To the argument: “God didn’t lie in Genesis. He just meant that Adam and Eve would die ‘spiritually’. Anyway, they did die instead of having eternal life because they were kept away from the tree of life.”

I hear this argument all the time. It's ridiculous. Genesis doesn't say Adam was told, "Do this and you will die spiritually." It says "Do this and you will die." Do you have any idea how desperate it sounds when you get backed into a corner by the very words printed on the page, and you have to make a silly excuse like that? "Well, he didn't really say they would die. You have to read between the lines."

Right!

The book that is supposed to be the perfect guide seems to be incapable of stating plainly what it means. That's very convenient, IF the real purpose of the book was to raise a priestly class with special insight and the ability to interpret the book. Now, think about that. Who would profit most from making the guidebook vague and needing interpretation? Why, the interpreters! And they still do, don't they? Or do you not pay tithes and make offerings?

If you take the story of Adam and Eve literally, as many biblical apologists do, you must know that Adam, being newly created, would have no way of knowing that a day meant any more than one period of light and darkness. As it was put in Genesis, it was supposed to be a threat. How much of a threat would it be to you if someone told you, "Now, don't do this, because if you do, sometime within a thousand of your years I'm going to punish you for it."? Keep in mind, Adam may not have experienced even one year. How was he to know what a thousand meant? Also, up to that time, death hadn't been witnessed. How was he supposed to know what death meant?

Your objection to this line of thinking is typical of people who want to have it both ways. You want the bible to be true and perfect, but when it says something that is counter to what you believe you simply refuse to recognize what is right before you.

you write: "God didn’t say you are going to die right away.. he said you will surely die "

Do you have a bible? Can you read? It says in Genesis, Chapter 2, verse 17 (KJV) "But the tree of the Knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for IN THE DAY that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die." In the day means immediately. It means before the sun goes down once. It means what it says. That's not an interpretation. that's exactly what the bible says!

You write "how can you say something sudjesting (sic) God lied first when God is perfect and when he made you in the first place?"

I think you mean "suggesting." I'm not suggesting that god lied. I'm saying directly and clearly that, by the testimony of the words in the supposedly perfect bible, he said they would die on the same day that they ate from that tree. Adam lived over nine hundred years according to the same book. He didn't die in the same day he ate the forbidden fruit.

The serpent told the truth and god lied. Simple. It says so.

Another person offered (on another topic): "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." (NIV) John 20:29

My answer:John 20:29 That kind of statement is perfect for bamboozling people who might otherwise be tempted to think. Believe what you can't see. You get more credit for believing without evidence. It proves that you can be led by anyone with a big enough promise.

::Side-show barker:: "Step right up, Sonny. Do everything I tell you and you will get ee-ternal life. What’s that? Proof, you say? Why, it's more sure without proof. Only fools ask for proof. They will die and go to hell. You can look down from heaven and laugh at 'em!"