~This thread is purely speculation! I am not meaning to offend anybody and I apologize if I have!~

I've been thinking about Christianity a lot since reading this book called The Shack (really great book, by the way).
And I was just wondering, did they ever repent? Or did they have to?
Well, let's hear your opinions about it.

Please, do not bash any religion or opinion in this thread!

If you buy into Dante's version from Inferno, they went to hell, but Adam (and Abel, and a few others) were eventually retrieved by Jesus and taken back to heaven.

I think they went to heaven. They would probably have to make an animal sacrifice to repent for their sins though.

Quite honestly, I don't know. I'm sure that they spent the remainder of their lifespans repenting, but I don't think anyone can say for sure. It's hard to say which person would go to heaven or hell sometimes. People can only guess or believe which way they will go- but in the end, it's really unclear. The Bible doesn't say much on their state of mind as they got older, seeing as how it focused more on Cain and Abel later on.

You know, I never ever actually thought about it.

I'd think that Adam went to hell, but Eve wouldn't have. Adam was explicitly told not to eat the forbidden fruit; Eve was created after Adam was told. And it's not clear if Adam ever told Eve.

Granted, I don't really believe in Adam/Eve, or hell, so it's moot to me >_>

Your logic is faulty:

1 Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? 2 And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: 3 But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. 4

Eve knew perfectly well that it was forbidden. :)

Well, if you ask some Christians, all who lived and died before Yeshua was born went to Hell, because you can't accept and worship someone who doesn't yet exist. One might also argue, though, that Yeshua's later statement that all one needed to do was love thy neighbor as thyself and love thy God overrules that. As we have no reason to think Adam and Eve did not do those two things (after the initial incident, of course, and even if you include that, Yeshua also says that there will be many who do not call themselves his followers who will enter Heaven so the part about YHVH might not be necessary), they would go to Heaven.

Of course, there a few bits that might make the argument void. Firstly, you must interpret Genesis literally for this issue to even come up. Many do not, and there's no evidence to suggest that they should (and, depending on who you ask, a fair bit to suggest they shouldn't). You must also believe in a Hell -- not only is there no support for a place similar to the pop-culture idea of Hell that human souls go to in the rest of the Bible, but Hell is not, as far as I am aware, present in Judaism and I'm pretty sure the Jews had Genesis before the Christians did.

Of course, I'm not a follower of an Abrahamic faith, so this is mostly just a mental exercise for me :P

I believe that it completely depends on whether or not they genuinely repented for what they did, and what they did after the original sin.

It's an interesting question, and correct me if I am wrong but I am pretty sure that hell was purely created as a prison for angles and in the bible it never actually states that people who have wronged go to hell..I hope this helps :)

All Jews who died before the birth of christ went to a place called "the Bossom of Abraham" [not sure of spelling]

I guess it's sort of like non-catholic purgatory

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Luke 16:22-23 (King James Version)

22And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried;

23And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom

Yeah that's the only reference I can find.

these are all very interesting comments.
Especially the one of the Bosom of Abraham and that it was only for Angels.
I'm going to look into this.

They would have been given the same opportunity to prove themselves through living a righteous life that everyone else is.

We can assume that they did repent and lead mostly good lives though, as Adam was a Prophet and in direct communication with God throughout the rest of his life. God wouldn't have an unrighteous prophet.

This is, of course, assuming you believe in Adam and Eve and Heaven and Hell and all that.

This is a very good question, I'm glad you asked! I have also read the shack and it is one of my favorite books! :D

Yes, Adam and Eve went to heaven. The second they ate the fruit of the forbidden tree they knew that they had sinned. They repented as soon as God came to them and God sacrificed innocent animals for them to cleanse their sins and clothed them in the animals' skin. This started the practice of placing your sins on animals and killing them to rid yourself of the sins you had committed in God's eyes, thus allowing you to go to heaven. This practice was kept up until Jesus came as the ultimate sacrifice. Now we do not have to sacrifice animals to cleanse our sins, we just have to pray to Jesus and asked him to wipe our sins away and if we believe in Him our sins will be forgiven.
If you have any other questions about Christianity feel free to ask me and I will do my best to answer them for you! :]

In regards to what "Hey its Marise" said: "Abraham's bosom" simply refers to Abraham's side which means that he was taken to heaven since Abraham had already died and was in heaven. This, in context, is during the parable of the rich man and the poor man. It is not some sort of purgatory. The rich man lived his life for himself and did not help the poor beggar outside of his gate. He was very selfish and did not think about God. The beggar lived his life in torment because he was also a leper. Both men died at the same time, the rich selfish man went to hell and the leper when to heaven. In the parable the rich man looks up from heaven and sees the poor man, Lazarus, in heaven with Abraham and wishes he would have listened to the prophets during his lifetime. This whole parable was told to the disciples by Jesus, it was meant to illustrate the point of helping those in need if you are blessed by God. God expects you to use what he gives you on earth to help those around you. If you ignore His teachings and do not believe in Him, you will go to hell when you die.

That is an interesting hypothetical question. I wonder if they would have. The answer would probably be an emphatic yes from anyone that is a Christian. That being said, Adam was tricked into it by Eve, was he not? He may not have had to repent as a result of that.

That is something to ponder. I am not a Christian by the way, I just think this is an interesting question, and I do not believe it was answered in the Bible.

Originally Posted by carzeebear

I believe that it completely depends on whether or not they genuinely repented for what they did, and what they did after the original sin.

Original sin is sex. Just thought I'd clear that up.

I think they went to hell, but the paradise side of hell...heaven wasn't prepared for humans then...but when Jesus died on the cross they were taken to Heaven.
I'm a Christian...so this doesn't offend me at all :)!