Why were Adam and Eve punished considering the following?

Question

Yes, God told them to not do it. But what reason would they have to doubt another part of creation? They had no knowledge of good and evil until they ate. The serpent deceived them, but why would they doubt it? It didn't say, "Don't obey God!" It said, "Eat this, it will make you wise and more like God" And if they really admired God so much, wouldn't they want to be like him?

I imagine some people will just continue to say, "They disobeyed God, so they deserved punishment." Maybe... but I ask you to really consider the above. Also, if God is really so great and they had direct knowledge of and experience with him, why would they ever disobey?

Now that I think about it, if disobedience is evil, how could they know that what they were doing is wrong if they hadn't eaten yet to know good from evil?

Ugh. You people sicken me. Do I honestly need to preface EVERYTHING I SAY with "I'm agnostic" so you don't go after me for my beliefs? ANSWER THE QUESTION.

Sorry, that was really only directed at one person and stemmed from what I've seen on other questions.

But please do answer the question. Don't attack me.

teach - You should compare your beliefs to 1.) the Bible, and 2.) Milton's Paradise Lost. See what happens.

biblegirl: Okay, I accept the attitude thing, but it doesn't explain the actions unless you say that the attitude was ALL that mattered.

Furthermore, with such newfound knowledge and responsibility of which they were previously unaware as well as the fear of God's power, is it fair to expect them to have come out and said it?

People, you aren't considering it from their perspective as best as you can.

Examples have been brought up that reflect knowledge of good/evil as well as knowledge of safety/danger.

God didn't tell them that it was dangerous to eat from the tree, just to not do it. They were deceived by another being who was a part of God's creation. Did they expect to be punished for their actions? No, not until they ate. There was no perception that they would be in danger or be making a mistake.

Answer 1

Well, like I said in my answer to the other question, I am quite inclined to believe it's a myth, and that's why so much of it doesn't make sense. Just a story that made people with very little knowledge feel more comfortable with the world around them.

However, Christianity argues that this is simply the nature of Satan. Temptation. For some reason (and to answer your next question, no I have no idea why), God felt it necessary that his opposite equal exist. Or, perhaps it had to. It is kind of a rule of nature that everything has an equal opposite. Balance. Positive cannot exist without negative. Something evil, with the same potential for influence over people. As far as what reason they would have to doubt the serpent's words, it doesn't matter. What matters is, God told them not to, and they did. It kind of sends the message that it doesn't matter how little sense God's instructions might make, to you, or how harmless disobeying his rules may seem, you're simply supposed to blindly grant your full obedience. Don't ask questions, ignorance is bliss, curiosity killed the cat, and so forth.

Answer 2

I love your question. but yes, the fundamentalists are going to tell you that you have the Devil in you to even consider that your perceptions of that part of the Bible has an inconsistancy. they're ALREADY flipping through their Bibles to find teeny snippets to "prove" that they're correct about that assumption. Fundamentalists don't think for themselves and they don't think anyone ELSE should either. Thinking is the DEVIL'S playground and you shouldn't DO it.

I agree with you 100%. Not only that, WHY did God have to lay this punishment and guilt trip onto the ENTIRE REST of Humanity that came along afterwards? Is THAT the mark of a JUST and loving God???? To punish innocent people for the sin of one or TWO people? Why did God destroy two entire cities to wipe out a bunch of sinners?? There WERE innnocent infants in those cities, What was their sin?? Being born into a sinful city??? Why a flood that destroyed EVERYONE (except for a few "chosen"), including innocent children and babies, what was their sin?? A JUST and LOVING God does NOT take punishment out on those who have commited NO offenses. There are simply TOO many inconsistancies in the Bible to have it taken with any degree of credibility. And the MORE inconsistancies that get pointed out on this trhread, the angrier that the Fundys are going to get. I can promise you that. So get ready for a wild ride, girl.

Brightest Blessings
Raji the Green Witch

Answer 3

Ge 3:1-5. THE TEMPTATION
Notes for Verse 1
Verse 1. the serpent -- The fall of man was effected by the seductions of a serpent. That it was a real serpent is evident from the plain and artless style of the history and from the many allusions made to it in the New Testament. But the material serpent was the instrument or tool of a higher agent, Satan or the devil, to whom the sacred writers apply from this incident the reproachful name of "the dragon, that old serpent" [Rev. 20:2]. Though Moses makes no mention of this wicked spirit -- giving only the history of the visible world -- yet in the fuller discoveries of the Gospel, it is distinctly intimated that Satan was the author of the plot (John 8:44 2Co 11:3 1John 3:8 1Ti 2:14 Rev. 20:2).

more subtile -- Serpents are proverbial for wisdom (Mt 10:16). But these reptiles were at first, probably, far superior in beauty as well as in sagacity to what they are in their present state.

