Veronica Comiso
TESP 4, Spring 23
Prof. Moutray
The Story of Adam and Eve Revisited: The Bounding Fruit
Despite being an exception to the majority of the world following the Christian tradition,1 I, like
many other non-Christians, have encountered the story of Adam and Eve numerous times throughout my
life. Many interpretations of the tale exist, which is a recurring theme in Christianity and the ongoing
exploration of ancient religious texts. In this paper, I will discuss the idea that by eating the forbidden fruit
from the Tree of Knowledge, Adam and Eve established the first invisible boundaries of “good” vs.
“evil,” and this has negative implications of fear and shame. I will explore the ways in which the Genesis
verses represent reality today and discuss the role of Christian characteristics, such as compassion and
gladness, in lessening the attention and significance placed behind boundaries that cause human suffering.
A Revisit of Genesis 2-3:
Adam and Eve’s story begins like the entirety of Christianity: with God. In the Bible, the Genesis
chapters tell us that on the sixth day of God’s creation of the universe, He created man. He placed the first
man and woman in the Garden of Eden, a paradise-y place where “the man and his wife were both naked
and were not ashamed,”2 flowing rivers, gold, and the famous tree of knowledge.
God warns Adam to eat any fruit “but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not
eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”3 But, after a convincing argument from the
serpent and “when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes,
and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise,”4 she took a bite, as did Adam.
1
“Religious Composition by Country,” Pew Research.
The Bible, Genesis 2:25.
3
The Bible, Genesis 2:17.
4
The Bible, Genesis 3:6.
2
Afterward, the implications of eating the fruit become clear, as “the eyes of both were opened,
and they knew that they were naked.” When God came back, “the man and wife hid themselves from the
presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden,” and Adam tells him that he heard God and “was
afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.”5 When God questions how they gained this knowledge of
being naked, Adam blames Eve and Eve blames the serpent. Consequently, God kicks them out of Eden
and curses men and women to live difficult lives.
The forbidden fruit is often seen as a symbol of knowledge, and it can also be seen as the first
established boundary among humans. Adam and Eve’s naturally different naked bodies are representative
of the natural differences among humans. Before eating the fruit, these differences seem to have gone
unnoticed, and it was only by being able to establish a boundary between good and evil that their
differences were brought to light. As seen by God’s anger and their shamefulness regarding their bodies,
the creation of boundaries seemingly comes with negative implications. Along with shame, Adam and
Eve also experienced a sense of fear when they hid their nakedness, or differences, from God. With the
introduction of a boundary, their awareness of their own limitations and imperfections became more clear,
possibly explaining the fear-based response they felt when hiding.
The Reflection of Adam and Eve in Society:
Adam and Eve’s shame and fear brought on by a boundary are shared by many people in
contemporary society. Just as their nakedness became prominent after consuming the fruit, conceptual
boundaries created by humans tend to bring more attention to differences among us than similarities.
Similarly to how their indulgence in the fruit resulted in a displacement of blame and consequent conflict,
boundaries often exact this same effect of creating divisions amongst people.
A hugely prominent boundary that divides many humans is the social construction of race; as
Shawn Copeland says In Enfleshing Freedom, “Race is the ultimate trope of difference.”6 Racism serves
5
6
The Bible, Genesis 3:7-10.
Copeland, page 15.
as an example of how boundaries can cause human suffering, with Copeland mentioning how racial
alienation evokes an Adam-and-Eve-like-shame of their own bodies for far too many Black people.7
Furthermore, these divisions within society can leave individuals feeling excluded, marginalized, or
restricted, an effect on Black people that Copeland’s mention of Franz Fanon illustrates in an incredibly
sad, honest way.8 These feelings are often accompanied by a certain fear, a fear of judgment or rejection
for attempting to cross a boundary, or a fear of being punished for doing so. Father Gregory Boyle
explains in Tattoos on the Heart how this can result in fear-based responses, because “our frightened
selves want only for the gathered to like us, agree with us, or be intimidated by us.”9 The fear and shame
experienced by Adam and Eve are thus representative of the shame and fear that we tend to face because
of boundaries and divisions established in society.
