade to believe in Christ, is sent forth by the power and gift of Christ; wherefore ye may know with a perfect knowledge it is of God.

17 But whatsoever thing persuadeth men to do evil, and believe not in Christ, and deny him, and serve not God, then ye may know with a perfect knowledge it is of the devil; for after this manner doth the devil work, for he persuadeth no man to do good, no, not one; neither do his angels; neither do they who subject themselves unto him.

• • •

19 Wherefore, I beseech of you, brethren, that ye should search diligently in the light of Christ that ye may know good from evil; and if ye will lay hold upon every good thing, and condemn it not, ye certainly will be a child of Christ.

• • •

22 For behold, God knowing all things, being from everlasting to everlasting, behold, he sent angels to minister unto the children of men, to make manifest concerning the coming of Christ; and in Christ there should come every good thing.

• • •

24 And behold, there were divers ways that he did manifest things unto the children of men, which were good; and all things which are good cometh of Christ; otherwise men were fallen, and there could no good thing come unto them.

25 Wherefore, by the ministering of angels, and by every word which proceeded forth out of the mouth of God, men began to exercise faith in Christ; and thus by faith, they did lay hold upon every good thing; and thus it was until the coming of Christ.

26 And after that he came men also were saved by faith in his name; and by faith, they become the sons of God. And as surely as Christ liveth he spake these words unto our fathers, saying: Whatsoever thing ye shall ask the Father in my name, which is good, in faith believing that ye shall receive, behold, it shall be done unto you.

GOOD:

1) Invites us to do good.

2) Persuades us to believe in Christ.

EVIL:

1) Persuades men to do evil.

2) Believe not in Christ and deny Him.

This rather simplistic model is actually very powerful and true.

The Fall made it possible for us to come to earth, be clothed in a body of flesh and blood, and not have it be readily evident that God is beside us.

As the author of a book I read put it: "Our flesh is the geography of our personal 'Waterloo.' It is also where we bear the evidence of our santification (as we choose to consistently follow Christ)."

Consider these verses:

2 Ne. 2: 27, 29

27 Wherefore, men are free according to the flesh; and all things are given them which are expedient unto man. And they are free to choose liberty and eternal life, through the great Mediator of all men, or to choose captivity and death, according to the captivity and power of the devil; for he seeketh that all men might be miserable like unto himself.

• • •

29 And not choose eternal death, according to the will of the flesh and the evil which is therein, which giveth the spirit of the devil power to captivate, to bring you down to hell, that he may reign over you in his own kingdom.

When we choose to give heed to the temptations that appeal to Fallen man....we choose to give the devil power over us.

The opposite is also true. When we choose to give heed to the Voice of Christ, that Voice which appeals to our spirits, we choose to give Christ power to sanctify us.

Hope these words helped somehow.

Tom

[Hemidakota]

It does....

[Vanhin]

What is the difference between good and evil? And why must man have a mortal (fallen) experience in order to know that difference?

The Traveler

Super good questions Traveler.

There is truth and light that proceeds from God through Christ. Included are eternal principles of righteousness and good that are unchanging and eternal as God himself. The plan of salvation is designed to allow us to increase in this truth and light until we receive all truth and all light, like our Heavenly Father. This truth and light, is the light of truth, or the light of Christ. It is what gives "life and light to all things" and it is "the law by which all things are governed in heaven and on earth" (Guide to the Scriptures: Light, Light of Christ).

The ability to know the difference between good and evil is inherent in us as children of God. This is one of the manifestations of the light of Christ in us.

To really be able to appreciate, or to really know good for ourselves, requires that we be placed into situations where we are presented with one choice or the other and we are left to judge for ourselves. It is an environment of opposing choices that enables our agency, and it is the exercise of our agency that gives us personal experience and firsthand knowledge of good and evil to go along with the theory that we already have. We progress when we choose good and not evil.

Mortality is not the only environment where we have had our agency, or where we were faced with opposing choices. Our spirits were endowed with the light of truth in our pre-mortal state, where we were also free to choose. Just like in mortality, we were born innocent into the spirit world, and were eventually accountable for our choices.

Every spirit of man was innocent in the beginning; and God having redeemed man from the fall, men became again, in their infant state, innocent before God. (D&C 93:38)

Some of our brothers and sisters, as you know, chose to follow Lucifer, and they lost their first estate. This means they would not have the opportunity to gain physical bodies or to progress further. However, those who chose good, entered mortality innocent again, because of the redemption of Christ.

Man enters mortality primarily to gain a physical body. Mortality also offers the ideal test of our knowledge of good and evil. It's the perfect setting for the vast majority of us to gain experience and learn to choose right from wrong. It also gives us the opportunity to experience opposition so that we can better appreciate the good. It appears, however, that some of us do not require the tests and experience of mortality in order to be exalted. This is the case with little children, for example, who die before the age of accountability. Modern revelation assures us that they are saved in the kingdom of God. The main purpose of mortality is to gain a body.

For those of us who reach the age of accountability, mortality becomes a test of our faithfulness and a source of great personal experience. Because we sometimes choose evil over good, we disqualify ourselves from returning back to the presence of our God because we have become unclean. Our loving Father provided a Savior for us, who atoned for our sins. This enables us to work out our salvation through faith, repentance, and obedience to God commandments.

In order for us to be cleansed of our sins, we must make a covenant with God by being baptized. Through the baptism of water and fire (the gift of the Holy Ghost), we are born once again as innocent children of Christ. As newly begotten children of God, we continue in faithfulness and endurance to the end, receiving all the covenants and ordinances of salvation necessary to cleanse us and prepare us to enter the presence of our Father and his Christ. Through this process, our garments will be made white by the blood of the Lamb.

Those are my thoughts on the matter.

Regards,

Vanhin

[Dove]

What is the difference between good and evil? And why must man have a mortal (fallen) experience in order to know that difference?

The Traveler

Wow, what a topic! It's one that's highly laden for me. My question is how much of a role does G-d play in bringing opposition into our lives? I'm thinking of Ether 12:27, where He states that He gives people weaknesses in order for them to be humble and come unto Christ. I'm also thinking of how necessary the fall was for Adam and Eve to bear children. I'm also thinking of 2 Nephi 2. The whole chapter is on why opposition is so necessary to our choice, growth and progression.

Opposition is a necessary evil, it seems. For me it is so often difficult and painful, with a few breathtaking moments of gratitude for what I've learned from those hard experiences.

It's also ironic to think that the most innocent of all of us (the Saviour) was also subjected to the most pain of any of us.

I sometimes wonder why evil is so condemned when it seems so necessary to our experience here (sorry, I'm not saying this for a lot of disagreement, I really wonder about this).

Maybe it is a matter of choice. The harder the decision, the better, it seems. I think about the Holocaust survivor (I can't remember his name, Fiedler?) who decided that the one thing the nazi's couldn't take away was his attitude towards his circumstances. Maybe what's really important is the choices we make in the face of the smaller hell's we all face every day.

I know that opposition is crucial to my going forward and making choices, either to coming to Christ in humility, or in bitterly defying Him to my own destruction.

I'm looking for answers to these questions, any suggestions would be helpful and appreciated. :)