So, God decided to create a world of souls outside of Heaven. He knew exactly how he wanted to create the souls. He wanted them to be inside of a physical body that was not immortal. After the physical body died, their souls would either go to Heaven or they would stay in the Earth he created. God created one man, Adam, and one woman, Eve.
However, God failed to know what to create as the Earth. He knew it could not be like Heaven since this was a physical world. So, he left Adam and Eve in darkness.
"What is this place?" Adam asked.
"I'm not sure," Eve replied. "But it frightens me."
As Adam and Eve looked around their new home, they became quite scared. It was dark and empty. They were simply bodies standing on a dark floor with nothing around them but complete emptiness. They began to panic and cry out to God. Quickly, God realized he needed to make a way for them to have light. It was then that God created the sun. Adam and Eve were relieved to see light and their panic began to fade.
After a couple of days, Adam and Eve began to become sick. God noticed that they had no color to their face and they simply laid all day. They even began to complain to one another of headaches. God was new to a physical body, so he quickly realized that Adam and Eve needed to nourish their bodies in order to survive in them. It was then that God created lakes and rivers, animals and delicious fruits. Adam and Eve not only now had food and water, but the world around them also became much more beautiful.
After a few more weeks, Adam and Eve met another problem. They found it difficult to sleep because of the constant light from the sun. Their eyes were tired from the light and were in need of a break. God then decided to create night. The sun would shine during the day so they could hunt and see each other, but during the night it would be dark so they could rest.
Adam and Eve were very happy about this, but they soon became quite cold during the night. They decided to work with the land to create items to keep them warm. These clothes helped them against the elements as well. Soon, Adam and Eve were thriving in their new land with free will. God then left them to their new world.
And so, this is how the Earth was created. The things we know today were not meant to punish us but to help us survive in the best way possible without being in Heaven, since we must make the choice whether we want to go there are not. If people choose to not love or follow God, they can stay in the world he created for them although it is not perfect. Only those who love him can live in his perfect kingdom.
Author's Note: In the original story of Adam and Eve, the problems of the world today are a punishment for Adam and Eve disobeying God after they were created. In my story, I wanted to show a different perspective, one that instead made the world we know today as God trying to give us the best world possible without it being Heaven. The world can't be perfect or else it would be Heaven, so instead of our world being a punishment I simply made it to where it is the way it must be in a physical world where God gives us free will. It gives it a bit of a more positive read than the world being a terrible place of punishment.
Adam and Eve from book of Genesis, The Legends of the Jews by Louis Grinzberg, and The First Book of Adam and Eve
Toni,
ReplyDeleteI haven't seen anybody write about the Old Testament yet, thanks for giving me a change of pace. I like the changes you made, making God try his best to help us, but not being infallible. It's certainly a unique interpretation of the story of Adam and Eve. Thanks for sharing, I am looking forward to reading more of your work throughout the rest of this semester.
Andrew
Toni,
ReplyDeleteI loved this interpretation. Growing up in church I was always kind of turned off by the idea that God wanted to punish us. I think a God who wants us to be as happy as possible in the world we're in is a much more pleasant idea. I also admire you for taking that approach, as it is fairly bold and I'm sure lots of people will disagree with you. Thanks for an awesome story!
I thought the way you designed this story, with god as a more fallible type of being, one that makes mistakes and even kind of makes things up as they go along was a cool interpretation of old religion. The only problem was that there wasn’t really a lot of detail in regards to how the actual place where they were living was. I think it would have been cool to have a bit more description in that area, it would have drawn me into it more. With a god like this though, I wonder how the story of the snake and adam and eve’s banishment from their garden would go. I think your take on that would have potential to be very interesting because once you do away with some of the harsh judgement and punishment of these stories you open up the possibility of a whole range of different meanings behind things and motivations by a fallible being trying to keep a whole earth full of fallible beings alive and virtuous.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed how you started the story. It was a great twist to have Adam and Eve start out in the dark, only to have God realize what they needed. I agree with the above comments that it created an God who wasn't perfect in his actions. Much of the time when we think of the beginning of Earth it is with rose colored glasses. But, you story highlighted the truth that creation isn't always perfect. Your writing about the problems of the world was great and It gave me a fresh take on a familiar story!!
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