If “the glory of God is Intelligence”, why did God forbid Adam and Eve to partake of the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil? Is it because they were children, and didn’t understand how to use knowledge properly? Why shouldn’t they know about good and evil?
Mormon, Mormon Belief, Old Testament Sunday School Lessons, scriptures
Knowledge and Intelligence
Wheat & Tares 
The request was just temporary pending further instruction.
The Garden of Eden was to prepare them for probationary existence. Obedience was one of the things to learn. They knew exactly what the Father told them about the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. They didn’t do it. That is the only thing that matters. The serpent told them that they wouldn’t die. I wonder if Adam and Eve wondered if they thought that the Father was a liar. In all of scripture the cursing of the land was to teach obedience to God – nothing other than that. They should not have eaten the fruit – they did. Fortunately they all ready knew how to sew. They sewed fig leaves to make clothes but fig leaves would not be a good material for that. If we wore fig leaves to Church I think there would be big problems in a hurry. Adam and Eve did not know about that when they were learning to sew. I also wonder what they used for needles and thread. Anyway, If they had waited, the Father would have given them the fruit and they would have eaten it in perfect obedience. It’s strange to me that Latter-day Saints can’t believe that.
I’m beginning to wonder if perhaps it’s a question of how much do you want knowledge. Are you prepared to act to get it.
If disobedience was the catalyst to kick-start the plan of salvation, why is obedience so important?
It isn’t.
There are many myths about the idea of humans pursuing forbidden knowledge, usually with devastating outcomes (not always). I think it has to do with gaining divine knowledge according to the Lord’s timeline, rather than ours. The implication in the temple is that you are allowed access to higher levels of knowledge only after you’ve made (and kept) covenants based on lower levels.
I’m becoming more convinced by the idea that our version of the Garden story is a teaching tool. I suspect there was a bit more to the story than what is in our scriptures.
Not meaning to brag, but the first response is the correct answer. If you want to understand the Garden story you must read Abraham and the teachings of Brigham Young, and then go back to the Temple and think in terms of Eternity. Read The Infinite Atonement by Tad R Calister, too.
I agree with the first comment. I’m not convinced that Hoffbegone’s reading list is actually necessary. I’ve found that reading the scriptures and attending the temple is sufficient if one pays attention to what is actually presented.
Because sin is a necessary part of the plan of salvation. Without sin, there is no need for a savior; without a savior, there is no plan of salvation. The idea that they would have received the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil in time had they waited is false. This is clearly taught in the scriptures and in the temple.
It is? I’m not sure either interpretation is taught clearly in the scriptures or in the temple. And hence the differing interpretations.
This all, of course, assumes Adam and Eve existed as the first human beings on earth.
Dexter #4: Howard #5:
Good answer Howard, but consider garden growing would have much easier without weeds and having babies would have been a lot less painful and dangerous than it turned out to be. Either way none of them would have affected our salvation. Outside the unforgivable sin, we would get that anyway. We obey God because we love Him we know that life will be better if do obey Him. Beyond that, for those who enter into covenants with Him, things can get very disturbing when we break those covenants. I can’t say that Adam and Eve had made any covenants but they did understand what the commandment was they received and they were in a millennial existence, much more serious in obedience to God.
We need to understand even though we are going to be saved, it does not mean we will be as happy as we could have been if we had obeyed the way we should have. Within the kingdom of God, there are three kingdoms: The celestial, the Terrestrial, and Telestial Kingdoms. All three will ruled by Exalted beings. Adam and Eve chose to disobey and everything changed.
While the allegory of the Garden of Eden, fruit, Tree of Knowledge, etc. is rich in valuable concepts (obedience, knowledge being necessary for Agency, consequences…to name several), it is allegorical and shouldn’t be tortured for meaning.
