My blog (OU): Week 2: Reading Diary

These are my favorite stories from the Book of Adam and Eve: I think the language used in both books is rather simple yet complicated in the way it is worded.

The creation: The creation of the four rivers this sparked an interest in me as I imagined them to possibly be what we know as the pacific, Atlantic and the Indian ocean today. I thought it was rather selfless of God being the creator of all to allow Adam to name everything. Another thing that I thought of was the equity and thought god put into the creation of Eve from a chaste and median part of Adam. In return Adam so her as an equal “ this is now bone of my bones..”, as we should be protective of our loved ones as clothes to our own bones as described by Adam in this book.

The Fall: The dialect between the serpant and Eve meant that creatures and humans at the time were able to communicate. When Eve fed Adam the fruit from the tree it is as if their innocence was stripped away from them as they came to see each other in a light which they had not seen before and they now know there is a good and evil. It is also interesting that the way serpants (snakes) move now is slithering on their bellies and according to this text they may have possessed limbs which they used to move (as we are introduced to in the fall of man chapter).In this section of the book we are also shown that death has come to existence “ for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return” (i.e buried in the ground and decay). It makes you wonder that had this not happened then there possibly may not be a death as it is a guarantee to us all. It is amazing that (if you are a believer of Adam and Eve or the bible) that the action of two people really impacted the world forever.

The ideal man: The size of Adam and how throughout generations men reduced in size in comparison to the father of man. Could you imagine if we were giants like them I highly doubt there would be enough space on this earth to sustain us. But then again they were probably fewer in population. It is also pretty astonishing that Adam was shown the fate of all mankind, all that was to come and how each generation of man would stray and in return how they would be punished. I would say that Adam as pretty close to god as he shared the secrets of the universe with him.

The story of Lilith and The story of Eve : The reason I put these two stories together is because first and for most I never was aware of Adam having a wife before Eve. But also because these two women couldn't be more opposite one another.

The punishment: To think that before they ate for the tree that was forbidden from them they didn’t feel sadness or any negative emotion for that matter, but upon sinning against God they were now to feel what we feel today as human – emotions. His height was also taken away from him as he was made to shrink (reminds me of honey I shrunk the kids). Throughout these stories we see how just, loving and forgiving god is even if man disobeys him. Also the change in Adams character is quite shocking as he was someone that was oozed piety but instead he returns god favors with slanderous talks amongst the people of the heavens. I think this is an example of how ungrateful we as humans will always be. It is also ironic that from the beginning of time that man will always lust over or desire what we don’t have or are forbidden to have. Sort of like, as children when our parents tell us we can’t have something it makes us want it evens more.All that was created was to suffer as a result of the sin. What interests me is how this story brings together the moon as we see it today dependent on the sun of the light, as we all know the scientific explanation but the bible says the moon lacks light as it laughed when everything else whipped and as a result this would be its punishment.

Entering the cave of treasures: Here we see that God used Adam as an example to mankind, that he will teach us of his and Eve’s mistake in order that we may be guided into obeying the creator. We also see a sense of mistrust from Adam towards God, as they now believe god changed the appearance of the tree which led to them eating from it. And they perceive the cave a punishment a prison as this is not the lavish life and surrounding they were created in to.

The darkness & The sunrise and the serpent: I have connected these two stories as they finally experience their first solar evolution. They finally experience their first night of darkness as the sun has set. But they do not know of the meaning of this so they think it’s another punishment from god. We have really come a long way in terms of understanding the world around us. Could you imagine being placed on a strange land that does things you have never seen before? Which is why Adam probably thought the sun was god and that it was sent to burn him.