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On Sunday, February 7th we will be discussing the physical and spiritual obstacles created by the Fall of Adam and Eve and how Christ's Atonement is the living miracle that corrects those conditions. The reading assignment this week is: Moses 4-6, and, if you have enough time to do it, also: Genesis 2–3; 1 Corinthians 15:20–22; 2 Nephi 2:5–30; 9:3–10; Helaman 14:15–18; Doctrine and Covenants 19:15–19; 29:34–44; Articles of Faith 2&3; and “Fall of Adam,” Bible Dictionary, page 670.
This will be a "meaty" discussion about two basic and important gospel principles that serve as the foundation for our future happiness and growth in God's Kingdom, both here on earth and in heaven: The Atonement and the Resurrection.
So far this week I have been blessed by the assignment from Sister McAllister as the Seminary Guard for early morning seminary. Each morning this week I will have the opportunity to open the locked doors for seminary stragglers between the 6:00 and 7:00 a.m. hour. Happily, this has provided me with a warm, spiritual space to read my scriptures and ponder their teachings. I hope I can share some of my insights with our Gospel Doctrine class this week.
I started my reading this week with Genesis 2-3. This account describes Adam and Eve's first home, the Garden of Eden, where there was no knowledge of good and evil and where, if they did not partake of the forbidden fruit, they would never die [see “Fall of Adam,” Bible Dictionary, page 670]. While this state seems to us a kind of paradise, think for a minute at how droll life in the Garden of Eden must have been despite the intimate contact with the animals and abundance of fruit to eat. Without the possibility of either sin or sadness, their opposite manifestations did not exist either: righteousness and happiness [see 2 Nephi 2]. Is it possible that Adam or Eve were at the very least frustrated when they received the command to "be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it" [Genesis 1:28]? They did not have enough information to comply with this request and were perhaps seeking a solution to the problem: "How do we do this?" Think for a moment about how you would react if you were placed in the same situation. I don't think the conundrum can be reduced to a simple analogy (i.e., it was as if two six-year old children were given the same command...they would quickly dismiss it and forget it). The commandments to multiply (like the animals and plants that were also placed in Eden), and to not partake of the forbidden fruit represent the first great paradox. To obey the first request would require breaking the second. The impression we are given by the Genesis account is that only Eve was aware of the predicament, but this is incorrect.
Next, I turned to the second and third Articles of Faith:
"We believe that men will be punished for their own sins, and not for Adam’s transgression. We believe that through the Atonement of Christ, all mankind may be saved, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel." What stands out about these two verses? Notice that partaking of the forbidden fruit is not called a "sin," but a "transgression." Joseph Smith taught that the heretical doctrine of "original sin" has no place in true theology. The implications of this teaching are that there is no reason to baptize infants in the Lord's Church. Each of us is born with a clean slate before God and there is nothing about Adam's transgression that is transferred to any one of us except that it ushered in a new geographical space and time where personal sin is not only possible, but inevitable for each of God's children in this life. More importantly, we are taught that each of us will be held responsible for our unrighteous actions and decisions, but that the Savior has provided us with a way out of spiritual separation from our Heavenly Father.
As you do the reading assignment this week, see what outside commentary you can find from General Conference talks and articles written for the Ensign that tell us how we should interpret the Fall from a Plan of Salvation point of view. Then come to class and share with us what you have found. After discussing this and the other teaching points from the lesson, I will share with you Hugh Nibley's eight roles of Adam and how the unique LDS perspective views the history of the earth as something fully in sink with truth and science and properly studied in "dispensation" segments [see "Old Testament and Related Studies," ch. 4 Before Adam, p. 77].
Have a great weekend and remember who you are...
This will be a "meaty" discussion about two basic and important gospel principles that serve as the foundation for our future happiness and growth in God's Kingdom, both here on earth and in heaven: The Atonement and the Resurrection.
So far this week I have been blessed by the assignment from Sister McAllister as the Seminary Guard for early morning seminary. Each morning this week I will have the opportunity to open the locked doors for seminary stragglers between the 6:00 and 7:00 a.m. hour. Happily, this has provided me with a warm, spiritual space to read my scriptures and ponder their teachings. I hope I can share some of my insights with our Gospel Doctrine class this week.
I started my reading this week with Genesis 2-3. This account describes Adam and Eve's first home, the Garden of Eden, where there was no knowledge of good and evil and where, if they did not partake of the forbidden fruit, they would never die [see “Fall of Adam,” Bible Dictionary, page 670]. While this state seems to us a kind of paradise, think for a minute at how droll life in the Garden of Eden must have been despite the intimate contact with the animals and abundance of fruit to eat. Without the possibility of either sin or sadness, their opposite manifestations did not exist either: righteousness and happiness [see 2 Nephi 2]. Is it possible that Adam or Eve were at the very least frustrated when they received the command to "be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it" [Genesis 1:28]? They did not have enough information to comply with this request and were perhaps seeking a solution to the problem: "How do we do this?" Think for a moment about how you would react if you were placed in the same situation. I don't think the conundrum can be reduced to a simple analogy (i.e., it was as if two six-year old children were given the same command...they would quickly dismiss it and forget it). The commandments to multiply (like the animals and plants that were also placed in Eden), and to not partake of the forbidden fruit represent the first great paradox. To obey the first request would require breaking the second. The impression we are given by the Genesis account is that only Eve was aware of the predicament, but this is incorrect.
Next, I turned to the second and third Articles of Faith:
"We believe that men will be punished for their own sins, and not for Adam’s transgression. We believe that through the Atonement of Christ, all mankind may be saved, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel." What stands out about these two verses? Notice that partaking of the forbidden fruit is not called a "sin," but a "transgression." Joseph Smith taught that the heretical doctrine of "original sin" has no place in true theology. The implications of this teaching are that there is no reason to baptize infants in the Lord's Church. Each of us is born with a clean slate before God and there is nothing about Adam's transgression that is transferred to any one of us except that it ushered in a new geographical space and time where personal sin is not only possible, but inevitable for each of God's children in this life. More importantly, we are taught that each of us will be held responsible for our unrighteous actions and decisions, but that the Savior has provided us with a way out of spiritual separation from our Heavenly Father.
As you do the reading assignment this week, see what outside commentary you can find from General Conference talks and articles written for the Ensign that tell us how we should interpret the Fall from a Plan of Salvation point of view. Then come to class and share with us what you have found. After discussing this and the other teaching points from the lesson, I will share with you Hugh Nibley's eight roles of Adam and how the unique LDS perspective views the history of the earth as something fully in sink with truth and science and properly studied in "dispensation" segments [see "Old Testament and Related Studies," ch. 4 Before Adam, p. 77].
Have a great weekend and remember who you are...
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