How do Mormons view The Fall of Adam and Eve?
What does LDS church, which Mormons call "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints", teach about The Fall? Was it a Divine decree or sin? To read what the Bible teaches, go to:
The Fall - Divine Decree or Sin? (Part 2)
WHAT IS THE FALL IN MORMONISM?
In their book, Gospel Principles, the Mormon church teaches:
The Fall then, according to Mormonism, is a condition of changes that came upon Adam and Eve resulting from their disobedience to God by eating of the forbidden fruit.
COULD ADAM AND EVE CHOSEN OBEDIENCE?
God commanded Adam and Eve to have children, but Mormonism teaches they could not have offspring in the state God originally created them on earth (Edenic state). The only way they would be able to produce children, was to eat from the tree God commanded them not to eat. A children's resource from Ensign titled, 'The Fall of Adam and Eve' explains:
The choice Adam and Eve were faced with, was to either. . .
disobey God of not having children by not eating of the fruit.
Or,
disobey God by eating of the fruit he commanded them not to eat so they can have the ability to produce children.
As you can see, there were only these two choices, and either of them resulted in disobeying God's commandment. Mormons are thankful for Adam and Eve's choice to disobey God by eating of the fruit.
Because of this disobedient act, Mormons believe they gained physical bodies from a spiritual state of existence (called pre-mortal existence), and now have the ability to progress to become exalted like God did himself. (For more information see Humanity)
DOES THIS MEAN GOD PLANNED FOR ADAM AND EVE TO FALL?
Ensign's 'The Fall of Adam and Eve' continues:
Pearl of Great Price (considered Mormon scripture) teaches there was a plan to make the earth for the spirit-children to dwell upon and be tested:
The Book of Mormon (considered Mormon scripture) explains sending his spirit-children to earth was the Lord's purpose:
Adam and Eve were our first parents to be sent to earth, but they could not produce children in their original Edenic state. This meant the rest of God's spirit-children could not be sent. A Mormon Missionary Preparation manual explains how The Fall was the means to further this plan of exaltation:
The Lord's purpose was for mankind to progress, and The Fall was necessary for this to happen. So the dilemma Adam and Eve were faced with was to decide which of the two commandments of God they would transgress. They chose the transgression that would bring blessings to the rest of the spirit-children.
BUT ISN'T AN ACT OF DISOBEDIENCE SIN AGAINST GOD?
In Mormonism, what Adam and Eve did was not considered sin. Gospel Principles teaches:
In 'The Fall of Adam and Eve', it reads:
In The Great Plan of Happiness, Dallin H. Oaks (Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles) taught about The Fall:
Mormon Elder Bruce C. Hafen stated:
Pearl of Great Price expands Genesis 2:17 so as to show God giving Adam and Eve allowance to eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, but in the same breath forbidding them from eating of it. Moses 3:17 has God commanding Adam:
Joseph Fielding Smith (10th President and Prophet of the LDS church) taught:
DO MORMONS VIEW THE FALL AS A GOOD THING?
Mormon scripture teaches:
Both Adam and Eve rejoiced after they transgressed against God's command not to eat of the fruit:
Mormons believe if it wasn't for The Fall, no one would be born on earth. The Book of Mormon says:
Had they not partaken of the forbidden fruit, Adam and Eve would have remained immortal, and the rest of the multiple billions of spirit-children would never have had the chance to come to earth to experience mortality and exaltation.
CONCLUSION:
Mormonism teaches:
To read a Christian response to Mormonism's view of The Fall. See The Fall - Divine Decree or Sin? (Part 2).
Latest comments
14.09 | 00:17
Is it your intent to share your faith with me? I'm a devout Latter-day Saint.
30.06 | 17:21
Let's add, the keys to Death and Hades (Revelation 1:18) the key of David (Rev. 3:7) the key of knowledge (Luke 11:52) and the keys of the kingdom of heaven (Matt.16:19) only given to Simon/Peter.
24.05 | 06:04
Intuitive
10.02 | 23:31
Checked out the great video. 👍 Thumbs up!
The Mormon Religion was officially founded by Joseph Smith Jr. on April 6. 1830 after the Book of Mormon (BOM) was published in that same year.
Joseph Smith Jr. was born in Vermont on December 23, 1805. He claimed that when he was 14, he received a vision from God the Father and Jesus Christ in a grove of trees near his home where he received instructions not to join any of the Christian churches because they were all wrong.
Three years later, Smith claimed that an angel named Moroni (a character found in the BOM) appeared to him in his bedroom whom he said revealed to him that he was selected to translate "Reformed Egyptian" (a language that does not exist) from gold plates into old English. These plates were supposedly hidden near Palmyra, New York and are said to be written around the 4th century. The BOM was named after Moroni’s father, Mormon. Mormons view the BOM as sacred. No one is able to study the original plates because Joseph Smith claimed the angel took them back on May 2, 1838 (History of the Church 1:60).
Smith had a scribe named Cowdery. Smith did not actually translate directly from any plates. Rather, in his writings, he said he placed a "seer stone" in a hat and covered any light from entering it as he placed his face in the hat. According to Martin Harris, “By aid of the seer stone, sentences would appear and were read by the Prophet . . . , and when finished he would say, ‘Written,’ and if correctly written, that sentence would disappear and another appear in its place, but if not written correctly it remained until corrected,” Smith said, “By the power of God I translated the Book of Mormon from hieroglyphics".
Despite such methods of translation, there have been at least 3,913 changes made in the BOM from the time it was first published. Joseph Smith stated, “I told the brethren that the Book of Mormon was the most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion, and a man would get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts, than by any other book.” Smith also claimed that John the Baptist appeared to him on May 15, 1829 while he was translating the BOM, and instructed him to restore the church by preaching the only true gospel.
Mormons regard the BOM as sacred writings, and view it in higher standing than that of the Holy Bible. Mormon Missionaries will ask you to pray that it is true. (See our page Pray to Know)