Eve and Adam

[Thankful Jane]

Originally Posted by Igzy

Well, in our case things are a bit muddled because we are born fallen and so are sort of born deceived. (By deceived I mean thinking wrongly, i.e. believing something to be true which isn't.)

But Adam and Eve case is different; they were perfect, humanly speaking. They had no flaw. Wrong thinking was not in their programming. They had to somehow choose to think wrongly. Since fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (Proverbs), we can safely say that disregarding the Lord is the beginning of foolishness. As soon as Eve began to disregard the Lord's promise, she became foolish and deceived. Adam followed. They were both deceived. I'm still pretty sure that when 1 Tim says the man was not deceived, but the women, that is means Eve took the lead in what?--being deceived; and Adam followed her in what?--being deceived. So Paul is saying because of this the woman got sent back to the minors.

Perhaps you are right that Adam wasn't deceived directly by Satan; but certainly Satan deceived him indirectly through Eve.

Dear Igzy,

If Adam sinned after Eve and was a victim of Eve’s deception, then wasn’t she responsible for the transgression? If she was responsible why does Romans 5 say Adam was?

Something is wrong with this picture. I know the traditional understanding is that Eve is to blame for the whole mess, but is that what the Bible says? One commentator I read says that Paul says eight times that “one person” was accountable for the fall and two times that this person was Adam.

To my mind, this is a biblical problem and a question that needs an answer. If what Paul says in Romans 5 is the truth, then I Tim. 2:14 should not be construed to mean that Eve was accountable for the transgression and Adam was her victim. It needs another explanation.

The Concordant Literal version says, “And Adam was not seduced, but the woman being deluded has come to be in the transgression.”

This brings me back to the consideration of Adam having sinned prior to Eve’s deception and their eating of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Thus far, the only thing that fits these pieces together for me is the understanding that Adam was with Eve and did not obey God to exercise dominion over the serpent by speaking.

This fits with Job 31:33 which shows that Adam hid his iniquity in his bosom and also indicates he remained silent. (The indication is in Job’s appeal that he did not remain silent like Adam did).

This food for thought has the potential of producing a good case of spiritual indigestion.

Thankful Jane