Posted by Gabbix2 on September 14, 2005, at 17:17:09
In reply to Re: Adam Eve gained knowledge, but it turned » Gabbix2, posted by crazy teresa on September 14, 2005, at 9:17:09
> That's not exactly what I meant.
>
> What Adam chose to do was his decision; he could have said, "No thanks, babe, I'm not hungry."According to the Christian interpretation though, eve was punished for tempting Adam, and women were not to be trusted. That's what I was going by According to Martin Luther, ( I think) it was because Eve was made from the rib that turned away from god, it was natural for women to stray from the path of righteousness.
There are many creation stories very similar to that of Adam and Eve, in the ones from the Neolithic/Paleolithic period, when women were considered the equal of men, the snake was considered a symbol of renewal, because a snake sheds it's skin and is "reborn. In these stories "eve" was revered for the birth of knowledge from ignorance.
When patriarchy took hold, these stories and symbols were changed (over hundreds of years) in order to give reason for the subjegation of women. For instance, in the story of Pandora from greek mythology, pandora was given a box and told by the gods she was not to open it, however she gave into temptation and opened the box therefore, bringing evil into the world.
I understand that much of this is a matter of faith and literal interpretation of the story of Genesis, and I do respect that. Mine is a different historical perspective.
poster:Gabbix2
thread:553832
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20050909/msgs/555070.html