Hi there, my podcast friends, Professor Anthony Sweight here from the Department of Church History

and Doctrine at Brigham Young University. Welcome to this episode of The Wire Religion

Podcast, our first episode, by the way, for season 3. We were so grateful you have joined

us and are honored to share this podcast with you. Let's jump right in to today's subject.

For centuries, various Christians have viewed Eve as the source of society's problems.

She, particularly the fruit, she was deceived, she fell, she tempted Adam, she ruined God's

paradise for humankind and brought sorrow and suffering in the wake of her weakness.

One translation of a Jewish apocryphal book has Adam saying to Eve, after she persuaded

him to eat the fruit, quote, oh wicked woman, what have you done to us? You have deprived

me of the glory of God end of quote.

These interpretations of scripture have led some to castigate the entire female populace

and sadly have served as a catalyst for a host of inequities perpetrated against women

for centuries. Many of the ways that some people view women today are still informed by

some of these negative interpretations of Eve. The Latter-day Saint doctrine takes a different

view. A revelation canonized in the doctrine and covenants calls her quote, our glorious

mother Eve end of quote, Joseph Smith saw in vision Eve and Adam exalted together in

the celestial kingdom of God, and Elder Bruce Harmaconky of the Twelve Apostles ranks

Eve in his writings right by the side of Mary as one of the greatest of all the children

of God. Current general release society president Jean B. Bingham said quote, we need women

who have the courage and vision of our mother Eve end of quote.

Latter-day Saint scripture and doctrinal interpretations of Eve have not always been

this positive, however, and historical Christianity's interpretation haven't always been that

...