Chapter IV: Part II: Antediluvian Dispensations (1)

LESSON VII.

(Scripture Reading Exercise.)

THE ADAMIC DISPENSATION--I.

ANALYSIS.

I. Dispensation--Definition of.

II. Advent of Adam upon the Earth.

III. The Commandments Given.

1. Be Fruitful.

2. Partake not Forbidden Fruit.

REFERENCES.

Note 1.

Gen. ii:26, 27, c. f. ch. ii:4-9. Book of Moses ch. ii:26,27, cf. ch. iii:4-8. Book of Abraham ch. iv:26-31; also v:7-9 and 14-18. Key to Theology ch. vi, Mormon Doctrine of Deity ch. vii. Note 2.

Gen. i:28; Book of Moses ch. ii:28. Book of Abraham iv:28. Note 3.

Gen. ii:15-17. Book of Moses ch. iii:15-17; ch. v:8, 9, 11-13. Mormon Doctrine of Deity ch. vii.

Note 4.

NOTES.

_1. Dispensation:_ A dispensation, without reference to any specific application or limitations of the term, is the act of dealing out or distributing, such as the dispensation of justice by courts, the dispensation of blessings or afflictions by the hand of Providence. Theologically a dispensation is defined as one of the several systems of bodies of law in which at different periods God has revealed His mind and will to man, such as the Patriarchal Dispensation, the Mosaic Dispensation, or the Christian Dispensation. The word is also sometimes applied to the periods of time during which the said laws obtain. That is, the period from Adam to Noah is usually called the Patriarchal Dispensation. From Noah to the calling of Abraham, the Noachian Dispensation; and from Abraham to the calling of Moses, the Abrahamic Dispensation. But the word dispensation as connected with the Gospel of Jesus Christ means the opening of the heavens to men; the giving out or dispensing to them the word of God; the revealing to men in whole or in part the principles and ordinances of the Gospel; the conferring of divine authority upon certain chosen ones, by which they are empowered to act in the name, that is, in the authority of God, and for Him. That is a dispensation as relating to the Gospel.

_2. The Advent of Adam on Earth:_ The earth, "warmed and dried by the cheering rays of the now resplendent sun, is prepared for the first seeds of vegetation. A royal planter now descends from yonder world of older date, and bearing in his hand the choice seeds of the older Paradise, he plants them in the virgin soil of our new born earth. They grow and flourish there, and, bearing seed, replant themselves, and thus clothed the naked earth with scenes of beauty and the air with fragrant incense. Ripening fruits and herbs at length abound. When lo! from yonder world is transferred every species of animal life. Male and female, they come, with blessings on their heads, and a voice is heard again, "Be fruitful and multiply." Earth, its mineral, vegetable and animal wealth, its Paradise prepared, down comes from yonder world on high a son of God, with his beloved spouse. And thus a colony from heaven * * * * * is transplanted on our soil. The blessings of their Father are upon them, and the first great law of heaven and earth is again repeated, "Be fruitful and multiply." Hence, the nations which have swarmed our earth. In after years, when Paradise was lost by sin; when man was driven from the face of his heavenly Father, to toil, and droop, and die; when heaven was veiled from view, and, with few exceptions, man was no longer counted worthy to retain the knowledge of his heavenly origin; then darkness veiled the past and future from the heathen mind; man neither knew himself, from whence he came, nor whither he was bound. At length a Moses came, who knew his God, and would fain have led mankind to know Him too, and see Him face to face. But they could not receive His heavenly laws or bide His presence. Thus the holy man was forced again to veil the past in mystery, and in the beginning of his history assign to man an earthly origin. Man, moulded from the earth as a brick! Woman, manufactured from a rib! Thus, parents still would fain conceal from budding manhood the mysteries of procreation, or the sources of life's everflowing river, by relating some childish tale of new-born life, engendered in the hollow trunk of some old tree, or springing with spontaneous growth like mushrooms from out the heaps of rubbish. O man! when wilt thou cease to be a child in knowledge?"--Parley P. Pratt's "Key to the Science of Theology" chap. VI.

_3. "Be Fruitful":_ It has already been shown (Lesson II) that the purpose of God in the earth-life of man was to bring to him an increase of joy, by enlargement of capacity to enjoy, by adding upon him new powers of self expression; by adding an earth-body to a heavenly-born spirit; "for man is spirit:" but "spirit" in order to receive "a fulness of joy" must be inseparably connected with element (Doc. & Cov. Sec. xciii. 32-35, also note 2 Lesson II); hence the earth-life of Intelligences; hence the advent of Adam and his wife Eve upon our earth; hence the commandment "Be Fruitful;" hence the importance of man obtaining his body (Lesson II note 2); hence the resurrection from the dead, which brings to pass the eternal union of spirit and body (element), to be sanctified as a "soul;" for "the spirit and the body is the soul [the whole] of man." (Doc. & Cov. Sec. xxxviii:15). These principles enlarge the view of the importance of the earth-life of man, and give the idea of sanctity to the commandment, "Be Fruitful." Undoubtedly the most important thing in life is life itself, since there flows from life all other things,--experiences, joys, sorrows, sympathies, achievements, righteousness, honor, power--it is the root, the base of all. To protect and preserve life, whence spring all things else, God has issued his decree, "Thou shalt not kill"--the Everlasting's cannon, fixed alike against self-slaughter and the killing of others; and on the crime of murder is placed the heaviest of all penalties--"whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed;" (Gen. ix; 6); "No murderer hath eternal abiding in him" (I John iii; 15.)

