Readers Notes: Adam and Eve, Part A

Adam and Eve

Plot

The story that I am going to focus is Adam and Eve: The Fall. This story is about how Adam and Eve disobeyed God and ate from the Forbidden Tree.  Eve gets tempted by Satan posing as a snake, to eat the fruit and then when she becomes self aware, she gives some to Adam and they both realize they have done wrong and try to hide from God.  When he figures out what they have done he banishes them and sin is introduced into the world.The most interesting part of this story is the fact that both Adam and Eve were able to just easily go ahead and eat the apple from the forbidden tree.  One has to think that since God just gave them command, to not eat from the tree, that they would be able to follow that easily. For the people who do not know this story I feel that the biggest plot twist is the fact they disobeyed what God had told them.  Were they both not made in Gods image? You would have to think that since he molded them after himself, they would not be able to disobey him or give into temptation, but alas, they do.  I think this story still is a great read.  The reason I say this is because we are able to discern that even from creation humans have been questioning anything and everything.  We are now able to trace it back to Adam and Eve as the reason for our inquisitiveness.  Even though this story ends on a bad note I think it is pretty positive. We are able to find out what life was like before we became accustomed with sin and how everything was peaceful and joyous.

Questions

I have a couple of problems with this story that confuse me, and I am sure will confuse others.  If God created this paradise for Adam and Eve how was Satan able to slither his way into the garden.  It would seem that God would make it impenetrable to evil forces from the outside and be able to have the garden as a place of peace and solitude. I was raised in a strong Christian household, but I have always found flaws in some of the stories in the Bible that did not make since to me at all.  Another problem with this story that stuck out with me was why was it so easy for both of them to disobey.  I touched on this up in the previous paragraph, but it definitely intrigues me.  It just blows me that they were both given one rule to follow and they couldn’t do it.  Was the temptation just so strong that it made Eve disregard all she had been told?

Reaction:

Overall, I feel that the fall of Adam and Eve is intriguing to say the least.  It is kind of our first look at a story that ends in tragedy. We read every day about some tragedy that occurs in the world, whether it be a mass shooting, or a boat catching on fire killing 29 people and we can see how it relates to this story.  If they never had disobeyed God and eaten the apple do, we think that sin would of never entered the world and that all would be peaceful? I feel that this story provides us with a lot more questions than answers and it would be interesting to hear other’s thoughts on this.

Adam and Eve eat the Fruit (1510)

Luca Cranach the Elder; Source: Wikicommons

Bibliography: Gibbs, Laura. Adam and Eve: The Fall. Adam and Eve: The Fall