The old story says that God punished Adam and Eve for disobeying him, threw them out of heavens, and cursed them for a painful life on earth. It goes on to explain that our life on earth is just another test where people who do good would be granted heaven when they die, and those who do bad would end up in hell.
While a lot of people take this story literally, a lot of others try to extract more meanings out of it and build a better perspective out of its morals.
Paulo Coelho, being the spiritual inducer-writer with the power to inspire millions of people around the world, has the same effect on me like he has on those millions.
Realizing before the morals behind the story of Jacob and his wrestling with God (check – Challenging God is valid? post) and connecting it with the story of Adam and Eve forced me to wonder if there is a hidden lesson that we are not aware of. Was the story really about disobeying God, or was it meant to be another form of teaching us to challenge him?
Was God really mad on Adam and Eve for disobeying him like Genesis describes? Or he has set the whole scene and implanted temptation in us in order to break the rules that ground our growth?
Genesis says that it is the tree of Good and Evil. The snake said that if they ate from that tree, they would become like God (knowing the difference between good and evil) – aka growing up from the state they were in of not knowing the difference.
I believe it is a path set by God for enlightenment.
Did Adam and Eve really get punished? or they have been set – by a master plan – on their first step of enlightenment.
No pain no gain – A simple rule that is applied nearly on every aspect of our lives. Those who work hard, get the benefit of their work. God cursed Adam to get his food by tiresome and sweat. Eve was cursed to gain motherhood with pain.
Have you ever asked yourself why those who have endured more pain in their lives seem to have a better insight and perspective of it? Why do rich people who made their money out of hard work appreciate it more than those who got their money the easy way? Why do people who get their success with hard work enjoy its pleasure better than those who win by chance? Why doesn’t achievement sound like achievement if it didn’t require a long painful process?
My little niece gets sick with every single teeth she gets. I remember my little brother falling again and again in his process of learning to walk. I remember the early morning wake ups at the tawjihi days I had in order to study and get the grade I wanted to have. I push iron hard in the gym with pain and sweat in order to grow up my muscles. I run and run in exhaustion in order to loose fat.
No pain no gain. Simple as that.
And what is the most painful inducer on humanity?
Isn’t it death?
Why death? Is it a punishment of God? Is God heartless to subject us to this horror?
Or is it the main motivator for us to grow?
Would humanity achieve this much if there isn’t death?
In AL Zahir (One of Paulo’s books) a character said that he respects human beings for being the only ones in the universe are aware of their short span of life and yet they work as if they are living for eternity.
God didn’t punish us to death. He did set us with the best motivator to grow. Adam and Eve didn’t disobey him. They have perfectly abide with his master plan to set us on the path of enlightenment.
No pain no gain and challenging God is valid. We are created to grow. Don’t limit your own growth. Work hard, open your mind and your heart and enjoy the pleasure of growing.
Fadi Zaghmout فادي زغموت 
sitting here at my desk drinking a cup of coffee, as i read this (still reading) i am getting goose bumps, for i am glad you posted this blog! are you reflectiong of the book the Fifth mountain?“I believe it is a path set by God for enlightenment.” great statement words of wisdom fadi!as far as death! I smile at death for it is my friend 🙂 sounds crazy but i have a good feeling about it. at one point, i use to be afraid of it now i realize its not that bad only when i think about the people who will miss me like my son.wonderful post. can i repost this for my friends to read on facebook i will make sure to state you as the author?marie
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Hey Marie, I knew you would love this! and I am glad you did 🙂Sure you can repost this. Please do 🙂
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ops, I am reflecting of The Devil and Miss Prym and connected it with the Fifth mountain I guess of Challenging God issue.
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Fadi Thank YOU =DD its a great post, loved it!
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Fadi, you probably guessed I would comment on this one! 😀 I’m in tehmiddle of cooking, but will revisit tomorrow. blessings!
