Question on Genesis

edited December 1969 in Faith Issues
I have a question on Genesis 2:15

And the LORD God commanded the man, "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die."


Did Adam die on the same day spritually? Can we say the same thing about his Physical death as well?

Why did God not create Eve from the dust?

Thanks in advance for any thoughts.

Comments

  • God created Eve from Adam's body, because in marriage the two become one...so if Eve came from Adam they are one body.

    as for th others i would love to know too
  • ill give my opinion, im likely to fault so correct me if im wrong. Adam didnt die physically, according to God;s justice Adam should have been the person who died. But as He is just he is Merciful, so He sent Jesus Christ to complete the justice. Had Adam died physially, there would be no sense in Christ's coming. Only God could save mankind frm the crime of man against him. In regards to the second question, i think Christ Rules answered it the best way.

    Pray for my weakness,

    Coptic youth
  • There are 3 kinds of death: physical death, spiritual death, and eternal death. As soon as Adam and Eve ate, they died spiritually. However, they did not die physically right away, but they eventually did die. However, as coptic youth explained, they did not die eternally. Had that happened, Christ's coming would have had no purpose.
  • [quote author=Christ4Life link=topic=6883.msg92351#msg92351 date=1215399945]
    However, they did not die physically right away,

    Genesis 2:17
       
    17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die."

    According to the verse, I would say,they both died right away on the same day .Any objections?
  • Then the LORD God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil. And now, lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever”— therefore the LORD God sent him out of the garden of Eden to till the ground from which he was taken. So He drove out the man; and He placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life.

    Adam did not see death except from old age... we cannot say he died spiritually, for if that was the case then he would be in Hell... but he sinned, and the sin was repaid!

    not everything God says happens right away, for example two thousand years ago, God said be watchful for the end, for it is at hand, and He gave the signs of such... and till now the end of the world is not yet known!

    Why did God not create Eve from the dust?

    well in God's punishment, Then to Adam He said, “Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it’: “ Cursed is the ground for your sake; In toil you shall eat of it All the days of your life.Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, And you shall eat the herb of the field. In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread Till you return to the ground, For out of it you were taken; For dust you are, And to dust you shall return.”
  • [quote author=Mozes link=topic=6883.msg92303#msg92303 date=1215224918]
    I have a question on Genesis 2:15

    And the LORD God commanded the man, "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die."


    Did Adam die on the same day spritually? Can we say the same thing about his Physical death as well?

    Why did God not create Eve from the dust?

    Thanks in advance for any thoughts.


    I think that in marriage, the man and the woman become one flesh. The fact that Eve was created from Adam's Flesh means that it was a marriage: i.e. they are of the same one flesh. Also, this God's plan that Eve came from Adam, in the same way that the Church came from Christ. We are His Body.
    Actually, this is quite an interesting question because many priests have spoken about this issue. in fact, i'm sure you can find homilies on the internet for this from our bishops.

    On the day that Adam and Eve ate from the tree, they qualified themselves for death. Eternal death. This death is of their nature. After being created in the image of God, this image was no longer the same following their disobedience to God's commandments. They brought death on themselves by their own opinion - as far as I know.

    When their nature fell, corruption entered into them. Into every part of them. Christ came to redeem our natures and bodies in fact, to correct this corruption. St. Athanasious uses the term "corruption" a lot and its in a sense of "to decay" - or to "die".

    Perhaps someone else can elaborate better.. but, there are endless sites on the net about this issue also.

    I would prefer however to say that "corruption" entered into them on the same day, and this brought about their physical deaths (in the fullness of time). But, they were living, but spiritually dead (as far as I know).. but like I said, ask Orthodox11 or Hos Erof.. they would know better.
  • When Adam and Eve ate from the fruit,they died on that day physically as well as spritually. It means both died on the day they were created. Adam and Eve did not live to see the next day. The catholics claim many biblical verses such as man's old age and the story of the flood are pure metaphorical.That is their own problem.

    Here is how I explain it:

    The bible says, Adam died at the age of 930. As a result of Adam's death,there is no man who lived beyond 969 years(Mathuselah) on the earth.

    Here is why the Lord said  that Adam would die on the day of his creation:

    According to the bible, one day in heaven is 1000 years on earth. Any age below 1000 years make it still the same day in the eyes of the Lord.

    Conclusion: Adam's flesh died on the same day.

    What is wrong with this observation?
  • Hezekiel

    (good 2 c u man)

    U mean to say that adam and eve died (they stopped living) on the day they ate of the tree. I thought that death entered them - phsyically and spiritually.. but in the fullness of time, they died naturally?

    What im saying is: do u think they dropped down dead on the floor at that very minute when they ate??

    There are 2 things that stop me from believing that:
    a) God talked to them after they ate
    b) He told them that they will have hardships now they've eaten.

    What kind of hardships would they have (i.e. toil the earth to eat, and give birth in pain) if they had just dropped dead there and then?
  • [quote author=QT_PA_2T link=topic=6883.msg93081#msg93081 date=1216418028]
    Hezekiel

    (good 2 c u man)

    U mean to say that adam and eve died (they stopped living) on the day they ate of the tree. I thought that death entered them - phsyically and spiritually.. but in the fullness of time, they died naturally?

    What im saying is: do u think they dropped down dead on the floor at that very minute when they ate??

    There are 2 things that stop me from believing that:
    a) God talked to them after they ate
    b) He told them that they will have hardships now they've eaten.

    What kind of hardships would they have (i.e. toil the earth to eat, and give birth in pain) if they had just dropped dead there and then?


    Sup QT!

