Carnal, Sensual, Devilish

One common question in Christianity is whether men and women are born inherently evil.  Did the Fall cause that the children of men came to earth inherently bad?  In a talk I listened to recently Elder Hafen argued in an aside that the answer is no.  He said, “The first time Adam and Eve taught their children the gospel, for example, Satan came among them, saying, ‘Don’t believe your parents.’ And so the children, we’re told, ‘believed [them] not, and they loved Satan more than God. And men began from that time forth to be carnal, sensual, and devilish.’ (‘From that time forth’ tells us that these children chose to be devilish after the Fall, after they heard that message.  They were not born devilish.)’”  He was referring to Moses 5:13, and the point was emphasized again when Enoch explained, “Behold Satan hath come among the children of men, and tempteth them to worship him; and men have become carnal, sensual, and devilish, and are shut out from the presence of God” (Moses 6:49).  This reiterates that it was because of the effect of Satan that men had “become” carnal and devilish and not that they were born this way. 

                I believe that other scriptures confirm this principle.  In the Doctrine and Covenants we read that God “gave unto [the children of men] commandments that they should love and serve him, the only living and true God, and that he should be the only being whom they should worship.  But by the transgression of these holy laws man became sensual and devilish, and became fallen man “(D&C 20:19-20).  It was by transgressing the laws of God that men became sensual and devilish, not by their birth.  Another revelation tells us, “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” (D&C 93:38).  This confirms that when we are born we are indeed innocent and not “devilish” or “carnal.”  We develop those negative traits by choosing to follow the temptations of Satan.  Mormon confirmed this principle when he wrote to Moroni that “little children are whole, for they are not capability of committing sin” and they are “alive in Christ, even from the foundation of the world” (Moroni 8:8, 12).  This seems to contradict the idea that we are somehow born into the world evil and devilish. 

                And yet, there are other scriptures that don’t quite read the same way.  For example, the Brother of Jared said this in his prayer to the Lord, “Now behold, O Lord, and do not be angry with thy servant because of his weakness before thee; for we know that thou art holy and dwellest in the heavens, and that we are unworthy before thee; because of the fall our natures have become evil continually” (Ether 3:2).   Perhaps we can understand his comment not as a strict doctrinal statement that we are inherently evil but rather a humble acknowledgement before God that man is weak and slow to do good.  Similarly Alma taught Corianton in these words, “Therefore, as they had become carnal, sensual, and devilish, by nature, this probationary state became a state for them to prepare; it became a preparatory state” (Alma 42:10).  The words “by nature” could imply something about being born that way, but perhaps we can alternatively interpret it as a statement of what we naturally gravitate towards in this fallen world with temptations all around us.  In a related verse Abinadi taught, “That old serpent that did beguile our first parents, which was the cause of their fall; which was the cause of all mankind becoming carnal, sensual, devilish, knowing evil from good, subjecting themselves to the devil” (Mosiah 16:3).   I think we can understand this last verse in the same way as the verses in Moses; Satan was the cause for mankind becoming carnal and devilish; it wasn’t because they were born this way but that they chose to follow temptation. 

I think all of these scriptures combined highlight both the innocence with which we come to earth and the powerful draw of the fallen world around us that tempts us to be “carnal, sensual, and devilish.”  Our quest as Christians must be to overcome these things—the “natural man”—and learn to be a Saint, “submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love” (Mosiah 3:19).