He said -- There being in the pure bosoms of the first pair no principle of evil to work upon, a solicitation to sin could come only from "without," as in the analogous case of Jesus Christ (Mt 4:3); and as the tempter could not assume the human form, there being only Adam and Eve in the world, the agency of an inferior creature had to be employed. The dragon-serpent [BOCHART] seemed the fittest for the vile purpose; and the devil was allowed by Him who permitted the trial, to bring articulate sounds from its mouth.

unto the woman -- the object of attack, from his knowledge of her frailty, of her having been but a short time in the world, her limited experience of the animal tribes, and, above all, her being alone, unfortified by the presence and counsels of her husband. Though sinless and holy, she was a free agent, liable to be tempted and seduced.

yea, hath God said? -- Is it true that He has restricted you in using the fruits of this delightful place? This is not like one so good and kind. Surely there is some mistake. He insinuated a doubt as to her sense of the divine will and appeared as an angel of light (2Co 11:14), offering to lead her to the true interpretation. It was evidently from her regarding him as specially sent on that errand, that, instead of being startled by the reptile's speaking, she received him as a heavenly messenger.

Answer 4

It is a good question to let thinking work indeed.

"They had not know there was an evil exist"
and
"How would they know it is wrong not to listen, since they had no knowledge of wrongness"

I would do the same thing. I have no knowledge of good from evil and I would assume 100% that in the Garden of Eden , which was created by God, had no evil.

Answer 5

Now the serpent proved to be the most cautious of all the wild beasts of the field that Jehovah God had made. So it began to say to the woman: “Is it really so that God said YOU must not eat from every tree of the garden?” 2 At this the woman said to the serpent: “Of the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat. 3 But as for [eating] of the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the garden, God has said, ‘YOU must not eat from it, no, YOU must not touch it that YOU do not die.’” 4 At this the serpent said to the woman: “YOU positively will not die. 5 For God knows that in the very day of YOUR eating from it YOUR eyes are bound to be opened and YOU are bound to be like God, KNOWING good and bad.”

Answer 6

God becomes angry not so much at the act of disobedience but at Adams and Eve’s avoidance of responsibility. Significantly, the word SIN is not introduced into the Bible until later when Cain murders his brother, Abel. It seems that Adam and Eve’s worst transgression is their scapegoat, and the couples moral life will finally begin when they can acknowledge having done wrong.

Hearing God moving about in the garden, man and woman panic and hide. God calls out to man, “Where are you?” … Adam replies, “I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid.” … God asks, “Who told you that you were naked? Did you eat of the tree from which I forbade you to eat?” … Man’s immediate defense is to blame the woman as well as God: “The woman YOU put at my side - she gave me of the tree, and I ate.” God then turns to women: “What is this you have done!” She replies, “The serpent duped me, and I ate.”

Both man and woman shirk their own responsibility by blaming someone else. Man could have chosen to protect woman, who has just fed him and given him pleasure. He could have said that she did not force him to partake of the fruit. Woman could have explained that she chose to trade immortality in the Garden of Eden for knowledge and wisdom. Like man, however, she disavows any accountability for her action.

Answer 7

Adam and Eve had to "sin" in order for the rest of us to even have the opportunity to be on Earth. I believe it was part of God's plan for them to do this. They had to know what was what, or how would the rest of us have been born? They didn't know what they were doing was wrong. They did know God had said not to eat it, but then this snake was telling them it was ok. They didn't know ANYthing, so why not eat it? If all that hadn't happened, they'd prob'ly still be living it up in the Garden and we'd be waiting for our turn on Earth.

Answer 8

The serpent said it would make them rivals of God. It is human to be tempted and the serpent used that to further tempt Eve. She disobeyed because she is human. Any human would have given into this temptation. We all desire the "forbidden fruit" it's natural. And so is sin. Jesus is the supernatural resolution to sin. He took all the sins of all the world, past, present, and future, onto Himself. That's how God shows us He cares and will forgive us for any sin.

Answer 9

Daniell, Adam and Eve knew finished properly what the leads to their movements could be and that those consequences could be undesirable because of the fact God defined that to them previous . so as that they does not have had to had eaten from the tree of the understanding of solid and evil to have gained that know-how.

Answer 10

You make some very good points. But it's more than just their actions, it's their attitude. When God approached them with their sin, Adam blamed Eve, Eve blamed the snake and neither thought of saying, "I won't do it again" or "I shouldn't have done it."