IRJ#20-QR
Deception:The Morality of the Bible
Throughout Genesis, deception is used to get one’s way or to maintain power. Both the Characters God and Abraham use deception for self-benefit.
When God places the Tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the Garden of Eve, he tells Adam and Eve that they will die. By putting it there for no reason, God provokes the curious human nature to eat from the tree once they learn that they will not die but in fact gain wisdom. To even put the tree there in the first place shows god’s deceit. He wanted to prove to himself that he could trick innocent creatures to eat from a prohibited tree. With this self assurance of power, God becomes confident in believing he is the master of all.
On two different occasions, Abraham travels with Sarah, his wife, to a city and then tells the ruler of that city that Sarah is his sister. He does this to become rich and obtain land. God hypocritically tells Abraham that what he did was a shame.
In both these cases, the characters used deception to feel as if they controled the situation and no one else did. People should not need to deceive people to feel in control and with power.
