Quote Originally Posted by denuseri View Post
Secondly: In some interpretations the entire creation story is allegorical with the tree of life being the ultimate goal that can only be reached by first eating one's way through the tree of knowledge. Since God is perfect, "the serpent" acting out of jealousy or not...is still doing exactly what God intended it to do (so is mankind by the way), which is prompt mankind to seek knowledge so that one day eternal life could be obtained. The act of taking the apple being one of rebellion, yet also one of seeking to be like God. After all Eve was only tempted because she was told that if she ate of it, she could indeed become like God.
I do not quite understand what you say - seeking knowledge (eating through the tree of knowledge) was the point, but not by eating the apple??

As for the alligorical angle, I learned recently that the way Danish Christians got past Darwin as it were, without loosing their faith, was to see the words of the bible as alligorical, or 'the free word'. Thus, everything had to be interpreted, and no conflict existed between the bible and Darwin. I believe other protestant sects have this view as well.

I have had thoughts about this story about Paradise and the tree of knowledge in terms of maybe we should never have eaten of it, metaphorically speaking, because our knowledge, that which in these days makes us equal to gods in that we can create life and do very many and quite alarming things, but, lacking the wisdom of god or gods, we screw it up and Earth is no garden of Eden.

Nature never was peaceful, or that is only one aspect of it, but maybe it was more like Eden than now.

Third: The overall message...that we should all become more loving and peaceful with each other and work together seeking harmony (in essence be like God wants us to be) stands alone regardless of interpretation. It is basically all about overcoming our nature's despite our inherent sinfulness and becoming enlightened and transcending mortal existence. It's not even a Christan or Jewish, or Islamic only theme either...Buddhists, Hindus and a wide wide variety of faiths ( in fact almost all religions) address such aspirations of apotheosis in like manner...as if trying to explain the same universal concept. Which is a good concept...love one another as you would wish to be loved.
Loving one another etc is a good concept. But the idea that we are born sinful (agressive, brutal, 'red in tooth and law') I do not believe. Sometimes it feels like the discussion will have it that either we are all love and sunshine, or we are all brutes! I believe in neither. I think we started out simply doing what we had to do to survive, like all the other animals.

But somewhere along the way something happened - ?? and with it, cruelty, brutality (towards our own) greed, hate, power games and all the rest.

I do not think we were 'born' with it - as in started that way as a species. But something happened.