The Fall

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When reading about the garden of Eden - how is Adam guilty - he had no knowledge of good or evil - right or wrong right up to the point of eating the fruit of knowledge and then he had that wisdom to know that what he had just done was wrong. Eve on the other hand ate the fruit and then with the knowledge of good and evil offered the fruit to Adam - of course the Devil was deeply and fully involved in what had happened.And don’t tell me because God said no - Adam had no concept of right or wrong - like a child - until he ate the fruit.
 
How does the devil tempt them? By saying they will be like God if they eat of the fruit. The phrasing of ‘good and evil’ is a figure of speech called a merism.

Other merisms include: ‘heaven and earth’, meaning all of creation; ‘ladies and gentlemen’, used to address all people who are present at an event; or ‘high and low’, such as saying you searched everywhere you could think of. So by eating of the fruit the tried to become God. They tried to get FULL knowledge which only God posses. So, the knew what was bad, because God himself told them not to eat of this fruit or they would surly die.

Hope this helps! God Bless!

-Vince
 
hu324b said:
When reading about the garden of Eden - how is Adam guilty - he had no knowledge of good or evil - right or wrong right up to the point of eating the fruit of knowledge and then he had that wisdom to know that what he had just done was wrong. Eve on the other hand ate the fruit and then with the knowledge of good and evil offered the fruit to Adam - of course the Devil was deeply and fully involved in what had happened.And don’t tell me because God said no - Adam had no concept of right or wrong - like a child - until he ate the fruit.
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God told them NOT to eat of the fruit. They did. They are both guilty of disobedience. Secondly, the reason at least Eve wanted the fruit was also pride, to be like gods.
 
If you think about your analogy with children it doesn’t quite make sense.

Children don’t technically reach the age of reason until age 7 but if my 3 year old does something after I told him not to he will still end up with a consequence.

Just because someone doesn’t have FULL knowledge of right and wrong doesn’t mean they do not know how to obey authority or have a partial understanding of what is a good thing to do and what is a bad thing to do.
 
Were was Adam while Eve was being tempted? He was not there.
 
They had no concept of good and evil until they ate the fruit at least that’s what the story implies some are implying that they did have this concept. So did they or not?
 
hu324b said:
When reading about the garden of Eden - how is Adam guilty - he had no knowledge of good or evil - right or wrong right up to the point of eating the fruit of knowledge and then he had that wisdom to know that what he had just done was wrong. Eve on the other hand ate the fruit and then with the knowledge of good and evil offered the fruit to Adam - of course the Devil was deeply and fully involved in what had happened.And don’t tell me because God said no - Adam had no concept of right or wrong - like a child - until he ate the fruit.
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He was guilty of the sin of disobedience. God told him not to eat the fruit but he did so he disobeyed God.
 
hu324b said:
When reading about the garden of Eden - how is Adam guilty - he had no knowledge of good or evil - right or wrong right up to the point of eating the fruit of knowledge and then he had that wisdom to know that what he had just done was wrong. Eve on the other hand ate the fruit and then with the knowledge of good and evil offered the fruit to Adam - of course the Devil was deeply and fully involved in what had happened.And don’t tell me because God said no - Adam had no concept of right or wrong - like a child - until he ate the fruit.
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Adam did know that what he did was wrong-it was written in his conscience-as are all God’s laws for man. But Adam decided to override that voice, thus denying God and thereby denyIng part of his own true nature as well, resulting in the inner division the catechism says man now possesses. All other sin is directly related to that first act of disobedience. After eating of the fruit he would experience-or know-the consequences first hand: the evil of creation being effectively detached from its Creator, apart from Whom it can do nothing (John 15:5).

And I don’t think Adam could yet consciously acknowledge that what he had done was wrong-he experienced shame but apparently hadn’t repented; he set man on a course of continuing to experience good and evil until, via His chosen people, God would ultimately reveal the Perfect Good, in Jesus Christ, showing us how and helping us to choose this good alone over the evil we’ve come to know. So this is a matter of time, experience, revelation, and grace, all aimed at helping us come to see our need for God, like the Prodigal for his father, to gain the wisdom Adam lacked: the wisdom to recognize and follow God’s perfect wisdom rather than our own foolishness.
 
hu324b said:
They had no concept of good and evil until they ate the fruit at least that’s what the story implies some are implying that they did have this concept. So did they or not?
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They were innocent until the Fall. But they did have free will and both decided to disobey God who had told them not to eat the fruit. Adam could have refused to take the fruit from Eve and Eve refuse to take it from the Serpant.
 
I love this story. I always wondered how Adam & Eve were not a little leery of the only other garden creature that could speak. If you listen to Scott Hahn’s explanation he says Adam was right there as an observer while Ev was being tempted and should have interceded to protect her. They may have actually felt a little threatened by the serpent.
 
hu324b said:
When reading about the garden of Eden - how is Adam guilty - he had no knowledge of good or evil - right or wrong right up to the point of eating the fruit of knowledge and then he had that wisdom to know that what he had just done was wrong. Eve on the other hand ate the fruit and then with the knowledge of good and evil offered the fruit to Adam - of course the Devil was deeply and fully involved in what had happened.And don’t tell me because God said no - Adam had no concept of right or wrong - like a child - until he ate the fruit.
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God made the man and then set him in the Garden.

Gen:2:7: And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
8: And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed.

Then the Lord God revealed His Judgement in His Commandment to Adam, that Adam was to execute in the flesh in the Garden.

Gen:2:15: And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.
16: And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:
17: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

But Adam didn’t execute the Judgement in the Commandment which was an agreement between God and the man to be in the Garden. Adam executed his own judgement in agreement with Eve (Gen:3:17: And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife,) who was in agreement with what the serpent said.

Granted there is a lot of myth and erroneous theology taught and written about the Garden and the knowledge of good and evil. But the bottom line is, God is the Judge of what is good and evil for His creation, not the creation, nor the created creature. Hence Adam followed his own judgement of what was good or evil for himself and or his wife. Which would be death in the Presence of the Creator and Judge, by disregarding the Creator and Judge and the Word of the Creator and Judge that is Lord over all things.
 
I think it was my last priest who gave a homily on this issue. He said it was the fact neither one took responsibility for their actions after knowing good and evil. Adam blamed Eve, and Eve blamed the serpent. So not only did they disobey God, but they tried to make it seem like they were blameless.
 
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