
The First Book of Moses is called Bereshith, " In The Begining."
Today we call it by its Greek name Genesis. It is a story taken from Hebrew folklore and in no way was it ever to be taken literally. The symbols must be understood in the culture of those who wrote it.I wont go over the whole story I just want to focus on the creation of man.
"Let us make man" the plural us is used when God speaks. This is called the royal we and does not mean plural.It implies after great deliberation. Mans name is Adam derived from the word adomah or from the earth. Adam is earth born. In our image in our likeness, Adam is potentially divine made i the likeness of God. Adam is endowed with reason and free will. God breathed the soul into his nostrils. Adam was not the first man he was the fist man with a soul. Adams birt is recorded as 6000 years ago.
Genesis recognizes that other primitive humans pre-existed Adam. The creation of women. Maybe God should have thought a little more before he created these complicated creatures. OK I put that in but from the perspective of men He could have spent more time on limiting their verbal profundity, emotional liability, and clinginess after sex. Also a little less uterocentrism as a context would have been nice.
OK enough digression. In creating woman Genesis is very clear. Woman is not the inferior of man. Woman is a "help" for him, not his shadow, but his other self. The term 'K'enegado" is used that defines her to be at his side, or corresponding to him, and completing him. Never beneath him. The next portion is called The Trial of Man.
There is no Hebrew concept for the fall of man and this idea is rejected by scholars of the Talmud. There is also no concept in Hebrew or Genesis as original sin. The trial of man is the story of mans moral teaching and the rise of virtue. The serpent is not the devil as there is no devil or Hell in Hebrew thinking. The serpent in folklore is the symbol for guile and the only creature that has the power of speech. God commanded Adam and Eve not to eat the fruit from the tree of life. This is a test. God expects them to disobey him. The ultimate test of free will is disobedience and they do not know right from wrong yet. Since Adam has no knowledge of morality before he disobeys God he is incapable of sin. This is reflected by Gods punishment of the serpent no punishment of the children Adam and Eve. After Adam eats the fruit God asks "Where art thou?".
The Midrash explains that God is giving Adam the chance to recover his composure and admit his deed. God even further asks "Hast thou eaten" Givng him another chance. Adam blames Eve and she blames the serpent. They haven't learned as yet. Man has become as one of us. Man has attained a sense of new majesty. Man has acquired moral knowledge. Through disobedience man has acquired knowledge but knowledge without morals will threaten the very existence of mankind.Therefore for their salvation not punishment God sent them out from the garden into the world to found a civilization.
The garden was forbidden to them and in this moment they discovered repentence. Now defined by their act of free will in finding the need to repent they have chosen to be nearer to God outside of Eden than when inside. Wisdom has its own price. Innocence is lost but the new life they have may not be paradise but it has real meaning now. It was all meant to be and not the result of sin and punishment. God leads us with love not fire and brimstone. Life has enough of that in store for us anyway. Well thats it in a nutshell. The Jewish version of our own story.
Comments
Nature's Candy-Girl: The Bitch on Heroine
Bob... you beat me to the punch! Well done! I was thinking, after our discussion(S) how Eve can and IS Heroic thanks to her Uterine-devices. You see, she picked the apple, showed it to Adam, the dumbass, and said, "EAT IT"
Yup... a man loves to eat. Especially if it's being served by a beautiful, Good, Smart, Cunning woman, eh? After all, isn't the quickest way to a man's heart through his stomach... (or his trousers. Crap. I keep forgetting!!) Is that a banana in Adam's pocket, a wad of cash, or the apple of Eve's eye he's ready to pounce on stirring all sorts of evil dangers? Can someone PLEASE help me with all of this confusing unbearable bullshit, it's all Greek word salad to me!
The Dawn of a new day in Adoption Studies seems to be in order, donchya think? Makes a girl THINK...
Villification of women
Robert Allan Hafetz
Not Remembered Never Forgotten
www.neaspa.com/id14.htm
Actually Eve did nothing except stand there Adam did it all yet she was blamed for the sin. The story holds the serpant responsible and God punished him. It was the early Catholic church that added the villification of Eve to this but the truth is it was never part of the story. The whole notion of the fall of women is an interesting one. The first human societies were matriarcal but they didnt last.
