The Adam and Eve Story

Hello,


I am wondering if there is anyone who is either familiar with the midrashing in Judaism or simply would like to discuss the Adam and Eve story.

In my western religions class, we've discussed couple of points in the story and how it could be viewed; some people could see the Serpent as the hero of the story and God as someone who kept Adam and Eve in ther dark, others can look at the whole woman/man relationship. I'm not sure but I think God never spoke to Eve directly. He only spoke to her through Adam. Also, the tree of life, besides the tree of knowledge could be discussed.

I'm interested in your oppinions, either atheistic or religious.
Thank you.

I'm sure I've already posted this on the site a million times, but I like looking at this story. My personal favorite midrash is that they got kicked out because they wouldn't take any responsibilty for what they'd done (Adam blamed Eve, Eve blamed the snake, and the snake was left there going "Well, I didn't actually break any rules here, y'know...")

And then there's the classic view of it as a metaphor for growing up.

And then there's the rather odd fact that Adam and Eve were hiding, not because they were worried about dying (did they even understand the concept, I wonder?), but because they were ashamed of being naked. That always struck me as a little odd.

Well, it is my opinion that the whole thing was created to make men seem better then women. For example, woman is created from the rib of man. Then, it was woman who was suduced into eating the apple by evil, not man. Then woman suduced man into eating the fruit of evil. And so it was woman who created original sin, and so sin.

God spoke to Eve after she had eaten the fruit.

I think that if you believe the story is a metaphor you can turn it into just about anything. I say it's a story of how alien scientists wanted to create a perfect civilisation, they created life from the earth and then cloned adam and made the clone female, their brain was hardwaired to only know good but they left an anidote to this in the garden and eve took it and gave it to adam.

See we are just a scientific experiment to an alien scientist otherwise known as God.

My view is from the religious perspective.

Adam and Eve, it appears from the surviving text, were created from the elements which make up the earth. It is known in science that our physical bodies need certain elements such as iron and other elements to live. We eat items grown from that same earth. Our water comes from the earth and sky. We seem to be a part of the makeup of the earth itself.

Also, Adam and Eve were apparently created from pure elements since the Garden of Eden had not been corrupted at that time.

After the conversation with God on the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, Adam and Eve by their partaking of the forbidden fruit brought drastic changes to themselves. They had their eyes opened to see the wrong they had done. They were told not to eat the fruit and they now were aware of that fact. Paul the Apostle states that "Adam was not deceived [by the serpent], but the woman being deceived was in the transgression." (1 Timothy 2:14; KJV). Eve ate the fruit and was changed, Adam was still unchanged. He could have refrained from eating the fruit but that would have meant a separation from Eve, so he joined her voluntarily to be with her.

Also, they recognized that they were nude. Apparently before the change, they had bodies which did not register nudity, but after they ate the fruit they became aware through their bodies their nudity. Arousal perhaps? It seems that the viewing of the nude human body brings a physiological response (heart rate increases, genitals are aroused, the brain registers certain chemical responses). Moses was commanded by God that no one was to view (besides one's spouse) another's nudity (Leviticus 18:6-30). David, the king of Israel and slayer of Goliath, fell for another man's wife, Bath-sheba, after seeing her washing herself. David had her husband killed and he was severely reprimanded for it (2 Samuel chapters 11 and 12). Jesus said, "But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart." (Matthew 5:28). We apparently have the same bodies they had after the consumption of the fruit.

We are in what is called The Fall. This Fall has come upon our bodies in that it will corrupt eventually and die. That means that the bodies Adam and Eve had before The Fall were not subject to death. Genesis does speak of Adam and Eve having a chance to partake of the tree of life but God would not permit it. He placed a divine being with a flaming sword to block access to the tree.

"And the Lord God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever:

"Therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.

"So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life." (Genesis 3:22-24).

Why cast them out? In the garden of Eden, life was easy, food and water was plentiful, the animals docile or peaceful. What could be better? They were not here to live the life of ease but to experience difficulty like having to grow your own food and obtain water. "In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground." (Genesis 3:19). This life is a place of testing. God told Moses this fact of life:

"Then said the Lord unto Moses, Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a certain rate every day, that I may prove them, whether they will walk in my law, or no." (Exodus 16:4).

"The LORD trieth the righteous." (Psalm 11:5).

And when they had preached the gospel to that city, and had taught many, they returned again to Lystra, to Iconium, and Antioch,

"Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through must tribulation enter into the kingdom of God." (Acts 14:21-22).

Paul taught the principle of divine testing:

"For consider him [Jesus] that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.

"Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin.

"And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: [Cf. Job 5:17-18.]

"For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.

"If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?

"But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye ******** [fatherless, or here without God], and not sons." (Hebrews 12:3-8).

Does this make sense, here in our world of turmoil, confusion, and death?

Adam and Eve are usually excoriated for eating the forbidden fruit, but the Plan of God would have been frustrated if they had not eaten, death would not have come, experiences with a decaying body would not have come, learning the loss of a loved one would never have come, enjoying the beauty of living would not have come--we learn of the preciousness of life by knowing of death. To know the sweet, we must taste the bitter.