YouTube: Forbidden Fruit
Religious tradition tells us that our struggle with sin began with the first couple, Adam and Eve. Despite being explicitly told not to eat the fruit of a certain tree, Adam and Eve still did it, leaving the rest of us to struggle with the consequences. Though people often portray this forbidden fruit as an apple, Genesis names it as “… the tree of the knowledge of good and evil” (Gen 2:17).
This ancient writer is not talking about gardens, trees, or any of the fruit we might find in a bowl on the dining room table. He’s answering this question: Why is life such a struggle? His answer is this: Life is a struggle because, from the beginning, man has disobeyed the commandments of God.
In Unity, we affirm that there is only one Presence and one power in the universe, God, the good, omnipotent. It is the belief in two powers—good and evil—that establishes the basis for struggle and gets us kicked out of the garden, so to speak. In traditional belief, people depict this dualism as God and Satan, attributing distinct origins to both powers. At the beginning of its account of creation, Genesis mentions light and darkness, but names only light as good. John echoes this when he writes, “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it” (John 1:5).
The belief in two powers can take many forms. In the traditional religious context, people consider sin as a power that can condemn the soul to hell. In our alternative approaches to spirituality, negative thinking and the soul that is not spiritually awakened become a destructive power. It matters little how we characterize evil as a power. The consequence of embracing it manifests itself as some form of struggle.
The importance of this entire issue comes down to how we characterize God and the possibility of a competing power. Though the subtle serpent continuously tempts us with the assurance that there are no consequences of believing in two powers, we should understand that this belief is the basis of all fear and serves as the source of most of our struggles in life.