This year, LDS Gospel Doctrine classes are delving into one of my favorite places... the Old Testament. I absolutely love this often overlooked and frequently misunderstood portion of the holy scriptures.
One of the first lessons of the year is based on the fall of Adam and Eve. Many in our class plainly expressed that there are many things about this story that we do not know (which is true). We do not know the length of time that they lived in the Garden of Eden. We do not know the size of the garden. We do not know what the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil looked like.
Of course, there are some things that we do know... some of the most essential elements of the story. We know that Adam and Eve were naked, and that they were unaware of this fact (Genesis 2:25). We know that there was a tree with fruit that would somehow give knowledge to those who ate of it (Genesis 3:6). We know that Satan was present (Genesis 3:1, Moses 4:5-6). We know that the consequences of Adam and Eve partaking of the fruit involved being cast out of the Garden of Eden, and the introduction of death (Genesis 3:16-24).
There are things that many people infer in the story. We infer that Adam and Eve were married (Genesis 2:22-24, Mark 10:2-9). We infer that eating the fruit did bring wisdom to Adam and Eve. We infer that life was difficult after they were cast out of the Garden of Eden.
The most popular speculations that are made involve Eve.
Some people have suggested that had only Eve resisted the temptations of the devil, that all of humanity might have dwelt in the perpetual paradise originally created by God. They infer that Eve was the source of pain and toil. Many modern prophets have refuted this conclusion... and other sources of scripture show that the fall was a necessary step in God's plan of salvation for his children.
Other people, in the spirit of correcting the perceived injustices against our first mother Eve, have suggested that not only should Eve be held blameless, but that she was a mastermind who comprehended that God's plan would require them to gain wisdom, and to have children out of the Garden of Eden. They suggest that Eve was not tempted by Satan... but that she saw through his ruse into the deeper meaning of partaking of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil.
This is also bunk.
Satan, who did not go through the process of birth and had memory of premortality, still "knew not the mind of God" (Moses 4:6). Yet we are supposed to think that Eve, who did not realize that she was unclothed, somehow knew everything perfectly?
I have heard impassioned voices in many wards try to infer that the innocence of our first parents did not mean they were ignorant of the workings of God's plan. It has been suggested that Eve searched for alternatives to taking of the fruit, thus proving her foresight. Of course, for members of the LDS church, this would not explain why Adam was ignorant of the reasoning behind sacrifice, or why they only expressed joy in their circumstances after the gospel was revealed to them (Moses 5).
Most importantly, Eve did not lie to God.
God asked for an explanation of Eve's actions, and received from her this simple statement:
"The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat." (Genesis 3:13)
There was no "I partook to fulfill thy plan" or "I partook that mankind might be" or "I partook because there were no other solutions to give us knowledge and allow us to have children."
Here, Eve answered God honestly. She had been tempted to do something she did not understand, and she did it.
Adam gave a much more complex answer, because there was more complex reasoning behind his action:
"The woman thou gavest me, and commandest that she should remain with me, she gave me of the fruit of the tree and I did eat." (Moses 4:18)
His course of action was motivated by a desire to stay with his wife. He had a choice between avoiding the fruit, or remaining with Eve, and, thanks to Eve, he chose the latter.
The consequences of the fall of Adam and Eve are profound, and persist even to the present day. It is central to the plan of God that we be born under the effects of a curse that bars us from the immediate presence of God, and allows us the freedom to choose for ourselves between good and evil. Eve certainly does not deserve blame... but she does not deserve credit either.
There was only one who knew all of the parties involved in Eden... only one who knew the consequences of every choice... only one who knew what Satan, and Adam, and Eve would do, before they even thought of doing it themselves. It was the one who planted the garden. It was the one who created the tree of knowledge of good and evil. It was the one who engineered the entire plan.
Only God knew.
Much as it is today... people have a tendency to give credit and lay blame where they are not due. Other people may do harm, but the effects of the most heinous acts are, at their very worst, temporary. Other people may do good, but at their very best, they are still flawed. We are not so much smarter than our first parents, and we have difficulty overcoming temptations, mistakes, and problems on our own... but the same one who planted the Garden of Eden also knows of us, and his Holy Son Jesus Christ, who broke the curses of sin and death for Adam and Eve, can crush the obstacles that bar us from fulfilling our divine destiny.
"...there is none good but one, that is, God..." (Matthew 19:17)
