Are 'right' and 'wrong' equal with 'good' and 'evil'?

[InSlaveryToChrist]

I ask this question in relation to Adam's fall:

Since Adam was clearly told by God to not break His commandment ("Ye shall not eat of [the tree in the midst of the garden], neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die."), he could not possibly NOT have knowledge of 'right' and 'wrong', or he had no ears. Besides, the Bible says that the knowledge of SIN is by God's law, that is, by the revelation of God's commandment(s). Yet, it is proclaimed that Adam had not the knowledge of 'good' and 'evil' before his fall, since it was only to be gained through breaking God's commandment (eating of the forbidden tree).

Evidently there is a distinction to be made between 'right' and 'good', and 'wrong' and 'evil'. What say ye?

 

[Peairtach]

neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.

The above phrase was apparently added by Eve, by the way.

Adam had no personal or subjective experience of evil (i.e. moral evil) before he fell. And he had no personal or subjective experience of the contrast between doing good and doing evil before he fell.

What about God then, because we read:

Then the LORD God said, "Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever--" (Gen 3:22, ESV)

We know that God has no personal or subjective experience of doing what is evil or sinful, but because God is omniscient and otherwise knows good and evil inside out, and because there had already been a Fall into sin by the Devil and his angels, God had a knowledge of good and evil that Adam did not have before he fell, but which Adam was only starting to enter into, now that he had fallen.

 

[earl40]

I have asked a similar question in that "Did Adam know that eating the fruit was bad?". Never got a good answer. Most reply Adam knew it was forbidden thus bad, but scripture clearly says the tree imparted the knowledge of good and evil after he ate.

 

[Peairtach]

Adam had no personal, subjective, intimate knowledge of evil or its consequences until he sinned.

When we partake of Christ and Him Crucified by faith we receive life (The Tree of Life) and we receive a new knowledge of good and evil (The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil).

The Two Trees - to which we no longer have access - point beyond themselves to the provision by God of a Third "Tree", the Cross.

 

[InSlaveryToChrist]

Adam had no personal, subjective, intimate knowledge of evil or its consequences until he sinned.

And for this very reason we can truly appreciate God's love for us and have a special relationship with Him, whereas unfallen angels, preserved by the grace of God, have no such knowledge, and thus, are jealous of the great privilege which is offered to the mankind!

When we partake of Christ and Him Crucified by faith we receive life (The Tree of Life) and we receive a new knowledge of good and evil (The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil).

The Two Trees - to which we no longer have access - point beyond themselves to the provision by God of a Third "Tree", the Cross.

I've never thought of Christ, as portraying The Tree of Life, giving us "a new knowledge of good and evil". Very interesting. Could you further illustrate what you mean by a NEW knowledge of good and evil? Also, couldn't we say that we have a FORMER knowledge of good and evil through Adam's eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil? In other words, Does Adam's personal experience of evil somehow make us experience evil personally?

 

[Peairtach]

Could you further illustrate what you mean by a NEW knowledge of good and evil?

Being in Christ we see sin - and our sin in particular - in a new light in contrast to God's goodness towards us - love for us - in Christ. We also have a new appreciation of God's goodness, as seen in Christ's Person and Work.

In our earlier states of original righteousness in Adam, and our fallenness in Adam, we did not know Good and Evil as we now know them.

Moral evil as a breach of what is summarised in the Ten Commandments, which in turn are summarised in the Great Commandment," You shall love the Lord Your God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength", is an expression of Man's hatred and enmity towards God.

Now that we know God in Christ - the Last Adam - we know both Good and Evil better than Adam and Eve knew them in the Garden, better than they knew them after the Fall, and better than we knew them, before we knew God as Saviour.