-
Welcome to Religious Forums, a friendly forum to discuss all religions in a friendly surrounding.
Your voice is missing! You will need to register to get access to the following site features:- Reply to discussions and create your own threads.
- Our modern chat room. No add-ons or extensions required, just login and start chatting!
- Access to private conversations with other members.
We hope to see you as a part of our community soon!
Adam & Eve sitting in a tree....
- Thread starter allfoak
- Start date
A fine perspective on the myth is given in the book, "The Myth of the Godess: Evolution of an Image," which draws on Joseph Campbell and other scholarly work to analyze the meaning of the symbols. In a nutshell it presents the story as about a coming into conscious being. In the garden of Eden, man and God live as one and there is harmony. What is regarded as a waking from this condition in Western thought is the opposite: in becoming self-conscious, man forgets the life of the garden and sets about shaping the world to his own ends, making an antagonist of God.
The Myth of the Goddess: Evolution of an Image: Jules Cashford, Anne Baring, Laurens Van Der Post: 9780140192926: Comparative Religion: Amazon Canada
The Myth of the Goddess: Evolution of an Image: Jules Cashford, Anne Baring, Laurens Van Der Post: 9780140192926: Comparative Religion: Amazon Canada
allfoak
Alchemist
Genesis 3:1-24 (NKJV)
1 Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made.
And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?”
2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden;
3 but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’”
4 Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die.
5 For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate.
She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate.
7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings.
8 And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.
9 Then the Lord God called to Adam and said to him, “Where are you?”
10 So he said, “I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.”
11 And He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat?”
12 Then the man said, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate.”
13 And the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?”
The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
14 So the Lord God said to the serpent:
“Because you have done this,
You are cursed more than all cattle,
And more than every beast of the field;
On your belly you shall go,
And you shall eat dust
All the days of your life.
15 And I will put enmity
Between you and the woman,
And between your seed and her Seed;
He shall bruise your head,
And you shall bruise His heel.”
16 To the woman He said:
“I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception;
In pain you shall bring forth children;
Your desire shall be for your husband,
And he shall rule over you.”
17 Then to Adam He said, “Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it’:
“Cursed is the ground for your sake;
In toil you shall eat of it
All the days of your life.
18 Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you,
And you shall eat the herb of the field.
19 In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread
Till you return to the ground,
For out of it you were taken;
For dust you are,
And to dust you shall return.”
20 And Adam called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all living.
21 Also for Adam and his wife the Lord God made tunics of skin, and clothed them.
22 Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil.
And now, lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever”—
23 therefore the Lord God sent him out of the garden of Eden to till the ground from which he was taken.
24 So He drove out the man; and He placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life.
1 Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made.
And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?”
2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden;
3 but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’”
4 Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die.
5 For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate.
She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate.
7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings.
8 And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.
9 Then the Lord God called to Adam and said to him, “Where are you?”
10 So he said, “I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.”
11 And He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat?”
12 Then the man said, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate.”
13 And the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?”
The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
14 So the Lord God said to the serpent:
“Because you have done this,
You are cursed more than all cattle,
And more than every beast of the field;
On your belly you shall go,
And you shall eat dust
All the days of your life.
15 And I will put enmity
Between you and the woman,
And between your seed and her Seed;
He shall bruise your head,
And you shall bruise His heel.”
16 To the woman He said:
“I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception;
In pain you shall bring forth children;
Your desire shall be for your husband,
And he shall rule over you.”
17 Then to Adam He said, “Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it’:
“Cursed is the ground for your sake;
In toil you shall eat of it
All the days of your life.
18 Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you,
And you shall eat the herb of the field.
19 In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread
Till you return to the ground,
For out of it you were taken;
For dust you are,
And to dust you shall return.”
20 And Adam called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all living.
21 Also for Adam and his wife the Lord God made tunics of skin, and clothed them.
22 Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil.
And now, lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever”—
23 therefore the Lord God sent him out of the garden of Eden to till the ground from which he was taken.
24 So He drove out the man; and He placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life.
Last edited:
allfoak
Alchemist
I really enjoyed my Joseph Campbell days.
It was really my first introduction to the ideas of myth and metaphor.
I read all of the stories when i was a child and then he just put them all into perspective for me.
