What does Satan represent?

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The imperfection is within the act itself. Adam couldn't bring imperfection upon himself without willful action.

What Adam WAS a victim of, if anything beyond his control, was temptation. It seems Adam was perfectly willing to allow Eve to be tempted and, to use a modern expression, didn't hesitate to throw her under a bus. I think Satan would have known that--it is Adam the leader who cannot be tempted, who will not doubt God without being presented a reason for doubt. Adam's responsibility would have been to protect his wife and make sure she knew what NOT to do. As such, she would have been carrying out God's will for her through Adam's instruction.

The Bible doesn't SAY that, but it's simply a conclusion I find logical.

So Satan tells Eve, "Hey, God's not going to kill you. God knows that you'll be better for eating the fruit. So don't worry about it." Adam sees that Eve has taken the fruit and not fallen immediately dead, so he can make the conclusion that MAYBE God was wrong. In a sense, the first sin strictly dealing with Adam is his lapse of trust in God, not eating the fruit. We know that sin originates in the heart. Jesus said, regarding adultery, that if a man lusts after a woman in his heart, he has already committed adultery--essentially the two acts, one cognitive and one physical, are one and the same. Desiring death for an enemy is as good as murder. So desiring the fruit after abandoning complete trust in God was as bad as the actual sin. Adam already knew what he would do. He ate the fruit.

The incorrect assumption on Adam's part was that death would be quick and immediate. By allowing that sequence of events when he wasn't compelled to do so, he brought imperfection upon himself by choosing to do evil. And from this imperfect, sinful, nature, we have conflict between what we know is right because God tells us it is right and those desires of our own that lead us to determine that our will is superior to God's will. Adam became convinced that the choices he and Eve made were superior. He knew he was created perfectly. The trap he fell into was that of being misled into believing that we was not perfect. Temptation is not sin. Doubt is not sin. Giving into them and losing trust in God when God has shown no reason why He can't be trusted IS sin.

There is no imperfection in God's creation of Adam because God is incapable of creating something that is imperfect. But something I forgot to mention earlier is, as it seems, ONLY God is omnipotent and omniscient. God would not create something higher than Himself, though He is willing and able to relate to His creation as though He and we are equals. Therefore, a perfect creation of God need not possess ALL of the qualities of God. For example, the Tree is specific: it's fruit is Knowledge, but not just ANY knowledge. The fruit is knowledge of Good and Evil. God would not withhold the knowledge from one who seeks it, despite the penalty of death for such a person. And though we possess knowledge of good and evil, our consumption of the tree's fruit is incomplete. We know what we NEED to know, and God is merciful not to require us to depend upon complete knowledge for salvation, though the Gnostics might disagree. So despite our inability to hold all the knowledge of good and evil, and though we have proven time and time again incapable of performing all that is right all of the time, and though our imperfection prevents us from entering the presence of God, He still provides a way in which we can shed our evil sin nature and take on the nature of holiness. We don't HAVE to know EVERYTHING or be ALL powerful to earn God's grace.

And that quality does not extend to human beings alone. The angels who are consistent with God's will are perfect beings. Yet they are not privy to the infinitude of God's knowledge and power. They cannot do any more/less than God demands and empowers them to do, and they can't be present EVERYWHERE. Satan doesn't know everything either--he seems perfectly content to ignore what is written about him in the end times. And though Satan's power is far-reaching, it is not directly present in all places at all times. Keep in mind Satan was also created as a perfect being prior to his willful desire to elevate himself over God, basically the same thing he attempted to accomplish with Adam and Eve.

Therefore, a perfect creature need not be all-present, all-knowing, and all-powerful. Adam knew all he needed to know, and by lacking a sinful nature was incapable of any other sin. Hence it is only the initial sin of consuming knowledge of good and evil along with the responsibility to observe that which is good and reject all that is evil, even though this cannot be done to a perfect degree, that is the ultimate responsibility for the fall of man. This could not have happened without a choice made independent of God.

Perelandra, by C.S. Lewis, for the win.

Aside from the implicit downgrading of Eve who as a supposed perfect creature was equal to Adam in complicity for making faulty decisions you still do not accept that Adam made a stupid and therefore imperfect decision. Decision making is a function of the way a mind works and if a mind works badly there is something wrong with it. And that could only be the fault of God.

The other possibility is that it was a good decision since the knowledge of good and evil permits a good mind to discriminate between the two and avoid evil. To create a creature without this essential knowledge is obviously a very stupid act of God. Unless Adam's fall was part of God's plan since Adam had no way to determine the worth of his actions by God's design and sooner or later would commit an evil act and be subject to God's wrath nd be kicked out of Eden by plan. You can't blame Adam for conforming to God's plan.

Eve (Havah) was a lesser being than Adam since G-D made Eve out a piece of Adam's body. The first women was Lilith who was created whole and original out of the earth, just like Adam. When Adam wanted to get on top, Lilith objected on the grounds that she was coequal with Adam. She left Adam and God had to make another mate for Adam, this time Eve who was less than Adam.

ruveyn

Sin and indulgence, or whatever it is that the Christians are against.

