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From: cmk@phs.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.religion
Subject: Garden of Eden
Message-ID: <1729@phs.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 15-Jun-83 07:41:56 EDT
Article-I.D.: phs.1729
Posted: Wed Jun 15 07:41:56 1983
Date-Received: Sat, 18-Jun-83 21:02:55 EDT
Lines: 22


	The last time I started a discussion on this net, a lot of people
dumped all over me like a ton of bricks.  Being a slow learner, let's try
it again.

	Doing some reading on the creation/evolution thing started me thinking
on Genesis in general, and Adam and Eve in the garden in particular.  My
question is this:  Adam and Eve were instructed not to eat of the fruit
of the tree lest, as memory serves, they die.  The subsequently did eat,
and, as we all know, did not die.  Therefore,

	1.  Was God lying when he said they would die?
	2.  If he was not lying, was he speaking symbolically?  If so, why
		is symbolism here OK, but not when we speak of the creation
		story and the "days of creation"?
	3.  If the Garden of Eden was supposed to be a perfect place, how
		does one explain the existence there of something I would
		call an imperfection, namely the fear of death?

Comments welcomed.

Chuck