Earlier today, I posed this question: Were Adam and Eve holy before the Fall? If not, did God test them with the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in order to produce holiness in them? I asked this because I heard this on the radio Monday morning: “Adam and Eve were innocent, but they were not holy…God tested them so that they would be holy.”
I knew these statements were wrong (how could they walk with God in the garden if they were not holy?), but for the life of me, I could not clearly articulate why I knew he was wrong. So, I broke one of the cardinal rules of writing and debate: Never pose a question for which you do not already know the answer.
Kim pointed me in the right direction. I am so thankful to know bloggers like her. The answer was right there in the catechism, which reminded me that the historical questions and answers are still helpful for discerning right and wrong doctrine. Most people who read this blog are women, and I have an admonition for us: Study the scriptures. “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15).
The man on the morning show said something that had a ring of truth to it. The other men on the show said, “Wow, I haven’t thought of it that way. Yes, that’s right.” We must be like the Berean Jews (Acts 17:10-12) who examined the scriptures to find out if Paul’s claims were true. Everything we hear or read must be filtered through scripture before we approve it as truth. You may be interested in reading some historic church documents; a good site to visit is the Center for Reformed Theology and Apologetics. Monergism is another site I frequently visit.
So, what do the scriptures teach regarding Adam and Eve prior to the Fall?
Genesis 1:27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
What does the phrase, “the image of God,” mean?
Ephesians 4:24 and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.
Though Paul is writing about living the new life in Christ, this verse gives us a clue about God’s image. His image includes righteousness and holiness. If Adam and Eve were created in His image, then they were created with the characteristics of righteousness and holiness. There are many other characteristics of God that he granted to Adam and Eve, but this is one I think is relevant to the question.
Ecclesiastes 7:29 See, this alone I [King Solomon] found, that God made man upright, but they have sought out many schemes.
Romans 2:14-15 For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them
Therefore, since God made Adam and Eve having righteousness and holiness, then he did not test them in order to help them grow in holiness. They were perfectly righteous and holy, enjoying fellowship with God in the garden. There was no need for a test of that nature.
The men on the radio, all of them professing Christians, agreed with one another. Maybe one or two of them thought the first gentleman was incorrect, but didn’t want to disagree with him on the radio. That’s understandable considering the listening audience includes about 1 million people. Still, the first man who spoke said that it is something his pastor “always” says. Which begs the question, where did this idea originate?
And now I have lots of other questions, too:
So, why give Adam and Eve a law?
Why allow the serpent to slither his way into Paradise?
Why the test?
What was the nature of the test?
What was God after?
Why did they fall?
What if they had not fallen?
Are we still considered to be made “in the image of God”?
What is holiness?
How do we become holy now that we are born sinful from the fall?
Is holiness something God tests?
Do we grow in holiness?
Why should we seek holiness?
Does any of this really matter?
One question always leads to dozens more.
Ads
Leslie Wiggins 
12 responses to “Were Adam and Eve Holy before the Fall?”
Wow! That’s a great list of questions! Why don’t you work through them one at a time on the blog? I’d participate!Look for an email from me. I’m going to send you a link to a great resource that will really help!
LikeLike
Leslie, This post really hit home with me regarding the radio host that said something that “had a ring of truth to it”. I just finished reading The Truth War by John MacArthur and it was excellent. He spoke to this very subject. We need to really study the scriptures to be able to recognize those who would twist it in even the slightest manner. Thank you for posing questions that make us dig deeper into God’s Word. And I would say a resounding “YES” it does matter. The truth matters.
LikeLike
I don’t know much about Greek or Hebrew, but I’ve heard that the word Holy means “set apart”? Isn’t the reason God is holy because He is so apart from us? And we grow to be more like him, we too become more “set apart” from sin and the world.We studied the origin of evil in our church a while back. I remember our pastor saying that there were several different perspectives on God’s relationship to evil: That he was surprised by it, that he allowed it, that he created it, and that he ordained it. Ultimately, we learn through scripture that God ordained evil because through it, His own righteousness is magnified to bring him more glory. If we lived in a perfect world where sin didn’t exist, we woudln’t realize what we have been saved from. We understand God’s goodness and glory in a more full way because we see it contrasted with our sin.I’m rambling now, and I realize that I am not really addressing your original question, but it is definitely something worth meditating on! The Truth War is in my stack of must reads, too. =)
LikeLike
Leslie, I don’t want either of these posts to go by without you knowing that I’ve read them and appreciate how you’re working through them. But I have a head cold that is keeping me from any coherence of comment. Thanks to Kim definitely for the confessional references. They are definite systematic theology helps. I’ll participate too if you go through the questions you posed.
LikeLike
Loraena–you’ve made some excellent points…it probably would have helped had I defined the terms before I started. Thanks for doing that.
LikeLike
Here is an interesting read on holiness.http://www.bible.org/page.php?page_id=252
LikeLike
Thanks for the link Lori!
LikeLike
Brian and I were talking about some similar things not long ago. I think that the answer to some of those questions is just that God did it for his glory. He knew what would happen and had he not foreordained it he would not have allowed it. So it was His plan. And he did it so that we would glorify him. That’s what we ended up with.
LikeLike
And I just realized that I pretty much just echoed Loraena. :^)
LikeLike
My brother (a pastor) sends radio preachers letters telling them to check their theology before they send it over the airwaves…he gets so frustrated with a few of these guys who say things that just aren’t true. He hasn’t gotten one response yet. We need to study and question the stuff being thrown out there!
LikeLike
Great discussion and questions.loraena wrote:If we lived in a perfect world where sin didn’t exist, we woudln’t realize what we have been saved from. We understand God’s goodness and glory in a more full way because we see it contrasted with our sin.What she said! :o)
LikeLike
One thing I keep wondering about God (mainly, God’s morality), is this: is something “good” (I refuse to use the word “holy”, as I think no one really understands the word) because God says it is “good”, or does God say something is “good” because it is?This may be stupid. Keep in mind that I am sixteen and far more interested in what I’m doing tomorrow than God’s goodness. Right. So, if something is “good” because God wills it, does that mean that if God were to will us to kill someone, that would also be “good”? And please, don’t just say that he wouldn’t because that isn’t good, because that misses the point entirely. I’m saying here that if God decides what is good, does that mean if he decided killing was good, it would be good. Or something.On the other hand, does God say something is “good” because it is good? If this is so, then God could not have created “good” (or he’d be able to decide what is and what is not “good”). “Good” would have to be something that existed infinitely along with God, with no creator of it’s own, just like God himself. This would mean that morality is independent of God. And as God is all-good, God would be limited by morality, something separate to himself. He responds to the laws, rather than making them. Either way, it seems to me that morality and God have a problem of co-existing. Either God created them, and therefore they’re not necessarily “good” as if God commanded it the other way around and is was “good” to kill each other, that would have to be “right” and we know that morally, it isn’t. We would be praising God for what he does, though it would be equally praiseworthy if he had done the contrary. This just destroys the idea of his “love”. If not, then “good” exists independently of God, limiting him to obeying something else! This is just ridiculous. God cannot be limited or he would not be all-powerful. He would just be powerful to a degree. So, is something “good” because God wills it, or does God will it because it is “good”?Again, this may be completely stupid. You may just dismiss it as a teenager not fully understanding the concept of your monotheistic beliefs. I have no idea if I am arguing with Jews or Christians. Or if this is an argument or not.Does *anyone* get what I mean, or have I just missed every point I’m trying to make?From,Jump_Nyabinghi@hotmail.co.uk (in case anyone has an answer or just wants to whack me for a stupid question).
LikeLike