what was Adam's sin

dougsinc said..

And what, exactly, was Adam's sin? He disobeyed God once, and ate a fruit.

dougsinc,

One wonders why the author bothered with all of those other details in the passage, if the account can be so succinctly summarized.

If you read the passages about how sin entered the world a little more carefully, you will see that your summary is missing some key ideas. In particular, you omit any mention that Eve was deceived by the serpent. We note that Eve has some understanding of the command that was given to Adam. But when she recites it, she changes some of the words. Eve:

- identifies the tree not by what it was (according to God's word), but by it's location in the Garden. (Gen 2:17, 3:3)

- omits the words 'any' and 'freely' (Gen 2:16)

- adds the phrase 'You shall not touch it' (Gen 3:3)

Possibly emboldened by Eve's misrepresentation (?), the serpent directly contradicts the word of God. And it is by deception that sin enters the world.

We should know what these passages actually say. When we omit ideas and change words, we are at great risk of misrepresenting what the Bible actually says. And that misrepresentation leaves open the door for us to be deceived.