Why do you think that the serpent (satan) chose to tempt Eve rather than Adam?

My opinion is because God had spoken directly to Adam and not to Eve. Eve probably did not have first hand knowledge of God's will. As an example in Genesis 3:3 Eve's reply to the serpent is that she may not eat of the tree or even touch it. If you look at Genesis 2:17 you will see that she had not been created yet when God commanded Adam not to eat from the tree. So it is likely that Adam told her she couldn't even touch it, just to keep her away from it. Satan saw this addition and took advantage of it. He told Eve she would not die if she touched it. When she didn't, she probably thought Adam was mistaken and led to eat. Maybe there is a lesson there about adding on to the word of God.

I don't think that anyone (satan or god) tempted Eve. IMO, this is yet another patriarcle myth.

Throughout history, women have been vilified because of fear of feminine power. The bible is the clearest, and oldest example of this.

Deliverer,
I truly believe you are right and I hope that's the end of the story. On the other hand, I'm married with two daughters and no sons, I know I'm gonna get flamed, but boy, sometimes I wish women could listen, just a tiny little bit!!!

How else are you going to make women the weaker sex? I'm sure, as men evolved, they started to see women being a competitor to power. So they made up stories to villianize them. They stole the sun, they are bad luck on ships, they were tempted by the devil.

Nice responce "Deliverer", very thought out.

How about this perspective to add to the color,

"Woman possesses finer sensibilities than man. She is more susceptible to seductive influences. Satan took advantage of this fact in overreaching woman and through woman overreached man."

Yeah but then Eve tempted Adam to do the same thing right after the serpent (presumably the devil) tempted her!

See, it took a godlike force to tempt Eve, but it only took Eve to tempt Adam! So if you think Eve is more temptable, think again

On a serious note, this is an allegory, and I don't see the distinction between Eve and Adam as one being more temptable than the other - they were required to fully represent the human race in this symbolic story, which consists of both sexes. Maybe the serpent flipped a coin? The point is, they were BOTH tempted, even if one of them was tempted first.

Both, Eve and Adam were part of the same race, made of the same stuff, living on the same world, and therefore having the same awareness, gullibility, and understanding of reality. Therefore, by tempting one of them, the other sorta succumbs through peer pressure, as the half that was not directly tempted by the "source" directly, can now be much more easily tempted by those who have already succumbed. The rest just falls into place! But since you're interested in the finer points of this story, what would you say it means, if viewed symbolically? What kind of things do the characters and events in this story symbolize? What happens are a result of these events, and why? What mistake have Adam/Eve made? This is really deeper than it seems, but if you wish, you can think about these things and form your own conclusions.

I'm, not trying to be funny, but, are you guys serious? I'm not trying to start a flame war, or debate back and forth, I'm just curious. You guys really believe in the Bibical Adam and Eve? The whole rib thing? I thought this was a discussion on folklore and mythology.

Originally posted by curme
I'm, not trying to be funny, but, are you guys serious? I'm not trying to start a flame war, or debate back and forth, I'm just curious. You guys really believe in the Bibical Adam and Eve? The whole rib thing? I thought this was a discussion on folklore and mythology.

We're just discussing the story as it is, no one is assuming it to be true, as far as I can tell. It's the same as asking "Why did Cinderella's clock run out at 12, not at 1 am or 2 am?". I'm simply thinking of possible symbology inherent in this story, and from that perspective I am discussing it. It has nothing to do with believing anything, as belief is convinction of truth where knowledge of same is absent.

I've said it before and I'll say it again. Eve chose knowledge. Adam was a sheep, who followed Eve's lead.

Originally posted by curmeare you guys serious?

I'm serious - I believe in the Biblical Adam and Eve.

But for years I didn't. Much like you I believed it to be just folklore. Then one day that all changed. People will riducule me, but I am not the one with the problem.

Originally posted by Bleys
I've said it before and I'll say it again. Eve chose knowledge. Adam was a sheep, who followed Eve's lead.

Seems like Eve was a sheep too - she thought knowledge can come from one single source: a fruit. In reality, true knowledge can only be obtained through a great variety of sources, no one source is the "be all end all"! She did not wish to see that, and hoped that all she needed was this quick and easy shortcut to knowledge, and shortcuts do not exist! She was also tempted to know good and evil, which are subjective and relative - but the serpent didn't mention this to her, did he! Now humans have this idea of "good and evil", which is of course malleable and alterable at will from person to person, group to group, nation to nation, society to society. Seems like humans have been duped, because of their self-serving nature. We went for the "gold" by hoping to get knowledge the easy way, through a shortcut, but there is no free lunch in the universe, there ARE no shortcuts! Such is our lesson, and by failing to understand it, we succumbed to temptation that had no basis in objective reality, but due to our wishful thinking, we chose to ignore that little fact and believed the serpent anyway. Ah well, all there is is lessons!

