A Study of Morality

N

newnature

Registered Senior Member
At that fateful moment, Adam and Eve are standing together at the tree, and although only the woman and the serpent speak, Adam was present, and it seems he accepted the fruit that his wife handed him. He was fully complicitous, and indeed, Yahweh holds him responsible. Yahweh reproaches Adam. Adam says: Well, Eve handed to me. She gave it to me. Eve explains, the serpent tricked me. Yahweh vents his fury on all three, and he does so in ascending order: first the serpent for his trickery and then the woman, and finally the man. The doctrine of original sin, which is the idea that humans after Adam are born into a state of sin, by definition. The actions of Adam and Eve bring death to the human race, they don’t bring a state of utter and unredeemed sinfulness. In fact, humans have moral choice in each and every age. Adam and Eve after eating the fruit of the knowledge of good and bad, they also lose their harmonious relationship with nature. There had been a peaceful relationship between creatures and humans to that point. Humans are banished now from the Garden. It used to yield its fruits to them without any labor, but now humans have to toil for food and the earth yields its fruits only stintingly. The humans will learn that the concomitant of their freedom is responsibility. Their first act of defiance is punished harshly. So they learn, that the moral choices and actions of humans have consequences that have to be borne by the perpetrator. Evil is a product of human behavior, not a principal inherent in the cosmos; man’s disobedience is the cause of the human predicament. So knowledge or wisdom or perhaps moral freedom, seems to come at a very high price.

The disobedience happens in a rather backhanded way. It’s interesting, Yahweh tells Adam before the creation of Eve that he’s not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and bad, lest you die. Eve doesn’t hear this command directly, she hasn’t been created. Then we meet the cunning serpent, and although many will identify the serpent as Satan, an enticer, a tempter, some sort of evil creature, the serpent doesn’t seem to be so. The serpent in Eden is simply a talking animal.

Adam and Eve after eating the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and bad are like Yahweh; they have become wise in that they have learned they have moral choice. They have free will, they can defy Yahweh and Yahweh’s plans for them in a way that animals and natural phenomena cannot. But now that means there is a serious danger here, Yahweh says, “Now that the man has become like one of us, knowing good and bad, what if he should stretch out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and life forever!” So the acceptance of mortality as an inescapable part of the human condition, the quest for immortality, Yahweh could not afford to allow them access to the tree of life, and Yahweh maintains the upper hand in this, the fact that they eventually must die. Yahweh has to punt the ball, he has to modify his plans by barring access to the tree of life, humans are going to be a force to be reckoned with. Because of the length of these reasoning’s, read more at,

thatlifeyahwehhas blogspot

Thanks for any insight.
 
You're basing this premise on the concept of Adam and Eve actually existing and the events of Genesis re: forbidden fruit being literal. If its not the case, which really, come on, it ain't, the rest is kind of moot.

Regardless, its likely that Adam told Eve about teh tree, I mean, what else are they going to talk about?

The snake? Does Genesis actually make comment that any other animals in the garden speak to Adam and Eve? Regardless of whether they do or don't, Eve certainly doesn't seem to bothered by talking to a snake. satan can take whatever form he desires, so its not that far of a stretch to accept he became a snake rather than it just being some random talking snake of no association.

The tree of life, its really just a metaphor for the ancients to see what they truly lost/loose when they turn from God. As it were, its all redundant as Christ redeemed us, and we won immorality, just not in a physical form.

God gave us a brain, we have science and technology, its pretty gosh darn obvious Adam and Eve circa Genesis did not exist. They're a story. A metaphor. Yes, at some point, humanity turned from God when we climbed down out of the trees and developed awareness of self and awareness of God and we sinned against Him.
 
It is a trip how the human race got cut off from that life, that tree of life produced, and what Yahweh went through to get access to that life again. When Yahweh raised Yeshua from among the dead, that is when Yeshua got that life, Yeshua was to have-John 5:26

They say the earth is 4 or so billions of years old, here is a story of the first garden of Eden when the earth was in the first heaven, remember the earth is now in this second heaven and there will be a third heaven, but with a new earth.

Ezekiel 28:11-15; Ezekiel charges that the king of Tyre has overstepped his bounds, because of his wealth; this king deemed his mind equal to a god’s? Ezekiel is picturing this king as a quasi-mythical being in a bejeweled garden of Eden. The king boasts of his wisdom and beauty; Ezekiel employs the imagery of the garden of Eden story to describe the Tyrian king’s downfall. Ezekiel employs the imagery of the cherub to stress the Tyrian king’s power and high position; same as the once-perfect creature is shown to have sinned and therefore was struck down. But the figurative language Ezekiel is using is of a story of a garden of Eden, that Yahweh caused to grow on the earth, while the earth was in the first heaven. Although Ezekiel is telling all this to a Tyrian king, the story Ezekiel is using is neither allegory, myth, legend, nor fable, but literal historical facts set forth, and emphasized by the use of figures of speech.

Ezekiel tells in this garden story, that their was an individual that was a once-perfect creature. Yet, all the confusion of thought about this individual, have arisen from taking literally what is expressed by figures, or from taking figuratively what is literal. A figure of speech is never used except for the purpose of calling attention to, emphasizing, and intensifying, the reality of the literal sense, and the truth of the historical facts; so that, while the words employed may not be so strictly true to the letter, they are all the more true to the truth conveyed by them, and to the historical events connected with them. Here the story Ezekiel used of an individual==You were the seal of perfection, full of wisdom and flawless in beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of Yahweh; every precious stone was your adornment; carnelian, chrysolite, and amethyst; beryl, lapis lazuli, and jasper; sapphire, turquoise, and emerald; and gold beautifully wrought for you, mined for you, prepared the day you were created. I created you as a cherub with outstretched shielding wings, and you resided on Yahweh’s holy mountain; you walked among stones of fire. You were blameless in your ways, from the day you were created, until wrongdoing was found in you. Yes, wrongdoing was found in Lucifer, he had a plan afloat.
 
Adam was responsible because he disobeyed Godnot because he was complicit with Eve.Eve told Adam the serpent tempted her.Scriptures say nothing as to whether Adam was with Eve or not.He told both of them directly that they would surely die.That was the price for disobeidence.they expected God would kill them and that would be the endof it.THey had no idea that God would let them live.After God banished them they retained their free will.All of creation changed after they sinned.Creation was created for man.Now fruit rotted and vegetable became spoiled.Weather changed from hot to cold.They can no longer depend on God for completely providing for them.God was merciful .He clothed them and let them live.They knew the consequences of their choice,namely death.Evil is anything which is against God will.All evil,pain,sickness in the world is a result of man's sin.God gave them moral freedom from the start.It was a free gift from God.(read Genesis and you'll understand this better)The Serpent was the slyest of all the creatures God had created.The bible says the Serpent spoke to Eve.We can assume it was verbal but it didn't necessarily have to be.God gave Adam dominion over all the creatures of the earth.He told Adam to give them names.Their relationship to God was like no other since God made man in His own image and likeness.It doesn't say whether they knew of the tree of life before they sinned.God knew of it and placed 2 angels to guard it.God's love for His creation(which cost something,His creative energy)was so great that He desided not to destroy man.He still loved man so He clothed them and were promised a redeemer.
 
newnature,

Your interpretation is missing the mark...Adam and Eve always had free will. Thus the reason they chose to disobey when the serpent put doubt in their mind that God was holding something back from them. Bottom line...they didn't trust God. They wanted to be like God and so they chose to eat from the one tree they were told not to. Was there anything wrong with the tree. No...except that God said NO. The result was that their will now ruled their intellect instead of the other way around. And the main part is that they lost God's divine life within them. He said they would die and they did not physically die...but they spiritually died and lost God's divine life as a result.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top