When God asked Eve why she and Adam had Eden eaten the forbidden fruit, she said the serpent had deceived her. God accepted her explanation and punished the serpent. Paul described the event the same way, saying Eve became a sinner because she was deceived by the serpent.

But if you look at what the serpent said would happen and compare it with what the Bible says actually happened, you’ll find that every single statement the serpent made was true:

• The serpent said eating the fruit wouldn’t kill them, and it didn’t.
• The serpent said their eyes would be opened when they ate the fruit, and they were.
• The serpent said the fruit would give them knowledge of good and evil, and it did.
• The serpent said this new knowledge would make them become like God, and God said it had.

God is the one who deceived Adam and Eve! He told them they would die when they ate the fruit, but they did not die at that time. I don’t know about Eve, but Adam continued to live for hundreds and hundreds of years after sin entered the world!

Non-explanation

Some people try to partially explain this by saying Adam and Eve became mortal when they ate the fruit. But God didn’t say they would become mortal when they ate the fruit and then die hundreds of years later. He said they would die when they ate the fruit. Besides, they never ate the fruit from the tree of life that would make them live forever, so wouldn’t they already be mortal?