This is from a question and answer session from Billy Graham's website.
Question: Why did God allow Adam and Eve to sin? He must have known what they were going to do, and it seems to me that it would've been better if He had just stopped them. If the universe was already perfect why didn't God keep it that way? I've always wondered about this.
Answer: The opening chapters of the Bible tell us what happened when Adam and Eve committed the first sin – but they don’t tell us exactly why God allowed it to happen. We must be careful, therefore, not to blame God for something that is ultimately beyond our understanding.
At the same time, the Bible does tell us two very important truths about Adam and Eve’s sin. First, it tells us that they were completely free to love God – or to reject Him. In other words, they weren’t robots! God’s warning was clear: “You must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die” (Genesis 2:17).
But what if they had been robots – that is, what if they didn’t have any will of their own, and all they could do was love God? Then their “love” for God wouldn’t have been love at all – because love always involves a choice or a decision on our part. God took a great risk in creating them with a free will – but only then could their love for Him be real.
The other truth the Bible tells us, however, is that while sin’s consequences were great – God’s love is even greater. The proof is that He sent His only Son into the world so we could have our sins forgiven. Have you turned to Jesus Christ for the forgiveness and new life you need?
Commentary
Pastor Graham who I admire frankly admits that what happened, is according to his perspective, beyond human understanding. This is an example of how Traditional Christian theologians lack an understanding of what happened in the first chapters of the Bible. What happened was revealed to Joseph Smith. It is easily understood what God's purpose and intention was. To fully develop the context of this question also requires a discussion about the principle of free will, agency, and freedom in general. I have done that in other essay here.
If a Bible reader or religious scholar doesn't know the context of the fundamental truths on which the Bible rests, their understanding of the rest of the book will also be incorrect. The teachings and commandments of Jesus and his prophets and apostles in the Old and New Testaments are easily understood by casual readers and scholars alike, but they have not understood the eternal nature of our relationship to God.
The understanding as to why God created the earth and placed us on it still remains a mystery to the theological scholars of basic Christian thought. The doctrinal misunderstandings that exist in mainstream Christianity about Adam and Eve and the Fall have resulted in a flawed understanding of our relationship to God.
Bible scholars and apologists teach that Satan fell from heaven for seeking to have the glory of God. Did not this sin occur before Adam and Eve? The knowledge of good and evil clearly existed before the Garden of Eden. There are several scriptures that reference this in the Old and New Testaments. There is talk about the war in heaven in the Book of Revelation. They also speak of how Satan tempted Eve that by partaking of the Tree of Knowledge that they would "be as gods, knowing good and evil.”
The narrative doesn’t say they would be trying to overthrow God in the manner that Satan sought to do by gaining some forbidden form of knowledge. As Lucifer he had knowledge and it did not make him as God. The kind of knowledge that God placed in the Garden that would be invoked if they ate a particular fruit was unknown to Adam and Eve. If God placed it there; wasn't he offering it to them as an option? Why place it there if some overarching principle wasn't in play? God doesn't just make up whimsical rules.
While we know Satan can and does lie, in this instance, he told a truth and a lie. It was true regarding the knowledge they would gain but no so about death. They would eventually die physically and would immediately be removed from the presence of God. This is, however, where mainstream biblical scholars jump to a false conclusion because they lack an understanding of God's plan and the nature of eternal principles. They claim Adam's fall was not part of God's plan.
Here are some Latter-day Saint scriptures that give background on the subject.
God is speaking in this instance in the Pearl of Great Price referring to Lucifer. “ (Satan) is the same which was from the beginning, and he came before me, saying—Behold, here am I, send me, I will be thy son, and I will redeem all mankind, that [not] one soul shall … be lost, and surely I will do it; wherefore give me thine honor. But, behold, my Beloved Son, which was my Beloved and Chosen from the beginning, said unto me—Father, thy will be done, and the glory be thine forever” (Moses 4:1–2).
“Wherefore, because that Satan rebelled against me, and sought to destroy the agency of man, which I, the Lord God, had given him, and also, that I should give unto him mine own power; by the power of mine Only Begotten, I caused that he should be cast down;
“And he became Satan, yea, even the devil, the father of all lies, to deceive and to blind men, and to lead them captive at his will, even as many as would not hearken unto my voice” (Moses 4:3–4; emphasis added).
