(For anyone who doesn't know what an apologetic paper is, I didn't know before, is a paper that defends a topic, usually a religious topic.)
This is my paper:
In
John Blanchard's book ”Ultimate Questions" it says that, "From [the
Fall in the Garden of Eden and] then on, like pollution at the source of a
river, the poison of sin has flowed to all Adam’s descendants, and in this way
death came to all men, because all sinned."1 This basically
says that we are all inherently sinful.
There's a lot of people on
earth. According to that statement from Ultimate
Questions, all of us are inherently sinful. But a lot of people lead pretty
good lives. And that brings us to a question: Should people be able to lead
good lives if they're inherently
sinful? I think that yes, people should lead good
lives. Now some people believe that we should not be able to lead good lives
because we are inherently sinful. But, like I said, I think otherwise. For one
thing, Heavenly Father loves us. Second, because of His love, God wants us all
to succeed; and lastly, I believe that none
of us are inherently sinful.
"For
God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten son."1 He
loves us infinitely. "[Our] Heavenly Father loves [us]-each of [us]. That
love never changes. It is not influenced by your appearance, by your
possessions, or by the amount of money you have in your bank account. It is not
changed by your talents and abilities. It is simply there. It is there for you
when you are sad or happy, discouraged or hopeful. God's love is there for you
whether or not you feel you deserve love. It is simply always there."2
His love is everlasting and eternal. And it's for every single person who has
lived, is living or will live.
"For
behold, this is my work and my glory to bring to pass the immortality and
eternal life of man."3 This is what Heavenly Father wants for us. He wants us to be able to live
forever with Him. He loves us more than
we could ever know and because of that everlasting love, He wants every single
one of His children to succeed in life, temporally and spiritually. "Our
Heavenly Father wishes to bless His children... He understands each of their
needs, their pains, and their hopes."4
"We
are, [Joseph Smith] declared, eternally existent, inherently innocent, boundlessly free and infinitely
perfectible."5 I do not
believe that man is inherently sinful. I believe that we are "punished for
[our] own sins, and not for Adam's transgression."6 Because of
this, we are not inherently sinful. I
believe that we are innocent when we come to earth. We do not, however, stay
innocent, since nobody is perfect. We are all guilty for our own sins; if a parent received a ticket
for speeding, their child is not guilty as well; only the parent. I do not
believe that our Heavenly Father sent us to this earth as sinners. He sent us
here in an innocent state. Adam transgressed in the Garden of Eden but that
remains Adam's transgression, not
ours. "Some acts, like, murder are crimes because they are inherently
wrong. Other acts, like operating without a [driver's] license, are crimes only
because they are legally prohibited. Under these distinctions, the act that
produced the Fall, was not a sin-inherently wrong-but a transgression-wrong
because it was formally prohibited."7 This is another reason
why man is not inherently sinful, Adam and Eve transgressed but did not sin. “Every spirit of man was innocent in
the beginning; and God having redeemed man from the fall, men became again, in
their infant state, innocent before God.”8 "Adam fell that men
might be and men are that they might have joy."9 This means
that because of the Fall, man came to be and because of that we can have joy
through our righteous choices and
actions. And vise versa, we will feel sorrow and sadness through our unrighteous actions, not through Adam's.
Heavenly
Father loves us. He wants us to succeed, temporally and spiritually. I believe that I did not inherit Adam's sin when he partook of the fruit of the Tree of
Good and Evil. Because of those things, I can lead a good life. Heavenly Father
loves everyone. He wants everyone to succeed. Nobody is
accountable for Adam's transgression. With this knowledge in hand, I firmly believe that everyone and anyone should lead good
lives.
Bibliography
[1] Ultimate Questions. John Blanchard.
1987.
[2] John
3:16
[3]
"We Never Walk Alone." President Thomas S. Monson. October 2013
General Conference.
[4] Moses
1:39
[5]
"Is This Not The Fast I Have Chosen?" President Henry B. Eyring.
April 2015 General Conference.
[6] "'Lightning
Out of Heaven': Joseph Smith and the Forging of Community." Terry Givens. Nov
29th 2005. BYU Speeches.
[7] Second Article of Faith
[8] "The
Great Plan of Happiness" Dallin H. Oaks. Oct 1993 General Conference.
lds.org.
[9] D&C
93:38
[10] 2
Nephi 2:25
