Did Adam and Eve know Good and Evil before they ate the fruit?

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Technically, God didn’t say that. Eve added that when talking with the serpent. Which is why their eyes were not opened until they actually ate the fruit.
You’re right - that was what Eve told the serpent that God said. God never said “Don’t touch it”… I stand (well, to be honest, sit) corrected. 🙂
 
As I have been reading the many post in response to this thread I find it interesting but troubling that I didn’t see any references to the writings of our Holy Father who wrote, in my opinion, an important commentary on the first three chapters of Genesis published under the title “In the Beginning”.

But what bothers me the most is it seems so many of us who participate in this forum really seem unfamiliar with the witings of our Holy Father. I find this baffling given the wide range of topics our Pope has written on over for many years yet we seem to be rather ignorant of such a great store of knowledge and insight he has given us. We have been blessed with a great teacher for a long time, and now he is our pope, so I think we should all give considerable thought to studying all the works of our Holy Father and in particular his commentary on Genesis.
 
What do you understand by the ‘knowledge of good and evil’?
As I was never in the Garden of Eden, it doesn’t matter much what I understand by it. What Adam understood was this:

There was a positive revelation of the will of God about this tree, so that by it man might know moral good and evil. What is good? It is good not to eat of this tree. What is evil? It is evil to eat of this tree.
 
As I have been reading the many post in response to this thread I find it interesting but troubling that I didn’t see any references to the writings of our Holy Father who wrote, in my opinion, an important commentary on the first three chapters of Genesis published under the title “In the Beginning”.

But what bothers me the most is it seems so many of us who participate in this forum really seem unfamiliar with the witings of our Holy Father. I find this baffling given the wide range of topics our Pope has written on over for many years yet we seem to be rather ignorant of such a great store of knowledge and insight he has given us. We have been blessed with a great teacher for a long time, and now he is our pope, so I think we should all give considerable thought to studying all the works of our Holy Father and in particular his commentary on Genesis.
Personally, I have not yet been received into the Church and I had no idea such writings existed. You mention it like everyone should know that the Holy Father has written a commentary on Genesis. :confused:

I’m up to my ears in apologetics right now, hoping that my husband will join me in crossing the Tiber. There are only so many hours in the day, y’know. 😃
 
I am not concerned about the popular conclusion, that Adam and eve sinned by disobeying, but what the Bible teaches. It says Adam and eve didn’t know good or evil. It says they were not guided, how to handle evil temptation. It says they didn’t know serpent. it says they didn’t know death. what they did know is God and his command. But they didn’t know they have choice to obey and to disobey. They didn’t know disobeying is sin. That is why they didn’t disobey until serpent come. they were purely like a child who would believe anything he hear from anyone. That is why they believed serpent. We don’t punish our children for disobeying, as we understand they are not grown enough to catch what we command. Rather, we guide them not to repeat the mistakes. Wasn’t that God supposed to do? Is that what God did? What God did is unjust.

The claim of sin is wrong. The claim of inheritence of sin to entire mankind is another wrong. We are not born sinners, but it is our choice to be sinful and we are responsible for it. What is common (what we are inherited of) in Adam and us is the potential to sin, to disobey. The poitential is not a sin as God created it and it was good.

Bible clearly fails to give us a logical reason for the inheritence of sin. If this fails, crucifixion also fails since Jesus died for the same inherited sin, not our sin that we do. Our sin (including cain), we are accountable for it anyway.

There is another illogical claim that we will get forgiven if we accept cross. First fo all, cross was not the solution to inherit eternal life as per Jesus. It was to obey the commandmends (Luke 18:19-22, 10:25-37) and to follow Jesus. If it was just to accept cross, Jesus wouldn’t say to follow commandmends. But later, by the time paul, the situation of christianity changed as to ignore the commandmend as per Hebrews 7:18. So again, bible gives no logical reason for cross. There is no need of a punishment to get forgiven. If we do any unlawful act and get a penalty of 100 $, there is an unlawful act in our account and we owe 100 4 penalty for it. As soon as we pay the penalty, the account is clear. there is no question to get forgiven because forgivness is to excuse without a payment. If we pay the penalty, it is our right to get rid of the account of sin.

