The Old Testament.
As an 11 year old boy I was taught the Garden of Eden story from the book of Genesis. The story never sat easy with me.
In the first book of the Bible, Genesis 2 God created the garden of Eden. He placed man (Adam) in the garden, Then taking a rib from Adam he fashioned Eve. He gave explicit instruction about eating a certain fruit.
|
Genesis 3
Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?”
2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden;
3 but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’”
4 Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die.
5 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.”6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate.
7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings.
8 And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.
9 Then the Lord God called to Adam and said to him, “Where are you?”
10 So he said, “I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.”
11 And He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat?”
12 Then the man said, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate.”
13 And the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?”
The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
So eve knows of this rule set out by God not to eat of the fruit ( The bible does not state who told eve but presumably Adam told her this as it does not say god did ). They knew that if they eat the fruit that they "would surely die." However after a meeting with the serpent Eve is told that god lied and that they would NOT die, but their eyes would be opened and they would know good and evil just as god does.
This brings so many questions and thoughts....
1. Why does an all powerful all knowing god make such a tree of knowledge? The only 2 people in the garden of Eden are Adam and Eve and they know of nothing So WHO is it for? WHAT is it's purpose?
2. why then does this all knowing all seeing god PUT this tree of knowledge it in the garden of Eden AND in a prominent place to tempt his children?
3. Why does god then lie to Adam and Eve about the outcome of eating the fruit of the tree of knowledge?
Adam and eve have no shame, are total innocent's and yet this all powerful all knowing all seeing god not only tempts them he is clueless about something that ANY PARENT ON THE PLANET KNOWS! IF you put a child in a room and tell them do not touch something the first thing they do when you leave the room or are not around is...... TOUCH IT. And if it is food they will EAT IT!
4. Why a serpent? Why not a dove or a fluffy rabbit? ...... Presumably because we see snakes as dangerous and repulsive which of course helps the story line along so that the reader can also feel repulsion at such an animal if of course you can get past the talking snake bit in the first place which millions of Christians do to this day without a single raised eyebrow)
BUT HERE IS THE thing The serpent told the truth. Adam and Eve did not die! IT WAS GOD THAT LIED.
Not only that but when this all seeing all knowing god came into the garden to find Adam and Eve, they hid
Genesis 3: 8 Then the man and his wife heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the breeze of the day, and they hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. 9. So the Lord God called out to the man "Where are you?"
This was a massive WTF!!?? moment. I had been told time and time again that god is all seeing, all knowing and all powerful. BUT god Has no clue where Adam and eve are hiding. The all seeing all knowing god has no clue that the serpent was talking to eve, has no clue eve ate from the tree of knowledge. ??? Not really the all powerful, all knowing, all seeing god that Christians claim him to be is he if he has no clue about the events that happened and cannot find people hiding. So why the story ?? Non other than to move the plot along a little bit further to try and show Adam and Eve in bad light - They have defied god and now they are hiding.
Then of course there was the so called punishment for Adam and Eve which of course is "burdened" on the whole of mankind, and as for the truth telling talking snake? I was only 11 but seriously? my whole class knew snakes did not talk they did not have legs and that they slithered along on their belly nor did they eat dust!.
Genesis 3:14
And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:
Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?”
2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden;
3 but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’”
4 Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die.
5 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.”6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate.
7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings.
8 And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.
9 Then the Lord God called to Adam and said to him, “Where are you?”
10 So he said, “I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.”
11 And He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat?”
12 Then the man said, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate.”
13 And the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?”
The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
So eve knows of this rule set out by God not to eat of the fruit ( The bible does not state who told eve but presumably Adam told her this as it does not say god did ). They knew that if they eat the fruit that they "would surely die." However after a meeting with the serpent Eve is told that god lied and that they would NOT die, but their eyes would be opened and they would know good and evil just as god does.
This brings so many questions and thoughts....
1. Why does an all powerful all knowing god make such a tree of knowledge? The only 2 people in the garden of Eden are Adam and Eve and they know of nothing So WHO is it for? WHAT is it's purpose?
2. why then does this all knowing all seeing god PUT this tree of knowledge it in the garden of Eden AND in a prominent place to tempt his children?
3. Why does god then lie to Adam and Eve about the outcome of eating the fruit of the tree of knowledge?
Adam and eve have no shame, are total innocent's and yet this all powerful all knowing all seeing god not only tempts them he is clueless about something that ANY PARENT ON THE PLANET KNOWS! IF you put a child in a room and tell them do not touch something the first thing they do when you leave the room or are not around is...... TOUCH IT. And if it is food they will EAT IT!
4. Why a serpent? Why not a dove or a fluffy rabbit? ...... Presumably because we see snakes as dangerous and repulsive which of course helps the story line along so that the reader can also feel repulsion at such an animal if of course you can get past the talking snake bit in the first place which millions of Christians do to this day without a single raised eyebrow)
BUT HERE IS THE thing The serpent told the truth. Adam and Eve did not die! IT WAS GOD THAT LIED.
Not only that but when this all seeing all knowing god came into the garden to find Adam and Eve, they hid
Genesis 3: 8 Then the man and his wife heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the breeze of the day, and they hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. 9. So the Lord God called out to the man "Where are you?"
This was a massive WTF!!?? moment. I had been told time and time again that god is all seeing, all knowing and all powerful. BUT god Has no clue where Adam and eve are hiding. The all seeing all knowing god has no clue that the serpent was talking to eve, has no clue eve ate from the tree of knowledge. ??? Not really the all powerful, all knowing, all seeing god that Christians claim him to be is he if he has no clue about the events that happened and cannot find people hiding. So why the story ?? Non other than to move the plot along a little bit further to try and show Adam and Eve in bad light - They have defied god and now they are hiding.
