Problems associated with forbidden fruit theology

In the third chapter of Genesis, we have the story of the temptation of Eve and subsequent fall of man from innocence into sin. Central to this story is a certain tree, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for it was this tree, and only this tree, that God had forbidden man to eat of its fruit. Thus, we come to the concept of forbidden fruit theology; the idea that man’s greatest weakness lies in what is forbidden him, and hence the idea that the cure is to be found in complete and unrestricted access.

The first time I heard of this concept it was in relation to child rearing. The theorist held that the reason why so many children crave candy is because it is generally forbidden them, and as they, themselves, had always had access to a candy drawer and did just fine with it, that the problem would just go away if there wasn’t such great restriction. No doubt a lot of kids out there would applaud such reasoning until such maladies such as obesity and diabetes were considered.

But this theology can also be found in the public arena. There are those out there that advocate the legalization of marijuana, among other drugs, and cite a few countries where its legalization has allegedly led to no ill effects. The same is true for that of prostitution. While they don’t go around waving the banner of forbidden fruit theology, what they do attest is that these are victimless crimes, and it is the forbidding of these activities that makes them a problem, not the behavior itself. Hence, like the cure for the alcohol induced mafia and crime wave of the prohibition era, their solution is to legalize these and other such activities, and turn them into a revenue source (taxation).

However, the truth is that this is no less than forbidden fruit theology.

But there are problems to this theology that you need to be aware of. First off, you need to be aware that the devil is the originator of this theology. While complete and unrestricted access to everything may sound appealing, the devil is not your friend. While we don’t know how long it took him to make his move on Eve in the garden after being removed from his position as the anointed, covering cherub and having his name changed from Lucifer to Satan, we do know that he was hell bent on destroying that part of God’s creation that was created in God’s image: Man.

But just look at the first result of this theology: Death. Though physical death wouldn’t come to Adam for about 930 years, spiritual death came immediately as from that moment onward man would begin to offer sacrifices as payment for their sin.

While there is more to than this, what you need to understand is that things that are restricted and forbidden are so for a reason, and that is because there is something dangerous and deadly on the other end. Consider for yourself how much death and destruction has been caused by alcohol since the end of prohibition. And then just go ahead and tell me that the legalization of pot and prostitution will be any different.

Secondly, this theology supposes that man is basically good and along with the freedom will practice self-restraint. Remember, the devil told Eve that we would be “as gods.” As gods, knowing good from evil. As gods, knowing when enough was enough and when too much was too much. As gods, deciding to limit my behavior because it would encroach upon my neighbor.

The trouble is that we have nothing in some 6,000 years of history to lend proof of this. We can demonstrate that man is a very sinful and selfish creature. While we can show that some can show restraint in some areas of their lives, none can show restraint in every area of their lives. Thus alcohol has not ruined everyone’s life it has ever come in contact with, but just look at those in which it did.

The truth is that forbidden fruit theology is a framework for blaming God for man’s problems. It is the rejection of rules and authority, both of which find their establishment in God. You would do well to avoid this very unbiblical philosophy in whatever form you find it.

Ron Hamman is pastor of Independent Baptist Church of Wasilla; contact him at 357-4229 or ron.hamman@gci.net.