The Gospel of Adam and the Gospel of Eve

I was born and raised in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. My parents come from deep pioneer stock but my mother was a convert to the church at age 19. That's a story for another day! I have always loved Jesus and the Church with my whole heart, as my mother did. My father got a huge dose of should and shame as a child and even though he has continued with his practice in the church, he's filtered that should and shame for me and tells me like a broken record, "You just need to know that you are loved. That's all that matters." I've always had room to explore and develop a personal relationship with Jesus within the church structure because of their examples and I am so Grateful for them!

I find myself at an interesting crossroads at present. The church structure that I've grown up within feels as though it is now constricting and holding me back from my relationship with Jesus and my Heavenly Parents. It's the first time in my life I've felt like I don't belong. The ungrounding is incredible, and the grief is real. As I was swirling in these emotions this week, my Ministering Angels whispered to me:

2 Nephi 32:3 Angels speak by the power of the Holy Ghost; wherefore, they speak the words of Christ

"Jenny, the church at present is only teaching the Gospel of Adam!

What about the Gospel of EVE!?!?!?"

Wait, What? Holy Smokes! That is a Juicy question!!! What does that mean?

Well, they shared a bit with me that I'd like to record and share with you! Here goes.

To say the 'Gospel of Adam' is just to title the pattern that he showed us or the example he gave us. In a nutshell, Be Obedient and live in a continual state of Innocence. We could add, Keep the Commandments, Hold to the Rod, and Immediate exact obedience as well.

We see this everywhere and hear this pattern deified regularly as the Highest and Best way, nay, the Only way to live and be happy and return to our Heavenly Parents. Think Celestial. Be Obedient. Choose the Right.

While Obedience is an essential part of life, its not the ONLY thing we need to live, be happy, and return to our Heavenly Parents in the Celestial kingdom! IT'S JUST THE BEGINNING! The first two laws we are taught in the temple are Obedience and Sacrifice. Foundational? Yes. End of the story? No.

My new favorite way to understand this is to think about giving matches to kindergartners. What would you say? You'd tell them that matches are for lighting candles and starting fires but they are dangerous and they shouldn't play with them. One little match can start a brush fire after all. Is this true? Yes. Why? Because they lack the wisdom and understanding of how to manage a fire safely.

When your child goes to college do you want them telling their roommates that they cannot light a candle because matches are dangerous?

"Well this is all my parents ever taught me!" They'd say. "This is all the interaction I've ever had with matches, candles, and fire. It's dangerous guys!"

No, you want to teach them fire safety while they are growing up and interacting with fire in regular life situations. Let them blow out a candle for you, then light one. Go camping and try the teepee or log cabin style of fire making. Play "Survivor" and try to start fire with flint and lint from your dryer.

Learning fire skills and fire safety can be a fun adventure for you and your child as they grow! Then when they are backpacking with their buddies in college and get caught in an unexpected snow storm, you'll know they have some sweet skills to keep themselves alive through the toughest of challenges.

D&C 38:30 but if ye are prepared ye shall not fear.

The Gospel of Adam is foundational. Like kindergarten, we all have to start there. The Gospel of Adam is also laced with fear. Fear of punishment, Fear of Unworthiness, Fear of burning down an entire mountain side with one little match. Fear of rocking the boat. Fear of being led astray. Fear of breaking the chain. Better to stay in line and not ask too many questions. Stay right where you are because you'll get in trouble if you don't! Be good! Choose the Right!

But, WHY????

Enter the Gospel of Eve.

Eve and Adam had the same instructions.

Moses 2:27-28 And I, God created man in mine own image, in the image of mine Only Begotten created I him; male and female created I them. And I, God, blessed them, and said unto them: Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth.

Moses 3:16-17 And I, the Lord God, commanded the man, saying: Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat, But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it, nevertheless, thou mayest choose for thyself, for it is given unto thee; but, remember that I forbid it, for in the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

Can you hear it? Don't play with matches kids they are dangerous! I forbid it because you will surely die! It seems that was enough fear for Adam to keep from questioning how exactly he was supposed to multiply and replenish the earth. But it didn't stop Eve.

Somewhere in her knowing, intuitive, internal Liahona center she sensed that all wasn't well in the garden. She sensed that something was missing.

​Moses 4:6-13 (Genesis 3:1-7) "And Satan put it into the heart of the serpent, (for he had drawn away many after him,) and he sought also to beguile Eve, for he knew not the mind of God, Wherefore he sought to destroy the world. And he said unto the Woman: Yea, hath God said - Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? (And he spake by the mouth of the serpent.). And the woman said unto the serpent: We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden; But of the fruit of the tree which thou beholdest in the midst of the garden, God hath said - Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. And the serpent said unto the woman: Ye shall not surely die; For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it became pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make her wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and also gave unto her husband with her, and he did eat. And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they had been naked.

