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ADAM I EVA
ADAM AND EVE

1 Pitanje: – Što je istinito u priči o Adamu i Njegovu kušanju plodova sa stabla? Question.—What is the truth of the story of Adam, and His eating of the fruit of the tree?
2 Odgovor: – U Bibliji piše da je Bog Adama postavio u Edenski vrt da bi ga njegovao i brinuo se za njega, te mu je rekao: “Sa svakoga stabla u vrtu slobodno jedi, ali sa stabla spoznaje dobra i zla da nisi jeo! U onaj dan u koji s njega okusiš, zacijelo ćeš umrijeti.”102 Potom piše da je Bog uspavao Adama, uzeo jedno od njegovih rebara i stvorio ženu da bi Mu bila družicom. Nakon toga, rečeno je, zmija je nagovorila ženu da jede sa stabla, govoreći: “Nego, zna Bog: onog dana kad budete s njega jeli otvorit će vam se oči, i vi ćete biti kao bogovi, koji razlučuju dobro i zlo.”103 Potom je Eva jela sa stabla i dala plod Adamu, koji je također jeo; njihove se oči otvoriše te, vidjevši da su nagi, pokriše svoja tijela listovima. Zbog tôg ih je čina Bog ukorio. Bog reče Adamu: “Ti si dakle jeo sa stabla s kojega sam ti zabranio jesti? Adam odgovori: “Žena koju si stavio uza me – ona mi je dala sa stabla, pa sam jeo”. Tada je Bog ukorio Evu, a Eva je rekla: “Zmija me prevarila, pa sam jela”. Stoga zmija bijaše prokleta, a neprijateljstvo posijano između nje i Eve i između njihovih potomaka. I Bog reče: “Evo, čovjek postade kao jedan od nas – znajući dobro i zlo! Da ne bi sada pružio ruku, ubrao sa stabla života pa pojeo i živio navijeke!”. Zato je Bog čuvao stablo života.104 Answer.—In the Bible it is written that God put Adam in the garden of Eden, to cultivate and take care of it, and said to Him: “Eat of every tree of the garden except the tree of good and evil, for if You eat of that, You will die.”102 Then it is said that God caused Adam to sleep, and He took one of His ribs and created woman in order that she might be His companion. After that it is said the serpent induced the woman to eat of the tree, saying: “God has forbidden you to eat of the tree in order that your eyes may not be opened, and that you may not know good from evil.”103 Then Eve ate from the tree and gave unto Adam, Who also ate; their eyes were opened, they found themselves naked, and they hid their bodies with leaves. In consequence of this act they received the reproaches of God. God said to Adam: “Hast Thou eaten of the forbidden tree?” Adam answered: “Eve tempted Me, and I did eat.” God then reproved Eve; Eve said: “The serpent tempted me, and I did eat.” For this the serpent was cursed, and enmity was put between the serpent and Eve, and between their descendants. And God said: “The man is become like unto Us, knowing good and evil, and perhaps He will eat of the tree of life and live forever.” So God guarded the tree of life.104
3 Uzmemo li ovu priču u njezinom doslovnom značenju, prema tumačenju masa, ona je uistinu izuzetna. Inteligencija je ne može prihvatiti, potvrditi ili zamisliti; jer takav raspored, takve pojedinosti, takvi razgovori i ukori daleko su od onih inteligentna čovjeka, a koliko tek dalji od Božanstva – onoga Božanstva Koje je dovelo u red ovaj beskonačni univerzum u najsavršenijem obliku i njegove bezbrojne stanovnike s krajnjom sustavnošću, snagom i savršenstvom. If we take this story in its apparent meaning, according to the interpretation of the masses, it is indeed extraordinary. The intelligence cannot accept it, affirm it, or imagine it; for such arrangements, such details, such speeches and reproaches are far from being those of an intelligent man, how much less of the Divinity—that Divinity Who has organized this infinite universe in the most perfect form, and its innumerable inhabitants with absolute system, strength and perfection.
4 Moramo malo promisliti: kad bi se doslovno značenje ove priče pripisalo mudru čovjeku, zasigurno bi svi logično zanijekali da je takav red događaja, da je takva izmišljotina mogla doći od inteligentna bića. Stoga ovu priču o Adamu i Evi koji su jeli s drveta i o njihovu izgonu iz Raja moramo smatrati samo simbolom. Ona sadrži božanska otajstva i univerzalna značenja i moguće ju je tumačiti na čudesne načine. Samo oni koji su inicirani u otajstva i oni koji su blizu Dvora Svemogućega, svjesni su tih tajni. Otuda ti stihovi iz Biblije imaju brojna značenja. We must reflect a little: if the literal meaning of this story were attributed to a wise man, certainly all would logically deny that this arrangement, this invention, could have emanated from an intelligent being. Therefore, this story of Adam and Eve who ate from the tree, and their expulsion from Paradise, must be thought of simply as a symbol. It contains divine mysteries and universal meanings, and it is capable of marvelous explanations. Only those who are initiated into mysteries, and those who are near the Court of the All-Powerful, are aware of these secrets. Hence these verses of the Bible have numerous meanings.
