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

[TOME]

Khalfan,

As I have been following the responses to your question several thoughts keep coming to my mind that I would like to share with you for your consideration. My response will come from two viewpoints. The first will be a response based on the philosophy of Saint Thomas, the second from scripture but if you bear with me I hope it will become clear that both are related to one another.

From my understanding of Saint Thomas, that human nature tends towards the “Good” and the ultimate good is God. Because it is, in essence, part of our human nature Adam and Eve should have innately known the good and moved (choosen) that which is good and thus avoiding evil by an act of their “Will” even if their intellect was ignorant of the particulars of a law proscribing a particular act. This is true, all the more, given the intimate personnal relationship they shared with God before the “Fall”. So their “Sin” is rooted in the act of their will and going against their own created human nature. The actual act could be understood as accidental, that is not essential to the nature of the “Fall” itself.

 

[TOME]

Khalfan (continued)
However, I am sure you are seeking responses from scripture itself. Here I hope to provide you with a scriptural basis for my thoughts. (One note, I am writing this without any books - these are just my thoughts all though it may seem I am lifting pages from our Holy Father’s works. If it seems that way I am glad and I hope I do justice to his thoughts. Actually, what I intend to write is what I was taught back in the mid 1970’s and held onto ever since).

I am not a literalist in my approach to the Holy Bible. I do not believe what is found in every passage of Genesis is a literal account of what took place. I believe, however, that the truth revealed in Genesis is far deeper and more real than any historical
narrative could ever be and this is what I seek to find with my study of scripture (guided of coarse by the teachings of the Catholic Church).

The question we are dealing with focuses on the Chapter 3 of Genesis, the account of “The Fall” of man. It is my opinion, however, that for any discussion on Chapter 3 Chapters 1 and 2 have to be considered as well. These three form an organic unit that has as there root the concept of the right relationship(s) intended by God between God and the cosmos, God and man, man’s with the cosmos and finally man with his fellow man.

But I find in these narratives, the concept of right relationships express in human terms, these stories are man’s attempts to express through human language the revelation we have received from God. The creation stories of chapters one and two contain what essentially are the relationships, mentioned above, as God intended. The very first line of Genesis really says it all. In the beginning was God, that is God is God and everything else, including man is God’s creation. Chapter 1 continues with the truth that what God creates, He creates with a plan and a purpose. This is expressed in the ordered process of creation taking place over a six day period, and that what God creates is essentially good. The seventh day points us right back to the very beginning that it is God who is the creator. This is the essential truth expressed in Chapter One, a truth far deeper than the scientific explanation so many seek.

 

[TOME]

In chapter one and two we find the development of the relationships, as intended by God, between man and the rest of the cosmos and with his fellow man as expressed through human language in the narratives we read. We find in these two chapters that God’s creation is meant to serve man. This is expressed through the terms like man is given dominion over all creatures and plants. God, giving man the task to name all things also shows that man has the God given power over His creation and there is the famous expression that man is to “subdue” the earth. But Genesis is very clear that this power is not limitless but with it comes responsibility, the responsibility of stewardship. I cannot help but think of Jesus’ words to Pontius Pilate when He has to remind Pilate that all power he is exercising comes not from himself but from a higher authority.

In Chapter 2 we find developed the proper relationship between all men especially in regards to human sexuality. Here we find that human sexuality is a gift from God, given to man to make man whole and complete. Our sexuality is not a punishment as was taught by the other creation myths of the various cultures the Hebrew and Israelite people were exposed to, this is not a narrative of dominence but of equality as symbolized by the women being created not from the earth directly but from man’s rib. It should be remembered that prior to the account of the creation of the women, the word for man was gender neutral another sign of eqaulity and that humans are cannot be truly whole except in the proper context of our sexuality.

This brings us to the question I think actually underlies the topic of this discussion or at least where this discussion has lead. That is what is the nature of sin. I think if we get caught up in the accidentals of over analyzing particular acts which may have happened (but most likely did not) we run the risk of missing the whole truth of Genesis 3. And the truth found in this chapter is rather simple. Namely man, no longer content being a creature freely chose to be his own god, to do his will not God’s. Wasn’t this the great temptation the women faced? Isn’t this the actual choice the man made, of his own free wil,l that is to go against his very nature (that of creature) and choose to be like god? For me, this is the real insight of Genesis 3 (seen in the light of Chapters one and two) and to place all the emphasis on the actions of the particulars of the narrative misses the deeper and essential truth revealed.

