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Sunday, December 5, 2010

Naked Adam & Eve

I'm reading at mass this week. Hopefully I'll be the one to read the following:



Gn 3:9-15, 20
After the man, Adam, had eaten of the tree,
the LORD God called to the man and asked him, “Where are you?”
He answered, “I heard you in the garden;
but I was afraid, because I was naked,
so I hid myself.”
Then he asked, “Who told you that you were naked?
You have eaten, then,
from the tree of which I had forbidden you to eat!”
The man replied, “The woman whom you put here with me
she gave me fruit from the tree, and so I ate it.”
The LORD God then asked the woman,
“Why did you do such a thing?”
The woman answered, “The serpent tricked me into it, so I ate it.”
Then the LORD God said to the serpent:
“Because you have done this, you shall be banned
from all the animals
and from all the wild creatures;
on your belly shall you crawl,
and dirt shall you eat
all the days of your life.
I will put enmity between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and hers;
he will strike at your head,
while you strike at his heel.”
The man called his wife Eve,
because she became the mother of all the living.

There are many perspectives and interpretations about the nakedness of Adam and Eve. God did not clothe them. The roamed freely amongst the garden naked and never thought anything about it. When they ate the forbidden fruit they suddenly were ashamed of themselves and hid behind the covering of plants. Many interpret this as a sign that nakedness equals sin. If that is so then why would God have them running around naked in the first place? One explanation I've heard and tend to agree with, is that Adam and Eve were ashamed of their sin of disobedience by eating of the fruit that God had told them not to eat. So they hid themselves and their shame. Nakedness was not so much a concern about being unclothed but more about being exposed for their sin of disobedience to God. So they hid themselves with plants to cover their shame, not necessarily to cover their bodies. 

13 comments:

  1. That's been my interpretation of Adam and Eve, that they hid and covered themselves in an attempt to hide the same of their sin of disobedience. Since God created them nude and they were nude during their period of innocence, it's obvious that being nude is not sinful. I equate sin with bad behavior, not one's state of dress (or undress).

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  2. Yes, I was just watching this tv show, "Going Tribal" and during some of the previews they show men and women in various stages of dress or undress. I find it fascinating that in some present day societies the human body is recognized as nothing more than a physical representation of the person and exposure of the body is considered normal. While in our society, someone with the desire to be nude is considered indecent. Amazing!

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  3. I should have thought of this before mass, a quote by Pope John Paul II:
    “The human body can remain nude and uncovered and preserve intact its splendor and its beauty… Nakedness as such is not to be equated with physical shamelessness… Immodesty is present only when nakedness plays a negative role with regard to the value of the person…The human body is not in itself shameful… Shamelessness (just like shame and modesty) is a function of the interior of a person.”

    I hope it went well.

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  4. Well, if the POPE says so... But you know he didn't mean it the way we would have liked.

    That aside, you're never going get the idea that 'nude doesn't necessarily mean sex' past the folks who think it does by using logic. They KNOW that seeing someone nude causes the viewer to have uncontrolable urges to couple! It does for THEM, anyway.

    But why should the Bible come into the picture anyway? It's only a book; much translated and edited, that some people think is their particular god's story. It has nothing to do with anything other than that it is used to explain, condemn, or excuse anything that the believer hasn't the mental capacity to figure out on their own.

    It should have no impact on the actions of a free people.

    However, you're not going to convince folks who believe that their god hates nudists that it's really ok, that their god is mistaken.
    Rationality has no place in their world.

    But you CAN lower yourself to their level and twist the Bible's meanings to suit your own. Just like they do. Maybe then you can make them believe that their god likes nudists after all!

    So good luck explaining the difference between body shame and being 'naked' to their god's ability to see into their souls. If they could understand a concept that complex, they'd understand that their god was actually pissed because he knew that with Knowlege, they wouldn't need him.

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  6. Yes, the Bible is used to make a lot of excuses and everything but the original version matches the archeology.

    For example, i've seen many photos of Noah's Ark on Mount Ararat (Turkish government usually restricts access is one reason why the masses are uninformed) & there's shark teeth and shells on mountain tops. The carbon dating (not always accurate) matches the date the Bible says.
    There's photos of chariots under the Red Sea.
    The soil test lab results of Sodom/Gomorrah show the area has been burned tremendously.
    A lot of other archaeology I don't all remember. I'm not saying everything is/isn't true but with enough credible sources or an actual visit then the witness can't deny that the Bible story is at least part true.

    My point is: before simply dismissing and/or criticizing something it's often wiser to know more about it and then decide. I was raised Christian but unlike my family i'm not going to critize the Koran or anything else unless i've studied it forever & find it doesn't add up. Chances are many religions can be part true and some maybe even mostly true, but they should not impact law making. I also won't criticize evolution unless I research it & find enough faults.

    Part of the reason why most scientists stay away from creationism is because some have been fired for making suggestions; also, a lot of people don't want to be/feel inferior to &/or obligated/responsible to a greater power.

    You're right; a lot of Christian groups twist the Bible's sayings to make it easier on themselves & still feel good about escaping a bad place.

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  7. Hi! Great read.
    Cheers,
    Dyna :)
    www.asiandyna.wordpress.com

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  8. Dear Blogger, we miss you. Where have you been? My wife and I have loved your posts. Encore! Please.

    Chester, from Wisconsin. (Where the crocus' are coming out!)

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  9. Thank you Chester and Wife. I'm sorry I've been away. Just got really super busy and had no time to think. Not to mention, very little time to get naked. Thanks for checking in. I'm definitely going to try and make up for some lost time. I guess you could say I was hibernating for the winter.

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  10. ~Asian Dyna,

    Thank you. Hopefully I can add more of what you enjoy. Any ideas? I'm always looking for some inspiration.

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  11. Passages in the book of Genesis seem to speak of the condition of nakedness as being disagreeable or sinful, but if other translators work on the same original text, the outcome is completely different. Howard has a detailed post on this.

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  12. Great read - Yes, agree to your point:

    "Nakedness was not so much a concern about being unclothed but more about being exposed for their sin of disobedience to God. So they (Adam & Eve) hid themselves with plants to cover their shame, not necessarily to cover their bodies.

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  13. How can God be offended by his own creation? Why does man think he/she has the power to offend God? If we profess to accept the Bible as the Word of God (through man's interpretation)we have to accept that God gave mankind the right to choose. If a person chooses nudity, don't blame God for not accepting his/her choice. The only offense is to man's law, regardless of the necessity of such a law.

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