5 Objasnit ćemo jedno od njih i reći: Adam označava nebeski duh Adamov, a Eva Njegovu ljudsku dušu. Jer u nekim pasusima u Svetim knjigama u kojima se spominju žene, one predstavljaju dušu čovjeka. Drvo dobra i zla označava ljudski svijet, jer duhovni i božanski svijet je posve dobar i krajnje svijetao, a u ljudskom svijetu svjetlo i tama, dobro i zlo postoje kao suprotna stanja. We will explain one of them, and we will say: Adam signifies the heavenly spirit of Adam, and Eve His human soul. For in some passages in the Holy Books where women are mentioned, they represent the soul of man. The tree of good and evil signifies the human world; for the spiritual and divine world is purely good and absolutely luminous, but in the human world light and darkness, good and evil, exist as opposite conditions.
6 Zmija znači vezanost za ljudski svijet. Ova je vezanost duha za ljudski svijet odvela dušu i duh Adamov iz svijeta slobode u svijet ropstva i natjerala Ga da se okrene od Kraljevstva jedinstva ka ljudskom svijetu. Kad su duša i duh Adamov ušli u ljudski svijet, On je izašao iz raja slobode i upao u svijet ropstva. Iz visine čistote i krajnje dobrote On je ušao u svijet dobra i zla. The meaning of the serpent is attachment to the human world. This attachment of the spirit to the human world led the soul and spirit of Adam from the world of freedom to the world of bondage and caused Him to turn from the Kingdom of Unity to the human world. When the soul and spirit of Adam entered the human world, He came out from the paradise of freedom and fell into the world of bondage. From the height of purity and absolute goodness, He entered into the world of good and evil.
7 Drvo života je najviši stupanj svijeta postojanja: položaj Riječi Božje i vrhovne Objave. Stoga je taj položaj sačuvan, a kad se pojavila najplemenitija vrhovna Objava, to je postalo jasno i očito. Adamov položaj, s obzirom na pojavu i manifestaciju božanskih savršenih odlika, bio je embrionsko stanje, Kristov položaj bio je stanje zrelosti i doba razbora, a izlazak Najvećeg Sunca105 bio je stanje savršenosti suštine i odlika. Zato je u najvišem Raju drvo života izraz za središte apsolutno čiste svetosti – tj., božanske vrhovne Objave. Od Adamovih do Kristovih dana malo se govorilo o vječnom životu i univerzalnim nebeskim savršenostima. Ovo je drvo života bilo položaj Kristove Stvarnosti; kroz Njegovu je objavu ono zasađeno i urešeno vječitim plodovima. The tree of life is the highest degree of the world of existence: the position of the Word of God, and the supreme Manifestation. Therefore, that position has been preserved; and, at the appearance of the most noble supreme Manifestation, it became apparent and clear. For the position of Adam, with regard to the appearance and manifestation of the divine perfections, was in the embryonic condition; the position of Christ was the condition of maturity and the age of reason; and the rising of the Greatest Luminary105 was the condition of the perfection of the essence and of the qualities. This is why in the supreme Paradise the tree of life is the expression for the center of absolutely pure sanctity—that is to say, of the divine supreme Manifestation. From the days of Adam until the days of Christ, They spoke little of eternal life and the heavenly universal perfections. This tree of life was the position of the Reality of Christ; through His manifestation it was planted and adorned with everlasting fruits.
8 Sad promislite o tome koliko se to značenje slaže sa stvarnošću. Jer, kad su se duh i duša Adamova vezali uz ljudski svijet, prešli su iz svijeta slobode u svijet ropstva, a Njegovi su potomci nastavili živjeti u ropstvu. Tu su vezanost duše i duha za ljudski svijet, što je grijeh, naslijedili Adamovi potomci, i to je zmija koja je uvijek među njima i u neprijateljstvu s duhovima i dušama Adamovih potomaka. To se neprijateljstvo nastavlja i traje. Jer, vezanost za svijet postala je ropstvo duhova, a to je ropstvo jednako grijehu koji se prenosi s Adama na Njegovo potomstvo. Zbog te je vezanosti čovjek lišen suštinske duhovnosti i uzvišena položaja. Now consider how far this meaning conforms to the reality. For the spirit and the soul of Adam, when they were attached to the human world, passed from the world of freedom into the world of bondage, and His descendants continued in bondage. This attachment of the soul and spirit to the human world, which is sin, was inherited by the descendants of Adam, and is the serpent which is always in the midst of, and at enmity with, the spirits and the descendants of Adam. That enmity continues and endures. For attachment to the world has become the cause of the bondage of spirits, and this bondage is identical with sin, which has been transmitted from Adam to His posterity. It is because of this attachment that men have been deprived of essential spirituality and exalted position.