And on the other hand, for the promotion of life, what encouragement has God not given? First, this commandment, "Be fruitful and multiply and replenish [refill] the earth;" second, in making sex desire and love of offspring the strongest of passions, refining both, however, by the sentiment of love, and confining by his law the exercise of these life-functions to the limits of wedlock relations. "Lo, children are no heritage of the Lord; and the fruit of the womb is his reward. As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth. Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them; they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate" (Psalms 127:3-5). And when the Lord would give his highest blessing to Abraham, his friend, for his supreme act of obedience, he could but say: "In blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice." (Genesis, xxii, 17-18.) And to Jacob the Lord also said: "Behold, I will make thee fruitful, and multiply thee, and I will make of thee a multitude of people."--(Gen. xlviii, 4.)

In nature, too, this law of life is written, until our philosophers who treat on life in its various forms, declare that the very "object of nature is function"--i. e. life. (Lester F. Ward, Outlines of Sociology, 1904, ch. V.) So superabundant is the fertility of all forms of life, animal and vegetable, that if it were not limited by destructive forces of life, the earth would soon be overwhelmed. "Every being," says Mr. Darwin, "which during its natural lifetime produces several eggs or seeds, must suffer destruction during some period of its life, and during some season or occasional year, otherwise, on the principle of geometrical increase, its numbers would quickly become so inordinately great that no country could support the product. * * * * * There is no exception to the rule that every organic being naturally increases at so high a rate, that, if not destroyed, the earth would soon be covered by the progeny of a single pair. Even slow-breeding man has doubled in twenty-five years, and at this rate, in less than a thousand years, there would literally not be standing-room for his progeny. * * * * * In a state of nature almost every full-grown plant annually produces seed, and amongst animals there are very few which do not annually pair. Hence we may confidently assert, that all plants and animals are tending to increase at a geometrical ratio,--that all would rapidly stock every station in which they could any how exist---and that this geometrical tendency to increase must be checked by destruction at some period of life."--("The Origin of Species," p. 50, 51, 52.)

What is the significance of this rich endowment with the power of reproduction in all forms of life, animal and vegetable, until it assumes the appearance of actual redundancy? Is it not nature's testimony to the fact of the desirability of life? And hence she has equipped the various species with power to perpetuate life, not withstanding the destructive forces with which life in its great variety of forms has to contend. Is life--especially human life--worth living? Undoubtedly, since nature has so abundantly provided the means for its perpetuation, and God has given the commandment, "Be fruitful and replenish the earth."

_4. The Symbols of Life and Death: "The Tree of Life._--so called from its symbolic character as a sign and seal of immortal life. Its prominent position in the midst of the garden where it must have been an object of daily observation and interest, was admirably fitted to keep them [Adam and Eve] habitually in mind of God and futurity."

_"Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil._--so called because it was a test of obedience by which our first parents were to be tried, whether they would be good or bad, obey God or break his commandments.'

_"Thou Shalt not Eat of it. * * * Thou Shalt Surely Die._--no reason assigned for the prohibition, but death was to be the punishment of disobedience. A positive command like this was not only the simplest and easiest, but the only trial to which their fidelity could be exposed." (Commentary Critical and Explanatory of the Old and New Testament, Jamieson-Fossett-Brown.)

In the above symbols, together with the commandment and penalty to follow disobedience, we have assembled the great mysteries of this world--Life, Death, Good, Evil, the fact of man's Agency--power to order his own course, to obey or disobey; continued life for obedience, which is but conformation to the law of life; and death for disobedience, or departure from the conditions on which life is predicated. The Tree of Life was the symbol of eternal life, for later when man had partaken of the fruit of the Tree of Death--the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil--God is represented as saying, in effect, since the man has become as one of us to know good and evil, lest he put forth his hand now and partake also of the tree of life and eat and live forever, let us send him forth from the garden and guard the tree of life by cherubims with flaming sword. And so it was ordered.--(Genesis iii:22-25) See also Alma ch. xii:22-27; also Alma ch. xii, 1-10.

Death was symbolized in the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil--in the day thou eatest of it, thou shalt surely die--hence the Tree of Death. Death we learn from other scriptures than Genesis, is both temporal and spiritual. What is here called temporal death is physical death, separation of spirit and body, the dust returning to the earth whence it came; but the spirit, being as we have seen a thing immortal, survives in conscious life and goes to the world of spirits. "Dust thou art, and to dust thou shalt return," was not written of the spirit of man. The spiritual death is the breaking of the union of the soul with God, separation, alienation from God. (See Alma, chapters 12, 13, 42.) Man's disobedience to God would break this union of the soul with God, and hence spiritual death. But while partaking of the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge would bring death, both spiritual and temporal, yet it would bring also the knowledge that would make men as Gods, to know good and evil; and to this end, doubtless, was planned the whole scheme of man's earth-life. This to be developed in lessons that follow.

LESSON VIII.

(Scripture Reading Exercise.)

THE ADAMIC DISPENSATION--II.

ANALYSIS.

I. The Fall--

1. The Temptation and Fall of Adam.

II. Sectarian View of the Fall of Adam.

III. Book of Mormon View of the Fall.

REFERENCES.

