Ask a Question
or
Create a Poll
  1. Home /
  2. Questions /
  3. Social Sciences
  4. / Religions
  5. / Religions A - Z
  6. / Christian Religions
  7. / Christian Denominations
  8. / Mormon Religion
  9. / Mormon Beliefs
  10. / Do Mormons Believe...

by John Pacella on February 19th, 2006

John Pacella

Question

Help answer this question below.

Do Mormons believe that it was necessary for Adam and Eve to eat of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil?

  • Like
  • Report
Share:
Other

Answers. 10 helpful answers below.

  • by Glenn Blaylock on February 26th, 2006

    Glenn Blaylock

    We believe that, in order to learn the lessons that God wants us to learn, it is necessary for us to experience both good and evil. We need to do this for a couple of reasons. First of all, it is really not possible to understand good without experiencing evil. We can't fully appreciate the joy without also knowing sorrow. The second lesson that we need to learn is to choose good over evil. We need to learn to subject our carnal desires (those that Satan tries to get us to act upon) to the desires of our spirits (those things that bring us closer to God). In the paradise that was Eden, it was not possible to learn these lessons. Therefore, it was necessary for Adam and Eve to eventually leave the Garden of Eden. The only question was the manner in which they would leave.

    With this in mind we get to the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. What follows is my way of looking at the situation. I look at the commandment to not partake of the fruit of that tree as being in the same basic vain as the Law of Moses. Neither was intended to be in force until the end of the Earth. Both were intended to end at some point. I the case of the Law of Moses, that law ended when Jesus came and fulfilled it. In the case of the fruit of the tree, God would have given it to them when He thought they were ready for it. However, Satan tempted Eve and got here to partake of the fruit before God gave it to her. She then got Adam to partake as well. Thus precipitating the rest of the events with which we are all familiar.

    So, in this way of looking at this seminal event, the transgression was not so much that they partook of the fruit, but that they partook before God gave them permission. If you think about it, you can probably think of a number of other similar situations. Driving a car, for example. A person who drives a car without first getting permission to do so (i.e. getting a driver's license) can get into a lot of trouble. The example that my father uses is sex. The Lord makes it quite clear throughout the Bible that sexual relationships are supposed to be limited to the marital covenant. In this context it is an experience that is supposed to help draw husband and wife closer together as they share the power of creation with God. However, outside of the marital relationship, it is something that violates the commandments of God and cheapens the relationship between the couple.

    So, ultimately, it was necessary for Adam and Eve to partake of the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. The transgression was in the way they did it. They did it at the instigation of Satan and probably before the were fully prepared for the consequences instead of waiting for God to give it to them.

    • Like
    • Report

    3 comments | Post one | Permalink

  • by nitewingiv on January 18th, 2007

    nitewingiv

    In the pre-existence there were two plans. Satan had one and Jesus had one. Satan's Plan was to make sure we all came back but the glory would come to him. None of us would know the difference between good and evil we would all be saintly but the glory was to go to him. Jesus said he would be the savior and all Glory to go to God. God chose Jesus, Satan rebelled and decides to destroy the agency of man. BOOK OF MOSES
    CHAPTER 4 Pearl of great price.

    If Satan was the one who went out to destroy the agency of man as it says....
    3 Wherefore, because that a Satan rebelled against me, and sought to destroy the agency of man, which I, the Lord God, had given him, and also, that I should give unto him mine own power; by the power of mine Only Begotten, I caused that he should be cast down;
    Why is it that he was the one that tempted Eve? Christ should have been the one don’t you think. I mean Satan does not want man to have "agency". Why did he give it to man?

    • Like
    • Report

    1 comment | Post one | Permalink

  • by Changegrl on November 16th, 2006

    Changegrl

    It was all in his plan, It was meant to be, for more detailed answers I guess you could read above...LOL, I just want to tell you that the greatest gift that this religion has brought me was the gift of Repentance and this all goes back to the fall of Adam and Eve. Go to lds.org, and check out our basic beliefs and then search under the fall of Adam and Eve.

