I have heard preachers criticize the serpent for adding to Gods words to Adam, yet many preachers do the same thing with the same text. The phrase ‘spiritual death’ (spiritually dead) always struck me as odd. And you are right Psimmond the phrase should seem odd because it is not in the text, or the bible at all as far as I can tell. It always reminded me of when Mormons add ‘in purpose’ to the phrase “God is One” (Mormons say: God is One, in purpose).
I now know where most modern preachers get their theology: from their seminary professors and the supposed ‘great’ commentaries and commentators. Who have pretty much copied each others thinking in this area, they are all assuming that hell was eternal punishment. I find very little original thinking in this area in commentaries, and often they seem to have read another commentator and closed the book. Many commentators seem to go towards eternal ‘death’ in their description of death, yet 'change course' when speaking of hell in order to allow for the eternal punishment assumption (which goes along with the mistaken idea that man has an immortal spirit).‘… I have often heard preachers say; 'when Adam sinned, he died spiritually'. I suppose they say this, since it is not in the bible, because they don't understand that they were cursed with physical death at that point, people are put in the LOF - this is the spiritual death, obviously the physical rots in the ground’ (Me, Apr.15 in ‘My Case for eternal Hell’ thread)
I have noticed that some ‘bibles’ actually add the word spiritual to death in some of Paul’s teachings, when the word is just death (or blood, or, in some instances). This is plainly deceptive and incongruent in these contexts of Paul, because Paul never ‘spiritualizes’ death. Paul plainly calls death ‘death’. Paul taught and understood the curse of sin was death; the law of sin was death, and that without Gods Spirit (being born again) all people are still under the curse, and the law of sin and death.
But now we have been released from the Law, having died to that by which we were bound, so that we serve in newness of the Spirit and not in oldness of the letter’ (Romans 7:6)
For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death (Romans 8:2)… For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace (8:6)… If Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you (8:10-11)
The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law' (1Cor. 15:56)
"Whoever will not observe the law of your God and the law of the king, let judgment be executed upon him strictly, whether for death or for banishment or for confiscation of goods or for imprisonment” (Ezra 7:26)
Adam did not die in the 'day' he ate, but the process and decay started that day. The curse of death became his on that day, as well as the curse on all man from then on (it was Gods act of grace that he lived). Our relationship with God was broken, but we are not spiritually dead, ‘yet’. Still, the death of the spirit is much different from 'spiritualizing' death, or calling death spiritual because it makes death sound like 'something other' than 'death'. The lake of fire is where the ‘spirit’ will be put to death. I believe the ‘Day’ mentioned in Genesis 2 is reflected in the statements concerning ‘The Great and Terrible Day’ we are warned of in following revelations by the Prophets.
