"Equal Partnership Between Men and Women in Families," by Valerie M. Hudson and Richard B Miller (Chapter 4)

Adam & Eve

In talking about the equal partnership between men and women, I would like to focus on the missions of both and in doing so I would like to use the very first examples to demonstrate this- Adam & Eve. Elder Earl C. Tingey explained, "You must not misunderstand what the Lord meant when Adam was told he was to have a helpmeet. A helpmeet is a companion suited to or equal to us. We walk side by side with a helpmeet, not one before or behind the other. A helpmeet results in an absolute equal partnership between a husband and a wife. Eve was to be equal to Adam as a husband and a wife are to be equal to each other."(The Great Plan of Happiness by Elder Earl C. Tingey, April 2006 General Conference ) 

The Plan of Happiness & The Image of Eve

Heavenly Father is no bachelor; indeed, Heavenly Father could not be a god if he were unmarried. Therefore Eve was not created in the image of a divine man and was no deformed or inferior version: Eve was created in the image of a divine woman.

Elder Dallin H. Oaks declared: "Some Christians condemn Eve for her act, concluding that she and her daughters are somehow flawed by it. Not the Latter-day Saints! Informed by revelation, we celebrate Eve's act and honor her wisdom and courage in the great episode called the Fall." (The Great Plan of Happiness, Nov. 1993 Ensign.)

We must remember that the Fall was not a tragedy. Yes, the Fall brought the possibility of evil and affliction into the world, but, as the proclamation teaches, gaining a body and earthly experience are necessary for progression toward our eternal destiny to become like our heavenly parents. The only failure in the Garden of Eden would have been if Adam and Eve had not partaken of the forbidden fruit. 

Eldar Dallin H. Oaks explains, "Eve's act, whatever its nature, was formally a transgression, but eternally a glorious necessity to open the doorway toward eternal life...The Prophet Joseph Smith taught that Eve did not 'sin,' because God had decreed it." (The Great Plan of Happiness, Nov. 1993 Ensign.)

The Two Trees

If we view the fruit of the first tree as representing the passage of a soul into mortality and full material agency, we notice the similarity to the great gift of birth given by women to those who kept their first estate. Eve was not created second to show that she was an appendage of afterthought to the man Adam. Eve also had an essential role in inaugurating the plan of happiness. Only a daughter of God could open the door to mortal life for God's children. Eve perhaps was the most courageous and wise of all of God's daughters and as Elder Oaks has said, she is to be "celebrated" for this wisdom and courage. These are great blessing: that Eve would enter into mortality and have children just as the blessings to Adam of having to work instead of having Eden provide for all his needs. 


When viewing the entire plan of happiness, we see that the man and the woman play equally powerful and equally important roles in the plan. Each is to hearken to the other for the plan to work. Each stands before the other, and in the sight of God, as equals. 

President Boyd K. Packer said, "There is no task, however menial connected with the care of babies, the nurturing of children, or with the maintenance of the home that is not the husband's equal obligation."(Elder Boyd K. Packer, Ensign, July 1989.) In the same way, women assist their husbands with the burdens of supporting a family. 


(Equal Partnership between Men and Women In Families by Valerie M. Hudson and Richard B. Miller, Chapter 4)