Adam And Eve @ MindSay 
bible
A conversation I've been having on someone else's blog has gotten me thinking about something...
Christianity has been criticised for creating a culture of guilt, and using guilt as a means of controlling its "believers." In some cases, this might be true, but I don't think that that is what Christianity is supposed to be about. In fact, I believe the opposite, that Christianity is supposed to be about freedom from guilt.
But this got me thinking about what I believe about original sin. The general belief amongst many Christians is that because of the original sin of Adam and Eve, all the descendants of Adam and Eve, that is, the human species, bears original sin from the moment they are conceived that they need to be forgiven for.
Now, I certainly understand why this seems unfair. Should I be punished for something that happened before I even existed? Should I need forgiving becase my parents are humans, which is something I've never had any control over, nor my parents, for that matter? Is there really such thing as original sin? Do I bear personal responsibility?
Then I thought, the answer to that last question, might be no. I don't bear personal responsibility. I don't bear personal responsibility.
I thought about our aborigines. For many years the Australian indigenous population has been asking our government to apologise for the way our ancestors treated them, which today many aborigines are still suffering from. Our previous Prime Minister, John Howard, from the Liberal Party, thought that although the way the were treated was terrible, he should not be the one to apologise, or bear moral responsibility for. After all, everyone who was involved in those acts towards aborigines were dead, and he wasn't even born at the time. Although some Australians agreed with him, he was rather unpopular with a large number of them, aborigines and white people alike. We all felt a national guilt that, even though none of us were personally responsible, we should bear the responsibility of the actions of our forebears. In our last election, John Howard was voted out and Kevin Rudd from the Labour Government was voted in, and one of the first things he did as Prime Minister was make a public announcement on behalf of the Australian people, apologising to the indigenous Australians.
I also thought about the African slave situation in America. Although slavery is now illegal, and Americans of African descent have as much rights as any other American in America, many white Americans still feel white shame, and I have met a few over the internet that have felt ashamed of being born white because of the actions of their ancestors, even though they had nothing personally to do with it. And even though some might not feel it as keenly as others, there is still a "sensitivity" between the races.
Do any Germans feel ashamed that theirs was the nation that produced the Nazis? I don't know a lot about the German mindset, but I wouldn't be surprised.
Anyway, this got me thinking. Maybe original sin is simply species shame. Eating a fruit from a tree versus crimes against humanity? Okay, not quite the same ball park, I'll warrant, but this story is full of symbolism. The seven days of creation? Science tells us how unlikely it is that the universe was created in seven days, but the number seven itself was highly symbolic to the Hebrews, a number representing wholeness. The fruit that they ate wasn't just any fruit, God didn't forbid it for just any reason; it was the fruit from the knowledge of good and evil. There's some symbolism right there.
So people use the story of Adam and Eve to make people feel guilty for something that happened before they were born. But maybe it's not about having personal guilt, because it's not our personal sin. But maybe it's the responsibility we all have as human beings, to be resonsible for each other and not to seperate ourselves from our shared past. Maybe us Australians do bear some responsiblity for the actions of our ancestors. The consequences of their actions are still existing, after all, and they're not around to fix it, so maybe it's not enough for us to say, "tough luck, I feel bad, but it's nothing to do with me." Do I feel personally guilty for the way our aborigines were treated? Of course not. I had nothing to do with it. Do I think I should share at least some moral responsiblity? Maybe so.
There is a resonsiblity we have as humans towards other humans, when we see one part of humanity committing atrocious sins, even though we are not a part of that "part," maybe we, as humans, need to take action, and not just sit back and do nothing; because maybe the acts of one human reflects on all humans. Maybe, I thought, this is what original sin is about. Not personal guilt, but shared responsiblity.
And as for Christianity? I mentioned before, is about freeing us from the shackles of guilt. All types of guilt, whether guilt that we feel we deserve when we don't, guilt that we don't feel when we do deserve to, and guilt that we feel that we rightly deserve. Whether that guilt is our personal guilt, or the shared guilt of humanity. Responsiblity will still be there, though, of course.
Anyway, this is just a thought, nothing more, nothing less. Chances are, I'm way off.
I was thinking about the first mother, Eve. I wondered how she felt when her first child began to cut teeth, to lose them and get adult teeth. One thought led to another and another and I was wondering what she thought when her baby had a fever. And since God talked to Cain, he must have talked to Eve and Adam, too. So I wonder how God led them through the scary stuff that comes with having children?
When Adam and Eve chose to disobey God in the garden, was it really a choice? I am christian, believe in Jesus Christ, don't get me wrong, I am just asking a question that I have pondered on occasion.
