Why did Adam eat the forbidden fruit?
The answer commonly given comes from Gen. 3:17 by way of Pauline interpretation: he listened to Eve. Eve was deceived by the serpent and therefore ate of the fruit, and Adam listened to Eve and ate of the fruit as well.
But why did he listen to her? Is it her fault? Is it his fault? Is it the serpent's fault?
The serpent beguiled Eve. She listened to the serpent instead of obeying God. Adam listened to Eve instead of obeying God. All three were cursed. Note that, when God asked Adam whether he'd eaten of the tree of knowledge, he blamed Eve (Gen 3:12). When God asked Eve what she'd done, she blamed the serpent (v. 13). So God cursed first the serpent, and then Eve, and then Adam. Is there significance to this order? Was it first the serpent's fault, and then Eve's fault, and then Adam's?
In Romans 5:12-19, we read that sin entered the world through Adam's transgression (disobedience), not through either the serpent or through Eve. Does this mean that original sin is imputed to Adam, and that he is responsible for that sin? (In I Corinthians 15:22 Paul says that "in Adam" all die.)
Paul tells Timothy that women are not to teach men or exercise authority over them (I Timothy 2). The common assumption is that Paul is referring to an institutional setting (church) or an organized gathering of believers for worship and instruction, yet such inference is based upon the fact that Paul gives instruction for overseers and elders. His letter, however, consists of general instructions for believers which cover a wide range of topics and relationships. Most likely, Paul's words are for the Christian community in general, members of which would certainly interact, both with each other and with Timothy, in settings other than gathering for instruction or worship.
In I Corinthians chapter 11, we are told that man is the head of the woman; Christ is the head of the man; and God is the head of Christ. Woman is the glory of man, and was created for his sake. Man is the glory of God, so his head is uncovered, but woman is the glory of man, so (assumed) her head is only uncovered in the man's presence. For "those inclined to be contentious, we have no other practice." (v. 16). This obviously has to do with a cultural practice, although headship and creation order and creation purpose (woman for man) are not cultural. But Paul says, in v. 10: "the woman ought to have a symbol of authority on her head, because of the angels."
So here, the only other place in the NT besides I Timothy 2:12 which mentions the authority of men over women, it is said to be because of the angels. (Anyone know what that means?) The word "authority" here is also translated "power" in some versions. (The ASV renders "authority" as "dominion" in I Tim. 2:12.)
Is Paul's instruction pertaining to women teaching or exercising authority over men about headship and leadership and authority, or about propriety, or about protecting men from the deceit of women...or some combination of these? Or simply honor due purpose (which includes propriety)? Surely men are deceived by other men, and by their own thoughts and hearts, and lead others astray, including women. And surely men are often corrected and saved from error by the words of a woman. Ought men not have the strength to obey God no matter whom attempts to deceive them? Ought women not have the strength to obey God regardless of whom attempts to deceive them?
Woman was made for man, to help him and not deceive him, obviously. But she was obviously also created with the ability to be deceived, and to listen to someone other than God and Adam, and Adam was created with the ability to listen to someone other than God and be led astray.
But not only did Adam take and eat of the fruit himself, he also failed to prevent Eve from eating it. Why? Why didn't he try to stop her? Is it because he allowed her authority over him? In a sense, yes. What about the serpent? Did Eve allow the serpent to have authority over her in place of her husband's? We don't know, because the serpent asks her, in Gen 3:1, "Has God said, 'You shall not eat from any tree in the garden?"
Perhaps we can assume that Eve was told about the tree by Adam, who was told by God before she was made, although we are not told this explicitly anywhere in Scripture. Even Paul does not say who told whom what; he simply says that Adam was created before Eve, and that Eve was created from Adam for Adam, and that Eve was deceived. Did Adam have authority over Eve simply because he was created first, as Paul says, and is it assumed that when the serpent said, "Has God said," he meant, "Has God said, through your husband?" Did Adam's word from God have authority for Eve simply because he heard it first and passed it on to her, because God speaks to men before women, and women can only hear God's word as passed to them by men?
Must we say, based on Romans 5, that women are responsible for misleading men, if it is through Adam's transgression that sin entered the world? This would depend upon whether Adam is actually responsible, due to sin's having entered the world through him. Whether he is or not, was Adam's sin that he listened to Eve, or that he disobeyed God? Was his (and Eve's) disobedience one of ignoring proper roles, or was it simply that neither Eve nor Adam heeded the words of God not to eat of the forbidden fruit? Did Eve not heed her husband's words (from God), or did she not heed God's words, in leading both herself and her husband astray?
In other words, was the original disobedience a role reversal, or was it simply that both Eve and Adam failed to obey God regarding the tree of knowledge?
What if Adam had offered the fruit to Eve? What if Eve had eaten the fruit given her by Adam? I know it didn't happen that way, but surely men listen to "serpents" rather than God too, and so mislead women. What of that?
What was the original sin -- a disregard for gender role, or a disregard of God's instruction about the forbidden fruit? Did God's command have to do with gender role, or were both Adam and Eve responsible to obey God's command regarding the tree of knowledge before the words of any and all others?