Then of course there was the so called punishment for Adam and Eve which of course is "burdened" on the whole of mankind, and as for the truth telling talking snake? I was only 11 but seriously? my whole class knew snakes did not talk they did not have legs and that they slithered along on their belly nor did they eat dust!.
Genesis 3:14
And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:
An all powerful all knowing all seeing god, put the tree of knowledge in a prominent place tempting Adam and Eve, and seeing as god made all things also put the serpent there to tempt them.... And they were indeed tempted! So it was a no win situation for Adam and Eve. They had no knowledge of sin, no knowledge of right and wrong, good and evil. they were innocent having no knowledge of anything. God did - he knew everything, including what is in the heart of man that he made. He engineered the situation from start to finish and punished them for doing what he knew they would do. The deck was stacked from the beginning. They had no chance. WHY?
The why is simple. The premise of the story is that a god made everything and your ancestors created original sin by defying god. God is now angry at you and all humanity for defying him, You will live in fear of god for the rest of your life. later however the narrative gives you an out.... A way that you will not have the wrath and anger of this God. With the help of a new character. Jesus. Jesus dies on the cross, gives his life for all mankind and you are offered a chance to redeem yourself, You are held
accountable but can be forgiven, you can be with god in everlasting glory for eternity, BUT to encourage your devotion and as a safe guard you are also warned that if you choose not to be a good slave and obey you will end up in eternal damnation. The solution it would seem is to devote yourself to this organised religion follow the teachings of the bible and all it's instructions and demands and you will be saved and go to heaven..... And of course they will need a lot of money to help them in this endeavor.
The why is simple. The premise of the story is that a god made everything and your ancestors created original sin by defying god. God is now angry at you and all humanity for defying him, You will live in fear of god for the rest of your life. later however the narrative gives you an out.... A way that you will not have the wrath and anger of this God. With the help of a new character. Jesus. Jesus dies on the cross, gives his life for all mankind and you are offered a chance to redeem yourself, You are held
accountable but can be forgiven, you can be with god in everlasting glory for eternity, BUT to encourage your devotion and as a safe guard you are also warned that if you choose not to be a good slave and obey you will end up in eternal damnation. The solution it would seem is to devote yourself to this organised religion follow the teachings of the bible and all it's instructions and demands and you will be saved and go to heaven..... And of course they will need a lot of money to help them in this endeavor.
The story is set. It is sold and 2000 years ago with superstition rife and a population that was poorly educated this was a very easy thing to do. The mind can be easily coerced. Tradition and indoctrination carried on through the ages until we reach today
The faithful, being faithful take the line of the church and do not ask questions or analyse the narrative for to do so is a sin!! so.... you must not ask questions, you must follow blindly or end up in hell. Adam and Eve are blamed for the original sin, along with the snake for telling them the facts. A warped sense of right and wrong prevails here.
The bible is riddled from start to finish with examples such as this. The faithful like to exclaim that things are taken out of context or that an interpretation is misunderstood, then why tell a story full of illogical happenings that could not possibly happen. Today we are a little more educated But 2000 years ago it seemed very plausible to the illiterate and poorly educated and now like all religions it is ingrained and deeply entrenched. It takes time for the masses to wake up and realize the truth of the situation.
The last hundred years have seen a massive decline in religion as we climb out of our infancy and start to question everything. Secular laws have helped by constraining what religion can now do and freed people to think and act for themselves without worrying about their lives being shortened or some other retribution. Some of the world is not free and they cannot question or protest their freedoms. Yet!
But then if the religious will not even read of study their one book and genuinely think about the contents of this one book... How can they have an opinion or form one. Simpler to just be a sheep and follow the others than be an individual.
The faithful, being faithful take the line of the church and do not ask questions or analyse the narrative for to do so is a sin!! so.... you must not ask questions, you must follow blindly or end up in hell. Adam and Eve are blamed for the original sin, along with the snake for telling them the facts. A warped sense of right and wrong prevails here.
The bible is riddled from start to finish with examples such as this. The faithful like to exclaim that things are taken out of context or that an interpretation is misunderstood, then why tell a story full of illogical happenings that could not possibly happen. Today we are a little more educated But 2000 years ago it seemed very plausible to the illiterate and poorly educated and now like all religions it is ingrained and deeply entrenched. It takes time for the masses to wake up and realize the truth of the situation.
The last hundred years have seen a massive decline in religion as we climb out of our infancy and start to question everything. Secular laws have helped by constraining what religion can now do and freed people to think and act for themselves without worrying about their lives being shortened or some other retribution. Some of the world is not free and they cannot question or protest their freedoms. Yet!
But then if the religious will not even read of study their one book and genuinely think about the contents of this one book... How can they have an opinion or form one. Simpler to just be a sheep and follow the others than be an individual.
This story was told time and time again at school as i got to 15 years old and time for GCSE's I achieved a B+ ( no one got A's with that teacher) Afterwards I gave the teacher an essay as written above which she threw in the bin and told me I was going to hell.... How very Christian of her I told her. I was given detention. I learned very quickly that to question any religion was met with hostility, prejudice, judgement and a lot of anger. All the things Jesus tells Christians NOT to do as it is a sin. I explained this to her AND that I found it extremely telling that the teacher who was there to teach, to educate to interact and share ideas and thoughts with their pupils, to encourage questions, to reason, with logic to help the student learn; could only scream that I am going to hell and give me detention.
She also could not distinguish between species of animals as I explained that a toad is definitely Amphibian they are not wicked and I am homo sapien. Oh how she could scream. We need better teachers I thought.
She also could not distinguish between species of animals as I explained that a toad is definitely Amphibian they are not wicked and I am homo sapien. Oh how she could scream. We need better teachers I thought.