The Great Vicissitudes.

Fall and Redemption.—The Fall of Man and the Redemption from the Fall, are the great vicissitudes of human experience. One is sequel to the other, and both are steps in the march of eternal progress. The Gospel, therefore, embraces the fall as well as the redemption. Both were essential, and both were preordained. The one prepared the way before the other. Had there been no fall, there could have been no redemption; for the simple reason that there would have been nothing to redeem.

The Creation.—Preliminary to the fall, came the creation. Earth, created as an abode and a place of probation for mortal man, was not made out of nothing, as human theology asserts, but out of previously existing materials, as divine revelation affirms. Millions of earths had been created in like manner before this planet rolled into existence.^[1]

To create does not mean to make something out of nothing. Such a doctrine is neither scientific nor scriptural. Nothing remains nothing, of necessity; and no power, human or divine, can make it otherwise. Creation is organization, with materials at hand for the process. Joseph Smith's position upon this point, though combatted by doctors of divinity, is confirmed by the most advanced scientists and philosophers of modern times. The dogma that earth was made out of nothing is an attempt to glorify Deity by ascribing to him the power to perform the impossible—to do that which cannot be done. As if Deity could be glorified with anything of that sort, or had need of any such glorification. It is also an effort to escape from what many religious teachers consider a dilemma, the other horn of which would commit them to what they mistakenly deem a fallacy—namely, the eternity and self-existence of matter.^[2]

Eternity of Matter.—"Mormonism" stands firm-footed upon this ground. It holds matter to be uncreateable, indestructible, without beginning or end, and consequently eternal.^[3] As for modern science, here are a few of its most recent conclusions upon the point at issue. Says Herbert Spencer: "The doctrine that matter is indestructible has become a commonplace. All the apparent proofs that something can come out of nothing, a wider knowledge has one by one canceled" ("First Principles"). And John Fiske confirms him in saying: "It is now inconceivable that a particle of matter should either come into existence, or lapse into non-existence" ("Cosmic Philosophy"). Robert K. Duncan clinches the argument with the emphatic pronouncement: "We cannot create something out of nothing" ("New Knowledge").

Spirit and Element.—But Joseph Smith proclaimed it first. He declared the elements eternal;^[4] and even went so far as to say: "All spirit is matter, but it is more fine and pure, and can only be discerned by purer eyes."^[5] Eternal spirit, eternal element, these are the "materials" out of which Earth was created—not only as a temporary abode for man, but as an eternal place of residence for the righteous.

The Value of a Body.—Man needed experience in mortality, in the midst of rudimental conditions, in order to acquire the experience that would fit him for spheres beyond. First, however, he needed a body, for purposes of increase and progression, both in time and eternity. The spirit without the body is incomplete; it cannot propagate, and it cannot go on to glory. "Spirit and element, inseparably connected, receiveth a fulness of joy; but when separated man cannot receive a fulness of joy."^[6] It is a reasonable inference that our spirits advance as far as they can before they are given earthly bodies. Having received their bodies, they are in a position, by means of the Gospel and the powers of the Priesthood, to make further progress toward perfection. "We came to this earth," says Joseph Smith, "that we might have a body, and present it pure before God in the celestial kingdom. The great principle of happiness consists in having a body."^[7]

Satan's Punishment.—The Prophet thus continues: "The Devil has no body, and herein is his punishment. . . All beings who have bodies have power over those who have not." The reason why Satan has no body is because he rebelled in the eternal councils when the Redeemer of the World was chosen. All who followed him shared a similar fate. Two thirds of the intelligences then populating the spirit world remained loyal, and as a reward for their fidelity were permitted to tabernacle in the flesh. One third, rebelling with Lucifer, were doomed with him to perdition. Pending their final fate, these unembodied fallen spirits are allowed to wander up and down the world, tempting and trying its human inhabitants, their evil activities being overruled in a way to subserve God's purpose in man's probation.

Placed in Eden.—Earth having been prepared for man, Adam and Eve were placed in the Garden of Eden—placed there to become mortal, that the Lord's purpose might be accomplished. The fall, though planned, was not compelled.^[8] Man still had his agency, the right and power of choice.

