because without knowledge your innocent and don't know right from wrong so you can't sin, just like a baby, but i would have eaten the fruit of knowledge as well

Fabulous question! Really, that's a good one! Per that verse in Genesis, however, it wasn't the desire for knowledge that was a no-no, or even knowledge itself, but they were commanded to stay away from the mechanism of knowledge of good and evil. Why? Because it would...and did...mess up the relationship.

---- slightly MODIFIED ---- 1) I am glad Adam and Eve committed that "Original Sin", actually. Otherwise none of us would be here. Anyway, I don't think that it happened that way... 2) The desire of knowledge is generally a good thing. However, too much curiosity about other people's business is mostly bad. Everyone of us has probably to have their own experience, even if we don't always do what we are supposed to do. This is the best way of learning what is really good for us. "Learning by doing".

Because God wanted a couple of non breeding pets. [Yup I can just see the nutters about to hit me with negatives now. How low can I go?]

The short answer is: those with power over you don't want you questioning WHY or whether they SHOULD have power over you...

Where did you hear that? That is false. Knowledge is actually encouraged in the Bible- Study to show thyself approved unto God. knowledge is not necessarily the truth. Adam and Eve gained from the serpent the knowledge of being deceived and not much more. The best knowledge is the one that brings us closer to the truth.

no worries mate... see ya in hell

Fantastic question! I've wondered about it a lot so here's my 2 cents: . God consistently punishes the pursuit on knowledge VERY severely. He tossed Satan out of heaven for asking question (seeking answers). He tossed A&E out of paradise for basically the same thing - and went on to punish their descendants for ever after. . In the NT, though he does mellow out he still demands people believe when presumably, Jesus could have given direct knowledge of his divinity. . And today, long after the miracles seem to have stopped, god, again presumably, could simply give us direct knowledge of his existence, love, and the rest of it and thus avoid needless sectarian violence like that in Iraq and what was in Ireland not long ago. . So I see two ways of looking at it. . 1st we could examine god and Lucifer from a mythological point of view and try to figure out their motives. Lucifer (the light bringer, interestingly enough) regularly seeks knowledge for himself and anyone he can get to go along. Seeking evidence and being willing to change one's ideas based on what the evidence shows is the key - but it's also dangerous for a deity who actually may not exists or at least be able to exert much (any?) power in this world. So god has to push faith in the absence of supporting evidence and even in the face of evidence to the contrary (like fossils that he planted which only seem millions of years old). . God goes to great lengths to test our faith. He causes or allows pain and suffering to test our faith in his love. He goes to enormous lengths to create a universe that looks like it evolved over billions of years to test our faith that he created it in six days. He needs us faithful and following - like the lambs of god he refers too in the Bible. . The second way to look at it is much simpler. There is no god, or at least not one who's revealed himself in the Bible. That was written by people who wanted a badass boogeyman with which to control a nation and then the world. And for them, questioning The Word is a very bad thing indeed. Men of god have killed those who questioned in was so horrible that they are second only to god's own wrath. . +4

Well, to stupid (well, ignorant) people, most of the things God says and does don't make much sense at all. The very idea of God is a mystery, but a stupid person would not bother to ask questions and just accept the way things seem. It's a good thing to make knowledge seem like the bane of humanity in a book like the Bible, because knowledge is what keeps people away from it. The more you know, the more bullshit you can sniff out. I also wonder why God would punish Adam and Eve for eating from this tree. I know he told them not to, but in order for them to understand the situation, they would have to eat from the tree first. Like I said, bullshit.

I believe that for people to criticize how the Bible says anything, they must read it completely first. One cannot comment from a point of ignorance or fractional knowledge. 'Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that need not be ashamed, rightly dividing the work of truth' The same God that gave us intellect want us to use it! We are told to use our intellect in the verse above. But no matter how many of you philistines argue and second-guess about what God wants, if you've never read the Bible- that's not knowledge- that's ignorance fueled by a smart question ening in a dumb answer. Stupidity is borne out of untruth. Only the truth can set us free.

