Not pretending to understand everything, I think that you are not apprehending correctly. The Scripture does reveal that both Adam and Eve knew that they should not do what they both did and that they knew, at least Adam did, exactly why they should not. I don't deny that they knew that they should not eat from that tree, I mean God himself told them not to do that but since they had not yet eaten from the "tree of knowledge of good and evil" they could not know that it was evil to disobey. Furthermore he told Adam that he would die if he ate from that tree, but what the heck is death? How do you explain that to Adam before the fall? As far as I know death was only an issue after they were thrown out of paradise. How could they know what death is or even whether it was good or bad?
You cannot compare a 3 year old, who was born with a depraved and sinful nature, with Adam. Adam breathed in his first breath to behold the glory of God. He was fully matured in reasoning and posessed every single thing he needed to correctly choose from that moment.
Why not? In this aspect Adam and Eve were at least as inexperienced as a 3 year old. A toddler does not know that it is often bad not to follow the advice of your parents. They have to learn that first. The same with A&E: they did not know that disobeying God is bad. There was no way to learn that because they were allowed to do whatever they wanted except of course to eat from that particular tree. So they had not much opportunity to learn this lesson.
Oh, even though Eve ate the apple first, it is beause of Adam that sin came into the world. Ponder that!
Humm... Yeah, whatever you say.
As God is not only Almighty, but also all knowing, separating the end from the beginning and knowing all detail of every single person before a man's days were ordained, having fully fashioned all men and their days before there was a single one of them; why did God not simply create Adam differently?
I only can guess that God wanted this to happen. I mean why make an individual that can not discern between good and evil and therefore cannot know that it is bad not to follow an order and then place a tree (he is not allowed to eat from) in the garden that is easily accessible to him? IMO that's a really dirty trick.
Sounds just like what I heard from my old Episcopal church. If you don't mind, do you claim to be saved and (if so) what kind of church do you attend?
I don't claim to be saved (whatever that may be) and I don't attend any church. Y'know I'm one of those darn infidels ;->
Oh, even though Eve ate the apple first, it is beause of Adam that sin came into the world. (5) Ponder that!Humm... Yeah, whatever you say.
Let's look at it.......
Genesis 2:15-18
15. The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.
16. And the LORD God commanded the man, "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden;
17. but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die."
18. The LORD God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him."
(Note that EVE wasn't around yet when Adam was told about the totkogae ..............)
Genesis 3:1-19
1. Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God really say, (1) `You must not eat from any tree in the garden'?"
2. The woman said to the serpent, "We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden,
3. but God did say, `You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die. (2)'"
4. "You will not surely die," the serpent said to the woman.
5. "For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."
6. When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, (3) she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.
7. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.
8. Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden.
9. But the LORD God called to the man, "Where are you?"
10. He answered, "I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid."
11. And he said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?"
12. The man said, "The woman you put here with me--she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it." (4)
13. Then the LORD God said to the woman, "What is this you have done?" The woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate." (4)
14. So the LORD God said to the serpent, "Because you have done this, "Cursed are you above all the livestock and all the wild animals! You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life.
15. And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel."
16. To the woman he said, "I will greatly increase your pains in childbearing; with pain you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you."
17. To Adam he said, "Because you listened to your wife (5) and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, `You must not eat of it,' "Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life.
18. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field.
19. By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return."
1. The Serpent introduces DOUBT.
2. Now she knew EXACTLY WHERE that tree was! She had gotten the info from Adam. Adding things to what GOD had said. Adam either added the remark Eve made to the serpent or she made it up on the fly, as Eve did NOT here directly from GOD about not eating of the tree.
3. Desirable............ Someone tells you, "You can't have it", and immediately you WANT it! Also, the BEST of intentions - gaining wisdom (to be more like GOD).
4. Ah, human nature hasn't changed, "It's the OTHER guys fault, not mine."
5. THIS is why Adam gets the credit!