The Fall of Adam and Eve

Looks like I have a lot to say this first part of the Old Testament. You get another blog post (but don't worry -- the Elders will be back soon). This time it's about Adam and Eve.

Judaism, Christianity, and Islam seem to have the following points in common concerning the "Fall":

• Adam and Eve were living in the Garden of Eden in a perfect state. That is, no sickness, no death, etc.
• Adam and Eve were innocent -- meaning they had no knowledge of evil.
• God planted the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil in Eden and provided two commandments: Be fruitful and multiply AND do not partake of that fruit. Eating the fruit meant they would die.
• A serpent tempted Eve to partake of the fruit.
• Eve then got Adam to partake.
• God appeared, cursed the serpent, and casted Adam and Eve out of the Garden.
• Then death, pain, evil, and all kinds of other bad things came into the world.

But when you look closer at each religion there are a few subtle but very important differences. 

Most Christian denominations see this as the "Fall" of Adam and Eve. All they had to do was to NOT partake of the fruit -- one simple task -- and then we would all be living happily with no sin and death. It would be a wonderful world. But Adam and Eve messed it all up, so now we must all suffer. Jehovah's Witnesses even go so far as to say that Adam and Eve are permanently dead (as punishment) and will not be resurrected because of this direct disobedience to God.

But then the Book of Mormon and the Doctrine and Covenants of my church sheds more light on the subject. 

First off, let me ask you a question. Have you ever wondered why God placed the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil in the Garden? We'll call this the Knowledge Tree. I must be specific here, because God placed that other tree as well: the Tree of Life.

It seems that if God had really wanted no one to partake of the Knowledge Tree, He could have simply NOT put it there in the first place. Then there would be no temptation, and we would all be living happily.

Before I continue, I must share that once when I asked this question, someone accused me of being blasphemous for questioning God's motives and for even suggesting that God makes mistakes. Needless to say, that particular discussion pretty much ended there. But I do not ask this question in an attempt to prove God is fallible and unreliable, but rather I'm simply asking the question so that we can have a better understanding. If we hold to the assumption that God cannot make mistakes, then asking the question helps us to better understand the true purpose behind what He did.

Taking this a little further, let's say Adam and Eve never partake of the fruit, and then there are millions of progeny running around without sin. All it would take would be just one person to eat that fruit, and it would unleash death on everyone. As an actuary, I can calculate the odds of someone eating the fruit, and with millions of people having access to it, those probabilities are very high .... more than 99.999999999999999999%.

I naturally come to the conclusion that since God placed the Knowledge Tree on Earth, and since God doesn't make mistakes, He was planning for someone, somewhere, at some time to eat that fruit. It therefore seems to be an important piece of His plan. He knew exactly what was going to happen, and He was ready for it.

And that's what my church teaches:

• Partaking of the fruit was necessary to instill the knowledge and ability of procreation.
• Partaking of the fruit opened the door to two deaths: Physical Death and Spiritual Death.
• There must be opposites in all things. You can't have true joy unless you understand sorrow. Likewise, you really can't be good unless you have knowledge of evil.
• Humans are here on Earth to be tested. This requires the knowledge of good and evil to enable us to make decisions.
• The first great decision was deciding which of the first two laws to follow: Procreate, or refrain from eating the fruit? They couldn't do both.
• Death and all the other bad things in life give us experience and help us to become better people.

And then come my thoughts. Who wouldn't want the knowledge of good and evil? Satan actually asks this question as he tempts Eve -- and well, the master of lies is adept as using truth as part of his tactics. His goal was to bring evil into the world so he could have a measure of power. But I must admit -- isn't knowledge always a good thing?

Think of a little toddler -- all innocent and cute with no real knowledge of what's good and what's bad. How many times have you seen a toddler do something bad (like punching a sibling) without fully understanding what he was doing? Having no knowledge of good vs. evil does not stop a person from committing evil. Rather, the person is free from any judgement -- because they didn't know any better.

Likewise, Adam and Eve, in their perfect state, were free to do anything they pleased. But without the knowledge of good and evil, they could perchance perform evil acts as well -- because they wouldn't know any better. What would stop them and their progeny from committing adultery? Or from stealing? Or from hurting others? Avoiding these acts is impossible without knowledge.