The Genesis account is part of a much older and ubiquitous mythology. There are various esoteric meanings behind the story. On a related note; Knowledge is power. Organized religion is threatened by free-thinkers and open minds. Control and influence could be jeopardized.

With knowledge, one may be wise, with wisdom, one sees through bullshit, with a bullshit-detector, one realises that the best use for the bible is when one runs out of toilet paper. If, I say, IF there was such a being as a 'god', I think the bible is waaaay off, don't you think an omnipotent, omniscient being would want us to aspire to something greater than blind faith and ignorance?

I like answer from daemonelson. How about this: As Carl Sagan so aptly put it in his book Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors, “After being raised from childhood to believe that our ancestor, our “Creator”, is king of the universe, it is most difficult to now accept that we actually come from the lowest forms…mud, slime, and mindless beings too small to be seen with the naked eye. This concept of a creator, a very old and comfortable conceit, a safe and politically correct view of our world and its creation, has really been crumbling for centuries. Science has provided the greatest service by awakening us to our true circumstances. There is no longer a need to invoke a god, or to explain our existence through a rebellious angel and the almighty. There is no sign, or proof, of divine guidance. Chaos is being turned into order in this universe through laws of nature that we are now able to grasp; motion, gravity, physics, and chemistry.” I have tried to answer the comments but I keep getting an error on page message........so I'll answer them here. genny: The Bible isn't devinely inspired.....as Carl says there is no 'creator." Read these two quotes form "The Good Book". What a sham. Jesus is often described as “A loving God”. In Luke, Chapter 19:27, he is quoted as saying, “Bring all to me who don’t worship me and slay them all before me.” Google this chapter and verse. It’s no different in any language, therefore not subject to interpretation. There are some versions that word it slightly differently, but the meaning is the same. In Leviticus 21:16-23 it is written that the Lord spoke to Moses, “Whosoever he be of thy seed that hath any blemish, let him not approach to offer the bread of God…a blind man, or a lame, or he that hath a flat nose, or men that are broken footed, crook backed, a dwarf, or hath a blemish in his eye, may not come to offer the offerings of the Lord, and profane not my sanctuaries.” It appears that only the perfect specimens of mankind could worship and be blessed.

It wasn't the desire for knowledge. The tree was called the tree of knowledge of good and bad, meaning the person would then decide what was good or bad in their own eyes, not relying on God for instruction or guidance. It was an act of disobedience, not an act of trying to have knowledge or hunger for food. They were choosing for themselves to be apart from God, an act of rebellion, making themselves independent of God.

Like you, I don't think independent thought is bad. If we take the story at face value, we can only conclude that God wanted us to be automatons. I think this story is just another sign of the anti-intellectual tendencies in many very conservative Christian sects (after all, the church went after Galileo).

Do you mean the Adam & Eve story? I'm no expert (or Christian), but the apple tree was the tree of the knowledge *of good and evil*. I think this just refers to the loss of innocence, and starting to do evil. Or, it seems a little advanced compared with the subsequent stories of mean-God in the Old Testament, but I think it could also be an expression of the concept (taught by Buddhism, Taoism, & Jesus) that one shouldn't judge circumstances.

What knowledge do we get from these Biblical quotes? Deuteronomy 22:28, “A virgin girl who was raped is forced to marry the man who raped her.” Revelation 6:13 says, “Stars can fall to earth without destroying it.” Genesis 7-11-8.5, “People and animals can live up to six months inside a sealed vessel that has no ventilation.” Exodus 35:2, the people will be stoned to death for breaking the following rules: Working on the Sabbath; being a stubborn or rebellious son; not being a virgin on your wedding night; if a man rapes an engaged virgin, they are both stoned to death! Matthew 1:23, Luke1:35, “A virgin can be impregnated by a ghost, and remain a virgin.” To demonstrate just how far religious fanatics in the world have come in the last 3,000 years, Osama Bin Laden promised Muhammad Attah, one of the key 9-11 hijackers, 72 Virgins in heaven if he sacrificed his life for Allah. In the Bible, when the Israelites conquered the Midianites, the Lord kept 32,000 virgins as “booty” for God’s warriors, 32 of which were given to the priest. The Lord commanded Moses to give them to Eleazar, the priest. Numbers 31:32-41