9 Kad su se posvećeni lahori Krista i sveto svjetlo Najvećega Sunca106 proširili svijetom, ljudske su stvarnosti – što znači oni koji su se okrenuli ka Riječi Božjoj i primili obilje Njegove milosti – bile oslobođene ove vezanosti i grijeha, zadobile su vječni život, izbavljene su iz ropskih okova i dosegle svijet slobode. Bile su oslobođene poroka ljudskoga svijeta i blagoslovljene vrlinama Kraljevstva. To je značenje Kristovih riječi: “Dao sam krv Svoju za život svijeta”107 – što znači: odabrao sam sve ove nevolje, patnje, nedaće, pa čak i najveće mučeništvo, da bih dosegao ovaj cilj, oprost grijeha (tj., odvojenost duhova od ljudskoga svijeta i njihovu naklonost božanskome svijetu) da bi se mogle uzdići duše koje će biti sama bit vodstva čovječanstva i očitovanja savršenosti Najvišega Kraljevstva. When the sanctified breezes of Christ and the holy light of the Greatest Luminary106 were spread abroad, the human realities—that is to say, those who turned toward the Word of God and received the profusion of His bounties—were saved from this attachment and sin, obtained everlasting life, were delivered from the chains of bondage, and attained to the world of liberty. They were freed from the vices of the human world, and were blessed by the virtues of the Kingdom. This is the meaning of the words of Christ, “I gave My blood for the life of the world”107—that is to say, I have chosen all these troubles, these sufferings, calamities, and even the greatest martyrdom, to attain this object, the remission of sins (that is, the detachment of spirits from the human world, and their attraction to the divine world) in order that souls may arise who will be the very essence of the guidance of mankind, and the manifestations of the perfections of the Supreme Kingdom.
10 Opazite da kad bi se, prema pretpostavkama Naroda Knjige108, značenje uzelo u njegovu egzoterijskom smislu, bila bi to apsolutna nepravda i potpuna predodređenost. Ako je Adam griješio približivši se zabranjenom drvetu, koji je bio grijeh slavnoga Abrahama, a kakva pogreška Mojsija Subesjednika? Koji je grijeh Noe proroka? Kakav je prijestup Josipa Istinoljubivoga? Kakva je nepravednost Božjih Proroka i prijestup Ivana Čestitoga? Zar bi Bog dopustio da te prosvijetljene Objave zbog Adamova grijeha budu mučene u paklu sve dok nije došao Krist i žrtvujući sebe izbavio ih tegobnih mučenja? Takva je zamisao izvan svakog zakona i pravila i ne može je prihvatiti nijedna inteligentna osoba. Observe that if, according to the suppositions of the People of the Book,108 the meaning were taken in its exoteric sense, it would be absolute injustice and complete predestination. If Adam sinned by going near the forbidden tree, what was the sin of the glorious Abraham, and what was the error of Moses the Interlocutor? What was the crime of Noah the Prophet? What was the transgression of Joseph the Truthful? What was the iniquity of the Prophets of God, and what was the trespass of John the Chaste? Would the justice of God have allowed these enlightened Manifestations, on account of the sin of Adam, to find torment in hell until Christ came and by the sacrifice of Himself saved them from excruciating tortures? Such an idea is beyond every law and rule and cannot be accepted by any intelligent person.
11 Ne, to znači ono što je već rečeno: Adam je duh Adamov, a Eva je Njegova duša; drvo je ljudski svijet, a zmija je ona vezanost uz ovaj svijet koja čini grijeh i koja je zarazila Adamove potomke. Krist je Svojim svetim lahorima spasio ljude ove vezanosti i oslobodio ih grijeha. Adamov grijeh odnosi se na Njegov položaj. Premda je ova nevezanost donijela neke rezultate, bez obzira na to, vezanost uza zemaljski svijet u odnosu na vezanost za duhovni svijet smatra se grijehom. Dobra djela pravednih grijesi su Onih koji su Blizu. To je ustanovljeno. Dakle, tjelesna moć nije samo manjkava naspram duhovne moći; u usporedbi s njom ona je slabost. Isto tako, tjelesni se život u usporedbi s vječnim životom u Kraljevstvu smatra smrću. Tako je Krist tjelesni život nazvao smrću i rekao: “Neka mrtvi pokapaju svoje mrtve.”109 Premda su te duše posjedovale tjelesni život, unatoč tome, taj je život u Njegovim očima bio smrt. No; it means what has already been said: Adam is the spirit of Adam, and Eve is His soul; the tree is the human world, and the serpent is that attachment to this world which constitutes sin, and which has infected the descendants of Adam. Christ by His holy breezes saved men from this attachment and freed them from this sin. The sin in Adam is relative to His position. Although from this attachment there proceed results, nevertheless, attachment to the earthly world, in relation to attachment to the spiritual world, is considered as a sin. The good deeds of the righteous are the sins of the Near Ones. This is established. So bodily power is not only defective in relation to spiritual power; it is weakness in comparison. In the same way, physical life, in comparison with eternal life in the Kingdom, is considered as death. So Christ called the physical life death, and said: “Let the dead bury their dead.”109 Though those souls possessed physical life, yet in His eyes that life was death.
12 To je jedno od značenja biblijske priče o Adamu. Promišljajte dok ne otkrijete ostala. This is one of the meanings of the biblical story of Adam. Reflect until you discover the others.
13 Pozdravljeni bili. Salutations be upon you.