Did Adam and Eve sin?

  • Thread starter Thread starter honorspianist
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
H

honorspianist

Guest
If we define a criterion for sin as having full knowledge of doing wrong, then how can we say that Adam and Eve effectively sinned when they ate of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil? Unless the tree was mislabeled, how could Adam and Eve had the knowledge of Evil? Thus, without that “full knowledge,” how did they sin?
 
honorspianist said:
If we define a criterion for sin as having full knowledge of doing wrong, then how can we say that Adam and Eve effectively sinned when they ate of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil? Unless the tree was mislabeled, how could Adam and Eve had the knowledge of Evil? Thus, without that “full knowledge,” how did they sin?
Click to expand...
Perhaps it might help you to recognize that the verb “to know”, in biblical parlance, does not always mean the possession of knowledge. John Paul’s Theology of the Body states that the thing promised by the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil was the ability to define for ourselves what was good and what was evil. Adam and Eve would have recognized and have had full knowledge of acting against the will of God. Eve’s testimony to the snake reveals as much. Therefore, both of our first parents knew that they were committing an act against God, an evil act, in eating from that tree.
 
Sin is disobedience to God’s commands.
Adam and Eve knew they were disobeying God’s command not to eat of the tree.

Nita
 
If we define a criterion for sin as having full knowledge of doing wrong, then how can we say that Adam and Eve effectively sinned when they ate of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil? Unless the tree was mislabeled, how could Adam and Eve had the knowledge of Evil? Thus, without that “full knowledge,” how did they sin?
Click to expand...
honorspianist,
The part I bolded in your question assumes that without eating of the tree of the knowledge of G+E the man and the woman would have remained oblivious to what constitutes good and evil or right and wrong. However, they had something far greater than a mere tree already impart this knowledge to them, God himself. The sin was not eating of the tree, the sin was disobeying God’s command. The external concrete realization of this sinful internal rebellion - disobedience - is the eating of that tree. The man and the woman, with full knowledge of God’s will concerning the tree, rejected his will and persued thier own.

In this highly symbolic/allegorical tale we can only speculate about the actual properties of this mysterious tree.

Nice question.
Hope this helped,

Peter
 
I read the question differently.

I thought the OP was asking what in Adam and Eve caused them to sin? They were born innocent so what caused them to will disobedience to God?
 
Pwrlftr said:
I read the question differently.

I thought the OP was asking what in Adam and Eve caused them to sin? They were born innocent so what caused them to will disobedience to God?
Click to expand...
Defiance of authority…the first Protestants 😛
 
The same way an innocent little child defies their parents for the first time…mischevious interest, perhaps?
 
Uncle_Norbert said:
The same way an innocent little child defies their parents for the first time…mischevious interest, perhaps?
Click to expand...
Uncle Norbert,

I’m not picking on you nor do I have a good answer for this but because of original sin, no one (even little children) are completely innocent. I suppose this is just one of those mysteries.
 
No offense taken, I’m just thinking back to my own children, my oldest son in particular. A really good little boy back in the day, but the most assured way for him to do something was to tell him not to…at least he’s consistient with the earliest biblical history;)
 
Pwrlftr said:
Uncle Norbert,

I’m not picking on you nor do I have a good answer for this but because of original sin, no one (even little children) are completely innocent. I suppose this is just one of those mysteries.
Click to expand...
The ability to sin came with free will, not original sin.
 
davidv said:
The ability to sin came with free will, not original sin.
Click to expand...
Yes, Adam and Eve had free will and no original sin but what moved their will to sin if they were created in a completely innocent state?

In the earlier post the poster used the example of an innocent child and while I use the same terminology, it isn’t 100% correct. Even children aren’t immune from the effects of original sin.

I just re-read your post so I am editing mine. I agree that free will gave Adam and Eve the ability to sin but my question is what moved their will to choose sin?
 
Uncle N,
I read the OP’s question as erroneously suggesting the tree of G+E provided the knowledge necessary to make moral decisions. That’s why he added, in the preface to his question, the definition that sin is ‘full knowledge of doing wrong’’. He assume this ‘full knowledge’ comes only from eating of the tree of ‘knowledge of good and evil’. This is a problem because, as he points out, how can this be a sin if they don’t know it’s a sin - because they haven’t eaten yet - and it’s the eating that will let them know it’s a sin to eat. The answer to this question was fixing the question. It wasn’t going any deeper. Just a problem with the narrative.

Peter
 
I’m just trying to answer the question, which seems to be leading itself in a circular manner.
 
Uncle_Norbert said:
I’m just trying to answer the question, which seems to be leading itself in a circular manner.
Click to expand...
Maybe, I certainly don’t have a good answer for the question. Most of the time people will answer “free will” but that doesn’t really answer the question of “why”.
 
Here’s where I set myself up to be pummeled.

Personally, I don’t take the story of Adam and Eve at 100% literal interpretation. Yah, that really gets my Protestant friends going !

So, by accepting the story metaphorically, the question hasn’t been something that I’ve spent much of my life agonizing over anyway…sorry I can’t be more help.
 
Yes, Adam and Eve had free will and no original sin but what moved their will to sin if they were created in a completely innocent state
Click to expand...
?

Adam and Eve had no original sin, thus they could not decide by internal temptation to sin.

When Eve took the Apple, she was tempted externally by the Serpent, aka Satan.

All by themselves Adam and Eve would not have disobeyed, that is why the serpent tempted them.

When we sin, we can be tempted internally, eg… “That ring looks nice, I think I’ll take it”

Or externally, “Don’t you like that ring, why don’t you just take it.”

For them to sin they needed the external temptation.

Hope I explained myself well.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top