adam and eve had no knowledge of evil, therefore they could not commit evil, they could only do good.
so doesn't this mean, that they didn't have true free will until they ate of the tree?
and since god didn't want them to eat from the tree, doesn't this mean that he didn't want them to have free will?
i mean, sure you can argue they could still choose between various good acts, but that's not really true free will. that's free will with limitations.
2007-06-28 20:44:11 · 10 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
The point is mute as they didn't exist...
Saying that we all came from 2 people is beyond stupid, really. Especially considering that when brother & sister procreate, the chances of the offspring being mentally disabled, either mildly or severely is something on the line of 50/50.
That would mean that half the world is mentally disturbed. Oh wait, it is! (lol)... but really.
It is stories like this that make religion look more and more idiotic to people with a slight bit of logic in their heads.
2007-06-28 20:49:07 · answer #1 · answered by iswd1 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I have a theory about that. I think God designed them deliberately to eat the fruit. I mean look at it, he creates them and puts them in a garden. They've never been anywhere, never went to school, never read the Bible, they didn't even have parents to teach them how to act. God tells them they can eat whatever they want, except for this one beautiful, tempting tree right in the middle of the garden.
Isn't this like leaving a 4-year-old alone in a room with a wedding cake? What did God expect?
I think you make a good point! Adam and Eve couldn't really have free will until they had the ability to defy God. If they never defied God, or broke an order, or rebelled in any little way, they wouldn't have had free will, they would have been like robots. We're still that way today, because that's the way God deliberately designed us!
2007-06-29 03:56:14 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
No. Adam and Eve always had the knowledge that it was wrong to eat of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. So they had free choice. However, until they ate the forbidden fruit they were innocent and unable to conceive of any other evil act.
2007-06-29 03:49:03 · answer #3 · answered by Northstar 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
not really. they always had the choice to eat from it. they just were not supposed to. just like you have the choice to steal something - but you shouldn't.
in the narrative, the garden of eden was a paradise where nothing evil could possibly be done. there were simply no opportunities to do something evil. and that WOULD be lack of free choice, if the only choices they had were to be good. this is why it was necessary for G-d to place an opportunity for them to choose evil in the garden - because WITHOUT the tree, you would be correct - G-d truly would have been denying them their free will to make the choice, even though it was the wrong choice.
in the narrative, nearly the exact process of making a bad choice is described. your conscience knows you should not do something - it is bad. but that creepy little snake inside your head talks you into it - it tells you exactly what you need to hear to convince yourself to make the bad choice. you listen to that voice, it seems logical and rational to you, and eventually you make the bad choice. and then, you shift the blame away from yourself. thats how it happens every time.
2007-06-29 04:03:25 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
The story said that the sin was to eat from the tree of Knowledge of good and evil. What I took away from it was that god was anti-knowledge. If you look around the answers some of the Xtians post on R & S, this still holds true today.
2007-06-29 03:53:42 · answer #5 · answered by Phartzalot 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
True,it appears to be a free will with limitations now but may not have been so at that point of time.Even the most free will,which has no limitations has to have limits.These limits could be due to intellect,knowledge other such factors.We can see that though limitless at that point of time, it is bound to appear as limited with passage of time due to various reasons.As far as Adam and Eve are concerned the issue is impertinent.
2007-06-29 04:00:50 · answer #6 · answered by brkshandilya 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Adam and Eve had the choice to eat from the tree. They had the CHOICE to do it or not. God didn't want them to, but he let them have the job of deciding whether or not they would. If they hadn't had free will, they would not have eaten from the tree at all.
2007-06-29 03:51:40 · answer #7 · answered by marny 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
She was tempted and gave in to the poisonous thought put in her mind by the crafty serpent and ah-ha....pride led to the fall. The first sin. And Adam partook.
2007-06-29 03:49:17 · answer #8 · answered by K in Him 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Thank you for your correct observation and excellent question. Jesus gave us the accurate account in The Apocryphon of John, not Genesis. Educate yourself, believe Jesus, not Moses
2007-06-29 03:53:26 · answer #9 · answered by single eye 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
You have made a brilliant analogy of the inevitable self realization that we should force ourselves to question what is coming from where?
2007-06-29 03:52:52 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