Original sin. If God knew that Satan would rise and Adam and Eve would sin, why did He create them?

From Adam to Noah They say that some Chechens trace the self-name of their people, Nokhchi, to Noah (Hoax in Hebrew) and consider themselves his descendants. Well, according to the biblical account, they are right - but the same can be said about all the other peoples of the earth. But

“What kind of sin is this? Doing evil to a person truly constitutes sin.” Moral Theology (Sins against the 7th Commandment, sin is an excuse for other carnal sins with various pretexts): “What kind of sin is this? Doing evil to a person truly constitutes a sin.” Not

They received one commandment: not to eat from the tree of knowledge, and so they broke it. In fact, there were more commandments.

The first of them was the commandment to multiply life: “be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth.” This is the command that the Lord gave to people first of all. And it should be noted that the presence of such a command means that the anti-Christian argument is stupid, which identifies the sin of Adam and Eve with their sexual life, and then triumphantly asks, pulling out a finger either from the nose or from somewhere else: Oh, that’s how This is how people would multiply if they had not sinned, eh? - They would multiply. And the sin of Adam and Eve has nothing to do with a person’s sexual life, or his family life. This is not the area where sin occurred.

The second commandment that Adam receives is the commandment of cultivating the land, the commandment of labor: “by the sweat of your brow you shall till the ground.” There’s not even any sweat there yet, but just cultivate it. The Lord leads man into the Garden of Eden and says: keep it and cultivate it. Here is where there is a difficulty in the Hebrew text Holy Scripture. The fact is that not only in the Hebrew language, but also in Russian, the word garden, “gonom”, is masculine. And, nevertheless, the commandment of God speaks of woman's face, in the feminine gender: keep it and cultivate it.

Here on the one hand is really the closest creature female, which is closer in the text, turns out to be land: keep the land and cultivate the land. On the other hand, well, let's say the rabbis believe that we're talking about about the Torah, about the Word of God, about the commandments and about the wife, who, however, does not exist yet, her gift lies ahead.

It should be noted that Adam was created outside the Garden of Eden and was then introduced there. This is an important note, because the holy fathers, describing the life of man in the Garden of Eden, in the Garden of Eden, say that there was no pain, there was no sorrow, and so on. But, however, these descriptions should not be mechanically transferred to the circumstances of anthropogenesis, to the world in which man arose. That is, initially a person was isolated from the world of his origin and placed in a certain limited space. This Garden of Eden, it had its boundaries, it did not fill the entire earth.

So, the commandment of work is given to man. In this work a person must go a long way. At the beginning of the biblical story about the creation of man there is this detail: “And God said: Let us make man in Our image and in Our likeness.” However, in the next phrase of the Bible the word “likeness” is absent: “And God created man in His own image.” Now, starting at least from the saint, from the second century, Christian thought distinguishes between these two concepts: . The image of God is the talents that the Lord gave to man. That which distinguishes us from both animals and angels. The ability to be creative, above all. The personal nature of our being, freedom, the ability to speak, to rational thought, to love. These are the god-like features of a person. But, unfortunately, a person can use all these traits for evil. We can create lawlessness, think through crimes, we can not create our sphere, but kill. And if a person, like God, directs all his talents only towards good, then he achieves the likeness of God and becomes a saint.

So, the fact that we are the image of God is given to us, and we must become like God in the course of our lives. That is why the commandment of work is given. There is something that cannot be given to a person - himself. A person must be able to grow himself, force his soul to work in order to change himself in this feat. Because, well, we ourselves know this from our own lives, when everything is given and nothing is achieved through labor, then these gifts often turn out to be destructive and deadly and not at all joyful.

Eve With Adam lived in a huge, beautiful garden, created especially for them by the Gracious God. Everything was wonderful in this garden. There were also lawns and hills, which were covered with beautiful flowers and the best plants on earth; Cold streams and bright springs flowed through the meadows. There were many bushes with very sweet berries and many fruit trees. Birds with colorful feathers flew from tree to tree, from branch to branch and built their nests there. From the early morning and until late at night their beautiful songs were heard. Paradise was the name of the first Garden. Adam And Eve loved this place. They could work only as much as was enough for them so as not to die of boredom. They quenched their hunger with fruits and their thirst with water from a spring. In all of paradise, two particularly remarkable trees stood out. Beautiful fruits grew on one of them, and this tree was called the tree of life. If ordinary people ate from this tree, they would always be healthy, young and immortal. Fruit from the second tree, which was called the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, God strictly forbade people from trying. He warned Adam that if they suddenly disobey and try this tree, they will certainly die. Adam retold about it Eve.