It's kind of the age-old paradox: would you rather know what you're doing wrong, so you can stop doing it and be happier? Or would you rather not know that it's wrong so you never feel bad about doing it? From above, it appears much more desirable to have knowledge so you can increase your happiness in the end. In other words, making good decisions with knowledge, to me, is preferable over living in ignorance.

That's why I think the following (which I never noticed before until today): What if God placed the Knowledge Tree there intentionally because he wanted humans to have the choice to partake? Kind of like a contract. Adam and Eve knew beforehand what the stakes were. God told them what the tree was: eating of the fruit would give them very valuable knowledge, including how to have children. But it would come with a price: death, sickness, being cast out. They could have chosen NOT to partake, and they would have lived alone for an eternity in the Garden, living peacefully, but missing out on the bigger blessings now available to all of us.

But, they ultimately decided to partake. Perhaps they saw both the benefits of the knowledge and the price and decided it was worth it. We also have no idea how long it took them to make that decision. Were they millennia in the Garden before the Fall, or was it just one hour? We don't know, but then again it doesn't matter to us. We are in the state we are in now, and we can do our best to return back to Him, through Jesus' redemption for us.

So, there you have it. A summary of what my church believes, how it defers from most denominations, and also my additional thoughts. I hope you've enjoyed these ramblings, and as always, you can let me know what you think.

Does God Know When We Are Going to Die?

I know -- I've already done a spiritual thought for the month, and I need to get back to the second "Elder Elder and Elder Benjamin" story. But I feel impressed to share this important thought from my reading this past week.

Over the past year, in response to the pandemic, I've heard the religious say things such as: "My days are numbered, and God knows when I'm going to die" or "if it's my time to go, then it's my time" or even "I do not need to fear because I can trust in God and He will protect me -- unless it's my time to go."

It's given me much to think about over this past year or so. Does God know when I'm going to die? Of course -- if He's omniscient, then He knows everything -- including when I'm going to die. So, to answer my big OP question simply, the answer is: Yes. He knows when I'm going to die.

Often in the Bible, the concept of "your days are numbered" is usually coupled with the idea of "the Lord will protect you, so do as He commands." For example, Jesus tells the apostles in Luke 12:7, "But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered." In other words, "go and do what I command you and I will protect you."

Is this day of death set, then? In other words, has God determined that I'm *supposed* to die at a particular time? Will I be called to an already specified mission when I die? And so on...

In the Calvinistic tradition as I understand it, predestination dictates that, yes ... that date is set, and there is absolutely nothing we can do about it. We can only make the most out of our life until that day comes.

But then, the Bible gives us some interesting clues, such as in 1 Kings 3:14, when the Lord speaks to Solomon.

And if thou wilt walk in my ways, to keep my statutes and my commandments, as thy father David did walk, then I will lengthen thy days.

This implies that that date can be changed in accordance to how we live out our lives. Here Solomon appears to be given a choice: keep commandments and live longer. Or don't keep the commandments and die sooner. So, the day of death may not really be set -- or perhaps it may be contingent on the choices we make.

And then -- this past week as I was reading in the "Saints" book (continuing my Church History self-study), I came across an interesting story. In the first volume, page 373, it tells the story of Wilford Woodruff's wife Phebe. As she lay sick, she claims that she died and saw two angels approach her. One said to her: you can choose to come with us and earn your eternal rest, or you can go back and endure the trials that lay ahead. After seeing her husband and others frantically trying to revive her, she quickly choose to return.

She was given a choice!

And that was just one such story I've heard. I'm sure that regardless of the domination you belong to, you've heard similar near-death experiences. The fact that my church chose to include this story in an official book implies that it was a true experience. Sometimes we really can choose when to die.

Is this a contradiction? God knows the day we're going to die, but somehow we can make choices that can change that date? So, which is it?

My wife gave me the perfect answer: Well, God knows the decisions that you're going to make. So, while we have free will to make choices, He knows what choices we'll make that will lengthen and/or shorten our time of death.

If you think about it, what if I were to go to some cliff to test God's protection and throw myself off? Do you think that God would cause a wind to slow down my fall because it's not yet my time? Or rather would God let me die, and tell me later: "Why did you do that? I knew you were going to make that decision, but really?"

