[adam000]

Mihnea, uite dintr-o o carte foarte frumoasa, pe care am gasit-o recent. Ii zice The Old Testament is about you. Nu am apucat s-o citesc pe toata, dar ce am citit pina acum mi se pare f adevarat si frumos scris. E scrisa de un piscop ortodox PS Lazar Puhalo. Cartea se gaseste la adresa de mai jos:

http://www.orthodoxcanada.org/

THE "GARDEN OF EDEN" NARRATIVE
The ego as the root of evil
Fall into an unauthentic life

As we understand the creation narrative, God created humanity from perfect love. This means that He also created us with freedom. Love demanded without freedom is a psychosis, it is not love. Love given without freedom is an obsession, it is not love.
With authentic love, there is also trust. God demonstrated His authentic love, with its freedom of will and trust, by placing before mankind a choice. Why? Because without choice, there is no freedom. Even in marriage and friendships, love unfeigned require freedom and trust, as any successful marriage demonstrates.
The "two trees" in the garden are certainly a metaphor and prophecy, not something to be taken literally, as if one could eat an apple and suddenly know the mysteries of good and evil, or a pomegranate and live forever. Are the trees not rather a fore-image of the Cross, upon which God-the-Word would once more separate light from darkness? Had not God already planned for our redemption even before we fell?
In Eden, humans lived in an atmosphere of unselfish love. God had created them in His own likeness and image, so they had freedom of will, unselfish love and virtue, and humility.
The "tree" that Adam and Eve were forbidden to eat from is a metaphor, a symbol, and also a prophecy about the Cross of Christ, so we will not discuss it here. The important thing is what the temptation was about and what its results are.
Satan tempted the humans by offering them a counterfeit of something that they already had. "Don't trust God, He's just being selfish and does not want you to have knowledge. If you have this knowledge you will be like God."
The humans forgot that they were already "in the image and likeness" of God. Satan painted a false image of God as being vain and egoistic so he created a counterfeit; a false image of God and of what it meant to be "like God."
Satan had set the fire of egoism, self-love and self-centredness in the heart of mankind. Once Adam and Eve had accepted this temptation, they fell into this egoism and self focus -- they accepted the counterfeit instead of the Grace which God had given them.
This is the root and base of all human tragedies, murders, robberies and deception. It does not matter whether you take the entire "Eden narrative" literally, as allegory or as a mixture of both. The story is about each one of us both as individuals and collectively.
The temptations we fall to are almost always counterfeits for what is real, and we yield to them because of our own ego and self focus. This is the greatest spiritual struggle for each one of us, and this is the ultimate meaning of the story. As with Adam and Eve, so often what we accept is a counterfeit of something that God has already given us. We choose the counterfeit and lose the gift of Grace. The "Garden of Eden" narrative is about you.