Finally, I again have to apologize if what I have written has been esentially a poorly plagiarize variation of the works of others, if this is the case it is totally unintentional but perhaps unavoidable.

 

[Khalfan]

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.

You said, what you said is entirely biblical. Check below.

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.

Here you are saying, they did know everything but it is not written in the Bible. Then how did you say it is biblical?!!

That is why I said, what you believe is someones interpretation/understanding and human understandings can be wrong.

 

[rciadan]

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.

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.

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.

Does that invalidate Luke 18:19-22, 10:25-37? I didn’t know that.

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.

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.

I answered all these objections earlier and you chose to ignore. You are not interested in anyones answers as is proven by your selective arguement. When a response is give that you cannot argue with you ignore it. You sir are not here to for genuine debate, but merely to use the same tools as Satan used in Paradise to lure people away from God. I for one think that enough has been said and it is time to shake the dirt from our sandals.

 

[Khalfan]

I answered all these objections earlier and you chose to ignore. You are not interested in anyones answers as is proven by your selective arguement. When a response is give that you cannot argue with you ignore it. You sir are not here to for genuine debate, but merely to use the same tools as Satan used in Paradise to lure people away from God. I for one think that enough has been said and it is time to shake the dirt from our sandals.

What you answered me earlier is below.

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.

I asked you a question, which is below.

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.

What you answered me is the latest quote. Please answer me my last question, so that I can relate it to your earlier answer.

 

[Khalfan]

Thank you very much. That was a good study. I think, the below is what for me.

This brings us to the question I think actually underlies the topic of this discussion or at least where this discussion has lead. That is what is the nature of sin. I think if we get caught up in the accidentals of over analyzing particular acts which may have happened (but most likely did not) we run the risk of missing the whole truth of Genesis 3. And the truth found in this chapter is rather simple. Namely man, no longer content being a creature freely chose to be his own god, to do his will not God’s.

I think, I should tell you, your conclusion gives me the same impression which all others gave in this forum. Actually I was discussing, what made man to think to become like God. Rather, there are some logical questions you put forward.

Wasn’t this the great temptation the women faced?

Yes, it is. My question is, was she capable enough to face that great temptation? Was she guided enough to face any evil temptation? If your answer is ‘Yes’, why Genesis 2:9 and 17 says the knowledge about good and evil was in the fruit? Why Genesis 3:7 says they didn’t even know, they were naked and they got their eyes open only after eating the fruit? If your answer is No, the claim of sin doesn’t make any sense.

It is good, not to get caught up in the accidentals of over analyzing particular acts and not to miss the whole truth of Genesis 2 and 3. But we cannot ignore what said in it.

Isn’t this the actual choice the man made, of his own free will, that is to go against his very nature (that of creature) and choose to be like God?

Why man didn’t choose to be like God, before serpent come?

For me, this is the real insight of Genesis 3 (seen in the light of Chapters one and two) and to place all the emphasis on the actions of the particulars of the narrative misses the deeper and essential truth revealed.

I appreaciate your study.

 

[MHalsey]

I think, Kalfan, that you are missing the entire point. Or as rciadan has mentioned you are ignoring it. You want to say God is unjust because he did not give Adam and Eve sufficient knowledge to deal with the serpent. Therefore, by your argument, Adam and Eve sinned out of ignorance. But you’re avoiding the crux of the matter. They sinned out of willful disobedience. After speaking with the serpent, they had a choice, listen to and obey God’s command, or listen to the serpent. They knew who was the Creator and who the creatures are. They knew God was/is greater than the serpent. Adam after all named all the creatures, including the serpent. So, whether or not they believed the serpent (creature), they willfully chose to disobey God (Creator). They were not forced to eat the fruit, and they were not ignorant of the fact that what they were doing was going against God’s command.

Who made the sin,

God? Then it has to be good. Not sin.
Adam?

Perhaps you misunderstood, or maybe I didn’t explain it well enough. I did not say God made the sin, but because of Adam’s willful disobedience, he allows it to be an inherited trait. Because we are children of Adam, we inherit his sinful nature, which manifests itself in willful disobedience to the commandments.

Does that invalidate Luke 18:19-22

I did not say it did, but you claim it is more important. I take all of scripture to be true and valid as a whole.

that is what Luke 18:19-22 and 10:25-37 says. God will do the other half which said in 18:27.

Tell me, “dear friend”, what was the 50% the beaten man offered to the good samaritan that earned his mercy? The answer, nothing.

You are constantly cherry picking pieces of scripture, which is intellectually dishonest. You used this tactic before when another poster mentioned the Holy Father.

