There is no such evidence for their pre-existence before the foundation of the world.
You say so so I must accept??? Riiiiight.....<facepalm>
When we talked to a tribunal Mormon elders ç1975, we and our PCE, were rejected by their curse on us for following a Satanic spirit because our Christology and our understanding of our pre-conception existence was too orthodox for them, so I guess not. Does that help?
Eve was deceived. Which is a sign of innocence and immaturity.
So why did GOD allow her to be tempted? Without agreeing with your statement, I think that a free will decision can only be made when all the results, the consequences of the choice, are recognized and considered or it is a guess based upon nothing, not what we really hope for at all. It takes a maturity of intellect to make a true free will choice.
IF Eve was a newly created innocent, a
tabula rasa knowing nothing at all, then why did YHWH not discuss with her the dangers the serpent presented? Why did HE even allow the serpent access to her? HIS acceptance of the serpent in the garden could be construed as a very unloving thing to do with HIS newly created, innocent, elect member of HIS Church, a person chosen as HIS Bride ! since HE obviously knew she would obviously be deceived and defiled by the serpent's evil intent???
So I ask, "Why would GOD treat Eve so?" Why permit her to go through this experience with the serpent and be deceived and defiled?
This reminds me of
1 Timothy 1:9 We also know that the law is made not for the righteous but for lawbreakers and rebels, the ungodly and sinful...etc, etc. Why were Adam and Eve given a command if they were righteous in their innocence when the law is only given to sinners to convict them of sin?
Romans 3:20 Therefore no one will be justified in His sight by works of the Law. For the Law merely brings awareness of / convicts of sin. ??
Awareness is 1922
epígnōsis "knowledge gained through first-hand relationship".
When this verse is applied to Adam and Eve It would seem to say that they were already sinful even though they had not yet eaten and the command was given to bring them to the awareness, the knowledge gained through first-hand experience, that they were sinners. The reference to their
not being ashamed is weird if they have nothing to be ashamed of, ie,
if they were just created in innocence BUT if they were indeed sinful but thought that they were righteous ( as most sinners think) then having their eyes opened to their sinfulness by breaking the command not to eat, they realized their sinfulness and became ashamed.
While
naked is a metaphor used in the Bible for sinfulness, it is notable that the word chosen to refer to their nakedness is the same word used to describe
the evil of the serpent's cunning, ie, they are homonyms, the same word with two meanings. The vowel marks that differentiate the word
naked from the word
cunning in evil were added by the Masoretes ç600AD. Thus the verse
Genesis 2:25 Adam and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame. could be as easily read:
Genesis 2:25 Adam and his wife were both cunning in an evil way, but they felt no shame.
So, if we limit ourselves to just these hints (ignoring the 4 or 5 others) that Adam and Evil were already sinful in the garden before eating, we can see an obvious reason for GOD allowing the evil serpent access to HIS not so innocent daughter ie, to open her eyes to her sinfulness so she could become ashamed, repent and come to Christ. Neither is it too far a leap to suggest that
IF her sin before eating had to do with her willingness to accept the serpent as a mentor or even a pastor then to follow his logic into disobedience, opening her eyes to his total lack of caring for her and that to him she was only a pawn in his game against GOD opened her eyes the depths of his evil.
After letting him trick her out of Paradise with the truth that as an elect she would not die, ie, would never suffer hell, you can bet that she never gave him another opportunity to defile her again and was quite willing to see him damned and condemned out of her life. This is the story of all the elect, the lesson we are to learn writ large in the first story of the Bible; the serpent is a liar, we are sinners and we will never return to Paradise until the demons are all banished to the outer darkness.