Genesis ch. iii. Book of Moses (P. G. P.) ch. iv. II Nephi ii:14-20. Alma xii:22-27. Also Alma xlii:1-11.

II Nephi; ii Alma xiii and xlii; and the treaties which takes the place of notes.

NOTES.[A]

The Fall of Adam--The Purpose of Man's Earth-Life.

[Footnote A: In Lessons VIII and IX, in place of detached notes a brief treatise is given upon The Fall of Adam; and the Purpose of Man's Creation; recounting the various views entertained upon that subject by the great divisions of Christendom, as also the views set forth in the revelations of God. This treatment is rendered necessary by the nature of the subject.]

In the second book of Nephi occurs the following direct, explicit statement: "Adam fell that man might be, and men are that they might have joy."

This assertion concerns two of the mightiest problems of theology:

1st, The reason for Adam's fall;

2nd, The purpose of man's earth-existence.

_Silence of the Creeds._

No where in the creeds of men--the creeds of men! those great crystallizations of Christian truths as men have conceived those truths to he; those embodied deductions of the teachings of Holy Scripture--no where in them, I repeat, are these two great theological questions disposed of on scriptural authority.

_Presbyterian View._

The Westminster Confession of Faith, which embodies the accepted doctrine of one of the largest bodies of Protestant Christendom, ascribes the purpose of all the creative acts of God to be "The manifestation of the glory of his eternal power, wisdom and goodness."[A] And in an authoritative explanation of this part of the creed it is said, "The design of God in creation was the manifestation of his own glory." And again, "Our confession very explicitly takes the position that the chief end of God in his eternal purposes and in their temporal execution in creation and providence is the manifestation of his own glory. * * * * * The scriptures explicitly assert that this is the chief end of God in creation. * * * * The manifestation of his own glory is intrinsically the highest and worthiest end that God could propose to Himself."[B]

[Footnote A: Westminster Confession, chap, iv--Of Creation--Section 1.]

[Footnote B: In proof of this last declaration the expounder cites Col. i:16; Prov. xvi:4; Rev. iv:11; Rom. xi:36. See Commentary on the Confession of Faith with questions for theological students and Bible classes by the Rev. A. A. Hodge D. D. chapter iv. The reading of the passages quoted will convince any one that the statement of the creed is but poorly or not at all sustained by them.]

The only business I have here with this declaration of the purpose of God in creation--including the creation of man, of course--is simply to call attention to the fact that it no where has the direct warrant of scripture.

_Episcopalian View._

The great Protestant body of Christians known as the "Episcopal Church" whose chief doctrines are embodied in "The Book of Common Prayer," is silent upon the two subjects in question, viz. "why" Adam fell; the "object" of man's existence. Their "Articles of Faith," it is true, speak of the "fall" of Adam, and its effect upon the human race, but nowhere do they attempt to say "why" it was that Adam fell; or give a "reason" for man's existence. Their creeds proclaim their faith in God, "the Maker and Preserver of all things, both visible and invisible;" but no where declare the purpose of that creation, and consequently have no word as to the "object" of man's existence.

_Roman Catholic View._

The exposition of the Catholic creed on the same point, as set forth in the Douay Catechism is as follows:

"Ques. What signify the words creation of heaven and earth?

"Ans. They signify that God made heaven and earth and all creatures in them of nothing, by his word only.

"Ques. 'What moved God to make them?

"Ans. His own goodness, so that he may communicate himself to angels and to man for whom he made all other creatures."

Speaking of the creation of the angels, the same work continues:

"Ques. For what end did God create them? [the angels].

"Ans. To be partakers of his glory and to be our guardians."

Referring again to man's creation the following occurs:

"Ques. Do we owe much to God for creation?

"Ans. Very much, because he made us in such a perfect state, creating us for himself, and all things else for us."[A]

[Footnote A: Douay Catechism chapter iii.]

From all which it may be summarized that the purposes of God in the creation of man and angels, according to Catholic theology, is--

First, that God might communicate himself to them;

Second, that they might be partakers of his glory.

Third, that he created them for himself, and all things else for them.

While this may be in part the truth, and so far excellent, it has no higher warrant of authority than human deduction, based on conjecture, not scripture; and it certainly falls far short of giving to man that "pride of place" in existence to which his higher nature and his dignity as a son of God entitles him.

_Mormon View._

"Adam fell that man might be."

I think it cannot be doubted when the whole story of man's fall is taken into account, that in some way--however hidden it may be under allegory--his fall was closely associated with the propagation of the race. Before the fall we are told that Adam and Eve "were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed."[A] But after the fall "The eyes of them both were opened and they knew that they were naked, and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves aprons,"[B] and also hid from the presence of the Lord.

[Footnote A: Gen. ii:25.]

[Footnote B: Ibid iii:7. also Lehi: "And now, behold, If Adam had not transgressed, he would not have fallen; but he would have remained in the Garden of Eden. And all things which were created, must have remained in the same state [in] which they were, after they were created; and they must have remained forever, and had no end. And they would have had no children; wherefore, they would have remained in a state of innocence, having no joy, for they knew no misery; doing no good, for they knew no sin. But behold, all things have been done in the wisdom of him who knoweth all things." (II Nephi ii:22-24. See also Book of Moses chap v. 11.)]

