[net.religion] Garden of Eden

cmk@phs.UUCP (06/15/83)

	The last time I started a discussion on this net, a lot of people
dumped all over me like a ton of bricks.  Being a slow learner, let's try
it again.

	Doing some reading on the creation/evolution thing started me thinking
on Genesis in general, and Adam and Eve in the garden in particular.  My
question is this:  Adam and Eve were instructed not to eat of the fruit
of the tree lest, as memory serves, they die.  The subsequently did eat,
and, as we all know, did not die.  Therefore,

	1.  Was God lying when he said they would die?
	2.  If he was not lying, was he speaking symbolically?  If so, why
		is symbolism here OK, but not when we speak of the creation
		story and the "days of creation"?
	3.  If the Garden of Eden was supposed to be a perfect place, how
		does one explain the existence there of something I would
		call an imperfection, namely the fear of death?

Comments welcomed.

Chuck

dje@5941ux.UUCP (06/15/83)

The question was asked whether God was lying when He said Adam and Eve would
die if they ate the fruit from the tree of life.  (Obviously, they did eat
it and did not die).

I have heard the interpretation that the phrase "ye shall surely die" can be
understood as a statement of LIABILITY to the death penalty rather than a 
mandate for execution.  The Sanhedrin (Jewish religious court) in Judea
was called bloody if it imposed a death penalty with greater frequency than
once in seventy years.  This was the case even though they were bound with
enforcement of all the laws in the Five Books of Moses that specify "ye shall 
surely be stoned to death" for transgression.

Does that shed any light?

Dave Ellis / Bell Labs, Piscataway NJ
...!harpo!npoiv!npois!houxm!5941ux!dje
...!{ariel,lime}!houti!hogpc!houxm!5941ux!dje

kwmc@hou5d.UUCP (06/16/83)

Adam and Eve DID die, They had been created for eternal life, but their
disobedience allowed corruption of themselves and their environment which
eventually led to their deaths.   ( Genesis 3:17-19 ) .......

	"... Then to Adam He said "Because you have listened to the voice
	of your wife, and have eaten from the tree about which I commanded
	you saying 'You shall not eat from it': Cursed is the ground because
	of you: In toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life. Both
	thorns and thistles it shall grow for you, and you shall eat the 
	plants of the field; By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread.
	Till you return to the ground, because from it you were taken; For
	you are dust, and to dust you shall return. "     (NASB)

kwmc@hou5d.UUCP (06/16/83)

Just to clarify Adam and Eve DID NOT EAT from the tree of life, they ate from
the tree of "the knowledge of good and evil". Having disobeyed Him, God ensured
that they would NOT eat of the tree of life by casting them out of Eden
( Genesis 3:22-24 ).
Might I suggest that people simply read the account in Genesis.
			Ken Cochran     hou5d!kwmc