Christian scholars after the death of the apostles of Jesus Christ lost the understanding of the nature of the fall. They created the narrative that modern Christian apologists use to explain what happened in the Garden of Eden.
As I have listened to many online lectures and sermons and read doctrinal treatises by these modern biblical teachers, Adam and Eve are blamed for all the troubles in the earth as if God did not see the fall coming. They claim the fall was a mistake and not necessary. Yet, they believe in an omniscient God that did know what they would do. He personally set up the Garden of Eden so the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge would be eaten.
The mainstream professors of the Christian religion teach that God allowed the whole human race, hundreds of billions of people to be cursed for a decision made by only two people. They insist that two child-like individuals that were naked and didn’t know it sought to derail God's plan by rebelling with Satan? Such is the narrative of mainstream Christian scholars.
God attached the knowledge of Good and Evil to the Tree for a specific purpose as well as eventual death if eaten. This was not some random act. Eating the fruit itself didn’t “wake” Adam and Eve from their innocence and bring death to their world. God did that when they partook because he said he would. He created a rule, attached consequences, and gave them a choice. God removed the veil of innocence off from their minds and opened the door to a more full life based on faith in Jesus Christ after they partook.
Satan who rebelled in the premortal time thought he could outsmart God this time by tempting Adam and Eve. God knows Satan’s methods and allowed him in the Garden to tempt Eve. He used the devil to lead Adam and Eve to the decision God wanted. Christian apologists ask how Latter-day Saints think God could give commandment that appears contrary to his plan? They should ask themselves why they believe God created Satan in the first place if he is all-powerful and knowing how evil he would become?
The plan of God has always been to save and exalt mankind through the gift and principle of agency and the power of his Son which is in the atonement of Jesus Christ. Satan sought to undermine God's plan before the earth was settled.
God in the context of a discussion between at least two beings, confirms the truth of Satan's temptation, which is why we know Satan did not lie. And the Lord God said, "Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil:”
Why do modern and past Bible scholars think it is wrong or evil to know good and evil if the Gods knew it. Adam and Eve's disobedience was not a rebellion, neither was it a moral transgression. To not eat from that particular tree was a boundary with consequences. The consequences were deemed necessary for God's purposes.
The consequences were explained to Adam and Eve. Even so, they had no idea what death was. God did not tell them it would give them knowledge. Was he withholding information? He gave them no incentive to eat from the forbidden tree. How then did Eve reconcile what God said and what Satan said? Why use Satan to give that information? Here the mainstream theologians fail to see that there was no plot to rebel against God.
There was another part of the discussion. She and Adam were told to multiply and replenish the earth. Like not understanding death, She had no idea what procreation was. She was searching for understanding. She didn't know who Satan was, only that God allowed him into the Garden. She didn't know he was someone that they should not trust or listen to. After all, it was God who allowed him to be there. Therefore, she was beguiled. She was not rebelling nor was Adam when she let him know what she had done and he ate as well, otherwise, he would have remained alone in the Garden for all eternity. Earth's purpose of creating families could not happen with one immortal and one mortal. They fell together to fulfill God's mandate to fill the earth which would provide physical bodies for the spirit offspring of God.
The Lord then cursed the ground for their sake, giving them full agency and independence. He also put forth his hand and placed cherubim to prevent them from eating from the tree of life in their fallen condition. Why not put cherubim to stop them from eating in the first place if the plan was for them to remain in the Garden? The reason, because God wanted them to have access to it.
God honors the agency of man. He would not force them into a state of suffering and death that partaking would induce. He explained to Adam the consequences of partaking.
Death would end the suffering and a glorious resurrection would overcome death. The consequences were chosen by God to bring about the ends of creation which required a voluntary fall. His eternal purpose is to exalt his children and make them joint-heirs of celestial glory. This happens in families. We are his children. We are spirit offspring of the Almighty God, our Father in Heaven. It is his will that we are here now in a fallen world for this temporary mortal experience to later come to the glory of immortality of the eternal world.