If someone is to make a choice, the wisest of decisions would be one where there was knowledge of what each choice meant and the repercussions of them as well, right?
So, did Adam and Eve really know what it meant to 'disobey' God and choose to eat from that forbidden tree? Did they know the consequences? Parents do not always get to explain the consequences to choices to children before it happens, they just hope that the child will obey. Then when the child disobeys, then the child faces those consequences. Sometimes dealt with mercy, sometimes dealt firmly.
I think that if they knew the consequences, they wouldn't have chose that path, perhaps? What do you think? i know that leads us to many other topics and discussions, but just trying to stick to this one question/thought I would like to discuss here, if you are interested.
Here is the story:
God took some clay from the ground and made the shape of a man. Then He breathed gently into the shape. The man's eye's opened and he began to live. God called him Adam.
The Lord made a beautiful garden for him to live in. The garden, called Eden, was full of many wonderful things. Beautiful flowers grew everywhere. Birds sang in the trees, streams flowed through the valley and animals roamed across the fields.
God hade made the man in His image to keep Him company and look after the world.
God brought all the animals to Adam one at a time to be given their names. "Elephant", he would say, or "Tiger", or "Porcupine".
But God felt sorry for Adam. "None of these animals is really like him," thought God, "he needs someone to share his life. Someone who cares for him and who he can care for."
That night, God took a rib from Adam's side and made a woman. When Adam awoke the following morning, he found a wife, Eve, lying asleep beside him. Adam was so happy. He took her hand and she woke up. She looked up at him and smiled.
God told the man and woman that it was their job to take care of their new home. God blessed them, saying, "All this is for you. Help yourself to anything you like. But never touch the tree in the middle of the Garden. That tree gives knowledge of good and evil. The day you eat its fruit, you will die."
God did not mean that Adam and Eve would drop down dead the moment they ate the fruit from the tree. He meant that in time they would die with out His Spirit dwelling in them.
One day, Eve was gathering berries for dinner when she heard a silky voice behind her.
"Has God told you that you can eat the fruit from all the trees?" the voice asked softly. Eve turned around to see a snake talking to her.
"God has told us we can eat all the fruit except for what grows on The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil," Eve told the serpent.
"Oh come now, that's silly! I hardly think such a lovely fruit would do you any harm," the serpent lied. "God knows that if you eat from The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil you'll become just like God, and will be able to decide for yourself what is right and what is wrong."
The woman looked at the fruit and thought how tasty it looked. She thought how wonderful it would be to be as wise and powerful as God. She believed the serpent's lie and ate the fruit.
She felt a strange feeling in the pit of her stomach. She fidgeted and wondered what was wrong with her. Suddenly she realized that she was feeling guilty -- she had disobeyed God and knew she'd done something wrong.
Eve hurriedly picked some more fruit and took it back to Adam. They ate the fruit and sat in gloomy silence. As soon as they ate the fruit a change came over Adam and Eve. They became unhappy and fearful of God.
Adam and Eve heard God calling them. Without thinking, they dived into the bushes, but God knew where they were. When God asked them if they had eaten from The Tree of the
Knowledge of Good and Evil that He had told them not to touch, they blamed each other for their sins.
God was sad that Adam and Eve had disobeyed them. He told them that they had to leave the Garden of Eden, "From now on you'll have to scratch a living from the soil. You'll need to make clothes and grow food. Nothing will come easily -- not even childbirth. And one day, you will die."
EVE: "I've got a problem."
GOD: "What's the problem, Eve?"
EVE: "I know that you created me and provided this beautiful garden and all of these wonderful animals, as well as that hilarious comedic snake, but I'm just not happy."
GOD: "And why is that Eve?"
EVE: "I am lonely, and I'm sick to death of apples."
GOD: "Well, Eve, in that case, I have a solution. I shall create a man for you."
EVE: "Man? What is that?"
GOD: "A flawed creature, with many bad traits. He'll lie, cheat and be vain; all in all, he'll give you a hard time. But he'll be bigger, faster and will like to hunt and kill things. I'll create him in such a way that he will satisfy your physical needs. He will be witless and will revel in childish things like fighting and kicking a ball about. He won't be as smart as you, so he will also need your advice to think properly."
EVE: "Sounds great," but what's the catch?"
GOD: "Well... you can have him on one condition."
EVE: "And what's that, dear God?"
GOD: "As I said, he'll be proud, arrogant and self-admiring... so you'll have to let him believe that I made him first. And it will have to be our little secret... you know, woman to woman."
what religion are you?
are you "religious"?
do you have doubts about your religion?
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