In an incidental way Paul gives us to understand that Adam in the matter of the first transgression was not deceived, but that the woman was.[A] It therefore follows that Adam must have sinned knowingly, and perhaps deliberately; making choice of obedience between two laws pressing upon him. With his spouse, Eve, he had received a commandment from God to be fruitful, to perpetuate his race in the earth. He had also been told not to partake of a certain fruit of the Garden of Eden; but according to the story of Genesis, as also according to the assertion of Paul, Eve, who with Adam received the commandment to multiply in the earth, was deceived, and by the persuasion of Lucifer induced to partake of the forbidden fruit. She, therefore, was in transgression, and subject to the penalty of that law which from the scriptures we learn included banishment from Eden, banishment from the presence of God, and also the death of the body. This meant, if Eve were permitted to stand alone in her transgression, that she must be alone also in suffering the penalty. In that event she would have been separated from Adam, which necessarily would have prevented obedience to the commandment given to them conjointly to multiply in the earth. In the presence of this situation it is therefore to be believed that Adam not deceived either by the cunning of Lucifer or the blandishments of the woman, deliberately, and with full knowledge of his act and its consequences, and in order to carry out the purpose of God, in the creation of man, shared alike the woman's transgression and its effects, and this in order that the first great commandment he had received from God, viz.--"Be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth and subdue it"--might not fail of fulfillment. Thus "Adam fell that man might be."

[Footnote A: Tim. ii:14.]

The effect of this doctrine upon the ideas of men concerning the great Patriarch of our race will be revolutionary. It seems to be the fashion of those who assume to teach the Christian religion to denounce Adam in unmeasured terms: as if the fall of man had surprised, if indeed it did not altogether thwart, the original plan of God, respecting the existence of man in the earth. The creeds of the churches generally fail to consider the 'fall' as part of God's purpose regarding this world; and, in its way, as essential to the accomplishment of that purpose as the "redemption" through Jesus Christ. Certainly there would have been no occasion for the "redemption" had there been no "fall;" and hence no occasion for the display of all that wealth of grace and mercy and justice and love--all that richness of experience involved in the gospel of Jesus Christ, had there been no "fall." It cannot be but that it was part of God's purpose to display these qualities in their true relation, for the benefit and blessing and experience and enlargement of man; and since there would have been no occasion for displaying them but for the "fall," it logically follows that the "fall," no less than the "redemption," must have been part of God's original plan respecting the earth-probation of man. The "fall," undoubtedly was a fact as much present to the foreknowledge of God as was the "redemption;" and the act which encompassed it must be regarded as more praise-worthy than blame-worthy, since it was essential to the accomplishment of the divine purpose. Yet, as I say, those who assume to teach Christianity roundly denounce Adam for his transgression. "The Catholic Church teaches," says Joseph Faa' Di Bruno, D. D., "that Adam by his sin has not only caused harm to himself, but to the whole human race; that by it he lost the supernatural justice and holiness which he received gratuitously from God, and lost it, not only for himself, but also for all of us; and that he, having stained himself with the sin of disobedience, has transmitted not only death and other bodily pains and infirmities to the whole human race, but also sin, which is the death of the soul."[A]

[Footnote A: Catholic Belief, p. 6.]

And again:

"Unhappily, Adam by his sin of disobedience, which was also a sin of pride, disbelief, and ambition, forfeited, or, more properly speaking, rejected that original justice; and we, as members of the human family, of which he was the head, are also implicated in that guilt of self-spoliation, or rejection and deprivation of those supernatural gifts; not indeed on account of our having willed it with our personal will, but by having willed it with the will of our first parent, to whom we are linked by nature as members to their head."[A]

[Footnote A: Catholic Belief, p. 330.]

Still again, and this from the Catholic Catechism:

"Q. How did we lose original justice?

"A. By Adam's disobedience to God in eating the forbidden fruit.

"Q. How do you prove that?

"A. Out of Rom. v:12. 'By one man sin entered into the world, and by sin death; and so unto all men death did pass, in whom all have sinned.'

"Q. Had man ever died if he had never sinned?

"A. He would not, but would live in a state of justice and at length would be translated alive to the fellowship of the angels."[A]

[Footnote A: Douay Catechism, p. 13.]

From a Protestant source I quote the following:

"In the fall of man we may observe, 1. The greatest infidelity. 2. Prodigious pride. 3. Horrid ingratitude. 4. Visible contempt of God's majesty and justice. 5. Unaccountable folly. 6. A cruelty to himself and to all his posterity. Infidels, however, have treated the account of the fall and its effects, with contempt, and considered the whole as absurd; but their objections to the manner have been ably answered by a variety of authors; and as to the effects, one would hardly think any body could deny. For, that man is a fallen creature, is evident, if we consider his misery, as an inhabitant of the natural world; the disorders of the globe we inhabit, and the dreadful scourges with which it is visited; the deplorable and shocking circumstances of our birth; the painful and dangerous travail of women; our natural uncleanliness, helplessness, ignorance, and nakedness, the gross darkness in which we naturally are, both with respect to God and a future state; the general rebellion of the brute creation against us; the various poisons that lurk in the animal, vegetable, and mineral world, ready to destroy us; the heavy curse of toil and sweat to which we are liable; the innumerable calamities of life, and the pangs of death."[A]

[Footnote A: Buck's Theological Dictionary, p. 335.]