One of the things the serpent tempted Eve with was becoming an equal to God. This was a big part of the sin she created. If you look, throughout the Bible, when man tried to do anything that brought him to the same level as God he was "smited".

With knowledge comes reason and with a whiff of that, all myths can be dispelled. Get it? Reason is religion's worst natural enemy

We were created to be perfect or pure the orginal idea was to have Heaven on earth which is the long standing end of the bible talks of Heaven o earth. By being lied to and eating from the Tree of knowledge Adam & Eve orfeited their right to eat from the tree of life which would have made us eternal. God had 1 law and man could not not break it now we have what millions of laws go figure. I'd rather of not had the orginal sin thing my self we were like angels in the flesh befor ethis all went bad.

"So, when Adam and Eve were in the Garden of Eden, if you go for all these fairy tales, that 'evil' woman convinced the man to eat the apple, but the apple came from the Tree of Knowledge. And the punishment that was then handed down, the woman gets to bleed and the guy's got to go to work, is the result of a man desiring, because his woman suggested that it would be a good idea, that he get all the knowledge that was supposedly the property and domain of God. So, that right away sets up Christianity as an anti-intellectual religion. You never want to be that smart. If you're a woman, it's going to be running down your leg, and if you're a guy, you're going to be in the salt mines for the rest of your life. So, just be a dumb fuck and you'll all go to heaven. That's the subtext of Christianity." -Frank Zappa

Because seeking knowledge requires eventually questioning things, which involves thinking outside the box, which might lead to questioning God and religion.

The heart of him that have unerstanding seeketh knowledge: but the mouth of fools feedeth foolishness. many more below here Proverbs2:1-6 Proverbs 2:10 Proverbs 3:13-14 Proverbs 3:35 Prverbs 4:5-7 Proverbs 10:13-14 many more soon. hard to type with one hand.

Biblically speaking, it's bad because you are not supposed to doubt God. When you do you might start to realize that the bible could not possibly be true. I know this because you will go to Hell if you doubt God but pedophiles can repent and go to Heaven. What kind of God would send you to Hell because you don't believe? Seems cruel.

"Do you recall what you disagreed on?" Yes, it was his nuclear winter theory. It was quite a few years ago and I'm afraid I don't remember any detials. It was great just to be so close to him and hear him talk. I do admire him very much.

This is an excellent question. It opens the discussion to belief vs. knowledge. Knowledge and belief are antithetical (opposites). Knowledge transcends belief. Knowledge replaces belief. The more you know, the less you need to believe. Here's something Ann Druyan said about her late husband, Carl Sagan: ● Ann Druyan (Carl Sagan's wife): Asked soon after Carl's death: "Didn't [Sagan] want to believe?" She responded, "He didn't want to believe. He wanted to know."

I don't understand that biblically speaking the desire for knowledge is a horrible thing; where does your question come from?

it was not the tree of knowledge Eva ate from. It was the tree of "knowledge of evil and good."

The bible is quite simply God's heart poured out for all to read. Knowledge is a matter of the mind's understanding; while, connecting with God is a matter of the heart's understanding and connecting with him. The Bible is God's word and his attempt to reconnect with us. Most people struggle to find God because they cannot reconcile the logic of their mind with the aching of their heart. That's why God says " The fool has said in his heart, There is no GOD." Psalms 14:1

Free thought or pursuit of knowledge is very dangerous to existing belief systems which cannot backup their claims.

