What is orginal sin and why is it so sinful?

Question

So Adam and Eve eat fruits from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.

Is this sinful because God told them not to do it or is it sinful to know good and evil? And for what reason would God forbid them to to eat from such a tree?

What does it mean to "know" good and evil. Why would the knowledge of good and evil be "sinful"?

After reading some answers I feel a little more confused. Why did God forbid them in the first place? Some of you said that God forbid them just to have something to forbid them doing.

So the original sin is disobedience? And this warrants being cast from your home and suffering eternal damnation?

And this disobedience comes from violating a rule that God made just so he would have a rule that Adam and Eve can violate? Not because he had any particular reason to have this rule?

Let me simplify my question:

So God makes a rule. We break the ruled and get burned. Is it what we did that burned us or did God burn us for disobeying his rule?

I think the answer to this lies at the heart of all Christian belief.

Answer 1

Both it was disobedience and HE WAS SO RIGHT cuz Satan opened a can of worms did you notice that?? only one rule Before and they blew it!

Answer 2

Original sin is the seemingly built-in tendency of all human beings to do and think that which they know to be wrong. G.K. Chesterton said that "The only Christian doctrine for which there is empirical evidence is that of original sin." Proof of original sin is everywhere: all people lie, act selfishly, hurt others' feelings, get jealous, neglect our relationships, and do all sorts of other things that cause all of us to fall far short of perfection.

Forget the Adam and Eve myth. Or rather, don't forget it, but don't take it too seriously, either. It is simply a story that is meant to provide an explanation for why original sin exists in the world. People through the ages have taken the doctrine of original sin to the extreme and have suggested that infants go to hell and the like; rather than getting caught up in these disputes, recognize the doctrine for the truth that it is.

Answer 3

Original sin is just that, sin. The first sin. Biblical speaking the sin was questioning God. The Devil used the words 'thou shalt not touch' which was a lie. They were to tend the garden but not eat of this tree. When they did they experienced direct disobedience to His word and crossed over to having to make decision between good (following God's word) and evil (directing reason toward what God said). Look at them as children when a Father said not to do something. A child (the immature) cannot handle world situations such as conflict and leadership etc. But when forced to handle such there is great harm incurred. Not knowing the right decision behind ones actions is what history is made up of. God had His hedge of protection over them (Glory) and was bringing them to maturity. That guidance gone there is a decision between two masters. Which will you follow? Jesus came to bring that fellowship back, to give power to those who use His name. If you follow the effect of sin, it eventually led to murder. Not knowing how to deal with envy and anger led to Abel's blood crying out from the ground, vengeance. It is not the knowledge of good and evil that is sin, but the actions in humanity disconnected form God that are sin.

Answer 4

This gave them a chance to show their appreciation for the perfect life they'd been given, & to live in a Paradise, no less. But, they weren't content with Everything. They wanted more. So they gave into their discontent, & disobeyed, even in the face of the warning God had given them, that they would die if disobedient...

This act of disobedience brought a question as to the ability of any man to be faithful to God. More importantly, it raised the question whether God should be the Most High Sovereign. The answers to these questions would take time to display. God has allowed enough time for mankind to try every type of self rule, & these have all proved that mankind cannot successfully rule himself or the earth. This has caused immeasurable pain for billions of humans for thousands of years... That's pretty bad, if you ask me!

Answer 5

Everyone born after Adam is born in his likeness! That is to say, we all have sin in the flesh. We have all acquired a knowledge of good and evil. The Bible tells us that it is this "condition" which sends us to hell. We can't negate this condition by our works so we have to rely wholly on the provision the Lord made for us through Jesus Christ. Because we are powerless to do anything about our inner condition, The Lord had instructed all men to "Believe on the Lord Jesus Chris" as their Savior. The instant you do, you are sealed with the Holy Spirit for ever and are assured of going into eternal life with the Lord. The condition of original sin is that because we all have a knowledge of good and evil we have this corruption in our flesh. Jesus made the truth here extraordinarily clear when he said "flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God" because it is totally defiled. I hope this has helped you and you may email me if you require any further assistance. God Bless!

Answer 6

I agree with Kalan202, but that's not the only thing about it. The other thing is that God didn't want us to be tempted to do things against His will. Eating of the tree was a test to see if people would voluntarily remain faithful to Him. But the devil tempted them by saying they would be like God. So not only was the first sin eating of the tree against God's explicit command, but it was also a challenge to the Lordship of God (they wanted to share in the decisionmaking about good and evil). Original sin refers to something that was explained later. We all inherited a sin nature from our parents. Adam and Eve's children were the first to inherit this. In the Psalms, it tells us, Behold I was shapen in iniquity and in sin did my mother conceive me. This is the definition of original sin. It means that when we are conceived, we have this sin nature, this tendency to sin. We are corrupted by our sin nature, and our bodies demonstrate this because we are mortal. We have been told that the wages of sin is death, and our mortality is evidence of that. So original sin is inheriting this spiritual corruption. Unlike what some people think, it has nothing to do with the sex act, which was made by God for the procreation of children, and unifying two people in marriage. It has, instead, to do with the fact that we all inherit this tendency to sin, along with the corrupted physical flesh which is mortal.

Answer 7

I think the original sin was, "Don't give into temptation."
Also, I think to know the difference between good and evil is not a sin, but a gift. It's possessing a moral code - knowing right from wrong. At the same time though, if you have a good moral compas and you do something sinful, then I believe it makes the sin a lot worse because you knew you were doing something wrong and you chose to do it anyway - whereas when a person who lacks a moral compas does something sinful, it's because they didn't understand right from wrong (but it doesn't excuse their actions too).

Answer 8

There Are "No Rules" in LOVE.

In LOVE you just Always Do EveryThing RIGHT!!! (there is no Sin in LOVE).

See, if you Really LOVE your Neighbor----you will not Steal, Kill or Destroy your Neighbor.

See?

Now, The Problem comes in Finding Out "Just What LOVE IS!!!

Jesus is LOVE.
GOD Almighty is LOVE.
We are Learning How to Walk in LOVE.
All of US.

The Original Sin was when satan Rebelled.
Original somewhat Means "First".

Hope this Helps.

Answer 9

It was a "sin" because God told them not to do it. He wanted to keep them pure. Before they ate the fruit, they could not sin because they just didn't know any better. Once they ate the fruit, they knew good from evil and could willingly commit sin. So the knowing of good and evil is not a sin in and of itself, but it enabled them to commit sin from thereafter.

edit to add- Might I suggest reading Genesis for yourself? It's fascinating even if you are not a Christian.

Answer 10

It was more about disobaying God than the act itself. And I believe the sin was sexual because of eve being cursed with painfull childbirth after the fact due to the sin.

Answer 11

They were disobediant to God. Also they gave into temptation of Satan. He was in the form of a serpent. Them doing this led us to have a sinful life, thus Jesus died for our sins so we have to repent daily.