Eve and the Choice Made in Eden (2003) was one of the first Latter-day Saint books to look deeply into the modern and restored-gospel perspective on Mother Eve. Author Beverly Campbell focuses on three levels from which the story of Eden must be viewed: as historical fact, as a series of symbols and metaphors, and as a place for a beginning our own search for spiritual understanding and relevance in life.
There is a whole lot of wisdom contained within its pages, but here are ten quotes from Eve and the Choice Made in Eden we think every Latter-day Saint should know.
Women and men will be better able to articulate their roles, understand their lives, accept their responsibilities, and complete their missions in mortality when they have a clearer understanding of the priesthood and powers of Father Adam, a more exalted view of Mother Eve, and a greater appreciation for the beauty of the partnership of our first parents.
Eve, first woman of earthly creation, companion of Adam and mother and matriarch of the human race, is honored by Latter-day Saints as one of the most important, righteous, and heroic of all the human family. Eve’s supreme gift to mankind, the opportunity of life on this earth, resulted from her choice to become mortal.
Eve was foreordained to be a partner, an organizer, a builder, and a creator of forms so that the great plan might be fulfilled. Certainly these essential and empowering roles directly contradict the images of “eloquent passivity” or “incipient sinner” that have permeated society’s perception of Eve.
Eve’s assignment and stewardship as the Mother of All Living was endorsed, issued, codified, and sanctified by God the Eternal Father so that His purposes for His children might be realized. Eve’s relationship and future contracts were not only with Adam but also with God.
Adam and Eve were not unequally yoked. Eve was created as a suitable partner for Father Adam, the first of the human race on this earth. Created in the exact image of her heavenly parents, Eve came to Adam uniquely prepared to perform her assigned duties, to act as a companion with the first high priest in mortality—to be a partner with him.
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Discernment, the ability to see beyond the literal to the divine essential, has ever been God’s gift to women. Since Eve, women have faced the challenge of ambiguous choices that carry with them holy, life-altering consequences. On the correct resolution of these ambiguities hangs the future of generations, the civilizing of society, the basic dignity of the human race, and mortal life itself. … It is a source of strength and comfort to many women to know that inherent in their divine nature is this innate ability to be in tune with God’s purposes.
The Lord has such abiding faith in women’s judgment and wisdom. By His very actions, He has shown women that He wants them to claim and properly act on this gift. Women are surely beloved of the Lord for Him to have placed them in such a position. As He relies on women to embrace the greater law, to bow to the greater commandment, He affirms their intellect, their integrity, and their righteousness.
[When] Eve was created, Adam was awakened. The word awake seems to indicate that the advent of Eve is the harbinger of a profound spiritual awakening for Adam and, by extension, for us all.
Women, particularly Latter-day Saint women, can and must identify truth. They can and must stand firm in their commitment to that truth, whatever the cost.
