Presentation notes taken from the book Eve and The Choice Made in Eden by Beverly Campbell
Given at a Girl's Camp Deveotional in 2004
Can be adapted for Enrichment nights, RS lessons, and Mutual nights
As it is here, you can fill a good 2 hours
Whenever questions are asked, they are meant to be asked to the group
When just a scripture is cited, it is meant for someone to read it aloud
What Does Eve Mean to You
~Amy Jones~
What is the Purpose of the Gospel?
“The purpose of the Gospel is to teach us to become more godlike. To do this, God has vested each one of us with dignity and majesty. Repeatedly in modern scripture the Lord extends incredible promises to all who qualify through obedience and worthiness. The Lord is inclusive, not exclusive (D&C 38:39; 93:1). This dignity is invalidated, however, as the world accepts
skewed concepts of His precious daughter Eve and therefore all of her daughters everywhere.” Beverly Campbell
What is the worldly view of Eve?
Was the Fall (eating of forbidden fruit) necessary for procreation, and therefore progression?
Yes, In the Garden, Adam and Eve were spirits joined with bodies and not mortal.
If they could not die, they could not birth, and could not fully use their agency, thereby frustrating the Eternal Plan of Happiness
“When Adam and Eve received the first commandment (to multiply and replenish the earth), they were in a transitional state, no longer in the spirit world but with physical bodies not yet subject to death and not yet capable of procreation. To fulfill the paramount commandment to multiply and replenish the earth, they had to transgress that barrier between the bliss of the Garden of Eden and the terrible trials and wonderful opportunities of mortal life.” Dallin H. Oaks
Garden was used as a time of learning
Who was Eve besides the first woman?
“Eve, first woman of earthly creation, companion of Adam and mother and matriarch of the human race, is honored by Latter Day Saints as one of the most important, righteous, and heroic of all the human family. Eve’s supreme gift to mankind, the opportunity of life on this earth, resulted from her choice to become mortal.” Encyclopedia of Mormonism
“Eve—a daughter of God, one of the spirit offspring of the almighty Elohim—was among the noble and great in the preexistence. She ranked in spiritual stature, in faith and devotion, in conformity to eternal law with Michael. We cannot doubt that the greatest of all female spirits was the one then chosen and foreordained to be the ‘mother of the Son of God, after the manner of the flesh {Mary}. Nor can we do no other than suppose that Eve was by Adam’s side, rejoicing in her own foreordination to be the first woman, the mother of men, the consort, companion, and friend of mighty Michael.
Christ and May, Adam and Eve, Abraham and Sarah and a host of mighty men and equally glorious women composed that group of ‘the noble and great ones’, to whom the Lord Jesus said: We will go down, for there is a space there, and we will take of these materials, and we will make an earth whereon to dwell’” Bruce R. McConkie
From that statement we learn that Eve was at Michael’s side before the foundations of the earth were set in place.
Eve’s role was vital
She was actively engaged in planning and preparations that would shape our sphere.
Eve not merely a player in the creation
As the leaders of the church have taught, she was one of those “taking the materials and making the earth” (Abraham 4)
After learning this, what are your feelings on Eve, and women in general, in the earthly creative process?
“Then as His final creation, the crowning of His glorious work, He created woman. I like to regard Eve as His masterpiece after all that had gone before, the final work before He rested from His labors.” President Gordon B. Hinkley
“So came Eve...the last created being in the world, without whom the whole creation of the world, without whom the whole creation of the world and all that was in the world would have been in vain and the purposes of God have come to naught.” President J. Rueben Clark
Eve’s stewardship issued and sanctified by God so that His purposes might be realized.
Eve’s relationship and future contracts not only with Adam, but with God.
Eve blessed and burdened with this knowledge and title
No spirit could come to earth, gain a body, and work out their own salvation if Eve did not choose to transgress and fall to mortality
Moses 3:18
What does the word ‘helpmeet’ conotate?
Lesser than, subordinate
Original Hebrew Help = Ezer = to rescue or save
Meet=equal (dictionary definition)Suppose King James had translated Gen 2:18 this correctly
Read Gen 2:18
Might have read “It is not good that man should be alone. I will make him a companion of strength and power who is equal to him.”
