Why did God forbid us to eat the fruit of knowledge? If it is indeed the knowledge of good and evil, why is the knowledge of good forbidden as well?

Knowledge is not bad per se. But knowledge that is apart from God, that is the source of all the evils and suffering we experience today.

We have been tempted from the very beginning. We have been offered enlightenment in exchange for love, and we took it. We didn't know that enlightenment without love is darkness. We didn't know that knowledge apart from God is foolishness. We didn't know.

That is why our fall had been delayed. And that is why forgiveness had been available to men and not to angels. We have been given time. And we have been given the Ultimate Saving Sacrifice of Love. Shall we take it? Or shall we succumb to the eternal fall of living our own lives in a cold dark alley of knowledge apart from the burning love of God?

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Post tags: adam and eve, angels, enlightenment, garden of eden, Genesis, love, paradise, redemption, salvation, the fall, the forbidden fruit, the great lie, the serpent

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"My Son, let not the fair and subtle sayings of men move thee.
For the kingdom of God is not in word, but in power.

(1) Give ear to My words, for they kindle the heart and enlighten the mind,
they bring contrition, and they supply manifold consolations.
Never read thou the word that thou mayest appear more learned or
wise; but study for the mortification of thy sins, for this will
be far more profitable for thee than the knowledge of many
difficult questions.

2. "When thou hast read and learned many things, thou must always
return to one first principle. I am He that teacheth man
knowledge,(2) and I give unto babes clearer knowledge than can
be taught by man. He to whom I speak will be quickly wise and
shall grow much in the spirit. Woe unto them who inquire into
many curious questions from men, and take little heed concerning
the way of My service. The time will come when Christ will
appear, the Master of masters, the Lord of the Angels, to hear
the lessons of all, that is to examine the consciences of each
one. And then will He search Jerusalem with candles,(3) and the
hidden things of darkness(4) shall be made manifest, and the
arguings of tongues shall be silent.

3. "I am He who in an instant lift up the humble spirit, to learn
more reasonings of the Eternal Truth, than if a man had studied
ten years in the schools. I teach without noise of words,
without confusion of opinions, without striving after honour,
without clash of arguments. I am He who teach men to despise
earthly things, to loathe things present, to seek things
heavenly, to enjoy things eternal, to flee honours, to endure
offences, to place all hope in Me, to desire nothing apart from
Me, and above all things to love Me ardently.

4. "For there was one, who by loving Me from the bottom of his
heart, learned divine things, and spake things that were
wonderful; he profited more by forsaking all things than by
studying subtleties. But to some I speak common things, to
others special; to some I appear gently in signs and figures, and
again to some I reveal mysteries in much light. The voice of
books is one, but it informeth not all alike; because I inwardly
am the Teacher of truth, the Searcher of the heart, the Discerner
of the thoughts, the Mover of actions, distributing to each man,
as I judge meet."

-The Imitation of Christ, Thomas Kempis

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Post tags: against vain and worldly knowledge, enlightenment, futile knowledge, the imitation of christ, Words of Wisdom

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VISIONARY: My son, at times it is not that there are
no right answers, but that we ask not the right questions.
Would you rather not have asked whether such stars desire
to be lifted up and saved?

INQUIRER: But why shouldn't they desire to? Don't they
know the wrath of the One with whom they can never win?

VISIONARY: It is for the fact that they are fully aware
that they could no longer change their decision. Everything
they now know, they have known from the very beginning.
What they have decided, they have already decided for all
eternity.

INQUIRER: And what of earthlings? Why must these fallen stars
desire them to be fully aware as themselves? Do they desire
for them to be saved thru enlightenment?

VISIONARY: Enlightenment and salvation are two different matters.
Let him beware who desires to be enlightened for full awareness
grapples him on a road of no return. Once there, time ceases
and decisions halt to a final destination. He can no longer
tread the path of perfection he has once desired to walk upon.
Once the veil had been lifted up, it is the heart that makes
the choice. And when the seed of PRIDE has already made its
way unto the seat of his soul, what could make him approach
the throne of the most Divine Mercy? What could make him
exchange the glory of his own beauty for the suffering of the cross?

© Jocelyn Soriano for I Take Off The MASK!, 2008. | Permalink | 2 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: angels, armageddon, can we be enlightened without being saved, enlightenment, enlightenment without salvation, heaven, last battle, salvation

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