tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7706071451857400135.post8136648189471929971..comments2024-03-23T06:14:11.632-08:00Comments on "Come, Follow Me" with Gospel Doctrine Plus: Old Testament Lesson #4 "Because of My Transgression My Eyes are Opened"Nancy Wyatt Jensenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14758524730006544116noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7706071451857400135.post-39923813613543356292018-02-07T10:57:14.830-08:002018-02-07T10:57:14.830-08:00Robert, this was something that had bothered me as...Robert, this was something that had bothered me as well. It took me a lot of time and a lot of prayerful study to understand it. I love how the Lord will reveal answers to our questions if we truly seek. Thanks for your feedback!Nancy Wyatt Jensenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14758524730006544116noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7706071451857400135.post-78644873235208090652018-02-05T09:03:05.182-08:002018-02-05T09:03:05.182-08:00I can not begin to tell you how much this lesson h...I can not begin to tell you how much this lesson helped me! Not only because I teach Gospel Doctrine, but because I have personally never felt like I understood the Fall. It's always bothered me that God would give two contradictory commandments! Your lesson - specifically the part about understanding what God can't do and still be God - was the clarity I needed. Thank you so, so much.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04029155109376336900noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7706071451857400135.post-66850973755039362322014-07-09T22:27:33.559-08:002014-07-09T22:27:33.559-08:00I think that Adam and Eve knew quite a bit; howeve...I think that Adam and Eve knew quite a bit; however, this knowledge was almost entirely theoretical. We have come to Earth to gain experiential knowledge. In other words, they knew the consequences of partaking of the fruit, but they didn't "know," if that makes any sense. They had to actually eat the fruit and go through mortality to learn everything before they really "knew." Cory Wyattnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7706071451857400135.post-88076637021690688642014-07-09T21:57:07.234-08:002014-07-09T21:57:07.234-08:00Another possible reason for the seemingly contradi...Another possible reason for the seemingly contradictory commandments has to do with the most difficult part of mortality; using agency wisely when confronted with ambiguity. Hegal once wrote that the most difficult choices that we experience are not between what is good and evil, because those are easy decisions (in theory at least; perhaps not in execution).<br /><br />What is more difficult, are the decisions between what is good, and what is good. Or, between what is good and what might be better. Eve had the option of not partaking of the fruit and being able to live forever in the Garden forever with no pain or misery (thereby stopping all spiritual progression). Tempting, no doubt. Or, she could break the first commandment, eat, be subjected to pain and misery (as well as the corresponding pleasure and happiness) and continue in spiritual progression. For someone like Eve, who had no experiential knowledge, this decision would be more difficult than a simple good/evil dilemma. So much ambiguity in life requires us to find out for ourselves what God wants us to do. It requires us to rely on Him more.<br /><br />I would also add that there are enough hints in the accounts of the Fall to show what God really wanted them to do. Eve understood this; Adam clearly did not. He seems to have seen this difficult decision purely in a good/evil framework. <br /><br />1) God acknowledges in Gen. 3:22 that "man is become as one of us,to know good and evil," indicated that the Fall brought about a kind of spiritual progression. Before eating the fruit, Adam and Eve were not as God, and did not know good and evil; after, they were as God and did understand good and evil. <br /><br />2) God cursed the ground for their sake, or on their account in Gen 3:17. He enabled their decision to enter mortality by preparing the earth for this purpose. <br /><br />3) God denied Adam and Eve access to the Tree of Life (the symbolic source of immortality) because they weren't ready to partake of it yet. They would have "lived forever on their sins" if He hadn't done this, forever disqualifying them from exaltation (Gen 3:24). <br /><br />The heavily symbolic nature of the account of the events which enabled Gods spirit children to come to Earth and progress is wonderfully multi-layered. There is always something new for me to learn. Cory Wyattnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7706071451857400135.post-9929160716974511002014-01-23T09:15:16.192-08:002014-01-23T09:15:16.192-08:00I'm confused as to how God giving Adam and Eve...I'm confused as to how God giving Adam and Eve a warning regarding the consequences of partaking of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil was not giving them knowledge as an element of agency.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7706071451857400135.post-27753880143552418672014-01-02T07:08:02.591-08:002014-01-02T07:08:02.591-08:00Awesome lesson! Thanks so much for your helpful i...Awesome lesson! Thanks so much for your helpful insights!Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01822226459845164141noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7706071451857400135.post-67484138846680365342010-01-24T13:50:45.257-08:002010-01-24T13:50:45.257-08:00My husband pointed out another good reason for Hea...My husband pointed out another good reason for Heavenly Father giving Adam and Eve two conflicting commandments: To confuse Satan. It worked!Nancy Wyatt Jensenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14758524730006544116noreply@blogger.com