Tree of Knowledge

This will not be the last post in which I examine passages from the Bible, and provide some of my own thoughts as to the meanings behind them. It is no secret that I consider the Bible to be highly allegorical and metaphorical in nature. That is to say, that the Bible's intent is not to provide an historically accurate account - but rather to inspire through stories that humans can relate to. And where better to start this examination than Genesis.

There are so many questions which arise from the story of Genesis - most are pretty elementary in nature. "If God created only Adam and Eve, then who did Cane marry?" "Was the universe created in 7 'literal' days?" "What about dinosaurs?" Etc... For this post - I am more interested in the story of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. That's right - most people forget that it isn't just the Tree of Knowledge. So it isn't general "knowledge" God is protecting them from, but rather the knowledge of right and wrong. And what is the first thing Adam and Eve come to realize with their new found knowledge? They were ashamed of their nakedness.

Now I am sure you could right an entire doctoral thesis on the moral implications of this. But I noticed something the other day which made me look at this story in a different light. My 5 year old son is perfectly content to run around the house completely naked - and will gladly ask anyone, with whom he is comfortable, to give him a bath. And I think this is pretty normal for most kids his age. But over the course of the next few years, through his own natural inclinations, and our parental guidance towards social norms - he will gradually come to understand and have the same "shame" of his nakedness that we all have (well porn stars and nudists excluded). So obviously this made me look at the story of "The Fall" a little differently. Perhaps, it is more a metaphor for the inclinations we have to ultimately become aware and have shame of our nakedness. And from a religious perspective - it's no wonder we would imaging God to be angry about this. Had he intended us to be "covered" he may well have created us differently. And yet here was man - harboring shame for what God had given him.

Now, there is certainly an alternative view to this. After all, ancient Greeks and Romans were known to value the nude form in society - much more than we do today. This would imply that this shame is not innate but rather taught/learned as part of the moral agenda of of those in power - namely those who assembled the passages into what we know as the Bible in the 3rd Century C.E. Never-the-less, it is interesting (to me at least) to consider that the story of The Fall may in fact be nothing more than a simple metaphor for the natural development of humans in society - rather than an actual implication that God did not intend for us to "know morality".

Then again, I could be completely wrong...