That if, said Benjamin, the knowledge of God's goodness had aroused in them a conviction of their fallen state, and further will cause them to be diligent in keeping the commandments of the Lord, "This is the man who receiveth salvation."
And this is the means whereby salvation cometh. The doctrine of Adam's Fall is explicitly explained in the Book of Mormon. The orthodox view has been that although our first parents were created innocent and holy, they were deceived by the fallen angel, sinned and fell from the original state of moral perfection, and thereby brought death, sin, and endless misery upon their children and all creation.
Many modern theological writers have tried to eliminate the story of Adam's fall completely, explaining it away as a venerable myth. Evolutionists have seen in the story a proof of their theory of the descent of man from a brute ancestry, forgetting the apparent fact that there is not a brute animal that does not stand higher than the moral level of a great many depraved, debased human beings, thus furnishing no starting point there for a supposed upward evolution.
To the Book of Mormon prophets and writers, the Fall was a necessary part of the Great Plan. Adam and Eve were, in the beginning, immortal beings, and were not subject to death. But, "Subject to death they must become, however, if their posterity should inherit corruptible bodies. The Fall, then, was a deliberate use of law, by which act Adam and Eve became mortal, and could beget mortal children." (John A. Widtsoe, Rational Theology, p. 47) The story of the Fall is not a myth. It is a record, in poetic, highly-figurative language, of an actual occurrence, It is a record of the transition of man from a state of innocent, childlike purity, to that of a more mature age, when, the immediate divine tutelage having been completed, Adam and Eve were prepared to begin for themselves the struggle for existence and progress. And so, "Adam fell that man might be."
All the particulars of the story are not clear. That Adam and Eve were, literally, our ancestors, and that the "serpent" was Lucifer, the rebellious outcast from heaven, is certain. Just what facts are represented by the symbolism of the tree, the fruit, the eating thereof, is not obvious. The tree of life, which Lehi saw in his vision, the angel explains, was "a representation of the love of God," as manifested in the earthly mission of His Only Begotten Son. ( 15:33)
We may be sure that the tree of knowledge and the tree of life, in the narrative of the Fall, represent important realities in the experience of our first ancestors.
The consequences of the partaking of the forbidden tree by our first parents were that they came in possession of knowledge of good and evil, but were "cut off both temporally and spiritually from the presence of the Lord." This ushered in death. And in this condition they became self-willed, "carnal, sensual and devilish." (Alma 42:3-10) That was a "fall" which called for a plan of salvation. God supplied that Plan, and therefore, and thereby, the fall became a "fall upward."
The Atonement which was prepared from the foundation of the World. A Plan of Salvation, as just noted, had already been prepared. On this subject the Book of Mormon is exceedingly clear. Were it not for the Atonement all mankind would perish. The Atonement was effected through the sufferings and death of the Son of God. He took upon Himself the transgressions of His people, and atoned for the sins of the world. His atonement is specially for those "who have fallen by the transgression of Adam, who have died not knowing the will of God concerning them, or who have ignorantly sinned." That includes all who have died outside the light of revelation. The Atonement satisfies the demands of justice. Mercy comes because of the Atonement, and it brings about the resurrection and makes it possible for the children of Adam to return to the presence of God.
The modern spirit of so-called enlightenment is entirely out of sympathy with the Christian doctrine of Atonement. It has placed man on a pedestal of independence, where he needs no divine Plan of Redemption or Salvation. But the fact remains: Outside this Plan the world is "dead." Through Christ alone can man regain "paradise lost."10