If knowledge is Evil, does God want you to learn anything?

Question

Isn't what the bible says evil?
The preacher's "truth"
just Satan talking through the forbidden fruit?

hmmm so was there knowledge before the forbidden fruit?

how do you know what's right and wrong, true or false, without experimentation?

Adam and Eve question God.. which leads to punishment, sin, exile. But they "know" now that they shouldn't have eaten the fruit.

Could they have "known" at all before?

Knowledge seems dependent on evil, guilt, sin-- so that to know the Bible, to Know JC and be one with God, you have to chase after not the Good-- to Actually Know, you must embrace Evil.

No?

And if so-- to gain knowledge in this way-- aren't the worst sinners the most devout? the most pure, know nothing?

Why call me ignorant? That only makes, if anything, you look dumb.

Right and wrong didn't pre-exist eating the fruit--- this is EXACTLY my point.

And then you want to attribute ignorance to "my" mistake-- which was that Adam and Eve questioned God? Of course they questioned God, they had their choice--- the snake says eat it, God says don't. They chose the snake. That seems like questioning one authority over another to me. Don't you think, eh?

Answer 1

Knowledge isn't evil - at least, not according to the Bible. This is the mistaken premise behind your question. There seems to be many loop-holes in your logic. Perhaps this is because you lack understanding of the Bible. You may need to think it through again a little more carefully :) Adam and Eve could know what's right and wrong without experimentation because God told them what was wrong! There's a difference between knowing something because God says so, and knowing something by experience. Adam and Eve knew the former before the fall and the later after the fall - as have the rest of us since.

Answer 2

There was knowledge before forbidden fruit.
right and wrong is a moral/ethical invention...
(we made it up... never discussed in bible dude)

Adam and Eve didnt question God... you made that up...
and they dont know they shoudlnt have eaten the fruit...
What they did do is ignore what god had said... (primary double edged sword of mankind... ignorance... like yours to the bible)
you can ignore some things to make progress and we are all born not knowing things... so we have to learn... dude basics


foreknowledge is improbable

Knowledge is not based on evil
maybe guilt... and not sin

you are obsessed with purity... youre not even asking questions dude... your giving dichotomies... like evil people do...
you are asking for judgement...
... judge not dude... lest ye be judged...

Stop asking questions
You have no business even understanding these answers without first understanding yourself in all of this.
~M

Answer 3

Ok- lots of questions here. One at a time.
1. Knowledge = evil.
Not exactly, though I understand your corelation. Though A and E were told what the tree offered, did they understand that concept- of knowledge, of good and evil? No. Their choice was obedience or disobedience.
So, if they didn't understand, the equation of knowledge as evil can only be understood postlapsarian.
2. Bible says evil, yes. But what does that mean to someone who only knows "obedience?"
3. preacher's truth... sorry- you've lost me here.
4. Satan talking through the forbidden fruit? Satan using every tool possible in which to persuade A and E to follow him. Didn't seem to "get" that this too would be used as a tool in order to further mankind (in other words, to bring about the future of the race of human beings, for one example) rather than to destroy them. Seen, in that after the fall is when procreation began and only possible as a result of that act of disobedience.
5. hmmm so was there knowledge before the forbidden fruit?
There was information, but not moral knowledge as outlined. Only obedience or disobedience.
6.how do you know what's right and wrong, true or false, without experimentation?
"You", as in us? or "You", as in A and E? A and E didn't. That's the point, I see you making. You're correct. As for us, well we've had centuries of history to inform us, not to mention parents, friends, and a conscience - this good and evil concept, which now arises naturally (unless severe abuse occurs) in a person somewhere between the age of 7-9.
7.Adam and Eve question God.. which leads to punishment, sin, exile. But they "know" now that they shouldn't have eaten the fruit.
Could they have "known" at all before?
Yes- they choose disobedience. They knew in as much as they understood obedience or disobedience. Question, challenge... those words describe a form of knowledge I don't believe they possesed until after the fact. Something also possible is that they did understand the punishment that would occur, if not all the accompanying knowledge, and chose that disobedience in order to bring to existence the human race. A painful, but necessary sacrifice.

8. Knowledge seems dependent on evil, guilt, sin-- so that to know the Bible, to Know JC and be one with God, you have to chase after not the Good-- to Actually Know, you must embrace Evil. No?

I guess that depends on your method of learning. I like to think we can learn vicariously from others without experiencing every single painful effect of our bad choices. For example, I don't need to drink a liter of Tequilla and then decide to go for a little car ride and get some more to experience that this is probably not good and further not going to bring me closer to JC or God. The DUI's, liver diseases, alcholism, etc are evidence enough that this is not for me. If someone wants to take that route and end up in Jail, AA, or the hospital, and find God or JC by those means, then ok, it's just not for me. I like to think we're smarter than that.

9. And if so-- to gain knowledge in this way-- aren't the worst sinners the most devout? the most pure, know nothing?

The "worst sinners" defintely have that knowledge, I'd agree. But it's a hard way to learn, isn't it? Why choose to learn from opposition, if there is an alternative? A and E chose disobedience in order to bring humans (as a race) into being. Can't claim any such desired effect from my own decisions.
The most "pure" (- have a problem with your word choice, here- but I get what you're saying), don't have the same experiences, but they learn from others and choose not to repeat those mistakes.
Lastly, this is just an opinion, but A and E fell, in part, to bring an added measure of intelligence to themselves and to the human race. The intelligence I speak of, is defined from the greek and latin roots "intel" and "legere" meaning, "to choose" and "between". Hopefully we benefit from that choice and don't have to learn from "sin."

Answer 4

I don't think knowledge in of itself should be considered evil. Sure Adam and Eve hid themselves from God after they ate from the forbidden fruit, but even after their expulsion from the Garden of Eden, they rejoiced at the knowledge that eternal progression for mankind was now possible. That spirit children could now come to earth and live and be tested and progress to their post human state in the afterlife. Knowledge isn't evil. Abusing, and corrupting knowledge is.
Also no religion, in my view, worth its membership wants "sheep" for a congregation. A vital, active congregation in any religion should depend upon members reading and studying that religion's sacred books, praying for a response of assurance from Deity as to the truth of a religion, and only then accepting and joining any individual religion. Just because great grandpa, and everyone since has belonged to a religion doesn't mean it's right for you. In my opinion, God doesn't want sheep, he wants informed knowledgeable people that freely come to him.

Answer 5

Knowledge is not evil. The forbidden fruit was from the tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. It represents a loss of innocence. A loss of NOT knowing right from wrong. Before, according to myth, we were like the animals. Innocent, not knowing right from wrong. After eating from the tree, we should know better. We know right from wrong, and therefore have the ability to sin.

Answer 6

Hi, well from what I know, the reason why it was a sin to eat from the forbidden fruit was because now Adam became mixed up. What seems good now is really bad and what seems bad is really good. For ex: candy seems good but really its unhealthy. Before eating from the forbidden fruit what seemed good was good and what seemed bad was bad.

Answer 7

The idea of Adam and Eve is that they were true taoists. They were tricked by God in fact. God tricked them by saying, you must never eat of this fruit, and then put it right there in front of them. Prove your love to me by denying all knowledge. The idea of the mind being free from the confines of knowledge is a beautiful one. Ignorance is bliss. However, God is the one who tempted them first. He put the knowledge of evil in their mind when he told them that they would know amazing things if this fruit were to be eaten, and then SHOWED it to them. Well what is the first thing you're going to do when someone tells you not to do something? Your brain will dwell on it. So, God says there is evil, and that evil is in this fruit. Well the evil does not weigh on the fruit itself. It weighs on the act of eating the fruit to begin with. Before the drug inside this fruit had time to hit their brains and make them shameful of there nudity, evil was committed by the sheer act of tasting the fruit and disobeying God. I don't understand what this is supposed to prove.

I believe the corruption came from their minds being limited by knowledge, when they where taoists to begin with. God gave way to the corruption of man so that we could prove our love for Him. We don't make our children prove our love for us. Thank you mother and father for bearing my life. Thank you God for creating me and showing me light and wonderful things. Love is simple. I do not understand why it needs to proven, when proof is finite.

Knowledge is not evil, it is a limitation of the spirit so to speak. The idea of God is not all good. It is selfish and jealous. He even claims so in the bible. No wonder Satan spawned from Him.

First God plants the tree of knowledge, then He says do not eat it. It looks tempting, but do not touch. Okay, Adam and Eve obey. Then God allows the serpent to tempt them further. And they sin. If they had ignored the serpent, would God have allowed for further temptation? Where does it stop? They already obeyed God when He had placed the tree there and said do not eat its fruit. That wasn't good enough? He had to send forth the devil? At what point have we "proven" our love for God? It's all an unholy hoax.

If God weren't so jealous of His bastard creation, Lucifer, we would be happy and sinless. Now there is corruption and wars. Every, and any, evil imaginable. Or what is judged so. It is more comfortable to accept reason, accept the reality that we are vacant entities in need of love and many other things. God is supposed to fill you if you need Him. Well who needs Him?

Answer 8

Well, if you truly believe in Adam and Eve, then you statement here:
"Right and wrong didn't pre-exist eating the fruit--- this is EXACTLY my point." means that you were there when it all happened.

Otherwise, that's just your unsubstantiated opinion, and thus has no value in such a discussion.

If you don't believe in Adam and Eve, then there is still hope for you. ;)

Answer 9

It isn't all knowledge that is evil. Just carnal knowledge. It's a bit more naughty than how the universe works.

Answer 10

Sorry, I have A D D I can't deal with this question. But all knowledge, is not evil, it depends on what you do with the knowledge......LOL