Thoughts on the Fall

So my ward is a little bit behind in our Sunday School lessons because we had Ward Conference... And we will be having Stake Conference this next week, so I will be even more behind! But here are some interesting things I found on The Fall- the lesson my ward will be having tomorrow.

So have you ever had that conversation that sounds something like this? "I loved my college years... But I would never go back." Or... "I was so happy when I was a kid! Life was so simple and stress free.... But I would never want to go back." I've always kind of wondered about that and why it is that this is such a universally common thing to say and feel. 

Last week in Sunday School, our teacher read a quote that said something like this: "God does not intend for us to experience only the simple happiness that comes from the innocence of childhood, but desires that we achieve the eternal joy that comes from righteous living." (If anyone knows where that comes from, please let me know!) This makes so much sense! It also helps me to better understand why Adam and Eve chose to partake of the forbidden fruit. 

“And 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.

“But behold, all things have been done in the wisdom of him who knoweth all things.

“Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy” (2 Ne. 2:22–25).

Eve and Adam had a choice- they could continue to live in a simple state of endless innocence and happiness, or they could choose to face sin, death, and  sorrow in order that they may have the opportunity to experience joy. It put a new spin on this scripture for me- "Men are that they might have joy..." meaning "Adam and Eve chose to leave their state of innocence so they could have children who, through righteous living, would then have the opportunity to experience joy."

I also like the clarity Elder Oaks brings to the difference between the words "sin" and "transgression." 

"Some acts, like murder, are crimes because they are inherently wrong. Other acts, like operating without a license, are crimes only because they are legally prohibited. Under these distinctions, the act that produced the Fall was not a sin—inherently wrong—but a transgression—wrong because it was formally prohibited." 

By giving them two contradictory commandments, God intentionally put Adam and Eve in a state where they would have to choose innocence or mortality. He would not violate their agency by choosing for them, but knew by their character in the premortal life that they would listen to his teachings in the Garden and eventually use their agency to make the choice that would allow God's plan for all of His children to ensue.

What incredible insight the world is missing in their understanding of the Fall and of the character and essential role if Adam and Eve!