THE ATHEIST'S COMPLAINT:
Did Adam die on the day he ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil? Genesis 2:17 says yes, Genesis 3:6 & 5:5 show that he didn't. Is there a contradiction?

RESPONSE:
It happened just as the Lord had said, in the day Adam ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, he died. It was not a physical death (though the path to physical death began at the same instance, Genesis 3:19), but rather a spiritual death. We are told elsewhere in the Bible that death is the result of sin (Romans 3:23; Ephesians 2:5; Colossians 2:13; 1 Timothy 5:6; James 1:15).

Man, being a duel-natured being (spiritual and physical) dies spiritually when he sins. Spiritual death is identified as separation from God (Isaiah 59:1-2; 2 Thessalonians 1:8-9). Adam, in the day he ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was separated from God. Though his body continued on for a total of 930 years, his spirit died that very day. The very reason for God to send His Son as a sacrifice is on account of sin; so that men may be saved from their sins, and thus have the hope of eternal life rather than eternal death.

There is no contradiction.

This article is a response to Skeptic's Annotated Bible

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