Adam and Eve

Last semester in my English class I read Paradise Lost and wrote a paper about it. If you haven't read it, it is an epic poem about the fall of Adam and Eve. I thought it was a very interesting work, but it was also extremely bothersome because of the truths that are missing or distorted. There has been a lot of damage done throughout the history of the earth because people didn't understand or know the whole story about Adam and Eve. A lot of people think that Adam and Eve's choice to eat the fruit was a sin and that if they hadn't done it then we all would be in the garden living care-free lives. Many people have interpreted the story to mean that women are sinful or less intelligent than men or an inferior sex, which has led to women being unappreciated or suppressed. They don't know or appreciate that the choice to eat the fruit was a wise one, that it was a necessary step in order to bring about God's great and marvelous work on the earth.

The bible dictionary says that "The aggregate of the scriptures certifies that his transgression in the garden of Eden, although designated as a 'fall,' was necessary to the advancement and spiritual progress of humanity on this earth, and Adam rightly should be honored, not denigrated," (Adam) and that "Latter-day revelation confirms the biblical account of Eve and gives us an awareness of her nobility." (Eve) I love that--Adam and Eve should be honored for the choice that they made. I think I've always had a sense that they were noble and great people, not wicked and disobedient. They made a choice that was necessary so that all of us would have an opportunity to continue our spiritual progress on this earth by obtaining physical bodies. After they had left the garden, Eve was happy because she realized, "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) If they had remained in the garden and not partaken of the fruit, they would not have been able to have children and they wouldn't have been able to understand the gospel. Our spiritual progression would have been stopped, because there were things we could not learn or do unless we had the opportunity to have a body. 2 Nephi 2:25 confirms that the fall happened so that God's spirit children could come to this earth: "Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy."

I am grateful for our wise and noble first parents and the great choice that they made, a choice that made it possible for me to continue in my spiritual journey towards eternal life. The choice they made was hard, because it meant that they would have to leave the garden to work hard, have children, suffer pains and trials, and ultimately face death. But they had faith and were loyal to Heavenly Father and committed to obeying His commandments, and because of that we can all receive eternal life, "the greatest of all the gifts of God." (D&C 14:7)