    • Like
    • Report

    No comments. Post one | Permalink

  • by mormonhpgirl on October 8th, 2006

    mormonhpgirl

    Of course. If they hadn't, we wouldn't even be here. They were not mortal until they partook.

    • Like
    • Report

    No comments. Post one | Permalink

  • by lockstures on September 8th, 2006

    lockstures

    yes.

    without the plan of adam and eve partaking of the fruit,,, no one would be upon earth to this day. without the partaking of the fruit then they would have never been able to bear children and know right from wrong. it was all essential to the plan of god

    • Like
    • Report

    1 comment | Post one | Permalink

  • by Ray Rodriguez on August 15th, 2006

    Ray Rodriguez

    Sorry this part of my last post got messed up


    In bearing testimony of Jesus Christ, President Hinckley spoke of those outside the Church who say Latter-day Saints do not believe in the traditional Christ. No, I don't. The traditional Christ of whom they speak is not the Christ of whom I speak. For the Christ of whom I speak has been revealed in this the Dispensation of the Fulness of Times. He together with His Father, appeared to the boy Joseph smith in the year 1820, and when Joseph left the grove that day, he knew more of the nature of God than all the learned ministers of the gospel of the ages. (Church News, week ending June 20, 1998, page 7)


    Christians should ask, "Which Christ?" The Bible warns of false teachers who promote "another Jesus whom we have not preached" (2 Corinthians 11:4).God bless

    • Like
    • Report

    3 comments | Post one | Permalink

  • by Mister IT is trying to Liahona outta here on January 5th, 2010

    Mister IT is trying to Liahona outta here

    SHORT ANSWER: Yes.

    LONG ANSWER:
    'Basics of Mormonism: Falling Upward'
    by Timothy Oliver

    In his book, A New Witness for the Articles of Faith, (NWAF) one of Mormonism's foremost modern apostles, Bruce R. McConkie, expends three chapters explaining the meaning of the Mormon church's second Article of Faith: "We believe that men will be punished for their own sins, and not for Adam's transgression." This Mormon Article of Faith presupposes sin and the fall of Adam. To properly understand it, or the third Article which follows it, requires an understanding of the Mormon concept of Adam's fall. Says McConkie, "It is not possible to believe in Christ and his atoning sacrifice, in the true and full sense required to gain salvation, without at the same time believing and accepting the true doctrine of the fall" (NWAF, p. 82).

    Humanity's Pre-Mortal Existence
    To understand the Mormon concept of the Fall, however, requires still prior understanding of the Mormon concepts of a pre-mortal existence, and the purpose of this earth life. Mormonism teaches that mankind is of the same species as God. Our origin is supposed to have been as procreated children of God, born as spirits in some other realm. In this spirit world existence we progressed as far as was possible. But to become truly like our Heavenly Father we needed to obtain physical bodies. We also needed to learn the difference between good and evil, truth and error, and to love and choose the former over the latter. Since our Heavenly Father has progressed so far that He cannot allow evil into His presence, it was necessary for us to leave Him for some place where we could encounter and overcome evil ourselves.

    Earth Life A Test
    So, this world was prepared as a school, where we have been sent to obtain physical bodies and to learn the lessons of mortality. In his book, The Miracle of Forgiveness, (MF), Mormon church President and Prophet Spencer W. Kimball described our mission for this life. "We would be expected to gain knowledge, educate ourselves, train ourselves. We were to control our urges and desires, master and control our passions, and overcome our weaknesses, small and large. We were to eliminate sins of omission and of commission, and to follow the laws and commandments given us by our Father" (p. 5; emphasis added).

    This is in accord with Mormon scripture in the Pearl of Great Price, (PGP). While laying their plans for our earth life, the Gods are supposed to have said, "And we will prove them herewith, to see if they will do all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them;" (PGP, Abraham 3:25; emphasis added).

