What was it? What did Eve learn and why didn't kill her that day? Its says in Genesis 2:17 that "for in the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die." I've asked this question to a lot of religious leaders and to religious people in general and I usually get the same kind of response. They informed me that the knowledge was of sex: how to have it, that its enjoyable, and that it can be for fun not just procreation. I was wondering if any of you all have heard this? I have asked 6 different preachers from 6 different churches and they all basically said the same thing.
I have a problem with this because idea because in Genesis 1:28 it says God blessed them to multiply and replenish the earth and thats even before he made woman? Hows that possible?
If you have heard something different about what knowledge Eve gained then share it with me, I'm sure there's other ideas on this.
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The knowlegde she get was about sex. What they knew before that was only the 'instinctual sex', for procreation and physical need only. Then, they learned about the 'sex for pleasure'.
My take on the "thou shalt surely die" is exactly that. They were going to die. In Gen. 3:19, when God was punishing them, he told them that they would return to the ground from where they came.
It was the tree of knowledge. They ate and knew they were naked, they ate and knew they had done something wrong.
Which begs a different question (well, actually a lot of questions, but I'll stick with just one): Did Adam and Eve actually know eating from that tree was wrong? It was the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Am I to assume that they had no knowledge of good and evil before they ate? So, from this messed up logic of mine, just because God told them 'no' doesn't mean they knew it was wrong.
Yeah. Two years of bible college can get one's theological gears turning.
I like your comment, if we take the scripture literally then Eve didn't know because God told Adam not to eat from that tree before Eve was even created. God doesn't formally speak to Eve until after she had eaten it.
Heres another interesting question: Where Adam and Eve supposed to have children in the Garden of Eden? Before they gained the knowledge from the tree? In the beginning it says God created man and woman and blessed them to multiple and replenish the earth but that was even before Eve was created.
I really think the same thing because it is so odd that Eve wasnt created yet so it wasnt her problem really.
I’m disappointed that so many ministers told you the tree of the knowledge of good and evil is all about sex. I think the tree is just what it says it is (the knowledge of good and evil). When they ate the fruit they simply knew right and wrong. They were ashamed of their nakedness. Before this time they felt no shame. Prior they lived simply to be with God and each other. I think the main thing is not that we understand the details of the Adam and Eve story right down to what type of fruit they ate, but what it means for humanity today. The serpent told Eve if she ate it, she could be like God. What was the world like when mankind simply wanted to be with God and was not trying to be God? How can we get back to that?
I like your point L.C, but it brings up a really crazy notion. If the whole idea is that Adam and Eve didn't know right from wrong before eating of the tree then God didn't want us to humans capable of love in the first place. The only thing that separates us from other animals is we know the difference between right and wrong, we are able to think logically about things problem solving and all that.
They told you it was about SEX? Wow. That's funny. No, it was the knowledge of good and evil: before that, supposedly, they had no idea what 'good' or 'bad' meant. It was a garden, there wasn't anything wrong. The reason for the verse discrepancy is because there are TWO creation narratives in Genesis. And please, please remember not to take this literally; not even the ancient Israelites believed this was REALLY how the world was created. It was their creation myth and that was enough. Each of the two versions was preferred by a different major Jewish sect and that's why both were included.
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GloriaFe: Progressive's Sex Blogger
So your saying its widely acknowledged that the creation stories are bogus? So what about Adam and Eve?
If this is the case then how can any of the old testement be believed?
I know it was the knowledge of good and evil that they learned, the reason sex was described as an evil was because Adam and Eve recognized that they were naked, that looked at each other with desire. So then when they had sex it was because of lust and for enjoyment.
Very loosely, from Abraham on is believed to have happened while everything before is the culture and background myths of the Israelites (why there are rainbows in the sky, etc). More technically, the events after Abraham are considered to be much more important because that signified the beginning of the Israelites as a people.
In the case of 'naked,' I've always heard it interpreted as a matter of decency, not sexuality. The first account of sex is in chapter 4 of Genesis. According to the NRSV, the first creation account is 1:1 to 2:4 and the second is immediately following. The first one is also sometimes deemed the "Creation Hymn."
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GloriaFe: Progressive's Sex Blogger
Sex? They told you sex? I'm sorry but sex is a gift from God. Sex is meant to be enjoyed. I think adam and eve may have had sex before the fall, and i'm sure they enjoyed it. experiencing pleasure in sex is not a sin. the sin is having sex with someone who is not your spouse.
The knowledge they attained was the knowledge of good and evil. Why over complicate what it says. if it says they learned what good and evil were, then they learned what good and evil were. Adam didn't eat from the tree cuz he God told him not to. He loved God and trusted Him. It never occured to him to eat it. I'm sure he told eve about it, but who knows why she decided to eat it?
The shame they felt when they realized they were naked was not sexual. they realized they had betrayed God and were now seperated from him and felt dirty and disgusting. the way you felt when you got caught sneaking a cookie before dinner.
I did Adam eat from the tree? I never read that Adam and Eve were married, he said that a man shall leave his father and mother and shall cleave to his wife. But I don't remeber a marriage mentioned until Cain talked about his wife that has no name or mention of where she came from. From the way it reads before the knowledge of good and evil humans were merely animals, everything would have been instinct. Therefore all acts would have been instinct, I don't know of many animals that have sex for fun except the dophins supposedly.
Sorry I meant Why did Adam eat from the tree?