One way to read the "apple" part of the story is that it's not a "fall" as much as it is a "climb."
God's intent was to test whether Adam and Eve were capable of becoming adults, responsible for the consequences of their decisions. Satan (who, in the early Bible, is sent by God as a tester, not an enemy of God) tests them by letting them realize that adults must realize life's decisions really can be "life or death" and that the consequences of their choices will not always be made whole by a loving God who acts as a permanent parent, bailing out his children yet again. Yes, God seems to have two distinct roles here: As creator (parent) and as teacher (parent). But both roles are, from the first, designed to help Adam and Eve stand on their own two feet, making their own way in the world, not permanent residents of the parental home (Eden).
Eric Yost wrote:
I've always wondered why the Lord God hides the truth about the apple in Genesis, while the serpent tells the truth about the apple. Or if there are two God(s) in Genesis. Here's a take on the second question. -EY [An excerpt from _God:a Biography_ by Jack Miles] In the first creation account, God created man to be God's own image. The second creation account is different. Here the Lord God creates man from the dust, not by the word of his mouth, and never describes his creatures as made in his image. .... In the first creation account, the relationship between creator and creature is not about obedience at all. God is so magisterially powerful but also so splendidly generous that human misbehavior cannot possibly trouble his calm. His "be fertile and increase" is more a magnanimous invitation than a command. Barely two pages later, the Lord God seems not just less powerful and less generous than God but far more vindictive. Worse, he is as gratuitous in his wrath as God is gratuitous in his bounty. .... As a character, the Lord God is disturbing as anyone who holds immense power and seems not to know what he wants to do with it. .... There are not two protagonists in this text, only one. But this one protagonist has two strikingly distinct personalities. [Vintage paperback 1995 (pp.35-38)] ------------------------------------------------------------------ To change your Lit-Ideas settings (subscribe/unsub, vacation on/off, digest on/off), visit www.andreas.com/faq-lit-ideas.html
-- -------------------------------------------------"Never attribute to malice that which can be explained by incompetence and ignorance." -------------------------------------------------
John Wager john.wager1@xxxxxxxxxxx
Lisle, IL, USA
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