In its article on man the dictionary just quoted also says:

"God, it is said, made man upright, (Eccl. vii:29), without any imperfection, corruption, or principle of corruption in his body or soul; with light in his understanding, holiness in his will, and purity in his affection. This constituted his original righteousness, which was universal, both with respect to the subject of it, the whole man, and the object of it, the whole law. Being thus in a state of holiness, he was necessarily in a state of happiness. He was a very glorious creature, the favorite of heaven, the lord of the world, possessing perfect tranquility in his own breast, and immortal. Yet he was not without law: for the law of nature, which was impressed on his heart, God superadded a positive law, not to eat of the forbidden fruit (Gen. ii:17) under the penalty of death natural, spiritual, and eternal. Had he obeyed this law, he might have had reason to expect that he would not only have had the continuance of the natural and spiritual life, but have been transported to the upper paradise. Man's righteousness, however, though universal, was not immutable, as the event has proved. How long he lived in a state of innocence cannot easily be ascertained, yet most suppose it was but a short time. The [Transcriber's note: break in the text here appears to be a printer's error in the original] tion, or rejection and deprivation of those supernatural gifts; not indeed positive law which God gave him he broke, by eating the forbidden fruit. The consequence of this evil act was, that man lost the chief good; his nature was corrupted; his powers depraved, his body subject to corruption, his soul exposed to misery, his posterity all involved in ruin, subject to eternal condemnation, and for ever incapable to restore themselves to the favor of God, to obey his commands perfectly, and to satisfy his justice."[A]

[Footnote A: Buck's Theological Dictionary, p. 182.]

Another Protestant authority says:

"The tree of knowledge of good and evil revealed to those who ate its fruit secrets of which they had better have remained ignorant; for the purity of man's happiness consisted in doing and loving good without even knowing evil."[A]

[Footnote A: Old Testament History William Smith, L. L.D., chap. ii.]

From these several passages as also indeed from the whole tenor of Christian writings upon this subject, the fall of Adam is quite generally deplored and upon him is laid a very heavy burden of responsibility. It was he, they complain, who

"Brought death into the world, and all our woe."

One great division of Christendom in its creed, it is true, in dealing with the fall, concedes that "God was pleased according to his wise and holy counsel, to permit [the fall] having purposed to order it to his own glory."[A]

[Footnote A: Westminster Confession chapter vi, section 1.]

And in an authoritative explanation of this section they say, "That this sin [the fall] was permissively embraced in the sovereign purpose of God." And still further in explanation: "Its purpose being God's general plan, and one eminently wise and righteous, to introduce all the new created subjects of moral government into a state of probation for a time in which he makes their permanent character and destiny depend upon their own action." Still, this sin described as being permissively embraced in the sovereign purpose of the Deity, God designed "to order it to his own glory;" but it no where appears according to this confession of faith that the results of the fall are to be of any benefit to man. The only thing consulted in the theory of this creed seems to be the manifestation of the glory of God--a thing which represents God as a most selfish being--but just how the glory of God can be manifested by the "fall" which, according to this creed, results in the eternal damnation of the overwhelming majority of his "creatures," is not quite apparent.

Those who made this Westminster Confession, as also the large following which accept it, concede that their theory involves them at least in two difficulties which they confess it is impossible for them to meet. These are, respectively:

First, "How could sinful desires or volitions originate in the soul of moral agents created holy like Adam and Eve;" and, second, "how can sin be permissively embraced in the eternal purpose of God and not involve him as responsible for the sin?" "If it be asked," say they "why God, who abhors sin, and who benevolently desires the excellence and happiness of his creatures, should sovereignly determine to permit such a fountain of pollution, degradation, and misery to be opened, we can only say, with profound reverence, 'Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in thy sight.'"[A]

[Footnote A: Commentary on the Confession of Faith, A. D. Hodge, pp. 105-108.]

These difficulties, however, are the creed's and those who accept it, not ours, and do not further concern our discussion at this point.

Infidels--under which general term (and I do not use it offensively) I mean all those who do not accept the Christian creeds, nor believe the Bible to be a revelation--infidels, I say, quite generally deride the fall of man as represented both in the creeds of Christendom and in the Bible. They regard the tremendous consequences attendant upon eating the forbidden fruit as altogether out of proportion with the act itself, and universally hold that a moral economy which would either design or permit such a calamity as the fall is generally supposed to be, as altogether unworthy of an all-merciful and just Deity. Thomas Paine referring to it says:

"Putting aside everything that might excite laughter by its absurdity, or detestation by its profaneness, and confining ourselves merely to an examination of the parts, it is impossible to conceive a story more derogatory to the Almighty, more inconsistent with his wisdom, more contradictory to his power than this story is."