Innocent in the Beginning.—The Great Creator, on the morning of creation, pronounced "good" all that He had made.^[9] In perfect keeping with this, modern revelation declares that "every spirit of man was innocent in the beginning."^[10] Consequently, had the spirits of men remained where they were before Adam fell, they would have had no need to exercise a saving faith, no need to repent or to be baptized, having no evil practices to turn from and no uncleanness to be washed away. But they would have remained ignorant as well as innocent—ignorant of things necessary to their further progress. Without the fall, they could have advanced no further, but would have remained as they were, "having no joy, for they knew no misery; doing no good, for they knew no sin. . . . . Adam fell that men might be; and men are that they might have joy."^[11]

The Woman Beguiled.—When our First Parents partook of the forbidden fruit, it was the woman who was beguiled by the Serpent (Satan) and induced to go contrary to the divine command. The man was not deceived.^[12] What Adam did was done knowingly and after full deliberation. When Eve had tasted of the fruit, Adam did likewise in order to carry out another command, the first that God had given to this pair—the command to "multiply and replenish the earth."^[13] Eve, by her act, had separated herself from her husband, and was now mortal, while he remained in an immortal state. It was impossible, therefore, unless he also became mortal, for them to obey the original behest. This was Adam's motive. This was his predicament. He was facing a dilemma, and must make choice between two divine commands. He disobeyed in order to obey, retrieving, so far as he could, the situation resulting from his wife's disobedience. Fully aware of what would follow, he partook of the fruit of the inhibited tree, realizing that in no other way could he become the progenitor of the human race.

Adam and Abraham.—Perhaps some will see a parallel in Adam's case and Abraham's, each being directed to do a thing that could not be done unless a previous requirement were disregarded. Thus, Adam was warned not to eat of the fruit of a certain tree—the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil; yet that was the only way for him to reach a condition where he would be able to "replenish the earth." Abraham was forbidden to slay his son, after being commanded to "offer" him.^[14] But there was this important difference in the two cases. The second command to Abraham superseded the first—canceled it. Not so with Adam. In his case the later law left unrepealed the earlier enactment. Both commandments were in force; but Adam could not obey both. What was to be done? Why, just what was done—the wisest thing possible under the circumstances.

Malum Prohibitum.—Adam's transgression, though a sin, because of the broken law, should not be stressed as an act of moral turpitude. In human law, which is based upon divine law, there are two kinds of offenses in general, described in Latin terms as malum per se and malum prohibitum. Malum per se means "an evil in itself," an act essentially wrong; while malum prohibitum signifies "that which is wrong because forbidden by law." Adam's transgression was malum prohibitum; and the consequent descent from an immortal to a mortal condition, was the Fall.

A Cause For Rejoicing.—Adam and Eve, with their eyes open, rejoiced over what had befallen them,^[15] evidently regarding it as part of a beneficent plan to people Earth and afford to a world of waiting spirits—the loyal two-thirds who "kept their first estate" when Lucifer fell—the long looked for opportunity of entering upon their "second estate" and beginning the great pilgrimage to perfection.

No License for Sin.—Let it not be supposed, however, that disobedience to divine requirements is or ever can be justifiable. On the contrary, obedience is the great law upon which all blessings are predicated.^[16] What was done by our First Parents in an exceptional instance and for a special purpose, constitutes no license for men to commit sin. Adam and Eve, having obeyed God's command to "multiply and replenish," reaped the reward of their obedience. But they had to be punished for their disobedience in the matter of the forbidden fruit. "The wages of sin is death." The fall was necessary, but it had to be atoned for: it could not be justified. "The Lord cannot look upon sin with the least degree of allowance." He can nullify its effects, however, and bring good out of evil. Redemption was also necessary, and the Atonement preordained; but this did not make the murder of the innocent Savior any the less heinous. The perpetrators of that deed were guilty of a crime—the crime of crimes—and their punishment was inevitable. Were it otherwise, God would not be just, and would therefore cease to be God.^[17]

Fruits of the Fall.—The fall had a twofold direction—downward, yet forward. It brought man into the world and set his feet upon progression's highway. But it also brought death, with all its sad concomitants. Not such a death as the righteous now contemplate, and such as both righteous and unrighteous undergo, as a change preparatory to resurrection; but eternal death—death of the spirit as well as the body. There was no resurrection when Adam fell—not upon this planet.

The World in Pawn.—Hell had seemingly triumphed over man's—or rather over woman's weakness. It was as if the world had been put in pawn. Death was the pawnbroker, with a twofold claim upon all creation. Everything pertaining to Earth was in his grasp, and there was no help for it this side of Heaven. No part of what had been pledged could be used as the means of redemption. Adam could not redeem himself, great and mighty though he was, in the spirit; for he was no other than Michael the Archangel, leader of the heavenly host when Lucifer and his legions were overthrown. But that same puissant Michael was now a weak mortal man, under the penalty of a broken law, powerless to repair the ruin he had wrought. He and the race that was to spring from him were eternally lost, unless Omnipotence would intervene, and do for them what they could not do for themselves.