A friend of mine calls Campbell's books "eye candy".
Thief
Rogue Theologian
I don't believe that 'fall' notion of the event
I read the text as Man created on Day Six
male and female
go forth be fruitful and multiply
dominate all things......
no names, no garden, no law......
no special trees....
no threat of dying
THEN Chapter Two and a manipulation
Adam and Eve were given a choice
I think it WAS a test
Is man that creature that will seek to KNOW
even if death is pending consequence?
yes
They passed the test and the specimens were released into the environment
I read the text as Man created on Day Six
male and female
go forth be fruitful and multiply
dominate all things......
no names, no garden, no law......
no special trees....
no threat of dying
THEN Chapter Two and a manipulation
Adam and Eve were given a choice
I think it WAS a test
Is man that creature that will seek to KNOW
even if death is pending consequence?
yes
They passed the test and the specimens were released into the environment
I too found Campbell's work to be valuable...but I think he (and others) try/tried to hard to make all mythology fit into Freud and Jung and a purely psychological perspective, when--while they do have some valuable insight--one needs to look at the social and sociological (economic, political...) aspects as well. And I never quite got the idea that all mythology in the world traces back to the Middle East 8-12 thousand years ago...
Aiviu
Active Member
Her bite was to take adams possession by desiring his submission. Through this she got jealous of having more, Adam's love to God. Knowing that she could possess adam's submission and give herself's in return, sounds like she knew what is good and what is evil - for her. Both got blinded from the possession (poison) of their submission (the snake). Throuhg this both desire the other's love to God. They were ashamed because Gods love would made them live eternally. Through this event life of decay was made to exist. A life in which each one has to restore what they did because we all will certainly sin for any generation. ... So it says, as i think.
Thief
Rogue Theologian
nay....none of the above
Eve was truly curious
Adam saw that she survived the taste and was also curious
but no one lied in the garden
it all played as it should have
allfoak
Alchemist
Yes i would agree there were some draw backs to the ideology.
When i studied Campbell i was young and naive to the issues such as those you mention.
His worked helped me, when i got what i could from it i moved on.
I see the story as being able to tell us something from the body, mind and spirit perspectives.
Campbell focused on the mind for the most part, but often talked about following your bliss, so there was a little spirit mixed in with his writings.
Thief
Rogue Theologian
and he pointed out that Eve is a clone?
Adam's twin sister?
not born of woman......no navel
allfoak
Alchemist
No fault incurred?
allfoak
Alchemist
I would imagine if this would have been mentioned by Campbell it would have been in the context of a discussion on duality.
I am unable to judge the accuracy or inaccuracy of what you say.
Thief
Rogue Theologian
none at all
Man was a species as per Day Six
but the ability to dominate all things was not playing out very well
we were doing so.....unto each other
and the multiplication would have our numbers beyond the resources of this planet...
long before a spiritual quality would gel
something had to be done
SO.....a chosen specimen
ideal living condition.....petri dish
extended life.....instruction
then a deep sleep....anesthesia
removal of a sample .....surgery
increase the sample to full stature.....cloning
chemistry to form a female.....genetic manipulation
Then to make sure the mated pair would have spirit....the test
If Man is to survive his death....he must be curious enough to risk death.....to know
and we are that creature
Aiviu
Active Member
Is being ignorant the same as telling a lie? I think its not. I wonder in which line your interpreted a lie from one of those.
What kind of taste exactly you speak about?
Of course it played as it did. Else we wouldnt be here.
Aiviu
Active Member
he even has no other choice.
Thief
Rogue Theologian
It played as it SHOULD have....nothing went wrong
a lie is a lie....
even if you believe what you said.....even if you think you understand.....
therefore, take heed that you are not deceived
trust no one
question everything
Thief
Rogue Theologian
about that taste.....of the tree of knowledge.....
seems to me....it was being treated as a secret
something right there in plain sight
something within reach
and yet....not quite sure
knowledge has several branches
and God wanted to be sure if Man would go for it
even at the risk of dying
seems to me....it was being treated as a secret
something right there in plain sight
something within reach
and yet....not quite sure
knowledge has several branches
and God wanted to be sure if Man would go for it
even at the risk of dying
Aiviu
Active Member
Its your right to say its a lie.
