"Honor thy Father and thy Mother." This was one of the ten special commandments given to Israel, during a grand display of God's power and glory on Mount Sinai.

In the past centuries of darkness it appears to have lost its significance with the Christian world. They do not appear to realize that honor is due to the first parents of the human race. They have been long taught that Adam and Eve were great transgressors, and have mourned over the fact that they partook of the forbidden fruit and brought death into the world.

There is no possibility that the fall of man was an accident or chance, any more than was his creation. If an accident, then why was Christ prepared from before the foundation of the world as a propitiation for sin, and to open up the way for man to immortality?

Christ's mediation was a sequence of the fall. "Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Savior, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins;" Acts 5. 31. Without the fall there would have been no broken law, and therefore nothing to repent of; and there could be no forgiveness of sin without the atonement of Christ.

The Book of Mormon makes this subject very plain: "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 which they were, after they were created; and they must have remained for ever, 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;" 2 Nephi 2. 22, 23.

It is evident, not only from this passage, but from all that is recorded on this subject, that, if Adam and Eve had not attained to a knowledge of evil, by partaking of the forbidden fruit, the human race could not have existed under present conditions. It is also evident, that without a knowledge of both good and evil, man would be incapable of exercising a free agency, and therefore not capable of independent, self-reliant action—a necessary condition for development and progress.

We, the children of Adam, have no right to bring accusations against the Patriarch of the race. But father, we should rejoice with them, that through their fall and the atonement of Jesus Christ, the way of eternal life has been opened up to us. It was after an angel had administered to Adam, and made known to him the atonement through the Only Begotten Son of the Father, that he and Eve gave expression to their joy, in view of the glorious future of the race.

"And in that day Adam blessed God and was filled, and began to prophesy concerning all the families of the earth, saying, Blessed be the name of God, for because of my transgression my eyes are opened, and in this life I shall have joy, and again in the flesh I shall see God. And Eve, his wife, heard all these things and was glad, saying, Were it not for our transgression we never should have had seed, and never should have known good and evil, and the joy of our redemption, and the eternal life which God giveth unto all the obedient;" Pearl of Great Price, page 10.

The principle of obedience could only be developed in man through the fall, and only through that can they realize the joys of redemption and eternal life. The woman fell first, and led Adam out of Eden and the presence of the Lord. "Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in transgression;" 1 Tim. 2. 14.

When the Lord asked Adam if he had eaten of the fruit of the tree, of which he had commanded him that he should not eat, he replied, "The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat;" Gen. iii, 12. Adam had been previously commanded to multiply and replenish the earth, and he could not do so unless he remained with Eve. She, being deceived, forced upon him the necessity of partaking of the forbidden fruit with her, or of remaining in a condition where it would have been impossible to fulfil the first great commandment of the Father.

Bible.

Gen. 3. gives a general account of the fall of man.

15 enmity between the seed of the woman and that of the serpent.

16 woman to bring forth children in sorrow, and be subject to her husband.

19 man to labor for his bread, and to return to the ground.

22 man became as the Gods, knowing good and evil.

Rom. 5. 12 by one man sin came into the world and death by sin.

Book of Mormon.

Alma 12. 22, 23 by the fall all mankind became lost.

Chap. 42 explains the plan for the exaltation of man through the fall of Adam, and the atonement of Jesus Christ.

Mormon 9. 12 by Adam came the fall of man, because of the fall came Jesus Christ and the redemption.

Doctrine & Covenants.

Sec. 29. 36 Adam being tempted of the devil, for the devil was before Adam.

40 Adam partook of the forbidden fruit, and became subject to the devil.

41 through the fall Adam became spiritually dead.

Pearl of Great Price.

Pages 7, 8. a general account of the fall of man.

See our Article on Atonement, and also an examination and elucidation of the mediation and atonement of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ: by Prest. John Taylor.

Article, by O. Pratt, Mil. Star. Vol. 28. pages 577, 593 and 609.

Article by C. W. Penrose, Mil. Star, Vol. 29, page 645. Sermon by O. Pratt, Journal of Discourses Vol. I, page 328.