Immortality in the Torah
One theological notion to substantiate
the resurrection is the story of Adam.
It is interpreted traditionally that he was immortal before the apple incident. Nothing in the text supports this bizarre view. First of all, consider the terrible fate of a human being sentenced to eternal life. Who would ever like anything eternal? Eternity is good for someone who exists out the dimension of time, like God and perhaps souls, but not for time-counting human beings.
Adam ate fruit: clearly, if he stopped eating, he would have died. The animals around him were mortal, killed later by Abel. It is therefore hardly plausible that man was the only immortal living being around.
Look at the text. In Genesis 3:3, God warns Adam against eating the fruit of knowledge lest he be destroyed. The word for destroyed is grammatically an emphatic passive verb, it does not denote a condition (like becoming mortal). There is no hint that otherwise Adam would have lived eternally. It is like the sign on an electric pole that reads, “Danger! Death!” True, Adam did not die immediately upon eating the apple, but perhaps the warning was not literal, or he was forgiven, or God just saw no point in killing the only human around. Not all of those who climb the electric pole die, either.
In Genesis 3:22, Adam’s potential immortality is related to the tree of life. He became like a god in knowing good from evil, and now he could become even closer to them by becoming immortal.
Theoretically, it is possible that God accepted an ignorant immortal man, but refused immortality to a person who knew morality.
That’s not illogical: such a person can perform an infinite number of immoral actions during his lifetime. Infinite immorality sounds like too much. Curious as the interpretation is, it is not supported textually.
It is interpreted traditionally that he was immortal before the apple incident. Nothing in the text supports this bizarre view. First of all, consider the terrible fate of a human being sentenced to eternal life. Who would ever like anything eternal? Eternity is good for someone who exists out the dimension of time, like God and perhaps souls, but not for time-counting human beings.
Adam ate fruit: clearly, if he stopped eating, he would have died. The animals around him were mortal, killed later by Abel. It is therefore hardly plausible that man was the only immortal living being around.
Look at the text. In Genesis 3:3, God warns Adam against eating the fruit of knowledge lest he be destroyed. The word for destroyed is grammatically an emphatic passive verb, it does not denote a condition (like becoming mortal). There is no hint that otherwise Adam would have lived eternally. It is like the sign on an electric pole that reads, “Danger! Death!” True, Adam did not die immediately upon eating the apple, but perhaps the warning was not literal, or he was forgiven, or God just saw no point in killing the only human around. Not all of those who climb the electric pole die, either.
In Genesis 3:22, Adam’s potential immortality is related to the tree of life. He became like a god in knowing good from evil, and now he could become even closer to them by becoming immortal.
Theoretically, it is possible that God accepted an ignorant immortal man, but refused immortality to a person who knew morality.
That’s not illogical: such a person can perform an infinite number of immoral actions during his lifetime. Infinite immorality sounds like too much. Curious as the interpretation is, it is not supported textually.
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