Cindy K

I absolutely do not agree with the meaning that Ortlund ascribes to the Genesis account here, but I think that there is some Scriptural basis to argue against the points you brought up.  I will play devil’s advocate for a moment, just for the sake of thought.

Cheryl, you wrote in the original post:
3.  …Where does the Bible say that the effects of sin operating in Eve’s mind caused her to distort the command of God?

First note that all that I will bring up happened after the fall of man and after we have all been born into sin, so you could debate that this does not necessarily apply to Adam and Eve prior to original sin.  But that is a different argument that I am not offering.

I do think that one might argue that as 1 John 3:15 says, he that hateth his brother is a murderer.  He has not acted upon murder, but he has an attitude of heart that is not consistent with eternal life according to John’s epistle.

James 1 also pops into my mind.

13 Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. 14 But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. 15 Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.

James qualifies sin as being the act and is neither the desire nor the enticement.  Sin is something conceived from the seeds of desire, if we indulge it.  John’s example of hatred is neither desire or enticement but is conceived lust not acted upon.  Lust is sin.  Desire for food that is lovely like Eve was considering was not lust.

I can’t help thinking here of Cheryl’s recent blog post of “sinning through questioning.”  It is not a sin to question what something means.  Langauge is tricky, and Eve is the first person in history to engage in debate over the use of language, now the boondoggle of our day.  Thinking about what God meant and trying to put this into perspective is not a sin.  We enter into sin when ascribe our meanings to what God has said and decide it in our own minds, casting off His cords from us like ignorant fools.  Eve did not do this but was caught up in lofty words of deception.

Her action was a sin, ans as pointed out many times and places on this blog, it was very different than Adam’s sin.  Eve intended to do what was right but was decieved.  She was not acting to fulfill her own lusts (she did not eat out of lust for the fruit but because she was “drawn away” to trust in the serpent and her own reason rather than obedience God’s Word of instruction to her).  Adam ate with intent (out of either the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh or the pride of life, either one or some combination of all three).  Eve did not intend to disobey in her heart, but Adam did.

Ortlund seems to be saying that Eve set out with the willful intent to twist what God had said, as if she needed no encouragement from the serpent.  If that was true, the serpent would likely never have had to convince Eve with craft and subtlety with his “surely argument.”  All he would have had to have said was “Go ahead and eat,” and Eve would have followed the lust in her heart.

Thoughts about this, anybody?

Cheryl, you also wrote:

4.  Who said that Eve “misquoted” God?

This also reminds me of the “sinning through questioning” concept.

I don’t think Eve was attempting to quote God at all.  She clearly did know exactly what God said to her and repeats this to the serpent.  If she “quotes” anything, it is either her own understanding or she is quoting the serpent.  I think this is pretty clear from Scripture.

My comments here are not the quoting of the God’s inspired words when I am thinking through what the Word of God says.  I only do that when I am actually quoting the Word.  What I get right is still not necessiarily the Word (just me regenerated and sanctified in an area) and what I get wrong is my own error and fallenness (not yet sanctified).  No one died and left me the rank of pope.  If I have a misconception about what the Word actually means, am I misquoting God?  I don’t think so.  That just makes me human.  It makes me very much like Eve was when she was trying to discern the truth.  She just discerned wrongly.