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<>“Or he has set the whole scene and implanted temptation in us in order to break the rules that ground our growth?”<> – Thats a very revolutionized line of thought that when followed can make Abrahamic religions seem more mature -in terms of metaethics-, especially in the eyes of a Satanist.So you’re saying that God wants us to follow temptation and break the rules to help our growth… Impressive, but just don’t let a priest hear you saying this 😛 He’d go nuts!!Traditional Christian theologists would be too keen to tell the people how they are being punished for trying to gain Godly attributes (Knowledge of Good and Evil being one such Godly attribute).On the other hand, you are saying that earthly life is a path for the humans to become enlightened by knowledge, hence gaining that Godly attribute. If it was true that Abrahamic God said that: “Humans are made in God’s image”, then this means that this Abrahamic God made humans to be Gods themselves as he is. (Again don’t let a priest hear this one!!)
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Interesting.Religion always tends to use punishment and it is good that some people don’t see it as a limiting, fear inducing notion but rather as an incentive to work hard for the better.Like Devil’s Mind said, a priest would go nuts if he read what you wrote. You just more or less destroyed the Christian conception of sin atonement through the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ and his resurrection. Muslim sheikh’s would probably say you are just saying that so you can sin as much as you want.Whatever.You post is thought provoking, but, let me ask this: If indeed this is the case, then are you really saying there is no punishment on Judgement Day? If everything is masterfully planned, than why do we have to really suffer for it, and where is the free will in this case? Is it really just an illusion we have?
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Tala, I am glad you loved it! 🙂Kizni, sure I knew you will comment on this. I had you in mind because I know that Challenging God valid is your favourite post of mine 🙂Devil’s Mind, I actually had you in my mind thinking about this as well. It is what you said previously about Satan being a symbol of knowledge that helped me formed it. Maybe in the contrarym, priest should hear this. They should look more into those old scriptures and extract better meanings if they are to keep people’s faith in church. Actually, I though of this exactly as you put it. Why would God create us as him if he doesn’t want to give us his attributes? A father would love his son to be exactly the same as he is. Kj, maybe Jesus death and resurrection is meant to be a way for God to experience death and its impact on enlightement. I guess it is part of the plan to learn with pain. It is a rule, set by the master. In order to advance and grow up, you should do some work, tireing work. Let me put it to you in video game termenology. You are a RPG fan, right? How do you advance usually in your game? You fight, you do effort, and you gain points as you advance. It is the same. A master plan. Set by a master. People grow with knowledge and experiencing things. Pain is a special item. It grants your character a unique push 🙂
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your reply to KJ about God experiencing death reminds me of the novel “memnoch the devil” by Anne Rice. You might be interested in that. We’ve always been taught how we were cursed because Adam ate from the tree. On the contrary, I’ve always seen it as a bless. It is to prove that Adam is selfish and always wants more. He aspires to be a GOD. So I’d say they are challenging God.Look at humans and their evolution. The imagination and discovery has no limits. One day, humans will be gods. just wait and see 🙂
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Hamza, yes it sounds an interesting novel, i should check it out. Thanks. I wonder how our evolution would change us in time. Infinite possibilities is the limit!
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Stumbled across your blog — this is really good stuff! Thanks for sharing!meg
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Depends on which RPG you are talking about 😛 (hints at ridiculous FFXII passive battle system)The thing is most of these arguments end up focusing on the following: In RPGS, you play the game. How you play it is up to you. How much you level up, what items you acquire, what side quests you take, is all up to you.But you need a certain skill in order to finish the game.Regardless, the ending of the game, although unknown to you, is known by the designers. So basically, you have your free will to do whatever you want, but, ultimately, you succumb to an ultimate ending that you cannot change whatsoever.
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dreamtime publishing, thanks, welcome to my blog.KJ, Then our life is an RPG with a rigid one path to each one of us that is built in order to make him grow 🙂
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Yes Fadi but then you can say “what is the point?”. Halla2 assuming you are the main character or in the party of that character in this grandiose RPG, you really don’t need to worry about winning and you might as well just enjoy the ride. What about the “enemies” and end up dead or defeated in a graphical 13-minute video delight? They are just programmed to do so, so that the other people can benefit and level up. So are you saying the bad guys are just stepping stones for the good guys and they get condemned for being programmed to do so?!
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KJ, I am saying that our life has some elements of RPG games, but it isn’t exactly the same. Each one of us is a main character in his path. Our mission is not fighting bad people, it is fighting our own limitations, weaknesses and ignorance in order to be able to grow in our own paths.
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