Adam & Eve

[wollnamsam]

Hi, it's my first post/reply. I agree with your Stake president. We cannot confuse HF's ability to forsee and make alternative plans because of our righteousness or lack of. For example if i hadn't been taught by certain missionaries, because they failed to serve their missions for whatever reason, there would have been others called to serve in my area just the same who would have taught me. I am not suggesting there was another way the fall could have come about. I don't believe our transgressions are ever a part of HF's plan. Another suggestion...why don't you ask your home teachers.

[Gwen]

i found it!!! info on the 3 pillars i asked about before. there is a lot there, but a few quotes from it i found interesting.

Lesson 4: “Because of My Transgression My Eyes Are Opened”, Old Testament Gospel Doctrine Teacher’s Manual, 12

"Purpose

To help each class member understand that the Fall was a necessary part of Heavenly Father’s plan for us."

"Tell class members that Elder Bruce R. McConkie said that our salvation is made possible because of “three divine events—the three pillars of eternity” (A New Witness for the Articles of Faith [1985], 81). Then ask the following question:

• • What are some events that are important enough to be the “pillars of eternity” that make salvation possible? (Elder McConkie said that these pillars are the Creation, the Fall, and the Atonement, which are all part of God’s plan for our salvation. ...) "

it suggests a video in the lesson, probably the one that illistrates the above that i remembered seeing. we kinda touched on sin and transgression so i like this part too.

"In the Garden of Eden, God commanded Adam and Eve to “be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth” (Moses 2:28). He also commanded them not to eat the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil (Moses 3:17). As long as they did not partake of the forbidden fruit, they would remain in the garden and would not die. But they also would not be able to obey the command to multiply (Moses 5:11; 2 Nephi 2:23). Heavenly Father gave them agency to choose between the two commands."

"President Ezra Taft Benson said: “The plan of redemption must start with the account of the fall of Adam. In the words of Moroni, ‘By Adam came the fall of man. And because of the fall of man came Jesus Christ, … and because of Jesus Christ came the redemption of man’ (Mormon 9:12). Just as a man does not really desire food until he is hungry, so he does not desire the salvation of Christ until he knows why he needs Christ. No one adequately and properly knows why he needs Christ until he understands and accepts the doctrine of the Fall and its effect upon all mankind” (in Conference Report, Apr. 1987, 106; or Ensign, May 1987, 85)."

"1. Partaking of the forbidden fruit was not a sin

To help explain that Adam and Eve did not sin when they partook of the forbidden fruit, read the following statement from Elder Dallin H. Oaks:

“It was Eve who first transgressed the limits of Eden in order to initiate the conditions of mortality. Her act, whatever its nature, was formally a transgression but eternally a glorious necessity to open the doorway toward eternal life. Adam showed his wisdom by doing the same. …

“… We celebrate Eve’s act and honor her wisdom and courage in the great episode called the Fall. … Elder Joseph Fielding Smith said: ‘I never speak of the part Eve took in this fall as a sin, nor do I accuse Adam of a sin. … This was a transgression of the law, but not a sin.’ …

“This suggested contrast between a sin and a transgression reminds us of the careful wording in the second article of faith: “We believe that men will be punished for their own sins, and not for Adam’s transgression” (italics added). It also echoes a familiar distinction in the law. Some acts, like murder, are crimes because they are inherently wrong. Other acts, like operating without a license, are crimes only because they are legally prohibited. Under these distinctions, the act that produced the Fall was not a sin—inherently wrong—but a transgression—wrong because it was formally prohibited. These words are not always used to denote something different, but this distinction seems meaningful in the circumstances of the Fall” (in Conference Report, Oct. 1993, 98; or Ensign, Nov. 1993, 73). "