????
What Arnold means is that there was nothing sinful in the fruit and there is nothing sinful in the act of eating. The act of eating became sinful in that case just because it went against God's will. Adam rejected God's authority - which is something which happens in the mind.

There was nothing poisonous in the fruit itself, and the sin was not merely in yielding to appetite. It was distrust of God's goodness, disbelief of His word, and rejection of His authority, that made our first parents transgressors, and that brought into the world a knowledge of evil. {Ed 25.2}

Eating was the external evidence of an internal attitude and choice.

I have that chapter in Ed all marked up. You should read the paragraphs before and after. It is still clear, no eating, no fall. I agree there was nothing poisonous that could cause death in the tree. This does not say there was nothing in the tree. Scripture says - the day you EAT...

When Eve saw "that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat." It was grateful to the taste, and, as she ate, she seemed to feel a vivifying power, and imagined herself entering upon a higher state of existence. Having herself transgressed, she became a tempter to her husband, "and he did eat." Genesis 3:6. {Ed 25.1}

"Your eyes shall be opened," the enemy had said; "ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil." Genesis 3:5. Their eyes were indeed opened; but how sad the opening! The knowledge of evil, the curse of sin, was all that the transgressors gained. {Ed 25.2} The knowledge of evil, the curse of sin, were gained by EATING.

Continuing in the same chapter:

To Adam God had said: "Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; 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." Genesis 3:17-19. {Ed 26.1}
Although the earth was blighted with the curse, nature was still to be man's lesson book. It could not now represent goodness only; for evil was everywhere present, marring earth and sea and air with its defiling touch. Where once was written only the character of God, the knowledge of good, was now written also the character of Satan, the knowledge of evil. From nature, which now revealed the knowledge of good and evil, man was continually to receive warning as to the results of sin. {Ed 26.2}
In drooping flower and falling leaf Adam and his companion witnessed the first signs of decay. Vividly was brought to their minds the stern fact that every living thing must die. Even the air, upon which their life depended, bore the seeds of death. {Ed 26.3}
Continually they were reminded also of their lost dominion. Among the lower creatures Adam had stood as king, and so long as he remained loyal to God, all nature acknowledged his rule; but when he transgressed, this dominion was forfeited. The spirit of rebellion, to which he himself had given entrance, extended throughout the animal creation. Thus not only the life of man, but the nature of the beasts, the trees of the forest, the grass of the field, the very air he breathed, all told the sad lesson of the knowledge of evil. {Ed 26.4}

Hm - ALL of Creation had been changed. Was this JUST by THINKING? Nope!

Christ never planted the seeds of death in the system. Satan planted these seeds when he tempted Adam to eat of the tree of knowledge, which meant disobedience to God. Not one noxious plant was placed in the Lord's great garden, but after Adam and Eve sinned, poisonous herbs sprang up. In the parable of the sower the question was asked the master, "Didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? From whence then hath it tares?" The master answered, "An enemy hath done this." [Matthew 13:27, 28.] All tares are sown by the evil one. Every noxious herb is of his sowing, and by his ingenious methods of amalgamation he has corrupted the earth with tares. {16MR 247.2}

Back to the given chapter in Education:

But man was not abandoned to the results of the evil he had chosen. In the sentence pronounced upon Satan was given an intimation of redemption. "I will put enmity between thee and the woman," God said, "and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel." Genesis 3:15. This sentence, spoken in the hearing of our first parents, was to them a promise. Before they heard of the thorn and the thistle, of the toil and sorrow that must be their portion, or of the dust to which they must return, they listened to words that could not fail of giving them hope. All that had been lost by yielding to Satan could be regained through Christ. {Ed 27.1}
This intimation also nature repeats to us. Though marred by sin, it speaks not only of creation but of redemption. Though the earth bears testimony to the curse in the evident signs of decay, it is still rich and beautiful in the tokens of life-giving power. The trees cast off their leaves, only to be robed with fresher verdure; the flowers die, to spring forth in new beauty; and in every manifestation of creative power is held out the assurance that we may be created anew in "righteousness and holiness of truth." Ephesians 4:24, margin. Thus the very objects and operations of nature that bring so vividly to mind our great loss become to us the messengers of hope. {Ed 27.2}

As far as evil extends, the voice of our Father is heard, bidding His children see in its results the nature of sin, warning them to forsake the evil, and inviting them to receive the good. {Ed 27.3}

And this:

Christ is the "Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world." John 1:9. As through Christ every human being has life, so also through Him every soul receives some ray of divine light. Not only intellectual but spiritual power, a perception of right, a desire for goodness, exists in every heart. But against these principles there is struggling an antagonistic power. The result of the eating of the tree of knowledge of good and evil is manifest in every man's experience. There is in his nature a bent to evil, a force which, unaided, he cannot resist. To withstand this force, to attain that ideal which in his inmost soul he accepts as alone worthy, he can find help in but one power. That power is Christ. Co-operation with that power is man's greatest need. In all educational effort should not this co-operation be the highest aim? {Ed 29.1}

NOTE - THE RESULT OF EATING OF THE TREE - in the same chapter you quoted Rosangela. She does not write, the result of thinking about it, but EATING it. Summary - no eating, no fall.

