Genesis 3:2-13 "The woman said to the serpent, 'We may eat of the fruit of the trees..."

"The woman said to the serpent, 'We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden; but God said, 'You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the garden, nor shall you touch it, or you shall die.'" But the serpent said to the woman, 'You will not die; your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.' So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate; and she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made loincloths for themselves. They heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden at the time of the evening breeze, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man, and said to him 'Where are you?' He said, 'I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.' He said, 'Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?' The man said, 'The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit from the tree, and I ate.' then the Lord God said to the woman, 'What is this that you have done?' The woman said, 'The serpent tricked me, and I ate.'" (Genesis 3:2-13).

Question:

I am concerned about a malnourished homeless woman in her mid-fifties who refuses to eat apples because she thinks that the Bible says that apples are the fruit of the "tree in the center of the Garden of Eden which gave the knowledge of good and evil," and God forbade Adam and Eve to eat apples. So humans shouldn't eat apples. Even when there is little else that is nutritious to eat, and apples are available and plentiful, she just refuses to eat apples. So she goes hungry instead. What to do?

Comment:

There is a lot that can be said about this central passage describing the so-called “original sin,” but I'm not sure a malnourished homeless woman is interested in a theological discussion. Certainly we have here the first biblical example of “passing the buck,” as Adam blames Eve and Eve blames the serpent. The point is it's all God. The tree, Adam, Eve, the serpent—all divine creations, all part of the infinite spiritual Energy of God that is the only reality there is. We've always been taught that all of human life is a punishment for this sin of disobedience, but metaphysically a very different dynamic appears. God intends us to move into a dualistic life experience, to learn how to lovingly exercise the infinite creative power we share with the Allness of God. But it has to be our choice. How better to get us to make that choice than to plant a beautiful tree in the very center of the garden, forbid us to eat of its fruit, then send in a serpent to persuade us to do just that! There are consequences to our choice, but they are not so much punishment as the inevitable result of a dualistic mindset. And we are never “away” from God—indeed, if God is Omnipresence, where could we be that God is not?   But, as I said, this may be of little interest to your friend. Her belief seems strong, and I think the best thing to do is to honor it. It nowhere says in the Bible that the fruit in question is an apple—indeed, that's unlikely given the desert climate in which the story is set. But it's become a familiar image, and it's clearly one that is important to her. So let it be. After all, you're in California—and apples aren't particularly associated with that climate anyway. Maybe she'd like an orange.   Blessings!

Rev. Ed