Biblically, God never cursed Adam and Eve. The word “curse” appears in the section titles, not in the Hebrew’s story. By removing the unbiblical constraints of perfectionism, God’s “anger” softens into expressions of love, mercy, and forgiveness. That makes a big difference in the story’s message.
The Creator came to the frightened humans gently, just as he had always done, and spoke to them kindly. He knew what they had done. He always knows. God cursed the serpent with words filled with anger. He even ripped limbs off. He cursed the ground, yet placed no curse upon Man or Woman.
Instead, God speaks as if the people are children. He tells them how knowledge and sin will change their lives and their children’s lives. Babies grow larger heads to store larger brains, so producing children becomes more painful. Desire distorts relationships, with people, with the world, and with God. Providing for growing communities causes exhaustion. Upon death, a human body again becomes the dust of its origin.
The next parts of the story stumped me until I removed the unbiblical anger.
Why did the man suddenly name his wife? If God anger burned, why did Adam not wish to be dust again? Instead, Adam was no longer frightened. God’s voice put him at ease, and the man suddenly realized that he was going to be a dad. Ecstatic, he gave his wife a name in honor of their future joy.
Then, instead of immediately expelling those repulsively sin-stained humans, God spent time teaching them how to tan animal hide for clothing. That took time. Only when they were ready did he send them out of the garden.
Contradictions to the popular interpretation continued. God did not stop Cain from murdering his brother. God gave a warning before it happened. Afterward, God spoke gently until a lie came out of the man. Then, God laid out the consequences, which included a curse that changed Cain’s occupation, but did not hurt the man. Again, instead of immediately expelling a murderer, God eased the man’s fears by placing a mark on his forehead. The Creator gave grace freely, not angrily.
The people lived with the consequences of their actions. In everything, God controlled the situations. Yet, religion tells us God hated those he loved. It painted a violent scene of condemnation. It propagates self-loathing and rejection. Where are God’s love, mercy, and forgiveness in such an interpretation?
Biblically, humans gained God-like knowledge and learned lasting shame. This transformation made humans out of animals so that we could be more like Him. Even though we sin, God sees our potential goodness. If we let him, God can use our shame to teach us to act more like him. Each lesson instills love, mercy, and forgiveness, a state that holds no shame.
To be continued:
