Cheryl Schatz

gengwall,
You said:

You believe that if she had stayed in the garden, that loss of innocence would have actually helped her guard against further sin. Maybe so. But it is far fetched to believe that to be true when she lived for hundreds of years in a quickly deteriorating world of sin under the harsh rule of her tyrant husband.

I for sure would have a problem living without getting overly angry or responding in sin to a husband who took dominion over me, but how would a woman who doesn’t have a sin nature fair? She would handle it better than I for sure. The issue is that nowhere does the Scripture talk about Eve having a sin nature and speculation about how she did that in the sinful world isn’t probably helpful.

I find the notion that she never sinned again in those hundreds of years to be quite unbelievable. Which brings us back to 3:16 – wouldn’t any future sin of Eve’s be as apparent to God as Adam’s sinful “rule” and couldn’t 3:16 therefore be just as predictive of Eve’s sinful behavior as it is of Adam’s.

We would have to assume that Genesis 3:16 is predicting her sin but the language used isn’t telling us that especially without an antagonist character shown in the passage.

And what would Eve’s practicing sin after sin after sin do to her future seed? When would a practice of sin become a sin nature? And if she had a sin nature why do her offspring not become affected by this sin nature? Do you see how the way we view Eve has further implications for her offspring and that one special “seed”?

Still not buying it. Adam, on the other hand, is universally like all husbands who bring only bad things to marriage?

No, I don’t think so. Adam was one who was said to have acted treacherously. If I put beside Adam the godly men that I know, I don’t think that any of them would act like Adam did. I think they would speak out and not let their wives be deceived. Adam was one man who was unique. He alone brought sin into the world and he represents not just husbands but all of us in our sinful ways.

Where is the verse that describes the good things husbands bring to marriage?

Jesus is the best example of a godly husband and those who follow his example are to be commended.

Where is the verse that describes the bad things wives bring to marriage?

Here it is:

Proverbs 25:24 (NASB) It is better to live in a corner of the roof Than in a house shared with a contentious woman.

I guess you can call this one “the nag”.

This still leaves the situation at “good spouse, bad spouse” in God’s only predictive statement about marriage as it relates to the fall.

So where does this verse actually say that it is about all marriages not just one marriage? Perhaps we have all gone too far with trying to relate all of us to this verse.