Orthodoxy v.s. the Bible; how well do you know Genesis creation?

Question

In Genesis ch.2, the Lord God tells Adam and Eve that they will die the very day that they eat from the tree of knowledge.
Then the serpant tells them they will become open minded and know the truth about Good and Evil, thus becoming Equal with the Lord God.
When they eat they become enlightened, and live for hundreds of years.
The Bible directly tells us God lied and the Serpent told the truth.
So without adding any outside Ideas (i.e. Serpent = Satan),
why does Orthodoxy claim it's the other way around?

the Bible I am referencing isis labelled "Authorized King James Version" and is appointed to be read in churches.

Gen 2: 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.

also there is no text that describes a spiritual or metaphoracle death. nor does the serpent temp. he merely informs.

also bare in mind the serpent is never decribed as having arms and legs. when the Lord God curses him he is only stating the obviouse. curses only have power if you believe them.
Also Adam and Eve were created mortal. Immortality was denied to them in Ch3, v22; "And the Lord God said, Behold the man is Become as one of us, to know good and Evil and now,... lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever:"
So they werent cast out for thier disobedience but because they might become immortal and be forever aware of the Lorg Gods selfish motives (keeping man ignorant). please stay within the text.

Answer 1

first of all, judaism rejects that the serpent was anything more than a serpent, so thats out. G-d of course said "or you shall die" - thats a generic biblical term for, "I'll be really mad if you do this" and is meant more as a scare tactic than to be taken literally. obviously adam and eve knew this and didn't take it literally either or they would not have eaten the apple with as little hesitation as they did.

the serpent did tell the partial truth - that they would be able to discern between good and evil. he appealed to their arrogant side by saying they would be like G-d if they ate it, which of course is not true since nobody could be like G-d and the tree didn't grant the power for that either. it wasn't the tree of G-dliness, it was the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Answer 2

Your interpretation is all twisted; not only the interpretation, but even the words you use to paraphrase.

First of all, indeed God tells Adam and Eve they will die. This is because they were going to die. Otherwise, they would have been immortals, like angels. The tree is called the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (not just knowledge), and for a good reason.

The serpent (who either is not a serpent at all, or is inspired by satan, for what reason could an animal have to do this) tells them that by eating the fruit their eyes will be open, and they will "be as gods, knowing good and evil". This is a half-truth, because their eyes open, and they get some sort of knowledge of good and evil, but they certainly don't become like gods. They get to know mortality and suffering. But even before they are cast out of Paradise, what do they get: shame, vulnerability, and fear; they don't assume responsibility (Adam blames Eve, Eve blames the serpent) and show no repentance. They become conscious of their body, which is vulnerable and can be abused. So, obviously, the serpent is deceiving them, so that they are led into the same temptation that satan had (to be like God). The purpose is to separate them from God, just like he is.

You will find more details in the following links, and in these many books are cited.

Answer 3

which Bible are you reading? Here's the quote .....
"16 And the LORD God commanded the man, "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17 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."

I don't see anything about the day that they would die, in fact, Eve wasn't even created at the time God told Adam about the tree.

So before you call God a liar, do your homework sport! I don't think God is very happy with you at this moment, not after you called Him a liar. You and that serpent have something in common, you both mislead people by twisting the words of God, and God made the serpent eat dust on his belly, get it, no more legs for you mr serpent.

Answer 4

1) The Creation story in the book of Genesis was always considered an allegory by the church up until 16th century Scottish protestants started preaching literal interpretation of it. Catholics both Orthodox and Roman as well as Jews still teach the Creation myth as allegory.

2) Genesis 2:17 when god tells them not to eat of the tree, it doesn't say they will die "that very day" in my Bible or anyone elses I know of. Just that they will die. My knowledge of Hebrew isn't that good so I can't judge against the original text, but...

3) Man is not and will never be equal to god.

4) Enlightened? Shamed, yes. Enlightened, no. Man still isn't enlightened as far as I can tell.

5) Again. Just an allegory, but Genesis captures the crux (pun intended) of humanity's problem. Sin seperates us from our creator.

Answer 5

Actually, in the day they ate from the tree they became sinful and began to die, however, in God's eyes they were already dead. We understand the analogy because we sometimes talk of someone being dead to us (such as a relative) even though they are alive. They screwed us over, we disagree with their way of life or something else.

The serpeant did lie, he told Eve they would not die if they ate from the tree, even though they lived for hundreds of years, they did die.

Answer 6

when God says"you shall surely die" he means eventually, i believe if adam and eve hadnt eaten they would still be alive, but its part og Gods plan

Answer 7

What other way! Orthodoxy only means say it the way it really
is without interpretations.