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.

No, this analogy does not work. Let’s say I am your king, and I command you not to punch me in the face. And if you do, you shall die. Then someone else says, no you won’t die and the king knows it. Further, let’s say this person is a common slave, whereas you are a nobleman. Do you follow your king’s command or listen to the lies of the slave. If you choose to punch me in the face, do I not have the RIGHT to put you to death?

 

[Benadam]

You said, what you said is entirely biblical. Check below.

Here you are saying, they did know everything but it is not written in the Bible. Then how did you say it is biblical?!!

since I know an enterpretation is impossible to avoid I seek out who would know most what the author intended.

 

[TOME]

Khalfan,
I only have a few minutes but I thought I would respond to your question about Eve having the strenght to resist temptation. Perhaps the answer isn’t found in Genesis or the Old Testament but the answer is found in the New Testament. Christ tells Paul that His grace is sufficent for Paul to face all trails. Certainly given that the temptation was before “The Fall” Eve, herself was full of grace therefore she did have the strenght to resist any and all temptation, no?

Right now I just do not have the time to address your other questions but when I can give them the time they deserve, I will put something together.

 

[Khalfan]

Khalfan,
I only have a few minutes but I thought I would respond to your question about Eve having the strenght to resist temptation. Perhaps the answer isn’t found in Genesis or the Old Testament but the answer is found in the New Testament. Christ tells Paul that His grace is sufficent for Paul to face all trails. Certainly given that the temptation was before “The Fall” Eve, herself was full of grace therefore she did have the strenght to resist any and all temptation, no?

Right now I just do not have the time to address your other questions but when I can give them the time they deserve, I will put something together.

Can I ask you what ‘Grace of Jesus’ mean?

I have asked already, but let me ask again. Why Genesis 2:9 and 17 says the knowledge about good and evil was in the fruit? Why Genesis 3:7 says they didn’t even know, they are naked and they got their eyes open only after eating the fruit?

 

[Khalfan]

If you read more carefully you’ll see that I didn’t say it was not written in the bible.

You agreed, it is not written in the Bible my dear. Check below.

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…

I think that is clear.

since I know an enterpretation is impossible to avoid I seek out who would know most what the author intended.

You are right. But no one is allowed to say against what the scripture says. If someone say, they did know everithing, Gen2:9 and 17 has to be wrong. Do you accept that?

 

[Khalfan]

I think, Kalfan, that you are missing the entire point. Or as rciadan has mentioned you are ignoring it. You want to say God is unjust because he did not give Adam and Eve sufficient knowledge to deal with the serpent. Therefore, by your argument, Adam and Eve sinned out of ignorance. But you’re avoiding the crux of the matter. They sinned out of willful disobedience. After speaking with the serpent, they had a choice, listen to and obey God’s command, or listen to the serpent. They knew who was the Creator and who the creatures are. They knew God was/is greater than the serpent. Adam after all named all the creatures, including the serpent. So, whether or not they believed the serpent (creature), they willfully chose to disobey God (Creator). They were not forced to eat the fruit, and they were not ignorant of the fact that what they were doing was going against God’s command.

Fine. OK. I agree.

You said ‘they willfully chose to disobey God’. Until and unless they know good and evil, how could they choose God’s commandment which has to be good, instead of evil?

Perhaps you misunderstood, or maybe I didn’t explain it well enough. I did not say God made the sin, but because of Adam’s willful disobedience, he allows it to be an inherited trait. Because we are children of Adam, we inherit his sinful nature, which manifests itself in willful disobedience to the commandments.

Why God made Adam to be able to sin, if God never wanted sin? What does their act change in us, does it make us a sinners?
Do we have to pay for their act?

I did not say it did, but you claim it is more important. I take all of scripture to be true and valid as a whole.

Luke 18:19-22 is more important because it is our part of act. According to 18:27 God will save us, but not until we do our part/prepare/seek to be saved. Read the whole context; it is very clear.

Tell me, “dear friend”, what was the 50% the beaten man offered to the good samaritan that earned his mercy? The answer, nothing.

I didn’t understand that. Give me the reference as well.

You are constantly cherry picking pieces of scripture, which is intellectually dishonest. You used this tactic before when another poster mentioned the Holy Father.

I agree. If I do, it is dishonest.

I really meant that question, but he didn’t answer me. Can you?

