A wondering in The Garden...

C.T.

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Let me ask something here: Why would Adam and Eve be ashamed of being naked more than of having sinned!?
Many people consider being naked to be a sin because of this, but only by sinning did they notice. I am theorizing that this single word has been assigned the wrong definition over the millennia. Yes, the term 'naked' can mean wearing no clothing, but it also means being vulnerable. And while Adam and Eve were certainly vulnerable to sin(the serpent is proof of that), they were "naked and unashamed" until they ate from the forbidden tree, so now they knew that they were vulnerable, and were now ashamed that they had done so. Of course, there was no need for clothing in the Garden, but they did need protection from the rest of the world once they were cast out, not for being naked, but for their disobedience of God. Any thoughts on this?
 

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Many people consider being naked to be a sin because of this, but only by sinning did they notice.

They knew they were naked before sinning.

Gen 2:25 And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.
 
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DamianWarS

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Let me ask something here: Why would Adam and Eve be ashamed of being naked more than of having sinned!?
Many people consider being naked to be a sin because of this, but only by sinning did they notice. I am theorizing that this single word has been assigned the wrong definition over the millennia. Yes, the term 'naked' can mean wearing no clothing, but it also means being vulnerable. And while Adam and Eve were certainly vulnerable to sin(the serpent is proof of that), they were "naked and unashamed" until they ate from the forbidden tree, so now they knew that they were vulnerable, and were now ashamed that they had done so. Of course, there was no need for clothing in the Garden, but they did need protection from the rest of the world once they were cast out, not for being naked, but for their disobedience of God. Any thoughts on this?
nakedness, or their awareness of it, is a metaphor for their sin but it is not sin itself. After the fall Adam and Eve covered themselves with fig leaves but clearly it wasn't enough so still hide from God when they heard him coming (as their reason for hiding was that they were naked) then God makes animal hide clothes (which required the death of an animal) to cover their shame.

This is a metaphor for the sinful state we are in and foreshadows Christ as the one who clothes us in righteousness covering all our sin. I'm not saying it didn't happen and that it's all abstract, that's not the point, the point is their nakedness is about shame, exposure, fear, and an inability to "fix" it themselves until God comes and divinely covers them through something sacrificed ultimately pointing to the one who would come and permanently clothe us with righteousness... that's the point. These words are not just thrown in there as stuff that happens, they all have depth and value to them beyond their surface and point to the redemptive plan God designed... if it doesn't then what is the point and why is it in scripture?
 
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MyChainsAreGone

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Let me ask something here: Why would Adam and Eve be ashamed of being naked more than of having sinned!?
Many people consider being naked to be a sin because of this, but only by sinning did they notice. I am theorizing that this single word has been assigned the wrong definition over the millennia. Yes, the term 'naked' can mean wearing no clothing, but it also means being vulnerable. And while Adam and Eve were certainly vulnerable to sin(the serpent is proof of that), they were "naked and unashamed" until they ate from the forbidden tree, so now they knew that they were vulnerable, and were now ashamed that they had done so. Of course, there was no need for clothing in the Garden, but they did need protection from the rest of the world once they were cast out, not for being naked, but for their disobedience of God. Any thoughts on this?
I don't think there's any need to "theorize" anything here. The word means--in the original Hebrew--what it sounds like. And there's no basis upon which to insert meaning into words written millennia ago that we don't know that they meant when written. Does the word mean "vulnerable"? I don't think we have any sound basis upon which to make that claim.

God liked them naked. They were still perfect and sinless, and God made a peculiar point of mentioning the nakedness... without shame (as--it would sure seem--He intended).

The reality is, however, that before sin, there was not any reason for the word "naked" to exist at all... since "clothed" was not a reality anywhere in Creation... certainly every other animal was "naked" too (exactly as God created them) and so were the humans.

Writing from after the fall (with all of the ensuing problems people began having with nakedness thereafter), God describes them as "naked" and put His stamp of approval on that state in Genesis 2:25. But look at the very next verse--since there were no chapter divisions originally--it's as if God is saying, "Naked and unashamed is about to be lost... and here's how: enter 'the serpent.'" Nakedness literally didn't become a "problem" in the human mind until we started listening to the devil.

The "shame" (Adam just calls it "afraid") that A&E experienced after they sinned had nothing to do with their uncovered bodies. That they somehow associated their shame/fear to being naked is not evidence of an enlightened mind, but rather a newly depraved and damaged mind. And covering up their bodies was the wrong response in that situation... just as hiding from God was... and failing to acknowledge their own sin.

After they sinned, you will not find a single description of anything they did right. Many think that "covering nakedness" is a godly and righteous thing to do. It is not. For A&E, it was compounding their sin. Obviously, there's nothing wrong with clothing for honorable purposes (God made clothing for them to face the world outside the Garden), but shame and fear are not such purposes.
 
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