Adam came to this earth as innocent and devoid of worldly knowledge and experience as a babe. The Garden had been prepared for him by his heavenly Father, to be his first home. There, under divine care and tuition, he became capable of performing his mission on earth.
When he was sent out of the Garden, he knew how to take care of trees and cultivate the soil. He knew the different animals, for he had named them according to their characteristics. He could observe some of the heavenly constellation, which, like a celestial timepiece, indicated not only day and night, but also seasons, particular days and years, and, we may add, cycles. (Gen. 1:4)
Our first parents began their career outside the Garden of Eden with a high degree of culture. That is the picture presented by sacred history; also by profane history. It is corroborated by archeology, for, no matter how deep scientists dig in the earth, wherever they find human remains, they unearth evidence of culture.
Adam and Eve lived as happy as children in the Garden until they came in contact with a temptor, who prevailed upon them to eat the forbidden fruit. In the Pearl of Great Price (Mos. 4:5-7) two agents appear in this plot against man, Satan and the Serpent. We read: "And Satan put it into the heart of the Serpent ... to beguile Eve, for he knew not the mind of God." In the 1 Tim. 2:14) says, "Adam was not deceived," which is understood to mean that he voluntarily and deliberately ate of the fruit, in order not to be separated from Eve.
There is not necessarily any discrepancy between these three accounts. Satan inspired the Serpent to tempt Eve. The chief of the fallen angels then turned to Adam, who, probably, had already made up his mind what to do.
But who was the serpent? It may have been a reptile in the Garden. Dr. Adam Clark, in his great work on the Bible, maintains that the "serpent" was a baboon, supposed by some to have been the monkey to which honors were paid in Egypt under the name of Anubis. But his arguments are not convincing. It is more probable that it was one of the fallen angels who were expelled from heaven together with Satan, and who was known as the "serpent."
"The devil had truth in his mouth as well as lies when he came to Mother Eve ... She did eat, her eyes were opened, and she saw good and evil. She gave of the fruit to her husband, and he ate, too. What would have been the consequence if he had not done so? They would have been separated, and where would we have been? I am glad he did eat." (Brigham Young, Jour. of Dis., Vol. 12, p. 70)