Dr Abdur Rahman Bhutta, Germany
Section 6 – Did Adam commit a sin? (Gen.3)
Now that we have known what makes an act a ‘sin’, and under what conditions it can be counted as a sin, we can go on to examine the Biblical story critically and see if Adamas and Eve had really committed a sin.
The story tells us that Adamas and Eve were living in the garden and they were told by God not to eat the fruit of “The tree of the knowledge of good and evil” (Gen. 2:17). The devil came in the form of a “friendly serpent” and talked to Eve. He out-witted her and succeeded in persuading her to eat that forbidden fruit. Later she gave that fruit to her husband too, without telling him that it came from that forbidden tree. In Judeo-Christian theology, both of them are now accused of having committed “a sin” by taking that forbidden fruit.
(6a) Did Adam have the Knowledge?
Before we can accuse someone of sin, we have to make sure that he has the knowledge of good and evil, and that he knows right from the wrong. In the case of Adamas and Eve it is clear that they had absolutely no “knowledge of good and evil” before the serpent came to them. They were a simple and innocent young couple who had not even touched that particular tree before this incident happened (Gen. 3:3). In the absence of this “knowledge of good and evil”, it was not possible for them to detect the evil design of the devil nor was it possible for them to apprehend the evil consequences of their act.
Even in this modern age, cunning and clever tricksters succeed in cheating not only the simpletons but also sometimes the normal educated persons. And no one condemns the victims of such treachery as “sinners or criminals”. All they deserve is sympathy, help and advice and not punishment. It was only after Adamas and Eve had taken that fruit that their “eyes opened” and they came to “know good and evil” that they realised that they had been cheated.
Under these circumstances, therefore, they can by no canon of justice be held responsible for an action which was the direct result of their ignorance. The responsibility for Adam’s so-called sin, if any, lies in this case not with Adamas but with God who kept Adamas ignorant of the evils around him and did not let him have the knowledge necessary to avoid them. And when God warned them about the ill effects of taking that fruit, God had told them that “Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die” (Gen. 3:3), but the serpent had assured them that they will not die, rather their “eyes will open, seeing good and evil”. When they took the fruit, the serpent proved to be correct, and God turned out to be wrong. (Gen. 3:5); (Tafsir-e-Kabir by Hazrat Hazrat Mirza Bashir-ud-Din Mahmud Ahmad, Vol. 5, ed. 1986, Surah Maryam, Ch, 19, V. 2, p. 41-42, 52)
If that tree was in fact so “poisonous” that it could “kill not only Adam but also his future generations”, then one may ask, why did God plant such a dangerous tree in the first place; and that too in the middle of the garden where it was so easy for Adamas and Eve to reach? Could God not foresee the possible catastrophe? Could God be so careless? It is, therefore, clear that they were not forbidden from any real “fruit of a tree”, nor were they supposed “to die” of any physical death. Evidently, the story is told in the symbolic language and needs to be interpreted to learn the lesson underlying it. (Ibid, p.47)
(6b) Did Adam have the intention?
We have already discussed that sin is not merely a wrong act but a wilful and an intentional wrong act. Here in the case of Adamas and Eve, we can see that they have been faithfully obeying God’s command before they were cheated by the serpent who is said to be very cunning and “more subtil than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made.” (Gen. 3:1). He out-witted them and succeeded in making them forget the divine command and eat that fruit. Eve clearly said in her defence that “The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.” (Gen. 3:13)
This element of deception clearly shows that what they did was not a wilful or an intentional act. The lack of knowledge of good and evil, further made them vulnerable to deception. Therefore, their act of eating that forbidden fruit can by no canon of justice be considered as a sin. (Ibid, p.37)
The Biblical story, too, does not say that they were accused by God of “any sin” or were cursed by Him “as sinners”. The Holy Quran also absolves them from any such guilt. It says:
“And verily, We had made a covenant with Adam beforehand, but he forgot, and We found in him no determination to disobey.” (Surah TaHa, Ch.20: V.116)
(6c) The punishments to the serpent, Eve and Adam
The verses in Genesis (3:14-19) mention the “punishments” that God gave to the serpent, Eve and Adamas for eating the forbidden fruit. Let us now take a close look at these punishments.