You have the whole chapter marked, but didn't explain the quote: "It was distrust of God's goodness, disbelief of His word, and rejection of His authority, that made our first parents transgressors, and that brought into the world a knowledge of evil."

What made our first parents transgressors? Distrust of God's goodness, disbelief of His word, rejection of His authority. Eating was just the consequence and evidence of what was happening in the mind.

The beginning of yielding to temptation is in the sin of permitting the mind to waver, to be inconsistent in your trust in God. The wicked one is ever watching for a chance to misrepresent God and to attract the mind to that which is forbidden. {1MCP 31.1}

To a large degree Satan has succeeded in the execution of his plans. Through the medium of influence, taking advantage of the action of mind on mind, he prevailed on Adam to sin. Thus at its very source human nature was corrupted. And ever since then sin has continued its hateful work, reaching from mind to mind. Every sin committed awakens the echoes of the original sin. {RH, April 16, 1901 par. 5}

I seriously doubt Jesus would have driven A&E out of Eden or implemented the plan of salvation had they stopped short of eating the forbidden fruit.

Amen. I agree sinful flesh nature cannot commit a sin. Sin is the stuff of choice and character. Jesus implants His nature in us when we experience conversion in God's appointed way. Note:


"It is the privilege of every believer in Christ to possess Christ's nature, a nature far above that which Adam forfeited by transgression." {UL 18.3}

Does the nature described above, Christ's nature, tempt us to indulge innocent and legitimate needs in sinful ways?

Agreed! The scripture is clear. The day you EAT...

No. The distrust LED to the fall, it was not the fall. If their distrust was their fall, them please explain how this affects the whole of nature. You can't. There is more to it. The unfallen angels also had doubts! There was a crisis in God's government AFTER the fall with respect to God's dealing with the fallen world. The unfallen angels had doubts, they did not understand. Yet they remained unfallen. Why? Because the real nature of sin is masked by the evil one {see GC 569.1}

Eve really believed the words of Satan, but her belief did not save her from the penalty of sin. She disbelieved the words of God, and this was what led to her fall. {PP 55.2}

The disbelieve LED to the fall. No eating, no fall. It is true, the distrust comes in first, but that is what leads to yielding!

You are talking about the same God who would not destroy Lucifer before he had revealed to all in clear form the result of his course.

Blessings,

Green Cochoa.

[WRONG]

M&M; Amen. I agree sinful flesh nature cannot commit a sin. Sin is the stuff of choice and character. Jesus implants His nature in us when we experience conversion in God's appointed way.

You guys, what do you think the "flesh" is?

You are starting to sound like people who believe our soul is seprate from the body. The breath of life plus the body equals the soul, which is our flesh. We are born in fallen flesh, we have lost the likeness of God, cut off. Our bodies include our brain, which when the breath of life is still in us, containts all the remnants of our memories, which includes our character.

"Ever since Adam’s sin, the human race had been cut off from direct communion with God; the intercourse between heaven and earth had been through Christ; but now that Jesus had come “in the likeness of sinful flesh” (Romans 8:3), the Father Himself spoke. He had before communicated with humanity through Christ; now He communicated with humanity in Christ. Satan had hoped that God’s abhorrence of evil would bring an eternal separation between heaven and earth. But now it was manifest that the connection between God and man had been restored." {DA 116.2}

We are not in the flesh when we dwell in faith of Christ's rightousness. Almost like an out of body experience we dwell in the Spirit and body of Christ. Our bodies are here on earth, but we are in heaven so to speak; beyond the angel who guards the way to the tree of life, because that is where Jesus is. We become part of the body of Christ.

You also sound like you are saying that sin is only sin if we believe it is, which is a lie from Satan.

The heathen were sinning long before anyone came and told them about it, they just didn't know it. That is when they become responsible to the fact and have the right to become no longer heathen.

Paul is misunderstood on this subject a lot but you two are falling for the lie.

Adam fell when he committed the act of sin in the flesh.

He took what was Holy and gave it to Satan, sealing it by the act.

Adam could have submitted to God's authority and reached for His strength all the way up to the point of committing the act. Then it was too late, Jesus had to die.

Jesus would not have had to die if Adam had not committed the act.Even the though of committing the act and committal could have been forgiven, until the act.