More questions for theists
Posted on: May 16, 2007 - 1:27pm
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More questions for theists
Can someone explain to me why eating from the tree of knowledge is a bad thing? If you think about it why did god not want adam and eve to know? It seems as if blissful ignorance is the message here. In other words... don't worry about anything...enjoy your nakedness and your trees and fruits and just don't worry about knowledge...you don't need to know...just..well...watch TV, Nascar, go to church be a good christian, vote republican, just don't ask questions shop at walmart, buy a boat......
you don't need to know....get the drift?
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For clarity,
Genesis 2:17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die."
Knowledge of good and evil is different than just knowledge.
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Ok, fair enough, but still...why would god not want you to know good or evil? And who let a talking snake in the garden anyway? And how does this transcend to modern religious beliefs and religious institutions? It seems to me that knowledge is something the religious institutions don't want us to know about?
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This brings up another question for me. How come dying would be such a horrible consequence if you go to heaven when you die?? Yes, I get that if you sin alot your supposed to go to hell, but if you sin once you don't die and apparently you can be forgiven. So, why does God constantly threaten death??
"Those who think they know don't know. Those that know they don't know, know."
This will sound like a cop-out, but I defer any answers to a future date. I'm still learning the ropes around here and have a ways to go before I can do any more than offer opinion and conjecture. If you don't mind that, I'll throw out a few possibilities, but I am not presenting them as iron clad arguments.
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There are actually some strands of Jewish tradition that interpret eating from the tree as a good thing; that is, the knowledge of good and evil allows humans to be what they should be--humans who know the distinction between good and evil. In this sense, the "fall" is really a step up. I believe that Rabbi Harold Kushner presents a popular version of this view, though it has been a while since I have read anything by him (and I can't really say with any certainty that I would recommend him).
"The will to revolutionary change emerges as an urge, as an 'I cannot do otherwise,' or it is worthless." --Slavoj Zizek
The tree of knowledge of good and evil symbolizes the limits of a creaturely status. IOW, trying to be God or God-like on one's own, before; on the same level with; and/or without any reference to the actual God. As Mary Wollenscraft Shelley taught us, playing God has negative consequences, and that's implied in "if you do it, you shall die".
I take pride in being a newb. I'm not all experienced and boring like the normies.