“The Lord intended that the wife be a helpmeet for man, meet meaning equal—that is, a companion equal and necessary in partnership” President Howard W. Hunter
How would religions and societies treated women differently with this new understanding, that was there all along and translated and interpreted incorrectly?
Do we see how important the Joseph Smith Translation of the scriptures and reliance on our church leaders is?
How would this knowledge and improved treatment of women through history have impacted modern day women?
THE FALL
First commandment to Multiply and replenish.
Couldn’t do that without becoming mortal
Can’t become mortal unless eat fruit
Then commands that they should eat the fruit
Conflicting commandments...why?
How were they to choose?
Let’s address the conflicting aspect…
Did Eve sin when she ate the fruit?
“The Fall came by transgression of a law, but there was no sin connected with it. There is a difference between transgression and sin. Both always bring consequences. While it may not be a sin to step off of a roof, in doing so, you become subject to the law of gravity and consequences will follow...The Fall of Man was made from the presence of God to this mortal life.” Elder Boyd K. Packer
“For reasons that have not yet been revealed, this transition, or ‘fall’, could not have happened without transgression—an exercise of moral agency amounting to a willful breaking of a law (Moses 6:59). This would be a planned offense, a formality to serve an eternal purpose. Some acts, like murder, are crimes because they are inherently wrong. Other acts, like operating without a license, are crimes only because they are legally prohibited. Under these distinctions, the act that produced the Fall was not a sin—inherently wrong—but a transgression—wrong because it was formally prohibited.” Elder Dallin H. Oaks
“Adam did not commit sin in eating the fruits, for God had decreed that he should eat and fall.” President Joseph Smith
2 Nephi 2:23
Transgression
Trans=Latin word meaning to move from one state to another, on or to the other side of, beyond, over, or across.
Gress=latin word meaning to go
Adam and Eve did not Sin, they moved beyond and went to the next state
“We and all mankind are forever blessed because of Eve’s great courage and wisdom. By partaking of the fruit first, she did what needed to be done. Adam was wise enough to do likewise.” Elder Russell M. Nelson
“Such was the problem of our first parents: to remain forever at selfish ease in the Garden of Eden, or to face unselfishly tribulation and death, in bringing to pass the purposes of the Lord for a host of waiting spirit children. They chose the latter.
This they did with open eyes and minds as to the consequences. The memory of their former estates may have been dimmed, but the gospel had been taught them during their sojourn in the Garden of Eden. They could not have been left in complete ignorance of the purpose of their creation.” Elder John A. Widtsoe
In this light, the worldly view of Eve is a joke
She is brave, a hero, unselfish, loving and most of all wise
She did what she was foreordained to do, she had to eat the fruit.
“To allege that Eve acted without intending to inaugurate mortal life for mankind, that she was not mindful of her calling as the Mother of All Living and her charge to multiply and replenish the earth, is to indict her with misconduct that is contrary to the behavior of righteous women throughout scriptures. To accept the idea of a “lucky guess” is to “deny her knowledge, ignore her wisdom, reject her unselfishness, impugn her faithfulness, and mock her courage. It is to suggest that mankind’s passage into mortality was not the result of the free and informed choice of a noble parent, bit a fortunate accident.” Clare Hardy Johnson
Another result of the fall besides mortality:
“And when man fell—though that was designed in the economy, there was nothing mysterious or unknown to the Gods, they understood it all, and it was all planned—but when man fell, the earth fell into space, and took up its abode in this planetary system, and the sun became our light.” President Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses
Imagine Satan’s anger when he found out it was he, not Eve, who had been duped
Satan was merely a tool used to trigger the plan of mortality
Hugh Nibley postulated in Russell M. Nelson’s book, “Constancy amid Change” that ever since then Satan has had it in for women.
