I start this thread for friend M.Khaled, because I wish to explain how Christians see Covenants with God in the Bible. The Bible speaks of seven different covenants, four of which ... Abrahamic, Palestinian, Mosaic and Davidic ...God made with the nation of Israel. Of those four, three are unconditional in nature that is to say regardless of Israel's obedience or disobedience, God will still fulfil these covenants with Israel. One of the covenants...the Mosaic Covenant.. is conditional in nature. That is to say this covenant will bring either blessing or cursing depending on Israel's obedience or disobedience. Three of the covenants .. Adamic, Noahic, and the New are made between God and mankind in general, these are not limited to the nation of Israel. I will start with the first Covenant and if there is a wish to I will endeavour to explain how the others are viewed and what impact they have for humanity. We could go on to compare what you see as a covenant in the Quran. Or we can leave it here.. No problem :)
The Adamic Covenant can be thought of in two parts... the Edenic Covenant (innocence) and the Adamic Covenant (grace). The Edenic Covenant is as follows ...
Mankind (male and female) created in God’s image.
Mankind’s dominion (rule) over the animal kingdom.
Divine directive for mankind to reproduce and inhabit the entire Earth.
Mankind to be vegetarian (the eating of meat established in a later Covenant)
Eating the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil forbidden... This carried the penalty of death.. As in spiritual death.
The Adamic Covenant is the result of Adam’s sin, the following curses were pronounced...
Enmity between Satan and Eve and her descendants.
Painful childbirth for women.
Marital strife.
The soil cursed.
Introduction of thorns and thistles.
Survival to be a struggle.
Death introduced.
Death will be the inescapable fate of all living things.
These curses may seem severe and inescapable, however, God through His mercy included a wonderful promise of grace. This Covenant is also referred to as the "First Gospel" or "Good news". As God says to Satan ...."And I will put enmity between you and the woman, And between your seed and her seed. He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise him on the heel."
In this God promises that one born of a woman would be wounded in the process of destroying Satan. The "seed" of the woman who would crush the Serpent’s head is shown to be Jesus Christ. In conquering death Jesus triumphed over Satan.. We would not remain dead in our sins but achieve eternal life. So we can see even in the midst of the curse, (because every sin against God carries a penalty) God’s gracious provision of salvation shines through... Through Gods enduring love for us He is prepared to "pay" the penalty.
I understand muslims believe that God simply forgave Adam and Eve and they went on to live their life in worship etc. I do not believe this gives a satisfactory understanding of the nature of sin and the effect this has on a Holy God. Also, I understand that you think that God punished Eve over Adam... Whereas the Quran God just forgives them both.. No penalty paid. The Bible shows the only one who was truly blamed and not forgiven was Satan. Yes, Adam and Eve had to pay for their sin.. But ultimately God gave them a way to make atonement for what was their error and disobedience. As their actions introduced a sinful nature into mankind then by their "seed"mankind would be redeemed. This redemption means that death holds no dominion over those who accept this gift.. Which is Jesus.
Peace and blessings.
M.Khaled.. If you do not wish to carry this thread further, I do hope you enjoy reading it and have gained some understanding of how we see a Covenant. :)