Let’s first look at what the passage says: “Then the LORD God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, knowing good and evil; …”(Genesis 3:22, NASB95) When we speak of two things being similar, there must be both similarities and differences; otherwise, they would be either completely the same or completely different. He is saying that now the man is like one of Us, so previously they were the same. This is because “God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.”(Genesis 1:27) At the beginning of creation, their eyes were not yet open; they were in the image of God, and God’s standards were their standards—therefore, they were the same.
Now let us consider where the change occurred. When they disobeyed God and sinned, “Then the eyes of both of them were opened, …”(Genesis 3:7) Thus, they became like God. The point of similarity lies in “…knowing good and evil; …”(Genesis 3:22). Apart from this, the rest remains the same. We know that logic consists of two parts: logical deduction and the axioms used as input. Logical deduction is objective and does not change simply because their eyes were opened; therefore, the Bible states that our logical deductions are the same as God’s. Thus, the only change resulting from their eyes being opened was that they themselves could know good and evil—that is, they developed their own standard for judging good and evil and no longer shared a unified standard with God. Logically speaking, that unified standard is God’s axioms as reflected in the image of God.
Once their eyes were opened, each person developed their own standard (perception); we call this a personally variable axiom (or simply a personal axiom), which serves as the input point for their logical decisions on how to act. Because personally variable axioms differ, even though the logical deduction is the same, different decisions regarding the same matter will arise due to the input of different personally variable axioms—this is logic.
Since personal axioms are subject to change, let us begin with a simple example free from other intervening factors to further illustrate logic. We’ll start with a straightforward question: Is killing another person evil? Most people, based on their personal axioms, consider killing to be evil and therefore refrain from doing so. But for a cannibalistic tribe, killing members of other tribes is good; their logical reasoning leads them to do what is good, and thus, based on their personal, variable axioms, they kill members of other tribes. Another example is a person with a mental illness, whose personal axioms can change in the blink of an eye. Although the logical reasoning remains the same, due to different inputs, different decisions will be made at different times.
God has absolute sovereignty; He can open our eyes at any time and in any place. When God opens our eyes, we are able to see more, and our personal principles will change as a result. For example, when “…Elisha prayed and said, “O LORD, I pray, open his eyes that he may see.” And the LORD opened the servant’s eyes and he saw; and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.”(2 Kings 6:17). The young man’s original personal axioms did not include a mountain full of chariots of fire and horses of fire surrounding Elisha; now that he knows they are indeed there, his personal axioms have been updated and changed, and his new personal axioms now include the fact that the mountain is full of chariots of fire and horses of fire surrounding Elisha.
Since our logical reasoning aligns with God’s, it is clear that the difference lies in our personal axioms versus God’s. To give an example, God can perform miracles anytime and anywhere, while we are, at most, channels through which miracles are performed. But because our logical reasoning aligns with God’s, He can open our eyes to guide us, thereby changing our personal axioms and leading us to make different decisions.
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