In Christianity, we are taught to accept things based on faith (i.e. without proof or facts) and to accept that we will never be able to understand everything (only God can comprehend the complexities of life). Trying to seek knowledge is thought to defy this. why would someone want to test their faith? Why would they need proof and facts instead of trusting the truth of the Bible? Perhaps trying to gain knowledge is trying to be like God - seeking to know the things that only he knows. It's dangerous and should be avoided. Ignorance is bliss so why burst the bubble? By the way, this is me playing devil's advocate. I agree with you and admire the desire for knowledge. But maybe there is some truth in my answer, speaking for those who are orthodox.

found this, Found this,(proverbs 1.7)"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge:But fools despise wisdom and instruction."and(Proverbs 2.6)"For the Lord giveth wisdom:out of his mounth cometh knowledge and understanding."There is alot about wisdom in Proverbs.

'Cause it leads one outta "the garden", no? ;-)

1) Some people will tell you this. Those are mostly those who support the view that only faith is important, not to try to understand in what you believe. Also, those who need others to obey orders without discussions in various situations. However, this is not the view of all religious people. 2) "- In Judaism According to the Jewish tradition God commanded Adam and Eve not to eat from the tree that was to give free choice and allow them to earn, as opposed to receive, absolute perfection and intimate communion with God at a higher level than the one on which they were created. According to this tradition, Adam and Eve would have attained absolute perfection and retained immortality had they succeeded in withstanding the temptation to eat from the Tree. After failing at this task, they were condemned to a period of toil to rectify the fallen universe. Jewish tradition views the serpent, and sometimes the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil itself, as representatives of evil and man's evil inclination. Judaism generally recognizes no "evil" other than the evil actions of human beings. Eve's only transgression was that she disobeyed God's order. Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden and had to live ordinary, human lives. Rabbi David Fohrman of the Hoffberger Foundation for Torah Studies, citing Maimonides' Guide for the Perplexed, states that "the tree did not give us moral awareness when we had none before. Rather, it transformed this awareness from one kind into another." After eating from the Tree, humanity's innate sense of moral awareness was transformed from concepts of true and false to concepts of good and evil. Genesis describes the tree as desirable (3:6), and our concepts of good and evil, unlike our concepts of true and false, also have an implicit measure of desire. - In Christianity: In Christian theology, the Tree of Knowledge is connected to the doctrine of original sin. Augustine of Hippo believed that humanity inherited sin itself and the guilt for Adam and Eve's sin. This doctrine of inherited guilt is not accepted by the Eastern Orthodox Church. By eating of the fruit of the Tree, Adam and Eve sought to be like God. (For a debate about the Western doctrine of original sin and the Eastern doctrine of ancestral sin see Ancestral Versus Original Sin). There is a minority of Christians that affirm the doctrine of Pelagianism, which believes every individual faces the same choice between sin and salvation that Adam and Eve faced and that ultimately each person can by themselves and without God's assistance (grace) overcome sin or temptation." Source and further information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tree_of_Knowledge_of_Good_and_Evil 3) "Knowledge is Bad The book keeps saying so. Like here: 42:14 ... they were not divided until after knowledge had come to them. How do Mohammedans explain that? Daralislamlive.crap sez, Chapter 42, The Consultation 'The chapter concentrates on the importance of unity and the dangers of being divided. ... This is why we find ... “And they were not divided after knowledge had come to them.” So differences in opinion are allowed but being divided is prohibited.' See what they did there? The original says 'until after', not 'after'. That's right—they just leave that word out. Problem solved. You can use this technique to remove all kinds of obstacles, like in the ten commandments: Thou shalt kill. Thou shalt covet. Thou shalt commit adultery. Whooo, hooo, divine sanction!!! Crime spree here I come! This knowledge hating isn't just here, either, it's all through god's books. 45:17 it was only after knowledge had been granted to them that they fell into schisms, 41:45 Had it not been for a Word that went forth before from thy Lord, (their differences) would have been settled between them: 3:19. and the people of the Book did not differ until knowledge (of this revelation) had come to them, 10:92 So they did not differ until they came to have knowledge. This goes way back before the koran. Before the torah. To ancient Sumerian stories about the Tree of Life, symbol of the Mother Goddess, the source of fruit that gives life. Bad fruit gives not so much life. Really good fruit would give immortality, like a god has, say the head honcho, Anu (There's no s). The Abraham cults don't care much about immortal life. Or even life at all. For them the difference between gods and people is that gods know what's good and evil, and people don't. When they tell the story god makes another tree, one that when you eat the fruit you “become as a god, knowing good from evil”. There's no tree to make you honest, though, and god isn't. He lies to people that they'll die if they eat the god-fruit. (I'm quoting Genesis here, y'unnerstand) The Sumerian symbol of wisdom, the talking snake, is still in the story. Being smart, he knows what's going on, and not being a prick, he tells the one of the people. “You won't die, that's just a line Anu uses, trying to keep the slaves stupid.” She believes this other god, Ningishida, 'Lord of the Good Tree', and eats the fruit that makes her “as a wise god”. Before, when she was ignorant, she fell for Anu's scam, didn't eat, stayed stupid. Now that her “eyes are opened” and she is “as a god” and knows what's good and what's not, you'd expect her to do what was good, wouldn't you? And by golly she does. She has the other person eat the fruit too. Now they're both “as gods,” and “know good from evil”. Yay! Happy all around ? Not quite. Anu comes back, pissed, and tells the snake god that “the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil:” and now they'll probably eat the immortality fruit too, and they'll be JUST AS GOOD AS US. OH NOES!!! So he kicks them out. Amazingly enough, the moral of this story is not that god's a lying dick. It's that the snake, who is not only smart but helpful, is the bad guy; and that doing something that gives you god-like wisdom is a sin worse than a fart in a rimjob. Remember-- STAY STUPID, FOR GOD'S SAKE." Source and further information: http://uzzas.blogspot.com/2009/04/knowledge-is-bad.html

