8. The Devil’s Diary (Continued)

Day Two: Adam’s Apple

By all accounts, the first and foremost of my “past accomplishments” was the Original Sin. Every Christian or anyone who has studied Christianity has no doubt read about the Original Sin and some of you are perhaps not quite sure what to make of it. Indeed, different sects of the Christian faith (Judaism, Orthodox, Catholics, Protestants, Mormons…) all have somewhat different interpretations of the Original Sin and they are all supposed to have been enlightened by the one true GOD regarding the matter. If all these good people cannot come to a consensus after two millennia, I don’t think you should hold out much hope on getting the right answer from them, ever. I shall therefore break my long-held silence and tell you straight (from the Devil’s mouth!) what the Original Sin was all about. After all, “Sin” happens to be my area of specialty. This is the way it happened…

After God completed his “creation”, we sat down and had a chat over our first “Sunday brunch”.  (You see, contrary to what you were led to believe, GOD and I have always been close friends.  Remember I said earlier, we are literally twins!)  He was quite contented with his work and opined that his little Garden of Eden would last for eternity.  While I too felt that the Garden of Eden was indeed very nice, I was a bit concerned that Adam was behaving like a typical middle-class spoiled brat: frolicking and playing with the birds and animals all day long, not having to bear a single responsibility or contributing anything to the community.   So this was what I told God about Adam:

“All play and no work would make Adam turn out exactly the way you are -- a free loafer!  I doubt he could develop the strength and rigor that are needed to manage this garden of yours on an ongoing basis.  Don’t you know it’s becoming a jungle out there?”  (Silence…GOD is always the strong and silent type.)

After more in-depth discussions during which I naturally did most of the talking, we decided that we should put Adam to a little test, to give him a little responsibility, something that he needs to take care of.  We gave him Eve.  I should add that while Adam was all of God’s design, Eve came from my drawing board.  So just as GOD created Adam in his image, I created Eve in mine.

Now, the rest of it was history, or rather, falsified history: It was alleged that Eve came across the serpent which talked her into talking Adam into taking a bite of the apple from the apple tree, and one thing led to another, Adam and Eve were banished (evicted without notice!) from Eden because they committed the Original Sin.  Let me set the records straight.  Firstly, why the apple tree came to be known as the “Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil” is beyond GOD and me.  We always refer to it as the apple tree.   Secondly, as far as I can remember (and I have a perfect memory), GOD has never forbidden Adam from eating the fruits from the apple tree or any other trees for that matter.   I suppose people who drafted the Bible were looking real hard for a story line and must have made up this “Forbidden tree and serpent” story for its dramatic effect.  Thirdly, GOD did not evict Adam and Eve.  They left voluntarily.  They took a fancy to one another and decided to take up residence somewhere else where they would have more privacy.  I wouldn’t blame them.  GOD was a busybody, a peeping tom.  Adam and Eve were smart to move out the first chance they’ve got.

I got a feeling that some of you are very disappointed after you hear the truth about the Original Sin, but I felt strongly that it will serve nobody any good if people continue to believe in the “Forbidden Fruit” story, least of all the poor folks who plant apples for a living.  For a long time, they have been blamed for something that was never their fault.

In the coming days, I will continue to unravel some of the most familiar and yet least understood aspects of Christian doctrines: the Seven Deadly Sins.  I hope when you finish reading this diary, you will develop a better understanding of who you are and how you are related to GOD and the DEVIL.  I hope at the end you will agree that to sin is not only human; it is fulfilling the design of GOD.

- To be continued -