Lesson 4 - "Because of My Transgression, My Eyes Are Opened" - Part 2 The Restoration and the Fall

My class was interesting today and surprise surprise we didn't get past talking about the Hebrew of 'adam, help meet, rib, and the curses for Adam & Eve. So next week we will continue with the Fall before we go to Cain and Abel. We'll call this part - the Restoration and the Fall. 

For a little historical context, a couple books from the first half of the 19th century: 

Henry Hunter’s 1832 Sacred Biography; or, The History of the Patriarchs. To Which is Added, The History of Deborah, Ruth, and Hannah, and also the History of Jesus Christ described the inferior position of women—“a beloved object”—who consistently stands in need of a male to give her life righteous direction. 

In 1852 George C. Baldwin published his Representative Women: From Eve, the Wife of the First, to Mary, Mother of the Second Adam.  Eve, the “divine ideal of a perfect woman,” relied on her own independent arm rather than Adam and thereby the Lord and experienced “the wild intoxication of sinful joy” as the world’s first sinner. (They liked ridiculously long book titles in the 19th century.)  

Despite the proliferation of such ideas, in the second half of the century you also have Mary Baker Eddy, founder of the Christian Scientists, who focused on the male and female characteristics of God--hence why Elohim is plural. For Eddy, the garden narrative taught that woman was the first to interpret scripture in its true sense and woman reflected life and love whereas man reflected punishment. In 1895, suffragist Elizabeth Cady Stanton published The Woman's Bible in which she used the creation narrative to demonstrate the existence of a Heavenly Mother, correct previous incorrect interpretations of the need for female subjugation, and also taught the actual supremacy of women. 

For a Restoration view of the Fall, we will begin with Joseph Smith's contributions--which have all been canonized.

To review chronologically (in the order they were translated or revealed):

We will not review all of the Book of Mormon scriptures (nor Doctrine and Covenants verses for that matter) that talk about the fall, but 2 Nephi 2 is essential. Particularly verses 15-30. Be attentive to the primacy of agency, the necessity of opposition, and the end goal of joy. In verse 23, the text uses "they" as the chosen pronoun for the Adam used in verse 22. Perhaps this is another example of Adam meaning more than just the first man--perhaps Adam & Eve together. And then in one of the most transcendent verses in the Book of Mormon verse 25. I'll follow Elder Oaks lead to make it inclusive: Eve and "Adam fell that men [and women] might be and [women and] men are that they might have joy." This is the initial foundation for what we term today as the Fortunate Fall. Joy should be where we start. 

Joseph's revelatory translation of the bible gave us additional text to beyond Genesis (June to October 1830). Here is a parallel comparison of the verses in Moses and Genesis regarding the Fall. The narrator is different for the two texts, the perspective is different. Compare Joseph's additions to the Hebrew Bible text. Satan not knowing the mind of God seems pretty significant to me. As are both Adam and Eve's evaluations of what happened in the Garden (5:10-12)--amongst other things.

Despite the number of verses related to the Fall in modern-revelation, the idea of a fortunate fall was not a consistent LDS doctrine during the 19th century. Joseph doesn't say much about the Fall, other than it was not a sin, because God had decreed it so (Words of JS, 63). Though Brigham Young did say "We should never blame Mother Eve, not in the least," he also said plenty of other things that just might sounds like he's blaming her (JD 13:14). Brigham Young and Eliza R. Snow both demonstrate a more Calvinistic understanding of Eve--for Eliza the Restoration has the ability to restore Eve and all women to their rightful position.

In the 1870s Emmeline Wells, future RS President and Woman's Exponent editor, called Eve a "willing instrument in effecting a grand purpose for the ultimate good of the human family." In the most recent issue of the Journal of Mormon History (here if you subscribe) Boyd Peterson argues that the Woman's Exponent was a place for the women of the church to have a conversation about Eve's role in the Fall. Opinions about Eve were found along a wide spectrum, it was by no means settled in the 19th century.  

Church President Joseph F. Smith's 1918 vision recorded in section 138 of the Doctrine & Covenants seems to be a turning point. He saw "our glorious Mother Eve." Clearly not the world's first sinner. 

Throughout the 20th century the idea of a Fortunate Fall evolved. Elder Oaks' talk "The Great Plan of Happiness" here is a good source for current understandings about the Fall. He calls Eve's actions "eternally a glorious necessity" and a "planned offense." 

In Hugh Nibley's talk on "Patriarchy and Matriarchy" that I linked in the last post (here), he talks of Eve's initiative in taking that first step. Moreover, “There is no patriarchy or matriarchy in the Garden; the two supervise each other…and [are] just as dependent on each other.” Elder Oaks echoed Nibley's language of Eve's initiative, "It was Eve who first transgressed the limits of Eden in order to initiate the conditions of mortality. Her act, whatever its nature, was formally a transgression but eternally a glorious necessity to open the doorway toward eternal life. Adam showed his wisdom by doing the same. And thus Eve and 'Adam fell that men might be.'"