Did Adam Go to Hell?

The Biblical story of creation and Adam and Eve is one of the most widely known
stories in the world. It's also a story which has about as many interpretations as it does
readers. Whether you take the story literally or metaphorically, there are so many details
left out that you can freely read into it almost any ultimate meaning and purpose. For
example, I've heard one interpretation which reads it as a kind of "Romeo and Juliet",
where Adam knew his wife did something wrong, and he ate the fruit himself knowing it
would kill him, as an act of love. I've also heard many teachers speculating on what
Adam and Eve should have done. Eve should have told her husband, "Honey, something
is wrong, we have a talking snake, and it's telling me to disobey God", then Adam
should have crushed the intruder with his foot. We could also speculate on what would
have happened if they had not sinned. Would everything have been perfect? Would we
still be living naked in a garden? Wouldn't the possibility for the fall still have been
possible for future generations, leaving that danger forever to dangle in front of the
human race? It's also fun to imagine what Adam and Eve did while they weren't
disobeying God. What did they talk about? What language did they speak? Did they
have any pets? Did they plan to build a house? And of course, what did they look like?
We've all seen those horrible Medieval paintings where Eve looks horribly fat, and
Adam looks like a 60 year old caveman. I would like to think they were young and
attractive.

Now, there is nothing wrong with using your imagination to fill in the gaps. It's normal
to want to know more than the story tells us. My only complaint is that much of what
I've heard taught about the story, isn't even in the story. Here is what I'm asking you to
do. Open your Bible to Genesis, and read chapters two and three. Now read the
following statements and decide if they are true or false based on the text alone. This is
an open book test.

Satan was present in the Garden in the form of a serpent.

Adam and Eve were created immortal beings.

Adam and Eve were created perfect.

God gave Adam a soul.

God gave Adam and Eve a free will.

The Garden of Eden was a perfect place.

There was only one forbidden tree in the garden.

God warned Adam and Eve about hell.

God said if they ate the fruit they would die spiritually.

When Eve ate the fruit, Adam was somewhere else in the garden.

Adam and Eve should have known that what they were doing was wrong.

God didn't accept Eve's excuse.

God cursed the man and the woman.

God didn't tell Adam and Eve where they would go after death.

Cain was the first one to shed blood.

Ready to check your answers? All of the above statements are false, based on the text.
Let's take a look:

Satan was present in the Garden in the form of a serpent.

This is probably the most common misconception about the story. The story tells us that
there was a talking snake, not the devil or Satan. Nowhere is it implied that the serpent is
Satan, or that the serpent is possessed by Satan. In fact, Satan doesn't even appear in the
Bible until the book of 1 Chronicles. You may be thinking that in Revelation, the devil is
called "that old serpent", but this proves nothing. Just because Satan is called a serpent
in Revelation doesn't not mean that every time a serpent is mentioned that it refers to
Satan. For example in Numbers 21:8 we read, And the LORD said unto Moses, Make
thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that
is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live. Here we have a serpent which brings
healing to the people. Another example is that both Jesus and Satan are called lions.
Satan is a roaring loin looking for someone to devour, while Jesus is called the Lion of
Judah. They are obviously not the same lion. Are you still not convinced? Look at 3:1 -
Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had
made. The serpent is described as just one of the beasts which the Lord had made. This
hardly sounds like the description of a fallen angel. And the penalty for the serpent is
found in verse 14 Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and
above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all
the days of thy life. "All the days of thy life" implies that this is an animal, not some
immortal spirit being. Also, look at this part of the punishment, "upon thy belly shalt
thou go, and dust shalt thou eat...." When we see Satan in the book of Job, this is what
we find: And the LORD said unto Satan, Whence comest thou? Then Satan answered
the LORD, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and
down in it. 1:7. Satan is walking up and down in the earth, not crawling upon his belly
as the cursed serpent.

Adam and Eve were created immortal beings.

Although God told Adam and Eve they would die if they ate the forbidden fruit, this
does not imply that they were made immortal. In fact, we know they were not immortal
because immortal beings cannot die. Furthermore, in 1 Timothy, chapter 6 we read that
God alone has immortality.

Adam and Eve were created perfect.

This is neither stated nor implied. Adam and Eve were just two ordinary people. If they
were perfect, they wouldn't have screwed things up so badly.

God gave Adam a soul.

Read it for yourself: And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and
breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. 2:7. Adam
became a soul, he was not given a soul. You do not have a soul, you are a soul.

God gave Adam and Eve a free will.

Although Adam and Eve had a limited ability to make choices, this does not mean they
had free will. Even animals and computers make choices, but this is not the same as
having a free will. Nowhere in the Bible are we told that man has a free will.

The Garden of Eden was a perfect place.

I fail to see what is so great about two naked people living in a garden. Without shelter,
without technology, and with nothing much to do but tend a garden and name some
animals hardly sounds like paradise to me. Although God called his creation "good",
good does not necessarily mean perfect.

There was only one forbidden tree in the garden.

There were two: And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to
know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life,
and eat, and live for ever. (3:14) Apparently, the tree of life was also forbidden.

God warned Adam and Eve about hell.

Here is what God said, But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not
eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. (2:17) Not only is
there no warning of hell here, there is not one verse in the entire Old Testament which
supports the doctrine of eternal torment in hell. So to answer my question in the title:
No, Adam didn't go to hell. But, if Adam did go to hell, then that means God lied to him,
and it was a pretty big lie.

God said if they ate the fruit they would die spiritually.
Just as the verse above says, the penalty was death, not spiritual death (whatever that is).

When Eve ate the fruit, Adam was somewhere else in the garden.
No, he was with her: she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her
husband with her; (3:6)

Adam and Eve should have known that what they were doing was wrong.
How could they have known, since they did not even have the knowledge of good and
evil until they ate the fruit? It was an unfair test. They hear one voice telling them not to
eat the fruit and another voice says that the first voice was lying. How could they have
known it was evil to disobey the first voice when they didn't have the knowledge of
good and evil yet?

God didn't accept Eve's excuse.

Eve blamed the serpent, and it appears that God agreed that it was the serpent's fault.
And the LORD God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the
woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat. And the LORD God said unto the
serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every
beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy
life: (3:13-14)

God cursed the man and the woman.

No, God cursed the serpent and the ground. The man and the women were judged, but
not cursed.

God didn't tell Adam and Eve where they would go after death.
God told them exactly what death was and where they would go after death: In the
sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it
wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return. That's right, they
would return to where they came from - the ground.

Cain was the first one to shed blood.

It was God who was the first to shed blood (of an animal, that is): Unto Adam also and
to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them. The skins had to
have come from dead animals, unless there was J.C. Penny in the garden that we weren't
told about.
I'm sure there are many more misconceptions about the Biblical creation story. The next
time you read this account, put down all the commentaries and forget everything you
were ever taught about Adam and Eve. Then just try take the story at face value,
especially if you claim to take it literally, and see what it really says, and what it does
not say.

Other articles by me:

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