In the beginning: Adam and Eve (doggie-style)
The Bible is filled with all sorts of stories, most of which are based on the sexual innocence God had intended man to have; versus the depravity evil has made it become.. The term, Original Sin, what was it? Shame, Guilt, Fear, Lies, Greed, Lust? What happened that made God so ANGRY that soon after He made a promise, He broke it? Man's reflective answer could go along the lines of justifying God's betrayal against man. For instance, if it was god's creation, he also created lust. But he also created shame, as well, didn't he? If it was god's creation he created the confusion. Such simple human logic... is it at all a wonder how easy it is to get confused?
THIS is why Logic is my forte, and why I'm always right... and why I f--- things up enough to be misunderstood as always being Wrong.
THIS is where reading and writing, and words with their Original Meaning made perfect sense to me.
It’s all written out for us, in The Bible. When I was little, I would keep quiet in my room, reading and feasting on a secret snack of fish-food. I had to find ways to entertain myself so The Shrew could nap. She must not, under ANY circumstance, be disturbed, or she would emerge from her nap being a real bitch on wheels. ANYTHING to avoid "Mommy" being in a bad mood, right? So I learned to enjoy reading The Children's Bible, and savor a tasty snack no one knew about, fish-food. It made perfect sense. The Bible was the only book on the shelf that had pictures in it, even if the pictures were really scary and weird looking. And the fish food was kept next to the fishbowl that was on the same bookcase as the one book with pictures. I could reach both, without help. If I stayed in my room, read quietly, and didn't complain about being hungry, I'd make my mommy happy.
The Shrew was a school teacher, who chose to work in Catholic Schools for most of my life, until I reached High School. My brother and I had attended Public Schools throughout our school years. The Shrew got tired of the Catholic School bullshit when I was in High School. According to my keepers, we were Good Catholics. My Mother taught Catholic School, my brother was an altar boy; my Dad's mother had a Regular Pew in Church, and was good friends with the nice old Italians who attended church every Saturday evening. The kids had to attend mass on Sunday mornings because CCD classes followed the services. My Dad would take my brother and me to church, whilst the shrew stayed in bed, and then he was free to read the Sunday paper and eat his Danish. It was the one ritual I remember my dad having that I felt happy for him and his pleasure-seeking pursuit of peace and quiet. If ever a man deserved a little peace in his life, it was my dad. Hell, going to church was a small price to pay for his Sunday Morning Ritual. Besides, the reward for that torture was Macaroni Sunday at Grandma's. The entire family would attend, with the exception of my parents. My brother and I would have to walk to my Grandmother's from church (a real scummy part of an otherwise affluent town, Montclair, and the church was literally on the Other Side of the tracks), and there, at Grandma's, we would have the best meal of the week. Fresh, Home Cooked food. YESSSS! Later my Dad would arrive, and tell us the expected obvious missing piece of standard fare, "mommy isn't feeling well, she's home sleeping". Yea, well... food is still warm, care for a bowl of macaroni? Thank God for Grandma and her cooking. It would always be so amazing to me how easy it was to lie and be fake among a house of so many Good Catholics, when no one but me read a children's Bible. Of course, no one in their right mind would be caught dead being one of those horrible Bible Thumpers, they all scorned, so I had to be quiet when I indulged in my one guilty pleasure, I kept to myself, alone in my room, as my mother was in the next room, "sleeping".
The story of Adam and Eve always intrigued me. The pictures were exceptionally eerie. I would try really hard to see the naked bodies beneath the trees and bushes. I was told that's because as a child, I was a sinner, always looking for the things I should be ashamed of admitting to a grown-up. Shame for lying. Such twisted irony for this abandoned Pound Pup. Surely God would not have created children to be the sinful creatures born from sin, would He? Is that why we're all rotten bastards? Is that why mother's abandon their babies? Is that why I was a girl sneaking, looking at pictures of naked bodies that I couldn't see (but knew were there) and feeling horrible about the woman I was forced to call "mommy". Was I sure to go to hell because I could not love and honor my mother because I was given A Shrew, instead? Why did I have to lie and call her Mother, yet get punished if I ever got caught "lying"? Why would God do that,CONFUSE us so much, if he Loved us so much? WHY?
