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One of my pet peeves is this idea that Adam and Eve were cursed in the garden. It’s all over the internet and some great theologians I really respect, often speak casually of the curse of Eve, the curse of mankind, how we are all under a curse. For anyone interested, the fall of man is in Genesis 3, so you may read all about it yourself.
There is no curse. If we go back and read Genesis properly, God curses the serpent and He curses the ground. He does not curse Adam or Eve. There are consequences, their lives become more difficult, everything changes, but there is no “curse” from God. He looks right at the serpent and says “Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed…”
God is a perfect Father, so while we all may be inclined to curse our own children now and then, He does not. He curses the serpent. He actually clothes Adam and Eve in skins and He already has a plan for their redemption. For our redemption.
Somebody smart once said that “satan’s greatest feat was convincing mankind that he doesn’t exist.” I think of that saying every time I hear about the alleged “curse of mankind.” It isn’t true and it isn’t in scripture, but supposing it was? In that case Jesus Christ came, died for our sins, broke the alleged curse, and rose again in victory. So every time people speak of this alleged curse that isn’t even really to be found in scripture, it is like saying that the work of Jesus Christ on the cross never happened.
This idea about humankind being under a curse does a great deal of harm. It leads people to believe that God is still mad at us, it misrepresents the true character and nature of God, and it denies the work of Jesus Christ on the cross. I don’t know how you get rid of invisible curses that don’t even really exist, but if I could, I’d wave a magic wand and start kissing frogs to do it.
See, there's this thing called biology... 
really makes you think deeply about it, because i havent read the part about a curse either. Jesus died for our sins so if we were cursed why would there be a need to jesus to die? great point great article.
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Thank you for your kind words and for reading.
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Hmmm, weeeeell I’ve eaten frogs (French cuisine) and they were quite tasty served with melted butter. That said, I’ve never kissed one = please let us know how it goes. 😀
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LOL! Well, I have actually both kissed and eaten a few frogs. That sounds terribly mean, doesn’t it? I have never kissed the ones I ate, so that’s a good thing. Some frogs are poisonous too, so you have to be careful kissing them.
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Wow! What a great understanding!
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Reblogged this on INSPIRATION with an ATTITUDE and commented:
Insanity Bytes has a good idea here…
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Thank you for reading and for the reblog, much appreciated. 🙂
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Plus the lie about Satan not existing–huge. Keith Green wrote the song back in the 70’s which I still love: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PhuoN1Wwj74
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I always liked that song, too, Dawn.
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Awesome post and insights Lady. Adam and Eve had to face the consequences of their choices; and yes they were dire, but they were also given beforehand. Consequences is not a curse. I agree. By the way, I have a wand here if you want to borrow it… but I will need it back. Magic wands are hard to come by you know.
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You are correct in your peeve. Their fall resulted in the curse but they themselves were not cursed by God. My pet peeve is a with God getting the blame for every bad thing and Satan gets off free.
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I find it interesting that you write this so soon after you have read Sam Powell’s post Headship is not Hierarchy. Did you notice that in it, he refers to “the curse of Genesis 3:16”, and ‘The curse that came upon the relationship was that the desire of the woman would be “toward the man”,….’?
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I’ve actually written about this same thing perhaps half a dozen times over the past couple of years. To speak of the curse has become such a part of our language that it’s very common to just casually use as reference to genesis.
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I realize this is a pet topic of yours, often stated. That is why I am surprised that you somehow managed to miss the relevant statements in his post.
If you will carefully look at his work, you will see that his reference to the curse in Genesis 3:16 is far from casual. Specifically, his post (already referenced) was written to expand upon an earlier post of his, Genesis 3:16, where he expounds at length on Genesis 3:16.
It includes this statement: “In the context, God is pronouncing the curse upon creation, the serpent, the man and the woman.” There is absolutely no doubt that Sam Powell believes Genesis 3:16 is a curse upon the woman.
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“There is absolutely no doubt that Sam Powell believes Genesis 3:16 is a curse upon the woman.”
There is plenty of doubt in my mind about that, based on the way he speaks and the sound fruits of his theology.
It is one thing to make a casual reference to a curse and an entirely different thing to speak of all people as if they were truly accursed, rather than the beloved of Christ.
I care far more about what is in people’s hearts and how that manifests itself, rather than in the technicality of words.
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Sigh. Move the goalposts whenever you like, and interpret everything the way you want to. I don’t think that will work out well in the long run.
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Well, it would be lovely if you could come to trust me just a wee bit, but it’s not necessary. You are free to continue to try to play gotcha games and attempt to accuse me of moving goal posts. Either way, it’s all good.
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IB,
Sam Powell’s belief that Genesis 3:16 is a curse on women is quite evident. My original question was whether you noticed that. Based on your responses, I doubt you did.
Trusting could start from your end, too, but I don’t think you trust me, either.
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I really don’t trust you, sorry. It’s the red pillian vibe. You’re marinating in it.
