From my point of view this brings up very serious issues concerning the nature of biblical 'sin'.
Like you say, before they ate the fruit it was perfectly ok to be naked. But after eating of the fruit all-of-sudden it's shameful to be naked?
So the question is,... was it always wrong to be naked? Were they always being sinful by being naked and just didn't know it?
This begs the question of intent, as well as knowledge. And what exactly is a 'sin'?
Clearly the act of being naked in and of itself could not be a wrongful act since they had been naked all along and never felt (or knew) that their was anything wrong with being naked. But then after eating the fruit that know that being naked is wrong (or at least shameful in some way). Well it must be wrong if it's shameful right?
So the problem with the whole story is that if being naked is wrongful or shameful, then it must have been so before they ate the fruit and they just didn't know it!
But that would imply that they had been sinning all along and by eating the fruit they merely became aware
of it.
Dear abra - as an x believer - this is the point being made in genisis. Adam and eve were made/created in perfect goodness,at first neither of them knew any evil - as far as what evil there was. They knew nothing of "lust" or other thing's of that nature, The tree of which fruit they partook was that of a tree god gave the name - the tree of knowledge of "good & EVIL" before they partook of the tree's yummy fruit ( i doubt it was an apple) they knew no evil. when the fruit was eaten an awareness came over them that was probably like this - they looked at each other in a lustful way.it was not the nakedness - it was the comprehension of a new desire and new feelings that rushed upon them that made them feel "ashamed", to not know lust and feelings of that nature and then have them thrust upon you would and did produce such a response. In there shame - over what had just happened, they covered themselves, why? to stop those feelings and thought's from continuing, in other word's they were uncomfortable with these thing's that had just taken place. Nakedness was never the issue, if it had been as you say then it would have been god's fault for not making them clothes to begin with.
Also, if 'sin' is basically defined as disobedience to God (which it must be because the only way we can know that we are being sinful is by comparing our actions to the laws set down by God), then the only way to know when we are doing something wrong would be to know that is it against God's wishes.
This implies that Adam and Eve always knew that being naked was against God wishes, and just we're disobeying him prior to eating the fruit because they didn't know that disobeying God was wrong. (but if that's the case then they couldn't have known that eating the fruit would be wrong either!). So that can't be right.
your correct that's not right.
So Adam and Eve couldn't have known that God disapproved of them being naked. Thus when they ate the fruit they still wouldn't have known that being naked was against God's wishes. Or if they instantly realized that then they still would have been sinning the whole time because God is unchanging. Therefore if he doesn't want them to be naked after they ate the fruit then he couldn't have wanted them to be naked before they ate the fruit. But he failed to tell them so.
No matter how you cut it, the story makes no sense.
It's the most nonsensical story on the face of the planet.
I believe in God. But I definitely don't believe in this biblical picture. It's simply riddled with far too many logical inconsistencies all designed to try to make people feel guilty. Also, why should you or I feel guilty for what Adam and Eve did anyway. The idea that God is going to hold a grudge against all of humanity for what Adam and Eve did flies in the face of the idea that God is reasonable, and just.
The idea of humanity falling from the grace of God via Adam and Eve in a religion that is supposed to be about personal salvation is an oxymoron in itself.
Dear abra - as an X-believer - this is the point being made in genisis. Adam and eve were made/created in perfect goodness,at first neither of them knew any evil - as far as what evil there was, they did not have evil thought's ( by gods definition) for each other, what sex they were having if any was just that - procreation as the animals were having a mutual attraction bringing about pleasure and eventually would have produced off spring as well. They knew nothing of "lust" or other thing's of that nature, The tree of which fruit they partook was that of a tree god gave the name - the tree of knowledge of "good & EVIL" before they partook of the tree's yummy fruit ( i doubt it was an apple) they knew no evil. when the fruit was eaten an awareness came over them that was probably like this - they looked at each other in a lustful way.it was not the "nakedness" - it was the comprehension of a new desire(s) and new feelings that rushed upon them that made them feel "ashamed" not shame for their nakedness shame for the thought's they were having and how those thought's were making them feel, to not know lust and feelings of that nature and then have them thrust upon you would and did produce such a response. In there shame - over what had just happened, they covered themselves, why? to stop those feelings and thought's from continuing, in other word's they were uncomfortable with these thing's that had just taken place, it was new and shocking to there senses. "Nakedness" was never the issue, if it had been as you say then it would have been god's fault for not making them clothes to begin with.There are many more troubling things in genisis than adam and eve but that would require a new topic post, and i'm not sure if i want to even get into those issues or not.
Edited by
tribo
on Sun 06/01/08 11:50 AM