Adam and Eve became aware and ashamed of their nakedness only after eating the fruit of
knowledge. Although they were always naked and not completely alike, it was the act of consuming the
fruit that magnified the negative implications of shame and fear. In addition to the fruit representing a
boundary, I imagine that eating the fruit could represent the placement of significance behind boundaries
and differences. With the new-found knowledge of good and evil, their awareness of their individual
differences became heightened. Thus, the eating of the fruit could be seen as their ability to use the
knowledge to place significance behind what made them different from each other. Adam and Eve went
from being “one flesh”10 to being cursed to live vastly different, suffering lives by God based on their
main difference: man vs. woman. This interpretation emphasizes that the act of eating the fruit – placing
significance behind arbitrary boundaries and divisions – accentuates the differences between individuals,
leading humans to live suffering lives.
Adam and Eve’s experience underscores the idea that too much significance placed behind
arbitrary boundaries that differentiate humans leads to divisions amongst us and subsequently suffering.
7
Copeland, pages 15-18.
Copeland, page 16.
9
Boyle, page 155.
10
The Bible, Genesis 2:24.
8
Their tale can read like a warning as to what happens when we pay too much attention to boundaries that
separate us — or place significance behind them. In contemporary society, the descendants of Adam and
Eve continue to make the same mistake of falling prey to the forbidden fruit. An investigation into queer
theology provides many similar take-always as the Genesis 2-3 verses and shows how humans suffer as a
result of allowing boundaries to take over.
Queer theology works to deconstruct the notion that you can deconstruct a person and put them
into categories.11 Pamela Lightsley, a prominent figure in queer theology, explains how separating a
human based on their identity leaves human beings feeling like a fragmentation instead of a whole in her
interview titled “A Womanist Queer Theology”.12 Similarly to how Adam and Eve focused on a certain
part of them that made them different (their nakedness), often LGBTQ+ Christians are put under the
spotlight because of a differing aspect of their identity: their sexual orientation/identity. Significance has
constantly been placed behind sexuality and gender throughout the course of humanity, “thus, sexuality
became an issue of being – that is, who one was – as opposed to what one was doing,”13 according to
Patrick Cheng in An Introduction to Queer Theology: Radical Love. In this way, significance was placed
behind a small difference, a boundary, between Christians. As Copeland explains, “the social body’s
assignment of meaning and significance to race and/or gender, sex and/or sexuality of physical bodies
influences, perhaps even determines, the trajectories of concrete human lives.”14 So, placing significance
behind arbitrary boundaries, such as gender or sexuality, leads to people feeling unwhole and creating
human suffering in the form of oppression.
When considering my interpretation of Adam and Eve alongside queer theology, it becomes
evident that the significance put behind differences is socially constructed, and seemingly not natural.
God did not want Adam and Eve to eat the boundary that was the fruit of the tree, which made their
nakedness more apparent and subsequently placed significance behind their natural differences. I believe
11
Lightsey, “A Womanist Queer Theology.”
Lightsey, “A Womanist Queer Theology.”
13
Cheng, page 7.
14
Copeland, page 8.
12
that Adam and Eve represent the rest of humankind, so taking this interpretation, it is not in God’s will for
us to pick each other apart based on our small differences. Just as God punished Adam and Eve to suffer
as a result of eating the fruit, humans continue to suffer in society as a result of letting boundaries and
differences take over. But, if God did not want them to eat the fruit, then why would he put it there in the
first place? Adam and Eve knew of no good or evil, so they likely did not realize the true consequences of
their actions when choosing to indulge.
With their innocence and inability to reason well, I believe that God wanted Adam and Eve to
think that they chose to eat the fruit and that He was truly mad at them. However, God being all-knowing,
it is my opinion that He must have known that they would eat the fruit. He cursed them to suffering lives,
wanting them to think that they had been punished for disobeying Him. This way, Adam and Eve believed
that the suffering that they, and the rest of humanity, endure was self-imposed – they thought that it was
their choice of actions that led them to this path. Just as their choices and actions allowed boundaries to
appear and take on significance, their choices and actions are the only things that can reverse this effect.
