Did Adam and Eve Have Children Before the Fall?

Adam and Eve did not have any children until after they had transgressed God's command and were excluded from the Garden of EdenVDRU 25.2+1.

The Original State of Our First Parents

• When God completed the work of creation on the sixth day, Adam and Eve were in Paradise, and no taint of sin or shadow of death marred the fair creation Genesis 1:31DG 23.1+1.

• In their untainted purity, they enjoyed free access to the tree of life and held open communion with their MakerDG 23.1+2.

• They were noble in stature, perfect in symmetry, and possessed perfect health while in their state of innocence4aSG 120.1.

The Consequences of Transgression

• By listening to the tempter and eating the forbidden fruit, Adam and Eve became sinners and opened the floodgates of woe upon the race9MR 235.2+2.

• Because of their sin, they were shut away from the tree of life and sentenced to return to the dust, which settled mortality upon them and all their future posterity Genesis 3:19+1TOB 79.3.

• If they had been executed immediately upon their conviction of guilt, they would not have been permitted to fill the world with offspring; however, a second probation was granted through the promised SeedTOB 79.3+1.

The Posterity of the Fallen Pair

• All the inhabitants of the earth are descendants of this one pair, but these children were brought into existence only after the fallGTI 220.2+1.

• Because they were born after the transgression, Adam’s children received a nature no higher than his own, inheriting the consequences of his relation to sinTOB 79.3.

• The first children mentioned in the sacred record, Cain and Abel, exhibited the divided nature of the fallen family, with Cain choosing rebellion and Abel choosing loyalty to God9MR 237.6+1.

• Had Adam and Eve remained in their holy state, they would not have brought children into a world of misery, but their fall ensured that their posterity would share in their wretchedness and mortalitySA 104.2+1.