If Adam and Eve were told not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil how would they know it w?

Question

If Adam and Eve were told not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil how would they know it was WRONG to eat the fruit. That seems quite unfair to punish them when implicitly they did not even know the difference between good and evil...???

Answer 1

The bible is a book of god missing opportunities, and this one is classic. (Another classic is Paul/god having the opportunity to renounce slavery but what does he do instead? He pronounces rules for slaves. Sheesh, this could get ugly). god tells adam and eve not to eat, but does he tell them the punishment? NO. When eve is tempted to eat does he intervene then? NO. When eve eats does he banish her then and save adam? NO. Notice the delayed effect on Eve about her being naked. When adam is about to eat does he intervene then? NO. But when he does eat, he is almost instantly affected. Notice who has the greater knowledge here, and it is not the bumbling naked pair walking the earth. This is like telling your child not to stick his hand in the dark hole but not telling them that there is a set mousetrap in there. That is called cruelty, not just for setting the trap, but putting the child in a position to access the trap. The god that man wrote about in genesis is cruel and viscious. There was not full disclosure in the least and there was at best very discriminatory punishment given the delayed punishment for eve making adam think that everything was okay.

Answer 2

In all love….

You are assuming it was wrong. There is a verse that says something like this, “For those who love God, all things work for good.”

The original sin is eating of the tree of “knowledge” of good and evil. This original sin is passed from generation to generation and even the supposition of your question is but taking another bite of that fruit.

As there are several layers of understanding to all scripture, obviously allegory and metaphor are a big part of all holy text if the deeper understandings are to be gleaned. This is in no way meant to take anything away from the exoteric understanding that is the most obvious. But if one holds the first understanding as absolute and complete to the extent they close their minds, then the deeper understandings never come to light.

All good that comes to you is of God, all evil that comes to you is of your own soul.

Our thoughts, feelings, beliefs and words are the filters that the inward light of life pass through. This process results in our "reality" being reflected back in the light of our outward experience. Thus one may say our thoughts are creative. Nothing has ever been experienced in our world except it existed as a thought in someone’s mind first. Nothing. The point being is that sin & evil come into our lives because they come into our minds first, either as guilt or judging others as evil. Our ego is the gate that evil uses to enter our lives

Some Holy text claim that the righteous is one who does not know evil (sin). Not that they do not do things that others see as evil or that others do not judge them as evil but that they themselves see nothing but Gods love and beauty all around them. They do not judge others as evil. They do not judge things as evil. (Only God may do this as he sees all and knows all). Heck, many of the prophets were persecuted during their lifetime by the religious leaders of the day including Jesus. They saw them as evil.

The really beautiful thing about the message of Jesus is the remission of sin. Not just forgiveness of your personal sin but also it teaches you not to judge anyone. Sin and evil is totally removed by faith, both yours and others. It no longer is a part of the consciousness of those who follow the teaching of Jesus.

We do not live in a system of test and punishment but instead we live in a system of loving guidance where our state of consciousness is reflected back to us in the outward reality in such a way as to guide us to the state where we can reveal the ultimate good. Not only for us but for all. The state of man before eating of the tree, where by faith, he does not know sin or evil.

Judge not least you be judged.

See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil.

For those who love God, all things work for the good.

So the righteous is one who does not know evil or the state of man before eating of the tree.

Now this does not mean we ignore the laws of our culture. If someone robs a person and you are a witness you may testify to the facts and you may discern what the law says is the consequence but you may not judge the perpetrator as evil. This is between him and God.

Our Consciousness is creative.

Those who preach war and destruction find war and destruction.

Those who preach peace find peace.

Those who preach hate find hate.

Those who preach love find love.

Those who teach vengeance find vengeance.

Those who preach forgiveness find forgiveness.

Those who preach death find death.

Those who preach life find life.

Of the above examples which ones represent those lost in sin? Which ones represent the righteous?

Entering into the state of consciousness of man before the fall is the key to opening the door to the Kingdom. The kingdom lies within. The state of consciousness where you realize you do not have the ability to know evil is the key.

Lets open the door. Know that only God is the judge of the heart of any man. Know that only God may judge.

The original sin is the knowledge of good and evil. Every time anyone judges another as evil or less good ...

HE TAKES ANOTHER BITE OF THE APPLE.

For some reason Satan has made that fruit seam sweet. Yet it is the bitterest of fruit. I no longer wish to taste that bitter fruit.

Hark! The kingdom is at hand!

Awaken! The Kingdom is spread out before man, yet he does not see.

Blessings and peace to all.
All in all,
Nony

Answer 3

They knew it was wrong becasuse god forbade them to eat of that one particular tree.

Answer 4

God was clear. There are consequences to our behavior.

Gen 3:3 But God told us, 'You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden. You must not even touch it, or you will die.'" NCV

Answer 5

They BOTH were TOLD explicitly NOT to touch that tree OR its fruit.

Jeez - READ the story FIRST.

Answer 6

When a metaphorical story is taken literally the wrong conclusion is always reached. The story is symbolic of when Mankind became self conscious. Man became aware he was separated in consciousness from creation.

Answer 7

Get real. Adam was told only one thing NOT to do. Everything else was OK with God. It was a straightforward order from God. He told Eve what God had said. Eve listened to the bad ideas of satan the snake and chose to disobey God. Then she took the fruit to Adam and He chose to listen to her not God and He ate.

THEY KNEW GOOD AND THEY KNEW GOD. IT WAS SO SIMPLE, JUST OBEY GOD. THEY DIDN'T HAVE TO KNOW THE DIFFERENCE.

Eve wanted to have God-like power and so she decided to disobey God. Don't even try to make God out as the bad guy here. It really is all on Eve and Adam!

By the way, if I had been there I'm sure I would have done the same dumb thing that Eve did. I'm no better and not different. That is why I need a Savior like Jesus!!!

Answer 8

This is why it is absolutely crystal clear that the bible is an alleorical book, and should be taken as such. Genesis is so much babble--Adam and Eve were supposedly intelligent enough to converse with some deity, yet had no sentience? This makes no sense--"they were naked, a knew it not". As you point out we have a deity which seeks to punish someone for something they had no clue was wrong? This would be like beating the crap out of a little puppy the first time it piddled on the floor during house training. Either the story is allegorical or the deity mentioned is a very cruel hateful thing. As human beings--if our king or president or dictator demanded that we kill our first born sons on altars made of stone to prove our obedience and love for him--that man would not be in power anymore--we'd take out the trash because the trash is psychotic. If that same king or president or dictator publicly tortured and murdered his own son to show his love for us--we could very well see what's coming from that one in the future--again--that type of philosophy is anti-humanist and downright psychotic--he would not be in power long. Therefore the bible is allegorical written in an age where human life and individual human rights were not worth a lot--and the authors at that time reflected those values.

Answer 9

Because the people that wrote the bible were idiots that didn't understand the concept of human psychology.

Answer 10

This is a trick question, right?
It gives the idea Adam and Eve were dumb bunnies, not knowing anything at all.
They were quite knowledgeable creatures.
Adam was told to enlarge the garden of Eden.
That took some knowing.
He was given the assignment of naming all the animals.
That takes creativity.
He was told bread would be a part of his diet. Bread he would make!
Therefore he could follow a recipe and make & control the needed fire to make bread.
The expression "knowledge of good and bad" refers to God, not Adam and Eve.
If they touched that tree, God would have the knowledge (make that 'evidence') the first couple chose a rebellious route.