Adam and Eve Still, they tried apples from the forbidden tree and thus violated their father’s prohibition. They did it by experienced people the devil. He was very jealous that God He loves this creation of his very much, man, that it is so easy and relaxed for a person to live in paradise.

Consequently, he decided to bring people out of the world. He sneaked in Garden of Eden, took the form of a snake and climbed the tree from which the apples God forbade tearing. And he began to wait until Adam With Eva will not come closer to tempt them and persuade them to violate God's commandment. And then one day the wife Adam she approached the tree, stopped near it and began to admire the wonderful fruits. And the longer she looked at them, the more she wanted to at least lick these apples once. Suddenly a voice was heard from the tree, she looked up and saw a handsome man there. snake. He asked Eve:

Isn't it God forbade you to eat the fruits of all these trees?

No, she answered him. Eve, -The Lord allowed us to pick and eat fruits from absolutely all trees, except perhaps this one. If we try an apple from it, we will definitely die.

For this she Serpent answered:

You shouldn't believe this. God knows everything, and knows that by eating the fruits from this tree you will become the same as himself. After this, you will know what is bad and what is good, but He really doesn’t want this. That is why he forbade you to eat these apples.

Eva listened to the beautiful Snake and continued to look at the fruits. They attracted her more and more. “Is it really true,” she thought to herself, “that these fruits will make us as smart as God. After all, there is nothing wrong with this if we Adam Let's become a little smarter. I will pick one fruit, there are many of them here, God won't notice anything." Eve reached out and took the forbidden fruit from the tree, and the first sin was committed. She divided it in half, ate one half herself, and gave the other half to her husband. Adam. Adam I also did not resist and ate this apple. But only after eating it, they immediately remembered what he had told them. God. They realized that they were sinners. They noticed that they were standing naked, and they began to be ashamed of their nakedness and could not look into each other's eyes.

At that moment, heaven was filled with the voice of God. He saw perfectly well what they had done Adam With Eva. Hearing his voice, instead of running towards him, as they had done before, they became frightened and hid under a tree, confident that God won't find them there. But the Lord asked in a stern voice:

-Adam, where are you?

Then he answered Adam to God:

Dear Lord, I am afraid and ashamed. I'm naked and that's why I hid.

Then God answered:

-Adam, I saw everything you did.

- God, - began to make excuses Adam, - I am not to blame for you. Eve, the wife you created for me brought me this apple and I ate it.

Then God asked her:

Why did you do this?

“Merciful Lord,” his wife answered him. Adam, - it's not my fault, that's all Serpent, he deceived me and told me to eat the fruit and I ate it.

God said to the devil that "the Savior will be born of a woman, and he will overcome Devil and will no longer allow him to deceive people, and people will receive a paradise on earth, even better than in heaven.” Serpent, who until that time was the most beautiful and intelligent creature, as punishment now must crawl on his belly on the ground and eat the ground. Eve God said this:

You will suffer many illnesses when you give birth, and because you seduced your husband, he will be your master and you must obey him.

Adam God said the following:

Since you disobeyed me, your punishment will be that you will work hard, so that sweat will flow from your forehead. You will sow rye or wheat, and instead of bread, useless grass or thorns will grow there. You will work all your life, and then you will die, and they will bury you in a grave, in which you will turn into the earth from which you came into this world.

From this moment Adam With Eva could no longer remain in heaven. God drove them out of there to the field, where, in order not to die of hunger, they were forced to work day and night. Adam And Eve Not far from paradise they built themselves a hut and often wept, saying to each other:

Oh, if only we could resist and not succumb to the serpent’s persuasion! If we had not eaten from that forbidden tree, we would still be living in a wonderful paradise. How wrong it is to disobey God!

So, Adam With Eva they repented of their sin, but there was no way back for them; An angel with a huge fiery sword was placed in front of the entrance and did not let people in.

Seeing how his children repent, God did not reject them forever. He consoled them by promising that one day he would send His Son to save all people - and he fulfilled this promise soon.

Life went on and people had to look for ways to survive; they learned how to cook borscht, tame animals and much, much more.

Deacon Andrey

While you're still awake, please tell me what was the sin of Adam and Eve? Ray of Light Master (2480), closed 6 years ago

Added 6 years ago

I will quote the words of God from Genesis 3:17: “And he said unto Adam, Because thou hast listened to the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it, cursed is the ground because of thee; you will eat from it in sorrow all the days of your life. "

Added 6 years ago

Thanks for answers! I wish everyone a good night!

