06-16-2015, 08:06 PM
(06-16-2015, 02:55 AM)rfaulk34 Wrote: The knowledge of good and evil isn't the same as obedience. They were told what they could eat and they were told what not to eat and they were told what would happen if they did eat from one particular tree. As soon as they were told, while every tree was available to them, they had a choice. Obey or ignore. They chose to ignore even though they were warned exactly what would happen. God wouldn't tell them they would die without them having some concept of death. There's nothing logical about telling someone about death if they didn't know what it was. That's not the same as have knowledge of good and evil. Up to that point, it was only evil that they didn't know about. Didn't know about, as in, they had not experienced it. If they had never been exposed to evil, they would never have the ability to do "evil". As a side note, what's the opposite of live? Obviously, the answer is die. What's the literal, visual opposite of live?evil. *Rod Serling music* do do dodo do do dodo. Anyway... It's true your conscience was the result of the original sin. That's not to say they needed to experience something to know not to do it. They were told, explicitly, not to do it and why.
You say they had no way of comprehending the serpent's deceit. Who created them and everything around them? Not the serpent. He was created as well. Knowing the difference between the creator and the created...why would Eve still choose to eat the fruit after she was told not to, knowing the consequences, assuming she understood the concept of death? Because...free will.
They weren't allowed to eat of the Tree of Life because they ate from the ToK. Until that point, they were free to do so.
Religions excluded. Assuming the bible is a work of fiction, is what i meant.
P.S. I REALLY hate the way this is formatted, when trying to separate a quote. Constantly having to go back and remove or add quote tags... :angry:
I'm must have done a poor job of explaining myself because it seems you misunderstood much of what I wrote.
I think we can agree you and I have a conscience because of Original Sin. I believe I can logically conclude Adam and Eve did not have a conscience before the fall. Merriam-Webster defines conscience as "the sense or consciousness of the moral goodness or blame worthiness of one's own conduct, intentions, or character together with a feeling of obligation to do right or be good." God created Adam and Eve without those abilities.
Without a conscience Eve lacked the ability to sense the moral goodness of her conduct and the moral badness of the serpent's conduct. Eve lacked the sense of blame worthiness of her own actions. Eve lacked the feeling of obligation to do right or be good. It is illogical to punish someone for not doing what they are told when that person lacks the abilities listed above. It is illogical to hold someone morally responsible for their actions if they lack the abilities listed above. It is illogical to punish someone when immorally coerced to do something they otherwise hadn't done when they lack the abilities listed above. I would go so far as to state that not only is it illogical, but it was immoral of God to punish Adam and Eve for a moral dilemma when their lack of morals and a conscience was God's moral responsibility. When my sense of morality is more highly developed than that of an omnipotent Creator upon which an entire religion is based upon then I can't accept that religion's premise.
