"The Fullness of the Gospel: the Fall of Adam and Eve."*

*The title and following excerpt are from the June 2006 Ensign.

“Most Christian churches teach that the Fall was a tragedy, that if Adam and Eve had not partaken of the forbidden fruit, they and all their posterity could now be living in immortal bliss in the Garden of Eden. But truth revealed to latter-day prophets teaches that the Fall was not a tragedy ….

“Partaking of the fruit brought mortality, with its many opportunities to choose between good and evil, and enabled Adam and Eve to have children. Thus the Fall opened the door for Heavenly Father’s children to come into the world, obtain physical bodies, and participate in ‘the great plan of happiness’ (Alma 42:8). ... President Joseph Fielding Smith said: ‘This was a transgression of the law, but not a sin … ’ (Doctrines of Salvation [DS] 1:114–15).

           “Even though Adam and Eve had not sinned … they had to face certain consequences, two of which were spiritual death and physical death…. The result of our first parents’ transgression, explained President Smith, ‘was banishment from the presence of God and … physical death …. [Many churches also] maintain that every child born into this world is tainted [because of 'original sin']…. The second Article of Faith contradicts this foolish and erroneous doctrine’(Answers to Gospel Questions 1:82)… [W]e are held accountable [and punished] only for our own sins….

“The Lord gave Adam and Eve commandments in the Garden … to multiply and replenish the earth (Gen. 1:28) and to not partake of the [‘forbidden’] fruit (Gen. 2:17). These two commandments were designed to place Adam and Eve in a position where they had to make a choice…. Adam and Eve chose death--both physical and spiritual--which opened the door for themselves and [us] to gain knowledge and experience and to participate in the Father’s plan of happiness leading to eternal life.” (“The Fulness of the Gospel: The Fall of Adam and Eve,” June 2006 Ensign.)