(6c-i) Punishment to the serpent
It is reported that God cursed the serpent and said, “upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life” (Gen. 3:14). Now the serpent existed before Adamas and Eve were created. There is nothing to prove that, before he deceived Eve in the garden, the serpents used to walk on legs or fly with wings; and that it was only after that mishap in the garden that the serpent started “going on its belly”. If the serpent was always there as a serpent crawling on its belly, then where is the punishment?
It is also not true that serpents started eating dust after that incident (Ibid). Snakes and serpents do not eat dust. They live mostly on flesh. No doubt, there has been enmity between serpent and the “seed of woman”, but there has been no friendship between serpents and “seeds of animals” either. All men as well as animals know that serpents are dangerous and they fear them. They try to avoid them or kill them. So this enmity against serpents is not confined to “the seed of woman” alone.
In Greek mythology the serpent is connected with the underworld, mysterious spirits and reincarnation because of its power to change skin; but at the same time the serpent is also a symbol of wisdom and mentioned in relation to the “god of healing”. In the language of visions, however, it symbolises evil, enmity and deceit. Since Adamas and Eve were victims of deception and the devil had approached Eve “disguised as a friend” , the compilers of this story have shown him symbolically as a “serpent”. (Arthur Peake, Peake’s Commentary on the Bible, 1962, under Genesis, cultic traditions, Sec. 146d, iii, ´The JE story of the fall` , Sec.147a, p.180)
Taken literally, this “punishment” to the serpent does not make any sense; but taken metaphorically, the serpent stands for “an enemy” in the form of a devil. In the Holy Quran, the devil is mentioned as “the enemy” against whom we have been warned to be on guard. God says:
“O Adam, this is an enemy to thee, and to thy wife: so let him not drive both of you out of the garden, lest you come to grief.” (Surah TaHa, Ch.20: V.118)
(6c-ii) The punishment to woman
The punishment to “woman” is said to be that she will have “severe pains” during childbirth; and yet “thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.” (Gen. 3:16)
The labour-pains are an essential part of a normal childbirth; and without these pains, the child will not be born normally. The duration and severity of these pains varies with different women. Those well-built and tall ladies who are used to hard work in the fields, deliver much more easily than their other counterparts. Females amongst animals also have labour-pains during childbirth, and quite severe ones for that matter. These animal mothers cannot tell how they suffer but some of them do show their agony by groaning and putting out their tongues.
Now, if these labour-pains during childbirth are a sign of God’s punishment to women for eating that forbidden fruit, then, one may ask, why are these animal females “being punished” with pains during the childbirth? Have they too eaten some forbidden fruit? These labour-pains, therefore, are a part of the natural process of a child’s birth in humans as well as in animals; and have nothing to do with anybody’s sin or its punishment.
The desire of a woman for her husband is mentioned as another “punishment” for the woman (and all others after her) for eating that forbidden fruit. But we have been told that woman is made out of the “bone and flesh of man” and that it has been so decreed by God that “Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.” (Gen. 2:24). This extreme attraction and affection between husband and wife was decreed by God before they had taken that forbidden fruit. How can we say then, that the desire of a wife for her husband could be a “punishment” for any sin which had not been committed yet?
So we see that it cannot be a punishment at all. On the contrary, this love and mutual affection between husband and wife, is one the greatest blessings of God which has been bestowed upon man. God says in the Holy Quran: “And one of His Signs is this, that He has created wives for you from among yourselves that you may find peace of mind in them, and He has put love and tenderness between you. In that surely are Signs for a people who reflect.” (Surah ar-Rum Ch.30: V.22)
The third “punishment”, mentioned regarding the woman for eating that forbidden fruit, is that her “thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.” Now, we have already read in Genesis that the man was alone in the garden of Eden and God decreed that “I will make him an help meet for him.” (Gen. 2:18) Finding none out of all the other creatures, he chose “[…] the rib, which the Lord God had taken from man, made he a woman […]” (Gen. 2:22) to help and serve him physically and emotionally. Now a helper cannot be the ruler or master of the person he is helping. The creation of the woman as “helper of man” had already raised the position of man as “the ruler of woman”.
