Why did God punish Adam and Eve?

Question

I was reading a Carl Sagan book last night, and it got me thinking. The Bible says that the tree in the garden was the tree of knowledge of good and evil. It can be inferred, then, that Adam and Eve had no knowledge of good nor evil before they ate the fruit. If they had no knowledge of good nor evil, how could they have known that it was wrong to eat the fruit? Were they not behaving exactly as an omniscient God intended them to be? If so, why would he be surprised and angered by their actions?

So how is disobedience wrong if you don't even know wrong from right? When the decision to eat the fruit was made, they did not know the difference.

Before they ate the fruit, they were naked and not ashamed. After they ate it, they hid because they were naked. To me, this implies a knowledge of right and wrong that they did not previously have.

Answer 1

I totally agree with you. It seems that so few people get this point about Genesis. Please read the following excerpt from a book called "The Diaries of Adam & Eve" by Mark Twain:

"They drove us from the Garden with their swords of flame, the fierce Cherubum. And what had we done? We meant no harm. We were ignorant and did as any other children might do. We could not know it was wrong to disobey the command for the words were strange to us and we did not understand them. We did not know right from wrong, how should we know? We could not without the moral sense, it was not possible. If we had been given the moral sense first, ah, that would have been fairer, that would have been kinder. Then we should be to blame if we disobeyed. But to say to us poor ignorant children words which we could not understand and then punish us because we did not do as we were told, ah, how can that be justified? We knew no more then than this littlest child of mine knows now with its four years, oh not so much I think. Would I say to it 'If thou touchest this bread I will overwhelm thee with unimaginable disaster even to the disolusion of thy corporial elements' and when it took the bread and smiled up in my face thinking no harm not understanding those strange words would I take advantage of its innocence and strike it down with the mother hand it trusted? Who so knoweth the mother heart let him judge if I would do that thing".

Answer 2

When you read the bible it says, (genesis 1:3)3 And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. 4 God saw that the light was good, and He separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light "day," and the darkness he called "night." And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day. Basically, with authority God created the earth, whatever he said he said it with authority and it was established with his very words. But this occurred through the spirit of God. When he said let there be light, there was light. Therefore, when God decided that he would create Adam and Eve, through Gods own intelligence and perfection he created Adam through dust and Eve through Adams Ribs, pure intelligence. Praise bhe to the Lord. With his authority, he told them both not to eat from the tree the bares knowledge of good and evil, why? because he had given them instructions that they can eat from any tree and every tree besides that one tree, but they disobeyed God. Just like God created this world with his authority, they Adam and Eve were to also live by his authority as well. What God says goes. But the minute they ate from that tree, people who were once naked now knew what it was to have shame. Now shame is known to be something bad in the bible because what Adam and Eve once weren't ( shamed) they now are because they ate from that tree. They were naked that's how God created us naked, however, as time went by throughout the many years clothing is what people worry about today before going to places or meeting people, they worry about how they look. But look at this no matter how ashamed we may all be when certain circumstances arise, if and when we bare children, the children are born naked, God never took that priviledge away. What he said still goes. He punished us for it, how because when women give birth, they feel pain and when men work they work real hard.

God Bless you and I hope that I answered your questions the right way.

Answer 3

The "knowledge" can be looked at as symbolic. They didn't know good and evil because they were innocent and pure, and without sin. But they did know right from wrong already, because He told them not to do it and they disobeyed Him. As soon as they had, then they knew why He didn't want them to do it in the first place. After that, they hid from Him because they knew immediately that they had done wrong when they did it.

Remember that before they ate from the tree, they were naked and had no shame because they didn't know the difference. But afterwards, they clothed themselves because they were ashamed that they had been naked and also hid from Him because they had sinned by disobeying.

In response to your 2nd addition, when they were naked, they still knew right from wrong, which you are equating to good and evil. Not the same thing!!! Some wrong things are not necessarily evil and all good things are not necessarily right -- do you get it now?
Look at it this way: they were like children, and even a small child knows that when you tell them not to do something, they aren't supposed to, but they don't know that it's unacceptable to run around naked!

Note, just for the aetheists: You spout your objections to having faith and put it down as if it were a weakness. One thing that none of you are considering is that ALL religions are based on faith, not just Christianity. Also, even aetheism is faith, whether you want to believe it or not --- you have faith that there is no God nor a judgement day.