Reducing the Effects of Eating the Forbidden Fruit:
Kinship seems to be a perfect example of what we can do to reduce the negative implications that
come with boundaries in humanity. In the Christian tradition, compassion and gladness are two examples
of ways that we can improve kinship amongst human beings. Father Gregory Boyle devotes a chapter to
both of these actions, as well as kinship, in his book Tattoos on the Heart. He describes kinship as “not
serving the other, but being one with the other.”15 This suggests a sort of unity amongst people, something
that would be very difficult if we continue to eat the forbidden fruit that puts too much emphasis on small
things that divide us. Compassion “means the dismantling of barriers that exclude,”16 and allowing the
pain of others to flow in towards yourself. It is a way of letting people in and allowing differences to be
an expansion of oneself. Father Boyle focuses on Jesus and how he ate with the poor as an example of
15
16
Boyle, page 188.
Boyle, page 75.
how the rest of us can allow boundaries and differences to be an expansion of ourselves instead of
allowing them to divide us. He goes on to explain that gladness is a state of being where one experiences
joy, connection, and a sense of belonging in the presence of others.17 Similarly to when we act
compassionately, gladness can take away some of the significance that we place behind boundaries. If we
all work to be more compassionate and glad of our lives, we can form the kinship that God gifted Adam
and Eve before they ate the fruit.
I believe that the state of unity and tranquility that Adam and Eve experienced before bringing
awareness and significance to boundaries is something that God now reserves for humans in the afterlife.
While it was not in His will for Adam and Eve to eat the forbidden fruit when they did (representing the
idea that the significance of boundaries is not natural), God knew that it was bound to happen. His point
in making Adam and Eve think that they could have avoided suffering was so that they would always try
to attain what they once had in the Garden of Eden. While that pure unity is unattainable, kinship is the
closest state to that which they and the rest of humanity can achieve.
In our world today, the suffering that comes from racism and criticism of queer people is bound
to happen, yet seemingly self-imposed. Thus, we are more likely to work to be compassionate and glad, in
order to achieve kinship. God will not let up on the suffering anytime soon, in my slightly negative view
of Christianity. Without suffering, it would be very difficult to have faith in a higher power that can
provide the heavily-wanted unity and tranquility after death. This may seem like a somewhat depressing
standpoint, that humanity is bound to suffer forever. However, as I have stated previously, without
suffering granting us the possibility to be compassionate and glad, there subsequently would be less need
to form kinship. Thus, while we are bound to have boundaries, we are also bound to recognize the need to
dissipate those boundaries and the significance that we put behind them.
The Take-Away:
In life, we are all bound to experience some suffering and are all given the opportunity to grow
from it. Adam and Eve’s story shows us that God expects this, thus it can provide a certain comfort and
17
Boyle, “Gladness” (pages 147-166).
blueprint for how we tend to fall prey to the forbidden fruit. At the same time, we can pinpoint the cause
of human suffering and employ the God-given ability to reach kinship. I find this to be a beautiful irony in
the Christian tradition. God binds us to suffer, yet it is only with that suffering that we can experience the
true beauty and meaning of life: compassion, gladness, kinship, and overall love for each other and
ourselves.
To conclude, Adam and Eve eating the forbidden fruit can be seen as introducing awareness and
significance to the boundary between good and evil. As a result, they became fearful and shameful and
subsequently were bound to live suffering lives. I have discussed how this mirrors the state of humanity
today, using racism and queer theology as concrete examples of human suffering resulting from
boundaries. In a world bound by boundaries and suffering, it is through the embrace of compassion,
gladness, and kinship that we hold the key to unlocking the true beauty and meaning of life, transcending
the limitations imposed by the forbidden fruit, and rediscovering the divine unity that awaits us.
Notes:
1. Boyle, Gregory. Tattoos on the Heart. New York: Free Press, 2011. Pages 75, 147-166, and 188.
2. Cheng, Patrick. An Introduction to Queer Theology: Radical Love. New York: Seabury Books,
2011. Page 7.
3. Copeland, Shawn. Enfleshing Freedom: Body, Race, and Being. Minneapolis: Fortress Press,
2010. Pages 8 and 15-18.
4. Lightsey, Pamela uploaded by Wipf and Stock Publishers. “A Womanist Queer Theology: The
Pamela Lightsey Interview.” YouTube video, 31:00. 17 February 2016.
5. “Religious Composition by Country.” Pew Research Center. 12 December 2022. Accessed 1 June
2023.
https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/interactives/religious-composition-by-country-2010-2050/.
6. “The Bible” (online version). Life.Church / YouVersion. Accessed 1 June 2023.
https://www.bible.com/bible/59/GEN.3.ESV.