by Blueblades 12 Replies latest jw friends
God told Adam and Eve not to eat of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. If this were the only venue through which they could understand the difference between good and evil, how could they have known that it was wrong to disobey God and eat the fruit?
Blueblades
Perfect people would figure it out.
I have had a couple of discussions on this issue with my wife. She tells me the standard line that the fruit was not the issue it was the disobedience towards gods word that was the actual problem. But, I always tell her that if someone did not know the difference between right and wrong then how would they know that it was disobeying, or even what that would imply.
If you put a marshmallow in front of a four year old and told them that you were going to leave the room for ten minutes if they do not eat the marshmallow while you are gone then they will receive a second marshmallow when you get back and they can eat both. I bet there will not be a marshmallow when you return.
The real evil in this story is Eve, who knew that it was wrong to have Adam eat from the fruit.
After God finds out what they have done the story even goes on to say. ?Look they have become like one of us, knowing the difference between right and wrong?. I guess that it is very godly to have morals.
If one accepts the account as truthful, then Eve was not at fault, as she only wanted something good for herself and Adam, so she made a choice based on the available evidence. If anyone was a wrongdoer, it was Jehovah, who tried to withhold knowledge from the human couple, and lied about the consequences, telling them that "in the day you eat from it (the tree) you will positively die". The serpent (NOT the Satan of later writings) told the truth "You positively will not die, for God knows that in the very day of your eating from it your eyes are bound to be opened and you are bound to be like God, knowing good and bad." "Then the eyes of both of them became opened...." Gen 3:7 "And Jehovah God went on to say 'Here, the man has become like one of US in knowing good and bad...." So all the days of Adam that he lived amounted to 930 years, then he died". So, if one accepts this account as truthful, Jehovah bluffed, threatening death "in the day you eat from it". The account shows that this did NOT happen, instead Adam lived 930 years, and Eve lived enough years to become mother to many, many children. The verse about "one day with Jehovah being as a thousand years" simply doesn't apply here, as Adam and Eve would have had no idea about the concept of a thousand years, they would have interpreted "day" the same way it is commonly used now. The serpent spoke truthfully when he said "your eyes will become opened, and you will become like God, knowing good and bad." The account records that God himself admitted this to have happened. The underlying message of this account is not historical accuracy, but rather, "Do what we (that is, Gods representatives) tell you, and don't ask questions.
Some interesting background in http://www.bibleorigins.net/EdensTreeofKnowledgeLife.html
Narkissos, Thanks for that link, so much history that shows that there is much more to the Eden account then what we read in the Bible account.
Do ever think that the internet and boards like this are our modern day "fruit of knowledge of good and bad"
Seriously, our eyes have been opened up and we do now know both sides to the story. Why withhold knowledge from people?
I have had a couple of discussions on this issue with my wife. She tells me the standard line that the fruit was not the issue it was the disobedience towards gods word that was the actual problem.
For a long time I've wondered why people reply with that line. The bible makes it very clear that something in the person DID change.
(Genesis 3:6-7) . . .So she began taking of its fruit and eating it. Afterward she gave some also to her husband when with her and he began eating it. 7 Then the eyes of both of them became opened and they began to realize that they were naked. . .
The REAL reason why god punished them is:
(Genesis 3:22-24) . . .And Jehovah God went on to say: "Here the man has become like one of us in knowing good and bad, and now in order that he may not put his hand out and actually take [fruit] also from the tree of life and eat and live to time indefinite,?" 23 With that Jehovah God put him out of the garden of E´den to cultivate the ground from which he had been taken. 24 And so he drove the man out and posted at the east of the garden of E´den the cherubs and the flaming blade of a sword that was turning itself continually to guard the way to the tree of life. . .
So god was afraid of the humans because they had become like gods and potentially could live forever. The god in this book is not acting out of love or kindness... he is afraid of loosing his power and authority over the humans. This is why I liken the god of the bible to a dictator. This god wants nothing but power, authority and total blind obedience.
What I was told about this story was that Eve was not really at fault as she was deceived by the serpent. Adam, was the one who KNEW they must not eat from the tree and that's why they did not actually notice they were naked and know the difference between right and wrong until after he had eaten from the fruit.
Now, most couples who find themselves naked with no one around do not suddenly try to cover themselves up because they feel it's wrong. If hubby and I manage to find ourselves naked and there's no one in the house, covering ourselves up is the furthest thing on our minds.
This story NEVER makes sense and there's probably good reason for it too...
Here's something I wrote about that subject:
The Tree of WHAT"
http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/6/6243/1.ashx
Farkel
