Current Events > Question about the concept of 'nakedness' in the Garden of Eden post-Fall

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So, I was reading the fall of man recently in Genesis and there's something that struck me as odd and I wanted to ask fellow brothers and sisters what their interpretation of it is.

So, Adam and Eve partake in the fruit and are immediately made aware that they are naked and thus hide from God to hide their shame. When God asked where Adam was, Adam replies that he hid because he was naked. God replies "Who told thee that thou wast naked?"

I ask my fellowmen what their interpretation of this is, as I took it to be fairly metaphorical while my mom took it quite literally. I told her I believe the concept of 'nudity' wasn't a thing, and that only when Adam and Eve partook of the fruit were they made aware of their state - thus, the "opening of the eyes" as metaphorical; they had no preconceived notion of what nudity was. I also attest that this is emboldened by God's reply, as I took his word as being that nudity wasn't what we humans perceive of it as now and that Adam and Eve were in their natural state. Not nude.

What do you guys think?

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I'm thinking you could get traumatized by the thought you failed in the sight of your God.

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They were "innocent." The whole point is that they ate the fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil and now know there's more to existence than walking around the woods and loving each other. They develop concepts of things like danger and pain and also develop senses of shame.

The realization of nudity is a symbol and just the example they chose for Christianity's version of childhood's end. Our way out of being clay men for the Sumerians gods' wills was Enki protecting us, our way out of dying like cattle in the cold was Prometheus bringing us fire, and our way out of the Garden of Eden was becoming aware of the fact that we were human and capable of modesty. It's admittedly a pretty interesting example, because in the Old Testament nudity is treated as shameful and embarrassing elsewhere. A lot of older civilizations existing in the same time period viewed nudity as more of a natural state. I'm not entirely familiar with ancient jewish outlooks on that particular subject but while they were trying to convey a much larger message, i do think they were trying to convey that innocence had been lost and the ability to recognize you were doing something improper in being nude was the example they selected

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I appreciate the responses, you guys.

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It's a metaphor for the evolution of consciousness and the idea of self, deception, and the shame/guilt that comes from it.

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ultimate reaver posted...

It's admittedly a pretty interesting example, because in the Old Testament nudity is treated as shameful and embarrassing elsewhere. A lot of older civilizations existing in the same time period viewed nudity as more of a natural state.

It seems like that whole family of religions is too focused on shame, or guilt.
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It was all a propaganda campaign created by GAP to sell clothing.

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Shablagoo posted...

It was all a propaganda campaign created by GAP to sell clothing.

First thing they saw when they were kicked out of the Garden was a Starbucks with the GAP next door.

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