The following story contains brief excerpts from my book: In The Beginning: An Examination of The Book of Genesis From Creation to Noah’s Ark. The subject is shame, often misinterpreted as nakedness, is presented here in an abbreviated version of a story more fully laid out in the book. Key points are highlighted in the story which most of us have heard about or read, and feel we know, or do we?
“Adam and his wife were both naked and they felt no shame.” (Gen 2:25).
‘Childhood is regarded by many as a time when innocence is on its most prominent display in the thoughts and actions of children, particularly toddlers, as they do things without concern for other things going on around them. Toddlers seem to enjoy running through the house (and maybe outdoors) with no clothing on to the consternation of their parents chasing after them. One might say, they feel no shame.’
Naked into the world I came…
Adam and Eve were not created as toddlers. They progressed through life in the Garden of Eden for whatever unspecified period of time it was (Genesis does state), as is made plain from the context of the events written as adults. Even though it is not stated in the scripture, Adam who was created, prior to Eve’s creation, did not grow up in a vacuum with no interaction from God who placed him there alone with no human companion. There is little conversation recorded in the Bible between God and Adam, except that which is recorded after the incident which we will cover in this article. Despite that, we must assume that God spoke directly to Adam on occasion if not daily. If we accept that assumption, then we should also be able to accept the idea of God as a Divine Instructor to Adam, (think Jesus and the disciples).
There is one more assumption I want to put forth: it should seem entirely plausible that if there was a need for clothing or a covering of any type, if only for protection from the elements and minor scrapes, God would have discussed that with Adam, and then Eve when she appeared. The climate of Eden and especially the garden, although not specifically stated, must have been one where clothing was not a factor of survival.
How then, did nakedness become a cause for shame? For that matter, where did shame come from? We can’t say it came from God since he made them without covering in the first place.
‘When God created Adam, he gave him what is termed, ‘freewill’ meaning that man/woman could choose to follow God or choose to do what pleased them, that is to follow their desires (Gen 3:6; James 4:1-3). God spent an unspecified amount of time with Adam explaining things to him and allowing Adam to develop into his own person. That is the essence of freewill, otherwise we would be little more than robots at the worst or slaves at best. The idea of freewill is symbolized in the choice of two trees. The tree of life representing an immortal life based on the acceptance of God as Divine Instructor. The other choice is the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, meaning a life without the benefit of God’s guidance and wisdom leaving man to seek his own human-inspired solutions or reasons out of the various situations life would present.’
Adam was alone in Eden with the exception of the animals God had also created and brought to Adam to name (Gen :20). God noted that it “was not good for the man to be alone.” As most of us know and understand, the solution was for him to have a “suitable helper”, or as Adam termed it after her creation, ‘woman.’ From this point forward, we have little to no information on what if any conversations took place between Adam, Eve or God. I will highlight details to help make clearer the sequence of events that occur after Adam and Eve, now a married couple, are challenged on their beliefs and training. Before providing these details, there was one more entity in the Garden beside Adam and Eve, Satan. (Ezekiel. 28:12-17). The text in Genesis says serpent, meaning snake, which is the form he appeared in, but his identity is revealed in other scriptures (Rev12:9; 20:2).
‘The Genesis account relates to us how the serpent began a conversation with the wife of Adam in which he asks a question, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’? In our present-day understanding of animals, we don’t think of snakes as being harmless, however the setting then was the Garden of Eden, where God was bringing all sorts of animals to Adam for naming, considered today as wild or dangerous, but at that time possessing a tranquil nature. In addition to being able to talk, the text refers to the serpent as being craftier than any of the other wild animals. The ability to talk and a deceitful nature shows this was no ordinary snake, it was in fact a spirit being who also inhabited the Garden along with the humans. A being whose very nature wreaked of deceit… Eve ate the fruit, gave some to Adam who stood there with her and “Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked…”. We asked the question earlier, when did nakedness become a cause for shame.’
I will leave aside in this article any discussions of prophecy, sin, the ‘Fall of man’, or “the Devil made me do it!” and other topics that have come out of this incident. Both Adam and Eve ate of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and became aware they were naked. Let’s review the details:
- God made Adam “from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life” (Gen 2:7)
- The LORD God had planted a garden in Eden with “all kinds of trees… trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food”. but in the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
- In one of the few recorded conversations of God speaking to Adam, we learn he commanded him “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden”; BUT specifically warned Adam, “but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.” (Gen 2:16-17).
- “Then the LORD God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.” (Gen 2:21)
God created both Adam and Eve without covering and throughout whatever period of time they spent together or alone with God and they were naked. God placed both of them in the setting he created known as the Garden of Eden among all the vegetation and animals existing there.
5. Adam and his wife were both naked and they felt no shame.” (Gen 2:25).
Without any explanation for why they happened to be at the location of the trees in the middle of the garden, the Bible tells us they engaged in conversation with a talking serpent.
6. During their encounter with the serpent (Satan), he misquotes God’s command to Adam in his questioning of Eve’s understanding of what God said concerning not eating from any tree in the garden. (Gen 3:1-7).
7. Eve incompletely replies to the serpent’s question, omitting that God named a specific tree in the middle of the garden they were not to eat from.
8. Adam (who stood silently as Eve answered) fails to correct Eve’s reply, even though God told him directly which tree he could and could not eat from.
9. The serpent lies (John 8:44) telling her she would “not certainly die”, adding that God knew that in eating the fruit, they would become like him, knowing good from evil. It would turn out to be The Greatest Lie Ever Told.
The enormity of The Lie cannot be overemphasized. The best type of lie is one that contains an element of truth causing doubt or confusion about the certainty of the truth. It is like lacing candy with poison. The crafty serpent first juxtaposed (turned around) God’s warning to Adam… “you will certainly die”, by dismissing it and then insinuating that God was withholding “something”. Something that would allow them to become like him, (the candy) knowing good from evil i.e., being able to decide for themselves, completely glossing over the fact God did tell Adam that knowing good from evil came with a price, DEATH! (the poison). Nevertheless, they ate the fruit and acquired the HUMAN knowledge of good and evil.
10. “Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked…” (Gen 3:7).
Now we come to a chicken or egg question: If nakedness was shameful, would God have made them so and subjected them to this kind of feeling? Or was the feeling of shame a result of their own actions?
11. “So, they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves” (to cover what? and why? and from whom?) (Gen 3:7). Keep in mind they were married, and the only humans in the garden. God who was their Creator, interacted with them in their nakedness.
‘The actions taken by Adam and Eve can be compared to those of a child. The child wants something they have clearly been told to leave alone. Their desire for the object builds consciously or unconsciously and soon overrides any concerns of discovery or punishment, so they take it. Having taken it, the realization of their actions once again looms large as does the fear of discovery and the possibility of being caught. Motivated by that fear, they seek to conceal their guilt. If questioned over the theft, they lie.’
Adam and Eve were made in the image of God as we all are. There is no shame attached to that understanding. Later, after they took the fruit, and brought on the consequences of their actions, God, seeking Adam, found him hiding. Adam blurts out that when he heard God in the garden, he became afraid because he was naked. The question God posed to him “who told you that you were naked?” (Gen 3:11) was rhetorical. Our Creator is aware of everything. The attempt to cover, hide and lie was now in our nature.
What our ancestors Adam and Eve did has passed down to all of us. When confronted with our errors, rather than being honest, first to ourselves and then to God, we try to shield or hide from the truth. The fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, is three: sin, death, and shame. No amount of covering can hide that kind of shame.