The event by which human beings, created in the image of God and ordained to reflect His sinless character, forfeited the state of innocence, incurred the penalty of death, and introduced into the world the disorders resulting from sin. By partaking of the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve, progenitors of the human race, rebelled against divine authority and fell into a state of spiritual depravity from which they were unable to extricate themselves.
The Biblical Account . According to Gen. 2 and 3 , God “planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed.” Except for “the tree of knowledge of good and evil,” all the resources of this garden were for the use and enjoyment of Adam and Eve. Concerning this tree God said, “Thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” The tree was reserved by God as a test of humanity’s loyalty and obedience.
But one day as Eve was alone in the vicinity of the tree she heard a serpent say, “Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?” Attracted by the phenomenon of a serpent speaking, she engaged in conversation with the creature. At last, persuaded by the argument that she would attain to a higher state of knowledge and experience by partaking of the fruit, she yielded to temptation and ate. Next she offered the fruit to Adam, and he too ate.
As the immediate result of their disobedience Adam and Eve were afraid, and hid themselves from the presence of God. When God called them to account for their conduct, Adam confessed his guilt but blamed Eve for tempting him, and Eve in turn blamed the serpent. God placed a curse upon the serpent for its part in the temptation, then said: “I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.” This statement has usually been understood as a message of hope to the disobedient pair, a promise that sin would eventually be destroyed by divine intervention. God told Adam and Eve that their lot in life would now be difficult, and that eventually they would die. He then sent the sinful pair out of Eden, lest they continue to eat of the tree of life, and sin be immortalized. Entrance to the garden was barred by angels with flaming swords.
By disobeying God, human beings suffered a moral fall, with consequent disorder and degeneration, not only to themselves and their posterity, but to the plant and animal kingdoms as well. See Rom. 5:12 ; 8:22 .
Seventh-day Adventist View . SDA s understand the Bible story of the Fall to be a literal historical account. This view was held widely by the Christians who joined the Millerite movement in the mid-1800s and who later united to form the Seventh-day Adventist Church, and it has been held by the denomination since. Ellen White has expanded the account of the Fall given in broad outline in the Bible. She explains that Adam and Eve were told of Lucifer’s rebellion in heaven, and of his determination to lead them to follow him in transgression.
“If separated from each other they would be in greater danger than if both were together. . . . God would not permit Satan to follow the holy pair with continual temptations. He could have access to them only at the tree of knowledge of good and evil” ( SR 31).
“In order to accomplish his work unperceived, Satan chose to employ as his medium the serpent—a disguise well adapted for his purpose of deception.
“Eve had wandered near the forbidden tree, and her curiosity was aroused to know how death could be concealed in the fruit of this fair tree. She was surprised to hear her queries taken up and repeated by a strange voice. ‘Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden.’ Eve was not aware that she had revealed her thoughts by conversing to herself aloud; therefore, she was greatly astonished to hear her queries repeated by a serpent” ( Review and Herald 43:82, Feb. 24, 1874).
He told Eve that by eating the fruit they would become “as gods.” The act of eating of the forbidden fruit involved more than disobedience—it revealed “distrust of God’s goodness, disbelief of His word, and rejection of His authority” ( Ed 25). Its effects are seen in nature as well as in man: “All nature is confused; for God forbade the earth to carry out the purpose He had originally designed for it. . . . The curse of God is upon all creation. Every year it makes itself more decidedly felt” (Ellen G. White, in SDACom 1:1085).
As to the consequences of Adam’s transgression on him and on his posterity, Ellen White wrote: “They [Adam and Eve] were told that their nature had become depraved by sin; they had lessened their strength to resist evil, and had opened the way for Satan to gain more ready access to them” ( PP 61).
“Man had become so degraded by sin that it was impossible for him, in himself, to come into harmony with Him whose nature is purity and goodness” ( ibid. 64).
Regarding the consequences of parental wrongdoing upon children, Ellen White declared: “It is inevitable that children should suffer from the consequences of parental wrongdoing, but they are not punished for the parents’ guilt, except as they participate in their sins. It is usually the case, however, that children walk in the steps of their parents. By inheritance and example the sons become partakers of the father’s sin. Wrong tendencies, perverted appetites, and debased morals, as well as physical disease and degeneracy, are transmitted as a legacy from father to son, to the third and fourth generation” ( PP 306). See Evil, Origin of ; Satan and His Angels .