God doesn’t need a penalty to be paid for forgiving us. It is illogic to think of paying the penalty and to get forgiven.

if jesus paid the penalty of our sins, it includes all our sin that we did and will do. God cannot punish us for it anymore. That is another illogic, because it allows us to sin as much as we want.

tell me your taughts.
 
Pixie Dust,

First it gives me real joy to read you are in the process of convertion to what I believe is the true Church and the fullness of our Christian Faith. So I sincerely hope that you didn’t take what I wrote personnally. My words were a lement that too many Catholics just are unfamiliar what the writing of our pope.

But your response reenforces my opinion because I ask you to ask yourself just how often,in your studies, were any references to the writings of our Holy Father or to him as Cardinal Ratizenger were ever made the school of theology his thoughts reflect. There has been a growing theological tend these past thirty plus years that when you are able to devote time to the writings of such theologians as our Holy Father hopefully you will find in this theologial school of thought a strong movement to return to the strongest sources of our Catholic teachings and thought with a particular strong emphasis on the study of the Church Fathers. And those advocating this theological understanding do not fear the best of modern biblical scholarship but welcome it and use it but never forgetting the role of biblical scholars which is to serve the teaching authority of the Church and is not the authority on to itself and that there are limitations inherent to modern scholarship especially in regards to the use of historical criticism. The disregard of these limitations have been the root cause of many of the abuses of biblical scholarsip in general and historical criticism in particular, but as the old saying goes you don’t through the baby out with the bath and modern biblical scholarship has a vital role in the Church. (Here I think of one criticism I read and heard the Holy Father offer through many of his works, namely one of the biggest problems of the scholars and their use of the historical critical method is they look only at the past of what was, and fail to understand the past must always point to the present and future with the faith that all this is being guided by the Holy Spirit).

Perhaps one reason why Pope Benedict’s works have, in my opinion, been neglected is due to the fact that they have been overshadowed by the writings and teaching on John Paul the Great. But if you begin serious study of the writings and teaching of John Paul II along with further studies of Pope Benedict I think you will find they both reflect the same theological understanding - they are both from the same school of thought.

I am not suggesting the you disregard any or all your present studies but to give the study of our Holy Father’s works some consideration. And perhaps ask those who are guiding you what they think of the writings of our Holy Father (that is what he has actually has written and not what others say about his writings).
 
