Why the forbidden fruit?

[IndigoChild5559]

In the story of Adam and Eve, God forbids them to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. It seems to imply that God did not want them to know good from evil. Why would that be? And does that strike you as not wanting them to spiritually grow?

 

[YoursTrue]

In the story of Adam and Eve, God forbids them to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. It seems to imply that God did not want them to know good from evil. Why would that be? And does that strike you as not wanting them to spiritually grow?

That knowledge belongs to God and the right to determine good or bad belongs to Him. By not partaking, they would have shown respect for their Maker, but Eve was induced by Satan and she believed him instead of God. You, as a Jew, surely must know and believe that Moses told the people the laws that were given him by God. Moses did not make up the laws, the Ten Commandments were inscribed by God's finger, Moses did not make them up, right?

 

[Psalm23]

In the story of Adam and Eve, God forbids them to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. It seems to imply that God did not want them to know good from evil. Why would that be? And does that strike you as not wanting them to spiritually grow?

I'm wondering it it could refer to the knowledge of good in evil in life experience instead of head knowledge of right and wrong. I'm not sure which way to interpret the knowledge of good and evil in this passage .

 

[We Never Know]

In the story of Adam and Eve, God forbids them to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. It seems to imply that God did not want them to know good from evil. Why would that be? And does that strike you as not wanting them to spiritually grow?

All of them!! I say that because I don't eat fruit lol

 

[Stevicus]

In the story of Adam and Eve, God forbids them to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. It seems to imply that God did not want them to know good from evil. Why would that be? And does that strike you as not wanting them to spiritually grow?

I never could understand how eating a piece of fruit can imbue one with the knowledge of good and evil.

 

[IndigoChild5559]

That knowledge belongs to God and the right to determine good or bad belongs to Him. By not partaking, they would have shown respect for their Maker, but Eve was induced by Satan and she believed him instead of God. You, as a Jew, surely must know and believe that Moses told the people the laws that were given him by God. Moses did not make up the laws, the Ten Commandments were inscribed by God's finger, Moses did not make them up, right?

Well I have problems with the idea that God would not want his creation to spiritually progress, but to remain ignorant. I've asked rabbis about this and can't seem to get a clear answer.

 

[IndigoChild5559]

I never could understand how eating a piece of fruit can imbue one with the knowledge of good and evil.

Steve: its a myth, a wonderful highly creative teaching story that teaches that humans are no longer in harmony with nature, with each other, with themselves, or with God, because we evolved a moral conscience that grates against our instinctual desires. Dont' over think it. Do you get so picky when watching modern morality plays like Star Trek?

 

[Stevicus]

Steve: its a myth, a wonderful highly creative teaching story that teaches that humans are no longer in harmony with nature, with each other, with themselves, or with God, because we evolved a moral conscience that grates against our instinctual desires. Dont' over think it. Do you get so picky when watching modern morality plays like Star Trek?

Yeah, I get that it's a myth. It's just a story, although there's nothing wrong with analyzing the story. As for Star Trek, I've seen that Star Trek fans can pick apart every episode and discuss every nuance, every detail. There are even some heated debates.

 

[Sgt. Pepper]

I believe that the story of Adam and Eve is a myth and doesn't hold any more relevance or accuracy than the rest of the Bible.

 

[Heyo]

Steve: its a myth, a wonderful highly creative teaching story that teaches that humans are no longer in harmony with nature, with each other, with themselves, or with God, because we evolved a moral conscience that grates against our instinctual desires. Dont' over think it. Do you get so picky when watching modern morality plays like Star Trek?

You just answered your OP question.
The fruit creates the drama that it is necessary for an interesting story.
It is also useful as a control mechanism. People who are always ashamed of their (original) sin are easy to manipulate.

 

[Quintessence]

From a Druid's perspective (which is admittedly perhaps of limited use when interpreting Biblical mythology given the wildly different contexts), trees are keepers of all sorts of wisdom and knowledge, not just of concepts like "good" and "evil."

A great deal of time is spent in some Druid traditions learning to seek and learn this knowledge from these ancient ones. This can metaphorically be referred to as eating the fruits of the tree of knowledge, or presented in other ways. However, some Druid traditions also spend a great deal of time preparing the practitioner to handle the gifts and responsibilities that come with partaking of these fruits. Those who attempt to partake in the fruits who are ill-prepared to receive their gifts do not have good results. That's not to say there are necessarily bad results, but you do not cultivate enlightenment, for lack of a better term to use here.