Eve thwarted Satan’s plan and then recognized him
This grudge, which sometimes rages as a battle, continues today, Hugh Nibley continued
“If I were Satan and wanted to destroy a society, I think I would stage a full blown blitz on women.” Sister Patricia Holland
Gen 2:7
JST says the Lord breathed life into Adam, and LIVES into Eve
We are literally connected to our first parents
“We share the very same piece of DNA that has come down from our ancient maternal ancestors. We use it constantly. Cells in every tissue are reading the message it carries and carry out its instructions a million times a second. Every atom of oxygen we take into our bodies when we breathe has to be processed according to a formula that has been handed down to us by our maternal ancestors...But the route by which the gene reached us from those ancestors has its own special importance, for it follows the same path as the bond of pain, nurture and enduring love which begins again every time a new child is born. It silently follows the mysterious essence of the feminine through a thousand generations.” Bryan Sykes, world renowned geneticist from the book The Seven Daughter of Eve
ADAM”S RIB
King James translated the bible saying Eve was created from Adam’s rib.
True?
“The word rib expresses the ultimate in proximity, intimacy, and identity. When Jeremiah speaks of ‘keepers of my tsela’ (Jeremiah 2:10), he means bosom friends, inseparable companions. Such things are to be taken figuratively, as in Moses 3:22 and Genesis 2:22, where we are told not that the woman was made out of the rib, but that she was the rib, a powerful metaphor.” Hugh Nibley
Also, in scripture God refers only to Adam, after Eve was created
Was Eve then to be silent and passive?
When God refers to Adam, it’s meant to be plural unless expressively said it is singular.
Adam and Eve had no last name
Imagine it as if God was saying Brother and Sister Adam
They were one flesh, not separate, why then would they be referred to separately?
Moses 6:9
Genesis 1:26 man=plural
MULTIPLY AND REPLENISH CONTINUED
Genesis 3:16
Moses 4:22
Unto the woman, I, the Lord God, said: I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception. In asorrow• thou shalt bring forth children, and thy desire shall be to thy bhusband, and he shall rule over thee.
“The key is the word for sorrow, atsav, meaning to labor, to toil, to sweat, to do something very hard. To multiply does not mean to add or increase but to repeat over and over again; the word in the Septuagint is plethynomai, as in the multiplying of the words in the repetitious prayers of the ancients. Both the conception and labor of Eve will be multiple: she will have many children.” Hugh Nibley
God is telling Eve what to expect. To work hard, sweat and toil in giving bodies to waiting spirits.
God is not cursing Eve.
Instead making her aware that her new mortal body will experience pain in childbirth, a pain that will come and go and be repeated many times.
THE RULE OF ADAM
Genesis 3:16
and thy desire shall be to thy ehusband, and he shall rule over thee.
What does that imply?
Worldly interpretation of this scripture?
“I have a question about the word ‘rule’. It gives the wrong impression. I would prefer to use the word ‘preside’ because that’s what he does. A righteous husband presides over his wife and family.” President Spencer W. Kimball
BEING EXEMPLERS OF EVE
“Surely the secret citadel of women’s inner strength is their spirituality. In this they equal and even surpass men, as they do in faith, mortality, and commitment when truly converted to the Gospel. They have ‘more trust in the Lord and more hope in his word.’ This inner spiritual sense seems to give them a certain resilience to cope with sorrow, trouble and uncertainty.” Elder James E. Faust
“I have learned that there is a feminine side to spirituality which we men seldom, if ever, truly appreciate. That feminine type of spirituality is truly divine. It is what makes good mothers great. It is what makes them partners with God in a very real and literal sense. It is what makes them the queens of their homes, the spiritual centers of their families.” Elder Mark E. Peterson
“The women are a great deal more inclined to believe the truth than the men; they comprehend it more quickly.” President Brigham Young
The nature of our Great Mother Eve reminds us that women are to search out, learn, articulate all spiritual truths.
They are to concern themselves with matters of the gospel, matters relating to salvation, to the heavens and to the earth
What is your title?
Mothers, sisters, elect ladies, daughters of the covenant, queens and priestesses
Not just polite compliments
You are qualified to receive these titles when you fulfill these callings
We must not underestimate the power or significance of these titles.
MOTHERHOOD
“ Of all the words they could have chosen to define her role and her essence, both God the Father and Adam called Eve “the mother of all living” 3—and they did so before she ever bore a child. Like Eve, our motherhood began before we were born. Just as worthy men were foreordained to hold the priesthood in mortality, 4 righteous women were endowed premortally with the privilege of motherhood. 5 Motherhood is more than bearing children, though it is certainly that. It is the essence of who we are as women. It defines our very identity, our divine stature and nature, and the unique traits our Father gave us.
