Adam and Eve and God "walking" with them?

[Crown_of_Stars]

In Genesis, it is referred to how Adam and Eve knew God intimately, before they sinned, and that He “walked” with them. I know that can also mean, as we mean for ourselves when we say we “walk with God”, that they followed Him as in loved Him and were in contentment and obedience to Him before their Fall.
Yet after she gave the fruit to her husband and he ate of it and they both realized they were naked, they hid from God because they “heard the sound of Him walking in the garden.” This seems literal, at this point, and I’ve given it deeper thought and wondering. Is it known what is really meant by this, that He literally did walk with them in Eden, and they knew Him, and talked to Him, and saw Him face to face, possibly even in the form of Jesus? It seems to me a long time ago, I was reading a book (I can’t remember what it even was) where it said sandalled Feet were stepping through the garden, and it gave me the feeling that Jesus was there, God in the form of a Man Adam and Eve could have known.

 

[thephilosopher6]

In Genesis, it is referred to how Adam and Eve knew God intimately, before they sinned, and that He “walked” with them. I know that can also mean, as we mean for ourselves when we say we “walk with God”, that they followed Him as in loved Him and were in contentment and obedience to Him before their Fall.
Yet after she gave the fruit to her husband and he ate of it and they both realized they were naked, they hid from God because they “heard the sound of Him walking in the garden.” This seems literal, at this point, and I’ve given it deeper thought and wondering. Is it known what is really meant by this, that He literally did walk with them in Eden, and they knew Him, and talked to Him, and saw Him face to face, possibly even in the form of Jesus? It seems to me a long time ago, I was reading a book (I can’t remember what it even was) where it said sandalled Feet were stepping through the garden, and it gave me the feeling that Jesus was there, God in the form of a Man Adam and Eve could have known.

This is an anthropomorphic analogy that we can find in many other places in the Bible, it is not to be taken literally. The Genesis narrative need not be taken literally, it indeed has mythological elements to it, but it does communicate real spiritual truths about Gods relationship with mankind.

 

[Roseeurekacross]

At that point there was no original sin. It was before the fall. It’s quite probable God walked with them, they saw Him

 

[grannymh]

In Genesis, it is referred to how Adam and Eve knew God intimately, before they sinned, and that He “walked” with them. I know that can also mean, as we mean for ourselves when we say we “walk with God”, that they followed Him as in loved Him and were in contentment and obedience to Him before their Fall.
Yet after she gave the fruit to her husband and he ate of it and they both realized they were naked, they hid from God because they “heard the sound of Him walking in the garden.” This seems literal, at this point, and I’ve given it deeper thought and wondering. Is it known what is really meant by this, that He literally did walk with them in Eden, and they knew Him, and talked to Him, and saw Him face to face, possibly even in the form of Jesus? It seems to me a long time ago, I was reading a book (I can’t remember what it even was) where it said sandalled Feet were stepping through the garden, and it gave me the feeling that Jesus was there, God in the form of a Man Adam and Eve could have known.

This refers to the State of Original Holiness aka State of Sanctifying Grace. The foundation is Genesis 1: 27 and Genesis 2: 15.

 

[John_Martin]

It was the sound of the Angel of the LORD God that they heard walking, the sound of the Angel of ‘I AM’.
This Angel never speaks about God in the third person, but always in the first person: “I am ‘I AM’ your God.” because he delivers verbatim God’s words, like a translator does when two dignitaries with different languages relays words from one to the other.
A translator never says, “Putin says he did not meddle.” No, when Putin says in Russian, “I did not”, the translator says in English the words, “I did not”. The translator does not mean that he, the translator, did not meddle. And Trump is not talking to the translator, but directly to Putin, yet cannot hear him, but only the angel of Putin.

You remember hearing, “No one has ever seen God, the only begotten God, who is in the bosom of the Father, has made him known.”, and “No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.”

 

[Beryllos]

God also walked with Abraham (Genesis 18). I tend to take this literally.

