Nate Dekan
08-04-2002, 12:09 AM
Question: Was Adam and Eves shame genital specific?
I don't believe there is any evidence of that from scripture: actually I think it absolutely WASN'T! I think the perception that it was is deception that comes of course from Satan but can also can be seen in the Gnostic influence on the early church, Augustine"s influence on the church and many other sources.
First, God said that everything He created was very good and He told them to be fruitful and multiply (which would require sex) before the fall, therefore that is blessed by God and nothing to be ashamed of.
Second, God said don't eat fruit from this tree and they ate it, very simple, nothing sexual or genital there, unless you're REALLY reading your own garbage into it. (which a lot of people do!)
Third, Nothing in scripture says they only covered their genitals, that may be what paintings show but it's not what is stated, it says they made coverings for themselves "coverings" implies to me that it is likely much more, especially when the next part (that people often overlook) is considered. When they heard God, they HID IN THE TREES; they were not standing there with a strategically placed single fig leaf covering the genitals nonchalantly waiting for God! They where hiding, God had to call them out!
Looking beyond scripture into human behavior today doesn't that parallel how children often behave when they know they've done something wrong? I"ve been around children (and remember) enough to know that when kids have done something they know is really wrong, parents often have to go hunt them out. They will often be found under the bed, or in the closet covered by a pile of clothes or blankets, under the basement stairs covered by boxes, or in the middle of thick bush's, etc. hiding. Adults may not react quite the same, but when we?ve done something wrong (or that would not meet the approval of others, even if we believe that it is not wrong) we hide it as well. Humm, sounds a lot like Adam and Eve! Nothing genital specific about it, when humans do something they know is wrong, or wouldn't be generally accepted, they feel exposed, naked (figuratively speaking) shamed, and they try to hide.
Nate
I don't believe there is any evidence of that from scripture: actually I think it absolutely WASN'T! I think the perception that it was is deception that comes of course from Satan but can also can be seen in the Gnostic influence on the early church, Augustine"s influence on the church and many other sources.
First, God said that everything He created was very good and He told them to be fruitful and multiply (which would require sex) before the fall, therefore that is blessed by God and nothing to be ashamed of.
Second, God said don't eat fruit from this tree and they ate it, very simple, nothing sexual or genital there, unless you're REALLY reading your own garbage into it. (which a lot of people do!)
Third, Nothing in scripture says they only covered their genitals, that may be what paintings show but it's not what is stated, it says they made coverings for themselves "coverings" implies to me that it is likely much more, especially when the next part (that people often overlook) is considered. When they heard God, they HID IN THE TREES; they were not standing there with a strategically placed single fig leaf covering the genitals nonchalantly waiting for God! They where hiding, God had to call them out!
Looking beyond scripture into human behavior today doesn't that parallel how children often behave when they know they've done something wrong? I"ve been around children (and remember) enough to know that when kids have done something they know is really wrong, parents often have to go hunt them out. They will often be found under the bed, or in the closet covered by a pile of clothes or blankets, under the basement stairs covered by boxes, or in the middle of thick bush's, etc. hiding. Adults may not react quite the same, but when we?ve done something wrong (or that would not meet the approval of others, even if we believe that it is not wrong) we hide it as well. Humm, sounds a lot like Adam and Eve! Nothing genital specific about it, when humans do something they know is wrong, or wouldn't be generally accepted, they feel exposed, naked (figuratively speaking) shamed, and they try to hide.
Nate