And these positions were assigned to them by God before they had taken that forbidden fruit. It will be, therefore, absolutely wrong to say that the woman came to be ruled by man as “a punishment for eating that forbidden fruit”. The very purpose of her creation was to help and serve the man, as the story goes. That is exactly what Saint Paul says:
“For a man indeed ought not to cover his head, forasmuch as he is the image and glory of God: but the woman is the glory of the man. For the man is not of the woman: but the woman of the man. Neither was the man created for the woman; but the woman for the man.” (1 Cor. 11:7-9)
(6c-iii) The punishment to Adam
Adamas is considered to be the main “accused” in this mishap in the garden of Eden. The charge against him is that “Because thou hast hearkened unto 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 for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;” (Gen. 3:17) Before we take up the “punishments” of Adamas, let us examine the charge closely.
The Biblical story, on which the charge is based, runs as follows:
“Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.” (Gen. 3:1-6)
In the above quoted conversation between the serpent and the woman, the following facts are to be noted:
Adamas is nowhere to be seen in that conversation. He was not there when the serpent talked to Eve and convinced her to eat that fruit, saying that they will not die, rather they will become wise like God.
It is said that: “the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes.” These words show that Adamas and Eve had not gone near that “forbidden tree” and had not seen its fruit before the serpent “beguiled Eve” because God had warned them that they “will die” if they even touch that tree. It was only when the serpent had shown that fruit to Eve that she “saw that it was a delight to the eyes.”
Adamas had been eating the fruits of the garden from the hands of his wife; and he took this one too when she gave him without telling him that it was the forbidden one. Since he had not seen that fruit before, he could not recognise it to be the one that was forbidden. That is why, when God asked Adamas, “Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?”, Adamas said in his defence: “The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.”(Gen. 3:12)
It is clear from these facts mentioned in the story, that Adamas had not plucked the fruit from the “forbidden tree”. It was given to him by his wife, and there is nothing in the story to show that he knew which tree it came from. It was only when his “eyes opened” that he realised that he had been deceived and made to eat the forbidden fruit. God too, did not count Adam’sas “unintentional mistake” as sin; nor did He punish him as a “sinner”. Nevertheless, a mistake had been committed by Adamas and he was moved out of the garden as the natural and physical consequence of that mistake and not as the punishment of any sin.
As a matter of fact, Adam’sas exit from the garden and his lifelong struggle to till the ground with the sweat of his face, was the direct result of his becoming like God, knowing good and evil (Gen. 3:17-19, 22). So therefore, his continuous struggle and suffering “till he returned to the ground”, cannot be considered as a “as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin” as is claimed by Saint Paul (Rom. 5:12).
Since this issue of “punishment by death” holds a very controversial position between Christianity and Islam, it needs to be elaborated further.
(6d) Adam committed no sin, nor was he punished with ‘death’
In the Bible Saint Paul is reported to have said:
“Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned: […]”. (Ibid)
He goes on to write:
“For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Rom. 6:23)
Again we read Paul saying:
“For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.” (1 Cor. 15:21-22)
From the above mentioned Pauline statements, it is generally believed that Adam had committed a “sin” by eating that forbidden fruit; and that God was so angry with him on his “very first mistake” that He threw him out of the garden, deprived him of “everlasting life” and “condemned him to death” without giving him any warning or a second chance. But we know that even the most wicked “earthly father” would not do such a thing to his most rebellious son. How, then, can we expect such an extreme punishment from our “heavenly Father”?.
Obviously this does not become of a God who is said to be the Most Gracious and Merciful to His creatures. Let us, therefore, delve a little deeper into the story and try to find out how far its contents, even if taken literally, support this Pauline theory that “by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned: […].”
(6d-i) Adam was sent out of the garden not as a punishment
When Adamas and Eve were in the garden, they were a young and innocent couple directly under the care of their “father” and they had all the comforts of life available to them. Having no knowledge of “good and evil”, they had nothing to worry about and led a carefree life. But according to the plan of God, they were not supposed to stay in the garden forever. When God had created them, He had intended that they would “multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it” (Gen. 1:28) And all this they could do only by leaving the garden and going out on the earth.