Nevertheless, since Eve was constructed by God she is assumed to be perfect and her choice to disobey God's order is obviously a bad and imperfect decision. This imperfection can only be traced back to God who thereby betrays evidence of imperfection.

There is nothing inferior in Adam's original structure so there is nothing inferior in constructing Eve from part of it. Admittedly, making a whole woman from 1 rib is a bit of a strain and she must have been startlingly thin or merely less dense like foam plastic and rather dangerous to lie upon for her own fragile sake.

its a small excerpt from a much longer series.

Your last sentence makes me think your missing the point though, hes not attributing where hes at to Jesus. Hes saying hes reached a state along a similar path independantly.

There is no imperfection in the ability to make wrong decisions. God's bestowment upon Adam of the gift of choice would not be perfect or complete unless two paths were made available. God implies that, "You may choose to do good, or you may choose to do evil. I won't stop you either way, and I'd rather you do good. I won't stop you, but understand that by doing evil you choose to die." When the serpent tells Eve that she won't die, and she doesn't immediately drop dead by consuming the fruit, Adam finds that his childlike gullibility has been exploited. "If she can do it, so can I." Adam may have been created perfect, but he and his wife really did have the experience of being "born yesterday." That's not a flaw any more than a baby who can't yet speak is flawed. They had a lot of growing up to do. The trial of the Tree was ONE simple command that they had to obey. Only ONE. How many directives are contained in the Torah? 600+? Which is an easier number of directives to keep? Is a machine more likely to fail with the MORE moving parts necessary for its function or LESS? For there to be perfection, all directives must be kept perfectly. God does not allow us to be tempted by more than we can handle, and I think God knew that the growth of His creation would have been better served by fewer choices between good and evil rather than the whole of them. The Knowledge of Good and Evil carries with it the responsibility to do good and the consequences of evil behavior. Adam could have fled the temptation of the Tree by simply avoiding it. This did not happen. A perfect being with the power to make decisions CAN make the wrong decision. It is the point at which the wrong decision is acted upon that a perfect being becomes flawed.

Now, we do know that, in a physical sense, Adam and Eve DID die, but not immediately. They were allowed to live a life of repentance, and we exist primarily because of Adam's desire to repent and accept the gift of God's mercy which extends to all who are living.

But in a spiritual sense, Adam and Eve DID die immediately, and it is this earthly banishment from God's presence and from Eden for which we seek restoration. You want to get back to the Garden? Trust God. You want Heaven on Earth right now? Trust God. It was really this momentary failure in consistently trusting God in the face of temptation that made man imperfect. But it remains that we are the ones who fail to trust, and thus we rely strictly on our own inferior reasoning leading to sin.

Either way, whether Adam is to choose good or choose evil, it is not necessary to assume that Adam MUST eventually do evil. Adam's actions are not inevitable. Only possible. But possible only means "maybe yes, maybe no." In another universe on another earth in another Garden, Adam very well could have stood firm and the story would have been written a completely different way. But given man's capacity for choice, and given that the choices made have consistently been wrong, it is part of a perfect God's plan that one branch from the wrong path is the path that leads to redemption for those who choose to abandon the path they are on. It's not too late within the living years.

I'm not sure where we get the "downgrading" of Eve from. Eve was made from Adam's rib because it was not in God's will for man's companion to be superior OR inferior. The rib symbolizes a side-by-side relationship in all things throughout life. This is something I feel we've really lost in the present day, but that's another topic.

But the choice is not, for the chooser, good or evil. It is a matter of beneficial or detrimental outcome. If Adam had a perfect mid he would have known that a violation of God's command could not be hidden since nothing is hidden from God. and obviously there would be severe punishment. To choose a path to sure punishment is not a matter of good or evil, it is a matter of having a defective comprehension of consequences. It is stupid and that is a fault.

Except Adam's mind is not perfect after the fall. The most immediate consequence of their sin was the discovery of their nakedness. As I've said before, there's nothing to hide if there's no shame. Prior to the fall, nakedness before God is not a sin. It is only AFTER the fall that it is sinful.

But Adam has become aware of his disobedience, therefore the need to cover up his wrongdoing. God sees through the heart, however, and there can be no hiding. Adam, with his newly acquired knowledge and the loss of innocence, can no longer exist in such a state. He is more concerned with broader range of choices that cut him off from God. God doesn't even HAVE to kick Adam out of the garden; Adam has already lost that. Banishment is just the realization of loss. Allowing Adam to stay is to allow Adam to eat from the other, lesser mentioned tree but even much more important: The Tree of Life. Since it is unmerciful to allow Adam to continue in his imperfect state of physical life, God HAS to banish them from the Garden and all it represents.

