The
following excerpt from his diary for 11 April 1875, Charles L. Walker recorded
the following which shows that early Latter-day Saints held a more negative
view of the Fall of Man, even referring to Adam’s act as a “sin,” not transgression
merely (this should be compared with
D&C 29 where Adam is “chewed out,” if you will, for his act—something that
is alien to a lot of folk “Mormon” doctrine about the Fall):
Br MacArthur Spoke in a clear Lucid way of
the atonement of Christ showing that He yeilded to the temptations of Satan but
led a pure and holy life, and that Satan put it in the hearts of the children
of men to slay him, and they did crucify him and shed his Blood, innocent
blood, which they could not replace, and He, the Christ, demanded the souls of
men in return, having bought them with a price most precious. He claimed those
that were shut up in prison for ages. He opened the prison doors and bid the
captives go free and partake of the redemption he had wrought for them and all
others who were under bondage to Satan thro the fall and transgression of our
first Parents. He showed also that
[through] the agency of man, man first sinned,
and by his agency he must be saved by rendering obedience to the requirements
of God and going forth and being baptized with water and have hands laid
upon him for the reception of the Holy Ghost, and living a life of acceptance
before him. (Diary of Charles Lowell
Walker, Volume 1, eds. A. Karl Larson and Katharine Miles Larson [Logan,
Utah: Utah State University Press, 1980]. 408; spelling in original retained)
