God of Adam a Contemporary Critique

By George Padanilam

But for the commandment of God in the Garden of Eden, ‘not to eat of fruit of the Tree of Good and Evil,’ Adam would not have paid attention to the fruit of that tree. The threat that he would die if he ate that fruit created fear and, at the same time, great curiosity in his mind. When the serpent told, if they ate of that fruit they would become like God, Eve was tempted and ate the forbidden fruit and gave it to Adam. As soon as he ate it he became guilty and became aware of his nakedness. They covered up the nakedness with fig leaves and hid themselves from God. When God asked Adam, ‘who told you you are naked; did you eat the fruit of the tree of good and evil?’ Adam thought he could hide himself and the mistake he committed from the sight of God. Instead of accepting responsibility for his action he put the blame on God, saying, ‘the woman you gave as companion gave me the fruit and I ate it.’ When asked, Eve blamed the serpent.
God became incredibly angry and cursed the serpent, the woman, and Adam and created permanent enmity among them. In place of the fig leaves he placed garments of skin to cover up their nakedness and told them that they were dust and unto dust they would return. He kicked them out of the Garden and put guards of angels at the entrance to prevent the re-entry of the evicted criminals. Adam and his descendants, all their life, try to cover up their nakedness and hide their shame-fullness, expecting punishment for the mistake they committed. Through the ages, the guilt which was strongly induced through the drastic punishment God gave, prompted them to commit greater sins and prove to themselves to be condemned sinners deserving severe punishment.
Jesus taught that God is love and forgiveness is correction, through the Parable of the Prodigal Son. Jesus told that the Father in Heaven knows the Truth. Regardless of the mistake his son committed, the Truth that he is His son, remained true. He knew the mistake that the son committed would not change that Truth. He knew that when the son recognized the Truth, he would return home. The Father paid no attention to the mistake the son committed and accepted him into the house wholeheartedly, celebrating his return.
Jesus taught that through forgiveness guilt could be transcended and the Original State of Mind (Innocence) could be regained and celebrate life in its fullness thereafter.

• Language: English
• Publisher: George Padanilam
• Release date: Jul 29, 2022
• ISBN: 9781005595036

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GOD OF ADAM

A CONTEMPORARY CRITIQUE

Dr. George Padanilam

Copyright 2022 Dr. George Padanilam

This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment. If you would like to share it with like-minded people, feel free to do so. Your valuable comments of its contents would be highly appreciated.

Recognition of how the specially designed religious curriculum and teaching have made life miserable for the guilt-ridden may help some to break out of these suffocating indoctrinations. The emotional and the demonic expressions of curse, anger, and punishment can only be expressed by a primitive God in the cloak of a Feudal Lord. Freedom of thought demands freedom within religion and a concept of God based on love. Throughout the book there are logical arguments against the concept of inflated guilt which destroys the self-confidence of mankind.

Joseph Scaria

Assistant Professor, S.B.College

Changanacherry, Kerala, India

The story of the fall of Adam in the Garden of Eden is a metaphorical presentation of the evolving psychodynamics of mankind.

Create a sinner, convince him of his sinfulness, teach it is essential to seek redemption and salvation, guide him to salvation and become the saviour. On this tall pedestal is elevated and kept invisible, the ubiquitous and pervasive power that strangles and suffocates all the ‘well-meaning people’ of the world.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1. What happened in the Garden of Eden?

Chapter 2. What is the Original Sin?

Chapter 3. The layers of the Original Sin

Chapter 4. Whatever happens, happens!

Chapter 5. The God who denies responsibility

Chapter 6. Why be shy?

Chapter 7. Distorted perception of ‘Distortion’ and ‘Weakness’

Chapter 8. Curse, Anger, Punishment

Chapter 9. Transcendence of guilt

About the Author

Other Books by the Author

How to contact the Author

I

What happened in Eden?

In the book of Genesis, it is recorded that God created man from dust and breathed life into his nostrils and subsequently placed him in the garden of Eden, with freedom to enjoy all the luxury available there. Subsequently, he was forbidden to eat the fruit of the tree of knowledge with the warning that, the day he ate it he would be dead. But tempted by the serpent and Eve Adam ate the fruit of the tree and that made God incredibly angry. God punished Adam and Eve and kicked them out of the Garden of Eden and placed Angels at the entrance to prevent their re-entry.

Saint Paul said: Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and that death came through sin, and death spread to all because all have sinned. (Romans 5:12)¹. It is a firm belief, widely held by the Jews, Christians and Muslims, that God punished Adam and Eve and the subsequent generations because of the disobedience in the Garden of Eden.

It is a legitimate question to ask why God gave such a severe punishment to Adam and Eve for committing such an apparently silly crime. People have committed heinous crimes after the time of Adam but there is no record that God punished them as severely as Adam was.

Hitler mercilessly killed 6 million Jews and 10 million Gypsies without any apparent crimes. In 1994, the genocide in Ruanda and Burundi annihilated millions of people. In an area called the Darfur in Sudan, millions of people were killed, and their houses were burned down, and the survivors evicted from there. There is no evidence that any of these horrible crimes incensed God to the extent of punishing the miscreants as he did in the Garden of Eden. It is recorded that it was that same God who led the fight against the native tribes of Israel during the onslaught on Jericho by Joshua and the Israel army.

According to the Hebrew Bible God has given Abraham and his descendants plenty of worldly wealth. Thus, money and wealth are depicted in it as symbols of the grace of God. Criminals and people committing crimes and genocides seemed to find special favor with that God. In the past, there were many who earned respect and prominence in society expropriating the properties of the poor with the connivance of those in power. The mafia leaders destroy people unprepared or afraid to fight. Everywhere the ruling class conducts themselves as dignitaries in the society strengthening their positions and weakening their opponents in every way possible.

The truth is that many struggle to blindly believe in a supernatural force that does not pay any attention to the constant suffering and mistreatment of the exploited or persecuted.

We preach a God that is just and rewards those performing good deeds and punishes those who commit crimes. At the same time, many people think that God is on the side of those involved in sowing havoc. The pleading for help by broken families and the tears of a society in tragedy begging kindness often go unheeded tarnishing the image of a just God. It is quite legitimate to ask what happened to the sense of justice of the God who punished Adam severely and permanently for a trivial transgression! What is the reasonable answer to that question?

The gravity of a crime changes from time to time. Many things that were once unthinkable are not only repeated by people in public places today but also hailed often as symbols of progress. Some accuse God of being helpless, acting as if it does not matter to him at all. Others mock that, over time, God also has become a progressive thinker.

The Concept of God

If the story of creation as narrated in the book of Genesis is taken literally, different and, sometimes, contrary conclusions can be arrived at. The unpredictable natural calamities like thunderstorms, earthquakes, tornadoes frightened people to the point of concluding that some invisible and almighty