What did Adam know about evil before the fall?

[tonychanyt]

Genesis 2:

15 The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. 16 And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.”
18 The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.”

Adam knew the difference between good and not good. Adam's conscience informed him that evil was not good or the opposite of good.

Gen 3:

21 The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them. 22 And the Lord God said, “The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil.

At this point, Adam and Eve had experienced evil and shame.

How could God expect Adam and Eve to make a correct decision when they had no knowledge of good or evil?

In Gen 2, they understood the lexical meaning of "evil". They knew disobeying God was not good. In Gen 3, they acquired their own independent ability to decide what was good and evil.

 

[Josheb]

Adam knew the difference between good and not good. Adam's conscience informed him that evil was not good or the opposite of good.

Very astute observation. That is exactly correct. Adam could have recognized that which was not-good simply because it was not good. This is what the evangelist Francis Schaffer call the knowledge of contrast, the knowledge of antithesis by pure thesis. Adam did not just know about good; he was good (Gen. 1:31).

At this point, Adam and Eve had experienced evil and shame.

That's not all. He had not merely experienced it; he had become it. He was no longer good, unashamed and sinless. He was instantly not good, ashamed, and sinful and so sinful he was dead in sin. That is NOT how God originally made him. By what measure, then, would a not-good creature measure good? Where previously every fiber had been good and absent of sin, now every fiber was adulterated and there was nothing pure by which anything might be appraised.

How could God expect Adam and Eve to make a correct decision when they had no knowledge of good or evil?

In Gen 2, they understood the lexical meaning of "evil". They knew disobeying God was not good. In Gen 3, they acquired their own independent ability to decide what was good and evil.

Well, to be accurate, the Bible does not use the word "evil" for several chapters after the fall. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil existed in the garden but God does not use the word "evil" until He examines the earth in Genesis 6, many generations after Eden. Are we to think this is haphazard or unintended? No, I think not. What then is the reason for the silence?

Somethings are not good. Other things are evil. By the time God looked upon the earth in the days of Noah the effects of Adam's disobedience had become pervasive.

Genesis 6:5
Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

And yet Noah was deemed a righteous, blameless man who walked with God.

Genesis 6:8-9
But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD. These are the records of the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his time; Noah walked with God.

Care with the word "evil" should be taken so that our usage reconciles with scripture.

 

[fhansen]

Adam didn't know evil at all. He had to learn the hard way apparently, directly, as we all do.