Where was Redemption?—Redemption must come, if at all, through some being great enough and powerful enough to make an infinite atonement; one completely covering the far-reaching effects of the original transgression. The scales of Eternal Justice, unbalanced by Adam's act, had to be repoised, and the equilibrium of right restored. Who could do this? Who was able to mend the broken law, bring good out of evil, mould failure into success, and "snatch victory from the jaws of defeat?" Where was the Moses for such an Exodus? Where the deliverance from this worse than Egyptian bondage—a bondage of which Egypt's slavery was typical?

The Price Paid.—The life of a God was the price of the world's freedom; and that price was paid by the God of Israel (Jesus on Earth, Jehovah in Heaven) who descended from his glorious throne, became mortal, and by submitting to death, broke the bands of death, and made it possible for man to go on to his eternal destiny. This spotless Lamb, the great Antitype of the Passover, gave himself as an offering for sin, and by the shedding of his own blood, paid the debt of the universe, took the world out of pawn, and became the Author of Salvation for all mankind. Christ's atonement, offsetting Adam's transgression, brought redemption from the fall, nullifying its evil results, conserving its good results, and making them effectual for man's eternal welfare.

"We Know in Part."—Why the Fall and the Redemption had to be, we, know in part, for God has revealed it. But we do not know all. That a divine law was broken, in order that "men might be;" and that reparation had to be made, in order that men "might have joy"—this much is known. But the great why and wherefore of it all is a deep that remains unfathomed. Why it was necessary to place Adam and Eve in a position so contradictory, where they were commanded not to do the very thing that had to be done—why the divine purpose had to be carried out in just that way, is one of those infinite problems that must remain to finite minds a mystery until the All-wise shall will to make it plain. Man cannot sit in judgment upon his Maker, nor measure by human standards divine dispensations. "All things have been done in the wisdom of Him who knoweth all things."

God's Greatest Gift.—The Fall, though essential to human progress, dug man's grave and opened the portal to Hades. Redemption unsealed the tomb and swung wide the gates to Endless Glory. Adam gave us mortal life. Eternal life, our greatest boon, is the gift of the Redeemer and Savior.

Footnotes

1. Moses 1:4, 38; 7:30.2. The Reverend Baden Powell, of Oxford University, quoted in Kitto's "Cyclopedia of Biblical Literature," says: "The idea of 'creation,' as meaning absolutely 'making out of nothing,' or calling into existence that which did not exist before, in the strictest sense of the term, is not a doctrine of scripture; but it has been held by many on the grounds of natural theology, as enhancing the ideas we form of the divine power, and more especially since the contrary must imply the belief in the eternity and self-existence of matter."3. The author of the Epistle to the Hebrews asserts nothing to the contrary when he says: "Things which are seen were not made of things which do appear" (Heb. 11:3). The "things" referred to ("the worlds" that were "framed by the word of God") had existed before, in other forms, invisible to mortal eye and intangible to human touch.4. D. and C. 93:33.5. D. and C. 131:7.6. Ib. 93:33, 34.7. "Compendium" p. 288; Hist. Ch. Vol. 5, p. 403.8. Moses 3:17.9. Gen. 1:31.10. D. and C. 93:38.11. 2 Nephi 2:22-25.12. 1 Tim. 2:14.13. Gen. 1:28.14. Some commentators hold that Abraham misunderstood the Lord's command to "offer" Isaac, and that the second command, "lay not thine hand upon the lad," was given in explanation. That the Lord did not intend Isaac to be slain, is evidenced from what ensued; but that Abraham misunderstood the original behest does not follow. In order to make the sacrifice of "a broken heart and a contrite spirit," and merit the reward of his obedience, it was necessary that Abraham should interpret the command just as he did—as a commandment to slay. "The sacrifice required of Abraham in the offering of Isaac," says Joseph Smith, "shows that if a man would attain to the keys of the kingdom of an endless life, he must sacrifice all things" (Hist. Ch. Vol. 5, p. 555). This was the principle that Abraham was showing forth, and it must have involved a real and terrible trial of his faith.15. Moses 5:10, 11.16. D. and C. 130:20, 21.17. The principle involved in this discussion, is tersely put in two lines of a well known hymn, frequently sung in the religious assemblies of the Latter-day Saints:

"Sacrifice brings forth the blessings of heaven."

"Earth must atone for the blood of that man."