So I was pondering the Bible the other day, as I often do, being the devout Agnostic that I am. One thing about the story of Adam and Eve didn't add up.... So Adam and Eve sinned against God by being tricked by a snake (Satan) into eating the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (the fruit makes an excellent cobbler, btw...) For this, they disobeyed God's ordered and commited the first sin, which caused man's separation from God and so on... My question is: if Adam and Eve had no concept of good and evil before eating the fruit, then why was God so angry that they disobeyed? If they didn't know that disobedience is a sin, then how can they be held accountable for their choice? Did not God put Satan in the garden with them, knowing that the devil is a master manipulator and that His creation was easily manipulated in their innocent state of mind? Now I know that Adam and Eve is a legend and didn't actually happen, but how does this story reconcile with Bible literalist, and what does it also say about the nature of God? It sounds like Adam and Eve were setup to sin by God. Why create something incapable of realizing that it was bad to disobey, then create the circumstance that would lead to their downfall? Any theories about this from anyone who believes the story actually happened?
From Mrs. SabanFan: It's all about free will and obedience and they gave in to temptation, a result of the presence of evil. Like small children, they understand obedience and the understanding of good and evil comes later.
A Baptist could tell you more about the bible than anyone, unfortunately they wont be home and near a computer until late Wednesday night. The correct answer is there is no correct answer. It is interpreted differently by every religion, and the process is quite similar to breaking down the story of Snow White.
The snake wasn't satan. It was just a snake. Adam and Eve sinned by placing their desires above what God had told them. I don't know if I would use the word setup, but it was a strange way to go about creating man. God knows everything. God knew they would eat the fruit. God created in order to damn. It's on my list of questions to ask the Big Guy one day.
Exactly! The story is a parable, like many stories in the bible. It was designed to convey an often complex moral message in a fashion that is easy to understand by simple people and easy to remember in an illiterate society with an oral tradition. The earliest bible stories were told around campfires by elders for thousands of years before they were finally written down by scribes.
But if they had no knowledge of what good was, how could they understand that the right thing to do was to be obedient? So would it be an appropriate analogy to say this: I have two toddlers, who have not yet fully developed the concept of right and wrong. I build a high voltage generator in their room, and tell them under no means should they go and touch it. I then allow my devious brother to go and convince the kids about how cool it would be to touch the generator. When they get shocked, not only am I furious, but I throw them out of the house, cutoff communication with them forever, and curse their children for every generation to follow. Would that make me someone who is loving and kind, or just a really really bad parent?
Fair enough. If you do end up seeing him, would you toss me down a bottle of water or a fire extinguisher or something? :yelwink2:
I used to be Baptist for 20 years. Wednesday church sucked!. :rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl: I still read the Bible, even though I am an unbeliever. Interesting to read it from a different perspective than what I grew up with.
Yeah the way i learned it. It has nothing to do with right or wrong. It has to do with God telling them not to do something, and they disobeyed. He provided everything for them and asked them not to do one thing. When they disobeyed, he decided to make them work for everything. As long as they maintain their belief in Him, they will one day regain everything they lost, but now they will have a better understanding of everything around them.
