Response to Blog Post #1.5

        The paradox of Eve's 'bad choice' is defined by the morality behind 'good' and 'bad,' and knowing the difference between the two. As it is made evident in the passage, Adam and Eve lacked the ability to tell good from bad before eating from the Forbidden Tree of Knowledge. This means that if Eve had truly had a choice to eat or not to eat the Forbidden Fruit, she was still in a state of ignorance to this moral divide. However, God had instructed her not to eat from the Forbidden Tree or else she would die. The discussion question raises the topic of being 'in the wrong,' or 'bad.' It is important to know what 'wrong' is in the context of the question. 'Wrong' could justly be considered as unwise and morally incorrect; a decision, possibly with malicious intent, that could bring harm to oneself or others. Was Eve in the wrong if she knew the rules, but did not know what 'wrong' was? Was God's warning to her enough to constitute a bad choice on her part?

        Some might say that it is- that Eve knew what the rules were, and she knew that she was not to break them. In fact, she herself restated her prohibition to the serpent: "'God did say, 'Do not eat of it or so much as touch it, lest you die!'" It can be concluded from this that Eve knew well the rules that God had laid out for her, and that she was not allowed to disregard them. When she ate from the Forbidden Tree, she was consciously breaking these rules. This can be regarded as a bad decision in that alone- breaking life-or-death rules is rarely ever a 'good' thing to do, even when one does not know the reasoning or morals behind them.

        However, it can also be argued that Eve could not have known that the choice she was about to make was a 'bad' choice. After all, they needed to eat the fruit to be able to discern good from bad. This is made clear when God notes Adam and Eve's new ability to determine the difference between the two, implying their incapability to do so before eating the fruit. If Eve did not know what bad was, it can be argued that she could not have known if breaking the rules was good or bad. A 'bad' choice is generally defined not by oblivion, but by ignorance to known morals and limitations.

        I believe that Eve's choice was indeed a bad one, despite her inability to tell good from bad at the time she made her decision to eat the Forbidden Fruit. She knew that God was all-powerful in Eden, and she also was aware of the fact that he did not want her to eat from the tree. She also was able to tell that the serpent that convinced her to eat the fruit was defying God's will, as indicated by her initial argument with the character. She knowingly did something that she was not supposed to do, and by that reasoning Eve did indeed make a bad choice by eating the Forbidden Fruit.