Christians: If Adam and Eve knew about good and evil -before- eating from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and ..

Question

...Evil, what did they learn -after- eating?

And why Gen 3:22 (which occurs after Adam and Eve ate the fruit) "Behold the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil..."

See:
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AgX7XU1Q.w8gyFL04U0nUfDsy6IX?qid=20060821032605AAfgCqR

Chapter and verse answers, please. None of this fuzzy interpretative stuff. Your personal interpretation of scripture is not shared by all Christians.

Answer 1

But that's the point, they DIDN't understand good and evil before eating the Forbidden Fruit. As you point out in the reference you quote- That passage implies that they did not know good from evil before the eating of the Fruit.

Where does it say that they knew good and evil before (yes, this is a serious question, not just being mouthy)? I've always understood that Adam and Eve were innocent (unaware of evil) before the Fruit. That's why that act is considered as so terrible to most Christians- it introduced knowledge of evil to mankind. I don't see it that way, b/c it introduced knowledge- which was needed for Adam and Eve (and the rest of us) to grow and progress.

Yes, they were instructed by God as to what was acceptable behavior and what was not. And just as little children are USUALLY pretty obedient, so were our First Parents...

Answer 2

Given that the original biblical scripts were written in languages that no longer exist and translations from those languages are largely open to interpretation -- frequently influenced by the personal beliefs of the translator -- it's really not possible to provide anything but fuzzy interpretations. This is further complicated by the vast variety of versions of the bible; KJV, NIV, Catholic, etc. etc.

Frankly, one can prove pretty much anything they wish from the bible -- abortion is ok or it isn't; murder can be justified and it can't; yadda; yadda; yadda.

To address your question, though. Adam & Eve did NOT know of good and evil until they broke God's only law. The rest as they say is history.

But if God knows all and sees all then he knew exactly what was going to happen and let it go on anyway. Sounds more like a spoiled little brat torturing a kitten than some all-loving father guiding and protecting his children.

That a so-called "loving God" would rain down such hatred and despair upon His children as we see on this Earth every day leads me to seriously question his very existance. Compound that with the abuse suffered by tens of thousands at the hands of "men of the cloth" only further destroys whatever faith I may have had.

It's all utter madness intended to control the simple-minded masses. It may have worked in the dark ages but has little validity today.

Answer 3

Before the fall adam was like God in that he was free to look at and undrestand all things for what they were. He was above the angles in this respect. He was truly free to just be himself and to freely learn to live from God and the creation. After the fall he was limmited to only do what was good, which is impossible for man, because he was created to be free. Adam was truly a unique creation. It was a twoflod hit,, one, now having to divide everything into good and evil, agianst his nature because he ate the friut, and two, being throw out of Gods "house" as it were. We were never meant to divide things up into good and evil,, we are free interpeters, that is why we have such a hard time with it.

Answer 4

Your original supposition is wrong. Adam and Eve did not have knowledge of good and evil until after they ate from the tree. So I'm not sure how to answer your question.

The knowledge of good and evil is different than knowing right from wrong.

For example, a child to a certain degree knows that it is right to obey his/her parents and wrong not to, but does not yet have the knowledge to understand why.

We tell children not to talk to strangers, because as adults we are able to discern good from evil. We expect obedience from children because they do not have that same knowledge.

Call that interpretive if you like, as I am sure you will. But that is the meaning of the verse from the original Hebrew.

Enjoy, and yes God does love you!!!

Answer 5

rather some religions instruct that obedience to God is sturdy, disobedience to Him is evil. All different concepts of guys approximately sturdy and evil are fake. God says to no longer tell lie, will guy tell lie and say that he's harmless? Adam and Eve were taught to no longer consume from the Tree of information. They ate it, that's disobedience, that's evil. earlier that they had no information, after that still they did no longer have. authentic information is information of God. they chosen to consume the fruit, they intentionally denied that divine information. Mankind right this moment are a similar; they do no longer know that disobedience to God is evil; in the event that they decide directly to disobey Him, it skill they decide directly to disclaim authentic information, they are no longer irresponsible for that determination. The determine tells the youngster to no longer consume the poisonous fruit, he makes a decision to consume it, is it a sturdy act or harmless act? particular, the youngster would suspect his determine's understanding; would guy additionally suspect God's understanding?

Answer 6

I agree with P I Gray, Adam and Eve didn't know about good and evil before they ate from the tree.

Answer 7

As an atheist, that's one thing that sticks out in my mind when I read that. Sure, disobeying God and eating the apple is supposed to be bad. But how would Adam and Eve know that before eating the apple (or whatever fruit it was)?

Answer 8

They did not know of good and evil prior to this event. God warned them to not do it.

Genesis 2:16-17

16 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:
17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

Then in Genesis 3:5-8 Satan told Eve what would happen if she ate of it what would happen, but this does not mean she fully understood the full import of this event, other than the fruit looked good to eat and to make one wise.

5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.
6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.
7 And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.
8 And they heard the voice 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 amongst the trees of the garden.

Then they hid themselves and you know the rest. So, no, they did not have knowledge of good and evil prior to eating of the fruit. I'm not sure why your referring to verse 22 other than this is where God punishes them and bars them from Eden so as to prevent them from eating of the Tree of Life.

Answer 9

I'm sorry, guess I'll have to go read more, but I just don't remember where it says ".. and Adam and Eve LEARNED..." it says they were ashamed, and knew God would know what they had done

Answer 10

There was no Adam and Eve. Is it not insulting to you, to believe that Eve was taken and made whole from a RIB?