.
we . . . were by nature the children of wrath, even as others
The origin of humanity's wrath-worthy nature is interesting.
There was a time when I was sure that the chemistry of the forbidden fruit
had something to do with it; but now I seriously doubt it because the woman
was the first to eat the fruit, and when she did, nothing happened. She
remained just as shameless in the buff as before. It wasn't till Adam tasted
the fruit that the woman began to feel exposed; so I'm pretty sure that the
underlying cause is far more serious than the chemistry of that fruit.
At the same time, I was sure that the wrath-worthy nature was transmitted
to children by means of their biological fathers. But whence did Eve get it?
She was constructed of material taken from Adam's body, but that was
before he tasted the fruit so he couldn't transmit the nature to her by means
of heredity.
Ruling out Adam, and ruling out the fruit; we're left with two alternatives:
either God did it to them or the Serpent did it. My money is on the Serpent,
a.k.a. the Devil (Rev 20:2)
He has the power of death (Heb 2:14) and the ability to tamper with the
human body and the human mind in ways not easily detected; e.g. Luke
13:16, Mark 5:1-5, and Eph 2:2.
The Serpent was apparently all set and ready to wield his power the moment
that Adam crossed the line and ate that fruit. It amazes me how quickly it
takes effect. Soon after Adam tasted the fruit, he and his wife both
immediately set to work cobbling together some rudimentary aprons to
cover up their pelvic areas.
I really have to hand it to the Serpent; he's very good at shifting blame
away from himself. For quite a few years now it's been traditional to believe
biological fathers propagate the fallen nature; when it's been the Serpent all
along.
How he has managed to deceive so many people for so long a time I don't
know, but what's really ironic about it is that there are people behind pulpits,
and chairing whole Sunday school departments, helping him do it as
unsuspecting accomplices; which goes to show that if an idea is repeated
often enough, widely enough, and loud enough by people held in high
regard; pretty soon it's accepted by the masses as fact without thought or
question.
A long habit of not thinking a thing wrong;
Gives it a superficial appearance of being right.[/size]
( Thomas Paine )
FAQ: When does the Serpent go to work on people. . . in the womb or out of
the womb?
A: Adam and his wife demonstrate that it can be done on adults, but I'm
guessing that for most of us it's in the womb. (Ps 51:5 & 58:3)
_