I am not concerned about the popular conclusion, that Adam and eve sinned by disobeying, but what the Bible teaches. …
You started this whole thread by asking the question, and now that just about everyone has pointed out the obvious, you don’t accept it. Why? Because if you accept it, your entire argument falls.
…It says Adam and eve didn’t know good or evil. It says they were not guided, how to handle evil temptation. It says they didn’t know serpent. it says they didn’t know death. what they did know is God and his command. But they didn’t know they have choice to obey and to disobey. They didn’t know disobeying is sin. That is why they didn’t disobey until serpent come. they were purely like a child who would believe anything he hear from anyone.That is why they believed serpent. We don’t punish our children for disobeying, as we understand they are not grown enough to catch what we command. Rather, we guide them not to repeat the mistakes. Wasn’t that God supposed to do? Is that what God did? What God did is unjust.
There is nothing in the Bible to support your interpretation. The Bible does NOT say they were not guided, or didn’t know they had a choice or didn’t know death, or any other claim you make. All of this is speculation.
The claim of sin is wrong. The claim of inheritence of sin to entire mankind is another wrong. We are not born sinners, but it is our choice to be sinful and we are responsible for it. What is common (what we are inherited of) in Adam and us is the potential to sin, to disobey. The poitential is not a sin as God created it and it was good.
Only based on your incorrect interpretation of Adam and Eve. Since God is almighty, why is it so hard to accept that he made this sin something we inherit? In fact, it is because of all the reasons you mention, that give credence to original sin.
Bible clearly fails to give us a logical reason for the inheritence of sin. If this fails, crucifixion also fails since Jesus died for the same inherited sin, not our sin that we do. Our sin (including cain), we are accountable for it anyway.
There is another illogical claim that we will get forgiven if we accept cross. First fo all, cross was not the solution to inherit eternal life as per Jesus. It was to obey the commandmends (Luke 18:19-22, 10:25-37) and to follow Jesus. If it was just to accept cross, Jesus wouldn’t say to follow commandmends. But later, by the time paul, the situation of christianity changed as to ignore the commandmend as per Hebrews 7:18. So again, bible gives no logical reason for cross. There is no need of a punishment to get forgiven. If we do any unlawful act and get a penalty of 100 $, there is an unlawful act in our account and we owe 100 4 penalty for it. As soon as we pay the penalty, the account is clear. there is no question to get forgiven because forgivness is to excuse without a payment. If we pay the penalty, it is our right to get rid of the account of sin.
You are taking the passage from Luke out of context, because if you read just a little further, there is people were asking who could be saved then:
23 But when he heard this he became quite sad, for he was very rich.
24 Jesus looked at him (now sad) and said, “How hard it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!
25 For it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.”
26 Those who heard this said, “Then who can be saved?”
27 And he said, “What is impossible for human beings is possible for God.”
Note that it is impossible for us to be saved by ourselves. Only God can do it. Also, in the rest of this chapter, Jesus describes the entry into Jerusalem and what will happen to him. Basically, he is explaining how God will do what is impossible. But they don’t understand yet.
God doesn’t need a penalty to be paid for forgiving us. It is illogic to think of paying the penalty and to get forgiven.
if jesus paid the penalty of our sins, it includes all our sin that we did and will do. God cannot punish us for it anymore. That is another illogic, because it allows us to sin as much as we want.
tell me your taughts.
Jesus did not die on the cross to pay a penalty. He died offering himself for the forgiveness of our sins. However, forgiveness is a 2 way street. Before God forgives us, we must ask for that forgiveness. It’s not paying the penalty, it is asking for that penalty to be waived because someone else paid it. However, God will allow you to pay it yourself if you don’t ask for forgiveness.
 
Jesus did not die on the cross to pay a penalty. He died offering himself for the forgiveness of our sins.
Hi
JesusYeshuaIssa, in my opinion, did not and could not die on Cross, since he was to show Sign of Jonah who never died in the belly of fish, so those who base their faith on this notion are mistaken. They should rectify their misunderstanding of the events.Kindly view the following, if you like:
tombofjesus.com/
Did Jesus die on the Cross? A BBC documentary
video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1669658378154953060&q
Thanks
I am an Ahmadi – a peaceful faith in Islam bridging gaps between faiths/denominations/religions/agnostics
 
Hi
JesusYeshuaIssa, in my opinion, did not and could not die on Cross, since he was to show Sign of Jonah who never died in the belly of fish, so those who base their faith on this notion are mistaken. They should rectify their misunderstanding of the events.Kindly view the following, if you like:
tombofjesus.com/
Did Jesus die on the Cross? A BBC documentary
video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1669658378154953060&q
Thanks
I am an Ahmadi – a peaceful faith in Islam bridging gaps between faiths/denominations/religions/agnostics
hello and peace to you

Remember that Jesus mentions his connection to jonah after being asked for a sign . It is likely this was asked from a prejudiced outlook that would require a progression of signs greater in magnitude than the one before it in order to believe. Of course this is not a true faith and Jesus didn’t oblige it. The sign of jonah could not be understood untill after Christ ressurected because the belly of the fish is the belly of the earth where the souls of the departed dwelt. If Jesus had not risen from death and be witnessed after dying on the cross the sign of jonah would not be fulfilled nor understood in the way Christians understand it.

The tomb where Jesus’ body was, is the belly of the fish that entombed Jonah. Just as Jonah left the belly of the fish, Christ left the Tomb. Empty. That was the sign for them who demanded increasingly greater signs. Because it is the greatest.
 
