Adam and the Tree of Knowledge
Ed Tyler etyler@truman.edu
Mon, 15 Feb 1999 08:36:20 -0600 (00919110980, 4.1.19990215082844.00a359d0@pop.truman.edu)
At 10:39 PM 2/13/99 +0000, Joseph Crea wrote:
>Hello, Joe!
>
>At 05:09 PM 2/13/99 EST, JAlw@aol.com wrote:
>>Achilles:
>>
>>
>>[God said] 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
(Gen
>>2:17). . . and [Adam] did eat (Gen 3:6). . .And all the days that Adam lived
>>were nine hundred and thirty (Gen 5:5)
>>===========
>>Joe Alward:
>>
>>Matt has implied that this is not a contradiction; would he, or anyone else
>>explain why? Do inerrantists claim that Adam died a spiritual death?
>
>
>CREA
> Short answer --Yes. See my response to Aaron's reply to Matt's posting
>titled "Packing my bags!".
>
>
Ed
Actually, it's not a "contradiction," although the inerrantist explanation
is incorrect. The "On the day X occurs he/you will die" formula is a
figurative pronouncement made by rulers and is found several times
throughout the Old Testament is contexts where it is apparent that death is
not necessarily going to result on that particular day. It's merely a
ruler's way of assigning the death penalty to a given transgression.