But once again, they were both on equal footing here. Eve "went for the gold" in her wishfully-thinking state of mind to get knowledge all from one source, especially a physical source such as a fruit. Adam thought it worked after he saw her do this, and followed suit. Either way, they fell for the same lie! Why did they fall for the lie? Wishful thinking. They cared not for truth, they wished to have an "easy way out" or "to be like the GODS from eating one fruit", which is a lie, and any service to others oriented being who has eyes to see understands this fact - any and all knowledge that you gain will only come after you put considerable effort into SEEKING it, into LEARNING step by step and through experience and patience. True knowledge never drops in uninvited or not sought, it does not EVER fall on your lap. It MUST be sought and found through effort, no exceptions.

If someone tries to lure you with the temptation of easy knowledge, of easy truths about our reality and understandings that surpass human knowledge, it is a lie that is analagous to this biblical allegory. But this lesson, as all lessons, are for the individual to learn and understand in their own time.

Perhaps "Adam" represented all men that were alive at the time, and "Eve" represented all women that were alive at the time, created by Elohim without the need for sexual intercourse or childbirth, as all creation was in the hands of Elohim. Harkening to Sitchin's alien theories, the Annunaki abduction of human females is actually what befalls the women of the time. Many of them are abducted and introduced to sex (et.al, the forbidden fruit) - the serpent then represents the phallus of the Annunaki, rather than an actual serpent. The women return to their human male counterparts, thusly impregnated by Annunaki dna and offer the forbidden fruit of sexual congress to the men as they have learned that it is actually quite enjoyable. heh. They believe by having sex, they are self-replicating, acting as their own creators - et.al, living forever, like gods. But what they are actually doing is creating a whole new dna set that is not them at all. They usurped the real creator in favor of being the creators themselves, with the end result of death, as the new beings created by the crossing the two sex cells is not perfect genetically and is therefore subject to death. this, however, wouldn't explain why the originals (the first adams and eves) died, as they were created perfect. the only possible explanation at this stage would be, that Elohim removed the genetic sequence necessary for auto-repair and their perfected dna from them as well OR it was all just a spiritual parable. Come to think of it, this is probably not accurate as their baby making parts would be redundant systems and therefore could not be considered perfect genetically. Err... NEXT. lol



[Edited on 17-5-2004 by Undomiel]

Genesis 2:31 (after the eating of this controversial fruit states

21: Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them.

Manly Palmer Hall, who we should probably treat as a brilliant theorist rather than an authority, claims that the jist of this story is this:

Adam / Eve existed as non-physical entities after the fall of separation (they were originally one individual, created male and female in the image of God). They partook of the tree of the "knowledge of good and evil" which is meant, if you will, satirically or sarcastically. i.e. the knowledge of good and evil is not knowledge at all, but rather foolishness that separates the world of action. It allows one to conceptualise the (false) notion of going against the will of God, and so allows one to believe themselves in rebellion to God. Having had their eyes "opened," Adam and Eve believe themselves naked. They were not (remember that naked actually literally means "divested of clothing"... since Adam and Eve never had any clothing, they were not naked). This can also be interpreted as meaning that they began to have avarice for physical things rather than accepting themselves as part of the environment. They constructed themselves aprons of leaves (tried to hide from their own environment) and God saw this, and was upset... they had fallen prey to false knowledge. God made them costumes of skins, i.e. physical bodies, so that they could work out their own "salvation" within the physical realm, inasmuch as the knowledge of good and evil made them ashamed of their own preternatural powers/responsibilities/place in nature. Thus Adam and Eve descended into the illusory pains of physical form.

Just a thought, I hope it is thought-provoking to you.

it says in the bible that god walked in the garden of eden. also eve had told satan that if she ate the fruit she would die. then satan says no you wont. so eve clearly heard the law and punishment.

why eve? cus she was a straight female.

I believe that Satan knew that if he got Eve he'd have Adam. Women are very persuasive and could ensure that Adam would also eat....notice how they both justify themselves by passing the buck. Adam says that it is basically God's fault when he said the woman 'YOU' gave me gave me fruit and I ate. Eve blames the Serpent, saying she was deceived. If you go to the Hebrew root word for deceive you'll find that what is actually said is that the serpent 'makest me to forget.' She's focussed on being a goddess and then forgot the consequences....or ignored it so that she could satisfy her desire to be like God. Of course Adam was standing right there during the temptation, it's not like he was tricked by her....he could have stepped in and told the serpent to go away.
As far as death as a consequence... as my teacher says, all around them was life...they never knew what death was until they witnessed God sacrificing an animal and covering them with the skins.
God showed them that because of their fallen state there would have to be a blood sacrifice to atone for them, the animal was probably a lamb signifying being covered by The Christ to come, the adequate sacrifice. They obviously knew about sacrifices and what was acceptable since Cain and Abel came to the same place on the same day at the same time to give their sacrifices...the blood sacrifice was accepted and the vegetable one was not. They knew there was a set time to give the sacrifices...and God even after they chose to trust Satan and the lie, showed them how they could gain eternal life...What a gracious God!