This is in response to an earlier post by Gregory Boulware “DESCENDANT”. [Sorry bro, but I got to call you out on that one.]
This is a tome, so I'll post it in two parts. Please read BEFORE commenting. And please read with an open, intelligent mind.. Thank you.
Understanding original sin
The story about Adam, Eve and the serpent in the Bible's book of Genesis is very important to Christians. This story, also known as "the fall of man" and "original sin," is so important because it explains a great many things about Christianity and the Christian God.
For example, the story of "original sin" explains why an omnipotent God allows so much suffering to occur on our planet. It also explains why Jesus needed to come to earth to be crucified. It explains why human childbirth is so painful. It explains why human nature can be, at times, so cruel and evil. It explains the sacrament of baptism.
According to this page:
[original sin is] The sin of Adam and Eve, the essential event of the Fall of Man. According to the most common teaching of Christians, all descendants of Adam and Eve — that is, all people — share in this sin and are, from the time they are conceived, in a state of sin. In German, the term used is Erbsunde, meaning “inherited sin,” a more explanatory term than the English one. Jesus, through his Crucifixion and Resurrection, atoned for original sin. All who believe in Jesus and accept baptism are freed from original sin and experience salvation.
If you talk to Christians, you will find that a majority believe "the fall of man" to be literally true. It is not a fable or a myth in their minds. Christ's crucifixion and resurrection are the centerpiece of the Christian faith, and the story of "original sin" gives the crucifixion its ultimate meaning.
The question that we will explore is a simple one: is the Bible's story of original sin valid? Does this story, whether it is literally true or not, have any importance to mankind? The goal is to help Christians to look at the story of original sin from a fresh perspective and analyze its meaning.
The Creation Story
"The fall of man" starts with the creation of man. Genesis 2:7 describes the actual creation process in this way:
And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
At this point, many scientists already have a problem with the Bible. According to the Bible, God created Adam from a handful of dust in 4004 BCE. Science shows us, on the other hand, that humans have existed for tens of thousands of years and that we evolved from other species. Let's ignore this problem as a minor quibble -- it could be that the Bible's story is intended by God more as "literature" rather than "factual truth." It is a fact that the human body is formed of minerals (dust) and returns to minerals (dust), so the story is true in that sense.
After creating man, the Bible says that God moved man into the Garden of Eden:
The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. And the Lord God commanded the man, 'You are free to eat from any tree in the Garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.'
God later creates Eve and we reach the meat of the story. The serpent convinces Eve to eat from the tree, and Eve convinces Adam.
Here we are faced with an enigma -- a talking snake. From a scientific standpoint this snake is impossible. There is no such thing as a talking snake. Snakes (and reptiles in general) have neither the physical structure nor the brain power to speak. There simply are not enough neurons in the reptile brain to process language.
Even in the context of the story, the talking snake is a bit hard to swallow. The story seems to be saying that God created not one but two sentient species -- humans and serpents. Yet the Bible makes no mention of the serpent's creation nor does God provide any warning to the serpent to stay away from the tree.
Let us ignore this as a quibble as well. Perhaps the serpent is God's way of personifying Satan in the story.
After Adam and Eve disobey God and eat from the fruit of the tree, here is what happens:
When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.
Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man, 'Where are you?'
He answered, 'I heard you in the garden and I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid.'
And he said, 'Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I told you not to eat from?' "
This passage is a bit odd for four reasons. Let's discuss them and dismiss them:
• God is the all-knowing creator of everything. The questions he asks in this passage -- why does God ask them? Since God is all-knowing, he already knows the answers. For example, something as simple as "Where are you?" is unnecessary for an all-knowing being. God knows EVERYTHING, so there is no need for him to ask any question of anyone. Let's dismiss that with the thought that God is playing the role of the coy parent in this scene.
• If you take the "omniscient" train of thought a little further, you realize this: Since God is all-knowing, it means that at the moment that God put the tree into the garden, his omniscience would allow him to instantly know the entire course of human history. He could foresee every single person's birth, life and death in full detail at that moment. If God did not like what he knew that Adam would do, then why did God set it up that way? And why would God be at all surprised by what happens?
• Most people also wonder about the tree. The tree is called "the tree of the knowledge of good and evil." Therefore, Adam and Eve would not have any knowledge of good and evil until they ate from the tree. So how would they know the difference between right and wrong until they ate the fruit? In other words, they had to eat the fruit before they would know that it was wrong to eat the fruit. If someone doesn't have any knowledge of right and wrong, how can the person commit a sin? And how can you punish the person for doing wrong?
• Most people also wonder about human nature. God created Adam, so God designed the placement of every cell in Adam's body and brain. Therefore God knows all about human nature, and how Adam and Eve will think and react in every situation -- God is the one who created human nature. Certainly God had an omniscient reason for creating human nature in the way that he did.
Let us ignore all of these issues with the story, because there is one other issue that seems more important. [See Programming Adam - 2 of 2]
Posted By: Craig Amos
Sunday, October 25th 2009 at 2:15PM
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