God's plan requires that we live in a mortal and fallen world where we have the freedom to choose and to act. We have been given a growth opportunity and freedom. We can act on our fallen nature or strive to overcome it by following Christ. Sin and death have been overcome by means of a tremendous sacrifice, an infinite atonement by the Son of God. Something we can barely fathom yet we can experience in an individual way as we embrace it.
A glorious incorruptible body would be given to us through the grace and power of Christ in the resurrection. The bodies that Adam and Even possessed initially were of the dust of the earth and were corruptible. The resurrected body, a gift through Christ is incorruptible.
Exaltation of his Children is God’s plan. Satan sought to corrupt it by taking away the agency required to achieve it. Satan’s idea was corrupt, yet demonstrates that agency did exist before humans were placed on the earth. Allowing Adam and Eve to procreate in an unfallen world without sin essentially deprives them of moral agency. They would have no experience of living by eternal principles and laws and understanding how justice and mercy operate in the eternal worlds.
Latter-day Saints do not seek to do what Satan did. There is no comparison at all. Yet, critics of the Church of Jesus Christ, acting as biblical apologists persist in such a fallacy. They establish a false premise of their own making and create a deceptive narrative that Latter-day Saints are like Satan because we teach that God wants us to become like himself and sent Jesus and the Holy Ghost to teach us how.
Satan was seeking his own glory to take the place of Jesus. Latter-day Saints have no such plan. Neither were Adam and Eve. Mainstream theologians seem to be seeking to replace Jesus as well by denying the necessity of the Fall.
Our doctrines are clear on this subject and yet the critics of the church persist in their lies. The plan for Jesus to be our Savior is what we supported in the premortal life. We fought in the war in heaven and expelled Satan from the heavens. To say that we seek the same things that the devil did is an utter and complete lie.
So, why do modern Christian apologists continue to misinform others? Because Satan has deceived them. To this day they profess that the fall of Adam was not part of the original plan of the Eternal Father. They claim that the fall could have been avoided had Adam and Eve not eaten the fruit.
This is the case with the creeds that developed in the early centuries of the history of Christendom. Based on philosophical applications certain attributes were assigned to God that were incorrect. Bible readers for most of the two millennia following the Saviour's death and the martyrdom of his apostles have filtered the Bible through the lens of the creeds and teachings and philosophies of early church fathers of the Catholic church. They were not a continuation of the church the Savior established and therefore, without apostolic authority. Their theological conclusions were theirs alone, not divinely inspired.
In seeking to establish themselves as authoritative they use the Bible as their authority, not God. Of course, they claim that the Bible is from God, (when it is actually a compilation by theologians and scholars), they can figure out what God wants and communicate it to the less educated among us. While the Bible does contain a very important record for us to learn from, it has not been compiled under a perfect system of translation or canonization. There are errors and misunderstanding that continue in the mainstream Bible only communities.
An interesting thing to note is that modern Christian apologists and theologians have found disagreement to be more agreeable than unity. By this, I mean that through the Protestant reformation and continuous reformation since then, much has changed since the time of the creeds and continues to do so. Only a few certain doctrinal teachings have remained the same. Those are the concept that God is incorporeal and essentially a single entity comprised of three personalities that fulfill the narrative of the Bible.
This has changed, however, with the restoration of apostolic authority and prophetic leadership in these the latter days. Through prophet Joseph Smith and additional testaments of scripture, The Book of Mormon, and others, God has given us an understanding of eternal truths that had been lost. We are no longer bound by a limited understanding of the context of eternity.
We have been given a much better understanding of the nature and attributes of God, our Heavenly Father, and His son Jesus Christ. Because Joseph Smith claimed to have seen God and revelation from angels, modern biblical apologists have attacked him relentlessly. The nature of their dialogue about his ministry confirms their position of not trusting in direct communication from God. They even justify it by referring to the Bible which clearly sets the pattern of prophetic guidance. At times the pattern has been interrupted due to wickedness and rejection of the prophets. Each time God has reestablished it. This time is for the final dispensation until the Lord Jesus Christ returns in his glory.
Joseph Smith was told by one of the heavenly visitors when he was about 16 that his name would be known for good and evil throughout the world. This prophetic declaration has been clearly and abundantly fulfilled. Much of the banter in the modern cyber world is by people that have taken the basic narrative fabricated by his detractors, false as it might be, and disseminated it throughout the Christian communities of the world.
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