Eve and Abraham

We have two opposing notions of the relationship between ethics and God’s command.

Eve disobeys God, transgresses his commands, for the purpose of a greater command. When the prohibition from God conflicts with the other command to create life, she chooses the latter.

Abraham offers another model. He obeys God’s command to transgress the law, to kill. Ultimately, at least in the recieved text, God relents, but Abraham is praised for his obedience.

In these two models, we have God’s commands against life, with Eve choosing life over God, and Abraham choosing God over life. Both narratives complicate “obedience” by suggesting that there are times when God’s commandments conflict. But Eve’s choice, at least the way it is praised by LDS tradition, is particularly striking because it is a woman rejecting God in favor of life.