The story of The Beginning never changed in my mind, but my Understanding became more clear as the years went by, and I saw the twisted truth materialize right before my own eyes. Since God has been removed from the classroom, it has been up to Man to assume the role of Teacher. [And people wonder why schools are they way they are?] Did anyone ever have A Shrew for a Teacher? I had to LIVE with one, and call her Mom! Not once, though, did She,(Her Royal Shrewness) ever read stories from the Bible to me. Strange for a Catholic Teacher NOT to teach the Bible to her own daughter, right? I believe what I was told and shown by that woman was the truth, as She knew it. She had no daughter of her own. She had the contents of another woman's uterus pretending to be the little girl she had always wanted, but never got to keep.
Behold the ungrateful bitch's version of Original Sin, as only a sick bastard born from sin can explain it: Most believe the original offense made Adam and Eve was through the act of deception, or lying; concealing the truth. But the Sin as demonstrated by the Lady herself was deliberate, defiant, disobedience, based on selfish greed. Cunning little shrew, wasn't she? Who did Eve of Eden ruin more, God’s Love, or Adam's hope and faith in his future's well-being? I bet Adam must have choked down THAT bitter pill when God caught him with his pants off, eh? In fact, I'm reminded of the joke I’d make when teasing my male friends about "the beautiful woman they was in a bar who had everything a man could dream of a woman having". Feeding off of every man's deepest fear, I'd ask, "Did you look real close? Did she have Big Hands, a penis and an Adam's Apple?"
Yes, I am a sick pup.
Eve made Adam doubt God's Word. She did not trust God's Promise made to Man. Of course she wasn't even THERE to hear it, but she assumed to know such things, because she decided she was smarter than a dumb simple man. It turns out Eve was right about Adam (that stupid idiot), but only after-the-fact she was lucky enough to find him as her excuse. The Truth, was, and always will be, is simple. Eve ruined it, ALL, for one reason. She did not trust her Father's word. She used The Father's Word against the next-in-line, and made life a living hell for the rest of us poor bastards, right? But HOW? WHY? Why would God allow her to do such a wicked evil thing? What? She had Help? You mean she wasn't ALONE? Ahhhh, yessssssss! She had a conspirator. A shady fellow... a real snake in the grass, who hung from a tree (or was that hung like a tree???). A tempting fate, seen as a juicy red piece of fleshy fruit... ripe...ready for the taking, "just open your mouth and say AH, little Eve (you're such an easy whore)", he would tease. "Open wide, so you can take what I have for you, inside little girl!” the snake would say, as he wrapped himself around the limbs of his mounted prey. "Look what daddy had hiding here for you.... awww, poor Eve, are you all wet, from crying? Come here... I'll give it to you... here... take it all. I want you to have what only I can give you. Screw God and his promises... I'll take good care of you, baby.... just stay with me... I'll keep you feeling this way... safe and warm, and all cosy inside.... there...... doesn't THAT feel good, while that FDH Adam sleeps and tosses and turns in his weakened fear... YOU are the goddess of health and beauty with all the right curves, in all the right places, Damn girl! You are one hot babe. Smoking. You can light my fire ANY night. Yessssss.... I bet you'd like to have a nice fire going next to me, lighting the scene, creating the atmosphere of steamy romance and hot blooded passion as you reach for the fruit of my loins, you hungry little bitch. You greedy little whore, that's right... take it in your hand....careful....don't let it slip out of your hands, I see you shaking there... excited? yesssss.... now, slowly put it in your mouth so I can sit back and watch you lie there, naked facing right next to me, playing with the part of me I just gave you, that got you caught red handed by your own man, and your Father, too!" Eat me.
"Eve, you f---ing stupid Runt!"
