God had commanded Adam and Eve to eat of all the fruits of
the tree except for the forbidden fruit.
Having been tempted by Satan, they partook of the forbidden fruit,
violating God’s command.
Because they violated God’s command, Adam and Eve were
driven out of the Garden of Eden and force to live in the world in a fallen
state. The Lord told them,”[C]ursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow
[HEB travail, pain] shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; Thorns also
and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the
field; In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the
ground” (Genesis 3:17 - 19).
When Alma2 confronted Zeezrom, he told him, “Wherefore, [the Lord] gave commandments
unto men, they having first transgressed the first commandments as to things
which were temporal, and becoming as Gods, knowing good from evil, placing
themselves in a state to act, or being placed in a state to act according to
their wills and pleasures, whether to do evil or to do good—“ (Alma 12:31).
The fall of Adam resulted in the
conditions of mortality. Lehi further stated: "After Adam and Eve
had partaken of the forbidden fruit they were driven out of the Garden of Eden,
to till the earth" (2 Nephi 2:19). The fall also resulted in the
conditions of mortality that predispose a person to sin, that is, to being a
fallen, "natural man," since "the natural man is an enemy to
God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be forever unless he yields
to the enticings of the Holy Spirit" (Mosiah 3:19; cf. Mosiah 16:3).
(Emphasis in original)[1]
As long as Adam and Eve remained in the Garden, they could
not have children. It would remain just
the two of them. Lehi tells us that,
after the fall, they had children and this became the “family of all the earth” (2 Nephi 2:20). The Lord told Moses, “And worlds without number have I created; and I also created them for
mine own purpose; and by the Son I created them, which is mine Only Begotten. And
the first man of all men have I called Adam, which is many” (Moses 1:33 - 34).
Paul, writing to the Corinthians, explained:
And
so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was
made a quickening spirit [GR causes to become alive].
Howbeit
that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward
that which is spiritual.
The
first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven.
As
is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such
are they also that are heavenly.
1 Corinthians 15:45 - 48
All are descendants of Adam and
Eve. Again, Lehi stated: "And they have brought forth children;
yea, even the family of all the earth" (2 Nephi 2:20). This is like the
traditional Christian teaching concerning monogenism (a doctrine or belief in
descent from a single individual or pair), but without the accompanying
misconception of inherited sinfulness. (Emphasis in original)[2]
The Lord prolonged the length of our probation on Earth. The reason is that we need this time to
repent and prepare to meet the Lord. If
we did not have this time, we would be lost because of Adam and Eve’s
transgression.
Confronting Zeezrom, Alma2 told him, “And we see that death comes upon mankind,
yea, the death which has been spoken of by Amulek, which is the temporal death;
nevertheless there was a space granted unto man in which he might repent;
therefore this life became a probationary state; a time to prepare to meet God;
a time to prepare for that endless state which has been spoken of by us, which
is after the resurrection of the dead” (Alma 12:24).
Teaching the poor among the Zoramites, Amulek would explain
the purpose of this life. “For behold, this life is the time for men
to prepare to meet God; yea, behold the day of this life is the day for men to
perform their labors” (Alma 34:32).
Referring to his blessing from his father, Jacob would teach
the Nephites, “And this is not all—it has
been made manifest unto me, for I have heard and seen; and it also has been
made manifest unto me by the power of the Holy Ghost; wherefore, I know if
there should be no atonement made all mankind must be lost” (Jacob 7:12)
John Tvedtnes clarifies:
The plan of God, therefore, was for
Adam and Eve to become mortal or imperfect, in order that they and their
offspring might gain experience unavailable to them in their perfect condition.
But there was a problem to be overcome. Since the penalty for dis obedience is
death, it was necessary to forestall the judgment in order to give mankind the
opportunity to repent. In the eternal plan, this meant (1) providing a savior
whose death would satisfy the demands of justice, and (2) establishing a
probationary period during which Adam's family could be tested and learn
obedience to the plan of mercy. [3]
Bruce Pritchett writes:
Lehi saw Adam's fall as a
transition from immortality to mortality, from an immortal realm to a mortal
one. This topic, in particular, recurs in Old Testament literature. While Lehi
believed that through the fall humanity was universally lost (2 Nephi 2:21,
26), his words show that he understood this in the sense that all humans had
sinned (universal sinfulness) rather than in the sense that humans were wholly
depraved (original sin). He also believed that the fall had its fortunate side:
"Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy"
(2 Nephi 2:25). The particularly fortunate consequences Lehi noted were posterity
(2 Nephi 2:23) and freedom forever to choose liberty and life through the great
mediator (2 Nephi 2:27).[4]
Hugh Nibley writes about the reason for our probation.
The Doctrine of Probation.
According to the Plan of Life and Salvation, fixed and determined before the
foundation of the world, the earth was made to be a place of testing, men being
free while here to choose the way of light or the way of darkness. The Book of
Mormon has a great deal to say about this. Our earth life is the "days of
probation" (1 Nephi 15:31—32; 10:21), "and the days of the children
of men were prolonged, according to the will of God. . . ; wherefore, their state
became a state of probation, and their time was lengthened" (2 Nephi
2:21).[5]
[1] Adam's
Fall in the Book of Mormon, Second Temple Judaism, and Early Christianity, Stephen
D. Ricks, Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute, accessed June 24, 2013.
[3] The
Influence of Lehi's Admonitions on the Teachings of His Son Jacob, John A.
Tvedtnes, Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute, accessed June 24,
2013.
[4] Lehi's
Theology of the Fall in Its Preexilic/Exilic Context, Bruce M. Pritchett
Jr., Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute, accessed June 24, 2013.
[5] Apocrypha
and the Book of Mormon, Hugh W. Nibley, Provo, Utah: Maxwell
Institute, accessed June 24, 2013.
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