 

[Tim_D]

It was the sound of the Angel of the LORD God that they heard walking, the sound of the Angel of ‘I AM’.
This Angel never speaks about God in the third person, but always in the first person: “I am ‘I AM’ your God.” because he delivers verbatim God’s words, like a translator does when two dignitaries with different languages relays words from one to the other.
A translator never says, “Putin says he did not meddle.” No, when Putin says in Russian, “I did not”, the translator says in English the words, “I did not”. The translator does not mean that he, the translator, did not meddle. And Trump is not talking to the translator, but directly to Putin, yet cannot hear him, but only the angel of Putin.

You remember hearing, “No one has ever seen God, the only begotten God, who is in the bosom of the Father, has made him known.”, and “No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.”

That is pretty inventive but I do not think that it holds much weight.

 

[Tim_D]

This is an anthropomorphic analogy that we can find in many other places in the Bible, it is not to be taken literally. The Genesis narrative need not be taken literally, it indeed has mythological elements to it, but it does communicate real spiritual truths about Gods relationship with mankind.

Excellent post but it is completely contrary to the fundamentalist view that so many on this forum uphold.

 

[grannymh]

Excellent post but it is completely contrary to the fundamentalist view that so many on this forum uphold.

I do believe that it is Catholic doctrines duly declared in major ecumenical church councils guided by the wisdom of the promised Advocate that must be considered first.

Is there some religion called fundamentalist view?

 

[Tim_D]

I do believe that it is Catholic doctrines duly declared in major ecumenical church councils guided by the wisdom of the promised Advocate that must be considered first.

Is there some religion called fundamentalist view?

I’m not starting all of this with you again.

 

[grannymh]

I’m not starting all of this with you again.

 

[GLam8833]

God also “walked” w/ Enoch, the seventh from
Adam, that was OUTSIDE the Garden of Eden,
how do you explain that? See Gen. 5:24 I read
in the Good News Translation( Catholic Edition)
that God had “fellowship w/ [Enoch]” v.24

 

[The_Old_Maid]

If I recall correctly, some televangelist named Joseph Prince took this one step further. He argued that Cleopas and “another disciple” (Luke 24:13-35) were Cleopas and his wife. After all, Mrs. Cleopas was at the Crucifixion (John 19:25). Prince argued that Cleopas wouldn’t abandon his wife in the city if they were both targets. Therefore the wife was the second traveler to Emmaus.

Prince argued that this scene of Jesus walking with a husband and wife after His Resurrection is a sign of death working backwards, of the beginning of right relationship restored between God and mankind, as God walked with a husband and wife in the Garden of Eden.

Prince argued that people choose to assume the two disciples were two men because “of course” a woman wouldn’t be a disciple.

 

[grannymh]

In Genesis, it is referred to how Adam and Eve knew God intimately, before they sinned, and that He “walked” with them. I know that can also mean, as we mean for ourselves when we say we “walk with God”, that they followed Him as in loved Him and were in contentment and obedience to Him before their Fall.
Yet after she gave the fruit to her husband and he ate of it and they both realized they were naked, they hid from God because they “heard the sound of Him walking in the garden.” This seems literal, at this point, and I’ve given it deeper thought and wondering. Is it known what is really meant by this, that He literally did walk with them in Eden, and they knew Him, and talked to Him, and saw Him face to face, possibly even in the form of Jesus? It seems to me a long time ago, I was reading a book (I can’t remember what it even was) where it said sandalled Feet were stepping through the garden, and it gave me the feeling that Jesus was there, God in the form of a Man Adam and Eve could have known.

God was truly with Adam and Eve because Adam and Eve were in the State of Sanctifying Grace. Could we add that Adam and Eve walked with God in prayer which was at its purist in the Garden? “God be with me” is often our cry.