    Yea, I understand. Many things will  surely  confuse us if we employ the human mind  and apply Aristotelian logic that was developed by our Tzaziki berethens some 2.5 thousand years ago, to decipher the hidden truth of the bible in order to reach into plausible conclusions .Doing that  would certainly throw us into quagmire and would open pandora's box of many questions that our limited minds can not tackle. Genesis, for example, has many chapters where we are strongly required to excercise strong faith to get to the bottom of things, meaning, where faith begins,logic and Science melt away. If you remember, St Paul ,armed with oratory skill and wisdom imparted by the Holy Spirit was in the position to win arguments debating the cultured Greeks,  -philosphers and thinkers of his day-,  by warning on them to bury all  knowledge  and wisdom about the devine gods and the universe, because  no amount of sophisticated  knowledge and advanced wisdom from the past and the future  would unravel the mysteries of the world, but only faith in the Son of God, to whose call they began heeding.

    Having said that, When God warned Adam that he would die on the day he ate from the fruit, I believe that God meant Death in all forms,-physical and spritual. The Spritual death is evident,but the Physical death could be a matter of argument,since the bible records Adam's age at death at 930 years. However, I am with those who say,that Adam died on the same day of his creation just as the Lord said. However, I would not claim, "Adam just dropped dead" as soon as he ate from the fruit.As humans , we can predict the approximate length of minutes a letal injection would take to execute a convicted criminal.We are able to do so, because we make the drugs that are in the injection. We undertand their nature. We do not understand God's nature,for the God that we would understrand would not be a God.So when God said, Adam would die on the same day, we do not know the exact hour of his passing, just as Jesus Christ re-iterated in the NT.The bible records only the 930 earthly years, but does not mention the hour of the 'heavenly' day . According to the bible, all we know is that 930 years makes less than a day in heaven, plenty of time to ' painfully toil the field that produces thorns and thistles  so as to eat the plants of the field'.

    mashi?
  • Hezekiel, I am trying to comprehend what you're saying and match it with the word of the bible. Please Bare with me as I see something different:

    + First, If Adam & Eve died the same day amd were punished then Christ’s Birth, death, & resurrection would no have any meaning because then they got what they deserve. We then did not need it to be saved either. But as St. Gregory the Theologian states "Yet here too He Provides a benifit- namely death which cuts off sin, so evil may not be everlasting thus his punishment is changed into a mercy". In addition why would God place Cherubim so that they may not return again aren't they are dead already? :" therefore the LORD God sent him out of the garden of Eden to till the ground from which he was taken. 24 So He drove out the man; and He placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life."

    +Second the book of Genesis states: “Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, and said, “I have acquired a man from the LORD.” (Gen 4:1) first conceived then bore which mean there was a time frame between the 2 which is normally the 9 months that we know of.

    + Third it told us about Seth: "And Adam knew his wife again, and she bore a son and named him Seth, “For God has appointed another seed for me instead of Abel, whom Cain killed.” so they were Cleary alive during what happened to Abel by Cain.

    + Fourth, the bible also told us about Adam’s death saying: "This is the book of the genealogy of Adam. In the day that God created man, He made him in the likeness of God.  He created them male and female, and blessed them and called them Mankind in the day they were created. And Adam lived one hundred and thirty years, and begot a son in his own likeness, after his image, and named him Seth. After he begot Seth, the days of Adam were eight hundred years; and he had sons and daughters. So all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years; and he died ." if Adam died right away whether away means to us now or years according to God wouldn’t it be also explained here.

    From all the above reasons & what I was taught in Sunday school and Home that Adam did not die Physically the same day and he died spiritually. I am not employing human’s mind but rather the bible’s word. What do you think? I am trying to learn and see your point of view as well so I would appreciate any resources you have.

    Plz Pray for me
  • Hi SantaMaria,

    I am so sorry for this late reply.Infact, I began attempting to reply you  a week or so ago when I suddenly had to interrupt it.Now,since I noticed that your posts are all sensible and eduactional , I think I have said something that has put me in a mess, ehh? I thought I should only be careful from the flying dutch man :D.

    There is nothing wrong with all what you wrote.Every point is right on the money.However,there is a verse in Genesis that has become a center of contention. The words of God to Adam were: “Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: 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” (Genesis 2:16-17. We do know that 'the Lord is not slack concerning His promise' (2 Peter 3:9). He always executes his judgement in His own time.

    I argued that 1 day in heaven = 1000 Earth years. The following 2 verses  from the Bible may support my claim:


    Psalm 90:4
    For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night.


    2 Peter 3:8   
    But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.


    In other words,when Adam lived upto the age of 963 earthly years,my contenion is that, it is still less than a day according to God's word. From the day of his creation until the day of his death is the same day.That is why I said Adam never lived to see the next day,despite the 900+ years.

    I would appreciate any resources you have.

    Now the trouble begins :o. Santa, You can not find the way I am trying to explain things in the Holy Bible. However,unlike the Catholic church,as Orthodox christians,we also beleive in the Holy traditions which is also like the Bible inspired by the Holy Spirit.To give you an example, the Bible never tells us how and where all or most of the apostles were martyred. We know from church traditions ,for example, how St Peter et al were marytred.

    If you do not agree, what did God mean by Genesis 2:16-17? Why should He warn Adam only about Spritual death and not about Physical death?
  • I think it is just a figure of speech. It has nothing to do with God's perception of time. "Day" in Hebrew probably means "at the time". I think it is just a Hebrew idiom.

    Death is a process. He losts his immortality the day/time that he transgressed and fell from eternal grace- in that way he really did die.
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