Zach’s Blog

You Can’t Handle the Knowledge of Good and Evil

[Let me admit right off the bat that I don’t presently have a compelling Biblical argument for this one. A large number of Biblical passages and principles arguably point in strongly favor of this idea being true, but I’ll admit that I don’t have a text that seems to be explicitly directing us toward understanding the Edenic law in this way. Nevertheless, let’s proceed with a brainstorming session.]

What is the problem with mankind acquiring the Knowledge of Good and Evil (henceforth KGE)? Granted, eating of the Tree of KGE was a direct violation of God’s command—Him to whom belongs all rightful power and authority. But He seems to consistently command things for a reason. God does not act arbitrarily.

Let me propose that the KGE is too vast a subject for finite creatures to manage responsibly on their own. In a universe of great interconnectedness and interdependence, where actions and even thoughts and attitudes have (potentially compounding) consequences both in the present and over a potentially infinite time span, it is just too much for a finite creature too assess and synthesize the comprehensive goodness and/or evil/badness of things adequately.

Most falsehood is partial truth masquerading as a larger constituent of the whole than is in fact warranted. Most evil deeds hone in on some micro-reality (e.g., all else being equal, it is good for me to experience pleasure!) to the exclusion of other/greater surrounding contextual realities which alter the overall perspective. The full and true KGE is a big picture of which finite creatures can only see or focus on one relatively small piece at a time.

A human who takes on the KGE is like a nine-year-old girl holding and firing an Uzi submachine gun. The tool is more powerful than the user has strength to manage. So a human with the KGE inevitably ends up spraying bullets everyone.

Eating of the Tree of KGE not only incurs guilt upon the human race, it also incurs shame. “You thought you could handle being gods? You thought you had the capacity to wield the KGE responsibly? How’s that working out for you guys?” How stupid, foolish, unfit, inadequate, weak, unprepared, unmeet, and unsuited to the task of god-like KGE we continually prove ourselves to be. Each and every one of us. Our faces should be desecrated and covered in humiliation, shame, and disgrace. The Lord knew best in forbidding that which was beyond our capacity to handle.

2 responses to “You Can’t Handle the Knowledge of Good and Evil”

  1. Jonathan White Avatar
    Jonathan White

    So, personally, I think saying that Adam and Eve, “acquired” the KoG+E might be the wrong way to put it. It would appear that they “knew” the name of the tree before they ate of it. Therefore, in some sense, they “knew about” KoG+E before they KNEW it. [Think Job 42:5-6 “I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you; therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes.”]

    The fact that they take and eat from the tree, making it a part of themselves (just like Communion) points to a deeper relationship than mere acquisition. Maybe something more sensual (not sexual) that would be better defined by the kind of unifying, “knowing” that Adam and Eve partook of to make Cain. “Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death” (James 1:15).

    As far as our ability to “handle” the great responsibility of KoG+E, I partially agree. I’m reminded of a story from my mother’s childhood. Her father caught her smoking and her punishment was him requiring her to smoke the whole pack of cigarettes until she threw up. Whether we’re up for the task or not, the Bible is FULL of commands for us to choose between good and evil. How are we to do that without the KoG+E?

    Isaiah’s prophecy in 7:14 of the Virgin Conceiving points towards an Edenic return when the people are finally led by someone who knows how to properly choose between Good and Evil: “He shall eat curds and honey when he knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good.” (I see “curds and honey” being “milk and honey” which of course is used for Israel– though I think this is a callback to the garden when they could not yet eat the animals, but likely could’ve/would’ve eaten honey and milk as the richest of the foods they had available to them).

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    1. Zach Harris Avatar
      Zach Harris

      Though I didn’t flesh it out here I’m inclined to think that a significant aspect of partaking of that Tree (here called “acquiring the KGE”) involves making independent determinative judgements regarding what is good vs evil. Moreover, I appreciate Rabbi Fohrman giving additional clarity on what we even mean by these terms “good” and “evil.” In Gen 1 things God sees as good are things that He preserves — worth keeping around. In Gen 6 things that are evil/bad are things that warrant being destroyed — not worth keeping around. That observation really helps to see why it is “godlike” to make good vs evil pronouncements. You really are acting as judge, rendering a verdict on what is allowed to live in your world versus what deserves to die.

      Having said that, and while I also have long resonated with the experiential aspect of knowing that you mention, I guess I do still also have a sense that “acquisition of knowledge” does factor in there somehow with the partaking of the fruit. “Their eyes were open and they knew they were naked,” comes across (at least to me) as the introduction of a new thought category. “Nakedness” previously wasn’t a concept to them, it just *WAS*, like “watery” is not a concept to a fish.

      So it does seem to me that there is an interplay of experientially partaking of the fruit also correlates to the introduction of an entire map and array of thought categories for evaluating goodness and badness which was not previously laid out before their eyes, at least not to the extent it was upon eating.

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