You started this whole thread by asking the question, and now that just about everyone has pointed out the obvious, you don’t accept it. Why? Because if you accept it, your entire argument falls.
You are mistaken. The very head of the thread itself answers you.

Did Adam and Eve knew good and Evil before they eat the fruit?

None of you could give me any Bible reference, that they did know good and evil before eating the fruit rather than interpreting. I am not concerned about what they did, what Christians believe. Instead, what made them to disobey God.
There is nothing in the Bible to support your interpretation. The Bible does NOT say they were not guided, or didn’t know they had a choice or didn’t know death, or any other claim you make. All of this is speculation.
Does the Bible say, they did know? No. How could you interpret they did know, something the scripture doesn’t say? If you say, they did know good and evil, it is against Gen 2:9 and 17. How do you assume something against what scripture says?

From this one sin, sin nature inherited the entire humanity and that made God himself to die for it. Whatever beliefs developed after Jesus, the Christianity itself is based on this one assumption that we are born sinners. This sin and its inheritance is the reason for cross.

Before Jesus, it was ‘The soul that sin, shall die’ -Eze 18:20. No one had to die for someone else.

I hope you understand how serious the issue is.
Only based on your incorrect interpretation of Adam and Eve. Since God is almighty, why is it so hard to accept that he made this sin something we inherit? In fact, it is because of all the reasons you mention, that give credence to original sin.
Who made the sin,

God? Then it has to be good. Not sin.
Adam? He didn’t know what he is doing is a sin, because the knowledge of good and evil was in the fruit as per Gen 2:9 and 17.

Isn’t hard to accept something illogic? I am finding for a logical reason.
You are taking the passage from Luke out of context, because if you read just a little further, there is people were asking who could be saved then:
Does that invalidate Luke 18:19-22, 10:25-37? I didn’t know that.
Note that it is impossible for us to be saved by ourselves. Only God can do it. Also, in the rest of this chapter, Jesus describes the entry into Jerusalem and what will happen to him. Basically, he is explaining how God will do what is impossible. But they don’t understand yet.
Dear Friend, it is like 50:50. We have to make sure we are doing our half. That is what Luke 18:19-22 and 10:25-37 says. God will do the other half which said in 18:27. God will not do his half until you accomplish your half. Which means, our deeds are always accounted. Then God will decide, weather to save us or not. You cannot be guaranteed to be saved until you fulfill your half, doing only good, stay away from evil, follow the commandments.
Jesus did not die on the cross to pay a penalty. He died offering himself for the forgiveness of our sins. However, forgiveness is a 2 way street. Before God forgives us, we must ask for that forgiveness. It’s not paying the penalty, it is asking for that penalty to be waived because someone else paid it. However, God will allow you to pay it yourself if you don’t ask for forgiveness.
That is what I knew from many Christians, ‘Jesus paid for our sin’. Anyway, the reason is our forgiveness.

Consider, I am ready to pay for my sin. Let’s imagine, I punched you at your face for no reason. You consider that a sin and you want me to pay for it. I said “I am sorry, forgive me”. You said “No. I want to punch you back”. It’s your choice, either to punch me back or just to forgive me. You cannot do both together, because after you punch me back, you cannot say “I forgive you”, it doesn’t make any sense. Even if my brother took the punishment, your forgiveness doesn’t make any mean, because you owed a penalty from me and it is paid by someone.

If forgiveness needs a meaning, it is to excuse without payment of penalty. If you had forgiven me without punching me or my brother back, that makes sense. If God forgives us without the payment of Jesus, that makes sense. What can make you think of just forgiving me is my ‘sorry’. What can make God think of just forgiving our sin is our repentance and its sincerity.
 
much is revealed in what is not mentioned.

well unless it is revealed in a way you will not accept.

I
I still don’t find any biblical support for what you said. Interpretations are human understanding. It can go wrong.
Lets cut to the chase here. It is obvious what you are hoping will surface in the minds that read this thread. You are leading the defendent so to speak.

Two things can be concluded about where it leads. That either God is unjust or the revelation given to christians is false. Most likely you wish to pursuade us to believe that the God revealed to christians through the bible is unjust and that be sufficient evidence to a Christian that the bible and Christianity are false.
I just want to know if Bible gives enough logical reasons for what Christians believe.
 
