Unanswered Question of the Hour!

[smachen]

Unanswered Question of the Hour!
Question of the Hour:

What is meant by "immortal" exactly?


Before Adam & Eve ate off the Tree of Knowledge of Good & Evil, they were "immortal", right? Does that mean that they'd just never age up and die of old age? Or does it also mean that nothing would be able to kill them other than their Omnipotent Creator?
If you reckon you know the answer, please reply!

 

[Cribstyl]

Unanswered Question of the Hour!
Question of the Hour:

What is meant by "immortal" exactly?


Before Adam & Eve ate off the Tree of Knowledge of Good & Evil, they were "immortal", right? Does that mean that they'd just never age up and die of old age? Or does it also mean that nothing would be able to kill them other than their Omnipotent Creator?
If you reckon you know the answer, please reply!

Wrong...the spirit in man only God can destroy. From day 1 everything on earth began to age.

 

[seeingeyes]

It's been more than an hour, but scripture doesn't say that they were 'immortal'.

 

[smachen]

It's been more than an hour, but scripture doesn't say that they were 'immortal'.

"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"

Doesn't this suggest that humans were immortal before they ate off the Tree of Knowlege of Good and Evil?

 

[seeingeyes]

"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"

Doesn't this suggest that humans were immortal before they ate off the Tree of Knowlege of Good and Evil?

It suggests that in the day they eat of it, they will surely die. Everything beyond that is inference.

So if you want to say that this means that they were 'unkillable' and then examine what that would look like, that's fine. But the scripture doesn't explicitly state that, so it's open for debate. That's all.

Happy questioning.

 

[GreekOrthodox]

Eastern Orthodox theology teaches that Adam & Eve had the potential to be immortal.

 

[sculleywr]

Eastern Orthodox theology teaches that Adam & Eve had the potential to be immortal.

This. I believe that Father Thomas Hopko does a fine job of explaining the Orthodox understanding of this in his podcast.

 

[Cribstyl]

"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"

Doesn't this suggest that humans were immortal before they ate off the Tree of Knowlege of Good and Evil?

What was the purpose of the tree of life if man was already immortal?
Gen 3:22And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever:

 

[SummaScriptura]

Do you wish to be immortal?

 

[smachen]

What was the purpose of the tree of life if man was already immortal?
Gen 3:22And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever:

My Question of the Day once was 'why did God create the Tree of Life and why are we mortal if such a tree was made?' Someone answered that God was giving Adam & Eve the chance to secure their immortality on Earth and they said that Adam & Eve were originally immortal before they ate off the Tree of Knowledge of Good & Evil. But rather than securing eternal life on Earth by eating off the Tree of Life which God had permitted us to eat off, Adam & Eve choose to eat off the forbidden Tree of Knowledge of Good & Evil because the serpent had tempted Eve to eat off it and therefore disobey God. Then God banished Adam & Eve from the garden of Eden to prevent humans from being like Him by having eternal life as well as the knowledge of good & evil they had gained.

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life (John 3:16)

I suppose it doesn't matter since God is giving eternal life to those who believe - I was just asking out of interest.