No, this analogy does not work. Let’s say I am your king, and I command you not to punch me in the face. And if you do, you shall die. Then someone else says, no you won’t die and the king knows it. Further, let’s say this person is a common slave, whereas you are a nobleman. Do you follow your king’s command or listen to the lies of the slave. If you choose to punch me in the face, do I not have the RIGHT to put you to death?

You can kill me, but it cannot be just until, my power of free will to choose between law of king and lie of slave, is in the… apple beside you. Specially when you know that!!

 

[Benadam]

You agreed, it is not written in the Bible my dear. Check below.

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

 

[Valke2]

Can I ask you what ‘Grace of Jesus’ mean?

I have asked already, but let me ask again. Why Genesis 2:9 and 17 says the knowledge about good and evil was in the fruit? Why Genesis 3:7 says they didn’t even know, they are naked and they got their eyes open only after eating the fruit?

I believe there is a difference between knowing right from wrong and knowing good and evil. Good and evil requires a moral component that is absent from knowing right and wrong.

 

[kaysette]

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.

These passages make Eve’s part in the transgression less offensive, because she was TRICKED and Eve didn’t say exactly what God told Adam. Why is that? Could it have been because Adam received the DIRECT instruction from the creator and he didn’t teach Eve effectively? Perhaps the real point of the passage in I Timothy is that husbands should pay more attention to teaching their wives the pure Word of God, and to make sure they have enough sound knowledge of God’s Word that they will NOT BE TRICKED and DECEIVED.

If Jesus Christ won over satan in his time of temptation, by USING THE PURE WORD OF GOD in rebuttal to the devil, then the Word of God would have had the same power over the devil for Eve. If there was a deficiency in Eve’s ability to withstand the devil, the above passages show us that the responsibility was not met by Adam in preparing his wife with TRUTH. He KNEW the full truth. Compare the direct statement God made to Adam with the exact statement Eve made to the serpent. The words are NOT identical, and the Word of God has power when spoken – so long as it is the pure Word of God. And where was Adam when she was talking to the serpent? Why didn’t he speak up and use the Word of God to drive off the serpent? He was the one who received the direct Word of the Lord. Adam named the animals, and had dominion over everything. He could have easily drive away that serpent…if he would have. He was WITH HER.

Obviously, Adam was the one held responsible for the fall of mankind. He received the Word and his authority and didn’t use it to protect his wife, and this account shows the difference between being tricked and sinning willfully, does it not? Disobeying God willfully is serious stuff.

I have read this string with great interest, and it seems to me that the original poster is placing far too much emphasis on KNOWLEDGE – and seems very gnostic in his arguments. They were allowed to eat of every tree in the garden–even the TREE OF LIFE. There was only one tree they were told not to eat. Had they been eating from the right trees as they should have been, they probably wouldn’t have had time to be tempted by the forbidden fruit. Wasn’t it Paul who said he did not know sin until someone commanded “thou shalt not?” And what if they had eaten of the TREE OF LIFE FIRST? They would have no doubt had the strength and ability to say “no” and perhaps have handled the knowledge of good and evil.

The simple fact is that a person does NOT have to KNOW the full result of committing a sin in order to obey God. If we trust the Lord and His Lordship over us, we obey our master, knowing HE IS RIGHT all the time. To me, questioning this one fact, is just another form of beguiling and seductive reasoning which leads us off the simplicity of Christ. We, as sinful creatures, just love to play down sin. Disobedience to God is SIN in itself. And He didn’t say “no” to be mean – it was for their own good. Isn’t it always? I used to tell my babies “Do NOT touch the stove – it’s hot.” They had no clue what “hot” meant, and the simple fact of the matter is that they should have believed me. If they didn’t, and they touched it, the learned really fast what HOT means. They caused themselves needless suffering to disobey me.

 

[freesoulhope]

Did Adam and Eve knew good and Evil before they eat the fruit? Bible doesn’t say they knew.

I know that everybodys probably said their part and given a good answer, but heres how i see it.

Adam and Eve knew what evil was and what the conceqences were for comitting sin as far as it being a disrespect of God; as in it is a disrespect of Love and God is Love; otherwise how can they be wholly responsible for their sin?

What Adam and Eve didn’t know, was the “experience” of being a sinner. They were with out sin untill they commited sin, and there fore had no real knoledge of good and evil untill they became an opposing force to goodness.

I can know something of what its like to be in America by reading brosures and looking at pictures, but i have no experientail knoledge of America as far as actually being there.

 

[MHalsey]

You said ‘they willfully chose to disobey God’. Until and unless they know good and evil, how could they choose God’s commandment which has to be good, instead of evil?

