Is it a sin to seek knowledge?

[Gnostic Christian Bishop]

Is it a sin to seek knowledge?

Is it a sin to want to open one’s eyes instead of being blind?

Is it a sin to do as scriptures urge us to do?

Matthew 5:48 Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.

Gen 3:2 And the Lord God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil:

Adam and Eve were doing exactly what we are all told by scriptures to do, yet God seemed quite upset.

Why is seeking knowledge and ignoring a vile command to remain in ignorant bliss wrong or a sin?

Are you sinning when you seek knowledge and becoming more like God?

Regards
DL

 

[paf_2]

Not that I believe in the story of Adam and Eve well not all of it that is, we are forgetting the bigger picture here. God told them not to eat the fruit from that tree, it was considered the forbidden fruit. Some say it was the tree of knowledge and maybe it was. Perhaps in the Garden of Eden God was content to let Adam and Eve be dependent on him and therefore wanted them to remain innocent without knowledge. When they ate from the tree, they were no longer innocent, and now had to be cast out to take care of themselves because they had knowledge to do so. In a way when I think of this story it sort of like a perent with their own kid. Parent's raise them try to keep them innocent, but as they grow older and gain knowledge it comes times for them to go out on their own to find their own way.

As for seeking knowledge being a sin because of this story, I don't think so. I think God wants us to seek knowledge, we now have free will to do so, and doing so does make us more capable of tackling life on a whole. That is if we use the knowledge for good.

 

[Gnostic Christian Bishop]

Not that I believe in the story of Adam and Eve well not all of it that is, we are forgetting the bigger picture here. God told them not to eat the fruit from that tree, it was considered the forbidden fruit. Some say it was the tree of knowledge and maybe it was. Perhaps in the Garden of Eden God was content to let Adam and Eve be dependent on him and therefore wanted them to remain innocent without knowledge. When they ate from the tree, they were no longer innocent, and now had to be cast out to take care of themselves because they had knowledge to do so. In a way when I think of this story it sort of like a perent with their own kid. Parent's raise them try to keep them innocent, but as they grow older and gain knowledge it comes times for them to go out on their own to find their own way.

As for seeking knowledge being a sin because of this story, I don't think so. I think God wants us to seek knowledge, we now have free will to do so, and doing so does make us more capable of tackling life on a whole. That is if we use the knowledge for good.

Would you say that God was justified then in punishing A & E for basically growing up and should the serpent have been punished at all?

Regards
DL

 

[cashmcall]

Questioning something, even the Bible is never a bad thing, and don’t ever let anyone tell you otherwise!

Test everything. Hold on to the good. (1 Thessalonians 5:21)

"Come now, and let us reason together

Questions in your faith walk is natural, and should be expected, never shunned. The desire for knowledge should be applauded and pursued with everything in you.

 

[Jason76]

The scriptures command people to seek knowledge with God's help. Seeking knowledge on your own will incite help for Satan, whether you asked for the help or not. Actually, that's the main point of the Bible. God wants people to be dependent on him, rather than on themselves. Well, for one thing, depending on yourself can be dangerous because the Bible states, "Satan is a roaring lion. Seeking whomever he may devour.". Also, the idea of a sinister Satan gives justification for Christ's promotion of the flock or sheep idea. In other words, the Christians are to follow the shepard who protects them from the wolf.

 

[Gnostic Christian Bishop]

Questioning something, even the Bible is never a bad thing, and don’t ever let anyone tell you otherwise!

Test everything. Hold on to the good. (1 Thessalonians 5:21)

"Come now, and let us reason together

Questions in your faith walk is natural, and should be expected, never shunned. The desire for knowledge should be applauded and pursued with everything in you.

I take it you think God did not do the moral thing in Eden then. Right?

Regards
DL

 

[Gnostic Christian Bishop]

The scriptures command people to seek knowledge with God's help. Seeking knowledge on your own will incite help for Satan, whether you asked for the help or not. Actually, that's the main point of the Bible. God wants people to be dependent on him, rather than on themselves. Well, for one thing, depending on yourself can be dangerous because the Bible states, "Satan is a roaring lion. Seeking whomever he may devour.". Also, the idea of a sinister Satan gives justification for Christ's promotion of the flock or sheep idea. In other words, the Christians are to follow the shepard who protects them from the wolf.

God was not there and in fact placed Satan there to insure that A & E ate.

Why did your God set up such a trap?

Regards
DL

 

[Charles Franklin]

Would you say that God was justified then in punishing A & E for basically growing up and should the serpent have been punished at all?

Regards
DL

I understand your perspective; however I would disagree with the premise that comes from. Based on your reply, you are suggesting that the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil represented a maturity. I would argue that it doesn't. The knowledge that Adam and Eve gained by eating of the Tree did not come with understanding. To know something and to understanding something can sometimes be world of a difference.

I am a little ambivalent about the punishment of the serpent (but I don't know all of the details). If the serpent somehow allowed the Devil in, that would be a cause for punishment. We aren't told the details, only that the "serpent" tempted. We don't know who or what the serpent is and why it even bothered to talk in the first place. What is a precedent that recurs throughout Genesis is the use of one being to represent all of that being's descendants. For example, Adam and Eve represented mankind in Creation, Noah represented mankind in the Flood, the sons of Israel represented tribes of Israel. So, it's not out of character for God to punish the descendants of a being because the sins of that being's ancestor.

What we don't know is why, how, or in what circumstances the serpent got involved.

