why didnt God just do this? (page 3)

Muddy Waters

EndOfMysteries, I loved your post! Very cool. "He is becoming atmosphere, he is becoming morning, etc."

although I don't have a belief in anything right now, it is so neat to entertain new & different thoughts and ideas!

Mum

The story itself does not say that the serpent was Satan. As nonsensical as it was to start with, it's about a talking snake - the only talking snake ever!

This was a big revelation for me. When I realized that adam and even were just a myth then logically following through to the new testament, there is no reason for an eccentric preacher to be tortured and killed on a torture stake. If we did not "inherit" sin than we have no reason to need a redeamer for that sin.

Simple.... logic 1 christianity 0

pbrow

ps.... and by "logic 1 christianity 0" i mean logic 2,347,852 christianity 0

Apognophos

This story actually makes plenty of sense in its original context, and is self-consistent. It only stops making sense when you bring science, modern ethics, or a Christian perspective into it. Read the story on its own terms before you trash it.

- As was already touched on, the concept of inherited sin was considered fair at the time, so there was no reason for God to warn Adam and Eve about their children inheriting their curse.

- God could not have prevented them from sinning because he was not always around. The idea of an "omnipresent", "omniscient" God did not exist yet at the time of this story. He was only present and aware of what was happening in the Garden when he walked through on one of his afternoon constitutionals. That's why he couldn't find Adam and Eve when they hid from him. All the verbs used for God's actions in this account point to him being a powerful man-like being who can breathe life into forms he molds from clay -- not some immaterial being in the sky, watching everything.

- As to what the tree of knowledge was doing there in the first place, it was for himself and/or the angels. That's why eating it will make the humans "like God". So to cover the times when God wasn't there, he left Adam and Eve with a warning not to eat from it. The next time he entered the garden on one of his afternoon walks, he noticed Adam and Eve were missing. When he coaxed them out of hiding, he saw their makeshift clothing and realized that they were no longer the childlike creatures he had created, ergo they had eaten some of his knowledge fruit.

- Adam and Eve hadn't had children or even sex right off the bat when Eve was created, simply because it would not have occurred to them. Exercise for the reader: How old were Adam and Eve when they were created? physically? mentally? Forget your assumptions or what you've seen in illustrations made by an entirely different culture -- what does the account actually tell us, or not tell us?

- As sowhatnow already said, there was no concept of perfection in the story. Adam and Eve were never "perfect"; this concept had not been invented yet when this story was told. They were simply animals like all the other animals that God created. The one thing that made them special was that they were made in God's image (they looked like him and had his greater intelligence, but lacked his knowledge and power). Then they actually became inferior to the other animals in some ways when God cursed them, making it harder for them to obtain food and to give birth than what any of the animals experienced.

- Why didn't/couldn't Adam and Eve just eat from the tree of life and live forever? While they may have been cast out before they were in the Garden very long, it's also possible that they had eaten from the tree many times already. Exercise for the reader: Where in the account does it say that the the tree of life magically grants one immortality with just one bite of its fruit? And why didn't God tell them not to eat from it if it was not meant for them? He said they could eat from "all the trees" except the tree of knowledge, didn't he?

- Adam and Eve were probably not equal before Eve's curse. The verse that is read to mean that Eve was subjugated to Adam can also be interpreted to mean "you will have a sexual desire for your husband and he will lay on top of you". It's a statement referring to the awakening of sexual desire and the future of the woman in terms of her lot in life -- to be impregnated and to suffer a "sorrowful" pregnancy (morning sickness, etc.) and "painful" childbirth.

- As Mum just said, the snake was a snake. The account has nothing to do with Satan, who had not been conceived of yet. This snake could talk, but possibly all snakes could, at least before they were cursed -- notice that the snake was the most cunning of all the animals. This is a typical "trickster god" animal, as found in many cultures' mythology.

So, viewed in the right cultural context, I find the account to be quite sensible. It simply requires the modern reader to jettison the assumptions and interpretive framework of the culture in which he was raised, which come from a gradual evolution of religious concepts over the last few thousand years which would have been totally foreign to the ancient Hebrew listening to this story.

sowhatnow

ah, so eating of the tree of life kept them alive. hmm wheres that tree now!!

Fernando

I've benefitted from contemplating the backstory and symbolism.

Both as a summary, and in detail.

The book "Two Trees" by Robert Ingleson presents a compelling and detailed backstory that resonates with my own challenging experience, journey and insights.

poopsiecakes

This snake could talk, but possibly all snakes could, at least before they were cursed

DATA-DOG

Oh shit!!! You are way too smart for organized religion!! It's all crazy.

Why would an all-knowing creator allow a "rebellion" to grow to fruition?? Didn't he KNOW what would happen?!?!!? It's so freaking Fracktarded. Why not just stop "Satan" from misleading other "angels"?!!? Why not stop "Satan" from boinking humans and making nephilim?!? God can cause an immaculate conception, but he can't abort "demonic" offspring?!?!

Instead, he had to let "demons" boink humans and ruin the Earth?!?! Bull SHIT!!!

DD

sowhatnow

ok, so were all 'in agreement'[ lol] [i hate that misused scripture]

redvip2000 is the new god

MissFit

I can not believe I ever took these stories literally.

But when you are told something all your life, it becomes part of your beliefs until something shakes it up.

It is important to keep asking those questions and search for answers.

I appreciate when someone exposes the illogical parts of the stories instead of just replying that it is made up and implying how dumb it is to believe it.

It takes awhile to get past the blind faith and start looking at things objectively and logically.

why didnt God just do this?

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