"Jeff" <jeff_x02@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in message
news:13skcl5o06s7405@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>I was reading the March 2008 edition of the Ensign magazine.
>
> In the article entitled "The Atonement of Jesus Christ", it says on
> page 35, "His ransom for Adam's original transgression so that no
> member of the human family is held responsible for that sin ... while
> all members of the human family are freely given a reprieve from
> Adam's sin through no effort of their own, they are not given a
> reprieve from their own sins unless they pledge faith in Christ ...
> and press forward in faithful endurance the remainder of life's
> journey."
You will not be surprised, I am sure, to learn that I do not see it that
way. I am not at all sure that every commandment of God is a Law of God.
It
may be, but I really tend to doubt that it is. So maybe the commandments
given to Adam and Eve were not laws in the first place. But that may be a
mere quibble. I might say that all sins are transgressions of some law,
but
it is not clear to me that all transgressions of a law are sins, but that,
too, is probably just a quibble.But I was reminded of of the following
1 Jn 3:4
4 ¶ Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the
transgression of the law.
Here is what tye lexicon which is part of the LDS Collectors Library 2005
has for sin
Quote
hamartia {ham-ar-tee'-ah}
Greek: noun feminine
Possible Definitions:
1) equivalent to 264, to be without a share in; to miss the mark; to err,
be
mistaken; to miss or wander from the path of uprightness and honour, to do
or go wrong; to wander from the law of God, violate God's law, sin.
2) that which is done wrong, sin, an offense, a violation of the divine
law
in thought or in act.
3) collectively, the complex or aggregate of sins committed either by a
single person or by many.
hamartia {ham-ar-tee'-ah}
Greek: noun feminine
from 264;
Translated as:
sin (172 times)
sinful (1 time)
offense (1 time)
Total: 174 times
Strong's Number 266
TDNT - 1:267,44
End Quote
And here is what the same source says concerning transgression:
Quote
anomia {an-om-ee'-ah}
Greek: noun feminine
Possible Definitions:
1) the condition of without law; either because ignorant of it, or because
violating it.
2) contempt and violation of law, iniquity, wickedness
anomia {an-om-ee'-ah}
Greek: noun feminine
from 459;
Translated as:
iniquity (12 times)
unrighteousness (1 time)
transgress the law (1 time)
transgression of the law (1 time)
Total: 15 times
Strong's Number 458
TDNT - 4:1022,646
End Quote
For us to quibble over the usage of terms by different men at different
imes, seems counterproductive.
What seems im****tant to me in what you have quoted is what I believe that
we
have said from the beginning of the restoration, without getting hung up
on
words. Adam disobeyed andas a result he both died a physical death and was
separated spiritually from God. If it were not for the Atonement of Jesus
Christ, Adam and Eve and all their descendants would have suffered those
same things. The physical death would have been forever> Because of the
Atonement, all men and women, including Adam and Eve are, have been or
will
be resurrected and their body and spirit restored to each other no more to
die. Because of the Atonmen of Jesus Christ, Adam and Eve and their
descendants have the possibility of not being separated from Heavenly
Father
for Eternity. I see nothing new there. It is so easy, it seems, to get so
involved in looking at details that we fail to see the big picture.
> This appears to be a huge theology ****ft in LDS theology.
And of course it does not seem so to me.
> I have spoken to several Latter-day Saints and they do not believe
> that Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden when they disobeyed
> God's commandment.
Latter-day Saints are at diffferent points in our understanding. We are
not
required to march along in lock step.
> I have seen conflicting teaching through Mormon history on whether or
> not Adam sinned.
I cansee conflicting teaching on any given Sunday,even on any given day.
> Elder Bruce R. McConkie said, "It is proper and according to the
> scriptural pattern to speak of the transgression of Adam, but not the
> sin of Adam" (Mormon Doctrine, p. 804).
Elder McConkie was at the level of understanding that he occupied. He was
not the President of theChurch, and even the President of the Church does
not presicribe dogma. I use the word "Dogma" essentially according to the
following from the Merriam Webster on line dictionary:
Quote
dogma
One entry found.
dogma
Main Entry: dog·ma
Pronunciation: \'do?g-m?, 'däg-\
Function: noun
Inflected Form(s): plural dogmas also dog·ma·ta \-m?-t?\
Etymology: Latin dogmat-, dogma, from Greek, from dokein to seem - more at
decent
Date: 1638
1 a: something held as an established opinion; especially : a definite
authoritative tenet b: a code of such tenets <pedagogical dogma> c: a
point
of view or tenet put forth as authoritative without adequate grounds
2: a doctrine or body of doctrines concerning faith or morals formally
stated and authoritatively proclaimed by a church
End Quote
> Joseph F. Smith said, "He [mankind] dies in consequence of the sin of
> Adam" (Teachings of Presidents of the Church - Joseph F. Smith, p.
> 89).
I think we as a church tend to agree with that, generally speaking. We
die,
both spiritually and physically. We would not have, if Adam had not
disobeyed God. But do most of us concern ouselves with whether it was
techically a sin or merely a transgression? I certainly hope we do not.
> And then Joseph Fielding Smith, tenth LDS president, said, "I never
> speak of the part Eve took in this fall as a sin, nor do I accuse Adam
> of a sin ... This was a transgression of the law, but not a sin ... for
> it was something that Adam and Eve had to do" (Pearl of Great Price
> Student Manual, p. 13).
So it appears that Joseph Fielding Smith (10 President of the Church) may
not have used language in quite the same way as his father, Joseph F.Smith
(6th President of the Church) used it.I do not use English in quite the
same
way as my own father used it.
> If you study the Pearl of Great Price, both Adam and Eve glorify God
> for their transgression (see Moses 5:10-11).
Well, I would not claim that they had the Doctrine and Covenants as such,
but maybe they understood that God would be pleased by their doing what we
now have in the following verses of Doctrine and Covenants.
Quote
D&C 59:7
7 Thou shalt thank the Lord thy God in all things.
D&C 59:21
21 And in nothing doth man offend God, or against none is his wrath
kindled, save those who confess not his hand in all things, and obey not
his
commandments.
End Quote
> Is the LDS Church now changing her view again?
That reminds me of the question asked of an innocent man, "Do you still
beat
your wife?"
> Jeff
>
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