In their contentions against the story of Genesis, no less than iu their war upon "the fall" and "original sin" in the men-made creeds of Christendom, infidels have denounced God in most blasphemous terms as the author of all the evil in this world by permitting, through not preventing, the fall; and they have as soundly ridiculed and abused Adam for the part he took in the affair. He has been held up by them as weak and cowardly, because he referred his partaking of the forbidden fruit to the fact that the woman gave to him and he did eat; a circumstance into which they read an effort on the part of the man to escape censure, perhaps punishment, and to cast the blame for his transgression upon the woman. These scoffers proclaim their preference for the variations of this story of a "fall of man" as found in the mythologies of various peoples, say those of Greece or India.[A] But all this aside. The truth is that nothing could be more courageous, sympathetic, or nobly honorable than the course of this world's great Patriarch in his relations to his wife Eve and the "fall." The woman by deception is led into transgression, and stands under the penalty of a broken law. Banishment from the presence of God, banishment from the presence of her husband--death, await her. Thereupon the man, not deceived, but knowingly (as we are assured by Paul), also transgresses. Why? In one aspect of the case in order that he might share the woman's banishment from the comfortable presence of God, and with her die--than which ho higher proof of love could be given--no nobler act of chivalry performed. But primarily he transgressed that "Man might be." He transgressed a less important law that he might comply with one more important, if one may so speak of any of God's laws. The facts are, as we have already seen, that the conditions which confronted Adam in his earth-life were afore time known to him; that of his own volition he accepted them, and came to earth to meet them.

[Footnote A: See Ingersoll's Lectures, "Liberty of Man, Woman and Child," where the great orator, contrasts the story of the Pall given in the Bible with that of Brahma in the Hindoo mythology, and extravagantly praises the latter to the disparagement of the former.]

LESSON IX.

(Scripture Reading Exercise.)

THE ADAMIC DISPENSATION--III.

ANALYSIS.

I. The Purpose of Man's Earth Life.

II. Epicurean Doctrine.

III. Book of Mormon Doctrine--Men Are That They Might Have Joy.

REFERENCES.

Book of Mormon--Nephi ii; Alma xiii and xlii, and the notes of this lesson.

NOTES.

_The Purpose of Man's Earth-Life.--"Men are that they might have joy."_

That is to say, the purpose of man's earth-life is in some way to be made to contribute to his joy, which is but another way of saying that man's earth-life is to eventuate in his advantage.

"Men are that they might have joy!" What is meant by that? Have we here the reappearance of the old Epicurean doctrine, "pleasure is the supreme good, and chief end of life?" No, verily! Nor any form of ancient or modern Hedonism[A] whatsoever. For mark, in the first place, the different words "joy" and "pleasure." They are not synonymous. The first does not necessarily arise from the second. Joy may arise from quite other sources than "pleasure," even from pain, when the endurance of pain is to eventuate in the achievement of some good: such as the travail of a mother in bringing forth her offspring; the weariness and pain and danger of toil by a father, to secure comforts for loved ones. Moreover, whatever apologists may say, it is very clear that the "pleasure" of the Epicurean philosophy, hailed as "the supreme good and chief end of life," was to arise from agreeable sensations, or what ever gratified the senses, and hence was, in the last analysis of it--in its roots and branches--in its theory and in its practice--"sensualism." It was to result in physical ease and comfort, and mental inactivity--other than a conscious, self-complacence--being regarded as "the supreme good and chief end of life." I judge this to be the net result of this philosophy since these are the very conditions in which Epicureans describe even the gods to exist;[B] and surely men could not hope for more "pleasure," or greater happiness than that possessed by their gods. Cicero even charges that the sensualism of Epicurus was so gross that he represents him as blaming his brother, Timocrates, "because he would not allow that everything which had any reference to a happy life was to be measured by the belly; nor has he," continues Cicero, "said this once only, but often."

[Footnote A: "Hedonism: The doctrine of certain Greek philosophers; in ethics, gross self-interest. Hedonism is the form of eudemonism that regards pleasure (including avoidance of pain) as the only conceivable object in life, and teaches that as between the lower pleasures of sense and the higher enjoyments of reason or satisfactory satisfied-respect, there is no difference except in the degree, duration and hedonic value of the experience, there being, in strictness, no such thing as ethical or moral value." Standard Dictionary.]

[Footnote B: In Cicero's description of the Epicurean conception of the gods he says: "That which is truly happy cannot be burdened with any labor Itself, nor can it impose any labor on another, nor can it be influenced by resentment or favor, because things which are liable to such failings must be weak and frail. * * Their life [i. e. of the gods] is most happy and the most abounding with all kinds of blessings which can be conceived. They do nothing. They are embarrassed with no business; nor do they perform any work. They rejoice in the possession of their own wisdom and virtue. They are satisfied that they shall ever enjoy the fulness of eternal pleasure. * * * Nothing can be happy that is not at ease." (Tusculan Disputations, The Nature of the Gods).]

This is not the "joy," it is needless to say, contemplated in the Book of Mormon. Nor is the "joy" there contemplated the "joy" of mere innocence--mere innocence, which, say what you will of it, is but a negative sort of virtue. A virtue that is colorless, never quite sure of itself, always more or less uncertain, because untried. Such a virtue--if mere absence of vice may be called virtue--would be unproductive of that "joy" the attainment of which is set forth in the Book of Mormon as the purpose of man's existence; for in the context it is written, "They [Adam and Eve] would have remained in a state of 'innocence,' having no joy, for they know no misery; doing no good, for they knew no sin."[A] From which it appears that the "joy" contemplated in our Book of Mormon passage is to arise from something more than mere innocence, which is, impliedly, unproductive of "joy." The "joy" contemplated in the Book of Mormon passage is to arise out of man's rough and thorough knowledge of evil, of sin; through knowing misery, sorrow, pain and suffering; through seeing good and evil locked in awful conflict; through a consciousness of having chosen in that conflict the better part, the good; and not only in having chosen it, but in having wedded it by eternal compact; made it his by right of conquest over evil. It is "joy" that will will arise from a consciousness of having "fought the good fight," of having "kept the faith." It will arise from a consciousness of moral, spiritual and physical strength. Of strength gained in conflict. The strength that comes from experience; from having sounded the depths of the soul; from experiencing all the emotions of which mind is susceptible; from testing all the qualities and strength of the intellect. A "joy" that will come to man from a contemplation of the universe, and a consciousness that he is an heir to all that is--a joint heir with Jesus Christ and God; from knowing that he is an essential part of all that is. It is a joy that will be born of the consciousness of existence itself--that will revel in existence--in thoughts of and realization of existence's limitless possibilities. A "joy" born of the consciousness of the power of eternal increase. A "joy" arising from association with the Intelligences of innumerable heavens--the Gods of all eternities. A "joy" born of a consciousness of being, of intelligence, of faith, knowledge, light, truth, mercy, justice, love, glory, dominion, wisdom, power; all feelings, affections, emotions, passions; all heights and all depths. "Men are that they might have joy;" and that "joy" is based upon and contemplates all that is here set down.

