Mike, you are missing the entire picture. No one has claimed that Eve did not know. No one has claimed that she did not deserve to be punished. Why are you out on that limb. The point is that the Bible says that she was deceived. This is contrary to popular Christian doctrine that she rebelled. And the evidence that she was truly deceived lies in the fact that he knowledge came second hand. Had she known first hand from God it could not have been called deception.

What's the difference whether Eve knew first-hand or second-hand? Either way, Eve was still deceived. Whether it was first-hand or second-hand, Eve was definitely warned!

As far as what Ellen White said, I can accept that God also told Eve herself. After all, I believe Ellen White was also divinely inspired.

Just because Moses never said it in the Scriptures, and Ellen White did, doesn't contradict the Scriptures.

I believe it was a mute point with Moses as I also believe the focus was more on what Adam knowingly did rather than on what Eve was deceived into doing. T

he Scrpitures also didn't blantantly come out and say that Eve separated herself from Adam, however, it is apparent she did, which Ellen White described in detail.

All Ellen White did was added more detail that doesn't contradict the Scriptures as the Scriptures were silent on whether or not God or Adam, or even both warned Eve.

Darius, I enjoy studying with you, but please dispense with the personal insults. I do not appreciate some of your comments. Thank you.

I agree with Daryl. Eve was warned personally by God not to eat the forbidden fruit. It does not increase or decrease her guilt one iota even if she had been warned second hand. Eve clearly said that God warned her not to eat fruit. I've shared this before on this thread.

Paul and Moses are both right. Ellen White is right. All three inspired accounts agree perfectly. I do not detect any discrepancies in the insights shared by these inspired authors. Eve was deceived into eating the fruit God told her not to eat. Adam unwisely resolved to share her fate. That's the truth about the fall.

I apologize for any hurt caused. I don't mean to be insulting.

Just answer this solitary question. If Eve had been told by God not to eat of the fruit then there would be no doubt in her mind that God had said not to eat of that tree. The only way for her to eat of the tree would be for her to decide that she would not pay heed to what God had said. That would not be deception. So how can you both say that she was told firsthand and that Paul was correct in saying she was deceived? This is more than just words. Nor can you deny the fact that the clear implication of Moses' account is that she did not hear it from God, else he would have included it in his story.

If you can show me how a person going against what they heard first hand is still deception I'll lose some of my frustration. At this point all I can see is a desire to protect EGW at all costs.

Darius, apology accepted. Thank you. To answer your sole question - Eve was not deceived into believing God never warned her not to eat the forbidden fruit, rather she was deceived into believing eating the fruit would improve her intellect and likeness to God. She made it clear to the serpent that God told her not to eat the forbidden fruit.

BTW, I do not recall reading where Sister White wrote that God "repeatedly" warned Adam and Eve not to eat the forbidden fruit. Please share that quote. Thank you.

The serpent asked, "Did God really say, You must not eat..." Gen 3:1 (NIV). He did not say, Did God really tell Adam, You must not eat. Eve responded by saying, "... but God did say, You must not eat..." I've said it before, how could Moses have made it any clearer that Eve was warned by God Himself?

Also, whether the devil told the truth about the consequences of eating the forbidden fruit does not take away from the fact he used the truth to get Eve to eat the fruit God told her not to eat. What a clever deception!

Someone sent me a private email and suggested that I share with you the following insights: Why are con artists successful? Isn't because they usually mix just enough truth and error to get people to fall for their scam? They use deception to get people to do things they would otherwise not do. Eve said God told her not to eat the forbidden fruit, but the devil deceived her into doing it. He deceived her into believing eating the fruit would be good for her.

Darius:
Do you accept as truth our fundamental belief #17 which includes the statement that the writings of Ellen G. White are "an authoritative and continuing source of truth"? From your remakrs above it seems very much that you could not affirm this teaching.
LK