Originally posted by Coletti
Also, consider the behavior of Adam and Eve. God comes into the garden (like a parent entering the kitchen) and the little'ns hide in plain site. God asks little Adam if he took a bite of the cake - and Adam says "well it's your fault for giving me a sister who made me eat the cake!." Adam blames God and Eve at the same time for his mistakes.
This explanation is one of the reasons I think it is at best odd to think of the
'Fall' story as a literal story.
First of all, as far as I know, Christians believe that God is omniscient. As
such, He knew that Eve was talking with the serpent, He knew that she took
the apple, He knew that she ate a bite and gave some to Adam. The parent
wouldn't permit their child to get a chair, push it to the counter, climb up,
get a bite of cake, give it to his sister and watch her eat it.
Second of all, if God is omniscient, He knew about the 'Fall' from the moment
of Creation. He knew, even while He was telling Adam and Eve not to eat from
the Tree, exactly when they would and under what circumstances.
That is, He intentionally made flawed creatures and gave them commands that
He knew they couldn't and wouldn't obey. This strikes me as bizarre.
If you take the Fall metaphorically, and you understand that the 'eating of the
fruit (pomegranate)' is a metaphor for humankind's becoming 'sexually aware'
(they noticed that they were naked), it makes a lot more sense (to me).
I read an interesting interpretation where humankind was a creation of Satan and
God was the serpent. The Garden of Eden was a 'Venusburg' kind of place and
he kept humankind ignorant. God (as the serpent) came and 'tempted' humankind
into opening their minds to the true knowledge of the world. However, I can't
remember the details nor where I found this interpretation (it might have been Gnostic,
but I don't know for sure).
Nemesio