Preface. When I was a little girl my granny used to read me the Bible for Children. Being a small child and not understanding what religion, faith, God and the Bible mean, I interpreted it in a way which may shock real Christians. My granny tried to explain to me everything from the traditional point of view, but... may be my imagination was too wild? I do remember the story of Adam and Eve which I regarded as the greatest injustice. When I was listening to it, I always pitied for the serpent. "Why was he punished?”, I wondered. "The only one thing he did was telling the truth!”. Even now, when I read Genesis, Chapter 3, I can't ignore this feeling. But still...
The third chapter of Genesis tells us the story of the first man and woman on the earth, dealing with the idea of the first sin. God said that Adam and Eve who live in Heaven can eat all the fruits that grow there except for one apple because it is poisonous. But the serpent told Eve that the truth is that this apple will make the person who eats it as wise as God. So, Eve ate the forbidden fruit and gave it to Adam. The God found out that Eve and Adam had violated his prohibition and he banished them from Heaven. The main question that arises here is – what does the apple represent? As many other symbols in the Bible, it can be differently interpreted. The apple can represent not only the idea of violating God's law and the first sin, but the wisdom which all the people desire to achieve but which can lead to a disaster. It is viewed as the knowledge that only God can possess and which is unachievable for humans. The serpent, which is traditionally viewed as a devil-tempter, can be also interpreted as a trait of human character – the inborn desire to find the truth and gain the knowledge. The apple tree that grows in the Heaven – what is its function? The idea is quite obvious – it reminds people of all the temptations they come across every day in their life. The idea of the first sin is one of the central ideas in Christianity. Traditionally it is interpreted as violating God's law which leads to the banishing from Heaven. But why is it so important? The idea that all people possess this original sin determines their mission on the Earth and creates people's predestination which is cleaning of the sin. This is what Christians should devote their life to and that is what makes their life meaningful.
So many good and right things have been said here but, to my mind, it's hard to reach any sound agreement. For instance, I can't share the idea that "we can consider it a way to human progress but it is obvious this way is wrong and mistakeful". If we really transfer the story of the first sin onto some actual life situation, we shouldn't be so definite in our conclusions. The person who violates the rules set for him and leaves the path of progress many people choose, it doesn't mean at all that he's doing wrong. He just doesn't do what he's supposed to do. Maybe, it is a mistake, but it can also be considered as an individual choice. And even if he prefers (or is exposed to) obtaining knowledge independently, then we may at least display a bit of respect for such a decision.
Interesting but unconvincing. I wish you could transfer this story to a life situation, but you can't. If you really translate and act it out, then, afterwards, you will need a psychic help and spend a lot of time healing your soul and mind. And again, this is not the matter of choice. Choice is good and necessary. This is the matter of human crisis caused by simple disbelief. When you get back onto the 'right' path (through tears or asking for forgiveness), you feel OK and ready to continue God's plan. This is the CHOICE. If you have offended people who never deserved it, was it your conscious choice or a malicious mischoice? Why do we go and repent? Why do people need forgiveness at all? Answer! It will lead you to an understanding of God's plan. But are these moral values accepted by all? Not.
Of course, in the Bible there are many allegorical stories. But such stories like story about the Creation of the world, about Adam and Eve, about the first sin and others are regarded by Christians as real events, first of all. The original sin was a catastrophic event, because people themselves blocked a way to knowledge. God didn't hide knowledge from people. He was ready to give it to people and He did it by steps corresponding to human abilities. Mankind was predestined to get this knowledge. Having turned away from the Source of knowledge (God), people had to look for knowledge by themselves. But so far this knowledge has not been attained. Let's thank the serpent. P.S. For example, your teacher is a source of knowledge for you. But he stated certain rules. You can ignore them, and the teacher will banish you from the group. Then you have to ask two questions, "Who is to blame?" and "Who is to be pitied?". No matter what answer you get, you will have to look for knowledge yourself to achieve the desired level. Of course, we can consider it a way to human progress but it is obvious this way is wrong and mistakeful.
>The first sin should be interpreted as the first wrongdoing, the first destructive experience, the first bad thing done personally, the first mistakenly chosen programme that teaches you to destroy, to offend, to kill, to humiliate, to ignore, to abuse, to get irate, to be careless or illiterate, to judge from your personal experience, to become severely egocentric...
VA, why such a long and threatening discription? In some extend, I tend to agree with you, for example "the first wrongdoing" seems to sound reasonble... But what about "the first destructive experience"? Sounds very loud... Maybe the fruit was a choice, leading to another choice? The Fruit gave Adam and Eve the understanding of good and evil, and then it was up to them to decide what to choose - to be bad or to be good... But we now don't know it - they were banished from Heaven and there is, if i'm not mistaken, no discription of their becoming evil... On other hand, maybe we should look fo the answer in our modern society? Are we finally good or evil?
It's a necessary for me as a teacher to teach to look into things more deeply. 1) These biblical images stand for the things that will take a few lifetimes to understand. For us it means either to believe or spend centuries reading data collected by humanity. We often tend not to believe and not to read because it's impossible and our mind is often lopsided - understanding only what it sees and recognizes. Religion is a 'scientific' theory of the universe. You can use science to change human genetic code. 2) The first sin should be interpreted as the first wrongdoing, the first destructive experience, the first bad thing done personally, the first mistakenly chosen programme that teaches you to destroy, to offend, to kill, to humiliate, to ignore, to abuse, to get irate, to be careless or illiterate, to judge from your personal experience, to become severely egocentric... To learn not to act in this way is really a difficult process that can take a lifetime or longer to happen...It's easier to avoid doing so. Just believe in Salvation, it means believe in being able to live right.
