Eve And The Choice Made In Eden

[Hemidakota]

EVE AND THE CHOICE MADE IN EDEN
Beverly Campbell
Deseret Book Company
Salt Lake City, Utah
© 2003 Beverly Campbell



Deseret Book is a registered trademark of Deseret Book Company.


To my beloved
Heather and Heather Caitlin
Carol, Julie, Celia, Gloria, and Alysa
Shauri and Amy
Lucile and Cathy
Claire and Emily
To my beloved
And to those men—
husband, sons, grandsons—
who bring joy, light, and purpose to my life
Pierce Tom and Marc
T.J., Robert, Bradley, Matthew, and Michael
All have touched my life profoundly in such
individual and personal ways

In life all must choose at times. Sometimes, two possibilities are good; neither is evil. Usually, however, one is of greater import than the other. When in doubt, each must choose that which concerns the good of others—the greater law—rather than that which chiefly benefits ourselves—the lesser law. The greater must be chosen whether it be law or thing. That was the choice made in Eden.
—John A. Widtsoe


Table of Contents:

• Preface
• Introduction: A Heritage to Be Reclaimed
• Mother, Matriarch, Mentor
• With Credential and Title
• There Was No Other Way
• Nevertheless, Thou Mayest Choose
• And They Were One
• And He Called Their Name Adam
• The Enticer
• Lest Ye Die

• God Prepares and Protects
• God Instructs Adam and Eve
• Sent Forth or Cast Out?
• Mortality, a Time for Rejoicing
• Prayer, Our Lifeline to God
• Parenthood and Progeny
• Priesthood, the Power of Heaven
• Full and Honorable Service
• The Greater Law
• Afterthoughts: The Roles of Mercy and Justice
• Sources

[tomk]

Hemi:

Do you own this book?

If you get it, please let me know if it sheds more light than is presently to be had.

Tom

[prisonchaplain]

A brief review would even be nice. After all, whether the Fall was a horrific rebellion on the part of Adam & Eve, or a sacrificial decision to endure hardship in order to fulfill God's destiny for us is a dramatic difference of interpretation.

[utcowboy]

How about just a childish mistake PC?? (we never want to listen to our parents )

[Hemidakota]

Will do....

[MaidservantX]

I read this book, but it has been some time ago. I no longer remember details, of course. But I can say that . . . it was an odd cross between . . . not being 'deep' enough as it may seem to announce . . . and on the other hand a decent presentation with a nice point of view by a smart lady. I do think it added to my knowledge and wisdom base.

[Hemidakota]

So far, you are correct. However, I found some errors as to using Joseph Smith name without cause. That happens to be the Rib caper. Joseph never announced that both Adam and Eve wereour Heavenly Parents offspring in the flesh. Though, she uses the correct references to to the five who claim it but at this point, I will stay the course with the first Prophet since he was a true SEER.

[Hemidakota]

Some excerpts that may help you...I also included references to aid you. See the bold numbering within the post.

Nevertheless, Thou Mayest Choose
The Lord commanded Adam and Eve to multiply and replenish the earth while at the same time commanding them not to partake of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. If they obeyed the second commandment, they would not fulfill the first and greater commandment. Then, as He has done in connection with no other commandment, He reminded them of their agency: "Nevertheless, thou mayest choose for thyself" (Moses 3:17).

Conflicting commandments? Ambiguity? How do we resolve this apparent contradiction?

We are taught that unless blood flowed in the veins of Adam and Eve, they would have no children. Yet, with blood flowing in their veins, they could not exist in the Garden atmosphere. This difficult ambiguity had to be worked through. With agency as the preeminent law of the universe, the choice was theirs and theirs alone. The Fall, even in light of its paramount importance to the Father's plan, could not be forced upon Adam and Eve. They had to voluntarily choose the course themselves. Nor could their choice be made in ignorance, for a choice made in such a state would not be a true exercise of agency. [Hemi - I don't agree with her assumption]

Elder Boyd K. Packer explained that "there was too much at issue to introduce man into mortality by force. That would contravene the very law essential to the plan."1 Elder John A. Widtsoe elaborated on the agency that had to prevail in the Garden: "The eternal power of choice was respected by the Lord himself. ... It really converts the command into a warning, as much as if to say, if you do this thing, you will bring upon yourself a certain punishment, but do it if you choose. ...

