Why was knowledge of good and evil wrong?

[Demian]

Just a simple question. I never understood the oncept as to why this knowledge was bad in God's eye.

 

[prgallo]

I'm not so sure that the sin, the offense to God, was the knowledge they gained. I am very sure the number one problem was the disobedience of Adam and Eve.

God gave them one rule to follow, and they didn't do it. They became prideful and choose to act outside of God's will.

There was also the tree of life, which they could have chosen. This represents Christ, however they rejected Him by being disobedient. The same choice we have today.

 

[WarEagle]

Just a simple question. I never understood the oncept as to why this knowledge was bad in God's eye.

God put the tree of knowledge of good and evil in the Garden of Eden to give Adam and Eve a choice – to obey Him or disobey Him. Adam and Eve were free to do anything they wanted, except eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. “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’"(Genesis 2:16-17).

If God had not given Adam and Eve the choice, they would have essentially been robots, simply doing what they were programmed to do. God created Adam and Eve to be “free” beings, able to make decisions, able to choose between good and evil. In order for Adam and Eve to truly be “free” – they had to have a choice.

There was nothing essentially evil about the tree or the fruit of the tree. It is unlikely that eating the fruit truly gave Adam and Eve any further knowledge. It was the act of disobedience that opened Adam and Eve’s eyes to evil. Their sin of disobeying God brought sin and evil into the world and into their lives. Eating the fruit, as an act of disobedience against God, was what gave Adam and Eve knowledge of 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.” (Genesis 3:6-7)

God did not want Adam and Eve to sin. God knew ahead of time what the results of sin would be. God knew that Adam and Eve would sin, and would thereby bring evil, suffering, and death into the world. Why, then, did God put the tree in the Garden of Eden and allow Satan to tempt Adam and Eve? God put the tree of knowledge of good and evil in the Garden of Eden to give Adam and Eve a choice. God allowed Satan to tempt Adam and Eve to force them to make the choice.

Adam and Eve chose, of their own free wills, to disobey God and eat the forbidden fruit. The result – evil, sin, suffering, sickness, and death have plagued the world ever since. Adam and Eve's decision results in each and every person being born with a sin nature, a tendency to sin (Romans 5:12). Adam and Eve's decision is what ultimately required Jesus Christ to die on the cross and shed His blood on our behalf. (Romans 5)

 

[Nadiine]

I'm not sure why you're assuming that God thinks this "knowledge" is bad?

It can be seen in responsibility of our actions.

Biblically, it's a knowledge of right and wrong is what makes us responsible for and guilty of our actions. Ignorance was often overlooked by God and given added mercy because what was being done wasn't brought to our attn. yet.
But once we make willful actions with knowledge, it makes us responsible & guilty of wrongdoing becuz we knew it was wrong. (according to our consciences)

James 4:17
Therefore, to one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, to him it is sin.

Acts 17:30
"Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent,

John 9:41
Jesus said to them, " If you were blind, you would have no sin;
but since you say, ' We see,' your sin remains.

 

[Demian]

Ah okay. Thanks for the answers.

I am curious though to War Eagle as you said did not give Adam and Eve any further knowledge but made them responsible for their actions. Is it possible that if they did not eat from this tree and did something such as, say murder, it would be okay because they where innocent?

 

[WarEagle]

Ah okay. Thanks for the answers.

I am curious though to War Eagle as you said did not give Adam and Eve any further knowledge but made them responsible for their actions. Is it possible that if they did not eat from this tree and did something such as, say murder, it would be okay because they where innocent?

No. Murder is condemned by God as being a violation of His law.

The point of the story isn't the tree or the fruit. It's that Adam and Eve rebelled against God by going against His command and, as a result of their rebellion, came under the curse of sin.

Rebellion by murdering (assuming it was possible for someone to die physically before the fall) would bring about the same result as rebellion by eating of the tree.

Both are acts of rebellion and sin.

 

[Emmy]

Dear Demian. War Eagle answered your questions very good, and when you asked, " why did`nt God give more information to Adam and Eve?" Adam and Eve were innocent, they had not been tempted at all to be otherwise, but once the Serpent got them to disobey God, and to follow their own selfish wishes, God knew that they would not be strong enough, to withstand any wrong, or evil temptations. It was God`s Plan to have loving and perfect children around Him for ever. Adam and Eve fell, they were banished to Earth, all who came after them followed the same selfish deeds and wishes, and had to learn to say NO to all temptation. God is Love, God is perfect, to live with Him forever, we have to become perfect in loving and caring too. First to love God, then to be followed by love for each other. We were given many years to learn, we are surrounded by temptation, and we have to learn to become worthy as God, our Heavenly Father is Worthy. It is not easy, but thanks to Jesus dying and suffering for us, we can now return to our home in God`s Kingdom, with many mansions. Jesus will help and guide us, if we ask Him to. I say this humbly and with love, Demian, and send sincere greetings. Emmy, sister in Christ.

 

[HypnoToad]

"Knowing good & evil" isn't about book knowledge - it's not that Adam & Eve weren't capable of understanding they shouldn't do something.

You have to realize that Genesis was originally written in ancient Hebrew, not modern English. While words can usually be translated, they don't always carry the same connotations from one language to the next. In Hebrew, "know" has a deeper connotation than in English - in Hebrew it doesn't always just end at factual knowledge, but can have a more intimate connection. Note that "know" is sometimes used as a euphamism for sex in the Old Testament. "Knowing evil" in this context isn't just factual knowledge that evil exists - it's having an intimate, personal connection to it. Adam and Eve didn't just learn what evil was, they experienced it, they became it - that is what was wrong with "knowing" evil.

 

[zeke37]

Just a simple question. I never understood the oncept as to why this knowledge was bad in God's eye.

I think all we have to do is look around to see why....


notice the traits in Cain's lineage....

 

[TimRout]

Ah okay. Thanks for the answers.

I am curious though to War Eagle as you said did not give Adam and Eve any further knowledge but made them responsible for their actions. Is it possible that if they did not eat from this tree and did something such as, say murder, it would be okay because they where innocent?

Regarding your specific inquiry: No, murder was not possible prefall. Murder involves death and there was no death before sin.

Regarding your general inquiry: No, it was not possible for Adam and Eve to commit a sin other than eating of the forbidden fruit. Sin requires that one transgress God's law, and the only law on the books at that point was "do not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil".

 

[seashale76]

Just a simple question. I never understood the oncept as to why this knowledge was bad in God's eye.

It wasn't that the knowledge itself was bad, but rather man's disobedience to God's command, which is a sin. Adam's sin brought death into the world. We all suffer the consequence of Adam's sin; death. Yet, Adam's sin is not ours. However, we all sin, as sin is anything which keeps us from communion with God, which is our entire purpose for being. Without Christ, it isn't possible to commune with God. Christ defeated sin and death. Through Christ's Holy Church, which is the ark of our salvation, we are now able to commune with God in the way He always intended. Because of Adam's sin, we were all inflicted with death. The Good News being, that through Christ, the New Adam, we can all be given eternal life.

Sin means 'to miss the mark.' So, to sin is to keep oneself separated from God. Sin can be voluntary or involuntary and can be achieved with our knowledge or our ignorance. Some things are obvious sins. Others, not so much. Sin is personal in nature and you will find no definitive list of what is or isn't a sin. You can be sure that anything which causes a person to 'miss the mark' is a sin.