    Conflicting Commandments
    Of course for this whole plan to work, physical bodies had to be prepared in which Heavenly Father's spirit children could dwell. Thus, the first commandment on record is the commandment to Adam and Eve to be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth. Mormonism teaches this was a greater and more important commandment than the commandment not to eat of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil (Talmage, Articles of Faith, pp. 64-5).

    In fact, according to Mormon doctrine, the two commandments stood in opposition to each other (McConkie, NWAF, p. 91). Notwithstanding the great importance of procreation to the purpose of earth life, when God made Adam and Eve, He supposedly made them in a condition where they could not procreate. "There was as yet neither procreation nor death. These would enter the scheme of things only after the fall" (Ibid., p. 84). Adam and Eve had to break the lesser commandment, and incur the Fall, in order to fulfill the greater commandment (Ibid., p. 91).

    According to Mormon scripture, Eve is supposed to have exclaimed, "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" (PGP, Moses 5:11).

    The Book of Mormon (BM) says the same: "...if Adam had not transgressed.... they would have had no children; wherefore they would have remained in a state of innocence, having no joy, for they knew no misery; doing no good, for they knew no sin....Adam fell that men might be;" (BM, 2 Nephi 2:22-23).

    A Fall in the Right Direction?
    From the foregoing one can see how important it was for man to "fall" - why, in Mormonism, "the Fall" is seen as a good thing, a great blessing. This has led some Mormon leaders to say things which may sound a little odd or even bizarre to Christians familiar with the Bible. For example:

    Under the heading, "'TRANSGRESSION' NOT 'SIN' OF ADAM," Mormon apostle and prophet Joseph Fielding Smith, Jr. wrote, "I never speak of the part Eve took in this fall as a sin, nor do I accuse Adam of a sin" (Doctrines of Salvation, (DS), vol. 1, p. 114). Again, "This was a transgression of the law, but not a sin in the strict sense, for it was something that Adam and Eve had to do!" (Ibid., p. 115). "The 'fall' of Adam and Eve was not a sin but an essential act upon which mortality depends" (Smith, Answers to Gospel Questions, vol. 5, p. 15).

    Bruce R. McConkie wrote, "We do not know how the fall was accomplished..." (NWAF, p. 85; emphasis added). He goes so far as to cast the Fall in terms of obedience rather than transgression: "After they had thus complied with whatever the law was that brought mortality into being,..." and "He [Adam] chose the Lord's way;" (Ibid., pp. 86, 91; emphasis added). Assistant to the Twelve Apostles Sterling W. Sill spoke of Adam's fall: "Adam fell, but he fell in the right direction. He fell toward the goal.... Adam fell, but he fell upward" (Deseret News, Church Section, 31 July 1965, p. 7).

    Since the mortal condition was essential to the Mormon plan of salvation, the act which introduced mortality of necessity becomes a great blessing. "We can hardly look upon anything resulting in such benefits as being a sin, in the sense in which we consider sin" (Smith, DS, vol. 1, p. 115). "Properly understood, it becomes apparent that the fall of Adam is one of the greatest blessings ever given of God to mankind" (McConkie, NWAF, p. 87).

    Mormonism says we will not be punished for Adam's transgression because all mankind will be redeemed from the effects of the "Fall." That is, the consequences of Adam's action - physical, or temporal death, and spiritual death - are both overcome through the Atonement of Christ (Ensign, January, 1990, pp. 25-6). "Temporal death is the natural death; it occurs when body and spirit separate, thus leaving the body to return to the dust whence it came. Spiritual death is to be cast out of the presence of the Lord and to die as pertaining to the things of righteousness" (McConkie, NWAF, pp. 86-7). Since it was not our fault that either of these were introduced, they will both be removed by God's free grace. All mankind will be resurrected with immortal physical bodies, and all will be brought back into the presence of God, for judgment (BM, 2 Nephi 2:10). Those who are subsequently cast out are ejected for their own unrepented sin (BM, 2 Nephi 9:38, 45-6).