 

[James248]

It was the sound of the Angel of the LORD God that they heard walking, the sound of the Angel of ‘I AM’.
This Angel never speaks about God in the third person, but always in the first person: “I am ‘I AM’ your God.” because he delivers verbatim God’s words, like a translator does when two dignitaries with different languages relays words from one to the other.
A translator never says, “Putin says he did not meddle.” No, when Putin says in Russian, “I did not”, the translator says in English the words, “I did not”. The translator does not mean that he, the translator, did not meddle. And Trump is not talking to the translator, but directly to Putin, yet cannot hear him, but only the angel of Putin.

You remember hearing, “No one has ever seen God, the only begotten God, who is in the bosom of the Father, has made him known.”, and “No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.”

Christ is the Angel of the Lord.

 

[James248]

This is an anthropomorphic analogy that we can find in many other places in the Bible, it is not to be taken literally. The Genesis narrative need not be taken literally, it indeed has mythological elements to it, but it does communicate real spiritual truths about Gods relationship with mankind.

Is that all you got?

 

[grannymh]

Christ is the Angel of the Lord.

Christ is the Divine Second Person of the Most Holy Trinity

 

[James248]

Christ is the Divine Second Person of the Most Holy Trinity

And He also appeared in the Old Testament as the Angel of the Lord. Remember Abraham’s encounter with the three men? Or Moses and the Burning Bush?

 

[De_Maria]

In Genesis, it is referred to how Adam and Eve knew God intimately, before they sinned, and that He “walked” with them. I know that can also mean, as we mean for ourselves when we say we “walk with God”, that they followed Him as in loved Him and were in contentment and obedience to Him before their Fall.
Yet after she gave the fruit to her husband and he ate of it and they both realized they were naked, they hid from God because they “heard the sound of Him walking in the garden.”

Scott Hahn has an interesting take on “heard the sound of Him walking in the garden.”

*But having sinned, Adam and Eve were now confronted by God. You can go all the way back, I believe, to verse 8, Genesis 3:8, “They heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day and the man and his wife hid themselves.” Now, this is, I think, perhaps somewhat of a mistranslation. We often have this kind of romantic, bucolic picture here of God kind of walking through the woods. You can hear the crushing of the leaves and the snapping of the twigs as he says, you know, “Adam, Eve, where are you?” Poor God, just doesn’t really know what’s going on!

But when you actually look at the Hebrew, what the people hear, verse 8, it says, “Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God.” We’re tempted to hear that as the crushing leaves and snapping twigs, this poor unwitting God is saying, “where… weren’t we supposed to meet, you know. Isn’t this the time? Isn’t this the place?” But no. The word in Hebrew for sound is qol. Now, what kind of noise does the qol of the Lord make? Well you can find out by reading Psalm 29. Keep your finger on Genesis 3 and take a look at Psalm 29 because there we discover an entire psalm devoted to describing what Adam and Eve must have heard when they heard the qol of the Lord, the sound of the Lord.

Verse 1 of Psalm 29, “Ascribe to the Lord, O heavenly beings or sons of God. Ascribe to the Lord glory and strength. Ascribe to the Lord the glory of his name and worship the Lord in holy array. The qol of the Lord is upon the waters. The God of glory thunders. The Lord upon many waters. The qol of the Lord is powerful. The qol of the Lord is full of majesty.” Verse 5, “The qol of the Lord breaks the cedars. The Lord breaks the cedars of Lebanon. He makes Lebanon to skip like a calf in Sirion, like a young wild ox. The qol of the Lord flashes forth flames of fire. The qol of the Lord shakes the wilderness. The Lord shakes the wilderness of Kadesh. The qol of the Lord makes the oak trees to whirl and strips the forest bare and all in his temple cry, ‘glory’!”

