CST100 Week 2 Discussion Board Posts PDF

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These are the responses to the given discussion questions that were to be posted every week in the online discussion forum. This CST100 course was taken the first eight weeks of the semester purely online in accelerated format with Dr. Skip Ferris. Use for reference only....

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Paige Hutton Dr. Ferris CST100 9/7/2020 Week 2 Discussion Board Posts 1. Question: Why was it so bad that Adam and Eve ate the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil? a. Response: Initially, I never fully understood the magnitude of Adam and Eve’s sin of eating the fruit of the tree of knowledge. I had just believed it to be a deliberate act of disobedience. However, now I understand that by eating the fruit, Adam and Eve were also conveying to God that they were defiant and they wanted to abide by their own rules rather than the perfect rules that God had established for them. Adam and Eve were practically telling God that they knew what was best for them, and as a consequence, God cast them out of the Garden of Eden. The most catastrophic effect was that this not only affected Adam and Eve, but for rest of humankind to follow. You could almost compare it to a teenager interacting with their parent. A child may ask to go out and the parent may say no, and although the child has a very fulfilled life, the child sneaks out anyways. As a result, the parent punishes the child by grounding them, but the parent does not draw away nor does the parent love the child any less.

2. Question: Satan takes the form of a serpent in order to tempt Adam and Eve. He does so by causing them to question God's word. How do we see him using the same tactics today? a. Response: One consequence that came from Adam and Eve eating the fruit of the tree of knowledge was that fear entered the world. In my opinion, fear is one of the strongest driving emotional forces in that it can cause doubt and can cause us to sin. We are supposed to trust in God, but often times (I myself am especially guilty of this) we find ourselves trying to take control of our own lives in order to ensure self-gratification, whether it be in school, work, or our personal lives. I think it’s interesting how Satan is symbolized as a serpent. When out in nature, you are surrounded by God’s natural beauty, but often times, danger lurks where we cannot see it, as snakes will camouflage themselves and strike at random. As with Satan in the Garden of Eden, he camouflaged himself as a snake and struck out at Adam and Eve with temptations.

3. Question: Look specifically at Genesis 3:15. What sign of hope is there in this verse? a. Response: In Genesis 3:15, God says to Adam and Eve, “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.” This scripture is promising

because it mentions offspring, which creates the expectancy of a Redeemer who would be a descendent of Adam and Eve. The offspring will still bear the image of God, but will be rather distorted. Also noted in the scripture, the serpent which is representing Satan is mentioned. This conveys the message that Satan will remain at work in the world, even for their offspring. On the other hand, although Satan remains at work, it seems hopeful because the serpent only bruises the heel of Adam and Eve’s descendants, but they will strike back with more impact by bruising the serpent’s head. This is important because, in essence, God is explaining that Adam and Eve’s offspring will face Satan for generations, but that they will conquer Satan’s temptations....