The main point here is Adam's stupidity and fault(s) are not apparent until AFTER the fall. Doubt is not defective comprehension; it is a necessary part of maturation and discovery. It just so happened that Satan raised doubt about the one thing that was sinful at the time. Adam made an informed choice to fall for it. That does not indicate imperfection on his part. His reaction following eating the fruit, however, does indicate fault and stupidity. But at that point it's too late, and Adam hardly knew what he was really doing beyond that point.

he represents knowelege, wich he gave to man. and its a good thing he did otherwise we wouldnt have all these cool things today

Adam's original choice to defy God was made when he supposedly was perfect. It was obviously a stupid choice at that initial time and that he could behave stupidly is a fault in his decision making capability.

Having a choice to make is not a fault. The ability to make choices, even stupid ones, is a gift. Arguably, it could be said that Adam's loss of innocence occurred not when he ate the fruit, but when he considered the feasibility of disobedience (sins of the heart rather than the body). Obviously no visible harm came to Eve. So whatever doubt Adam had contemplated was cleared up by Eve plainly still being alive. Doubt is a powerful antithesis to faith, yet man IS equipped to overcome it.

The CHOICE to defy God is not a fault. The actual fault comes with the consequences of disobedience. I wouldn't call Adam "stupid." More like naïve. But again, being naïve isn't a fault either--just a condition due from a lack of maturity and remedied through growth and experience. It's not easy being "born yesterday."

Naivety is a form of stupidity excusable through inexperience but it is definitely stupidity and it does not save one from consequences. Being able to make a choice requires abilities of discernment of consequences. Which choice is made is an indication of mental capability. Very obviously bad choices indicates a failure of mind to comprehend consequences. That is a very large imperfection. Doubt is a very healthy attitude necessary for survival since it promotes investigation and examination of causes and effects. To overcome doubt by close observation and investigation is reasonable and sensible. To dismiss doubts through faith is wishful thinking and undeserved trust and it can very frequently be highly damaging or even fatal.

If it is an excusable form of stupidity, then it is not a fault. Therefore it has no consequences for a perfect creation. Adam's fall might have it's roots in naïvety, but clearly Adam and Eve had the power to stick by God in keeping the commandment that they leave the Tree of Knowledge alone at that point of time in their lives.

The way I see it, Satan's trap is this: Satan knows full well that God will not destroy His creation for simple disobedience because Satan himself was not destroyed for GROSS disobedience and prideful behavior. Satan desires to introduce pride, arrogance, rebellious behavior into the nature of man. Man is naïve, which is not a fault but IS an opening to be exploited. Adam probably would NOT have taken the fruit if Eve had dropped dead immediately. But since that didn't happen, it APPEARS that the serpent may be right. There's more to the story, of course, but the main point is Adam fell for the serpent's deception. He didn't HAVE to, because he could have continued trusting in God, no matter what, and THEN witnessed what might have happened to Eve. Eve is an easier target than Adam, and because Adam allows himself to be lulled into a false sense of security, it's easier for him to make the wrong choice. The deception is magnified because Adam didn't see the consequences he expected. So obviously he understood consequences, else the serpent would have attacked him more directly. Sure, bad choices indicate a failure to comprehend consequences. I'll agree with that. But the crime is different if it is preceded by deception.

Regarding doubt: I agree under NORMAL circumstances. But Eden was no ordinary circumstance. An idyllic paradise as Eden was carries no danger for its residents and caretakers. There is no need for doubt. It was the actions of the serpent that even cast doubt at all in the minds of Adam and Eve. Doubt is not a fault, either. It is only what we may be misled to do through doubt that carries unintended and unwanted circumstances. We may explore our world, or instinctively doubt some conclusions and accept others. But God gives no reason to doubt Him. It remains that Adam and Eve were faultless from the start and that the seeds of doubt that they allowed the serpent to plant in their heads brought forth the fruits of disobedience. In a perfect state, they were not compelled to accept this. But once again, perfection is not complete without alternatives. Obviously Adam and Eve used the gifts God gave them, they just failed to use those gifts to glorify their Creator by keeping the one commandment God gave them.

Obviously you and I disagree over the nature of naivety.
And also, the nature and necessity of doubt is a primal disagreement. Faith itself is a dismissal of doubt and your mind is so deeply embedded in faith that doubt seems totally beyond your grasp. This is not a trivial issue. Doubt is the primal engine of innovation and discovery. It is the dynamic corrosive towards all authority. If Adam had no capacity to doubt, to rethink, to imagine variations, he was indeed a limited and inferior creature as the capability to generate virtual variations and attempt to match them with perceived reality is the fundamental driving force which has made mankind the dominant species on Earth. It seems God created Adam as a kind of maintenance device for his garden, a kind of elaborate lawnmower to keep the place in order. Since Adam proved a bit more ingenious than God suspected he was summarily dismissed as an inappropriate janitor. No doubt Adam was stupid in not foreseeing God's wrath in being disobeyed but I celebrate his enterprise in experimenting with innovative possibilities.