Abigail Adams

This is totally hypothetical and speculative as Adam didn't have any children before the fall. But they couldn't have been corrupted by a sin which had not yet occurred. If on the other hand you mean Adam's sin corrupting any children he may have had before the fall, the answer would be yes, since sin was a universal corruption.

AnswerThis is a great question, and here is my answer, I challenge others for their thoughts on this...

Adam's sin was the 'Fall', and God spread Adam's sin to all of mankind.

AnswerI don't believe Adam had any children before the fall; if he did, I'm sure the Bible would have said something about them. The Bible makes a great deal about Eve's excitement about Cain's birth - excitement not expressed about Abel and Seth. We may conclude from Eve's wonder and excitement about having "brought forth a man!" that there were none before Cain. This renders the question hypothetical.

But for argument's sake, let's consider "what if." The question is not easy to answer. I disagree with what the previous author said about God "spreading" sin to all of mankind. It isn't God who spreads sin! There's too much to go into here, but I believe that from a legal point of view, Adam signed his offspring over to the devil when he took the forbidden fruit. Maybe the genetic code got corrupted in the process too, I don't know. What is clear is that "In Adam, all die." We all inherit his curse. Thank God that Jesus, the "Second Adam," died for our sins and broke the curse.

But that still leaves unanswered the question of whether Adam's sin would have impacted on any children he had before the fall (I'm still following the "what if" scenario). I cannot be dogmatic about that. Scripture does not address the question - most likely because the Bible is about what is true, not about what is hypothetical. As Adam was created to reign over creation, it could be that his children already born would have fallen with him. But then again, it might not be. I see no point in exploring the matter deeply, because the fundamental fact is that Adam did not have children before he fell.

AnswerActually, this matter IS addressed in the Scriptures. In fact, it forms a part of the underlying theme of the entire Bible. There's no real sense in philosophizing on Scriptural matters and throwing around our own opinions. We can use the Scriptures to explain themselves. The Genesis account makes it clear that Adam and Eve had not yet conceived offspring at the time of Adam's sin. In Genesis Chapter 3, Satan seduced Eve into eating the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, then Eve convinced Adam to do the same. After that, Adam and Eve were condemned and then cast out of the Garden of Eden. It wasn't until AFTER being cast out of the Garden that they conceived offspring. According to Genesis 4:1, "And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the LORD." (I'll use references from the King James Version, since more people are familiar with that.) With regard to the previous comment about Adam being created to reign over creation, what the Bible actually says, Genesis 1:27, is this: "And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth." Notice Adam and Eve were created for the purpose of filling the earth and converting the entire earth (not just the Garden of Eden) into a paradise. Had they not sinned, the earth today would be a paradise, and they and all their offspring would still be alive. Notice too that the dominion that God entrusted to them was over the other lower animal creation, NOT other humans. God never intended for man to reign over other men. As the Creator, God himself was to be man's ruler. After all, the purpose of the tree of knowledge of good and bad was to remind Adam, Eve, and ALL of mankind that they needed to depend on God for guidance and direction. Jeremiah 10:23 states, "O LORD, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps." In other words, man never truly had the right to decide for himself what is good and bad. It was Satan who put this idea in the head of man. As he told Eve in Genesis 3:1, "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." It was a belief in this lie that led to both Eve's and Adam's sin. With regard to the impact of this sin, Romans 5:12 states "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." So it wasn't God who spread the sin to mankind, but Adam himself who did so. 1 Corinthians 15:50 states"Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption." According to God's law, then, because Adam and Eve had become corrupt, they could not pass on incorruption, or perfection to their offspring. That point is further emphasised in Psalm 51:5, which states "Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me." In other words, from a scientific standpoint, after Adam and Eve's sin, imperfection became a part of the human genetic code, and every one of their natural offspring comes into the world as a sinner. Conversely, as mentioned earlier, had they NOT sinned they WOULD HAVE passed on INcorruption, or perfection, to their offspring and thus the entire human race. This brings us back full circle to the original question. As was already stated, Adam and Eve DID NOT conceive children before they sinned. But, IF ADAM HAD conceived and given birth to children BEFORE he sinned, would his corruption have been passed on to those (already perfect) children? For the answer, we again need only to search the Scriptures. Deuteronomy 24:16 says this: "The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, neither shall the children be put to death for the fathers: every man shall be put to death for his own sin." And Romans 14:12 says this: "So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God." So God looks at us all as individuals and does not condemn us for the sins of others. IF Adam HAD produced perfect offspring BEFORE he sinned, then, his offspring would have been personally accountable to God for their OWN actions and WOULD NOT have received the same sentence of sin and death that Adam received for HIS sin. Fortunately, though, with regard to the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, Romans 5:18,19 states: "Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous." Also, I believe the above comment made reference to 1 Corinthians 15:45, which states: " And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening (or life-giving) spirit." So by EXERCISING faith (not just believing) in Christ's sacrifice, we can avail ourselves to the value of that sacrifice and can have the wonderful hope of receiving the free gift of eternal life. At John 17:3, in prayer, Jesus said these words: " And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, AND Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent." Note that Romans 5:19, quoted above, says that "many" (not ALL) shall be made righteous. The "many" are those who do as Jesus menitoned in the above verse. They make an earnest effort to get to know the only true God AND his Son, Jesus Christ. "This", according to Jesus' words, "is life eternal." That knowledge can only come from an in-depth study of God's Word, the Bible. But with such knowledge also comes responsibility. The book of James sheds light on this fact. James 2:17,18 says: "Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works." Verses 24 and 26 follow suit, stating: "Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only... For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also." True, no amount of good works on our part will allow us to EARN salvation, since salvation is first and foremost a FREE GIFT (as noted in Romans 5:18,19, quoted above). However, the Bible makes it clear that God will only give this gift to those who love Him AND obey Him. Ecclesiastes 12:13 says this: "Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man." Likewise, Jesus himself stated at Matthew 7:21, " Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeththe will of my Father which is in heaven." So even Jesus Christ, the very founder of the Christian faith, says that meer lip service is not enough; meer FAITH is not enough. True faith is ALIVE and ACTIVE. It motivates us to action, to take the time to learn what God's Will is for us and then to DO IT!