Knowledge of Good & Evil: Has it Been Worth It?

Conspiracy of the "Human Experiment"

In order to have knowledge of good and evil, one must have the experience of it. It must be a first hand encounter, not like something that can be learned from a book.

Emotions are thought processes that go beyond the reaction of the stimulation of the five senses. One can feel heat or cold and react by logic without emotion. The spiritual essence in a human being is what provides our emotions.

Whatever "the apple" represents in the story, it was an act that gave the human being the capacity for emotions.

God said "In the day that you eat of it, surely you will die."

It is the experience of emotions that can kill our spirit and the pain of a lifetime of griefs and sorrows that make us want to die---to cease to exist to end this dark night of the soul.

Though some believe that man is programmed to want to live forever, to have such a desire as immortality, deep down the sadness has corrupted us all. This sadness manifests itself in those who turn to a life of drugs and alcohol. (Not just street drugs; the number of population on anti-depressants is overwhelming.) The sadness manifests itself in the behavior of those who live dangerous lives---daredevils. Deep down, all of these behaviors express a death wish, a lack of caring whether one lives or dies, or even a bold direct challenge to the grim reaper.

Has mankind himself really "chosen" this Tree---this realm known as planet earth, for the purpose of experiencing emotions? And to what end? Is this designed to produce greater spiritual enlightenment? Or could it be that the human experience is an experiment and a challenge between superior forces?

Death, for one to cease to exist, can be the only finality that brings relief to the pain of the emotions of the horrors, injustices, sorrows, griefs, losses. Who could possibly want more than a lifetime of this to continue?

If humankind made the choice to experience this realm of emotions, to know "good and evil" has it been worth it? What was the alternative that we chose from? Was it only a world explored with the logic of five senses? If you had a world with only goodness, kindness, peace and love, would you still have chosen to know and experience "evil"? Has knowing evil been edifying in any way?

reply to post by Alethea


We don't have knowledge of good and evil cause if we did we'd take our government back. If we did we'd unite the world. If we did we wouldnt be rascist. We wouldnt be murderers. We wouldnt be hell bent on destorying our fellow man.

Obviously mankind is mentally challenged in the subject of good and evil.

If i could go back in time I'd go kick their rears before they decided to eat the damn fruit. I'm pretty sure they'd of had a forest of food, could they not leave 1 damn tree alone!
And then I'd turn that snake into a pair of boots!

reply to post by kaoticf8


Then i ntheory we all wouldn't be here..sadly
you know, causation and all that

There are some early texts that suggest that the apple itself was the divine spirit, and that by eating it, we were able to surpass the limitations placed on us by a being of lesser spirit. (Hypstasis of the Archons, On The Origin of the World and The Secret Book according to John, among others)

If I were to go with any interpretation of Genesis, I'd probably back that one.

One must question Genesis. At face value, it doesn't make sense (and not for the obvious, scientific reasons).

For example...

Any God worthy of worship must be omniscient. The God of Genesis was not. Although he created the heavens and the Earth, he had no idea what was going on within it. He knew nothing of the conversations between the snake and Adam. God asks Eve, “What is this thou hast done?” (Gen 3:13 ASV). Why does God need an explanation? Shouldn’t he know what is in Eve’s mind?

He also needed to use reason to deduce that Adam had eaten from the Tree of Life. “Who told thee that thou wast naked?” (Gen 3:11). Again, a true God, worthy of worship should know all of this.

God’s impotence if further recognized when readers see God’s lack of control over Adam, Eve and the snake. If these creatures can so easily be dissuaded from God’s word, then the word must not be all that powerful. The true word of God couldn’t be out-debated by a snake, so the entity commanding Adam must not be the true God. Either that or the creations themselves are flawed in some way that doesn’t allow them to recognize God’s word as perfect truth. If that’s the case, then how can God create something entirely from himself that is in any way flawed? The created is always a part of the creator. If the creation is flawed, then part of the creator is flawed, and God cannot be flawed.

Another notable flaw is the arrogance of God in Genesis. He creates man as a creature to be commanded and a devotee. A perfect God would have no need for worship, and thus no need to create subordinates to worship him. Even more so, worship from someone without knowledge of good and evil seems especially pointless.

TL;DR, The God of Genesis is flawed, ergo, he cannot be the true, omnipotent, omniscient God.

reply to post by SorensDespair

In the biblical manuscripts we only have a view of God from man's perspective...
...God as author is not present in the works...
...only God as He is reflected on by failed man.

reply to post by troubleshooter


Of course that's true. So lets look at it from a non-biblical perspective? Or possibly an faithful and philosophical interpretation of of the biblical perspective.

Originally posted by SorensDespair
reply to post by troubleshooter

 

Of course that's true. So lets look at it from a non-biblical perspective? Or possibly an faithful and philosophical interpretation of of the biblical perspective.

There are people who have been doing this forever...
...they are called Theologians.

reply to post by troubleshooter


I don't see any problem with being a theologian. As a matter of fact, I think this is the perfect conversation to have from a theological perspective. (in fact, I don't see any other way that one could have this conversation).

reply to post by Alethea


The famous allegory in the Garden of Eden is really not a question of good and evil, o at least it wasn't at first, but a question of states of consciousness.

The original tree was a state or dimension of consciousness that dealt with the creative energy, which man or Adam, at his developmental stage was not capable of handling, therefore the famous command “ go not near this tree.”

Once Adam delved into that dimension [ ate of the forbidden tree] began his fall from grace.

Then overtime because of the loss of “Paradise” man grew emotions, that were symptoms of his fall.

Paradise was in actuality man having control of his mind and therefore access to inner dimensions of enormous bliss.

At the fall we lost that control and emotions at that point, as you mention, took over.

reply to post by Alethea


Knowledge of "Good" and "Evil"? Seriously?

Different cultures have different perceptions of what is "good" and what is "evil"

/Thread.