Curses!

[OnceConvinced]

This question is mainly directed at Christians who believe that God puts curses on people, some of which (or all?) remain for generations afterwards.

My question is, when you become a Christian (ie. become born again), are those curses broken immediately? - What reasoning do you have for your answer?

(I will have some follow up questions possibly)

[ravenssong]

Do you know how this group explained the curse of pain at child birth? If we are to go by their logic, then Christians should not suffer that pain.

If memory serves me correct God does not curse Eve or Adam, he curses the ground Adam will work and the serpent. He uses a different reference for Adam and Eve one that indicates that He has changed the way things will be from here on out, like when He said He would never flood the whole earth again (Post - flood)

I don't remember how the church viewed this "curse" its been years since I was there, and I can't find anything online about them.

Personally, I view all myth, legend, unverifiable ancient history as sort of parables, and generally speaking the more I dislike a story, the more there is something in it I need to learn. So that said I really hated this story for a long time, I don't remember where I picked up this interpretation but to me it seems more along the lines of an intelligent rational diety reaction than the one the Christian God is accused of.
When the serpent tricked Eve it bacically told her that in eating the fruit she would become like God. Yaay who doesn't want to be a Goddess, right? Many myths that come from the same time period and geographical location as the Genisis story talk in great lenght about goddesses, these goddeses had relativly short pregnancys (days instead of months) and easy labors, increasing Eve's pain in childbirth was a way of reminding women that they are human and it would be impossible and innapropriate to strive to "become like God"

The same would go for Adam's curse" in that working the land the pain hard work inflicts on the body is a reminder of your humanity and your finite state, how humbling is it for a man to realize he just cant do the same work he could when he was 20?

Pain and sorrow is what makes us human it is not a curse so much as a reminder.
A curse is something diffrent, when you see it you know it's not right, but a woman in labor, a man working the field, that's natural, healthy and most people wouldn't trade the experience for anything.

[McCulloch]

If memory serves me correct God does not curse Eve or Adam, he curses the ground Adam will work and the serpent. He uses a different reference for Adam and Eve one that indicates that He has changed the way things will be from here on out, like when He said He would never flood the whole earth again (Post - flood)

It is a good thing we don't have to rely on your memory.

To the woman He [God] said,
"I will greatly multiply
Your pain in childbirth,
In pain you will bring forth children;
Yet your desire will be for your husband,
And he will rule over you."

This is not worded as just a change in circumstances. God explicitly states that he would take action to increase the woman's pain in childbirth. Sounds like a curse to me.

[ravenssong]

If memory serves me correct God does not curse Eve or Adam, he curses the ground Adam will work and the serpent. He uses a different reference for Adam and Eve one that indicates that He has changed the way things will be from here on out, like when He said He would never flood the whole earth again (Post - flood)

It is a good thing we don't have to rely on your memory.

When I wrote that I was actually responding to this question

Do you know how this group explained the curse of pain at child birth? If we are to go by their logic, then Christians should not suffer that pain.

All I had to rely on was my memory to respond to the question, as a quick internet search didn't turn up any thing on the Seminar I had referenced and I hadn't been in touch with that church for years.

To the woman He [God] said,
"I will greatly multiply
Your pain in childbirth,
In pain you will bring forth children;
Yet your desire will be for your husband,
And he will rule over you."

This is not worded as just a change in circumstances. God explicitly states that he would take action to increase the woman's pain in childbirth. Sounds like a curse to me.

Yah, it sounds like a curse to me too.
(I totally tried to look up the words "I will" in my Strongs, but it didn't have a concordance nomber so I gave up. I am such a nerd. )

So why do you think the curses God placed on Adam and Eve in the garden are not lifted once one converts?

Why doesn't the second half of that "curse" hold water? I mean all women experience some degree of pain in childbirth, (modern medicine can alleviate most of that pain) but I know plenty of women who have little or no desire for their husbands (romantic or otherwise) and I know plenty of men who are in no way compelled to rule over their wives.

[McCulloch]

So why do you think the curses God placed on Adam and Eve in the garden are not lifted once one converts?

My opinion is that the writers of Genesis did not anticipate the lifting of the curse or the salvation by Jesus. The Bible taken as a whole is inconsistent, since one should expect that the curse for disobedience would be lifted by receiving the grace of God.
Answering more literally, I don't think that the curses God placed on Adam and Eve in the garden were lifted for Christian converts because they were fictitious in the first place.

Why doesn't the second half of that "curse" hold water? I mean all women experience some degree of pain in childbirth, (modern medicine can alleviate most of that pain) but I know plenty of women who have little or no desire for their husbands (romantic or otherwise) and I know plenty of men who are in no way compelled to rule over their wives.

And why would the desire for one's spouse be a curse? It is not a curse for my spouse and I.

[ravenssong]

To the woman He [God] said,
"I will greatly multiply
Your pain in childbirth,
In pain you will bring forth children;
Yet your desire will be for your husband,
And he will rule over you."

This is not worded as just a change in circumstances. God explicitly states that he would take action to increase the woman's pain in childbirth. Sounds like a curse to me.

Why doesn't the second half of that "curse" hold water? I mean all women experience some degree of pain in childbirth, (modern medicine can alleviate most of that pain) but I know plenty of women who have little or no desire for their husbands (romantic or otherwise) and I know plenty of men who are in no way compelled to rule over their wives.

And why would the desire for one's spouse be a curse? It is not a curse for my spouse and I.[/quote]

I just figured since the part about childbirth sounded like a curse the rest of it was supposed to sound like it too. Personally I don't consider any of it a curse.

I just found an article on this topic - I thought you all might find it interesting
http://biblestudies.suite101.com/articl ... eves_curse

[JumpingJackFlash]

This question is mainly directed at Christians who believe that God puts curses on people, some of which (or all?) remain for generations afterwards.

My question is, when you become a Christian (ie. become born again), are those curses broken immediately? - What reasoning do you have for your answer?

(I will have some follow up questions possibly)

God does put curses upon people and no, becoming a Christian does not
remove them. It is pretty simple, don't you see all them Christians walking around with curses upon them?

[TheHolyGhost]

This question is mainly directed at Christians who believe that God puts curses on people, some of which (or all?) remain for generations afterwards.

My question is, when you become a Christian (ie. become born again), are those curses broken immediately?

No, those curses come from what you have sowed. It is written you reap what you sow.
Just because you join or become a Christian does not make you born again. It just makes you
a Christian by name only.