why did god let adam and eve get decieved by the serpent

Discussion in 'Religion Archives' started by fahrenheit 451, Jun 28, 2004.

  1. fahrenheit 451 fiction Registered Senior Member

    Messages:
    323
    GE 3:1-7, 22-24:
    God allows Adam and Eve to be deceived by the Serpent (the craftiest of all of God's wild creatures). They eat of the "Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil," thereby incurring death for themselves and all of mankind for ever after. God prevents them from regaining eternal life, by placing a guard around the "Tree of Eternal Life." (Note: God could have done the same for the "Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil" in the first place and would thereby have prevented the Fall of man, the necessity for Salvation, the Crucifixion of Jesus, etc.)

    someone please try and explain this, as it a hell of a damming verse.
    however I doubt you can, unless you are going to rewrite the bible.
     
  2. Google AdSense Guest Advertisement



    to hide all adverts.
  3. §outh§tar is feeling caustic Registered Senior Member

    Messages:
    4,832
    Because if He had restrained them, all the free will fanatics and liberalists alike would be screaming bloody murder for manipulating the two.
     
  4. Google AdSense Guest Advertisement



    to hide all adverts.
  5. greywolf The Hellbound Hellhound. AWOOO Registered Senior Member

    Messages:
    252
    my thoughts exactly!
     
  6. Google AdSense Guest Advertisement



    to hide all adverts.
  7. fahrenheit 451 fiction Registered Senior Member

    Messages:
    323
    but according to your bible, these were the only two humans at the time, so a more feasible answer would be appreciated.
     
  8. Medicine*Woman Jesus: Mythstory--Not History! Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    8,346
    *************
    M*W: Let's just say that this verse has another meaning for me instead of what was believed some 5,000 years ago. How can anyone believe the original meanings of translations some 50 centuries ago and mean the same thing as today? That's preposterous! There is absolutely no way that what was written 50 centuries ago could be translated directly to English today. A generation is about 20 years, and we all know how language changes from generation to generation. As far as rewriting -- I'm all for retranslation -- and I'm working on it.
     
  9. greywolf The Hellbound Hellhound. AWOOO Registered Senior Member

    Messages:
    252
    In laymens terms!
    when God made man he told him not to eat from the tree of life but at the same time he also gave man freewill. Now he could have stoped man from eating from that tree and inturn saving man from eternal sin but if he had done that then what would be the point of giving us the choice to make mistakes if he wasnt going to let us make them at all? Do u get it now?
     
    Last edited: Jun 28, 2004
  10. spidergoat pubic diorama Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    54,036
    The meaning is that knowledge is a two-edged sword. You can live in paradise, but you will never know what is missing. With knowledge, another dimension is added to our lives, but with consequent difficulties. The ancients could see that animals did not suffer the same troubles as people, and this story symbolizes that break from the natural world. (It's also an excuse to oppress women)
     
  11. greywolf The Hellbound Hellhound. AWOOO Registered Senior Member

    Messages:
    252
    lol! Nice post! Interesting and funny!
     
  12. spidergoat pubic diorama Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    54,036
    If you liked that, you'll love this:

    Furthermore, the apple symbolizes the hallucinogenic mushroom; which I think was the true catalyst for language development and higher abstract thinking. The garden of Eden was Africa, where climate change hastened our domestication of cattle and brought us into contact with the cattle dung-loving fungi.
    (who knows, it could be true)
     
    Last edited: Jun 28, 2004
  13. SVRP Registered Senior Member

    Messages:
    262
    Why did God let adam & eve get deceived by the serpent?

    1) To see if adam & eve would choose to obey God's command and not eat the fruit,

    2) To show His plan of salvation for man in case they disobeyed God's command.
     
  14. spidergoat pubic diorama Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    54,036
    The traditional interpretation has this message: obey. Eveything bad happened because someone didn't obey. But also, everything interesting happened because someone rebelled. Satan rebelled, and the serpent is Satan, right? So Satan rebelled and delivered knowledge to mankind. God had nothing in mind for us but to sit around naked and eat non-applish fruit like a monkey, so thank Satan for your humanity!
     
  15. SnakeLord snakeystew.com Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    5,758
    This is a moot point. Let's run through it...

    Upon eating the fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, Adam and Eve were given knowledge of good and evil. Before eating the fruit, they would have no knowledge of good and evil and as such would have no way of distinguishing a difference between god and the serpent.
     
  16. spidergoat pubic diorama Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    54,036
    Hmmm...good point, they couldn't have known if disobeying God was evil or not! After all, God could easily have appeared as a serpent, right? So, it would also be wrong to punish them, or be angry at them in any way.
     
  17. Neildo Gone Registered Senior Member

    Messages:
    5,306
    What a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive.

