It's All Good

[Space]

Or is it?

God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day.
Genesis 1:31 (New International Version)

The LORD God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him."
Genesis 2:18 (New International Version)

Since Adam was alone and had no suitable helper when God created him, would that mean that God created something that wasn't good (a man alone)? I think the two verses I posted above are a good example of what happens when you mix a truth with a lie. A contradiction is born. The truth about what God created is: It's all good!

"You will not surely die," the serpent said to the woman. "For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."

When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.

Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden. But the LORD God called to the man, "Where are you?"

He answered, "I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid."

And he said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?"
Genesis 3:4-11 (New International Version)

So here it says that Adam and Eve followed the serpent and ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, separating them from the truth, and realized that they were naked sinners. Even though, before they ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, they were naked and sinless as God had made them. By reading the story, it would seem like the serpent really wanted to let Adam and Eve know that they were evil. Even though everything God created was good. Can't people enjoy who they are and what kind of life God has given them without others letting them know how bad everyone is?

 

[Spherical Time]

As an atheist, I do think that what you've posted is an example of a flaw in the Bible. You'll probably find that most people here are going to vote party lines:

Atheists will agree with your reading, and Christians won't.

As far as your question, I can't answer it. I don't think that many Christians can, but there are always exceptions.

 

[Gentle]

Well the whole book and that concept of God is ridiculous at best so the details don't really matter.
It's like picking out whats wrong with Britney Spears as a musician or something lol
God made me perfect, this I've already known and any flaw is a superficial misconception on my part. People all need to see their inner divinity which isn't in a book of dark inertia or this poor sinner attitude.
but this will prob take a few more 1000 years at least
God bless, peace
Andrew

 

[Robinsegg]

I'd say that Adam was good as created. It was realized that he was alone and that situation was not good. Also, the style is not chronological here. Chapter 2 begins with the creation of man, which happened on the sixth day. Thus, all those events may have taken place on the sixth day, which would make it "all good" by the end of said day.

As to the second question: That's what Satan does. As a matter of fact, one of his names means "the accuser". He goes and tries to mess up everything for everyone else, because he royally messed things up for himself. You know, the old addage "misery loves company".

Rachel

 

[Space]

It was realized that he was alone and that situation was not good.

I wonder how he would realize that. One of the verses I posted above says that the LORD said that it wasn't good for the man to be alone. If that was the case, which I don't believe it was, then wouldn't Adam have heard what God said, which would have caused him to realize that he was alone. Would this have really been the right thing for God to say? Notice that another verse I posted above says that God asked Adam (after he ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil) who told him that he was naked. He wasn't even supposed to know he was naked because I guess that would mess everything up. Telling the man that he was alone seems like something the serpent would've done, in that case.

Here's another thing I want to cover...

The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. And the LORD God commanded the man, "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die."

The LORD God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him."
Genesis 2:15-18 (New International Version)

The woman said to the serpent, "We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, 'You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.' "
Genesis 3:2-3 (New International Version)

In the verses above, you might notice that Eve misquoted God. She said that God said that you must not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and you must not touch it or you will surely die. God never said that you must not touch it... only that you must not eat of it. Here's a similar situation: It's not good for you to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and it's not good for the man to be alone. The only command God gave the man was not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, which it says later on that he did and that's when the eyes of Adam and Eve were open and what caused the fall of man. I don't believe that God ever said that it's not good for the man to be alone.

 

[Robinsegg]

Actually, there's theory that God told Adam about the trees before Eve was created. Adam would, in that situation, be responsible to tell Eve about the restriction. He may have added that they weren't to touch it, to make it easier to obey or something. We don't know who misquoted first.

I do think your insights are interesting.

Rachel

 

[Space]

Actually, there's theory that God told Adam about the trees before Eve was created. Adam would, in that situation, be responsible to tell Eve about the restriction. He may have added that they weren't to touch it, to make it easier to obey or something. We don't know who misquoted first.

I do think your insights are interesting.

Rachel

I think I see what happened. In Genesis chapter one, we see that at the end of the sixth day, God had FAITH that all his creation was good and I trust his word on that. Notice how the God in Genesis chapter two tells Adam that he's free to eat from any tree in the Garden, but it's an indication that the tree of the knowledge of good and evil is not good, so God tells Adam that he must not eat of that tree or he will surely die. So in that case, God didn't have faith that something that he created was good, just like when he said that it's not good for the man to be alone, even though this is what he created: A man alone. Notice that the God, who was talking to Adam, seemed confused, just like Eve was when the serpent was talking to her. The serpent asked Eve if she was sure that she must NOT eat from any tree in the garden. This seems to have created some doubt, in Eve, on whether or NOT all that God created was good (in this case, talking about the trees). She then adds on to what the God in Genesis chapter two told Adam was bad, which was that you must not EAT of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. It says that Eve added that you also must not TOUCH the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

 

[Robinsegg]

Here's my take on it:
The beginning of Ch.2 fits inside the end of Ch.1. It's a retelling in more description of how mankind was made male and female.

The tree of the knowledge of good and evil was a good tree. It was there to give A&E a choice of whether to obey God or not. W/o choice, obedience is meaningless.

Rachel

 

[levi501]

As to the second question: That's what Satan does. As a matter of fact, one of his names means "the accuser". He goes and tries to mess up everything for everyone else, because he royally messed things up for himself. You know, the old addage "misery loves company".

lol... yah, well my mama says that satans so ornery because he got all them teeth and no toothbrush.

 

[rambot]

The whole "gender" thing doesn't make sense to me.

What about the animals? Does this story imply that there were NO female animals until God made eve (and presumabely a host of other animal ladies)?
Or is it saying that there were animal ladies but God figured Adam didn't need anyone to breed with?

Of all the strange things I don't understand in the Creation story that I don't understand (as a Xtian) that is by far my biggest problem with it...


and if it's important, I'm a theistic evolutionists...so don't kill me.

 

[kopilo]

If you are a Christian then please spell it that way, x did not die upon the cross.

I agree with Robinsegg's take on the creation story.

The beginning of Ch.2 fits inside the end of Ch.1. It's a retelling in more description of how mankind was made male and female.

 

[Robinsegg]

The whole "gender" thing doesn't make sense to me.

What about the animals? Does this story imply that there were NO female animals until God made eve (and presumabely a host of other animal ladies)?
Or is it saying that there were animal ladies but God figured Adam didn't need anyone to breed with?

Of all the strange things I don't understand in the Creation story that I don't understand (as a Xtian) that is by far my biggest problem with it...


and if it's important, I'm a theistic evolutionists...so don't kill me.

God created the animals with a thought and a word. They were created male and female, as we might expect. However, God created Adam differently, then separated out the female, Eve.

Rachel

 

[Battie]

Maybe it's because I'm TE, but I don't see a problem with it.

Ancient myths generally have a lot of internal inconsistencies, but that was because, if I'm not mistaken, it was the message that was important after all.

The message of the Genesis creation story:
-God, not gods, created the earth.
-He called it good, even the humans (contrast this with the Enuma Elish).
-Man sinned and fell away from God
-God in His mercy has a plan to save creation

I don't usually see other myths picked apart like the Genesis story is. Like other myths, we can't look at it through modern eyes.