The serpent is often more believable but I missed the transition from being more believable to having the story fall apart. Would you please explain further.
I do not believe the story falls apart simply because the serpent was more believable. I have been taught right from wrong by my parents, teachers, friends, and God. I would like to choose to do right, yet I often choose wrong despite the excellent teaching. I choose wrong because, at the time of choosing, the wrong way seems right in my mind. For example, a small child is told/taught not to touch something hot because it will hurt. The child does not know that it will hurt or how much it will hurt and often chooses to touch something hot anyway. At the moment, touching something seems like the right thing to do otherwise the child probably would not touch it. Once the child has touched the hot item, the child begins to cry, realizing the pain of touching something hot. The child learns not to touch hot things but not before feeling pain. The child had the freedom to choose. Why would the child touch something hot after being told not to? Because the thing is pret!
ty or out
of curiosity or simply because the child wanted to? We all have many, many reasons why.
Adam and Eve had free choice in the garden because God gives everyone the freedom to choose. They could have chosen not to eat of the fruit thereby not experiencing sin and disobedience. Eve made what felt like the right choice at the time because she was deceived by the more believable talking serpent and her own flesh. Adam chose disobedience. They both suffered.
One thing I know is that everyone has made wrong choices in their lives and only one man was perfect. We come to the Father through the one perfect man Jesus Christ. Again, Jim, the Bible is about relationship with God. When you read it in that context, everything makes sense, everything is understandable. Until you do, nothing makes sense and nothing is understood. God is infinite large and infinitely small. He provides the understanding you and I seek.
Sheila
Jim Eisele <jeisele@starpower.net> wrote:
William writes
>You are correct that they had no knowledge of good or evil in the
>general sense.
Aw, thanks.
>They had only one rule: do not eat of the tree of
>knowledge of good and evil.
Agreed. But they had two arguments to listen to - the serpent's
or God's (I can't believe that I'm writing about a talking serpent -
this feels rather odd). It is funny how Christians always like to
challenge the presuppositions of others. They have an enormous blind
spot when it comes to this Adam and Eve tale.
The serpent was more believable than God in the story. They trusted
the serpent. Modern Christians "know" the serpent is evil and thus
the story makes sense. But this is false hope. Adam and Eve found
the serpent more believable. The story falls apart.
>They broke that rule.
They had a choice to make. The serpent was more believable. The
story falls apart.
>I'm curious, Jim. To simply say that Genesis is myth is a very broad
>statement. Can you give us some specific examples?
>Thanks
Science disagrees with just about everything in Genesis. But you
don't even need a scientific background to expose Genesis as myth.
You just need to hear the other side of the story.
Jim
Sheila McGinty Wilson
sheila-wilson@sbcglobal.net
Received on Mon Dec 22 14:55:48 2003
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