right? But wasn't man already immortal before he ate from the Tree of knowledge? Wasn't death supposed to be the punishment for eating?
Genesis 17But 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.
Now, as I've asked before I know many christians interpret this as meaning man wouldn't die instantly, but eventually, implying he was immortal beforehand.
One way or another, god lied. Either man was already immortal before he ate the fruit, or god lied about him dying from eating it.
So which is it?
2007-06-05 10:12:19 · 20 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Not many of you even trying to answer the question.....
Which did god LIE about...immortality before or after eating the fruit??
2007-06-05 10:22:32 · update #1
Hmmm... Interesting. Here's my take on it (although I may be way off). The word "life" as it is written in the hebrew there as tree of life, doesn't mean "life" as we understand it in english. There is no perfect english translation because we don't have a word in english to describe it. About the best we come up with is "to make infinite". So I'm thinking that if Adam and Eve ate from the tree of knowledge of good and sin, they had fallen into sin. The reason God would not allow them to eat from the tree of life is because it would make sin infinite and unremovable. If that were the case, then there would be no way for forgive or cover sin. Humanity would be trapped in it forever. Just my thought.
2007-06-05 10:28:46 · answer #1 · answered by David 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Man was immortal and fully connected to God, but they ate of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, which brought sin into the world, making us mortal and disconnected from God.
2007-06-05 10:20:41 · answer #2 · answered by Brent H 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Neither. Adam and Eve were immortal in the Garden. Upon eating the forbidden fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, they became mortal, and eventually died. Had they partaken of the fruit of the Tree of Life, they would have been exalted in resurrected bodies. However, in so doing they would have lived forever without having had the experience of mortality, which was one of the main purposes of the creation.
2007-06-05 10:18:26 · answer #3 · answered by Open Heart Searchery 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
The way that I understand it is that while Adam and Eve were in the Garden (which we don't know how long they were) they were ammortal, not immortal because they had the capacity to die if they partook of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, nor mortal, having the capacity to live forever if they did not partake.
2007-06-05 11:04:58 · answer #4 · answered by Senator John McClain 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Maybe man was immortal until he ate from the first tree. Then he needed to eat from the second tree in order to restore his immortality. However, God kicked Adam and Eve out of the garden before they could figure out that part.
I agree the story seems to be full of holes, and you have to be quite imaginative to make it make sense. But at least it is somewhat entertaining.
2007-06-05 10:19:37 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Had nothing to do with immortality at all. As you quoted, it was the tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. According to the story, b/c Mankind then KNEW Evil (and more importantly, b/c Mankind came to know Evil by directly disobeying the one order God gave them), then he became cursed to die, rather than share in Eternal Life with no death.
It was the day mankind sinned, i.e. ate from the tree, that he "died", b/c no longer did he deserve the Perfect Beauty of Life that God had previously gifted him with. Don't take the passage so literally...
Peace.
2007-06-05 10:19:22 · answer #6 · answered by rose-dancer 3 · 2⤊ 1⤋
Man was created to be eternal. After he ate of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, he became mortal. He had now sinned and the "wages of sin is death." (Romans 6:23)
If he had eaten of the tree of life - he would not have died. He would have forever lived in that state of sin. He had to leave the garden 1) because he had sinned and 2) to prevent him from eating of that tree.
It was better for man to receive a redeemer (Jesus) who would take away his sins and allow him to be reconciled to God - instead of living forever separated from God.
2007-06-05 10:24:55 · answer #7 · answered by fanofchan 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
i don't remember God saying man was immortal...i remember the implication that man wouldn't die. That doesn't mean that it is because of man's nature, because he was immortal, it just means that the person who gave life to man wouldn't take it away, unless he ate of the tree. where is the lie in that? eating from the tree, perhaps, was required for death. man couldn't die unless he ate from it...
2007-06-05 10:22:58 · answer #8 · answered by satirev 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Christians only interpret that verse in that manner because Adam DIDN'T die that day.
The fact is, the Bible implies God lied to Adam to scare him away from the tree.
2007-06-05 10:16:47 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Please pull up the scripture of when God said man were immortal before they ate of the tree of knowledge. Its not there.
For God said he made man in his own image. Spiritual. when they ate from the tree of knowledge they died spiritually and became man of flesh.
2007-06-05 10:30:56 · answer #10 · answered by power 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