Thus, as a Druid I would tend to read this story as about a pair of humans who didn't prepare themselves for the mysteries and were told they weren't prepared for the mysteries. They tried to eat of the mysteries anyway, and were overwhelmed and confused by the ordeal. So the warnings could be less of a "I just don't want you to know" and more of a "stop being impatient, you are not yet ready to know."

 

[YoursTrue]

Well I have problems with the idea that God would not want his creation to spiritually progress, but to remain ignorant. I've asked rabbis about this and can't seem to get a clear answer.

Interesting. Thank you for your response.
So, if someone warns me not to go into a certain mine if I'm exploring and I go in anyway, whose fault is it if if I get hurt?
God's warning has nothing to do with wanting mankind to be ignorant. Part of the reason for that is that God allowed them to explore -- to name the animals -- to examine their surroundings -- they could eat all the other fruits -- but that one tree belonged to Him.
Therefore considering the choices mankind makes now -- including choosing to go to war, choosing to pollute the earth, choosing to hurt others, they have free choice, right? Well, it gets deeper than that, but I do understand what you say that you did not get a clear answer from those you asked in the past. Because I had a similar experience.
You might want to look at the reasoning in the article entitled "Sin" at www.jw.org.
Sin, I — Watchtower ONLINE LIBRARY (jw.org)
Go down to the paragraphs under Revolt in Eden. It really helped me to reason on this.

 

[Brian2]

In the story of Adam and Eve, God forbids them to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. It seems to imply that God did not want them to know good from evil. Why would that be? And does that strike you as not wanting them to spiritually grow?

They weren't ready for that knowledge, and we see what the results were.

 

[InChrist]

In the story of Adam and Eve, God forbids them to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. It seems to imply that God did not want them to know good from evil. Why would that be? And does that strike you as not wanting them to spiritually grow?

I don’t think it necessarily implies that God didn’t want Adam and Eve to understand good and evil or grow spiritually. Rather, I think the forbidden tree/fruit was a test to see whether they would trust and obey God so as to learn about good and evil without indulging or participating in it. Or learn about it through rebellion and the direct practice of evil, as they did.

 

[sun rise]

I don't take that story literally as many are doing in this thread. To me it's symbolic history of humans developing a concept of right & wrong and leaving animal ignorance.

But for a different perspective, check out a Jewish view The Immortal Myth of Adam and Eve - TheTorah.com

 

[Sedim Haba]

In the story of Adam and Eve, God forbids them to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. It seems to imply that God did not want them to know good from evil. Why would that be? And does that strike you as not wanting them to spiritually grow?

I prefer the midrash that the fruit was actually the grape, and it was meant for making the
Shabbat wine. (Don't know where that is from, just one of our Rebbi's stories I remember)

Perhaps they were not ready yet for wine or such knowledge, but would be in due time.

 

[crossfire]

In the story of Adam and Eve, God forbids them to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. It seems to imply that God did not want them to know good from evil. Why would that be? And does that strike you as not wanting them to spiritually grow?

Just by forbidding it the concept of good and evil was implanted in the mind.

 

[Brian2]

In the story of Adam and Eve, God forbids them to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. It seems to imply that God did not want them to know good from evil. Why would that be? And does that strike you as not wanting them to spiritually grow?

God is the one who put the tree in the garden. He did not have to.
It means that God did not want them to eat the fruit then, but we do not know what God would have allow them to do in the future had they been faithful.

 

[exchemist]

In the story of Adam and Eve, God forbids them to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. It seems to imply that God did not want them to know good from evil. Why would that be? And does that strike you as not wanting them to spiritually grow?

The story is an allegory about loss of innocence. We all experience that, as a child grows up, it gains moral knowledge, becoming responsible enough to know right from wrong, but in that process something simple and charming is lost.

The way I see it, the story represents Man becoming morally aware, as he developed from the other animals, and the loss of that simple animal innocence, which is a burden we all have to carry throughout our lives.

Moral responsibility is a bittersweet thing, is it not?

 

[IndigoChild5559]

The story is an allegory about loss of innocence. We all experience that, as a child grows up, it gains moral knowledge, becoming responsible enough to know right from wrong, but in that process something simple and charming is lost.

The way I see it, the story represents Man becoming morally aware, as he developed from the other animals, and the loss of that simple animal innocence, which is a burden we all have to carry throughout our lives.

Moral responsibility is a bittersweet thing, is it not?

I actually agree with all that.

But my question remains, why in the story does God wish to hold mankind back from moral sentience?