Pixie Dust,

First it gives me real joy to read you are in the process of convertion to what I believe is the true Church and the fullness of our Christian Faith. So I sincerely hope that you didn’t take what I wrote personnally. My words were a lement that too many Catholics just are unfamiliar what the writing of our pope.

But your response reenforces my opinion because I ask you to ask yourself just how often,in your studies, were any references to the writings of our Holy Father or to him as Cardinal Ratizenger were ever made the school of theology his thoughts reflect. There has been a growing theological tend these past thirty plus years that when you are able to devote time to the writings of such theologians as our Holy Father hopefully you will find in this theologial school of thought a strong movement to return to the strongest sources of our Catholic teachings and thought with a particular strong emphasis on the study of the Church Fathers. And those advocating this theological understanding do not fear the best of modern biblical scholarship but welcome it and use it but never forgetting the role of biblical scholars which is to serve the teaching authority of the Church and is not the authority on to itself and that there are limitations inherent to modern scholarship especially in regards to the use of historical criticism. The disregard of these limitations have been the root cause of many of the abuses of biblical scholarsip in general and historical criticism in particular, but as the old saying goes you don’t through the baby out with the bath and modern biblical scholarship has a vital role in the Church. (Here I think of one criticism I read and heard the Holy Father offer through many of his works, namely one of the biggest problems of the scholars and their use of the historical critical method is they look only at the past of what was, and fail to understand the past must always point to the present and future with the faith that all this is being guided by the Holy Spirit).

Perhaps one reason why Pope Benedict’s works have, in my opinion, been neglected is due to the fact that they have been overshadowed by the writings and teaching on John Paul the Great. But if you begin serious study of the writings and teaching of John Paul II along with further studies of Pope Benedict I think you will find they both reflect the same theological understanding - they are both from the same school of thought.

I am not suggesting the you disregard any or all your present studies but to give the study of our Holy Father’s works some consideration. And perhaps ask those who are guiding you what they think of the writings of our Holy Father (that is what he has actually has written and not what others say about his writings).
Why do you call pope ‘Father’, when Bible say you should not?

“And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven” -Matthew 23:9.
 
As I was never in the Garden of Eden, it doesn’t matter much what I understand by it. What Adam understood was this:

There was a positive revelation of the will of God about this tree, so that by it man might know moral good and evil. What is good? It is good not to eat of this tree. What is evil? It is evil to eat of this tree.
Did Adam and Eve knew, it is evil to eat from that tree?
 
As I have been reading the many post in response to this thread I find it interesting but troubling that I didn’t see any references to the writings of our Holy Father who wrote, in my opinion, an important commentary on the first three chapters of Genesis published under the title “In the Beginning”.

But what bothers me the most is it seems so many of us who participate in this forum really seem unfamiliar with the witings of our Holy Father. I find this baffling given the wide range of topics our Pope has written on over for many years yet we seem to be rather ignorant of such a great store of knowledge and insight he has given us. We have been blessed with a great teacher for a long time, and now he is our pope, so I think we should all give considerable thought to studying all the works of our Holy Father and in particular his commentary on Genesis.
In hope that you read the book, Did Adam and Eve knew good and Evil before they eat the fruit?
 
I’m simply amazed and ashamed that no one has mentioned this verse from 1st Timothy yet:

“I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she must be silent. For Adam was formed first, then Eve. And Adam was not the one deceived; it was the woman who was deceived and became a sinner.” 1 Timothy 2:12-14

Or this one from 2 Corinthians:

“But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ.” 2 cor 11:3

In conclusion, the answer has all along been right there in Scripture for anyone who cared to look, rather than rant and rave with opinions. Eve was deceived; Adam was not. Adam chose to follow his wife into sin, although he was not deceived. Thank you.
Did Eve know good and Evil before she eat the fruit?
 
I think the point is being missed here is a big way and it is simple, as Jack has stated.

