Eve has been blamed for many things throughout history. The common belief held by most people is that she was tricked and now we must live with the curse placed on Adam and Eve. Many people of other faiths view the curse placed upon humanity during the fall of Adam as some kind of punishment for disobedience. Adam’s transgression is seen as the cause of all hardship and suffering. I would argue that all the good things of this life came as a result of this “curse”. Through the consequences of the fall we actually gained all the skills and abilities to be free and prosperous.
It is common for people to think we are cursed due to the original sin of Adam and Eve. They sinned and we must pay for it. This line of thought is even present in the LDS church though our scriptures and prophets teach otherwise. This idea creeps in when we try to justify the actions of Adam and Eve as ‘transgression’ and not as ‘sin’. I will say: I don’t care about the distinction between transgression and sin. These words are essentially synonyms and linguistically the same word in English. One is Latinate. One is Germanic. In Hebrew they were the same word. Now I do not deny a distinction exists. I think the distinction is very clear. A sin is something inherently and inviolately evil. Something that has been evil since the beginning that will remain so throughout time. Whereas transgression would be acting in contrary to any commandment that has been expressly forbidden. So, Adam transgressed and through that transgression all mankind will be blessed. Well what if he had sinned? The outcome would be the same. We would just be using a shorter word and we could skip this conversation every time these nitpicking distinctions raise their head in a Sunday school class. The consequences of sin and transgression are the same. Adam still would have fallen, we would have been separated from the presence of God, and no matter what we label our actions we would still need a saviour to bring us back from our spiritual death.
By the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread. As fallen beings we must work for our own food. This is no curse but a blessing to be able to keep what we earn. The sad trend that held from the time we first gathered together in cities until essentially the American Revolution Most of mankind was in servitude to other men. Whether king magistrate or Caesar, most of humanity was forced to work for the benefit of others. However our first parents were blessed with the freedom to provide for their own needs whereas they had previously received fruit brought forth from the garden. We are also blessed with the ability to provide for our own lives and be free. Agents unto our selves. We were given not only a freedom to choose righteousness or wickedness but also we were given the ability to choose to be free or to choose captivity and servitude. This freedom was quickly put into jeopardy by Cain who sought to get gain from the work of his brother Abel. So began this trend of man ruling over one another and rulers getting gain off of their subjects. There were only a few glimpses of exceptions to this reality. The free society of Abraham, the liberation of the israelites from the tyranny of the Egyptians, and Christ himself expelling the money changers from the temple as the sought to take the hard earned profits of the pilgrims to the temple through the wicked practice of usury. From the genesis story available to the LDS church we learn that this is not God’s way to get gain off the works of others and we gain the added knowledge that this really is no curse but an amazing blessing and divine right to provide for our own life.
It is also common for people to lament the fact that our first parents lost access to a paradise on earth. Many say Eve was “cursed” with childbirth and the associated pains and difficulties for her decision. I say the crowning creative achievement that women have the privilege to participating in and carrying out, the creation of human life, is no curse. It is the greatest blessing God has bestowed to man. In the garden we truly were cursed. We were cursed without the ability to progress and learn. Had we remained in the garden how cursed would we have been. We had no ability to care for our own life. We could not participate in the creative power of the almighty. None of us would have even been born without Eve’s courageous and wise decision. Now, in this world, we are truly blessed. We are free men with the ability to grow to be more like He who created us. How wonderful that our first parents made this life possible for us all.