I would argue that if Adam and Eve actually existed and were sent by God, they had to have been exercising their Agency to agree to fill that role–so no conundrum of obey or multiply and replenish. They had “knowledge” before they arrived and the veil we all experience coming to mortality was not complete opaque in their case. IMO
I agree with fbisti. After studying esoteric and occult ideas/knowledge/metaphors from different cultures as well as freemason ideologies and teachings (Joseph Smith, ahem), all of these bible stories were written as an amazing tool to pass on ancient knowledge to the next generations and keep the wisdom alive. Obviously when researching ancient religions from Sumeria/Egypt to India and even South America, the story of the father, virgin mother, and Savior Son (sun) is everywhere. These metaphors are extremely important for each individual to realize their (Christ) light and fulfill their true purposes (will, tao, etc) through love.
In modern times we always view humanity as an ever progressing, divine race of beings. Evolution and all that jazz. However, the theory of evolution is shaky with many holes and contradictory evidence. Because humans have become more technologically advanced we, for whatever reason, believe that we are actually evolving as a species. However, this remains to be seen. Are we evolving, or devolving? With only 200,000 years of scientific information on humans (a very tiny blip on a Universal timescale), we literally cannot know the answer. Technological advancement is not the same as evolution into NIetchze’s “Superman” or into a higher conscience, Godlike being.
In the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve were created in the image of God. Being of the highest consciousness (they ruled over their lower consciences, aka the kingdom of plants and animals) they had a direct connection to God and his divine wisdom and knowledge. If God was to truly give Mankind free will, he had to provide the means for us to choose this higher divinity and consciousness…or not. Thus, the Tree of Life and the Tree of Knowledge. The Tree of Knowledge was about knowing good and evil, but if man is in full alignment with his true self and Divine Wisdom, good and evil would not exist. Godlike perfection in most religions means love and unity, all is one, perfect harmony with Divine Law, and all of those other nice teachings in scriptures, ancient mythos, etc. If the Tree of Life represented this perfection and this concept of wholeness and love that is the only TRUE reality, then anything other than the Tree of Life would be a false reality.
As soon as they ate the fruit, Adam and Eve fell into illusion/false reality. Suddenly, they were worried about being clothed or not, they felt fear of God and became anxious. They hid themselves. Adam and Eve created ideas of what they should be, and what they should appear to be. These ideas of “appearance” and blaming another for personal mistakes are not real. They are illusions that can only be created in something other than Divine Knowledge/Consciousness/Love. Fear, not hate, is the opposite of Love. Hence why fear is such a powerful mechanism in controlling large groups of people. The illusions we put ourselves into create this chaos and unhappiness in our lives. God and Divine Wisdom is the only true reality.
A lot of people nowadays fall into so many illusions. From TV and movies creating these false paradigms and stereotypes and putting ideas of what the world should be into our head to religions and communities and friends and colleagues saying/doing the exact same thing, humanity is in trouble. This is definitely what these ancient scriptures warned about. Satan isn’t some horned being tempting women to sleep with their neighbor. Satan means adversary. Satan causes adversity to the True, Higher Self, which can only be found in the True reality. I see a lot of LDS members who have “fallen” into the illusion that they are a part of an all powerful, one true church and community. I have never met ONE LDS member who didn’t feel some sort of fear, anxiety, or stress due to the obligations this has put on them. Usually because they can’t live up to expectations set on them by these illusory ideas or because they can’t quite reconcile why their church that is based in Divine Wisdom and Christ consciousness is ruled in a hierarchy of leaders. Especially since said leaders have fallen into the biggest illusion ever created in mankinds’ history (the same illusion Jesus fought against even though he knew he would die for it)….politics and control over the actual freedom of every single individual.
The LDS religion has the best roots out of all the Christian religions. Blogs and websites like this one give me hope that these future generations will be able to rise up and change the oppressive scheming and hierarchy that is causing so many LDS members fear, confusion, and anxiety. Mormons could literally change the world if they could get out of their own illusions about their leaders, their ideas about organized religion/business, and (most importantly) their illusions and ideas about themselves.
By the way, this take on the Adam and Eve story is just one of many metaphors I’ve found in my esoteric studies. I obviously don’t believe this origin story has only one true meaning. I presented it because it is the most compelling to me right now, especially with current events in the world and the LDS church alike.