    God has only himself to blame for creating us as mindless drone slaves. If he would have created us with that knowledge of good and evil in the first place, we most likely would have not gone against God's word. Just look at all the troubles that can happen as everyone's mentioned by not being able to know the difference of something.

    Ignorance may be bliss (heh, since Adam and Eve were zombies, the Garden of Eden could have been a total dump but they wouldn't know any better.. and this is why Heaven will seem so great once we die) but what you don't know CAN kill ya. Gee, thanks God for putting us in that predicament and thank you Satan for enlightening us*.

    Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!

    (yes, I did say that SouthStar

    Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!

    )

    - N

    * note: only if the story is 100% accurate
     
    Last edited: Jun 29, 2004
  18. SnakeLord snakeystew.com Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    5,758
    Well, it does show the ultimate battle between two distinct forces. One of them was hellbent on keeping mankind as a mental slave whereas the other wanted mankind to have the ability to think for himself.

    This holds true even to the modern day - to quote some relevant text:

    "For ages, a deadly conflict has been waged between a few brave men and women of thought and genius upon the one side, and the great ignorant religious mass on the other. This is the war between Science and Faith. The few have appealed to reason, to honor, to law, to freedom, to the known, and to happiness here in this world. The many have appealed to prejudice, to fear, to miracle, to slavery, to the unknown, and to misery hereafter. The few have said, "Think!" The many have said, "Believe!" [The Gods, 1872]

    Those of the 'faith' ilk conduct their lives through a happy lack of knowledge versus those who seek to improve their lives and the lives of others through knowledge.

    It is the very foundation of their beliefs, taught from child to child through the ages - where knowledge is seen as something ominous and evil. This can quite clearly be seen with this quote:

    "The pursuit of knowledge, unless sanctified by a holy mission, is a pagan act, and therefore vile."
    Saint Bernard of Clairvauz (1190-1153)

    To think that someone who says this, can be considered a 'saint'. Through the ages, the sole focus is on destroying mankinds ability to seek understanding and truth - instead thinking life works out as long as you hold your hands together or cross your fingers.

    It is really sickening. The majority of conflict and pain could be avoided if people would question and search for truth, instead of the "faith" method which merely means they're right, everyone else is wrong.

    Currently the world is occupied by millions upon millions of these cretins- which does not bode well for humanity as a whole.

    Personally I think the serpent should be thanked for helping mankind. I would rather a life with the ability to have knowledge, to be able to think, and to understand even the most simplest of things than a life of not knowing anything except servitude. We can see just how little Adam and Eve actually knew, as written in the bible:

    Gen 3:7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realised that they were naked.

    Until they'd eaten the fruit they didn't even realise they were nude - so in essence no different to all the other animals on this planet. While some of you obviously prefer to remain as simple animals, I prefer, (as the bible says): having my eyes opened.

    You can all remain "with your eyes closed"- and thus get closer to what god wants, but the rest of us are thankful for the knowledge we have been given.
     
  19. OliverJ Banned Banned

    Messages:
    349

    Im with you on that brother....can I get an Amen!! :bugeye: Ok , I'll just say right-on dude!
     
  20. antifreeze defrosting agent Registered Senior Member

    Messages:
    494
    nice posts spidergoat. and i might add that there is a book titled Ishmael. while i disagree with the underlying philosophies presented, it does have interesting and surprisingly logical explanations of the biblical story of adam and eve.

    so god wants puppets? animated dolls to amuse him? i see. because when people sit around and ponder stuff, we are no fun to watch. boring!

    Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!

     
  21. SVRP Registered Senior Member

    Messages:
    262
    So what you are all saying, if adam & eve knew in the beginning the difference between good & evil, they would have not eaten the fruit? That they would have the foreknowledge to know the results of their decision if they ate the fruit?
    Or maybe you are saying that disobedience (or rebellion) is good? Please explain further. Just curious.

    Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!

     
  22. Katazia Black Mamba Registered Senior Member

    Messages:
    743
    SVRP,

    The main point is that without the knowledge of good and evil Adam and Eve did not understand that disobeying God by eating the fruit was a bad thing. To then be severely punished simply because they were denied appropriate teaching before eating is an attrocious injustice.

    God is seen here as pulling all the strings and clearly tricked Adam and Eve. That is not the action of a just and perfect god. But if God is not perfect and just and Christains claim he is then we have a paradox, an impossible condition with the only reasonable conclusion being that the Christain god cannot exist as defined by Christians.

    Kat
     
  23. heart Registered Senior Member

    Messages:
    480
    It makes as much sense as a parent who sits a gun out for their child to get ahold of- If the biblical God found it so important that A&E not eat of the tree, why put it there to begin with? Why allow the serpent to tempt them? Why not tell A&E what the serpent was up to? Perhaps then he couldn't be seen as playing the role of hero saving them from hell, a place which HE created to begin with.
     

Share This Page