Biblically, God never cursed Adam and Eve. That word appears in the section titles,
which Christians added later. Without
the unbiblical constraints of perfectionism, God’s “anger” softens into words of
love, mercy, and forgiveness.
The Creator came to the frightened humans gently, just as He
had always done. He knew exactly what
they had done. He always knows. God cursed the serpent with words filled with
anger, but not the people. He cursed the
ground, yet placed no curse upon Man or Woman.
He gave them the chance to repent but knew they would play
pass-the-blame. Instead of curses, God
simply tells them how knowledge and sin would change their lives and their
children’s lives. Babies would have
larger heads to store larger brains, so producing children would become
difficult. Desire would distort
relationships with each other, with the world, and with God. People would exhaust themselves providing for
their growing communities. Their
intellect would deceive them by believing they were separate from all creation,
yet when they died, their body would again become the dust of its origin.
The naming of Eve always stumped me, until the unbiblical anger
was removed. Adam was no longer
afraid. God’s voice put him at
ease. Then the man suddenly realized
that he was going to be a dad, so he gave his wife a name in honor of that
future joy.
Instead of immediately expelling repulsively sin-stained
humans, God spent time teaching His children how to tan animal hide for clothing. Only when they were ready did He send them
out of the safe garden. Likewise, He did
not kill Cain for murder. God gave a
warning before it happened. Afterward,
God spoke gently until a lie came out. Then, God laid out the consequences, which
included a curse that simply changed Cain’s occupation. Again, instead of immediately expelling a
murderer, God eased the man’s fears with a mark before sending him out too. Their Creator gave grace freely.
The people lived with the consequences of their
actions. In everything, God controlled
the situations. Yet, religion forced God
to hate those He loved. It painted a
scene almost violent with condemnation.
It propagates self-loathing and rejection from God. Where does God’s love, mercy, and forgiveness
fit into such an interpretation? Is love,
mercy, and forgiveness only for the perfect?
No, Jesus told us to be better than perfect.
Biblically, humans gained God-like knowledge and learned lasting
shame. This transformation made us more
like Him. Even though we sin, God sees
our potential goodness. Through our
shame, we learn to act more like Him. Each
lesson teaches love, mercy, and forgiveness, a state that holds no shame.
To be continued:
[Lessons from Creation’s Parables: Genesis and Standard
Science, Sung as One, by Jo Helen Cox.]
Eden Revisited #1:
Powerful Love vs. Limited Perfection
Eden Revisited #2:
A Safe Place to Grow
Eden Revisited #3:
The Garden River
Eden Revisited #4:
Humanity’s Origins
Eden Revisited #7:
Original Sin Theology
Eden Revisited #8:
The Lesson of Blessing
Genesis Revisited
Also in this series:
Eden Revisited #1:
Powerful Love vs. Limited Perfection
Eden Revisited #2:
A Safe Place to Grow
Eden Revisited #3:
The Garden River
Eden Revisited #4:
Humanity’s Origins
Eden Revisited #5: Creation of Death
Eden Revisited #7:
Original Sin Theology
Eden Revisited #8:
The Lesson of Blessing
Also see series: