Why did God tell Adam and Eve not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil when that was the only way they would learn how to be fruitful and multiply? It appears that God gave two commands here where it is only possible to keep one of these commands. I think God intends for us to keep every command he gives us. Otherwise how would we know which ones he wants us to disobey and which ones to keep? I have studied the LDS doctrine for a while now and this has been maybe one of the two major blocking points for me to join the church. In Sincerity and Love.
conversion
Anonymous from Sacrament,
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3 Responses to “Why did God tell Adam and Eve not to eat from the tree of th…”
Manuel Leal
2011-04-11 07:02:03
Hi friend. I'm happy that you're considering joining the LDS Church. This church has been such a tremendous blessing in my life. I encourage you to continue your investigation!
In my opinion, God organized the Garden-of-Eden experience the way He did because it was the only way for man to progress according to his own free will and choice.
In the great council before the earth was created, Satan presented a plan. He proposed that all human beings would be forced to be righteous. Consequently, the glory would go to Satan, the one who was responsible for men's actions. Christ presented a very different plan. He proposed that each person would be responsible for their own choices. He said man should have free will.
In the Garden of Eden, God wanted man to fall so he could progress. It would be a "fall forward," so to speak. However, if God had commanded man to fall, He would be responsible for all the suffering that would result. It would be no different than Satan's plan; God would be responsible for man's actions, not man himself. It had to be man's choice to fall so man alone would be responsible, making a future day of judgement reasonable and possible. God had no choice but to command man not to partake of the fruit while simultaneously hoping he would make the choice of his own free will to do so.
I hope this answer helps. Certainly others may have different ideas. Regardless, friend, this particular detail, while important, is not one of the central doctrines of the Church. With all due respect, I would not let little issues like this keep me from the wonderful blessings that come from the restored gospel.
Elder Victor Moxley
2011-05-03 16:37:44
One of the results of Adam and Eve eating the fruit was that they'd have knowledge of good and evil. In my own experience, knowledge of good and evil only comes from having to make difficult choices, ones in which we often have no choice but to pick the lesser of two evils.
God expected us to be forced into situations where we'd have to make hard choices as well so that we could grow and progress. God knew that we'd need to make mistakes along the way, since making and learning from mistakes so that we don't have to repeat them is the surest way to gain wisdom.
God wants us to do our very best to keep every commandment he gives us, but sometimes we must choose between two conflicting commandments like Adam and Eve were given. A modern example might be having to choose between keeping the commandment, "Thou shalt not kill," or killing as a police officer or soldier in defense of the innocent.
Since Adam and Eve, and all of us are forced to make hard choices where we have to make mistakes and/or act contrary to some of God's directions in order to learn or fulfill a greater commandment when two of them conflict. God provided us a Savior, Jesus Christ to help us recover from our mistakes. God sent us the Holy Spirit, to guide us when we're faced with difficult choices and help us know what he expects when his commands seem to conflict.
If you'd like to chat about Adam and Eve's fall or any of the resources God has given us, just ask for Victor on the Mormon.org Chat (Mormon.org/chat).
Lexi
2011-04-27 05:25:09
Well God gave them 2 commandment: to multiply and replenish the earth, and to not eat the fruit. They had to break the smaller commandment in order to fulfil the bigger commandment. Hope that makes sense to you: )
In my opinion, God organized the Garden-of-Eden experience the way He did because it was the only way for man to progress according to his own free will and choice.
In the great council before the earth was created, Satan presented a plan. He proposed that all human beings would be forced to be righteous. Consequently, the glory would go to Satan, the one who was responsible for men's actions. Christ presented a very different plan. He proposed that each person would be responsible for their own choices. He said man should have free will.
In the Garden of Eden, God wanted man to fall so he could progress. It would be a "fall forward," so to speak. However, if God had commanded man to fall, He would be responsible for all the suffering that would result. It would be no different than Satan's plan; God would be responsible for man's actions, not man himself. It had to be man's choice to fall so man alone would be responsible, making a future day of judgement reasonable and possible. God had no choice but to command man not to partake of the fruit while simultaneously hoping he would make the choice of his own free will to do so.
I hope this answer helps. Certainly others may have different ideas. Regardless, friend, this particular detail, while important, is not one of the central doctrines of the Church. With all due respect, I would not let little issues like this keep me from the wonderful blessings that come from the restored gospel.
God expected us to be forced into situations where we'd have to make hard choices as well so that we could grow and progress. God knew that we'd need to make mistakes along the way, since making and learning from mistakes so that we don't have to repeat them is the surest way to gain wisdom.
God wants us to do our very best to keep every commandment he gives us, but sometimes we must choose between two conflicting commandments like Adam and Eve were given. A modern example might be having to choose between keeping the commandment, "Thou shalt not kill," or killing as a police officer or soldier in defense of the innocent.
Since Adam and Eve, and all of us are forced to make hard choices where we have to make mistakes and/or act contrary to some of God's directions in order to learn or fulfill a greater commandment when two of them conflict. God provided us a Savior, Jesus Christ to help us recover from our mistakes. God sent us the Holy Spirit, to guide us when we're faced with difficult choices and help us know what he expects when his commands seem to conflict.
If you'd like to chat about Adam and Eve's fall or any of the resources God has given us, just ask for Victor on the Mormon.org Chat (Mormon.org/chat).