Why (Self) Identity Is Bad

[Chriliman]

Alright. Short summary of the origin of evil from the bible: Humans exist in Eden, as does a forbidden Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil god has forbade them from eating the fruit of. Serpent tempts Eve to eat it. Eve gets Adam to eat it. God gets angry. Serpent is punished, both humans and all their descendents are punished. Evil is inherited through Adam and Eve as a result of their consumption of the fruit.

Man was created by God and placed in Eden. So first we have God the creator of all things seen and unseen. Evil did not originate with God because if it had then we couldn't say God is good. In God's goodness, he created perfect beings(angels and man) and gave them free will to listen to himself(good) or not (evil/sin).

Eve chose to listen to the serpent and sinned. But why was the serpent trying to deceive her? The serpent represents the evil spirit of satan. Before satan was cast out of heaven he was named lucifer. Lucifer had a highest position among the Angels which lead him to want to be like God and be worshiped. Only God should be worshiped so lucifer was cast out after evil was found within him. Which is why the tree of knowledge of good and evil existed in Eden and the serpent wanted to take eve away from God and make her a slave to sin/evil. I'm sure you can understand how God would not be pleased with the serpent or Eve for their actions. However, it does please God to punish beings for wrong doing, but he has mercy on man and the prophecy of Jesus is given right there in Genesis 3:15.

So God creating perfect beings with free will to listen/worship himself or not and this is really how evil originated. Some created beings would rather not listen to or worship God, but would rather exalt themselves.

 

[PsychoSarah]

Man was created by God and placed in Eden. So first we have God the creator of all things seen and unseen. Evil did not originate with God because if it had then we couldn't say God is good. In God's goodness, he created perfect beings(angels and man) and gave them free will to listen to himself(good) or not (evil/sin).

Eve chose to listen to the serpent and sinned. But why was the serpent trying to deceive her? The serpent represents the evil spirit of satan. Before satan was cast out of heaven he was named lucifer. Lucifer had a highest position among the Angels which lead him to want to be like God and be worshiped. Only God should be worshiped so lucifer was cast out after evil was found within him. Which is why the tree of knowledge of good and evil existed in Eden and the serpent wanted to take eve away from God and make her a slave to sin/evil. I'm sure you can understand how God would not be pleased with the serpent or Eve for their actions. However, it does please God to punish beings for wrong doing, but he has mercy on man and the prophecy of Jesus is given right there in Genesis 3:15.

So God creating perfect beings with free will to listen/worship himself or not and this is really how evil originated. Some created beings would rather not listen to or worship God, but would rather exalt themselves.

Uh, the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil was put there by god, as was the serpent. So, yes, ultimately, the source of evil in the bible is god, whether you like it or not. Also, the serpent isn't Satan; it's punishment of crawling upon the ground and eating dirt contradicts the punishment of Satan, as the serpent is not sent to hell (it's basically turned into a dirt eating snake, which implies it had limbs before, which is fair given that serpent can apply as a description of many creations).

 

[Chriliman]

Uh, the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil was put there by god, as was the serpent. So, yes, ultimately, the source of evil in the bible is god, whether you like it or not. Also, the serpent isn't Satan; it's punishment of crawling upon the ground and eating dirt contradicts the punishment of Satan, as the serpent is not sent to hell (it's basically turned into a dirt eating snake, which implies it had limbs before, which is fair given that serpent can apply as a description of many creations).

Right, had God not created anything the tree of knowledge of good and evil would not exist. God is the creator of everything, but if he hadn't created anything, evil would not exist because God himself is only goodness. Goodness is eternal, evil has a beginning, but no end.

 

[Colter]

Uh, the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil was put there by god, as was the serpent. So, yes, ultimately, the source of evil in the bible is god, whether you like it or not. Also, the serpent isn't Satan; it's punishment of crawling upon the ground and eating dirt contradicts the punishment of Satan, as the serpent is not sent to hell (it's basically turned into a dirt eating snake, which implies it had limbs before, which is fair given that serpent can apply as a description of many creations).

The source of choice, of potential, was God. Gods wisdom would be that wrong choices are inevitable with the imperfect yet ultimately serve to distinguish between the right and wrong ways in our ascending experience.

But you are keen to observe that the world was already fallen, the crafty beast was already evil. There is much more to the story, the fragmented remains are inconsistent.

 

[GrowingSmaller]

Ther OP reminds me of the idea of root mind and conceptual mind in Buddhism.

The root mind is non conceptual, and underpins the conceptual, and is found "in the heart" and can be focused on through mindfunless of breathing style exercises... but with attention focused on the "cloudless sky" (unclouded by deliberate conceptual thinking) of the heart.

Then we have conceptual awareness, "in the head" style awareness, which is based in concepts and keeping track of conceptual thoughts etc.

The root mind is a bit like the tabula rasa, thought it can be neutral or virtuous according to the Dalai Lama. When conceptual thinking is done away with or dissolves at death, our "root mind" is said to remain, and its precise state determines our passeage thorough the bardo (deam between lives), and rebirth in a new name and form.