“Knowledge” as we have come to know the term today is desirable for us to obtain. We spend years studying at school to become more knowledgeable, so then why is this “Knowledge” forbidden in Genesis? From reading Legaspi’s “The First Knowers” it becomes clear that knowledge as we know it today is not what God was forbidding. He forbade specifically the “knowledge of good and evil” which in human hands is a derivative form of subjective judgement which clouds our true understanding. 

So, why is eating the forbidden action? Why not touching or looking? According to Legaspi, eating holds special significance in the Bible by setting man as a dependent upon nourishment. Because this nourishment can either be provided or withheld by God it sets up this essential “test” of man’s obedience. Additionally, I believe it may be important that it was fruit from a tree, because man was permitted to eat fruits and vegetables while animals fed on grasses. This is important because the test was only for man, not for other animals who did not feed on other fruits.

Adam and Eve clearly disobeyed God’s simple command to them, and yet their act was more than simple disobedience. They acted in an attempt to elevate their own status up to God himself, just as the serpent tempted them. But not only did their attempt fail, it worked in the opposite way, making them less god-like. They lost their ability to directly understand the essence of things by clouding it with the judgements of knowledge. They became subject to death, pain, and other struggles. 

But all is not lost for humanity with their fall. Adam and Eve are banished from the Garden, but this may in fact have been a merciful act by God. Although barred from the tree of life, it is not destroyed meaning that their descendents would have hope of redemption. Humanity is left fallen but not destroyed. 

Genesis 1:1-2:4 gives us a widely known account of creation. In it, God lovingly and carefully crafts each individual component of creation and each in turn is recognized by him as “good”. After this, he created man and places him in charge of all of these things he just created as the steward of creation. Finally, it says that God rested on the final, seventh day.

Everything that God does in this passage is with distinct purpose and care, and I think that this account is meant to show that although God formed the world from Chaos by bringing Order, it was not an accident. I think this reading establishes that all that we know did not come into being by some random accident or chance. It was the result of the commands of God that these things came to be, although not in short six days as Genesis describes. So, if the six days were not meant to be an accurate account of the time it took, why is it written that way? My guess would be that the six day structure relates creation to how humans already experience the world and it allows for a template of comparison between sets of days — specifically the first and fourth, the second and fifth, and the third and sixth. When taken as pairs we can see more about how God created the world from chaos, by creating form and then filling it.

This reading also imparts the meaning of being human by defining man as being created in “the image of God” as “male and female” and giving them “dominion” over the earth, thus setting them in a higher position than the other animals. It explains why we as humans are special, but how we are still dependent upon God as just images of him. I also think that our Creation in God’s image explains why this account says that God rested on the seventh day. God is our example, and in taking time to “rest” he shows that we too must take time to rest from daily labours to spend time in worship.

It is clear that this account is not meant to be scientific or historic, but is rather meant to convey to readers the fundamental importance of our existence as created beings tasked by our Creator to protect all things which he created with love and care.