Sunday, September 22, 2024

Visions of the Garden of Eden

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The story of the Garden of Eden is a well-known tale and so it has appeared in art. When God created the world, he then created Adam, the first man. He decided Adam needed a companion, so he created all of the animals, but none were suitable companions for Adam. God then yanked a bone out of Adam and created Eve, the first woman, to be his companion. 

They moved into the Garden of Eden which was a veritable paradise on Earth. The only rule was that they couldn't eat fruit from the Tree of Knowledge or the Tree of Life. However, one day a snake approached Eve and told her, I guess snakes could talk back then, that if she ate the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge that she would attain God-like wisdom. She then nagged (I assume it was the first historical example of wifey nagging) Adam into munching on the fruit as well.

Well, it turns out that didn't go according to plan because the knowledge they got was the knowledge of misery and death. Plus, their breaking of the rules pissed God off and he booted them out of the Garden and consigned them to a life of toil, hardship and death. Thanks a lot Eve, who knew that listening to a snake instead of the Creator would be a bad decision.

However, I'm a glass half full sort of a fellow and so, aside from the disease and poverty that Eve's snack unleashed, I'll try to highlight the positives from it. For example, in perusing the pictures of the Garden of Eden I noticed that all of the animals, hunter and hunted alike, frolicked about with each other implying that, as well as being paradise on earth, the Garden was also a hellhole of veganism. So, we can thank Eve for steaks, fried chicken and bacon. Bacon alone excuses a lot, right? 


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