Healthy Limits – Genesis 3:1-15
There is such a rich and diverse history of interpretation of the story of Adam and Eve eating from the tree of knowledge of good and evil that if would hardly fit into one sermon. So I am wondering what Eve and Adam have to say to us today? I very much understand Eve’s quest for knowledge when she reaches out for the fruit – I also wonder if there can be something like too much knowledge? Knowledge that leads to death rather than life? When God explains to Adam about the garden and the trees, God says: “You may freely 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 die.” (Gen 2:16b-17) Adam and Eve do not die right away after eating the fruit, but their son Cain is the first murderer we know of. He kills his brother Abel. And that is just the beginning! Later in the book of Genesis, God sees that the wickedness of humankind was great in the earth and that every inclination of the thoughts of their hearts was only evil continually (Genesis 6:5). The knowledge of evil seems to have had a destructive effect on our early ancestors. Can there be something like too much knowledge? What are the healthy limits of our quest for knowledge? What areas of knowledge are life bringing? What areas of knowledge are death-dealing?
Rev. Kristin-Luana Baumann, sermon, Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, Port Angeles WA.
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