The Knowledge of Good and Evil

I am reminded, as I write, of the 1956 Alfred Hitchcock movie with the title, “The Man Who Knew Too Much.” Upon reflection, that actually describes most people as well. I recently re-read the beginning of the book of Genesis and was intrigued by the original sin of Adam and Eve and the fall of mankind. In that ideal environment they basically had one negative command: Don’t eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil … or you will surely die. It seems simple enough. All they had to do was enjoy all the fruits and wonders of creation in an idyllic garden setting and leave one tree alone. However, they just couldn’t do it. They were deceived by Satan (the serpent), they ate the fruit, and the party was over. That familiar situation invites all manner of commentary and theory, but I wish only to dwell upon one issue today. Clearly good and evil existed, even then, or there would be no such tree. Adam and Eve were basking daily in the good of creation and relationship with God. The wise creator most likely understood that their lives would be far better if they could remain blissfully ignorant of evil. However, rather than hide it from them like a parent with child-proof cupboards, He merely commanded them to avoid evil. I think we were created, at least originally, for good. Thus, when we partook of that cursed tree it perverted and corrupted our existence. We didn’t need to know all the details of evil and that very knowledge is what separates us from the holy God. We live in a world brimming with the knowledge of good and evil, which manifests itself throughout our various modern forms of media. Evil not only exists, it actually seeks us out and forces itself upon us. Without belaboring that point, let me simply say that even as a relatively clean-living man I have inadvertently seen and heard enough evil to last three lifetimes. It is that knowledge, much like computer viruses, which infects our minds and serves to drive a wedge between us and God. For there is not room in our hearts and minds for both God and the conscious knowledge of evil at any give time. Thus we are, in a very real sense, the men who know too much. Worse yet, that knowledge is like a cancer that slowly eats away at our integrity, nobility and moral character. The concept of “you are what you eat” applies in the area of experiential knowledge as well. We are what we hear and see. Or, at the very least, we are in the process of becoming so. What can be done? God offered us a cure in the person of Jesus Christ, who is the antidote to evil. He erases our transgressions, pays the price of our sins and paves the way for a renewed innocence which allows us to once again approach the throne of a holy God. Knowledge of Jesus comes from the bible and through prayer.

If you feel your life slipping in the wrong direction or feel that you might not be turning into the person you had hoped to be, a good place to begin would be to consider the knowledge of good and evil and whether you have forbidden fruit in your own life. If that is the case, it might be time to chop down whatever trees bear such fruit and search for the tree of life instead. Don’t be “the man who knew too much.” There is a better man in you waiting to be discovered, one who knows what needs to be known and abhors what should be left unknown. I think a great filter to test the content of our media input is found in the bible in Philippians 4:8. It reads as follows: “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things.” That’s a good start. So I leave you today with the following poem which grew from this very subject. Remember that you control what flows into your heart and mind and that will determine the trajectory of your life.

The Knowledge of Good and Evil
Long ago, in the Garden of Eden
there stood two particular trees
The first one was the tree of life
where Adam and Eve ate as they pleased
But the second tree was forbidden
as was the fruit it bore
The tree of the knowledge of good and evil
God declared they should abhor
Of course, we all know the story
Eve was deceived and Adam as well
They ate the forbidden fruit and sinned
and that is how mankind fell
It was the knowledge of good and evil
which a holy God could not abide
And it separated God from man
who felt ashamed and fled to hide
The knowledge of good and evil
was far more than man needed to know
It robbed us of our innocence
thus God had forbidden it so
Worse yet that dreadful knowledge
which has brought us so much strife
Robbed us of those blessings
we could have known from the tree of life
So it is in this present world
where knowledge of good and evil abounds
Mercilessly pursuing us
from wherever it may be found
And if we allow our hearts and minds
to be filled and poisoned by
The knowledge of good and evil
something within us begins to die
For that is the fruit of rebellion
which the holy God counts as sin
And it cannot be tolerated by
the Holy Spirit who dwells within
If we are to know the tree of life
and the blessings God bestows
Then we must chop down the forbidden tree
in our hearts before it grows
For man was never intended to know
or have such ready access to
The knowledge of good and evil
as our God understood and knew
We were designed for higher purposes
intended for nobler thoughts
And our hearts only respond to God
when we partake of the trees we ought
If we desire to eat from the tree of life
and God’s blessing and power know
We must ask the Lord to cleanse us
of that knowledge He abhors so
We must turn from the forbidden tree
and the darkness which it brings
To fill our hearts with the word of God
fill our minds with loftier things
Only then can we enter God’s presence
or begin to discern His perfect will
Yet we must ever keep our guard up
against the knowledge which beckons still
It’s been the bane of human existence
since that day of original sin
But Jesus shattered its power upon the cross

gave us power not to give in
So when we hear the serpent whispering

all those same delectable lies
Let us flee from the knowledge of good and evil
Lest we’re tempted to compromise
By Frank Carpenter ©