After the devil had deceived them and had made them victims of his evil design, they were ashamed and had suffered badly. From their bitter experience they had gained the “knowledge of good and evil”, and had improved in their likeness to God (Gen. 3:22). Now they had become capable of leading a comparatively independent life. So the time had come for them to go out and do what God had already planned for them. As they prepared to go, God helped them and “Unto Adam also and to his wife did the Lord God make coats of skins, and clothed them.” (Gen. 3:21) – This does not look like a ‘punishment’.
If Adamas had committed a sin, he could not have improved in his likeness to God as a result of his sin. We know that as a result of sin one loses one’s likeness to God, and not gains it.
(6d-ii) Adam informed of hardships
Of course, when God sent Adam out to lead an independent life, God informed him that the life out there will not be as easy as it was in the garden; and that he will have to work very hard, “Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field.” (Gen. 3:18). God had also told him that he will have to continue to struggle for his living throughout his stay on earth; and eventually, having reached the end of his life, he will return to the ground, out which he had been taken (Gen. 3:17-19). This “returning to the ground” was a part of the divine plan and cannot be taken as a “sentence of death for any sin”.
All living creatures, human and animal, are created out of dust and, having spent their normal span of life, their bodies return to, and mix with dust. This is the normal and natural course of events about life on earth; and all men, saints or sinners, have to taste death. One wonders how someone can read in this ultimate end of our life, a “punishment for the sin of a particular man”. The same facts about life on earth are mentioned in the Holy Quran. We read:
“He said, ‘Go forth, some of you being enemies of others. And for you there is an abode on the earth and a provision for a time.’”. He said, “He said, ‘Therein shall you live, and therein shall you die, and therefrom shall you be brought forth.” (Surah al-A’raf Ch.7: V.25-26)
(6d-iii) The garden of Eden was not the heavenly paradise.
It is also a common misconception that the garden of Eden where Adamas lived, was the same as the heavenly Paradise which is promised to the righteous people in the life hereafter; and that, if not for the “sin of Adam”, the whole of mankind would have been living up there in Heaven as progeny of Adamas. The garden of Eden was here on earth near Iraq as mentioned in (Gen. 2:10-14). But the heavenly Paradise belongs to the “other world” and it cannot be inherited as somebody’s progeny. It has to be earned through God’s grace by submitting to His will and sincerely obeying His commandments.
In the story of Adamas and Eve we have an important lesson to learn that the devil (Satan) is our enemy disguised as a friend who is always trying to lure us away from God so as to deprive us of the paradise which God has prepared for His righteous people.
(6d-iv) Everlasting life, Adam’s sin and physical death.
It is also wrong to think that the death that we face here on earth, has been imposed on us due to the “sin of Adam”; and that, if Adamas had not sinned, we would have lived here on earth “forever”. We should remember that God has decreed that we shall return to dust because we are dust and because we have been taken out of the ground; and not because somebody had “sinned” (Gen. 3:19). Moreover, God has said, “My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.” (Gen. 6:3 )
Here we have a clear verdict of God that the “spirit of life” which He had breathed into man, will not abide in him forever, not because he had committed “a sin”, but because “he is flesh”. The flesh is made out of dust, and once the spirit leaves the body, the flesh goes to the ground and disintegrates to become dust again.
So man’s physical death has nothing to do with Adam’s sin, if any. However, the “death” which comes with the sin, is the “spiritual death”; and man “dies of it” when his relationship with his Creator is disturbed. And it is this “death” which we all should be afraid of, and try our best to avoid. The ambitious and materialistic people have mixed up this spiritual death with the physical death which in fact is a “new birth” in the world hereafter. And it is there in the “hereafter” that we shall start our real everlasting life in “our home with our Father”. ‘The Preacher’ says:
“Or ever the silver cord be loosed, or the golden bowl be broken, or the pitcher be broken at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern. Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.” (Eccles. 12:6,7)
(6d-v) The ‘tree of life’, another forbidden tree for Adam .
In the end of the biblical story of Adam, we are told:
“And the Lord God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever: Therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.” (Gen. 3:22-23)
In these verses we are told that apart from the “tree of knowledge of good and evil”, there was another tree in the garden known as the “Tree of Life”, and that Adamas was not allowed to eat the fruit of this tree too. When God saw that Adamas had eaten the fruit of the first forbidden tree, gaining thereby the knowledge of good and evil, God feared that Adamas might eat from the “tree of life” too, and thus “live forever”. So God drove him away from the garden to till the earth and toil for his living.
