Our Mother Eve
Topic: In the early church, Eve was depicted as the first sinner (Gen 1-2), disobedient to God, while Mary was seen as the counterpart and very obedient to God. However, as noted in the scriptures, Eve committed a transgression but not a sin.
Discussion Notes:
Elder Dallin H. Oaks - “The Great Plan of Happiness” October 1993 General Conference:
“It was Eve who first transgressed the limits of Eden in order to initiate the conditions of mortality. Her act, whatever its nature, was formally a transgression but eternally a glorious necessity to open the doorway toward eternal life. Adam showed his wisdom by doing the same. And thus Eve and “Adam fell that men might be” (2 Ne. 2:25).
Some Christians condemn Eve for her act, concluding that she and her daughters are somehow flawed by it. Not the Latter-day Saints! Informed by revelation, we celebrate Eve’s act and honor her wisdom and courage in the great episode called the Fall (see Bruce R. McConkie, “Eve and the Fall,” Woman, Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1979, pp. 67–68). Joseph Smith taught that it was not a “sin” because God had decreed it (see The Words of Joseph Smith, ed. Andrew F. Ehat and Lyndon W. Cook, Provo, Utah: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 1980, p. 63). Brigham Young declared, “We should never blame Mother Eve, not the least” (in Journal of Discourses, 13:145). Elder Joseph Fielding Smith said: “I never speak of the part Eve took in this fall as a sin, nor do I accuse Adam of a sin. … This was a transgression of the law, but not a sin … for it was something that Adam and Eve had to do!” (Joseph Fielding Smith, Doctrines of Salvation, comp. Bruce R. McConkie, 3 vols., Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1954–56, 1:114–15).
This suggested contrast between a sin and a transgression reminds us of the careful wording in the second article of faith: “We believe that men will be punished for their own sins, and not for Adam’s transgression” (emphasis added). It also echoes a familiar distinction in the law. Some acts, like murder, are crimes because they are inherently wrong. Other acts, like operating without a license, are crimes only because they are legally prohibited. Under these distinctions, the act that produced the Fall was not a sin—inherently wrong—but a transgression—wrong because it was formally prohibited. These words are not always used to denote something different, but this distinction seems meaningful in the circumstances of the Fall.
“Women are much less marginalized in biblical texts than they are in the history of their interpretation.” Luzia Sutter Rehmann, Oxford Encyclopedia of the Bible and Ethics (2014:422)
Always go back to the source. It is good practice to go back to the original source and look closely at the text while not allowing previous negative interpretations to inform our thinking.
Ezer Kenegdo - Melinda Brown— “. . . a more accurate and complete term might be “rescuer” or deliverer.” (Brown, pg. 67.)
Kerry Muhlestein
Language matters, “. . . more often than not, language is the very source of misunderstanding.” (Brown, pg. 11.)
The serpent was cursed, the land was cursed, but Eve was not cursed
Nowhere in the scriptures can we find an apple. Eve's partaking of the fruit is symbolic of her transgression. Elder Oaks “Her act, whatever its nature, was formally a transgression . . .”
For more information about the symbolism of the fruit, read Chapter Five in Eve and Adam by Melinda W. Brown (see link below)
Some scriptures can be descriptive or prescriptive. This scripture, Genesis 3:16, is most likely descriptive, telling Eve how this decision will affect women forever. Not that God is cursing Eve. He is just telling her what’s going to happen—Idea from Amy Easton Flake - Amy Easton, Y Religion Podcast (see link below) -
Moroni 3:4: “I should not lose confidence in it because it was brought to me by a fellow fallen creature. In other words, when I am the giver, I should strive to meet the highest standards of spiritual power; when I am the receiver, I should not devalue the offering by the imperfect vehicle that bears it.” Moroni, by David F. Holland
Sources:
Dallin H. Oaks, “The Great Plan of Happiness.” October 1993
Eve and Adam by Melinda W. Brown
“The Fortunate Fall of Adam and Eve” by Daniel K. Judd
Podcasts:
Y Religion - Expanding Understanding of Eve - Amy Easton-Flake and Mark Ellison January 2022