A Major Flaw in the Value System

Continued from yesterday…

The tree’s emphasis on knowledge of good and evil is deliberate. Gaining knowledge implies being able to learn something and store it in your memory. The word knowledge also meant to perceive, discriminate, judge, and to know by experience.

So what was the tree of knowledge of good and evil?

It was a value system that gave Adam and Eve the ability to judge good from evil, right from wrong. Of course, isn’t the ability to discern good from evil a wonderful quality? After all, what would the world be like without a value system that defines right from wrong? I agree. It makes sense.

Except the value system has a major flaw.

The ability to perceive good from evil in self was based on whether one experienced guilt or not. Guilt and love can, of course, never co-exist. When we experience guilt, we are essentially saying that we are not worthy of unconditional love.

So gaining knowledge of good and evil without first eating the fruit of the tree of life separated Adam and Eve from awareness of God as love. Guilt demanded that they become good enough to earn love and acceptance, which resulted in shame—the feeling that I am not enough the way I am. In other words, they were no longer conscious of their true self.

To be continued tomorrow…

Adapted from Section 2 of Awakening To I Am Love by David Youngren