Carol and I have met over the past several years on a regular basis with our friends from the local congregation of the Church of the Nazarene. While the subject was improving marriage we were encouraged to find so much good and so many things on which we agreed in the theological doctrines we discussed. As I have mentioned in a previous post there were only a couple of things on which we disagreed. One of them was the concept of eternal marriage and the other was the Fall of Adam and how it affected our real purpose in life.
I was about to go into a long discourse explaining the LDS perspective on this issue when I discovered that one of my favorite co-bloggers, Jeff Lindsay wrote conclusively about that very subject yesterday. To most Christians, we are in this mess (mortality) because Adam made a big mistake. To quote from Jeff’s post: “Adam’s rebellion forced God to come up with an (inferior) alternative to His original plan. One minister explained to me that this whole existence of ours and all that we go through is a big mistake, all because of that villain of villains, Adam.”
Jeff is a much better scriptorian and has many more doctrinal reference sources in his command than I do so I highly recommend a thorough reading of his post. I just wanted to add my two cents worth to the subject. Each day I grow older I am more and more thoroughly convinced that the way we pass through this life as mortals has everything to do with our eternal happiness. There are just certain things that I can never understand unless I pass through them. One of them is the inability to accomplish all that I want to do because I am mortal.
As I deal with common sicknesses and weaknesses of the flesh (I mean that literally – I just feel weaker in my muscles and bones as I get older), it becomes evident that I do not want to live in this mortal condition forever. I am grateful to know that although I will die someday, when I am resurrected I will be an immortal being. At that point I will be able to look back with a much greater appreciation for the marvelous gift of an immortal body, a gift from Christ. However, an equally wonderful gift, at least in my mind, is the gift of mortality brought upon me by Adam.
We tried to explain to our friends from the Church of the Nazarene that we wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for Adam’s fall. We explained that Adam and Eve did not have the ability to produce children in their innocent childlike state, having no blood in their bodies. They looked at us with a puzzled expression so we didn’t go any further. It would have taken a lot more time to set up the doctrinal background to support the statement.
Suffice it to say, if it were not for Adam partaking of the fruit of knowledge of good and evil, they would not have been able to have children. Eve knew this which is why she declared, “Were it not for our transgression we never should have had seed, and never should have known good and evil, and the joy of our redemption, and the eternal life which God giveth unto all the obedient.” (Moses 5:11). No fall, no blood, no children – we would not have been born.
What do you think? Is this a tough doctrine – that Adam and Eve would have not been able to have children unless they had partaken of the forbidden fruit?
Nice post, important topic. Thanks!
The scriptural record does not, of course, explain specifically why Adam and Eve could not have children until they ‘fell’, so we are left to speculate. However, one of the great stumblingblocks to ‘traditional’ Christianity lies in the belief that God created His children de novo; with that belief comes the logical corollary that He therefore is responsible for all His children do including sinning. They may equivocate with claims that He gave them their agency so they had choice, but if you believe number 1, you must therefore believe number 2, that God is therefore accountable for what His creations do. Of course, the answer lies in the restored understanding. Michael Chandler