[Footnote A: II Nephi ii:23.]

Here, then, stands the truth so far as it may be gathered from God's word and the nature of things: There is in man an eternal, uncreated, self existing entity, call it "intelligence," "mind," "spirit," "soul"--what you will, so long as you recognize it, and regard its nature as eternal. There came a time when in the progress of things, (which is only another way of saying in the "nature of things") an earth-career, or earth existence, because of the things it has to teach, was necessary to the enlargement, to the advancement of these "intelligences," these "spirits," "souls." Hence an earth is prepared; and one sufficiently advanced and able, by the nature of him to bring to pass the events, is chosen, through whom all earth-existence, with all its train of events--its mingled miseries and comforts, its sorrows and joys, its pains and pleasures, its good, and its evil--may be brought to pass. He comes to earth with his appointed spouse. He comes primarily to bring to pass man's earth-life. He comes to the earth with the solemn injunction upon him. "Be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it." But he comes with the knowledge that this earth-existence of eternal "Intelligences" is to be lived under circumstances that will contribute to their enlargement, to their advancement. They are to experience joy and sorrow, pain and pleasure; witness the effect of good and evil, and exercise their agency in the choice of good or of evil. To accomplish this end, the local, or earth harmony of things must be broken. Evil to be seen, and experienced, must enter the world, which can only come to pass through the violation of law. The law is given:--"Of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day thou eatest of it thou shalt surely die." The woman, forgetful of the purpose of the earth mission of herself and spouse is led by flattery and deceit into a violation of that law, and becomes subject to its penalty. But the man, not deceived, but discerning clearly the path of duty, and in order that earth-existence may be provided for the great host of "spirits" to come to earth under the conditions prescribed--he also transgresses the law, not only that men might be, but that they might have that being under the very circumstances deemed essential to the enlargement, to the progress of eternal Intelligences. Adam did not sin because deceived by another. He did not sin maliciously, or with evil intent; or to gratify an inclination to rebellion against God, or to thwart the Divine purposes, or to manifest his own pride. Had his act of sin involved the taking of life rather than eating a forbidden fruit, it would be regarded as a "sacrifice" rather than a "murder." This to show the nature of Adam's transgression. It was a transgression of the law--"for sin is the transgression of the law"[A]--that conditions deemed necessary to the progress of eternal Intelligences might obtain. Adam sinned that men might be, and not only "be," but have that existence under conditions essential to progress. But Adam did sin. He did break the law; and violation of law involves the violator in its penalties, as surely as effect follows cause. Upon this principle depends the dignity and majesty of law. Take this fact away from moral government and your moral laws become mere nullities. Therefore, notwithstanding Adam fell that men might be, and in his transgression there was at bottom a really exalted motive--a motive that contemplated nothing less than bringing to pass the highly necessary purposes of God with respect to man's existence in the earth--yet his transgression of law was followed by certain moral effects in the nature of men and in the world. The harmony of things was broken; discord ruled; changed relations between God and men took place; darkness, sin and death stalked through the world, and conditions were brought to pass in the midst of which the eternal Intelligences might gain those experiences that such conditions had to teach.

[Footnote A: I John iii 4.]

Now as to the second part of the great truth--"men are that they might have joy"--viewed also in the light of the "Intelligence" or "spirit" in man being an eternal, uncreated, self-existing entity. Remembering what I have already said in these pages as to the nature of this "joy" which it is the purpose of earth existence to secure, remembering from what it is to arise--from the highest possible development--the highest conceivable enlargement of physical, intellectual, moral and spiritual power--what other conceivable purpose for existence in earth-life could there be for eternal Intelligences than this attainment of "joy" springing from progress? Man's existence for the manifestation alone of God's glory, as taught by the creeds of men, is not equal to it. That view represents man as but a thing created, and God as selfish and vain of glory. True, the Book of Mormon idea of the purpose of man's existence, is accompanied by a manifestation of God's glory; for with the progress of Intelligences there must be an ever widening manifestation of the glory of God. It is written that "the glory of God is Intelligence;" and it must follow, as clearly as the day follows night, that with the enlargement, with the progress of Intelligences, there must ever be a constantly increasing splendor in the manifestation of the glory of God. But in the Book of Mormon doctrine, the manifestation of that glory is incidental. The primary purpose is not in that manifestation but the "joy" arising from the progress of Intelligences. And yet that fact adds to the glory of God, since it represents the Lord as seeking the enlargement and "joy" of kindred Intelligences, rather than the mere selfish manifestation of his own, personal glory. "This is my work and my glory," says the Lord, in another "Mormon" scripture, "to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man;"[A] and therein is God's "joy." A "joy" that grows from the progress of others; from bringing to pass the immortality and eternal life of "man." Not the immortality of the "spirit" of man, mark you, for that immortality is already existent; but to bring to pass the immortality of the spirit and body in their united condition, and which together constitutes "man," "the soul"--the whole man; for "the spirit and the body is the soul of man;" and the resurrection of the dead is the redemption of the soul--the whole man. And the purpose for which man is, is that he might have "joy;" that "joy" which, in the last analysis of things, should be even as God's "joy," and God's glory, namely, the bringing to pass the progress, enlargement and "joy" of others.

