1 Ne 8:28 After
they had tasted of the fruit they were ashamed…and they fell away
It is remarkable to note that this
group had tasted of the fruit before they fell away. They were bothered by the
scoffers in the great and spacious building. These had tasted of the love of
God and then chose the love of men instead. This group of people were not
investigators but those who had successfully navigated the mists of darkness of
the great and spacious field only to fail after tasting of the fruit. What a tragedy!
Robert L. Millet said, “Imagine that! This group of people had received the
word of God into their lives and had partaken of the renovating powers of
Christ's atonement—their sins had been remitted, and for a season they sang ‘the song of redeeming love’ ("Alma 5:26Alma 5:26).
What was the problem? They were too concerned with what others thought, too
preoccupied with the world's pecking order. They allowed their values to be affected
and then shaped by the values of others. That is, they surrendered to pride.”
(Alive in Christ: The Miracle of Spiritual Rebirth, p. 184)
Furthermore, this passage has
implications for how we interpret the symbolism of the fruit. Although, Nephi explains
that the fruit represents the greatest of all the gifts of God, i.e. eternal
life (1 Ne 15:36), the full definition cannot be that narrow. Since the tree
itself symbolizes the love of God, the fruit itself must also represent the
love of God, especially in this verse. It is impossible to receive eternal life
and then fall away, but it is entirely possible to taste of the love of God and
then to fall away into forbidden paths.
Neal
A. Maxwell
“A few members of the
Church, alas, desert the cause; they are like one who abandons an oasis to
search for water in the desert. Some of these few will doubtless become
critics, and they will be welcomed into the ‘great
and spacious building.’ Henceforth, however, so far as their theological
accommodations are concerned, they are in a spacious but third-rate hotel. All
dressed up, as the Book of Mormon says, ‘exceedingly
fine’ (1 Ne 8:27), they have no place to go except—one day, hopefully,
home.” (First Nephi, The Doctrinal
Foundation, BYU Religious Studies Center, p. 11 as taken from Latter-day Commentary on the Book of Mormon
compiled by K. Douglas Bassett, p.34)