For reasons known to the Lord, some women are required to wait to have children. This delay is not easy for any righteous woman. But the Lord’s timetable for each of us does not negate our nature. Some of us, then, must simply find other ways to mother. And all around us are those who need to be loved and led.
As daughters of our Heavenly Father, and as daughters of Eve, we are all mothers and we have always been mothers. And we each have the responsibility to love and help lead the rising generation. ” October 2001 Conference, Sheri Dew
Motherhood cannot exist without fatherhood.
FATHERHOOD AND PRIESTHOOD
Who and what is the Priesthood for?
“ The Priesthood is for the benefit of all members of the Church. Men have no greater claim than women upon the blessings that issue from the Priesthood and accompany its possession. The possession of the Priesthood does not indicate in any sense that a man is superior to a woman. In the Church of Christ, woman is not an adjunct to, but an equal partner with man.” John A. Widtsoe
“ A man who holds the Priesthood does not have an advantage over a woman in qualifying for exaltation.” Elder Boyd K. Packer
What is the Priesthood
Power to act in God’s name
How you relate to and feel about the Priesthood is essential to your salvation and happiness
As a woman, what is your role in the Priesthood?
Examples of supportiveness
Why do men hold the Priesthood and not women? (ask a priesthood holder in the room or invite member of Bishopric, if available)
“Men have to have something given to them [in mortality] to make them saviors of men, but not mothers, not women. [They] are born with an inherent right, and inherent authority, to be saviors of human souls...and the regenerating force in the lives of God’s children.” Elder Matthew Cowly
Let’s remember the Hebrew interpretation of helpmeet, “one who rescues, has saving power”
“A few Latter Day Saint women are asking why they are not entitled to hold the priesthood. To that I can say that only the Lord, through revelation, could alter that situation. He has not done so, so it is profitless for us to speculate and worry about it.”
Receive comfort and insight to this through personal study and prayer
D&C 121:41-44
41 41 No apower or influence can or ought to be maintained by virtue of the bpriesthood•, only by cpersuasion•, by dlong•-suffering, by gentleness and meekness, and by love unfeigned;
42 42 By akindness, and pure bknowledge•, which shall greatly enlarge the csoul without dhypocrisy•, and without eguile—
43 43 aReproving betimes with bsharpness•, when cmoved upon by the Holy Ghost; and then showing forth afterwards an increase of dlove toward him whom thou hast reproved, lest he esteem thee to be his enemy;
44 44 That he may know that thy faithfulness is stronger than the cords of adeath.
The Lord gave a warning in D&C 121:37
37 37 That they may be conferred upon us, it is true; but when we undertake to acover• our bsins, or to gratify our cpride, our vain ambition, or to exercise control or ddominion• or compulsion upon the souls of the children of men, in any degree of unrighteousness, behold, the heavens ewithdraw• themselves; the Spirit of the Lord is grieved; and when it is withdrawn, Amen to the priesthood or the authority of that man.
When a man surrenders himself to the lessons and power the priesthood and fatherhood and marriage offers—whether he holds any of those titles or not, he becomes Godlike
Who doesn’t want a God like man for a husband?
When a woman surrenders herself to the lessons and power of the priesthood and motherhood and marriage—whether she holds any of those titles or not, she becomes Godlike
Which is the whole point of the Gospel.
We must stand together to fulfill our divine missions, exemplified by Mother Eve and Father Adam
“AS our Lord and Savior needed the women of His time for a comforting hand, a listening ear, a believing heart, a kind look, an encouraging word, loyalty—even in His hour of humiliation, agony, and death—so we , His servants all across the Church need you, the women of the Church.” President Howard W. Hunter
There are fantastic female role models in the scriptures
Ask for them to name some
Eve, Mary mother of Jesus, Woman of Samaria, May Magdeline, Sari (Sarah), Aseneth, Mary and Martha, Ruth, Naomi, Rachel, Leah, Rebekah….
Look to them for support and an example