When presented with the fruit, and to become as God having her eyes opened, knowing good and evil, and gaining the prize of Wisdom, Eve made a very conscious choice.

These verses read so quickly we imagine this was an easy decision for her. How long did Eve consider the weight of this choice before making it? We don't know.

Two clues for me are "WHEN the woman saw" and "it BECAME pleasant to the eyes". To me that says that right off the bat Eve didn't "see" and the fruit wasn't "pleasant to her eyes". She went through a process! She had to consider the information presented to her and ask what was true.

She WRESTLED!!!

She felt and searched and asked and pondered and wondered and asked and pondered again! She wrestled with the Lord in her heart and in her mind to know how she was to proceed. She exhausted all other options for progression and all other paths for "becoming as Gods" before accepting that there was no other way.

​Genesis 3:6 "She took of the fruit thereof, and did eat."

This process for Eve, this pattern that she gives us is what I am calling the Gospel of Eve. It is the pattern and process for wrestling with the Lord to find Truth and WISDOM! It is the activating of your own internal Liahona and learning how to navigate in the wilderness with it, to get to the promised land. It is spiritual growth and maturity. It is adding on the law of the Gospel, Redemption, Jesus Christ. It is Faith strengthening and Faith building! It is playing with matches and learning how to heal burns and safely manage the fire. It is taking the Holy Ghost for your guide, not the arm of flesh anymore. And what it gifts you with? Wisdom.

​D&C 45:56-59 And at that day, when I shall come in my glory, shall the parable be fulfilled which I spake concerning the ten virgins. For they that are wise and have received the truth, and have taken the Holy Spirit for their guide, and have not been deceived - verily I say unto you, they shall not be hewn down and cast into the fire, but shall abide the day. And the earth shall be given unto them for an inheritance; and they shall multiply and wax strong, and their children shall grow up without sin unto salvation. For the Lord shall be in their midst, and His glory (Light & Truth) shall be upon them, and He will be their king and their lawgiver.

But wasn't Eve beguiled? Led astray? Deceived???

Why yes she was. Satan speaks truth, but only partial truth. She did die, spiritually. Eve that hadn't eaten the fruit we could call Eve 1.0 and Eve after she had eaten the fruit we could call Eve 2.0. She CHANGED! Her EYES WERE OPENED! She had a software update. She was no longer the same. It was a choice that couldn't be Undone. She would be Forever Different. Eve 1.0 died. Eve 2.0 emerged. So Satan wasn't wrong, but he also didn't tell the whole story. Just the half that served his end.

Interesting though, the Lord only told the half of the story that served His end as well.

So how are we to know which half is Good and which half is Evil? Or which parts are good and which parts are evil??

We have to eat the fruit. We have to take it in and wrestle with it, chew on it, consider it, and decide what we will digest and what we will spit out. We have to play with matches.

Sometimes we swallow things that aren't actually good for us, and sometimes we'll get burned. No worries! There's a plan for that!

​Moses 5:4-10. "And Adam and Eve, his wife, called upon the name of the Lord, and they heard the voice of the Lord from the way toward the Garden of Eden, speaking unto them, and they saw him not; for they were shut out from his presence. And he gave unto them commandments, that they should worship the Lord their God, and should offer the firstlings of their flocks, for an offering unto the Lord. And Adam was obedient unto the commandments of the Lord. And after many days an angel of the Lord appeared unto Adam, saying: Why dost thou offer sacrifices unto the Lord? And Adam said unto him: I know not, save the Lord commanded me. And then the Angel spake, saying: This thing is a similitude of the sacrifice of the Only Begotten of the Father, which is full of grace and truth. Wherefore, thou shalt do all that thou doest in the name of the Son, and thou shalt repent and call upon God in the name of the Son forevermore. And in that day the Holy Ghost fell upon Adam, which beareth record of the Father and the Son, saying: I am the Only Begotten of the Father from the beginning, henceforth and forever, that as thou hast fallen thou mayest be redeemed, and all mankind, even as many was will. And in that day Adam blessed God and was filled, and began to prophesy concerning all the families of the earth, saying: Blessed be the name of God, for because of my transgression my eyes are opened, and in this life I shall have joy, and again in the flesh I shall see God."

"As thou hast fallen thou mayest be REDEEMED!"

Enter the Savior. Enter the Atonement. Enter the Redemption that is available to "as many as will." Enter my best friend, Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost.