"The Lord had warned Adam and Eve of the hard battle with earth conditions if they chose to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. He would not subject his son and daughter to hardship and the death of their bodies unless it be of their own choice. They must choose for themselves. They chose wisely, in accord with the heavenly law of love for others."2

Even so, the reasons for using these seemingly ambiguous means to achieve a greater end are sometimes still hard to grasp. Lehi's people must have wrestled with this teaching, too. Lehi carefully walked them through the necessity of this action, advising, "If ye shall say there is no law, ye shall also say there is no sin. If ye shall say there is no sin, ye shall also say there is no righteousness. And if there be no righteousness, there be no happiness, ... no punishment nor misery. And if these things are not there is no God" (2Nephi 2:13).

Lehi's profound words are as relevant to us today as they were when he wrote them. The need for such dialogue is hauntingly familiar. The "gospel of relativism" prevails in many places, teaching that there is no absolute right, no absolute wrong. Emanating from many media sources are cautions—do not evaluate, do not make moral judgments. We are told that right or good reflect each individual's value system. Yet, though it is important to understand another's motives, to abandon the Lord's imperatives is sheer folly.

President Brigham Young explained that "it was necessary that sin should enter into the world; no man could ever understand the principle of exaltation without its opposite; no one could ever receive an exaltation without being acquainted with its opposite. How did Adam and Eve sin? Did they come out in direct opposition to God and to His government? No. But they transgressed a command of the Lord, and through that transgression sin came into the world."3

This Transgression Is Movement, Not Sin
Eve's actions, which were followed by Adam's, caused them to move downward, yet forward. We can best understand the word used to explain their actions, transgression, by breaking it into its parts. Trans is a Latin word meaning "to move from one state to another, on or to the other side of, beyond, over, across." Gress is a form of a Latin word meaning "to go."

Alma taught that God gave commandments to men after they had transgressed (or, in other words, moved beyond, gone to the next state). This Book of Mormon prophet gave us this insight into the wonder of mortal bodies and why Adam and Eve would take the great leap into the relative unknown for all waiting spirits. Upon claiming these bodies, we become "as Gods, knowing good from evil," and because we thereby come into possession of that great gift of agency, we place ourselves "in a state to act, or being placed in a state to act according to [our] wills and pleasures, [we can decide] whether to do evil or to do good" (Alma 12:31).

This scripture comes tripping off the tongue, and yet this profound gift is generally passed over as we seek for other pieces of the puzzle in our study of the Garden story. In mortality we fill our minds, our discussions, and our bookshelves with a search for insights into the qualities that will make us like unto God. The list becomes long and daunting and our hope of developing those qualities seems as a dream that cannot be realized. Yet He has given us the answer in these words: "Then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil" (Genesis 3:5).

Satan wishes to blur our knowledge of the absolutes of good and evil. The power inherent in that knowledge makes us like God. It is our choice of good over evil which makes us godlike. If the adversary is able to diminish or erase our sensitivities in this regard, his chances of keeping us from becoming as God are significantly enhanced, and therefore his hope of having us within his power is exponentially advanced. We must never forget that our knowledge of good and evil also makes us free—"free to choose liberty and eternal life" (2 Nephi 2:27).

How could anyone interpret that great promise to be a punishment? A challenge, yes; a punishment—never!

Elder Russell M. Nelson hailed Adam and Eve's course of conduct: "We and all mankind are forever blessed because of Eve's great courage and wisdom. By partaking of the fruit first, she did what needed to be done. Adam was wise enough to do likewise."4

God's Unique and Special Gift of Discernment
Discernment, the ability to see beyond the literal to the divine essential, has ever been God's gift to women. Since Eve, women have faced the challenge of ambiguous choices that carry with them holy, life-altering consequences. On the correct resolution of these ambiguities hangs the future of generations, the civilizing of society, the basic dignity of the human race, and mortal life itself. Daily, women must make decisions based on things not seen or even known clearly. Often these decisions require great leaps of faith. Frequently these decisions must be based on what serves the greater good for the greatest number. Often such decisions require women to set aside their own well-being in favor of another's. The very process of bearing children illustrates this truth dramatically. It is a source of strength and comfort to many women to know that inherent in their divine nature is this innate ability to be in tune with God's purposes.

