I've never started any serious threads before, so just going to put on my helpmet and crash gear and throw it in there.... And ooo, look at the typo I just happenstanced to make! helpmet? hmm...It's like 'helpmeet' in past tense where I meant to write 'helmet' but... WEll, I can't bring myself to go back and erase it. It's all too fitting for this topic! So...
I've learned there is a school of thought that goes something like this: since Adam was not deceived, he chose death for Eve's sake...
But however romantic this seems to me, for some reason I've found it difficult to fully accept it as anything more than speculation as to why he would, apparently, chose death if he didn't believe what the serpent said, 'surely, you will not die...'
Eve was deceived, yes, as scripture says outrightly, So, I guess I'd have to do a deeper study of the meaning of deceived to get an idea of actually transpired in this event.
Basically, she was deceived because she believed a lie, which is the closest definition I have of it to this point, and we know where that lie came from. However, we also know that Eve was not yet created when God commanded Adam of what trees he may and may not eat (ge 3:16). This is key in distinguishing between Eve's vulnerability to deception in contrast to Adam. Imo, because Adam knew exactly what God said, he could not be deceived. He didn't choose Eve, after all, he threw her under the bus, and henceforth rule 'over' her rather than reigned 'alongside' her, which is love as it is meant to be. He outrightly judged God to be a liar and chose to eat of the tree. So then, it is my position that his sin is greater because he chose 'unbelief' in God's direct word and exchanged it for the serpents lie, and that is how sin entered in through Adam.
Though, as I said before, the former theory that Adam did it for the love of Eve is so very romantic.