 |
|
|
The Book of Mormon and the endowment ceremony teach us that the Fall
was a perilous but essential step forward for humanity. Living in a world
where there is death and the possibility of evil is necessary if we are
to experience growth and the joy that comes from embracing the good (2
Ne. 2:22-25; Moses 5:11). The story of Adam and Eve leaving Eden
is the story of all our Heavenly Parents' children leaving home to make
their own way in the world. Here each of us has opportunities to learn
from experience and to develop into his or her unique potential as a child
of God. In this sense, living in a fallen world means having the independence
to choose how we will live and who we will be.
At the same time, the doctrine of the Fall reflects awareness of the
terrible realities that are part of life: disease, death, disaster, cruelty,
and gratuitous suffering. Loss and pain are inevitable conditions of our
mortal existence. Because our world is fallen, oppressive powers reign
with blood and horror. The entire creation groans, waiting for redemption
(Rom. 8:22-23). In this sense, the Fall refers
to forces that confine us or make us suffer, forces from which God wills
to deliver us (Alma 12:26-32). Christ's power
enables us to work against the Fall: to resist destructive powers; to
liberate people in physical or spiritual subjection; to be instruments
of healing, light, and hope; and to make life more abundant (John
10:10). We help to make real now the promised day of redemption,
when God will wipe away all tears (Rev. 21:3-4).
| Related Topics:
|
 Experience |
|
|
| Rulon S. Wells: It was
necessary that the fall should take place . . . But it meant an opportunity
of development, of education, of growth of those qualities that are
divine, to make us like our Maker, that we might become like him in
very deed |
| Conference Report,
April 1926,.76-77 |
| James E. Talmage: It
was necessary that the spiritual offspring of God should leave the
scenes of their primeval childhood and enter the school of mortal
experience, meeting, contending with, and overcoming evil. |
| Articles of Faith (Salt
Lake City: Deseret Book, 1984), 62 |
Ardeth Greene Kapp:
One of the biggest obstacles to acquiring and maintaining hope is
that we must deal with the reality of mortality. While struggling
with that distance between where we are and where we desire to be
. . . , we so often fall short. Our hope can be shattered until
we begin to understand that life is a journey, and our progress
comes as we learn to understand the very purpose of life, including
the need for suffering, setbacks, trials, and tests. |
| The Joy of the Journey
(Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1992), 36 |
Chieko N. Okazaki: I
think of the immense sorrow that attends any death. I wonder at
the strength and courage of our Heavenly Parents, sending us to
experience mortality, and of all the deaths they have suffered through
with us in our own suffering. |
| Sanctuary (Salt
Lake City: Deseret Book, 1997), 148-149 |
Janet Lee: With all
my heart, if I could change the course of these past ten years as
our whole family has experienced the pain of Rex's cancer, I would
do so. And yet, I would never want to give up the growth: the understanding,
the insights, the compassion, or the increased love for each other
and for our Savior. Without the Fall, we would remain as children,
without spiritual maturity, without knowledge, without realizing
our ultimate potential . . .
|
"Pieces of Peace,"
Every Good Thing: Talks from the 1997 BYU Women’s Conference
(Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1998), 9-10 |
|
|
|