What do you think they heard? It wasn’t the snapping of little twigs and the crunching, you know, of leaves. They heard a thunder and shattering roar, and they hid themselves. Quite understandably. Goes on, “They heard the qol of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day.” That word in Hebrew, cool, is ruah, normally translated spirit or wind, and that phrase could easily be translated as scholars have argued, “They heard the thundering, shattering roar of Yahweh Eloheim as he was coming into the garden as the spirit of the day!” What day? The day of judgment. We’ve got a primo parousia on our hands. The second coming in advance in a sense.*
catholic-pages.com/bvm/hahn.asp

This seems literal,

I agree.

at this point, and I’ve given it deeper thought and wondering. Is it known what is really meant by this, that He literally did walk with them in Eden, and they knew Him, and talked to Him, and saw Him face to face, possibly even in the form of Jesus?

I don’t think so. But I do believe that the Catholic Church does not forbid us from taking the literal view. The Catholic Church has not defined any of Genesis except to say that we must believe that we are descended from Adam and Eve.

It seems to me a long time ago, I was reading a book (I can’t remember what it even was) where it said sandalled Feet were stepping through the garden, and it gave me the feeling that Jesus was there, God in the form of a Man Adam and Eve could have known.

I believe that God appeared to Adam and Eve in the same manner that He appeared to Enoch. Abraham and Moses.

Genesis 5:24 And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.

Genesis 18 [Full Chapter]
And the Lord appeared unto him in the plains of Mamre: and he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day; And he lift up his eyes and looked, and, lo, three men stood by him: and when he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself toward the ground, And said, My Lord, if now I have found favour in thy sight, pass not away, I pray thee, from thy servant: …

Exodus 33:11 And the Lord spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend.

However, if the Church should ever declare otherwise, I would immediately believe the Church.

 

[Richca]

In Genesis, it is referred to how Adam and Eve knew God intimately, before they sinned, and that He “walked” with them. I know that can also mean, as we mean for ourselves when we say we “walk with God”, that they followed Him as in loved Him and were in contentment and obedience to Him before their Fall.
Yet after she gave the fruit to her husband and he ate of it and they both realized they were naked, they hid from God because they “heard the sound of Him walking in the garden.” This seems literal, at this point, and I’ve given it deeper thought and wondering. Is it known what is really meant by this, that He literally did walk with them in Eden, and they knew Him, and talked to Him, and saw Him face to face, possibly even in the form of Jesus? It seems to me a long time ago, I was reading a book (I can’t remember what it even was) where it said sandalled Feet were stepping through the garden, and it gave me the feeling that Jesus was there, God in the form of a Man Adam and Eve could have known.

Before Adam and Eve’s sin, the Genesis narrative doesn’t mention anything about God walking with them. However, since God bestowed on our first parents the original gift of holiness and justice and sanctifying grace and established them in his friendship, I think we can safely say metaphorically that God and Adam and Eve walked together in supernatural charity and friendship and companionship in the garden of paradise before the fall. Where it is written that ‘they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day’ comes after their sin of eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. But it may have not been the first time that they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden. Adam and Eve may have had experience of this kind of manifestation of God in the garden before they sinned.

The sacred writer doesn’t give us any more details or clues to this presence of the Lord in the garden except that Adam and Eve heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden. The ‘walking’ part could be a metaphor for some kind of physical manifestation of God’s presence in the garden, for example, a whirlwind like manifestation that God supernaturally or miraculously produced. Examples of a sensible manifestation of God’s presence can be seen in the history of the Israelites of the Old Testament. For example, Moses saw the burning bush that wasn’t being consumed. God led the Israelites through the wilderness after their departure from Egypt through a cloud by day and a pillar or column of fire by night. The cloud and the column of fire were signs of God’s presence. So, I think what is meant by the words ‘they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden’ is some kind of manifestation of God’s presence to Adam and Eve, either some kind of physical manifestation as a literal reading of the text suggests but it need not be necessarily God taking the form of a human being or a man, or some kind of spiritual manifestation if the text is a metaphor for some kind of spiritual communication. God can do either one as well as communicate to us spiritually through sensible experiences or manifestations most notably in the incarnation of Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God. My personal opinion is that in the words ‘they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden,’ this was some kind of sensible and audible manifestation of God’s presence in the garden to Adam and Eve and the word ‘walking’ is a metaphor for this manifestation.