Even more awe-inspiring is the knowledge that the Lord has such abiding faith in women's judgment and wisdom. By His very actions, He has shown women that He wants them to claim and properly act on this gift. Women are surely beloved of the Lord for Him to have placed them in such a position. As He relies on women to embrace the greater law, to bow to the greater commandment, He affirms their intellect, their integrity, and their righteousness.

"I, the Lord God, Commanded"

To gain a true understanding of the principles inherent in the Lord's seemingly contradictory instructions, we must be sure that we know both meaning and context at the time they were recorded. So much from scripture has been lost through centuries of personal interpretation, overlain with customs of changing eras.

As I began to understand the role of agency and recognized that actions taken by Eve and Adam were in accordance with law, I began to wonder if the word command used in the Creation stories was from the same root word as commandment, as in the Ten Commandments. Because I had heard a Hebrew scholar, Dr. Nehama Aschkenasy, speak on the subject of Eve and read her book on feminine images in Hebrew literature, I asked her if she was aware of any difference in the origin of those two words. She agreed to research the question for me and subsequently advised me that they in fact were not from the same origin. She found that command as used in the Creation story was from a different verb form, whose usage connotes a strong, severe warning, perhaps a statement of law, that was possibly temporary in nature, so that at some future, unspecified time it might not apply.

I thought of the warnings we give our small children who, in their tender years, must be protected in matters that involve life and death or injury. Such a warning might be, "Do not, under any condition, touch the stove." "Do not ever cross the street alone."

Do we mean that they are never to cross the street or to use a stove? Of course not! What we intend is that until our children have learned enough to make appropriate decisions, the stern warning, indeed prohibition, is in force. We also know, however, that as our children are prepared, they must step out into the larger world and make choices. Those choices can either be good or bad—the good will enhance and enrich their sojourn and help them fill the measure of their creation; the bad will generally bring sorrow and often diminish their opportunities for growth, be it spiritual or physical.

If God intended that there would be a time when such a "command" was not to be in effect, we can understand more clearly the account in Moses in which He advised Adam and Eve that nevertheless they might choose for themselves. This interpretation coincides with knowledge garnered from restored scripture and the words of modern prophets. This concept seems to have been known in the early Church, in the meridian of time, for in the Gospel of Philip we read: "This garden (is the place) where they will say to me, ... eat this or do not eat that, just as you wish."5


Forbidden? Only If You Want to Stay
President Joseph Fielding Smith spoke on the use of the word forbidden in the story of the Garden of Eden. "Mortality was created through the eating of the forbidden fruit, if you want to call it forbidden, but I think the Lord has made it clear that it was not forbidden. He merely said to Adam, if you want to stay here [in the garden] this is the situation. If so, don't eat it."6

Brigham Young stated something similar: "Mother Eve partook of the forbidden fruit. We should not have been here today if she had not; we could never have possessed wisdom and intelligence if she had not done it. It was all in the economy of heaven, and we need not talk about it; it is all right. We should never blame Mother Eve, not the least."7

In all of this, wrote Elder Bruce R. McConkie, Adam and Eve simply "complied with the law which enabled them to become mortal beings, and this course of conduct is termed eating the forbidden fruit."8


We Shall Forever Call Her Mother
Because of Eve's calling as the Mother of All Living, the lineage of humankind would come through the daughters of Eve. It is clear that God foreordained the way these lives would come forth. In his inspired translation of the Bible, Joseph Smith corrected Genesis 2:7, which speaks of the formation of humankind. The Prophet taught: "God breathed into Adam his spirit, [i.e. Adam's spirit] or breath of life; but when the word 'rauch' applies to Eve, it should be translated lives."9

What message does this correction convey? Does it not indicate that at the time of Eve's first stirrings in the Garden, God endowed her with the seeds of those lives that in the Grand Council of Heaven she had committed to bring forth? If she were so endowed, could this assignment be conveyed to another? It seems that Eve's role was pivotal if waiting spirits were to obtain the requisite mortal bodies of flesh and blood. In Genesis 3:20 the name Eve (Chava or Chavvah in Hebrew) appears for the first time: "And Adam called his wife's name Eve; because she was the mother of all living." In fact, Eve means "life giving," and the Lord carefully taught Adam why this woman he had been given was to be called Eve (Moses 4:26).

