So, Theophane, you do know that the Garden of Eden thing didn’t actually happen, right? There were never only two humans, and no tree gave knowledge of good and evil?
And off limits would have meant nothing to them…
What verse is that in?
Is it a myth? It’s in the Bible, that’s all I know for sure. It must have some signficance even if it’s only a story. The events portrayed in the first few chapters of Genesis have far-reaching implications.
3:24 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.
Do you believe that it is a myth, or do you believe that it is literally true?
The story is what it is. Take it or leave it.
Okay, I’ll leave it since it doesn’t make any sense.
Do you think that it was a good thing that God punished A&E for something they didn’t even know was wrong? Does this strike you as an omnibenevolent act?
Ah, thanks. A direct answer to a straightforward question.
Technically speaking it appears as though the sword is not in the hands of the angel - it’s just sitting there, spinning…
I think it is a myth, although one that conveys certain truths of our existence that we would not otherwise be able to understand. If you’ve studied world mythology you’ll begin to notice the places where all these stories begin to link together. Common themes, archetypes, characters, and whatnot. I’m convinced that mythology is a product of the collective unconscious.
Ever notice the similarity between the Yrgdrassil in Norse mythology and the Tree of Life in Judeo-Christian mythology? Or Lucifer and Prometheus?
Eddie: Mine’s stuck on “twirl”, Chief…
So you believe that the serpent mentioned in the story of Adam and Eve is a myth.
No, I really don’t see any similarity between a king of Babylon and Prometheus-please explain.
They knew it was wrong because they had been explicitly warned about it.
Yeah-they were warned that they were going to die the day they ate it. That didn’t happen, did it?
You didn’t like my cite then?
Alternatively…
Maybe it refers to “spiritual” death.
Maybe it doesn’t refer to a literal day.
The idea that we’ve lost the precise meaning of the words in the 3000 years since they were written is more likely than the compilers of the Hebrew scriptures tossing in a story about God being a liar.
How would they know what ‘wrong’ was if they didn’t know good and evil?
If we don’t know know what the words mean, maybe this story is of no use to us at all.
It’s all the dust they’ve been eating. Have you ever tried to talk with a mouth full of dust?
It is fiction, you know. But again, presumably the character is Satan because it fits the archetyoe, but technically it’s not Satan/Lucifer/etc. because it’s not named as such and he hadn’t been invented yet.
But again, what’s the point? I’m looking around at the world and I see it’s ups and downs, but I don’t see how anything is profiting any supernatural evil dark lord.