So, yes -- God does know when we're going to die. And yes, our days our numbered, but yet, it turns out that we do have input into when that day comes. Do we want to live long? Then we can make appropriate decisions to help extend our own days. We can follow the Word of Wisdom for healthy living. Or we can learn how to stay out of dangerous situations. Each of these require some kind of action or decision making on our part -- exactly as did Solomon and Phebe Woodruff.

Or we could do nothing but solely "rely on God" and end up being taken at an earlier time because we didn't do what it would take to extend our days. 

It really is up to us, and if we turn to God, He can help us know what we should be doing or choosing to extend our own lives.

The Martyrdom of Joseph Smith

As a reminder, my church's weekly reading for 2021 was all about the Doctrine and Covenants and Church History. I thoroughly enjoyed learning more about this church I've belonged to for decades. Even though I thought I had known everything, there is evidently always more to learn.

In December, toward the end of our reading, we revisited the martyrdom of Joseph Smith. As you can see in the picture above, he was killed by an angry mob. As he and his colleagues were being held on the second floor of Carthage Jail awaiting trial, an angry mob was allowed to storm and attack.

The man lying in the middle was Hyrum Smith, brother of Joseph. He died instantly when the mobsters entered the room. Off to the left in front of the bed was John Taylor, who was shot several times. A watch in his breast pocket stopped a fatal shot, and he survived to later become a president of the church. Behind the door in front of the fireplace would be Willard Richards, who didn't get hit at all -- supposedly because he was out of the line of sight of the mobsters.

And Joseph Smith was the man jumping out of the window. He reportedly died from his wounds before he hit the ground.

Those of you who do not belong to this church may wonder: was this murder, or was it justified? Did Joseph Smith bring this upon himself? 

John Taylor claims in Doctrine and Covenants 135, verse 7:

... their innocent blood on the floor of Carthage jail is a broad seal affixed to "Mormonism" that cannot be rejected by any court on earth, and their innocent blood on the escutcheon of the State of Illinois, with the broken faith of the State as pledged by the governor, is a witness to the truth of the everlasting gospel that all the world cannot impeach; and their innocent blood on the banner of liberty, and on the magna charta of the United States, is an ambassador for the the religion of Jesus Christ, that will touch the hearts of honest men among all nations;

So, innocent blood on the "banner of liberty" and the "magna charta of the United States"? Is it really appropriate to go that far? Or is this more of a hyperbole?

To answer this last question, the actions and lack thereof from officials at every level of government speak for themselves. The "Mormons" (as they were called by their enemies) were kicked out of Ohio, and then kicked out of Missouri -- county by county until Governor Boggs ordered their expulsion from the state by threat of extermination. And then following the martyrdom of their prophet, they were kicked out of Illinois, and ultimately out into the unorganized territories.

And with each expulsion, the "Saints" (as the members called themselves) were forced to give up property without recompense, and were often killed and raped. And each time, the church leaders would reach out to governors and even the President of the United States, himself, and no one raised a finger to stop the illegal happenings.

No matter what one believes about the truthfulness of what Joseph Smith taught and what he claims, it should be as clear as day that due process had been thrown out the window. None of the protections that the Constitution guaranteed -- none of the Bill of Rights -- were allowed to apply to these Saints.

And it didn't stop until the Saints found a home in the middle of a desert that no one else wanted, which would later become Salt Lake City.

So, yes -- it was definitely innocent blood on the banner of liberty and on the United States. Not only because of Joseph Smith's unlawful murder, but also because of how the US allowed the followers of this religion to be driven out. All these events, which transpired for over a decade demonstrated a gross failure in the US Constitution.

And yes -- I know I'm a little biased in this matter. There is definitely more to the story -- how the Saints egged on some of their detractors. We got to learn a lot about that side as well this past year. It's very possible that had they behaved differently, our Church would still be centered in Independence, Missouri (the identified place of Zion). But we are where we are.

Joseph Smith definitely left in a blaze of glory, and his martyrdom has locked in a testament that has helped his Church to grow exponentially.

I hope you have enjoyed some of these explorations into Church History this past year. For 2022, we move on to the Old Testament. For being the largest book, that's going to be a lot of reading! We'll see what spiritual thoughts I can glean from it.