Added 6 years ago

For thought... Adam and Eve were already husband and wife, could sexual relations be a sin then?

locust Master (1747) 6 years ago The name of the tree symbolized the right to establish the criteria of good and evil. This exclusive right belonged and belongs to God, and people had to recognize this. But they encroached on this right, and began to decide for themselves “what is good and...

Lecture in Grodno State University named after Yanka Kupala

Through the keyhole

Today we will peek through the keyhole. And the topic of today’s reflections is: what is Adam’s sin. But before that, you need to carefully look at the biblical text and try to understand what commandments Adam received, how the Lord saw him, and what he was destined for.

They usually say that Adam and Eve received one commandment: not to eat from the tree of knowledge, and so they broke it. In fact, there were more commandments.

The first of them was the commandment to multiply life: “be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth.” This is the command that the Lord gave to people first of all. And it should be noted that the presence of such a command means that the anti-Christian argument is stupid, which identifies the sin of Adam and Eve with their sexual life, and then triumphantly asks, pulling out a finger either from the nose or from somewhere else: Oh, that’s how this is...

Who are Adam and Eve?

In the book of Genesis. 3 we read about how God created man, then his helpmate (Gen. 2:18-25).

And in chapter 3 verse 20 it is written: And Adam called his wife’s name Eve, for she became the mother of all living.

Adam and Eve are the first people created by God. Together they formed the first family by command of their Creator, for life together and fulfilling the commandments of God:

“And God blessed them, and God said to them: Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

What sin did Adam and Eve commit?

I have heard statements that Adam and Eve sinned by copulating and indulging in intimate intimacy. This is ignorance. Having created man, God gave him the commandment to be fruitful and multiply in order to fill the earth. (Ge.1:28)

The second misconception that you often hear regarding the first married couple on the…

Chapter 2.
The first revolt in the universe (the emergence of evil)

This question is reflected in several books of the Bible: the book of the prophet Isaiah (chap. 14, 12-14), Ezekiel (chap. 28, 14-17), Revelation of John the Theologian (chap. 12, 7-9).

Before Adam and Eve sinned (as described in the third chapter of the book of Genesis), a third part of the angels had already risen in heaven.

This rebellion against God was led by one of the cherubim named Lucifer, which means “light-bringer.” He was subsequently called Satan ("adversary") or the devil ("slanderer").

As already mentioned, angels are heavenly beings who occupy a higher position than the inhabitants of the earth or the inhabitants of other worlds. Like everything in the Universe, they were created for the mutual service of love. Like people, they could be happy provided they freely and consciously obeyed the law of God: However, some angels abused their freedom, became proud, became jealous of God and did not...

For eternity: Gen. II, 20 - III, 20. Proverbs. III, 19-34

20And the man gave names to all the livestock, and to the birds of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for man there was no helper like him.
21And the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and when he fell asleep, he took one of his ribs and covered that place with flesh.
22And the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken from the man, and brought her to the man.
23And the man said, Behold, this is bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh; she will be called woman, for she was taken from [her] husband.
24Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and cleave to his wife; and the [two] will be one flesh.
25And Adam and his wife were both naked, and they were not ashamed.
Chapter 3.

1The serpent was more cunning than all the beasts of the field that the Lord God had made. And the serpent said to the woman: Did God truly say: You shall not eat from any tree in the garden?
2And the woman said to the serpent, We may eat the fruit of the trees, 3Only the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God said, Thou shalt not eat it...

On the website of the magazine "Foma" already for a long time There is a permanent column “Question to the priest.” Each reader can ask his own question to receive a personal answer from the priest. But some of the questions cannot be answered in one letter - they require a detailed conversation. Some time ago, one of these questions came to us.

Hello! I just can’t understand what exactly Adam and Eve did, since the Lord kicked them out of Paradise, and moreover, that we all, as I read in Orthodox literature, are somehow paying for their actions? What are we talking about here, what forbidden fruit is this, what kind of tree of knowledge is this, why was this tree placed next to Adam and Eve and at the same time forbidden to approach it? What happened in paradise? And how does this relate to my life, to the lives of my loved ones and friends? Why does our fate depend on an act not committed by us, and committed a very, very long time ago?

Catherine

Answered by Alexander Tkachenko

What happened in paradise? There…

Deacon Andrey Kuraev

Lecture at the Grodno State University named after Yanka Kupala.

