Knowing it was not good for man to be alone, God’s final grand act of the Creation was forming a helpmeet for Adam, the first man on earth. Though Eve partook of the forbidden fruit, leading to their banishment from the Garden of Eden, BYU-Hawaii students and members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints shared they believe her choice was courageous, inspired and necessary for setting God’s plan for His children into motion.
Sister Florence Farnsworth, a senior missionary from Utah working in Alumni & Career Services, said Eve made a conscious decision when she partook of the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden. “She was thinking about the future. The choice she made was for others. That certainly puts a lot more depth into her decision for me.”
Stephanie Eldenberg, a sophomore majoring in art from Sweden, said, “I think Eve was incredibly brave, wise and loving. She’s the epitome of motherhood because she was willing to sacrifice her own comfort so she could have posterity and allow us to come to this earth.”
Chesser Cowan, a sophomore peacebuilding major from New Zealand, agreed Eve was not thinking about herself. “If she was [thinking about herself,] she wouldn’t have eaten the fruit. I reckon she wanted more than just the perfect life. She wanted to know the joys and the ups and downs of life. She knew she couldn’t experience that without having children.”
Eve’s courageous choice
Farnsworth said she gained a great appreciation for the difficulty of Eve’s decision. “As a consequence, she experienced tremendous heartache when one son, Cain, killed another. I appreciate her steadfastness and her example as an amazingly faithful and great woman.”
In a 2001 General Relief Society Meeting for the Church, Sheri L. Dew, the former second counselor in the Relief Society presidency, said motherhood is about more than bearing children. “Of all the words they could’ve chosen to define her role and her essence, both God the Father and Adam called Eve ‘the mother of all living.’ They did so before she ever bore a child.”
Dew said motherhood “is the essence of who we are as women. It defines our very identity, our divine stature and nature and the unique traits our Father gave us.”
Dew continued, “In addition to bearing children, Eve mothered all of mankind when she made the most courageous decision any woman has ever made and with Adam, opened the way for us to progress.
“She set an example of womanhood for men to respect and women to follow, modeling the characteristics with which we as women have been endowed: heroic faith, a keen sensitivity to the Spirit, an abhorrence of evil and complete selflessness. Like the Savior, ‘who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross,’ Eve, for the joy of helping initiate the human family, endured the Fall. She loved us enough to help lead us.”
Eldenberg said Eve did not have complete knowledge of how everything would work out. “But she still took a step of faith. She understood what she needed to do… and how we need opposition in all things in order to fulfill our purpose and become who we’re meant to be.”
Setting a pattern for mothers and fathers
Eldenberg continued, “I think it’s very cool that, in one way, Eve was so independent in her decision… it was a choice that she made willingly, without knowing if Adam would make the same choice or not…
“Eve really is an amazing leader. She shows us motherhood and leadership are about making unselfish decisions for a greater purpose that will serve and benefit us for the eternities.”
Elder Bruce R. McConkie shared his own thoughts on Eve at the dedication of the Nauvoo Monument to Women on June 29, 1978.
He said, “I rate Eve as one of the greatest women among all of those who have or will come to earth. She, as the mother of all living, set the pattern for all future mothers with reference to bringing up their children in light and truth. She received all the blessings of the gospel, enjoyed the gifts of the Spirit and sought to prepare her posterity for like blessings.”
Cowan described Eve as the alpha mom. “Women have to go through a lot. God’s given them a pretty cool role, to be mothers and raise children. Eve knew what she had to do. She knew what she wanted and Adam followed. But an equal partnership has to happen. You can’t just have one person calling the shots.”
According to McConkie, as the first two people on earth, Adam and Eve, established the perfect pattern for the family.
“The man and the woman are together in worship. They are together in teaching their children. They are together in establishing the family unit that hopefully will endure in the eternities ahead, thus giving eternal life to all those who earn it,” he said.
Writer: Emi Wainwright