Man Punished for Seeking Knowledge?

Question

In the Garden of Eden, did man get punished for seeking knowledge? Or was it that they did what God told them not to do?

Answer

Man was punished for disobeying God, and his disobedience took the form, in part, of seeking forbidden knowledge. Seeking knowledge is not a bad thing in and of itself, but seeking knowledge that God has told us not to seek, or in ways that God has told us not to seek it, is a sin. We see this elsewhere in instances such as sorcery, astrology, mediums, etc. The Bible never says these "sciences" or "arts" do not actually work. Rather, it forbids them on the basis that they are evil. It is also worth noting that God seems to indicate in Genesis 3:17 that Adam's sin was not seeking knowledge, but rather was disobeying God ("because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree about which I commanded you, saying, 'You shall not eat from it'). That seeking forbidden knowledge was at least part of man's sin is evident from Genesis 3:22.


Answer by Ra McLaughlin

Ra McLaughlin is Vice President of Finance and Administration at Third Millennium Ministries.