Adam and Eve were not 4 year old children. They were adults. They walked with God. They lived in perfection. They had good in their lives and lacked nothing. God blessed them. They disobeyed God and sinned.
They sound child-like.
Google around and you’ll see that mormons aren’t the only Christian sect who view Adam and Eve as child-like in their innocence prior to the transgression.
Innocence is not stupidity. God would NOT give a command if He did not make sure they understood.
They understood cognitively. But they didn’t have knowledge of good and evil until they partook of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Unless you’re calling God a liar when he said in Genesis that " Behold, the man **is become **as one of us, to know good and evil." Meaning that Adam didn’t know good and evil until he took the fruit.
Is that how it works? If you put a word in all caps then the thinking stops and the argument is over?
No, they sound guilty and ashamed for their sin. Hiding, shifting blame to someone else. They felt guilt and shame for their sin. People still do the same thing when they caught doing something wrong.
Paul was speaking of the Mosaic law, but even if you extend the idea to Adam and Eve, God had indeed given them a law. To not eat of the fruit.
Trust in God, the One who Created you, does not require knowledge of good and evil. It requires a heart that is turned to God in love and devotion, with trust that God does indeed love you, and desires nothing but your happiness.
Did anyone actually say that?
:clapping:
What’s interesting was/is the vast amount of speculation related to this (even calling in the teachings of BYU professors), in an attempt to rationalize the oddity of God giving conflicting commandments, yet quick to dismiss the words of prophets and apostles on Adam being God and other things, as speculation and opinion. Very interesting to read.
ok…THAT was funny
You can miss important concepts when you dismiss them too quickly instead of thinking about them.So, Mormons believe Adam & Eve would never have any joy in Paradise, because they had no misery, even though they were with God every day? And, that they would never do anything good, because they didn’t know about sin, even though they were with God, the *** very source of all goodness***?
That is completely inconceivable to the mind (or heart) of any Catholic that I know. It’s totally illogical. Even Spock would have to raise an eyebrow to that one. :ehh:
Sadly, I thought about all the issues at length when I was debating leaving the LDS Church
The more I thought about LDS doctrine and teachings, the more illogical it became. I guess I should have let the apostles do the thinking for me, because it was my thinking things through that led me to leave.
Really, TexasKnight? When was that why did you wish that?
I’ve been reading and studying about Mormonism for many years, because I wanted to know more about it. I had come to know many Mormons and was curious about their beliefs. The more I learned about them, the more the lack of logic glared at me. But, that’s not the only reason that I believe it to be false. When I look at the history of the supposed ‘prophets’, their teachings and their actions are so obviously against the teachings of Jesus, that I have to conclude they were false prophets. If they were false prophets, then the church that they founded must also be false.
I loved being LDS. I truly loved my mission…best two years of my life till my met my wife. I loved the closeness of the members. I loved the fact that you could call your Home Teacher with ANY problem and within minutes, there would be people there to help…whatever the problem. I loved the Temple (not the ceremonies) but the peace inside it. I loved General Conference.
If that were true, it seems as though God punished Adam and Eve for centuries, and their descendants, for “not-sinning”.
At the same time, your position *seems *to be, it is okay to kick that 4-5 year old out of the house for doing something that was evil, but he did not know how evil it was, nor even that what he was doing was “evil” at all. Neither the child, nor Adam, “sinned”, but yet they reaped a punishment, one which was also imposed on their descendants, a punishment worse than punishments imposed on people who do knowingly commit evils from lying to murder.
Yes. For me, it’s just the opposite. I don’t care about the social aspects of a church. It’s the doctrine. My jaw sort of falls to the floor when you say you find the Catholic doctrine is more credible. Most of the ex’s here seemed to loose it after studying the history–is that the case or no? You said JS, so I assume partly. But the BoM too?