 

[Gnostic Christian Bishop]

I understand your perspective; however I would disagree with the premise that comes from. Based on your reply, you are suggesting that the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil represented a maturity. I would argue that it doesn't. The knowledge that Adam and Eve gained by eating of the Tree did not come with understanding. To know something and to understanding something can sometimes be world of a difference.

I am a little ambivalent about the punishment of the serpent (but I don't know all of the details). If the serpent somehow allowed the Devil in, that would be a cause for punishment. We aren't told the details, only that the "serpent" tempted. We don't know who or what the serpent is and why it even bothered to talk in the first place. What is a precedent that recurs throughout Genesis is the use of one being to represent all of that being's descendants. For example, Adam and Eve represented mankind in Creation, Noah represented mankind in the Flood, the sons of Israel represented tribes of Israel. So, it's not out of character for God to punish the descendants of a being because the sins of that being's ancestor.

What we don't know is why, how, or in what circumstances the serpent got involved.

Correct and that means we can only go by the script and not add to it as scriptures tell us not to do.

The script tells us that the serpent is just a serpent and not one that can talk without supernatural help.

Most Christian dogma and tradition says that the serpent/dragon/Satan was cast out of heaven and onto the earth.

I can agree that adam, means society but that does not show how a serpent can talk and the script does say that Eve was deceived.

If serpents cannot talk then that leaves only God or Satan that could have controlled the serpent. Right?

Regards
DL

P.S.
Ezekiel 18:20 The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.

You would not punish a child for what his parent did so I do not know why you think God would be such a prick.

 

[Charles Franklin]

Correct and that means we can only go by the script and not add to it as scriptures tell us not to do.

The script tells us that the serpent is just a serpent and not one that can talk without supernatural help.

Most Christian dogma and tradition says that the serpent/dragon/Satan was cast out of heaven and onto the earth.

I can agree that adam, means society but that does not show how a serpent can talk and the script does say that Eve was deceived.

If serpents cannot talk then that leaves only God or Satan that could have controlled the serpent. Right?

Regards
DL

P.S.
Ezekiel 18:20 The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.

You would not punish a child for what his parent did so I do not know why you think God would be such a prick.

Thank you for bring up great points! I agree that something supernatural had to happen for the serpent to talk. Beyond that, we are not told how or why.

Also, you would think Eve and Adam would be a little on guard if they saw an animal talking them!

Anyway, I do agree with you that it would seem unfair that God punished descendants for an ancestor's mistake, I agree with you and the verse you use to prove this. I would add, however, that God never said that the descendants wouldn't have to live with the consequences of the sins of their ancestors, even if they aren't directly punished by God.

As an example, our descendants will have to live with the consequences if we keep pursuing a path toward irreversible climate change.

 

[Gnostic Christian Bishop]

Thank you for bring up great points! I agree that something supernatural had to happen for the serpent to talk. Beyond that, we are not told how or why.

Also, you would think Eve and Adam would be a little on guard if they saw an animal talking them!

Anyway, I do agree with you that it would seem unfair that God punished descendants for an ancestor's mistake, I agree with you and the verse you use to prove this. I would add, however, that God never said that the descendants wouldn't have to live with the consequences of the sins of their ancestors, even if they aren't directly punished by God.

As an example, our descendants will have to live with the consequences if we keep pursuing a path toward irreversible climate change.

We are told why the serpent was made to talk. To deceive Eve. Why else would the authors of this myth put the great tempter beside Eve if not to play it's role.

The myth when read the way it was meant to be read is quite good. The Jews saw Eden as our elevation but when Christianity usurped it they changed the moral of the story to a fall.

"As an example, our descendants will have to live with the consequences if we keep pursuing a path toward irreversible climate change."

We do not know what is reversible or not and whether climate change will ultimately be good for us or not.

In Canada, for instance, our tree line is going further north and a lot of good land will become available to us. I do recognize that desertification and sea rise will negatively effect many but we stupidly built by our water sources way back when and redressing that stupidity might save the world for all we can know at present.

Regards
DL

 

[Jason76]

God was not there and in fact placed Satan there to insure that A & E ate.

Why did your God set up such a trap?

Regards
DL

Perhaps the answer is from a quote from the movie Oh God Book II. George Burns, who is playing God, tells a child that good cannot exist without evil. In other words, he was saying it was built into the system. Therefore, people have to deal with it. However, there is another explanation. Jehovah's Witnesses believe God wants to prove he is a righteous ruler by testing his creation. Therefore, God allows evil to exist in the present age.

 

[cashmcall]

I take it you think God did not do the moral thing in Eden then. Right?

Regards
DL

His way's are not my way's, and mine are not his.. You have a lot to learn

 

[Gnostic Christian Bishop]

Perhaps the answer is from a quote from the movie Oh God Book II. George Burns, who is playing God, tells a child that good cannot exist without evil. In other words, he was saying it was built into the system. Therefore, people have to deal with it. However, there is another explanation. Jehovah's Witnesses believe God wants to prove he is a righteous ruler by testing his creation. Therefore, God allows evil to exist in the present age.

Only a God who is not absentee can prove he is a righteous ruler. A God who only speaks through humans is showing that only a human is fit to rule humans.

Why anyone would want an invisible absentee alien for a God is beyond me.

Moral humans would tell that God to shove his tests because, if he is the bible God, man has already improved our laws over and above whatever he has taught. That God is a vile demiurge

Regards
DL

 

[Gnostic Christian Bishop]

His way's are not my way's, and mine are not his.. You have a lot to learn

Who are you to judge that?

As above so below.

Just you rejection of his ways is showing your faith.

Regards
DL