Today we will peek through the keyhole. And the topic of today’s reflections is: what is Adam’s sin. But before that, you need to carefully look at the biblical text and try to understand what commandments Adam received, how the Lord saw him, and what he was destined for.

They usually say that Adam and Eve received one commandment: not to eat from the tree of knowledge, and so they broke it. In fact, there were more commandments.

The first of them was the commandment to multiply life: “be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth.” This is the command that the Lord gave to people first of all. And it should be noted that the presence of such a command means that the anti-Christian argument is stupid, which identifies the sin of Adam and Eve with their sexual life, and then triumphantly asks, pulling out a finger either from the nose or from somewhere else: Oh, that’s how It would be people who were multiplying if it weren’t for...

I have a misunderstanding about the existence of humanity. If Adam and Eve had not inherited sin, would we be without sin? Could all people from Adam and Eve to the present day live on earth?

The first thing to mention is that Adam and Eve did not inherit sin. They are the first people created by God and did not inherit sin from their parents because they had no parents. They are the ones who sinned first and this sad event is described in chapter 3 of the book of Genesis, the first book of the Bible.

When, referring to the resurrection of Christ, the Apostle Paul contrasts the Savior with Adam, the first man, he says this:

But Christ rose from the dead, the firstborn of those who died. For just as death is through man, so is the resurrection of the dead through man. Just as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will come to life, each in his own order: Christ the firstborn, then those of Christ at His coming. (1 Corinthians 15:20 -23)

So it is, death came to...

This question has two parts. First part: “Did God know that Satan would rise and Adam and Eve would sin?” The answer lies in the Bible's teaching about the knowledge of God. We know from the Holy Scriptures that God is omniscient, He knows everything. Job 37:16; Psalm 139:2–4; 146:5; Proverbs 5:21; Isaiah 46:9–10 and 1 John 3:19–20 leave no doubt that God's knowledge is infinite and He knows everything that has happened in the past, is happening now, and will happen in the future.

Looking at some of superlatives in these verses - “His knowledge is perfect”, “You see all my thoughts from afar”, “he knows everything”, it becomes obvious that God not only knows more than we do - His knowledge is immensely great. He knows everything in totality. Isaiah 46:10 says that He not only knows everything, but He is also in control of everything. How else could He make known to us what will happen in the future and declare that His plans will come to pass? So God knew Adam and Eve were going to sin? Did He know that Lucifer would rise...

Origin of the term

Adam and Eve

In Orthodox theology the term " original sin"began to be consolidated only from the middle of the 17th century, when it was used in the "Small Catechism of Patriarch Joseph", the definition of this concept was first given in the "Message of the Patriarchs of the Eastern Catholic Church on Orthodox faith", G.:

“We believe that the first man fell in paradise and that from here the ancestral sin spread successively to all posterity, so that there is not a single one born according to the flesh who is free from that burden and does not feel the consequences of the fall into real life. And we call the burden and consequence of the fall not sin itself, such as: wickedness, blasphemy, murder, hatred and everything else that comes from the evil human heart, contrary to the will of God, and not from nature, but inclination to sin and those disasters with which Divine justice punished a person for his disobedience, such as: exhausting labor, sorrow, bodily infirmities, birth illnesses, a difficult life on earth for some time, wanderings, and finally bodily death.”

Now, as a rule, theologians use the phrase “original sin” in two meanings: firstly, as violation commandments in Eden and, secondly, as sinful, damaged by evil state human nature as a result of this violation. Thus, Archbishop Macarius (Bulgakov) gives the following definition:

Besides:

The Damage of Humanity

According to Christian teaching, as a result of the fact that the sin of the first parents Adam and Eve changed the way of existence of human nature, this sin itself, regardless of the personal qualities of a person, “automatically” becomes a part of every person. As a result of this, according to Christianity, every person through passionate birth is a “child of wrath”, is already subject to the law of aging and death, and his will from early infancy reveals a complaisant attitude towards reproachful sin. Thus, for all the descendants of the forefathers, original sin is seen not as a person’s personal sin, but as a common sinful state for all, the consequence of which is deformation in relation to healthy state ancestors - Adam and Eve - the spiritual-physical sphere.

In Psalm 50, it is said about this: “Behold, I was conceived in iniquity, and my mother gave birth to me in sin” (Ps. 50:7). With these words, Scripture confirms that, in essence, already at the moment of conception a person turns out to be “original sinner.”