(edited out)

You can kill me, but it cannot be just until, my power of free will to choose between law of king and lie of slave, is in the… apple beside you. Specially when you know that!!

No, not true. Free will does not imply you have to have complete knowledge. In America, and I assume most everywhere else, there is a saying, ignorance is no excuse for breaking the law. For instance, if I’m speeding in my car and I don’t know the speed limit, I’ll still get a ticket. And neither the cop nor the judge will care whether I had full knowledge or not. This has happened to me, so I know what I’m talking about.

In both passages, Adam and Eve, and our little analogy, free will is ALWAYS there. Adam and Eve sinned of their own free will. They were not forced to eat the fruit. The serpent did not put it in Eve’s hand or force it down her throat. They had a choice to make. They CHOSE to disobey God’s command to them. Whether they did so because they were lied to or not does not matter.

In the other instance, you choose to do what you do. Be prepared for the consequences when you do. Whether you were lied to or not, the king still has the right to put you to death.You can scream it’s unfair or unjust all you want, but you’d be wrong.

Note - I edited everything else out. If you want to discuss those other points, start another thread.

 

[dessert]

Your answer is good. You said they knew Good. But they didn’t know what evil and its temptation is. They had no idea how to deal with evil temptation. They didn’t know who Serpent was. You said they didn’t know evil. God told them ‘…If you eat, you surely die’. That’s the only instruction they got in regards to the fruit. Did they know what death is? No. Because death is the result of sin.

In short, they didn’t know Serpent. They didn’t know evil temptation. They didn’t know what they gonna do is Sin. They didn’t know Death. What they didn’t knew is more important than what they knew. To face test of choice, thay had to know well about the choices. But they didn’t know and God knew that they don’t know.

How could Adam and eve be responsible for what they did, which they didn’t know that it is a sin, since it was the result of the temptation of serpent and Adam or Eve didn’t know how to handle the evil temptation? How could GOD consider them as sinners for something that they didn’t know?

Was God really blaming Adam and Eve? Or was the real punishment dealt out to the devil? It seems that he was given a life sentence because he allready knew good and evil because he was after all evil. The devil was like sinning twice aginst God first when he fell away himself as a fallen angel and now tempting God’s children, his creation an image of Himself. God made a way for redemption for the sin. A young child will not know guilt unless they sin, and will not know forgiveness unless they confess. God was also making a way for forgiveness, for the sin.
Did Adam and Eve confeess their sin,? no. they blamed the devil.
This is still the way it is with choices today, do we know?
But after we sin the Holy Spirit shows us the choice and the truth and then we know and must confess, even after we see thresults of sin we must not ignore it or blame another . This cannot be a cop out we must confess our transgressions (step out in sin against someone) against God.
Adam and Eve were told don’t do this! Eve even told the devil this, but the sin was believing the liar, or eating the apple.
Can you always recognize the lie? You would have to be a perfect individual to able to see the truth always. Jesus is the way the truth and the life. Adam and Eve were sinners because they acted on the suggestion, that is what choice is. God did not make a suggestion, if I were you I wouldn’t eat that stuff, He gave a command, don’t eat of this tree of evil, they recieved the death sentence that day, but God made a way of redemption an escape, a second chance, a path for His perfect Son, the second Adam to come into the human race. Adam and Eve were not perfect but were good. All God’s creation was good. Jesus also face the devil and triumphed.
Adam and Eve knew God, talked with God even after the garden, it is the obedience that is most important God and this was their test. dessert

**
I want to do what you ask of me, in the way you ask , for as long as you ask, because you ask it. Pope clement XI**

 

[dessert]

Khalfan,
I only have a few minutes but I thought I would respond to your question about Eve having the strenght to resist temptation. Perhaps the answer isn’t found in Genesis or the Old Testament but the answer is found in the New Testament. Christ tells Paul that His grace is sufficent for Paul to face all trails. Certainly given that the temptation was before “The Fall” Eve, herself was full of grace therefore she did have the strenght to resist any and all temptation, no?

Right now I just do not have the time to address your other questions but when I can give them the time they deserve, I will put something together.

How could Eve have had the power to resist the temptor when the Holy Spirit had not come, had not been sent by the Father befor e the Son had not been glorified and gone to the Father?
Was she full of grace ? I thought that was Mary? No?
Dessert

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I am sorry for my sins, deepen my sorrow, I worship you as my first beginning, I long for you as my last end, I praise you as my constant helper, and call you as my loving protector.
Pope Clement XI **