On the Garden of Eden and good gone wrong

The Garden of Eden myth is enormously important to Hebrew/Christian understanding of life. It is not the story of the first man and woman. It is the story of every man and every woman. It is the story of how our good goes wrong. It is our special tragedy.

To understand the Bible mythologies, we must get rid of the idea that Bible authors were historians. They were philosophers/theologians trying to explain why things are the way they are. For reasons sufficient to themselves, the Hebrew writers rejected evil as a power great enough to challenge a good God successfully.

Even in dire circumstances, the Bible writers never give up confidence in a good God. Even so, they were realistic in their assessment that something continues to go wrong with human beings. How do we explain our addiction to going wrong?

In the Eden story, Adam (man) and Eve (woman, the source of life) are placed in an incredibly beautiful garden. The man is assigned maintenance responsibilities and life is idyllic. Who could ask for anything better?

To understand the myth, we must recognize the prejudice of the writer. He accepted the ideal of male dominance. The writer believed women were to be subservient and that they were the weaker sex. In 2016 I suspect he would do a significant rewrite of the myth.

The third party in the story is the serpent. At the time of the writing of the Eden myth, the serpent was not thought of as being evil. The serpent was simply another part of the created order. The serpent represents curiosity and questioning. These are positive traits, not evil. In the story the serpent is the foil, the trigger that sets off the episode.

The foil approaches the person who is perceived as being the most vulnerable, the woman.

In the Garden of Eden everything was available for the pleasure of the man and the woman, except for the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The serpent questions the prohibition. We soon find the answer.

In this prohibition, we find a primary assertion of the Hebrew/Christian traditions. The life of human beings appears to be a life of independence. The Hebrew writer says “It is not!” Our seeming independence is always circumscribed by some sort of authority. If we try to challenge the reality of our limitations, we lose everything.

From Moses and the Ten Commandments to the teachings of Jesus, an unrelenting message is present. Human beings are not omniscient (all knowing); they are not all-powerful in themselves; a “know it all” is life’s biggest loser. The God of Israel is not simply God. The God of Israel is the Lord God. In classic Christian understanding, the fundamental confession is not Jesus is Savior. For Christians the fundamental confession is Jesus is Lord!”

As soon as we use the word Lord in our confession, we have circumscribed our independence. The tree in the middle of the garden is the reminder of this fundamental understanding of our Hebrew/Christian tradition.

Both Adam and Eve made a terrible decision. They ate the forbidden fruit.

The writer of the Eden myth leads us to his conclusion. The root of all human problems is bad decisions.

The next part of the story is inevitable. It is called the blame game. We look around for someone, some force, some power, some circumstance to blame. No matter how we make the case, the result is the same. We are out of the garden and now live our lives in the chaos of “East of Eden.”

As I wrote this column, I was almost overwhelmed by the application of this ancient Hebrew myth to our beloved United States of America in an election year. Our cry is for freedom. We worship our independence. July 4^th is our greatest American holiday. We call it Independence Day.

Every candidate for president claims some level of omniscience. Their favorite response is “I understand.” The American public unwisely looks for an all-knowing president. Where are wisdom and humility?

The fruit of the knowledge of good and evil is so very tempting.

The Rev. Howard Bess is a retired American Baptist minister, who lives in Palmer,. His email address is hdbss@mtaonline.net.. This column is the opinion of the author and does not necessarily reflect the views of the Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman or its parent company, Wick Communications.