An intriguing scientific discovery ties us all back to Mother Eve and helps us see the enduring nature of our linkage to her. That linkage, which has to do with our innermost "wiring," also helps us understand that it was Eve and her daughters who carried within them the power to activate lives.

We know that the body has within it hundreds of mitochondria, which were once free, living cells. They contain their own genetic material distinct from the cell's DNA in the chromosomes. Scientists have found within the mitochondrial DNA thirteen tiny genomes, which have come to be known as powerhouse cells. These cells are the activators of life, for without the genomes, the body would exist but not live. "Mitochondria are only inherited from mothers; a father's mitochrondria are never passed on. Only a daughter can pass her mother's mitochondria to the next generation. The mitochondrial genes of any woman who bears only sons are lost."10 Each genome bears a succession of mutations inherited from the foremothers in whom they have occurred. Scientists tell us that it is thus possible to trace lineage back to the original mother of us all, Eve.

Based on this incredible finding, we not only call Eve "Mother" but we can be sure that Eve and Adam had many daughters. It was not until my husband gave me a book entitled The Seven Daughters of Eve, by world-renowned geneticist Bryan Sykes, that I began to feel a compelling identity with these distant daughters. The introduction to the book stated: "After plotting thousands of DNA sequences from all over the world, Sykes found that they clustered around a handful of distinct groups. ... The conclusion was staggering. Almost all people of native European descent, wherever they may live throughout the world, can trace their ancestry back to one of seven women."11 Though Sykes's work is not completed, he has identified twenty-six other daughters, who tie the rest of the world's population together—all going back to that first mother, whom scientists call "Mitochondrial Eve."

It took my breath away to think of Eve's daughters, how they had been taught, how they had played and worked by their mother's side, how they had been caressed and valued by their father, how they must have felt as they too went out into the world to start their own families. Sykes expressed his musings about these ancestral mothers: "I am on stage. Before me, in the dim light, all the people who have ever lived are lined up, rank upon rank, stretching far into the distance. ... I have in my hand the end of the thread which connects me to my ancestral mother way at the back. I pull on the thread and one woman's face in every generation, feeling the tug, looks up at me. Their faces stand out from the crowd, and they are illuminated by a strange light. These are my ancestors. I recognize my grandmother in the front row, but in the generations behind her the faces are unfamiliar to me." Each one is individual—short, tall, dark, light—and yet there is a strong connection: "There are all my mothers who passed this precious messenger [mitochondrial DNA] from one to another through a thousand births, a thousand screams, a thousand embraces of a thousand newborn babies. The thread becomes an umbilical cord."12

Sykes continued, speaking of this tie to others: "We share the very same piece of DNA that has come down from our ancient maternal ancestors. We use it constantly. Cells in every tissue are reading the message it carries and carry out its instructions millions of times a second. Every atom of oxygen we take into our bodies when we breathe has to be processed according to the formula that has been handed to us by our (maternal) ancestors. ... But the route by which the gene reached us from those ancestors has its own special importance, for it follows the same path as the bond of pain, nurture and enduring love which begins again every time a new child is born. It silently follows the mysterious essence of the feminine through a thousand generations."13

What insight this fundamental connection gives us into the gathering into families in the hereafter and therefore of the importance of genealogy and temple work. How marvelous is the plan of God and His wonderful scales of justice as He places recognition of the linkage of humankind through the mother and the lineage of the priesthood through the father. Daughters, mothers, sisters, fathers, and sons—how elegant and joyous is this news that through our genetic makeup we are inseparably identified with those who have gone before by this same wonder of mitochondria from the Creation to the Millennium.

References:

1. Packer, "Atonement, Agency, Accountability," 70.

2. Widtsoe, Evidences and Reconciliations, 193-94; emphasis added.
3. Young, Discourses of Brigham Young, 103.
4. Nelson, "Constancy amid Change," 34.
5. Gospel of Philip 2.3, in Nag Hammadi Library, 153.
6. Smith, unpublished address.
7. Young, Discourses of Brigham Young, 103.
8. McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, 268.
9. Smith, Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 301.
10. Thompson, "In Search of the Mother of Us All," Z07; Poulton, "All about Eve," 5-7.
11. Sykes, Seven Daughters of Eve, 289.
12. Sykes, Seven Daughters of Eve, 289.
13. Sykes, Seven Daughters of Eve, 294.