Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Pawel <pawel AT kul.stalwol.pl>]

Shoshanna Walker wrote:

> Just so you know - Judaism does not teach that Satan "fell", that is 
> a Christian idea.

Well, isn't it rather a judeo-christian idea? 
You can hardly find any official teaching of judaism
about the origin of evil or about Satan which would
be obligatory for every Jew. Is there any?

On the other hand, the Catholic Church firmly
states that the evil spirit exists and tries
to tempt human beings - that's it. There is no
official doctrine about "falling". The idea
of the fall, to the best of my belief, comes
from literature like The Paradise Lost by John 
Milton.

There is another question which has been disquieting
me for a some time. Adam and Eve in the Paradise
were perfect and free from the "jecer ha-ra'".
They had given them by God the "jecer ha-tov".
Consequently, they did not have to put any effort
to obeying God's micwot, as they had the natural
inclination to do so. But they had to take pains
to commit a sin, which was opposite to their natural
inclination. How come they commited the sin anyway?

Regards -

-- 
Pawel Sajdek
<>< XPICTOC NIKA ><>