Criticism of Mormonism/Books/Mormonism 101/Chapter 5

Chapter 4: Preexistence and the Second Estate

A FAIR Analysis of: Criticism of Mormonism/Books A work by author: Bill McKeever and Eric Johnson

Chapter 6: Apostasy

Index of Claims in Chapter 5: "The Fall"

Claim

• The authors claim that Mormons believe that the Fall of Adam was a "fall upward." They claim that the decision by Adam and Eve to disobey the Father has been "continually commended" by LDS leaders.

Author's source(s)

• Moses 5꞉10-11
• Joseph Fielding Smith, Doctrines of Salvation 3:74. Smith notes that the Garden of Eden was located on the American continent.
• Talmage, Articles of Faith, p. 70.
• McConkie, The Promised Messiah, p. 222.
• Widtsoe, Evidences and Reconciliations, p. 195.
• Robert L. Millet, Ensign (January 1994): 10.
• Dallin H. Oaks, Ensign (November 1993): 73.

Response

• LDS doctrine does not praise the decision to disobey. However, it acknowledges that God anticipated their disobedience, and that this eventual disobedience was part of God's plan. God had prepared the atonement of His Son to permit us the benefits which came from Adam and Eve's disobedience, without requiring that they or we suffer forever because of it. Because of the atonement and God's plan of happiness, LDS doctrine does not see the Fall as unalloyed tragedy.
• The fall was not "upward," but it set in motion the conditions which--because of God's plan and the sacrifice of His Son--could enable us to move upward.
• The only other option must assume that the Fall was not part of God's plan, and that it required Him to come up with "Plan B" for the salvation of mankind. Would the authors prefer this view of God and his purposes, that they are so easily thwarted?
• For a detailed response, see: Original sin

Claim

• The authors claim,

Contrary to the LDS concept of the fall, the Bible shows that this event was the result of disobeying God.

Response

• This claim by the authors directly contradicts Alma 42꞉12:

And now, there was no means to reclaim men from this fallen state, which man had brought upon himself because of his own disobedience.

Claim

• The authors claim,

If transgression was a positive and it was a blessing to leave Eden, why does Genesis 3:24 say that God had to drive them out? ^[1]

Response

• It was not a "blessing to leave Eden," but leaving Eden allowed God's plan to continue. The fall was not unexpected, or unprepared for, by God.
• LDS scripture acknowledges the driving from Eden, and the negative consequences:
  • "And after Adam and Eve had partaken of the forbidden fruit they were driven out of the garden of Eden, to till the earth." (2 Nephi 2꞉19)
  • "And he said unto them: Because that Adam fell, we are; and by his fall came death; and we are made partakers of misery and woe." (Moses 6꞉48)

Claim

• Mormons believe that "Satan was telling the truth" when he told Eve that she "shall be as gods." The authors conclude: "is it wise to trust a promise from one who is called the 'father of lies'?"

Author's source(s)

• Genesis 3꞉3-5

Response

• For a detailed response, see: Deification of man

Claim

• According to the authors, Mormons distinguish between "sin" and "transgression" in order to "minimize the severity of Adam's disobedience." The authors claim that this contradicts 1 john 3꞉4, which states that "Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law."

Response
 FAIR WIKI EDITORS: Check sources

Claim

• The authors claim that Joseph Smith equated "sin" and "transgression," and the Paul stated that death was the result of Adam's sin, not transgression.

Author's source(s)

• DC 132꞉26
• Romans 5꞉12
• Romans 5꞉15

Response

Claim

• The authors claim that Mormons believe that "Satan told the truth in the Garden of Eden," as opposed to Christianity, which believes that "Satan deceived Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden."

Response

• The reality is that Latter-day Saints believe that Satan mixed truth with lie in order to entice Eve to partake of the forbidden fruit. Therefore, claiming the Mormons believe that "Satan told the truth" is an omission of information on the part of the authors and an attempt to skew LDS belief.
• The truth Satan told was that eating of the fruit would make them "as gods, knowing good and evil" (Genesis 3:5). The Bible makes it clear that this was the truth, since God said so: "the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil" (Genesis 3:22). If the authors wish to claim that Satan lied in this case, they must also accept that God then lied.