The Upward Fall of Man

By: Michael Flournoy

In the Genesis creation story we read that God created all things: the heavens, the earth, the plants, the animals, and mankind. After the creation he looked upon the whole of his creation and saw that all of it was good, even the humans! After placing Adam in the Garden of Eden he instructed him, "Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: but of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die." Immediately afterward, almost as an afterthought, he says, "It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make an help meet for him."

Even then our all-knowing God must have known that no companion would be right for Adam, but the woman Eve, who would initiate the fall by persuading Adam to eat the forbidden fruit. After all, it is irrational to suppose that God was caught off guard by the serpent or didn't know how his children would act. No, the Lord knew exactly what would happen when he said, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a help meet for him."

The negative effects of the fall include a change from immortality to mortality for Adam and Eve and their descendants, as well as a separation from God and man called spiritual death. Protestants often think of "original sin" as a curse passed from Adam to all his seed which keeps mankind from obtaining salvation without divine intervention. While we as Latter-day Saints reject the notion that our children are born into sin, we do believe that due to the fall the natural man is now an enemy to God (Mosiah 3:19) and that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23).

With this in mind, it is easy to assume that the fall must have been a bad thing, and surely it would have been better for the man to be left alone. After all, in 1 Timothy 2:14 we read: And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression. Alone, Adam could have remained immortal in an unfallen state. However, this doesn't erase the fact that our omniscient God said it was not good for the man to be alone. For the fall to be negative, the Lord would have to be a liar. Thus, somehow, it was better for the fall to come about than or Adam to be left in paradise forever.

With boldness I proclaim that this viewpoint only makes sense when applied to the LDS doctrines, which highlight the positive aspects of the fall. First and foremost, it was part of God's plan from the beginning. We believe that in the pre-existence the Father already knew no one would be able to return to live with Him and ordained Christ to offer himself as a ransom for mankind. Second, it seems that Adam and Eve were not able to have children in their immortal state and could not obey God's command to multiply and replenish the earth.

Now, some will say there's no scriptural evidence to support this perspective that our first parents were unable to produce us in their innocent, immortal state. I disagree. First, Adam and Eve did not even know they were naked until after the fall, which may present a problem for having children. Second, we have no idea how long they were actually in the Garden of Eden, it could have been years! If they were so concerned about God's commandment not to partake of the forbidden fruit, why didn't they attempt to multiply and replenish the earth before the fall?

Finally, 2 Nephi 2:19-25 in The Book of Mormon states: And after Adam and Eve had partaken of the forbidden fruit they were driven out of the garden of Eden, to till the earth. And they have brought forth children; yea, even the family of all the earth. And the days of the children of Adam were prolonged, according to the will of God, that they might repent while in the flesh; wherefore, their state became a state of probation, and their time was lengthened, according to the commandments which the Lord God gave unto the children of men. For he gave commandment that all men must repent; for he showed unto all men that they were lost, because of the transgression of their parents.
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. 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.
But behold, all things have been done in the wisdom of him who knoweth all things. Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy.