I will be pulling quotes from the "New" King James Bible, just to make it a bit easier for everyone to understand.
So we're all familiar with the tale of the Garden of Eden, right? God makes man and woman. They are placed in a lovely garden, and they can eat anything they like except the apple tree. A serpent shows up and tricks the woman into sharing an apple with the man, and God's mighty ticked off. He lays some heavy curses on them and kicks them out of the garden.
But wait a second here - let's read the story and actually do a little thinking... (I know this is hard for some of you, but please do try...)
Gen 2:15-17 Then the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, "Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die."
Okay, couple things I want to point out: firstly - why did God not want Adam to know of good and evil? Ignorance is bliss, I suppose.
Second thing is more important though, let's look at God's exact wording - "in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die". Let's remember those words.
Flash forward a bit. Adam is lonely, he's named all the animals and God has created Eve for him. (Gen 2:18-25)
Now enter the serpent. He's talking to Eve about that pesky tree... He asks her if God has told her not to eat of any of the trees. Eve says yes, God has said not to eat that special tree in the middle of the garden or she will die.
Gen 3:4-5 Then the serpent said to the woman, "You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."
So Eve eats the apple, and shares it with Adam. They become incredible prudes and are shameful about being naked (interesting idea there...but not what we're addressing right now). God shows up and can't find them, so he calls out. Adam answers, God finds out they've eaten the fruit, slays a couple innocent animals to provide them with clothing, curses them pretty heavily and kicks them out of His garden. With me so far?
But wait, God said specifically that Adam & Eve would die the DAY they touched or ate the fruit. "in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die" So...did Adam die that day?
Gen 5:3-5 And Adam lived one hundred and thirty years, and begot a son in his own likeness, after his image, and named him Seth. After he begot Seth, the days of Adam were eight hundred years, and he had sons and daughters. So all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years, and he died."
Seth was born sometime after Cain & Abel were born, which is after they're kicked out of the garden.
So who lied?
Everything the serpent said was 100% accurate. He directly contradicted God and told Eve that no, she would not die the day she ate the fruit, but would instead gain insight into good and evil and be more like her God.
God lied, told Adam & Eve that they would die if they ate the fruit, and when they did eat the fruit he (essentially) had a temper tantrum, cursed his children, and kicked them out of the house.
On a personal note, I find it endlessly amusing that the Serpent is a common symbol of the Goddess. It seems to me another version of this story is one where She peeked in on Yaweh's little experiment and decided to champion the children (for childrent they surely were, regardless of physical age) being kept isolated in their little garden. Reminds me of the Boy in the Bubble. (The bible shows there were other people around at the time, when Cain is finally sent off he settles in with the people of Nod who are apparently NOT descended from Adam & Eve). Of course there will always be those that prefer to live their lives being led blindly from point to point, but some of us like to have our eyes open...
So we're all familiar with the tale of the Garden of Eden, right? God makes man and woman. They are placed in a lovely garden, and they can eat anything they like except the apple tree. A serpent shows up and tricks the woman into sharing an apple with the man, and God's mighty ticked off. He lays some heavy curses on them and kicks them out of the garden.
But wait a second here - let's read the story and actually do a little thinking... (I know this is hard for some of you, but please do try...)
Gen 2:15-17 Then the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, "Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die."
Okay, couple things I want to point out: firstly - why did God not want Adam to know of good and evil? Ignorance is bliss, I suppose.
Second thing is more important though, let's look at God's exact wording - "in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die". Let's remember those words.
Flash forward a bit. Adam is lonely, he's named all the animals and God has created Eve for him. (Gen 2:18-25)
Now enter the serpent. He's talking to Eve about that pesky tree... He asks her if God has told her not to eat of any of the trees. Eve says yes, God has said not to eat that special tree in the middle of the garden or she will die.
Gen 3:4-5 Then the serpent said to the woman, "You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."
So Eve eats the apple, and shares it with Adam. They become incredible prudes and are shameful about being naked (interesting idea there...but not what we're addressing right now). God shows up and can't find them, so he calls out. Adam answers, God finds out they've eaten the fruit, slays a couple innocent animals to provide them with clothing, curses them pretty heavily and kicks them out of His garden. With me so far?
But wait, God said specifically that Adam & Eve would die the DAY they touched or ate the fruit. "in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die" So...did Adam die that day?
Gen 5:3-5 And Adam lived one hundred and thirty years, and begot a son in his own likeness, after his image, and named him Seth. After he begot Seth, the days of Adam were eight hundred years, and he had sons and daughters. So all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years, and he died."
Seth was born sometime after Cain & Abel were born, which is after they're kicked out of the garden.
So who lied?
Everything the serpent said was 100% accurate. He directly contradicted God and told Eve that no, she would not die the day she ate the fruit, but would instead gain insight into good and evil and be more like her God.
God lied, told Adam & Eve that they would die if they ate the fruit, and when they did eat the fruit he (essentially) had a temper tantrum, cursed his children, and kicked them out of the house.
On a personal note, I find it endlessly amusing that the Serpent is a common symbol of the Goddess. It seems to me another version of this story is one where She peeked in on Yaweh's little experiment and decided to champion the children (for childrent they surely were, regardless of physical age) being kept isolated in their little garden. Reminds me of the Boy in the Bubble. (The bible shows there were other people around at the time, when Cain is finally sent off he settles in with the people of Nod who are apparently NOT descended from Adam & Eve). Of course there will always be those that prefer to live their lives being led blindly from point to point, but some of us like to have our eyes open...