Reformationist said:
I'm not "going" anywhere with this thread other than where I thought I made clear. How can Adam and Eve, who were created good, and thus had only good desires, have decided to disobey God.
Ok, fair enough.
Okay. Is it safe to say that they were created with only good inclinations and that at some point between their creation and their transgression that inclination changed?
They were created with free will. I do not know if the desires of their heart were only good pre-fall. The Bible does not address this. However, I would say that any good inclinations they had did not stand up to temptation.
Okay. Is Eve's recognition of the fruit as pleasing and good for food and wisdom a sinful thing?
There was plenty of fruit for food in the garden other than the fruit of this tree. Therefore it had to be the other aspects of the fruit that made her desire it. (Being like God, knowing good and evil.)
Is this sinful? Well, Christ taught that sin begins with the heart's desires. (ref: Sermon on the Mount) Therefore it was sinful for them to desire something that God had forbidden.
So a creation that is created by God and deemed "good" has the desire, and therefore the ability, to do that which is not "good," i.e., disobey God?
The question here is who do we blame for the fall? Was it satan's fault for tempting? Was it Eve's fault for falling to temptation? Was it Adam's fault for not protecting his household from temptation? God held all three to account.
No. I just am trying to understand what you're saying. It seems as if you are saying that even though Adam and Eve were created good that at some point they just changed there natural inclination to choose obediently and chose to become bad fruit.
If Adam and Eve could not have sinned then they would not have had free will. I'm going to attempt to explain this so bear with me....
Consider the passage in Romans:
Romans 5:12-21
12Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned-- 13for before the law was given, sin was in the world. But sin is not taken into account when there is no law. 14Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who was a pattern of the one to come.
15But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God's grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many! 16Again, the gift of God is not like the result of the one man's sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification. 17For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God's abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ.
18Consequently, just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men. 19For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.
20The law was added so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, 21so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Notice the contrasts between Adam and Christ. Both Adam and Christ could be said to have been born without a sin nature. Adam by virtue of sin having not yet entered the world and Christ Jesus by virtue of the incarnation. Both could be said to have had good inclinations.
However, when tempted, Adam failed where Christ triumphed.
Is this making any more sense?