Adam didn't need Jesus. Adam was busy being so obedient he DIDN"T NEED JESUS.

"Adam was obedient unto the commandments of the Lord. And after many days an angel of the Lord appeared unto Adam, saying: Why dost thou offer sacrifices unto the Lord? And Adam said unto him: I know not, save the Lord commanded me".

True to the Gospel or pattern of Adam we find him "after many days" being obedient. He may not know Why but he does know to Whom. He is consistent and true to the Lord by offering sacrifices in the way the Lord has asked him to. Foundational. Step One. High School Graduate. Diploma received for knowing the voice of the Lord and staying true and obedient.

Eve takes us to Spirit College. She is told half truths and parts of stories and she takes them both in and wrestles with them and swallows some poison. It kills her. It kills her innocence and opens her eyes. She needs Redemption. She needs a Savior. God has planned for that from the very beginning. Enter The plan of Salvation.

Moses 1;39 For this is my work and my glory - to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.

This plan of Salvation or Happiness requires our Fall so that we may know the Joy of our Redemption. Just as Eve did:

​Moses 5:11 And Eve, his wife, heard all these things and was glad, saying: Were it not for our transgression we never should have had seed, and never should have known good and evil, and the Joy of our Redemption, and the eternal life which God giveth unto all the obedient.

Eve got a Bachelors Degree. Those can be really expensive. The Sacrifice of our Savior is set up to pay the bill, whatever the cost, however long it takes her to complete the course work. She just has to ask and she will receive. Forgiveness, Repentance, Redemption, Jesus covers all the bases. So Eve is free to choose. She is free to get it wrong, to misunderstand, to make mistakes and to LEARN AND GROW!!!! She is free to develop her internal Liahona, discernment, and intuition and find Wisdom in having experienced the consequences of making choices out of alignment with Truth.

Wisdom in Experience.

Faith 101, Faith 201, and Faith 305! She'll take them all with the Holy Ghost as her guide and her best friend Jesus by her side footing the bill and cheering her on!!! The depth of Gratitude, Humility, and Love found in her bones can get there in no other way. She will graduate with a Bachelors Degree in Faith and a minor in Liahona studies. She will no longer be deceived but will see clearly and shine brightly. She will have the tools she needs to navigate the darkness and the wilderness. She will have seed, know good from evil, and the Joy of her Redemption!

Marrying the Foundational Obedience with the Wisdom of Experience and Redemption, now Eve and Adam can continue their pursuit of Eternal Life, Exhalation, or Masters and Doctoral degrees, to become as God.

There is no other way.

Jesus is the way.

Experience is the way.

Ignorance to Wisdom is the way.

Learning and Growth is the way.

Blind Obedience to Conscious Obedience is the way.

Through the Fear.

Through the Shame.

Through the Shoulds.

Through the stumbling and falling.

Through the Illusions to the Truth.

From the arm of flesh to the Holy Ghost.

God is Love.

God is Faithful.

God is Growing us. We need the Gospel of Adam AND the Gospel of Eve to make it full circle.

And so, I find myself in the wilderness yet again, with the Holy Ghost guiding, my internal Liahona pointing the way, bestie Jesus, and my family by my side. I don't know where the Lord is taking us exactly, but I do know the Lord is guiding us and that is all I need to know to get started. So I'll sacrifice what the Lord asks of me and move into the darkness because there is a promised land somewhere out there, and wisdom to be gained along the way.

I give myself permission to be a mess and make mistakes and get things wrong. I utilize the gifts of Forgiveness and Repentance. I find Redemption when I swallow poison. I find healing when I get burned.

I feel the acute fear of feeding my children poison, and I calm that fear knowing that I am teaching them the Gospel of Eve. I am helping them activate their own internal Liahona's and take the Holy Ghost for their guide. I am helping them build a LIVING relationship with Jesus Christ. So they can call on Him day or night and really truly actually HEAR HIM respond to them!!! I am not always available, but He is!

Redemption is available to them and the sooner they learn to utilize it the better! With Redemption in your tool box life is MUCH MORE JOYFUL! And my mom always said, "Find the Joy and Share it!" So really, I'm just doing as I"m told!

Love you Mom! Thank you for teaching me the Gospel of Eve! Thank you for having a Living relationship with Jesus! Thank you for showing me the pattern and living with Joy!

Love you Dad! Thank you for filtering the shame and should. Thank you for being a Freedom fighter and teaching me how to safely play with matches. Thank you for Loving me and considering my experiences and the Wisdom they have brought me. I hope I'm making you both Proud.