Did Adam And Eve Need to Fall?

Many Christians believe that if Adam and Eve had not partaken of the forbidden fruit, we would be living joyful lives in the Garden of Eden with them, even to this day. If not in the garden itself, then certainly somewhere else on the paradisaical earth that was their pre-fall home.

Think about it. There would be no death, no sickness, nothing but happiness and joy! Doesn’t that sound wonderful indeed?

But is it realistic?

No sickness would be nice, but no death?

It’s been estimated some 20-30 billion people have lived on earth since the beginning of human habitation on this planet. I personally think it’s closer to the 30 billion mark. Add to that our current 6+ billion people and you have quite a handful.

Overpopulation, anyone?


There’s been concerns since the late 1960s about the alleged overpopulation of the planet. Personally, I’ve never considered this a problem. I always figured God knew what he was doing and would have had a plan to handle this potential problem. Unfortunately, mankind also has a plan to handle this situation; we just kill each other with abandon—wars, wars and more wars, sadly, most in the name of one religion or another.

Still, the argument persists. However, I would agree that our large cities are overpopulated. There’s plenty of space out in the country.

But think what it would be like if there were 30+ billion people on the earth all at one time. That would be the result if death hadn’t been introduced into the world. So, is no death really what we would want?

Then there’s the matter of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. If God had wanted Adam and Eve to live forever in the Garden of Eden, would he have planted the tree of knowledge of good and evil in their midst? And then command them not to partake of it? It would seem rather counterproductive if they were to remain in the garden forever, don’t you think?

The truth is: If that’s all God ever did, Adam and Eve would likely still be in the garden to this very day—all by themselves! (I’ll get to that in a minute.) Why? Because God told them not to partake of it. They didn’t know to do anything different. They were like little children. They were as innocent as babes. Remember:

“And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.” (Genesis 2:25).

So, what did God do? He allowed Satan, personified as a serpent, to enter the garden to tempt Adam and Eve. Tempt them to do what? To partake of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Right. You knew that.

If God had meant for Adam and Eve to remain forever in the garden, why on earth would he allow Satan into the garden to tempt them to eat of the forbidden fruit? Just because? I don’t think so. God doesn’t do anything “just because.” He’s not a scientist in a laboratory and we are not his white mice.

The tree of knowledge of good and evil was Adam and Eve’s only no-no. They had the green light for everything else. So that’s what Satan worked on. Surely God didn’t think Adam and Eve could, even in their innocence, resist the Tempter’s snares forever? Would your little 2-year-old under similar circumstances?

The only conclusion I can draw is that God fully intended Adam and Eve to partake of the forbidden fruit because death was to be an integral part of the human experience. And not just physical death, but spiritual death, or separation from the immediate presence of God. I also believe death was necessary so Adam and Eve could fulfill the commandment they, and all of us, were given when we were first created.

“And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth” (Genesis 1:28).

Are two babies ashamed of their nakedness when placed next to each another? No, of course not. Neither were Adam and Eve because they were as innocent as those two babes.

If you have one baby boy and one baby girl next to each other, would they immediately start having sexual desires? Of course not. And neither did Adam and Eve, nor could they until they lost their innocence and became mortal.

If Adam and Eve had remained in the garden until this day, they would be just as innocent as they were the day they were first brought together. How could it be otherwise?

Because death was necessary, the fall was necessary. God knew Adam and Eve would eventually have to fall and become mortal or else no children would be born into the world. Hence, the necessity of Satan to tempt them to partake of the forbidden fruit. Basically, Adam and Eve fell so we might be born into the world, although they didn’t know it at the time.

All joy and happiness?

Isn’t it a true statement that we cannot truly know either joy nor happiness until we’ve known sorrow and unhappiness? What would there be to compare joy against, for instance, if we had not known sorrow? Nothing. Without sorrow, we would be in a constant state of joy without even knowing we were experiencing joy. What joy is there in that?

I believe the greater the depths of the sorrow and unhappiness we experience allows us to be able to experience joy and happiness to that same degree. It’s similar to the law of physics that states: For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. We can only know joy and happiness to the degree that we have experienced sadness and unhappiness. The same goes for all the other emotions, I believe.

But remember this: Adam and Eve were in a state of innocence. Without whatever the tree of knowledge of good and evil was or represented, well . . . they could not know what good and evil were. Without good and evil being present, how could they experience those emotions that are associated with them?

They couldn’t.

And that’s why Adam and Eve had to partake of the forbidden fruit. If they didn’t, they would never be able to experience happiness or joy, nor pain or hurt or sorrow.

I know we often wish we didn’t have to experience pain, hurt, sorrow nor any of the other negative emotions. Yet, they’re all part of the earth experience. We wouldn’t be able to experience the highs without having to experience the lows. And neither could Adam and Eve.

So, we might say there are at least three grand benefits that derived from the fall of Adam and Eve, and without any perceived drawbacks (by me, at any rate):

1. We get to be born.
2. We get to experience a wide variety of emotions and life drama—some good and some bad, but all instructive.
3. We get to die.

Now, some may not look at the experience of death and dying as benefits. But remember this: As life existed before this mortality, so will life exist after this mortality.

Physicists are now saying that consciousness is eternal. Some are even saying that consciousness and photons (light particles) are all there is at the quantum level.

Our consciousnesses didn’t just spring into existence the moment we exited from our mothers’ wombs. They are eternal. We are eternal.

I’ll touch upon that subject next time. Until then, peace and joy.