The Perils of Empiricism

Taking a break from our usual brilliant analysis of matters concerning the issue of Origins, we offer the following caveat.

The Perils of Empiricism

Back in the days when the world was perfect (so long ago that no one seems to be able to remember it) a woman by the name of Eve was out strolling in a beautiful garden. (This was the world's first garden, but we don't have the space here to go into the history of gardens, so we'll say no more about it.) She happened (just by accident the sources say) to wander past a famous tree that held a certain forbidden fruit. (It wasn't famous at the time, but became so later.)

She gazed at the fruit that hung from the branches of the tree. It looked wonderful. What would it taste like she wondered? What was its texture? What would the effect be upon the humors? It would be nice to know, but her good husband had told her that the Creator had instructed them not to eat of the tree; and that if they did they would die.

Death seemed like such an abstract concept. What would it mean? What would it be like? What would happen after? She'd never seen any creature die. It would be nice to know what happened.

Walking closer to the tree (which was not forbidden) she saw that a serpent was entwined around one of the branches. Its shiny body glistened in the sun. Walking closer still, in a world that had no fear for her, she saw that the serpent was eating a fruit from the tree. She was spellbound as she watched. Once the serpent had positioned the fruit, it took it in its mouth and swallowed it. Not being much of a naturalist she thought this was a vulgar way to consume a meal.

She couldn't help a small shudder of disgust with what she'd seen, but at the same time felt sympathetic toward the snake. Didn't the poor creature know it would die? Apparently not. It was sad, but she stayed to watch. She wanted to see what would happen, when this thing called death occurred.

She watched for quite a time, but nothing seemed to happen to the serpent at all. (We might say this spoke volumes, but we'd be getting ahead of ourselves.) This surprised her. She'd been led to believe that death meant the end of life, a cessation to being. She wanted to watch the serpent to see what would happen, to see if it would die at some later date. She went to another tree and snapped off a smaller bough, and brought it back to the tree. (Which would later receive a rather famous name.)

She held out the bough to the snake, and seeming to know her desire, it slid off its branch and coiled itself around the bough. With this accomplished she made her way home. What would that wise man she was married to have to say about things she wondered.

The two of them watched the snake for a couple days. Nothing negative happened to the snake. It seemed in perfect health. Eve didn't mention it, but she was convinced that the story she'd been told wasn't exactly true. It couldn't be, could it? She decided to take the serpent back to the Tree. The experiment was, in her mind, complete, and there was no reason to keep it away from its desired abode.

Once back at the Tree (which at that time had no name, Adam had named the animals, but hadn't got around to naming the plants yet) she held out the bough and the serpent slid back onto the branch it had left. Eve looked at the fruit. She reached out and took one, pulling it from its branch. She looked at it. It seemed the most attractive bit of fruit she'd yet seen. What wonderful properties did it hold, she wondered. Who could say. Only by tasting it, only by eating it, could she know.

Having watched the snake she knew she wouldn't die. Someone had told her something that wasn't true. Either God had told Adam something that wasn't true, or Adam had told her something that wasn't true. Of the two choices, it was easier to believe God was the one responsible. She knew Adam loved her, and couldn't imagine him telling her some story that wasn't true.

And so, she bit into the fruit and took a bite. Sweetness flooded her mouth. It was simply wonderful. She put a couple in her pocket and made her way home. By the time she got there she'd finished eating the first fruit, and had started on another.

Adam was there, and she told him all about what she'd done. He seemed alarmed for some reason, and so she took a bite of the fruit (this has been inaccurately referred to as a persimmon) and then offered it to Adam. "Here, try some. It's delicious."

What could poor Adam do? Like all the women to come, his wife had placed him in a terrible bind. If eating the fruit was fatal, she would die, and he'd lose her and be left alone. If he didn't eat some, he'd offend her, and the bond between them would become corrupted.

"You're not still worried are you?" Eve asked. "We proved that the story wasn't true. You saw the serpent as well as I did. It didn't die did it?" she said with a bewitching smile.

No. It hadn't; but what if death were a more complicated matter than he'd imagined? Still, this was likely an unwarranted fear. He reached out and took the fruit, and then took a bite from it. It was as wonderful as Eve had said.

The End
- M. Johnson

Notes;
1. All movie rights reserved. [Steven Spielberg can contact me at frfarer [at] gmail.com