[Thankful Jane]

Dear SC,

Here are my comments on (some of) your comments on my comments .

Thanks for accepting some of my points as having some merit. I won’t comment on those. Also, thanks for your explanation about how you thought I was saying Adam was deceived. That makes sense.

Your comments in blue; mine in black.

...Yes, Adam did see the change in her and was willing to come down to her level. Look, he wasn't deceived. He knew what was happening. It was a monumental decision on his part, just as it was for God to put on the human flesh and join us. I think interpreting this story as I have helps us to see just how monumental God putting on the flesh was. It was a historical decision of immense proportions.

My point was that Adam could not see the change in her until after he ate. His decision to join her took place before he ate ...

I understand that you are trying to point to typology in some way, but to portray Adam as honorable and noble by condescending to Eve’s level in a sacrificial manner doesn’t really work for me. It’s a good thought in a way, but in another way it’s not. I guess it all depends on your perspective. I’m not sure Eve felt honored or thought that Adam was very noble when he accused her to God ... and God's comments to Adam don’t support the idea that He knew Adam's action was for the sake of typology.

My thought about all this is that there is a lot more to understand and learn from this account than just trying to view it as typology. But, I have no problem with you doing that.

I think I covered this base when I mentioned Jonah. Jonah's act was one of disobedience, yet Jesus himself referred to Jonah as a type of him ... in this very act.

There was a difference between Jonah and Adam. Unlike Adam, Jonah had faced and confessed his sin before he went over board to save those on the ship. Jesus’s reference to Jonah as a type of Himself, referred to Jonah after his sin had been removed by confession. He was not in the very act of disobedience.

Adam never did confess that he had disobeyed God’s direct command (even after God repeated this to him). He was put out of the garden without having confessed. It was not a good scene that day.

Yes, after Adam's decision, he ceases to be a Christ figure. It was a revelation to me a number of years ago to discover Paul's word about Adam not being deceived. I had just glossed over this important little detail. In reflection upon it I came to see that at the moment after Eve had eaten, Adam realized the universe was seriously now out of tilt. The very one given to him to populate the earth was now different than him. If he doesn't eat as she did, all is lost.

To me, this is how many Christians view the separation between themselves and God. He is the all holy one, untouchable. It's definitely the Muslim view of God. And it is partially true -- he is all holy -- but he is quite touchable. He made himself so by condescending (as the song "Oh, How I Love Him" puts it, "What condescension, bringing us redemption...") to our level.

You may reject my interpretation. No problem. But don't you think viewing Adam's act in this way opens up a little what went on when God became flesh and tabernacled among us? I do.

Thanks for being okay with me rejecting your interpretation ‘cause I can’t help doing that. It just doesn’t fit for me, though it would make Adam look a lot better if it did .

To answer your question, I don't think viewing additional typology will help me appreciate or understand what went on when God became flesh and tabernacled among us. That act in itself speaks loudly enough, and the message about the love in the heart of God for us, which we see in the culmination of his emptying Himself on the cross, couldn't be more clear.

Peace.

Thankful Jane