Why did'nt God warn Adam and Eve?

[Chipper]

We don’t know what God’s actual words to Adam and Eve were really. All we know is what the bible reports. God could have given them a fairly intensive speech about Satan and temptation but we don’t know. More could have occurred then the bible reports.

Actually, I think the information is there. If you have ever read St. Thomas Aquinas, you would be amazed at what he can extract from a couple of sentences.

In addition, Scott Hahn does an excellent job of extracting all kinds of information, that I never realized was there, concerning Adam and Eve.

At any rate, I am convinced that this part of Genesis, has a lot of information in it, if we study it, and ask the right questions.

Regards,
Calvin

 

[Eschato]

What if he told them what you said. Then he wrote a 5 page essay detailing the effects of eating the fruit from the tree. After that he put a sign up that said “Don’t eat from this tree,” and put up a fence around.

They probably still would have done it.

 

[PraRFLEsEkHm]

HI

We were created to Love and serve God, freely - by choice. The garden was a perfect place because all there was to do was tend it, and do NOTHING with that one single tree. That tree HAD to be there in order to have a choice. God said DON’T - or else. Adam and Eve did anyway. Which ended the spiritual perfection that existed there. Again - it is all about choice - then and now.

Lucifer also was created to Love and serve God - also with a choice. Obey/submit or don’t. He chose not to. Now he goes around trying to mess things up for the rest of us - out of envy…just like a little kid “I can’t have it - neither can you”. God uses this to make us stronger.

Certainly God knew what choices would probably be made - but there still needed to be a choice for us, and the angels. Because God wants, and deserves, our Love to be given to Him freely. Our perfection attained through struggle, and grace - lest we fall through pride as Lucifer and the rest did - and remain that way forever.

We can screw up now - and receive forgiveness, because we are mortal. Once a being sins that is immortal - they stay in that state forever. (Apparently anyway.) That might be one of the reasons satan is so…ruthless in his persecution of us. He only had one chance, he was created ‘above us’ , and there is no going back now - while we get a lifetime of chances/choices - and can keep coming back to the well for more until we die the physical death.

Does that make any sense?

Peace

John

 

[puzzleannie]

I God told Adam and Eve not to eat of that tree of knowledge of good and evil, but in the bible, it is only one phrase, and really seems to be what one might call an off hand manner.

what exactly do you find “offhand” about the solemn command “do not eat from the fruit of this tree or you will die.”

If 3 doctors, several medical journals, numberous websites, and the NIH tell you, don’t eat chemically altered sugar, transfat, artificial colorings and flavorings and pesticides because you will die eventually from diseases caused by these substances is that offhand? Just about everybody has heard that advice, and 90% ignore it. Just whose fault is that?

 

[runandsew]

Well, Scott Hahn, gave some good insight to what might be going on here. But, it still doesn’t answer my question. In fact this raises more questions.

Let me give an analogy here.

You take your children and place them in the kitchen/breakfast nook. You tell them, they can eat of any of the food around, but they shall not eat of the “Can of Draino”, or they shall surely die.

A little time goes by, and the neighbors come over for a visit. Now you already know, that the neighbor’s kid is going to try and convince your kids, to eat the “can of Draino”. But you let them do it anyways.

Question 1:
So to re-iterate my postion, why didn’t you as a parent warn your children, about the neighbor’s kids?

Question 2:
It also raises another question. Was it the point that they disobeyed the parents that killed them? Or was it the eating of the “can of Draino” that killed them?

I propose that disobeying the parents did not kill them, for they will continually disobey the parent throughout their life, without death. But eating the can of draino does in fact kill them.

Question 3:
Why as a parent did you leave that “can of Draino” in the kitchen in the first place? Analogy - why did God place the Tree of knowledge of good an evil in the garden, if it’s only outcome would be death?

Don’t get me wrong. I am not disputing any Catholic Teaching on this subject (if there is any official declarations). I am rather, looking for deeper insight into what transpired in the garden.

Regards,
Chipper

I don’t think that the Catholic Church gets down to defining each passage in this, except that there was an Adam and Eve, and they did fall into sin. It is actual history, but the Church doesn’t teach that this is a literalistic meaning.

Remember, there was also the tree of life in the garden, why would they need that if they were going to live forever anyway?
The author of the book was pointing us towards a savior down the road.

The Sin leads to death, so their disobedience of Gods command lead them to eat the apple. Eating the apple just as God told them led to spiritual death, but it was the sin of disobedience which led them to spiritual death.

Why didn’t God warn them of the temptor?
Because he wants us to choose him, on our own free will.
Satan didn’t force them to eat the fruit, but he put doubt in Eve’s mind.
And that is how Satan temps us today, he put doubt in our mind, doubt that what we are choosing to do is really a sin, after all it just affects me.

 

[papaspicy]

Maybe it will help to think of other things that God made as part of his creation, such as animals. Couldn’t we say that God told all the animals directly what to eat, how to live, how and interact with each other? He did this by encoding them with their instincts, which moves each animal to do what is right according to the natural plan of God.

But when the Lord made humans, he did it in a unique way. The first story of creation shows humans as the pinnacle of creation – the only thing made in the image and likeness of God. The second story of human creation shows how humans are to become a part of the further creation. Adam helps God create animals (in a manner of speaking), and eventually we see the creation of the relationship between man and woman through which the greatest part of God’s creation will continue to come about. We also see that God breathes the spirit of life into man, something he only does for humans, which again separates us from the animals.

So when it comes to the third chapter, we see that Adam and Eve and their unique free will are crucial. Certainly, the instinctual animals would know not to eat from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, but humans who have the ability to choose to go against our natural instincts could eat from that tree. Yet God goes beyond giving the humans the natural instinct not to do what is bad for them, because he directly instructs them not to eat of that tree. But back to the original question, why didn’t he warn them about the future events when they would be tempted.

The reason has to be that God can’t give us complete foreknowledge. If we were endowed with the entire scope of our own lifetimes, how could anyone truly make a decision against God instead of for God. If God was to give us a vision of the fate we would have if we lived a life of sin, how could we not turn away from that path. For example, if I was to place a steak before you and told you that had been spoiled, but then I covered it with some steak sauce and you thought it smelled okay, you might try it and then become sick. However if I had included on the table your future airsickness bag, you would almost certainly not touch the spoiled steak, no matter how appetizing it may appear. In order for us to truly and openly choose to love our God, He has to be willing for us to choose against Him. It is certainly not what He wants, but in His divine plan that is what he has done.

I’m not sure if these ramblings have been at all helpful to the discussion, but I have really enjoyed reading this thread and wanted to contribute my :twocents: .