It wasn't a desire for "knowledge." The word in Hebrew can be used to mean knowledge but it means "deciding." This is what it clearly means in the context of the Pentateuch. God spends the first chapter and a half of Genesis going around deciding, "This is good [for man]... that's good [for man] ... this is NOT good [for man] ... this is VERY good [for man]" -- The word in Hebrew is TOB which basically means "beneficial for man." When God lifts Adam out of the mud (as Israel was lifted out of the mudpits of Egypt) and installed in the Garden (as Israel was installed in the Promised Land), God gives Adam the rundown one what's right and wrong (as He gave Israel the Law at Sinai). Adam didn't lack any knowledge of right and wrong. What he was commanded was "not to eat of the fruit of the tree of the deciding of TOB and NOT TOB" - meaning stick to my rules; don't think you can make them up as you go along: you're NOT qualified!" The slitherer/whisperer (translated serpent) comes to Adam & Even promising that if they eat of it they will be "like God, deciding what's tob and not tob." When Eve eats nothing happens - because she wasn't the one God gave the commandment to. When Adam eats - i.e., rebells presuming to become a law unto himself - they realize their sin (in both senses of the word realize). The whole thing is a metaphor/warning to accept, preserve, and follow the Torah and not disregard or presume to pick and choose what they liked, mixing it up with other practices according to their own likes and appetites. The penalty for doing so would be exile from the Promised Land and the Presence of God in the Holy of Holies (which is life itself). Like the two Trees of Eden, the Torah and the Shekina Glory (Law and the Life of God) were enshrined in the center of Israel. The Garden is the Promised Land. Eve is Israel - including all future generations. Adam is the leaders of Israel in one generation at a time. And the serpent is the corrupting influences of the Gentiles.

