Plato's Playground
I like this blog.
Here's what strikes me about this:
1. Clues about God. He walks, he likes to go to the garden when it's not too not, he speaks aloud. So maybe people are, literally, in his image.
2. You're quite right, the snake isn't deceptive at all, though he (or she) is persuasive. What's unclear is why the snake does this - why does he care what the people do, and whether they eat from the forbidden tree or not? Is he directing them towards self-awareness (good), or towards the loss of their innocence (bad)?
3. God really comes across as a control freak. The snake does something that means things don't follow his plan (whatever that is), so he punishes him. And all his ancestors - pretty harsh.
I'm curious about when the man and woman get their names; can't wait for the next bit of the story.
I guess, without getting too detailed, the story uses figurative language to illuminate disobedience and envy as the original sin.
Not doing as God wanted and being brought to that point by envy.
The death referred to is a death of the spirit.
I'd like to come back to this when I have more time.
And by envy do you mean envy of God? If so both sins -- disobedience and envy -- are directed at God, not fellow humans.
I think that may be one important difference between religious and humanist perspectives. Humanists cannot sin against God, so they are exclusively concerned with sins against humans. That's why I don't see eating the apple as wrong.
Commenting by HaloScan