In Genesis 2:17 God has warned Adam that “what day soever thou shalt eat of it thou shalt die the death.”

When they ate of this fruit they died, period. That day, just as God had warned them. God did not lie or sugarcoat it.

The analagy of the two boys and the room is a poor one for it does not state that when the father returned he found them in the throes of death as is what happened in Paradise.

Adam and Eve had died the death the same day they ate of the fruit and it had nothing to do with them knowing the difference between good and evil. Discovering the difference is what killed them.

Two things happened in Paradise that day. First, willfull disobedience with full knowledge that it was, in fact, disobedience even if they did not realise it was evil. Two, immediate death as a resultof the disobedience. Not because of it, but as a result of. If I warn my child not to eat poison and the child does so anyhow dies, it is not because of the disobedience that the chiild dies; but rather, as a direct result of having ingested poison.
Consider, you took your child to hospital and he survived. What you will do with your child, will you punish him for the disobedience or guide him about the dangerousness of poison? Please be honest.
 
No human living today knows, for certain, what would happen to a human being who stepped out into space without a spacesuit on.

Among hundreds of astronauts and cosmonauts, all of whom have been adventurous and curious as well as intelligent, not one person has tried the experiment.

They do not have an intimate knowledge of what would happen. They do not have an experiential knowledge of what would happen. They have a pretty good idea of what would happen, though, thanks to human intelligence. Thanks to human wisdom, mutual trust, and obedience to good sense, they just don’t seem to feel any need to try this at home.

Adam and Eve were smarter and wiser than any human alive today. They had God Himself for their teacher and companion. And whether or not they knew exactly what would happen, they had been told that something undesirable would happen.

So you can’t say they erred out of ignorance.
Out of what they erred?
 
In the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve impose their own will over God’s. They take complete ownership of the Garden. By possessing and imposing their will on everything, including the tree of knowledge of good and evil. They assert control according to their wishes. Not God’s.

And so we have the laws of kashrut. Laws that impose certain obligations on us in what we are permitted to eat. It is an opportunity to address the sins in the garden of eden. By recognizing that we are limited in asserting control over this world. We can not assume complete ownership over everything. This is demonstrated in the prohibitions against eating certain foods.

It is also demonstrated in the laws regarding fruit trees in Israel. When an Israelite plants a tree for the purpose of bearing fruit, they are not permitted to eat from the tree for three seasons. (Fruit trees were created on the third day). On the fourth year of fruit bearing, the fruit belongs to God and was given to the temple or eaten in conjunction with holy days only. Another example of acknowledging God’s ownership. Only on the fifth season can the farmer use the produce for his own use.

Similarly, every 7th year is a Sabbatical year in which all the land must remain unharvested. Again, showing that we do not assert complete ownership over the land, that it belongs to God and that even the land is entitled to a Sabbath. To return it to its natural state. To return it to a kind of Eden.
We are inherited of something because of that one act of eating, the knowledge of good and evil, a wide open eye to see the world. We are able to choose good from evil because we can see and we have knowledge of good and evil. Adam and Eve knew good and evil only after eating the fruit. Adam and Eve got their eyes open only after eating the fruit. We can’t compare our acts to Adam and Eve. They haven’t had any good or evil will. They were unable to recognize their will if it is good or evil.
 
quote=Khalfan;2213197]I still don’t find any biblical support for what you said. Interpretations are human understanding. It can go wrong.
The explanation given to you from me was entirely biblical.
you have been given very reasonable explanations for what we believe. What is required of you isn’t whether or not ‘you’ find biblical support, but that you offer an objection that shows that the belief is unreasonable. You haven’t once offered an objection that exposes the error of what we believe.

I
just want to know if Bible gives enough logical reasons for what Christians believe.
We believe that God provided Adam and Eve with everything they needed to do the right thing. That doesn’t have to be written in the account about Adam and Eve to be true because that is the nature of the God our bible reveals. Do you believe the bible doesn’t offer good reason to believe that?

The crux of your objection on this thread so far has been that.

The bible gives us quite eneogh reason to believe that God doesn’t expect more from us than what should be.
 
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