The first people created by God were Adam and Eve. They lived in the sacred garden and everything was perfect in their life. They were just not allowed to eat the forbidden fruit. But Eve disobeyed God despite his warnings. She encroached upon the most sacred thing, she wanted to be like God. And to my mind, it sounds like a warning to the whole mankind: we all have power, we are all creators to some extent, but we should not compare ourselves with God, we should not even have a thought in our mind that we can be like Gods ourselves. But what does the fruit mean? I suppose it is just a symbol. It is a thing that symbolizes the sin itself. And the temptation to try something that is banned has always been in the human nature, so that consequences are never important. Moreover, we always have a hope that we will finally be forgiven for everything. I think that Adam and Eve bore the same thought in their mind. But was their devotion to God really truthful? God says that if we feel remorseful of our sins, if we are sincere and ready to serve God, then we can be forgiven. But Eve and Adam were banished. So that makes me doubt their truthful love to God.
You said that punishment means that you've done something wrong. In this case, God punished Adam and Eve for their misbehavior. Why didn't God forgive Adam and Eve and send them back in the sacred garden?!
You are wrong. It's simple to understand the biblical theory - the point of no return. This is the law of nature. There is only one narrow path towards forgiveness and a return to the Garden of Eden - repentance and salvation through Christ. In the symbolic sense, Christ is a word. It's a word of revelation. Through baptizing, holy crucifix and Christ's commandments can man return to the Garden of Eden. Many have returned and are around us.
You write that the apple is “the symbol of the sin”. Just “the sin”? What do you mean? What sin is it? Is it “violating God's law”? Is it “people's disobedience”? Then, why isn't everything much simpler? Why was the apple tree called “the tree of wisdom”? Why did the very apple make Adam and Eva as wise as God? How is the concept of WISDOM connected with this apple tree?
Very simple! Adam and Eve as first people were taught to live the path of God and achieve wisdom when they acquire enough experience to handle and harness temptations and self-obsession. You can never be more experienced than your natural age.
That was my point of view when we tried to explain the plot of this chapter of Genesis. Adam and Eve were childish and an apple was a temptation. By the way, a great interest in this fruit was born when God mentioned it.
Wrong understanding. This is not a point of view. This is just a badly-informed statement that is never proved by the biblical facts. They were tempted by the serpent but not by God who mentioned the fruit.
Wrong again! This is not the matter of human curiosity. It is a sign of human weakness and frightening disbelief in the power of the good. This is the matter of human nature that was made in the image of God but was not supposed to be higher than God. It is the guiding life principle - wrongdoing never leads to progress but to chaos. You are saying this out of the real human instinct to be kind and caring.
To my mind, the Fall was nothing but the choice. Moreover it was supposed that the fruit will be eaten. I agree with Irene - God didn't get angry or disappointed, maybe he was even waiting for that moment - the starting point of the humanity...
No, this is absolutely wrong. Your opinion is based on a wrong interpretation and hope that wrongdoing can actually be interpreted as just a choice. Wrong! The fruit was not supposed to be eaten at all. But Adam and Eve were supposed not to eat it. These are different things.
Actually I have a different understanding of this chapter from Genesis. I don't think that Eve ate the forbidden fruit because she wanted to be like God. She was just curious. The Bible doesn't name her eating that apple a sin then. I think that God didn't even get angry or disappointed with her. And the fact they were banished doesn't state they weren't forgiven. I'm convinced they were. But God gave them the chance to create their own family, their own Garden on earth.
Completely agree with your last statement. Being punished does not mean not being forgiven. Real punishment is usually aimed at showing that you've done something that was not expected from you. Dictionaries define the word 'forgive' as 'to decide that you will not be angry with someone who has offended, upset, or harmed you'. So punishment is an act of teaching a lesson, but I'm sure you'll agree, a teacher is not always angry with his pupils.
I seem to disagree, really. You are saying they were forgiven. The biblical story says no and there should be no other interpretations. Forgiveness comes through repentance, Eucharist and salvation. The figure of Jesus Christ in the New Testament proves that humanity was not forgiven, and Jesus Christ was born to save people. But salvation will come only through following Christ's commandments.
