Acquiring The Knowledge Of Good & Evil (Part 2)
ACQUIRING THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOOD AND EVIL (Psalm 34:14; Isaiah 5:20) - Part 2
Yeow Chic Kiong
It cannot be denied that eating the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil resulted in Adam and Eve acquiring some degree of the knowledge which,- up to that point in time,- was God's alone to possess (Genesis 3:6-7) Even God admitted that their first sin of disobedience had that limited effect (Genesis 3: 22). However, they did not have enough of the knowledge of good and evil,- not even to know how to adequately attire themselves to hide the shame of nakedness they had just acquired (Gensis 3:7). Their Creator had to help to make lasting clothing for them! (Genesis 3:21)
Clearly, eating of the forbidden fruit did not provide the first couple with omniscience,- the all-knowledge that belongs to God alone. Indeed, the burden of mankind has since been a lack of either the knowledge of adequately overcoming evil (Proverbs 14:12; 16:25) or,- knowing how to overcome some evil,- lacking the will to do so (James 4:17). Man's most important task was to obtain a good knowledge of the truth about reality (Proverbs 23:23), particularly the distinction between good and evil so tbat he can choose to do good instead of evil (Psalm 34:14; Isaiah 1:16-17; 1 Peter 3:11).
We are not born with a knowledge of good and evil (hence Deuteronomy 1:39; Isaiah 7:14-16 on a child arriving at the age of moral discernment). For those of us who are persuaded that the Bible contains God's will for man, a first step in obtaining God's instruction on what man needs to know about good and evil is to locate from the holy scriptures passages which have been called "catalogues of vice (i.e. evil) and virtues (i.e. good)." Among these lists in the New Testament of particular good and evil are the beatitudes in Jesus' Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:3-12), the works of the flesh and the fruits of the Spirit (Galatians 5:19-23) and the things which invite God's wrath and the things of God's elect (Colossians 3:5-14) as well as the things of a debased mind (Romans 1:29-31).
Other "catalogues" include the characteristics of those who will not inherit tbs kingdom of
God (1 Corinthians 6:9-10), the "step-ladder of faith" (2 Peter 1:5-7), the evils from within a man (Mark 7:21-22), vices of the last days (2 Timotby 3:2-5), the things worthy to be meditated about (Philippians 4:8) and the characteristics of love (1 Corinthians 13:4-8).
As they enumerate elements of good and evil as revealed by God, these catalogues are convenient to memorize. Individual characteristics or items in each list ought to be studied as regards their meaning,- in the language of the Bible translation and version used as well as in koine Greek,- with the aid of dictionaries and word studies. Thereafter, reflection should be undertaken concerning how the virtues can be cultivated in our lives and current situations and circumstances, and the vices eradicated or avoided.