    Questions for Mormons
    With all the above as background, it is easy to see why Mormonism's second Article of Faith says mankind will not be punished for Adam's transgression. One wonders, in fact, why Adam was ever punished for it himself - why he and his descendants were ever placed under a curse in the first place.

    If death is the wages of sin (Romans 6:23), and Adam's and Eve's action was not actually sin, then why did it introduce death into the world (Romans 5:12)? Indeed, how did it introduce sin into the world (Romans 5:12)? Just how and why were the "wonderful blessing" of mortality and a sinful world introduced, if it was not actually sin they committed?

    And if this was such a blessing, then when they heard God walking in the Garden, why did they not go running to Him clapping their hands, breathless with excitement over fulfilling His plan, acquiring new knowledge, and initiating mortality? "Oh, Father! We have complied with Your greater commandment and are ready for procreation. Now the rest of Your children, our brothers and sisters, will have opportunity to enjoy the same wonderful benefits as us!"

    Why, instead, did they suddenly feel guilty and afraid, and try to hide from God? Previous to that time they had no more idea of guilt than they did of right and wrong, so it could not have been a false, self-imposed guilt. It had to have been consciousness of the actual guilt of doing wrong. If their action was not sin, how did they acquire their sudden awareness of right and wrong (Genesis 3:7, 22)? Why did they seek to put blame on others and excuse themselves for their action if it was no sin?

    In another vein, if the original (non)-sin of Adam and Eve brought both physical and spiritual death, why is it that our own sins, if unrepented of, incur only spiritual and not also physical death for eternity? Adam knew no evil prior to sinning, knew no real difference between right and wrong. But of all men after Adam, the Book of Mormon says they "are instructed sufficiently that they know good from evil" (2 Nephi 2:5). On the principle of "where much is given, much is required" (Luke 12:47-8), our personal sins being committed with a knowledge of right and wrong would seem to be more serious than Adam's first transgression. Yet they incur a lesser penalty in eternity than Adam's (non)-sin. Why?

    Last, but not least, remember that Adam and Eve were to eliminate sins of omission as well as commission (MF, p. 5). If the two commandments, one to multiply and fill the earth, and the other not to eat of the forbidden fruit, were in opposition so that they could not both be obeyed at the same time, and if the former was a greater commandment than the latter, then why were they not counted transgressors before eating the forbidden fruit, for failing to multiply? Why did that not incur the Fall? Indeed, why were they counted transgressors for breaking the lesser of the two commandments when, up to that time, they were failing to live up to the greater of the two, and had not even taken the first, most elemental step toward compliance?

    As noted earlier, Mr. McConkie wrote, "It is not possible to believe in Christ and his atoning sacrifice, in the true and full sense required to gain salvation, without at the same time believing and accepting the true doctrine of the fall" (NWAF, p. 82). If that is the case, Mormonism certainly owes the world coherent answers to these questions raised by its doctrines. Without such answers, their doctrine of the "fall" is, quite simply, utterly unbelievable.

    Individual Mormons ought to be held accountable to their Church's doctrine, by constantly encountering such questions, lovingly but relentlessly posed by their Christian friends. Christians should let their Mormon friends know that if they expect to carry their "gospel" to us in a believable way so we can "gain salvation," then they must answer these questions. Christians should express profound surprise, even shock, to their Mormon friends, that they would believe in such things, or in a church - or in a spirit which teaches such things. Such a spirit cannot be the Holy Spirit. Such a church cannot be the Church of Jesus Christ.

    Link to source = http://www.watchman.org/lds/falling.htm

    • Like
    • Report

    1 comment | Post one | Permalink

  • by Ray Rodriguez on August 15th, 2006

    Ray Rodriguez

    The book of mormon says in its introduction page that its "comparable to the Bible".But it is not.


