Reply #10: K&R

[DeSwiss]

A very well thought-out essay. And you're absolutely correct in saying that the serpent gets a bad rap in all this. The serpent spoke the truth when he told Eve that they would not die if they ate of the fruit, because they didn't. It was Yahweh who lied to them. And then there's the observation about this allegorical tale which I find utterly callous for a god of love. And that is: not only did Yahweh create human toys incapable of making any judgments of their own, but he did so with the intent that they remain this way -- forever. Because Yahweh, at first, had no problem in allowing Adam and Eve to eat of the tree of life (immortality):

Genesis 2 (9) And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

Genesis 2 (16) And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: (17) But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

So Yahweh tells them that they can have it all except for the knowledge fruit. The immortality fruit they could have along with all the rest apparently, but they couldn't have any fruit that would give them any higher knowledge -- like Yahweh. So it would appear that ignorant immortal human cattle was to have been the pinnacle of Yahweh's creation objective. Which is not such a great creation if you ask me. Particularly since they were made in Yahweh's image.

But now after man has elevated himself to a godly level with the knowledge of good and evil, Yahweh suddenly becomes fearful that they'll also be immortal -- a point which makes absolutely no sense at this point, because they'd apparently been eating these "tree of life fruits" all along. Duh.

But then the most curious of all the verses (I think) happens, Yahweh refers to the existence of other gods:

Genesis 3 (22) And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever: (23) Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken. (24) So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.

One can only wonder why an Omniscient Yahweh would become worried that man would achieve immortality since he'd been allowing him to eat the fruit from the tree of life all along (Chapter 2 Verse 16).

But we now know that these tales were never intended to bear too much scrutiny and were written for a much less discerning audience. It wasn't until the last couple of centuries that most people could read. And prior to this there were few who had the courage to openly questioned the bible, or its veracity, or any of the illogic that can easily be found within its pages.

- But most of us have since eaten the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of myths and facts.......