I just keep coming back to this story of Adam and Eve, don’t I? No wonder the retelling of that story is such an integral part of our temple worship—there are so many important concepts to learn from it.
I went to the temple last week, and it hit me again how much the story of Adam and Eve teaches us about agency. Even though a lot of us are still trying to hold onto it, the story of Adam and Eve—especially our latter-day understanding of it as explained by Lehi in 2 Nephi 2 in the Book of Mormon and Moses in Moses 4-5 in the Pearl of Great Price—actually invites us out of our black and white obedience framework of faith and into a more mature, nuanced understanding of what it means to have faith, follow God, and use our agency.
In the temple retelling of the story, Satan approaches Adam first about eating the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil (which, I had never realized before, is not actually recounted in any scriptural account; in the scriptural accounts Satan just approaches Eve). Adam is very letter of the law obedient and isn’t willing to listen to any of Satan’s arguments about why he should eat the fruit. God told me not to, so I’m not going to. End of story. This is the attitude that someone in the black and white obedience framework of faith really loves and identifies with. With that interpretation of what faith and obedience means, Eve was wrong not to have that same attitude of exact, unquestioning obedience, and because she didn’t, she and Adam were punished for it.
There are a lot of other Christian faiths that accept this interpretation of events: that the Fall of Adam and Eve was a mistake that we are still paying the price for. That things would have been better if Eve had never eaten the fruit and Adam and Eve had stayed in the Garden of Eden.
Lehi tells us though in 2 Nephi 2:22-25:
22 And now, behold, if Adam had not transgressed he would not have fallen, but he would have remained in the garden of Eden. And all things which were created must have remained in the same state in which they were after they were created; and they must have remained forever, and had no end.
23 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.
24 But behold, all things have been done in the wisdom of him who knoweth all things.
25 Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy.
Based on Lehi’s teachings about the Fall, the Fall of Adam and Eve was actually a necessary component of God’s plan for His children, not a mistake. If Adam’s unquestioning obedience to the commandment not to eat of the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil had ruled the day, progress would not have been possible. Adam and Eve would have been unable to learn and progress, and none of God’s other spirit children would have had the opportunity to come down to earth to get physical bodies and learn and progress.
When Satan approached Eve to try to get her to eat of the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, Eve didn’t reject him outright. She questioned his motives, but when he explained what the result of eating the fruit of that tree would be—that her eyes would be opened, and that it would make her wise like God, knowing good and evil, and that this was the only way to attain that knowledge and wisdom—Eve realized that the fruit of that tree was the key to progressing like God wanted them to and that death and suffering were worth the sacrifice to gain that knowledge. Eve did the essential work of agency: she seriously considered her choices and priorities, and she made a decision based on her own understanding of what would be the best choice for her to achieve what she most desired.
After eating of the fruit herself, Eve approached Adam to offer some of the fruit to him. Approached by his wife rather than a stranger, Adam at first reiterates his stance of exact, unquestioning obedience regarding eating the fruit. Then Eve explains to Adam what the results of him not partaking of the fruit will be—that she will be cast out of the Garden of Eden and he will remain alone in the Garden of Eden, preventing them from following the commandment God had given them to multiply and replenish the earth. Adam is also given the opportunity to think through his choices and priorities and what is most important to him. And he realizes the opportunity to fulfill God’s commandment to be with Eve and multiply and replenish the earth is very important to him—more important than the commandment not to eat of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil and avoid death. So he also uses his agency to choose to eat of the fruit of the tree.
Then we see the aftermath of Adam and Eve’s use of agency. In the temple film, right after Adam eats the fruit, they hear God’s voice as He prepares to visit them in the Garden of Eden. Satan points out to them that they are naked and encourages them to hide from God. This reminded me of how Satan encourages us to act when we make mistakes. He wants us to feel shame and hide the things we’ve done that we’re not proud of or that we think will make others unhappy with us. God, in contrast, seeks out Adam and Eve and invites them to come talk with Him about the choices they have made. Adam and Eve at first try to shift blame for their choices from themselves to others. God explains to each of them the consequences of the choices they’ve made. Then He provides a Savior for them to ultimately deliver them from the more undesirable consequences of their choices, such as the separation they would experience from God after eating the fruit.
Once they have left the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve hear the voice of the Lord give them another commandment, as recorded in Moses 5:5:
5 And he gave unto them commandments, that they should worship the Lord their God, and should offer the firstlings of their flocks, for an offering unto the Lord. And Adam was obedient unto the commandments of the Lord.
