Another (boring) day in paradise...

[pgwenthold]

In a different thread in a different section, there has been a discussion of some of the activities that could have gone on in the Garden of Eden (ok, it is about whether A&E had sex, but that is an activity)

But I was wondering, just speculating, assuming there actually was a paradise called the Garden of Eden, just what would go on there all day? What were Adam and Eve doing all the time to keep themselves from being bored?

Of course, this begs lots of questions. For example, presumably before the fall, there wouldn't be such thing as boredom. So does that mean that they could sit around doing nothing and were happy about it?

Could there be hunger before the fall? Yes, probably so, but there wouldn't be any strife in finding food. When they were hungry, they ate. Apparently, food was plentiful available.

So what did they do all day? Unlike heaven, there wasn't God around to bask in his glory all day (he came to visit on occasion, just wandering around).

I'm interested in any serious or even non-serious thoughts on the matter. Maybe they spent their time grooming each other, like apes do...(whoops)

 

[bruto]

In a different thread in a different section, there has been a discussion of some of the activities that could have gone on in the Garden of Eden (ok, it is about whether A&E had sex, but that is an activity)

But I was wondering, just speculating, assuming there actually was a paradise called the Garden of Eden, just what would go on there all day? What were Adam and Eve doing all the time to keep themselves from being bored?

Of course, this begs lots of questions. For example, presumably before the fall, there wouldn't be such thing as boredom. So does that mean that they could sit around doing nothing and were happy about it?

Could there be hunger before the fall? Yes, probably so, but there wouldn't be any strife in finding food. When they were hungry, they ate. Apparently, food was plentiful available.

So what did they do all day? Unlike heaven, there wasn't God around to bask in his glory all day (he came to visit on occasion, just wandering around).

I'm interested in any serious or even non-serious thoughts on the matter. Maybe they spent their time grooming each other, like apes do...(whoops)

Adam was a malcontent from the first. After all, Eve was his idea as much as God's. I suppose naming the animals and all that sort of stuff didn't take very long, but it would have occupied them for a while. And of course there's what any young couple all alone and naked and with nobody to tell them not to might figure out to do. The usual religious take on it is that it wasn't a sin until they knew it was, so there was no reason not to. The religious types would probably insist that in their animal purity they didn't actually have any fun with that odious reproductive chore, but who's to say? I think they went at it like bonobos. But it appears from the story that they did get bored eventually. At least they tried to vary their diet. I think if you look at the Bible story, it's pretty clear that Eden was a bad bet from the start.

 

[Beady]

The usual religious take on it is that it wasn't a sin until they knew it was...

I've always wondered about this. Religious interpretation would have it, then, that there's no such concept as moral turpitude, the legal principle that says a reasonable person can be expected to know whether something is inherently right or wrong regardless of their knowledge of the law.

 

[Beerina]

I've always wondered about this. Religious interpretation would have it, then, that there's no such concept as moral turpitude, the legal principle that says a reasonable person can be expected to know whether something is inherently right or wrong regardless of their knowledge of the law.

Yes, but the point was they didn't have any such knowledge.

I've always felt fascinating this concept of getting smart enough to recognize something is "wrong", because it is counterproductive towards long-term survival. (If people cannot be secure in the crops they grow, for example, always worring about a bunch of loafers stealing their stuff, they won't grow crops, and nobody gains anything.)

But in practical terms, even though a dog will sneak food away from another dog, knowing full well they're risking anger, the emotions supporting "wrongness" were embedded in the mammalian brain long before a human's cranium grew to enormous size and was even remotely capable of the foresight needed to have "knowledge of good and evil".

 

[bruto]

Yes, but the point was they didn't have any such knowledge.

I've always felt fascinating this concept of getting smart enough to recognize something is "wrong", because it is counterproductive towards long-term survival. (If people cannot be secure in the crops they grow, for example, always worring about a bunch of loafers stealing their stuff, they won't grow crops, and nobody gains anything.)

But in practical terms, even though a dog will sneak food away from another dog, knowing full well they're risking anger, the emotions supporting "wrongness" were embedded in the mammalian brain long before a human's cranium grew to enormous size and was even remotely capable of the foresight needed to have "knowledge of good and evil".

You're not supposed actually to think about this stuff you know. That's what got them into trouble in the first place.

 

[Beady]

Yes, but the point was they didn't have any such knowledge.

So, it's not a sin unless you know it is; you won't know what sin is until you sin.

That's a point?

 

[The Darkest One]

So, it's not a sin unless you know it is; you won't know what sin is until you sin.

That's a point?

Sounds like an idea for a new game show. Sin, or not Sin

 

[DangerousBeliefs]

You're not supposed actually to think about this stuff you know. That's what got them into trouble in the first place.

Good point. The more you actually -think- about these kinds of issues, the more they fall apart.

If the Bible was a kid's version with few words and many pictures, I think the Christians would be better off.

 

[icantlogoff]

I wonder if the saying;

The Devil makes work for idle hands....

See its God fault they sinned, if he had kept them busy, the devil wouldn't have be able to tempt them.


Came from Eden

 

[pgwenthold]

Good point. The more you actually -think- about these kinds of issues, the more they fall apart.

Why do you think I asked? It makes no sense to me.

In the original thread, I asked whether there was a consensus about whether Adam and Eve had sex in the Garden. Piggy's response was basically, sure, why wouldn't they?

I brought up the issue of overpopulation. Assuming that they were intended to be given the Garden for eternity, and there was no death before the fall, where was everyone going to go? Even a small birthrate will overpopulate the earth before eternity has passed. So how is that to be avoided:

1) Adam and Eve did not procreate. There are a couple ways this could be
a) sex did not result in pregnancy before the fall; that's a possibility
b) they did not have sex
2) God did not intend them to be there for eternity. That requires
a) God was using his knowledge that they would be booted when he put them there in the first place; of course, that means he set them up
b) God didn't intend them to be there for eternity, and was going to move them elsewhere eventually
3) There was death before the fall - not very consistent with GoE theology

Are there other possibilities?

Is there a agreed upon theological explanation for how to resolve this problem? There is some bible support (Gen 3:16) for the notion that reproduction was possible before the fall. God tells Eve that he will "increase her pain in childbirth." This could be interpreted as meaning that there was already some pain in childbirth before the fall, which requires that there was childbirth before the fall. However, it can alternatively be interepreted as "I will increase your pain, in childbirth," where this new concept of childbirth is his method of increasing her pain.

I would hope that theologians over the years would have recognized this potential problem (they argue over whether Adam and Even had bellybuttons, for petes sake) and probably have an answer somewhere.