[Footnote A: Pearl of Great Price i:39.]

LESSON X.[A]

(Scripture Reading Exercise.)

THE ADAMIC DISPENSATION--IV.

ANALYSIS.

I. The Problem of Evil.

II. The Law of Opposite Existence.

REFERENCES.

II Nephi ii:5-30. See Treatise which takes the place of notes.

[Footnote A: As in the case of lesson viii and ix it is thought that the brief treatis which is here given on "The Problem of Moral Evil" will be more serviceable than detached notes, and hence it is given in their stead. It might be well also to assign the subject of the lesson to one of the more experienced of the elders for a discourse, giving ample time for preparation.]

NOTES.

_1. The Problem of the Existence of Moral Evil:_ The existence of evil in the world has ever been a vexed problem for both theologians and philosophers, and has led to the wildest speculations imaginable. It will be sufficient here, however, if I note the recognition by high authority of the difficulties involved in the problem. Of those who have felt and expressed these difficulties, I know of no one who has done so in better terms than Henry L. Mansel in his celebrated Lectures on "The Limits of Religious Thought" (1858), in the course of which he says:

"The real riddle of existence--the problem which confounds all philosophy, aye, and all religion too, so far as religion is a thing of man's reason, is the fact that evil exists at all; not that it exists for a longer or a short duration. Is not God infinitely wise and holy and powerful now? and does not sin exist along with that infinite holiness and wisdom and power? Is God to become more holy, more wise, more powerful hereafter; and must evil be annihilated to make room for his perfections to expand? Does the infinity of his eternal nature ebb and flow with every increase or diminution in the sum of human guilt and misery? Against the immovable barrier of the existence of evil, the waves of philosophy have dashed themselves unceasingly since the birthday of human thought, and have retired broken and powerless, without displacing the minutest fragment of the stubborn rock, without softening one feature of its dark and rugged surface."

This truly great writer then proceeds by plain implication to make it clear that religion no more than philosophy has solved the problem of the existence of evil:

"But this mystery, [i. e. the existence-of evil], vast and inscrutable as it is, is but one aspect of a more general problem; it is but the moral form of the ever-recurring secret of the Infinite. How the Infinite and the Finite, in any form of antagonism or other relation, can exist together; how infinite power can co-exist with finite activity;'how infinite wisdom can co-exist with finite contingency; how infinite goodness can co-exist with finite evil; how the Infinite can exist in any manner without exhausting the universe of reality;--this is the riddle which Infinite Wisdom alone can solve, the problem whose very conception belongs only to that Universal Knowledge which fills and embraces the Universe of Being."

In the presence of these reflections it cannot be doubted, then, that the existence of moral evil is one of the world's serious difficulties; and any solution which may be given of it that is really helpful, will be a valuable contribution to the world's enlightenment, a real revelation "a ray of light from the inner facts of things."

In the Book of Mormon there is such ray of light, a word that is helpful.

The statement of the doctrine in question occurs in a discourse of Lehi's on the subject of the Atonement. The aged prophet represents happiness or misery as growing out of the acceptance or rejection of the Atonement of the Christ, and adds that the misery consequent upon its rejection is in opposition to the happiness which is affixed to its acceptance: "For it must needs be," he continues, "that there is an opposition in all things. If [it were] not so * * * righteousness could not be brought to pass; neither wickedness; neither holiness nor misery; neither good nor bad. Wherefore [that is, if this fact of opposites did not exist], all things must needs be a compound in one; wherefore, if it [the sum of things] should be one body, it must needs remain as dead, having no life neither death, nor corruption nor incorruption, happiness nor misery, neither sense nor insensibility. Wherefore, it must needs have been created for a thing of naught; wherefore there would have been no purpose in the end of its creation. Wherefore, this thing [i. e. the absence of opposite existences which Lehi is supposing] must needs destroy the wisdom of God, and his eternal purposes; and also the power, and the mercy, and the justice of God."

[Note: II Nephi ii.]

The inspired man, however, even goes beyond this, and makes existences themselves depend upon this law of opposites:

"And if ye shall say there is no law, ye shall also say there is no sin. If ye shall say there is no sin, ye shall also say there is no righteousness. And if there be no righteousness, there be no happiness. And if there be no righteousness nor happiness, there be no punishment nor misery. And if these things are not, there is no God. And if there is no God, we are not, neither the earth; for there could have been no creation of things; neither to act nor to be acted upon, wherefore, all things must have vanished away."