Depends on the TYPE of "knowledge." All too often, we place too much emphasis on "wordly knowledge." This is dangerous, because technically, "wordly knowledge" is not infallible. This is what we've discovered--thus far. (Remember, WAY back in the day, the "know-it-alls" that just KNEW--that the world was FLAT?) Imagine passing on THAT kind of "knowledge"--nowdays.

Knowledge is anathema to priests, because people who have much knowledge know that gods do not exist.

not sure but it shouldnt be a horrible thing

1 Timothy 2:4 "whose will is that all sorts of people should be saved and come to an accurate knowledge of truth." As you can see from this scripture knowledge is not "a horrible thing". So, was it knowledge in general, or something else.? Let's look what was said about this knowledge in Genesis 2:16-17 "Jehovah God also gave this command to the man: “From every tree of the garden you may eat to satisfaction.17 But as for the tree of the knowledge of good and bad, you must not eat from it, for in the day you eat from it you will certainly die.” Did you notice? the "Knowledge" was about "good and bad'. God had said that Adam could eat from every other tree and thereby anything else , except the tree in the middle of the Garden. Think of this; you cook dinner for some friends coming over for a visit, and even bake a cake. Your kids are hungry and you say to them eat something, but not the cake, you are saving it to share with the guest later. So what are their choices? to be Good and wait or be Bad and eat. So in the same sense the tree represented choice, would Adam and also Eve to do what they wanted , or wait for permission? So, is knowledge horrible? is choice bad? of course not, but it is what we do with them that could be, and in the case of Adam and Eve, history tells us it was. If you would like more information about this or any other Bible topic, please login to the free web site JW.org

Tree of life, tree of death. In Jewish belief Satan is the angel of death. Before they ate the fruit they lived within God's will, after they ate the fruit symbolic of flesh and seed, they disobeyed God, and obeyed Satan, not only committing sin, but taking it into themselves, hence why sin entering through one man, affected all men, through the lust of the eyes, and wanting to be like God, there choice separated them from God, and God's will, and joined them with the will of the flesh (sin). Hence, everytime they sacrificed an animal, it took their death upon it, as they'd eaten from the tree of death. . Death had entered into the world, along with a will separate from Gods. It changed everything. Hence, God sent his son, in a likeness of the flesh, to overcome the flesh, so that man too could crucify his flesh self with Christ, and be born of the Spirit uniting himself to God, from which he fell.

Knowledge is not a horrible thing. God created humans who can think and have emotions. And because He doesn’t want to control us, He gave us a choice in comparison to robots, which are controlled and pre-programmed for the purpose the creator wants it. John 4:24 "God is a Spirit: and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth." 2 Corinthians 3:17 "Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty."

Er...you haven't actually read the Bible, have you? *** Psalm 92:6 A senseless man has no knowledge, Nor does a stupid man understand this: *** Psalm 119:66 Teach me good discernment and knowledge, For I believe in Your commandments. *** Proverbs 1:4 To give prudence to the naive, To the youth knowledge and discretion, *** Proverbs 1:22 “How long, O naive ones, will you love being simple-minded? And scoffers delight themselves in scoffing And fools hate knowledge? *** Proverbs 8:9 “They are all straightforward to him who understands, And right to those who find knowledge. *** Proverbs 8:10 “Take my instruction and not silver, And knowledge rather than choicest gold. *** Proverbs 10:14 Wise men store up knowledge, But with the mouth of the foolish, ruin is at hand. *** Proverbs 11:9 With his mouth the godless man destroys his neighbor, But through knowledge the righteous will be delivered. *** Proverbs 13:16 Every prudent man acts with knowledge, But a fool displays folly. *** Proverbs 15:14 The mind of the intelligent seeks knowledge, But the mouth of fools feeds on folly. *** Proverbs 18:15 The mind of the prudent acquires knowledge, And the ear of the wise seeks knowledge. *** and many, many more! Biblically speaking, the desire for knowledge is something we all ought to have.