GEN287 According to traditional Christianity, the meaning of God’s warning that sin would bring immediate death was that Adam and Eve would die a spiritual death.  Thus, as soon as man committed the “original” sin, his soul died and he was damned.  Christianity traditionally recognizes a body-soul dualism whereby people are viewed, not as integrated beings, but as possessors of an eternal soul and an ephemeral body, which is the vessel designed to accommodate the needs of the immoral soul.  Only the soul can be restored in heaven through an affirmation of belief in Christ.  According to the Jewish interpretation, the meaning of the verse was that on the day Adam defied God’s command and ate of the tree of knowledge, he would be condemned to death; he would lose his immortality.  As God direct handiwork, whom He had created in His direct image, man was never meant to experience death.  Like his Father in heaven, man was meant to live eternally.  As long as Adam remained attached to the infinite source of life, he was eternal like his Creator.  By sinning against God, Adam and Eve severed themselves from the infinite source of life and immediately they began to decay and die.  Though his transgression, Adam brought death and destruction into the world.  He might live many more years, but one day he would succumb to death, just as every apple when detached from a tree succumbs to decay.  BOTEACH 202