In the book of the prophet Ezekiel, chapter 18, verse 20, it is said: “The son will not bear the iniquity of the father, and the father will not bear the iniquity of the son; the righteousness of the righteous remains with him, and the iniquity of the wicked remains with him.” It can be concluded that the descendants of Adam and Eve are not accused by Scripture and will not bear the guilt of “original sin.” But from the whole context it becomes clear that the speech in that phrase is not about original sin, but only about personal sins.

Consequence of the sin of our forefathers

Human nature became mortal (people began to die), perishable (subject to aging), passionate (subject to suffering). St. Maximus the Confessor.

The problem of understanding original sin

The dogma of original sin can raise a number of questions: firstly, why do newborns already find themselves guilty of something they did not commit, and secondly, why does sinfulness tend to be inherited?

The Holy Fathers of the Church interpret the word “guilt” (as well as “sin”) somewhat more broadly than the usual modern understanding. In the era of so-called “humanism,” guilt and sin began to be understood too existentially, too subjectively, as if people did not descend from a common ancestor, but as if they appeared by themselves separately from each other and were completely unrelated to each other. But before, the individual person and his actions were viewed more “naturally” (so to speak). The shadow of sin fell not only on a certain person, but even on his ancestors and his descendants, albeit partially. It's like a pebble thrown into water that creates circles diverging in different directions. The sinner seemed to drag down both his ancestors and his descendants. Now this is considered “medieval obscurantism”, “feudalism”, etc. Some hierarchs and theologians, such as Metropolitan Anthony (Khrapovitsky), already from the late 90s of the 19th century tried to remove from Christian faith“legal” component, thereby partially rehabilitating Origenism, condemned by the Church. But in the Christian view, “guilt” and “sin” are not narrowed to an individualistic existential perception. For example, in the Bible, one Levite was punished by God for the guilt of his children. The soul of that Levite, of course, did not bear full personal responsibility, but received punishment, although that Levite was personally very pious.

St. Theophan the Recluse:

“Some interpreters,” he says, “connect other thoughts with this expression, based on the fact that in Greek it is not “in the same,” but that should be translated “as long as,” “since.” But the thought will also be the same, that is, that they sinned in him [Adam]. And in vain they think to take away from this place the power of proof of original sin, saying that accurate translation of this place should be: “since all have sinned.” And at the same time, it will not be necessary to see here the idea that they sinned in him, for everyone can still sin according to his example, about him. - It is true that if we take these words: “since all have sinned”, without connection, then they may not give the idea that all have sinned in him; but if we take it in connection with both the previous and the subsequent, then even in this translation (since everyone has sinned) it is necessary to supplement the translation with the word “in it” in order to fully support the thought of the Apostle. He says: sin entered the world through one, and death through sin, and thus death entered into all. Sin opens the gates of death. If it entered into everyone, then sin preceded it in everyone. But in all, sin could not precede death otherwise than by the fact that all sinned in the one through whom sin entered, that is, in the first man Adam. Thus, reading: “death entered into all people, because all sinned,” we cannot otherwise understand how we sinned in him.” (Interpretation of the Epistle of the Holy Apostle Paul to the Romans. ed. 2. M., 1890. P. 310- 311)

Literature

• Original sin (from the book by Archbishop Theophan (Bistrov) On the Dogma of Atonement) in PDF format
• God in the Flesh (Chapter Three). Priest Vadim Leonov
• Kuraev, A.V. Philosophical and anthropological interpretation of the Orthodox concept of the Fall: abstract of thesis. ... candidate of philosophy. Sciences: 02.29.04 / Institute of Philosophy. - Moscow, 1994. - 22 p.
• Justin (Popovich), Rev. About original sin (Selected paragraphs from the work of Abba Justin “Orthodox philosophy of truth (Dogmatics of the Orthodox Church”).
• Job (Gumerov), Hieromonk How to explain why the original sin committed by Adam and Eve passed on to their descendants? //Orthodoxy.ru, 04/20/2007
• Chapter 3 The Fall of the Forefathers in Paradise (Original Sin) (from the book Dobroselsky P.V. ESSAYS OF ORTHODOX ANTHROPOLOGY. ABOUT THE ORIGIN OF HUMAN, ORIGINAL SIN AND ARTIFICIAL GENERATION. M.: "BLAGOVEST", 2008)
• (article from the Encyclopedic Dictionary of F.A. Brockhaus and I.A. Efron. - St. Petersburg: Brockhaus-Efron. 1890-1907.)

Notes

see also

• List of sins in Christianity

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