I wrote this post and clearly stated in the very beginning that many great theologians I have a lot of respect for speak of “the curse.”
Regardless, the Dalrockian attacks on Sam Powell were unjustified, appalling, and downright rude. By their fruits you shall know them. You follow some rotten fruit, hence my distrust of you.
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IB,
I have seen more than enough of your fruit to be quite content to be unable to trust you. I don’t believe this always reflects the desire of your heart, but it exists nonetheless. I saw some of what happened on Powell’s blog, and, in my opinion, there was rotten fruit on both sides.
I’ll remind you again that I think for myself and am not a strict adherent to any of the Red Pill notables, and although my philosophies may happen to agree with some of theirs, I believe mine to be what is God’s teaching as found in the Bible.
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“I saw some of what happened on Powell’s blog, and, in my opinion, there was rotten fruit on both sides.”
Okay, but in my opinion you have a lukewarm soggy-ness that calls into question your powers of discernment, because your desire to believe your red pill ideology is always at war with God’s teachings in the bible.
I saw over 300 verbally abusive and downright nasty red pillian comments attacking Sam Powell and multiple attempts to go over and troll him. That’s some rotten fruit and that’s exactly what you’re endorsing.
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“I saw over 300 verbally abusive and downright nasty red pillian comments attacking Sam Powell and multiple attempts to go over and troll him.”
Are you claiming “over 300” based on the comments on Dalrock’s post Hierarchy equals abuse? Or do you have other sources?
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I agree with you. No curse on women or mankind – humankind. Also, I believe each generation, each person, responsible for their own sins, not the sins of the past.
On a side subject, I thought to look up “Lilith” at Wikipedia. Excerpt: “In Jewish folklore, from the satirical book Alphabet of Ben Sira (ca 700–1000 CE) onwards, Lilith appears as Adam’s first wife, who was created at the same time (Rosh Hashanah) and from the same dirt as Adam – compare Genesis 1:27. (This contrasts with Eve, who was created from one of Adam’s ribs: Genesis 2:22) The legend developed extensively during the Middle Ages, in the tradition of Aggadic midrashim, the Zohar, and Jewish mysticism.[3] For example, in the 13th-century writings of Rabbi Isaac ben Jacob ha-Cohen, Lilith left Adam after she refused to become subservient to him and then would not return to the Garden of Eden after she had coupled with the archangel Samael.[4] The resulting Lilith legend continues to serve as source material in modern Western culture, literature, occultism, fantasy, and horror.”
Those who are in power write the history books. Male dominated religion, church. Put blame on Eve, keep women in their place. Censor the truth about equality taught by Jesus.
I believe Christ Jesus came here to liberate our souls by educating us, informing us about the truth, the “gospel” – meaning the “good news” – such as including about ascending into heaven.
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Far too many believers don’t know who they are (their true identity) and will always fall for all the other labels outside of “child of the One True King/child of God”.
We allow our feelings and our current experiences etc. to dictate to us who we are at a particular moment.. instead of knowing with absolute certainty “I am a child of God, and that cannot change regardless of what’s happening inside and outside of me.
I hate when preachers/teachers and believers in general constantly repeat wrong things they’ve heard as a youth etc. and that they themselves never took the time to read and clarify for themselves.
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You make a really good point, ancients.
One of my pet peeves is this phrase, “I was always taught..” It’s like saying “this is the way things are because this is what I’ve always been told.” Well shoot, we’re supposed to question and challenge our own beliefs sometimes, read the “instruction manual” and weigh our ideas against it.
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Amen ancients, me too.
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🙂
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Good observation.
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Great article and perspective. You spoke about the amazing grace (we have because Jesus’ death) that we sing about not even knowing the true significance of the song. We do have to suffer consequences for our sins, if we don’t repent, but Daddy God has not cursed His children. 🙂
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hmm. I’m not sure if there is a good way to go about this because I suspect there is a lot of semantic difference that could be run into, but I don’t think I agree with your take on this. Perhaps it is a difference in understanding of the word ‘curse’ but God most definitely does not shy away from claiming to curse humans when he lays consequences on them as evidenced by Genesis 4:11 and 12:3 among others. To be sure, if we use the most common modern dictionary definitions of the word curse we would misunderstand God’s curses, which are always just, and may generally be understood to be quite different. I read one person who described it thusly: “Such curses are not the consequence of passion or revenge, they are predictions.”
I remember taking a class once that was all about the “blessings and cursings” pronounced against Israel over time as they wandered far from God sometimes but other times drew closer to Him. Maybe some might prefer semantically to say the curses were brought on by themselves and their misdeeds but they were curses pronounced by God none the less and turning it around to only focus on them bringing it on themselves doesn’t play well for me when I then feel that I have to treat the blessings in a similar fashion.
In any case, God is a righteous judge and I’m thankful he is the one who does judge. I hope and pray for blessings for you. Cheers, IB.
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