The Fall of Adam and 1 Nephi 3:7

[Burst2Flame]

I've been pondering this question of the fall of Adam for quite a while now and haven't really come to a solid answer. Please help me out here.

Moses 3:16-17

16 And I, the Lord God, commanded the man, saying: Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat,

17 But of the tree of the aknowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it, nevertheless, thou mayest bchoose for thyself, for it is given unto thee; but, remember that I cforbid it, for in the dday thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely edie.

In this scripture we see that the Lord commands and forbids them not to partake of the fruit of knwledge of good and evil. However He also commanded them to multiply and replenish the earth. But they could not have children before the fall as it states in 2 Nephi 22 & 23.

22 And now, behold, if Adam had not transgressed he would not have fallen, but he would have remained in the garden of Eden. And all things which were created must have remained in the same state in which they were after they were created; and they must have remained forever, and had no end.

23 And they would have had no achildren; wherefore they would have remained in a state of innocence, having no bjoy, for they knew no misery; doing no good, for they knew no csin.

So we see that one of the commandments had to be broken to satisfy the other. Being forced to break a command, I don't quite yet understand how this situation relates to 1 Nephi 3:7 where Nephi tells us that the Lord prepares a way to accomplish all the things which the Lord commands us.

Any ideas are welcome. Thanks.

[MaidservantX]

He also said "thou mayest choose for thyself". He also did provide a way -- he provided a Savior. The effects of partaking the tree of knowledge of good and evil are redeemed.

[skalenfehl]

Consider also that we have many commandments today. We also know for a fact that we can choose to keep or break them. God was forbidding them to eat but also teaching them that he is not depriving them of their agency to disobey Him. That is what Satan wanted in the first place--to force us to do the right thing.

We may see something like this as a punishment; do this or I will kill you/you die etc. The fact of the matter is the Lord meant they would become mortal and eventually the grave would claim them. So Adam and Even knew they had to choose mortality/death in order to usher in the plan of salvation.

Eating of the tree was forgivable and they did receive their consequences. We can see how the Lord made everything possible and set the stage for their "fall" so that the natural course of the "plan" could come to pass.

[tubaloth]

Maybe this well add something to it.

QUESTION

Why did God give Adam and Eve conflicting commandments in the Garden of Eden?

ANSWER

When God united Adam and Eve as husband and wife, he commanded them to "multiply, and replenish the earth" (Moses 2:28), something they could do only in a mortal state. He also commanded them not to partake of "the tree of the knowledge of good and evil" (Moses 3:17; see also 5:11; 2 Ne. 2:25). Nevertheless, he said, they would have their agency and could decide for themselves. Thus the stage was set for what we have come to know as the Fall. They could not keep either commandment without transgressing the other. Why would God have placed them in such a situation? Without detracting from the reality of the story, it also constitutes something of a type and shadow that foretells the kind of tests common to our earthly probation. Few faithful Latter-day Saints find themselves in the position of having to choose between good and evil. Those choices come, of course, but for Latter-day Saints no real choice exists in those circumstances. More common to the faithful is the choice between two seemingly good choices, both of which can be justified by gospel standards. For instance, consider the common choice made by parents about whether to accept an additional calling in the Church or excuse themselves from it because of family responsibilities. Both choices are good, but in each instance one represents the greater good.

Some years ago a young woman visited my office to seek counsel. She had come from India to study at Brigham Young University. While there she had been taught the gospel and was baptized. Not long thereafter her father called from India and told her to come home, that he and her mother had arranged a marriage for her according to the custom of their people. She told her father about joining the Church and her feelings of loyalty to it. He asked if the Church believed in the Ten Commandments. She assured him that it did. He then asked if the Church taught her to honor her father and mother. She replied that it did. He said, "Then I want you to honor me now by coming home and marrying according to the arrangement that your mother and I have made for you."

Her situation, not unlike many others, was not one of choosing between good and evil but of choosing between two things that were good—honoring her parents, and staying at school with the hope of finding someone to whom she could be married in the temple for time and eternity. Perhaps our greatest tests in mortality are found in those choices in which we demonstrate the wisdom and integrity to choose the greater good.

The conflicting commandments given to Adam and Eve created the opportunity for them to exercise their agency. With it came the opportunity to demonstrate their wisdom in choosing the greater over the lesser commandment.

(Joseph Fielding McConkie, Answers: Straightforward Answers to Tough Gospel Questions [salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1998], 185 - 186.)

[a-train]

Through the Atonement of Christ the LORD, Adam and Eve will rise from the grave and partake of the fruit of the tree of life. They and their posterity will be redeemed from the fall. Through this, they will have obtained both the knowledge of good and evil, and the blessings of obedience to all the commandments. They will yet be obedient to both commandments.

-a-train

[Guest tomk]

One reality I try to remember is - God does not necessarily have to explain why He does things the way He does. Why didn't He just create us as fallen mortals to begin with? It probably goes back to choice.

We're taught in the scriptures that we have spirits, which are organized intelligences. These "organized intelligences' must operate under conditions where they can choose to obey and not be forced. Otherwise there can be no existence. No earth, no sun, no universe.

We do not know for sure how much of the Creation / Fall "story" is allegory and how much is literal. I think we (as a people) should focus on the "big picture" in some cases, and this is one of those cases. It would seem that God had to provide for the Fall by giving Adam and Eve a choice. And as Lehi taught, there is no choice without opposition. Thus, God provided the Tree of Life on the one hand, and the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil on the other. And He told them to choose. Which they did.

Personally, I believe that the reason God forbade them from partaking of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil was, for lack of a better way to express it, a technicality. God created this earth and everything in it, in a perfect Paradiasical condition. For Adam and Eve, and consequently all of creation, to "fall" from that condition was contrary to God's perfection - so God had to forbid it because of that. He had to warn them that such would happen. But make no mistake, God wanted Adam and Eve to partake and Fall.

It's kind of like if I had a son who had a choice, upon graduation from High School, to either enter the military or go to college. He would be choosing between two "goods" but perhaps on is better than the other. I warn him of the consequences of both actions. But in the end, I tell him, "Thou mayest choose for thyself -- just remember if you enter the military, this and this and this will happen."

Maybe that is a poor example. I guess if I was given time I could come up with something better. The example above, about the girl choosing to join the church or "honor" her parents is apt. We need to honor our parents, but not at the cost of forfeiting our personal salvation and progress.

[Guest tomk]

Through the Atonement of Christ the LORD, Adam and Eve will rise from the grave and partake of the fruit of the tree of life. They and their posterity will be redeemed from the fall. Through this, they will have obtained both the knowledge of good and evil, and the blessings of obedience to all the commandments. They will yet be obedient to both commandments.

-a-train

True!! Thank you for this insight.