Again, we have Adam obeying God’s commandments without really understanding why the commandment has been given. This isn’t a bad place to start in our exercise of faith, but as we see in the subsequent verses, God doesn’t want us to stay in that place of ignorance—He wants us to gain our own understanding of the why behind what He asks us to do so that we can follow His commands more intentionally and meaningfully:
Moses 5:6-9
6 And after many days an angel of the Lord appeared unto Adam, saying: Why dost thou offer sacrifices unto the Lord? And Adam said unto him: I know not, save the Lord commanded me.
7 And then the angel spake, saying: This thing is a similitude of the sacrifice of the Only Begotten of the Father, which is full of grace and truth.
8 Wherefore, thou shalt do all that thou doest in the name of the Son, and thou shalt repent and call upon God in the name of the Son forevermore.
9 And in that day the Holy Ghost fell upon Adam, which beareth record of the Father and the Son, saying: I am the Only Begotten of the Father from the beginning, henceforth and forever, that as thou hast fallen thou mayest be redeemed, and all mankind, even as many as will.
Now Adam understands the why of what God has asked him to do, and the next verse tells us that coming to his own understanding of the why leads him to be filled with the Holy Ghost and with gratitude towards God and allows him to see more clearly and prophesy about God’s loving plan for His children:
Moses 5:10-11
10 And in that day Adam blessed God and was filled, and began to prophesy concerning all the families of the earth, saying: Blessed be the name of God, for because of my transgression my eyes are opened, and in this life I shall have joy, and again in the flesh I shall see God.
11 And Eve, his wife, heard all these things and was glad, saying: 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.
This idea that Adam and Eve are grateful for their transgression and that good things have come from their transgression is a really tough concept to swallow for those operating out of a black and white obedience framework of faith. The black and white obedience framework says: if you do what God says, good things happen; if you don’t do what God says, bad things happen. End of story.
Adam and Eve are presenting a more nuanced idea about how agency and obedience work though. The whole point of the gift of agency God has given us is to give us the opportunity to practice making choices and to learn from the choices we make. We’re here on earth to gain knowledge and experience, and that’s exactly what the process of making choices and experiencing the consequences of our choices, both desirable and undesirable, gives us.
Our choices here on earth are not going to be perfect. There are going to be both pros and cons to all of the choices we make. It’s through pondering our options and making the best choice we can with the limited knowledge we have that we gain more knowledge about what we want and about what is good for us. We’re not always going to make the best choice. And even when we do make the choice we feel best about under the circumstances, there’s going to be a trade-off; there are going to be consequences of each choice we make that we don’t like.
God is fully aware that when we use our agency to make choices, we’re going to get it wrong sometimes. He’s also aware that even when we make the choice we feel aligns the best with our highest desires, like Adam and Eve did, there are going to be undesirable consequences to our choice as well. That’s the whole reason God provides a Savior for us: to ultimately deliver us from the undesirable consequences of our imperfect choices as we perfect our ability to use our agency in the best ways. He cares about our intentions and what we’re trying to achieve and create through our choices. He knows that we gain knowledge as we go forward and make choices, however imperfect, rather than just waiting for Him to tell us exactly what we should do in every circumstance.
As current apostle Dale G. Renlund said in the October 2018 General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints:
“Our Heavenly Father’s goal in parenting is not to have His children do what is right; it is to have His children choose to do what is right and ultimately become like Him. If He simply wanted us to be obedient, He would use immediate rewards and punishments to influence our behaviors.
But God is not interested in His children just becoming trained and obedient “pets” who will not chew on His slippers in the celestial living room. No, God wants His children to grow up spiritually and join Him in the family business.”
In order for us to grow up spiritually, we must seek to understand why God and His servants ask us to do certain things, as well as seek to understand our own highest desires and how those match up with all the different invitations God extends to us. We must ponder and study all these things out in our minds and make the choices that seem most in line with both our own desires and with God’s desires for our growth and learning. Because we each are different and have different desires and different things to learn, the choices we feel best about are also going to look different. It’s the process of going forward and making choices and experiencing the consequences of those choices—both good and bad—that allows us to understand the difference between good and evil and grow in our capacity to experience joy.
Making choices, and inevitably making mistakes, is the plan. Learning through our own use of agency, through our mixed bag of right and wrong choices, is the plan. We shouldn’t be afraid to use our agency or to allow others to use theirs, even when we make choices that don’t lead to the consequences we would have hoped for. That’s how we learn. That’s how we learn to appreciate the joy that is available to us through repentance and the redemption offered to us by our Savior. Transgression is part of the plan. It’s how we learn what choices lead to suffering and what choices lead to peace and joy. It’s through our mistakes, just as much as through our obedience, that we gain the wisdom to become like God. That’s what the story of Adam and Eve teaches us.
