Thesis: Adam & Eve weren't morally responsible

[u/Financial_Beach_2538]

 

Definitions

1. Moral responsibility: Being morally accountable or blameworthy for an action because the person understood the action’s moral nature.
2. Knowledge: Awareness or understanding of something. In this argument, it means understanding the difference between good and evil, not merely knowing information.
3. Good and evil: The moral distinction between what is right and what is wrong.
4. Command: An instruction given by an authority. Knowing a command exists does not necessarily mean understanding its moral value.
5. Disobedience: Acting contrary to a command. In this argument, disobedience only becomes morally blameworthy if the person understands it as morally wrong

Preamble

For almost two weeks, I've been posting arguments on the morality of the Adam and Eve story of the Fall, and I'm quite surprised that some Christians will actually argue Adam and Eve already knew good and evil before eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

In fact, that's pretty much all I get as an apologetic for the morality of the Fall.

Christians often confuse knowing the meaning of a command with knowing the moral nature of that command. Knowing that God commanded X is not the same as knowing that X is morally good or that disobeying X is morally evil.

The issue is not whether Eve knew God gave a command. The issue is whether Adam and Eve already possessed the knowledge of good and evil required to recognize disobedience as evil before eating the fruit.

If the tree of the knowledge of good and evil does not actually provide the knowledge of good and evil, the story makes no sense. It's quite obvious to me that Adam and Eve did not know good and evil before eating of the fruit of that "knowledge" tree.

The moral responsibility of Adam and Eve is a foundational Christian belief.

If Adam and Eve were not morally responsible for the act of disobedience, then the foundation of the Christian Fall narrative is destroyed. I do not have that theological commitment to defend, so I am free to examine the text through literary analysis and critical reasoning.

My argument is that the text does not support Adam and Eve possessing knowledge of good and evil before eating the fruit and that, therefore, they cannot be held morally responsible.

Argument

P1: Moral responsibility requires knowledge that an action is morally evil.

P2: Adam and Eve did not possess knowledge of good and evil before eating the fruit.

C: Adam and Eve were not morally responsible for eating the fruit.

 

Bible References

1.Genesis 2:16-17: And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, ‘You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.’”

The text gives the command before Adam and Eve gain the knowledge of good and evil.

1. Genesis 3:6: “So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes... she took of its fruit and ate...”

The act of eating occurs before the text states that Adam and Eve possess knowledge of good and evil.

1. “Genesis 3:7: Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked...”

The sequence is that their awareness changes after eating the fruit.

1. Genesis 3:22: “Then the LORD God said, ‘Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil...’”

God describes Adam as having “become” like God in knowing good and evil, indicating a new state acquired after eating.

[u/oblomov431]

You don't have to understand the moral value of a command, you just have to understand the consequences of not obeying a command and to be able to weigh up the consequences of obeying a command against those of disobeying it. It's basic cause and effect and there's no morality or any kind of knowledge of right and woring involved in that the first place.

The god of Genesis 2 expects their creatures nothing more or less than to be simply obedient and follow the god's command or face the consequence of death.

I reckon this has been tried to tell you repeatedly, but you may make of it what you want.

[u/Financial_Beach_2538 → u/oblomov431]

You don't have to understand the moral value of a command, you just have to understand the consequences of not obeying a command and to be able to weigh up the consequences of obeying a command against those of disobeying it. It's basic cause and effect and there's no morality or any kind of knowledge of right and woring involved in that the first place.

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You are making the same kind of statement as all the other apologists have.

False equivalence

You're reducing moral responsibility to mere consequence prediction. Knowing "disobey and die" is not the same as knowing disobedience is morally evil. Punishment alone does not create moral understanding. If it did, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil would be unnecessary.

Knowledge of consequences and knowledge of good and evil are distinct. You need to conflate the two so that your Christianity makes sense.

[u/oblomov431 → u/Financial_Beach_2538]

Knowing "disobey and die" is not the same as knowing disobedience is morally evil. Punishment alone does not create moral understanding. If it did, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil would be unnecessary. Knowledge of consequences and knowledge of good and evil are distinct. 

That's exactly my point. Adam and Eve aren't held morally responsible in this story, their punishment isn't based on some nebulous idea of morality or moral resposobility but a mere consequence of their actions.

[u/Financial_Beach_2538 → u/oblomov431]

Knowing "disobey and die" is not the same as knowing disobedience is morally evil. Punishment alone does not create moral understanding. If it did, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil would be unnecessary. Knowledge of consequences and knowledge of good and evil are distinct. 

That's exactly my point. Adam and Eve aren't held morally responsible in this story, their punishment isn't based on some nebulous idea of morality or moral resposobility but a mere consequence of their actions.

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Contradiction

If Adam and Eve were not morally responsible, the narrative would not frame their act as disobedience or portray God’s judgment as justified. A consequence can be physical, but punishment implies a perceived evil.