Did Adam and Eve know the difference between good and evil before eating the apple?

You nailed it exactly. The story implies that they didn't have knowledge of good & evil when they reached for the tree. Thus they were incapable of sin.

Adam & Eve got a bad rap.

NEITHER APPLE NOR PROCREATION

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The concept that they ate apple comes from some Hollywood movies.

And the thought that the fruit has to do with sex has no meaning, because God had already told them to "increase and multiply and fill the earth".

Adam has seen his creator, and he has seen the animals being created! Gen 2:18-20. And he was part of the creation of Eve.

Now creator tells Adam not to do something as simple as not eating a fruit! And he goes ahead and eats (for whatever reason). He was told about the consequence also: he will not be there. He knows what it means to be "not there", because he knows that before the animals or Eve were created they were "not there".

"GOOD" IS TO BE IN GARDEN EVIL IS OUTSIDE OF IT

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Adam was not created in Eden, he was created outside and was brought inside into the bliss of Eden (Gen 2:7-9). He knows the state outside Eden. And after sinning he was send back to till the same land. Gen 3:23.

Though the narrative is brief, we cannot assume that they had no knowledge at all!

May the Lord forgive any mistakes in these words and add his blessings.

The story concerning eating the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, is probably a way of explaining why humans know so much and can do so much more with things than animals can (the authors of Genesis didn't have the concept that we are animals as well). The authors thought that men were godlike and having the knowledge of good and evil was one way of demonstrating this: "You will not surely die," the serpent said to the woman. "For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." (Genesis 3:4-5). The fruit was probably the-knowledge-of-good-and-evil. The Adam and Eve story is a myth that seems to be a way of explaining why hardships came into the world, and - like the Greek Pandora myth - women are blamed. The cultures that devised these myths considered men as godlike and women as inherently sinful, and were punished by being cursed to bear children. Part of the punishment was to toil with the land. So there's an element of explaining the change from nomadism to farming, which then led to villages and towns illustrated in the myth of Cain and Abel. The serpent bit seems to explain why snakes crawl on their bellies.

Hi and good morning....When God created Adam and Eve they were both probably considered innocent like children since they were not faced with the idea of 'sin'. Now the way I look at this, Adam and Eve were like children to God, He was the parent so do speak. They had to be taught what was right and wrong. Now children as we all know, don't always listen to their parent/parents. This is a proven fact. I imagine this would be the same for Adam and Eve. Now in the 'Book of Genesis' states of the serpent, it doesn't state if the serpent was Satan or Evil. The Serpent tempted Eve into eating the Forbidden Fruit. Now what are we to say if maybe God actually tempted Eve to test her to see if she obeyed His rule. Parents do test their children. As well as children test their parents. God wanted Adam and Eve to prosper and to bare children to populate the earth so maybe this is how He decided to remove them from the Garden. They needed to know about sin and this was the only way to teach them. God works in mysterious ways so even though it may sound ridiculous it may be not so far fetched realistically. Now also doing some religious research, I had come to find out that Eve was not the original female with Adam that another had been created before Eve's creation. I believe the writings had called her Lillith or something simular. She had become with evil or demon like behavior then disappeared from the Garden so with this in mind one has to think of the possibility that perhaps 'evil' or demons had existed prior of God kicking out Adam and Eve from the Garden. If Adam suspected demons with his first wife then I imagine or would assume that he would have known the possibility of 'evil' but perhaps not Eve. But here again what do we really know but just to assume ourselves when reading the Bible and it's contents and believe in our faith. Have a blessed day!

You pretty much answered your own question. God told them not to eat the apple, therefore they knew that eating it was a sin. Everyone has the feeling when something they are about to do or have done is wrong. God cannot control our free will but does have the expectation that we will follow His wishes. He has the right to ask this of us! And, also, if you live your life for Him, He expects mistakes but with remorse and the asking of His forgiveness. Having the knowledge of good and evil benefits us and makes our choices presumably easier. For God we should always choose GOOD!

Very good questions, but we should demand more details rather than blindly accepting the imagery found in these wonderful stories that were, let's face it, meant for primitive minds. The apple wasn't a literal apple. The apple was a symbol for the transgression of one of the proscriptions of Adam and Eve's mission on Earth. The Tree of Good and Evil is also merely an analogy. Don't misunderstand me. These are great stories but have much deeper meanings.

The answers to all of your serious questions about this amazing couple, Adam and Eve can be found in the book Adam and Eve - A Tragic Love Story. This is a serious and scholarly work and I highly recommend it. I think you'd find it most illuminating. Good luck to you, my friend.

http://www.amazon.com/Adam-Eve-Tragic-Love-Story/d...

Did not the mere fact they thought about eating the apple begin their descent? Because the apple is just a metaphor.

Was God looking forward to them eating the apple? Have you never let a child learn from falling or do you believe you should catch them every time? So, is it really a punishment? I am sure all teenagers will swear that their parents are mean because of this or that, but is it not really about caring for the teenagers that parents do this or that?

One of my favorite lines is - "many are called, but few are chosen"

People who hear that - tell me how God picks you out and leaves the rest behind...but really it means - many are called, but few choose to step up. But then it is all in how you look at it.

I believe in reincarnation. We can chose to remain in spirit, where we learn very slowly, or we are "born again" into the earth, basically that means to go to school. We learn faster when we are in human form on the earth. I also believe in karma. Karma is not punishment, it's a way of teaching. We get to be the receiver of those things we did wrong during other lives. Walk a mile in the shoes of one we have hurt so to speak. If someone is an atheist in this life, it simply means there is something to learn from this experience. It does not mean they will be punished for it. They will, just as we all will, learn what we need to from what they do, and what happens

in this life.

Blessed Be

Adam and Eve knew that they shouldn't eat the fruit because god told them not to. They were just like little children. they didn't know what guilt was before then but they had a knowledge of the consequences of their action. In other words, they knew they would become mortal but they didn't realize the guilt they would feel for disobeying their god. It's guilt or the knowledge of doing something wrong and feeling guilty about it that brought the change in their lives and into all of our lives. It's what brought about christ and his plan of redemption and forgiveness.

Even though the consequence of Adam and Eve brought about so much suffering and death for all of us, Adam and Eve found forgiveness and repentance by following the commandments of god throughout their lives and they taught their children the commandments too.

No but they were intelligent beings.

I learned from a pastor here in ny (Christian Cultural Center) that the Bible is three things: literal, figurative and symbolic. So there was no actual tree or apple.

The tree of knowl. & apple are symbols the significance of this story is it was a test of their faith & therefore trust in God's word, a test put upon them by the Angel known as Lucifer because he didn't agree with God's will to create humans and knew that neither "adam" or "eve" had the experience to know the true weight of their actions.

The transgression of "adam" & "eve" (I don't believe they were the only people in existence) was their lack of faith and the punishment of death (physical as well as death of their spirit) was probably something God could not excuse them from, the universe does have laws that even God has to abide by. Which leaves humanity trying to pass this test of faith and trust in God. I believe that's why Jesus said to believe in him as well as what he accomplished on the cross because in the beginning people did not believe or trust in the Lord.

Just as humanity fell thru their lack of faith, it can be saved by the restoration of faith.

No. They did not know before.

After they ate from the tree they fell from the grace of god. They now realized the horrible burden of guilt. They now knew good but were unable to do it. They now knew evil but were unable to resist it. They now understood things that they did not understand before.

It is harsh. the knowledge was the punishment. (I think a painful labor is punishment enough. lol)