    1.The Book of Mormon teaches that the disobedience of Adam and Eve in eating the forbidden fruit was necessary so that they could have children and bring joy to mankind (2 Nephi 2:23-25)


    1.In contrast, the Bible specifically declares that Adams transgression was a sinful act of rebellion that unleashed the power of sin and death in the human heart and throughout Gods perfect world (Genesis 3:16-19; Romans 5:12; 8:20-21). There is no Biblical support for the view that Adam and Eve could only fulfill the command to "be fruitful and multiply" (Genesis 1:28) by disobeying Gods command regarding the forbidden fruit (Genesis 2:17). The Book of Mormon teaching that these divine commands are contradictory, and that God expected Adam and Eve to figure out that in reality He wanted them to break the latter command ("of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it") in order to keep the former ("be fruitful and multiply"), has no basis in logic or the Biblical text, and attributes equivocation to God.

    Adam and eve brought death,pain and suffering in no way did this sinful act bring Joy to man kind.


    2.The Book of Mormon says Jesus was born in JERUSALEM (Alma 7:10).


    2. The Bible says that Jesus was born in BETHLEHEM (Matt. 2:1; Luke 2:1-7).


    3.Helaman 14:20-22 says 3 days of darkness after crucifixion.

    3.the Bible says in Luke 23:44 that 3 hours of darkness after crucifixion not 3 days.


    Mormons believe in a different Christ then christians.


    In bearing testimony of Jesus Christ, President Hinckley spoke of those outside the Church who say Latter-day Saints ‘do not believe in the traditional Christ. No, I don't. The traditional Christ of whom they speak is not the Christ of whom I speak. For the Christ of whom I speak has been revealed in this the Dispensation of the Fulness of Times. He together with His Father, appeared to the boy Joseph smith in the year 1820, and when Joseph left the grove that day, he knew more of the nature of God than all the learned ministers of the gospel of the ages. (Church News, week ending June 20, 1998, page 7)


    Christians should ask, "Which Christ?" The Bible warns of false teachers who promote "another Jesus whom we have not preached" (2 Corinthians 11:4).God bless

    • Like
    • Report

    3 comments | Post one | Permalink

  • by Richard the Anonymous on April 15th, 2009

    Richard the Anonymous

    Many will answer that question 'yes', but I believe eating of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil was just one 'outcome'. Adam and Eve sinned because they went against the commandment to not eat of the fruit, it was a violation of commandment. Yet I believe there was another 'option' (if one holds to a belief that Adam and Eve were in a state of innocence and unable to have children and not know right and wrong) whereby one could learn the difference between right and wrong choices and also procreate without partaking of the fruit. This is the only logical answer as God cannot bless those that act or choose contrary to a commandment from God. A bad choice doesn't equal good consequences.

    No comments. Post one | Permalink

  • by TenLostTribes on February 19th, 2010

    TenLostTribes

    Yes it was, for a few reasons. As the title of the tree implies, if we are to learn to make choices then we must know good from evil. This does not mean that we have to sin in order to learn (nor will it help us become smarter) but that rather we can learn by making choices. Since they had sinned and they were about to eat from the Tree of Life, which would've meant living forever in their transgression, they were cast out (Moses 4:28-31). Were it not for the fall, Adam and Eve couldn't have children.

    "Adam fell that men might be, and men that they might have joy" (2 Nephi 2:25).

    No comments. Post one | Permalink

Want to attach an image to your answer? Click here.

Did this answer your question? If not, then ask a new question or create a poll.

More Questions. Additional questions in this category.

You're reading Do Mormons believe that it was necessary for Adam and Eve to eat of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil?

Follow us on Facebook!

Related Ads

Related Questions

Professionally Researched

ANSWERBAG BUZZ

Was the fall of adam necessary
Lds talks plan of salvation the fall adam about sex
What do mormons believe about adam and eve
Do mormons believe in adam and eve
Lesson learn to adam and eve many answers

Answerbag

a Demand Media company