How can we say that Adam was perfect and without sin when he chose to sin?
I've heard some people argue that if Adam could choose to sin, then it follows that he wasn't truly perfect. What do you think?
Genesis 5:1
NKJV - 1 This is the book of the genealogy of Adam. In the day that God created man, He made him in the likeness of God.
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Asked January 22 2017
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Anonymous
For follow-up discussion and general commentary on the topic. Comments are sorted chronologically.
Jennifer Rothnie
Adam was made 'very good' according to Gen 1:31. That is pleasing or agreeable - not necessarily perfect. Adam didn't need to have the perfect attributes of God in order to be counted as 'very good' for the purposes of creation.
The first act of his disobedience recorded is eating the fruit (or possibly standing by without stopping his wife, or taking it from her hand) - which is why it is normally taught that he was without sin until that time. Plus, scripture points out directly in Rom 5 that it was through Adam (not Eve) that sin and death entered the world.
Kenneth Heck
Yes, neither Adam nor creation itself were perfect, rather only very good according to the judgment of God (Gen:1:31). Of the three persons involved in the original sin - Adam, Eve and the serpent, only Adam was explicitly told he would die (return to the dust he was taken from).