Grrrreat. NOW look what at what you did. You RUINED it. Oh God... here He comes, and boy, does He look a storm of angry rage. Ah shit. Quick! Hide! Maybe He won't see us! Maybe we can hide. Yes... toss the apple, spit it out of your mouth, and hide the mess you made, maybe God won't notice. Maybe He won't care, because He loves us too much. Yes, He won't hurt us... he Promised. He Promised never to leave me, or worry because his Love could always be trusted. All I had to do was Listen to Him. DAMN Eve! Do you see what you did here? Do you even care about me, about you, about us, and the future? Are you really that full of your own self, you've forgotten where you came from? You were Nothing. A No Body! If not for me, you wouldn't even BE here. NOW we're in this big mess, shaking like a leaf on a tree, because of you and your need to have something that was never meant to be yours, in the first place. Is your belly full? Are you satisfied now? Did you get enough to satisfy your hunger? I sure hope it was one tasty treat, because I have the feeling there is going to be hell to pay for what you did. Shhh... Here comes God.... maybe he won't notice us."
What happens when a parent enters the room where his child was last seen? He looks around; to be certain all is in its rightful place, safe and clean for his beloved child. Does a parent ever miss a trick a child thinks he can get away with, fooling his Dad? Father Knows Better, especially when He sees the look of arrogance in a person's eye. A wolf in sheep's clothing can always been seen through the eyes.
Children ALWAYS know better, because they're curious little gnats, always asking question; searching for answers... but Adam and Eve were not created in child-form.
Who brought down the descent of man?
I know the story of the snake, the apple, the tree, Adam and Eve and paradise
So who caused Man's descent?
I always found it cruel to put up a tree not to eat from, so maybe that was God's plan...
Eve, the selfish wench wanted what she could not have.
She got selfish, and needed that ONE apple
Adam feared as he was told to fear
But she insisted. The nag.
The lure of the serpent,with this juicy piece of fruit (of the loins, perhaps?) She took what was not hers, and made it hers to have, through Adam. She used him to get what she wanted... a lousy piece of fleshy fruit, ("of thy womb...")
An Apple of Adam's destroyed all that was perfect and good.
Eve couldn't listen to implied Reason. She HAD to assume she knew better.
She had to have her curiosity's catty need met.
What was the punishment for her? Giving birth became a burden, didn't it?
A painful burden.
Excruciating.
Bloody, messy, and so painful it will feel as if her limbs were being ripped apart.
What was Adam's punishment?
Being tossed out of paradise? Nah, that too easy. The man must suffer for his sin.
Ready for this one?
Man was told to leave his little piece of Paradise and go live somewhere else, with Eve, for the rest of his life. Man was banished, KNOWING he HAD paradise waiting for him; custom made by his own Father, but lost it all because of his lesser-half. Adam had a future of trouble-free living, but lost it to a WOMAN who owned a part of him.
That woman had to ruin a man's world because she needed MORE (than a rib or trees, flowers and animals surrounding her).
So man-kind has forever been cursed by Greed.
Cursed, forever, and a day it seems sometimes, doesn't it?
Parenting Questions: Does a Father have the right to punish his son? Must a son’s choice always be put to the test? Is it a Father's right to put his son to such a test of loyalty? Is it a Father's right to reward his son? I'd say it is primitive in rhetorical questioning and meanings. However, God being God... He can do as He damn well pleases because He made the rules; He made ALL of it... it's His. Possession is nine-tenths of the law, right? IF a father tells his son the expectations he has of the boy, and that boy understands there will be consequences to be had if he choose to wilfully defy the father's command, what must the father do when presented with an act of defiance? As much as it would pain the father to see his son suffer, if there is ever going to be an element of respect in the relationship of a wilful child, that child must experience pain, so he will avoid it at all cost, 'next time'. Let the child get hurt by the natural consequences of his actions. The hardest thing to endure, as a parent, is to sit back and watch your child get hurt, KNOWING it didn't have to be that way. [Well, unless that parent is A Shrew...] In most Healthy (cough, cough) parenting moments of Teaching, the pain experienced by a child can easily be avoided, as long as the child Listens and Obeys!