Answer 4

Do you really wish to know the answers or are you just making yet another attempt to poke holes at and find contradictions in the Holy Scriptures? I am very familiar with Carl Sagan and his arguments and I am also familiar with the extremely educated counters against them. Based on your screen name, "Godless", it would be useless to debate with you or answer your question, because you are closed to any and all reference to a God and His Word. All these Christians who have made an attmept to enlighten you to the truth are not going to get through. I will say this, before you and any other atheistic person makes an attempt to impale the Word of God and label it and its believers as delusional, may I suggest LEARNING how to read ancient manuscripts first. Not only are unbelievers guilty of this, but Christians as well. Taking the scripture out of context and not understanding the languages in which it was originally written is not giving you a good leg to stand on in debates. Systematic theology is a necessity in biblical studies, but if you could care less about that then what the heck are you so concerned about? Why ask theological questions if you are not willing to LEARN theology?

Read Genesis 1 and 2 for the reference to your question. I would recommend you read the NET bible located here: http://net.bible.org/bible.php?book=Gen&chapter=1 With over 60,000 plus translaters notes available from top scholars, if you are willing, you can learn how to read the Word. Then present your question in the discussion forums to receive answers from many in Higher education.

God bless.

Answer 5

My goodness before i give you the answer to your question I suggest you read the bible for any answers you may need with in it. After God created Adam and Eve he told them that they could eat of any tree except that particular tree, because if they did they would surely die. That's when the serpent came along and told them that they wouldn't die and that God knows that if they ate of the tree their eyes would be opened.That they would become just like God. Knowing both everything both good and evil. Now being disobedient to what was told of them they did the total opposite, it goes back to the same as having choices and behind every action there's a reaction

Answer 6

Try this thought on for size:
Adam and Eve were in a state that was not quite mortality. They likely did not age, were not mortal and could not procreate. After partaking of the fruit they were changed to be mortals, (in that day thou shall surely die) the length of a day to God is out for debate, is it 24 hours or around 1000 years?
They then then were sent out of the Garden.

This event came about when Lucifer seemed to think he could destroy God's plan for the world, by persuading Eve and Adam to disobey God.
What it really caused to come about is that everything was put into motion where a Savior and Redeemer was needed to give us (God's children) a chance to return to him after our mortal and sinful state. I believe God knew this would happen, and allowed it to.
Keep in mind Lucifer is the Father of lies, so everything he says or has done is designed to be a lie in some way, even perhaps what he is quoted as saying in the scriptures, even if he is quoting truth, it is in some manor to deceive us.
As for Adam and Eve's knowledge before partaking...Lucifer used the logic of with that knowledge they would be as the God's knowing good from evel. If they had no knowledge they could not have used that level of reasoning to choose to partake of the fruit. They were quite smart I would say.

As with all of God's punishments, they then were able to procreate, and populate the World, so it was a blessing. They started looking forward to the Savior to come and atone for their sins, as well as those of their children.

A link is posted to a version of a book of Moses, reveled to Joseph Smith, in the early 1800's. Lost for centuries in it's plainness, and now here again.

Answer 7

He wasn't angered, or surprised. God knows the beginning and the end. Adam and Eve had a close relationship with God, it says in the Bible that God walked with Adam in the cool of the garden. Adam knew God in a way that we can only imagine. It should have been enough for God to have told Adam and Eve, don't touch this tree. They should have trusted God and they didn't, they doubted Him.

Answer 8

Are you so hard of heart that you wouldn't be able to understand that God was not surprised by anything at happened in creation? that He is not a being tied to time as it makes it's march slowly into eternity like we are? He knows the end from the beginning because it is there. He wasn't surprised but His love for His creation had Him prepare a way for us to regain our place that He always meant for us to have. He entered the world taught us how to love each other and Him. Then He died to pay the huge price of our failures and offers it to us freely. He loves you enough to spend His eternity suffering for your sin and asks you only to reach out and take the gift of life He bought for you.... To become His child.. This world is filling with evil when it reaches it's fullness it will end and He will gather his children to himself. It would be wonderful if you could be there... Jim

Answer 9

You're taking the word "knowledge" too much in its modern sense. If you know anything about something, you are said to have "knowledge" of it. However, in the Bible, especially in Hebrew, to "know" has a much deeper meaning. The best-known example, of course, being expressions like "then Adam knew his wife". It implies deep, intimate knowledge of the object by the subject.

So, they didn't "know" good and evil in the sense of having a comprehensive understanding of it - but they knew that it was right to follow God, and wrong to disobey him. Look at Eve's words - they imply that she knew exactly what she was doing, and what was right and wrong in the situation.

Was he "surprised"? No, that's something that is not supported by either the text or by logic. But "angered"? Yes, in fact moreso than with us. They didn't have all the "advantages" of people like Carl Sagan, writing at length about things they know very little about and confusing many of us.

Answer 10

They knew that it was wrong to eat the fruit because God told them so. The text is clear about that one.

Adam & Even had no inate ability to figure out morality on their own without being told. Once they were expressly told, then they knew.

I think that you are reading something into the story that isn't there.