To: Theo; BackInBlack; Antonello
An interpretation which I prefer is that when Adam (which literally translated means "people" or "men") ate from the tree, he was representing humanity becoming homo sapiens (man, the wise) from his less intelligent ancestors by eating the fruit of knowledge.
Before man evolved the capacity for the sophisticated reasoning that we possess today, we were not able to distinguish right from wrong or good deeds from bad. After acquiring this we also acquire the capacity to sin, the consequences of such sin and also the knowledge of our own mortality. I think the metaphor here is obvious and appropriate.
174 posted on
11/18/2005 12:46:42 PM PST by
spinestein
(Forget the Golden Rule. Follow the Brazen Rule.)
To: spinestein
That's an excellent interpretation I hadn't heard before. Thank you!
181 posted on
11/18/2005 12:58:05 PM PST by
BackInBlack
("The act of defending any of the cardinal virtues has today all the exhilaration of a vice.")
To: spinestein
Before man evolved the capacity for the sophisticated reasoning that we possess today, we were not able to distinguish right from wrong or good deeds from bad Why do people take their dogs to obedience school? If you've ever had a dog, you'd know that they sometimes reveal that they know right from wrong. Not in an anthropomorphic way, but in a real way. Other creatures know right and wrong. It is not unique to homosapiens.
204 posted on
11/19/2005 6:13:41 AM PST by
Theo
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