It is argued by some that if Adamas had not taken the fruit of the first forbidden tree, and had not gained the knowledge of good and evil, then he would have been allowed to eat the fruit of the “tree of life”, and thus Adamas, and his descendants, would have lived forever on earth . So they accuse Adamas that he and his descendants have been deprived of “everlasting” life and condemned to death as a punishment for eating the forbidden fruit and gaining thereby the knowledge of good and evil.
(6d-vi) Strange and baseless logic
This strange logic has further complicated the already difficult narrative. Now we are told that there were two trees in the garden of Eden, the fruits of which were forbidden to Adamas. But there is nothing in the story to suggest that if Adamas had not eaten the fruit of the first forbidden tree, and had not gained the knowledge of good and evil, he would have been allowed to eat the fruit of the “tree of life”. On the contrary, we see that God took drastic steps to make sure that the “tree of life” remains out of the reach of Adamas. God not only drove Adamas out of the garden but also placed a “flaming sword” to guard the “tree of life”, thus making it impossible for Adamas to even to go near that tree. In this context, we cannot conceive that God could have any plan to allow Adamas to eat the fruit of the “tree of life”.
(6d-vii) Earth would have been a ‘kindergarten’ of adults
Supposing Adamas had not eaten from the first tree, and had not gained the knowledge of good and evil, and at some later stage, God had allowed Adamas to eat from the tree of life, thus giving him the everlasting life, then we would have had an earth full of simple, naive and child-like humans with little knowledge of good and evil. The whole world would have looked like a ‘kindergarten’ of grown up childlike adults. Such a concept goes against God’s plan of creation.
God had planned to make man “[…] in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.” (Gen. 1:26). This dominion over all the other creatures, man could only have attained by gaining the knowledge of good and evil.
(6d-viii) No everlasting life without divine knowledge
As already mentioned, for man to dominate and subdue the other creatures of the world, he needs to know good from evil and right from the wrong. Also, in order to be the in “image and likeness” of God, and have everlasting life, man has to gain the knowledge of God’s attributes, and of His creation, so that he can progress in various physical, moral and spiritual fields. To help him achieve this purpose of his creation, God has provided man with the necessary knowledge through His various commandments which man needs to abide by. So we can see that the “divine knowledge” and “everlasting life”, are inter-connected and are actually the fruits of the same tree. Explaining the connection between the life and divine knowledge, Mosesas advised the people of Israel:
“See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil; In that I command thee this day to love the Lord thy God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his judgments, that thou mayest live and multiply: and the Lord thy God shall bless thee in the land whither thou goest to possess it. But if thine heart turn away, so that thou wilt not hear, but shalt be drawn away, and worship other gods, and serve them; I denounce unto you this day, that ye shall surely perish, and that ye shall not prolong your days upon the land, whither thou passest over Jordan to go to possess it. I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live.” (Dt. 30:15-19)
(6d-vx) There was only one forbidden tree
According to the Holy Quran, there was only one tree from which Adamas was told to stay away. It says:
‘And O Adam, dwell thou and thy wife in the garden and eat therefrom wherever you will, but approach not this tree lest you be among the wrongdoers.’ But Satan whispered evil suggestions to them so that he might make known to them what was hidden from them of their shame, and said, ‘Your Lord has only forbidden you this tree, lest you should become angels or such beings as live for ever.’. (Surah al-A’raf, Ch.7: V.20-21)
According to the Christian scholars too, in the original story of Adamas and Eve, it was only one tree which bore the fruits of both, the knowledge of good and evil and everlasting life. The Peake’s Commentary writes:
“Similarly, the analysis of the text has shown that in the original form of the myth, there was only one tree whose nature was not disclosed so that we may assume that it is the Yahwist himself who has shaped the myth so as to present the two contrasted trees with different properties, one of them containing the fruits of forbidden knowledge and the other containing the fruit of immortal life.” (Arthur Peake, Peake’s Commentary on the Bible, 1962, under Genesis, cultic traditions, Sec. 146c, p.180)