Was the
transgression and fall of our First Parents a joyous and blessed event or was
it the source of sorrow, suffering, alienation from God and death? According to
the Mormon Pearl of Great Price it was cause for great rejoicing.
“Adam and Eve
expressed their gratitude for the blessings that came as a result of the fall.
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.’ 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’” Moses 5:10 & 11
The Bible makes it
plain that this first transgression was sin and that sin brings the wrath and
punishment of God: “Therefore,
just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so
death spread to all men because all sinned” (Rom. 5:12 ). Contrary to Mormon
teaching there is nothing good that comes from this or any other sin—only physical,
spiritual, and eternal death. “For the wages of sin is death…” (Rom. 6:23).
Also, unlike Mormonism, the Bible does not trivialize the awfulness
of sin. It teaches that sinners “are darkened in their understanding, alienated
from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their
hardness of heart. They have become callous and have given themselves up to
sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity” (Eph. 4:18-19).
If the Mormon view were right there would be no need of a
Savior and the life, death, burial, and resurrection of Christ would be
meaningless. Adam and Eve’s disobedience to God was a tragedy of cosmic
proportions and because of it all of creation remains under a curse. Mankind
needs a Savior to bring about a reconciliation to God, and Jesus alone is that
Savior.
This and many more Mormon doctrines and teachings are
discussed in my soon to be released book: Mormonism
and the Bible.
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