Talk Back 143
The First Scandal
An Author's Book Suggestion
by: Robert Hagedorn
The following is an email exchange between Robert Hagedorn and John Tyrrell, lightly edited, primarily to remove an extraneous and minor issue. Quite simply, Mr. Hagedorn would like you to read his book - link at the bottom of the article.
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Dear Apathetic Agnostic Church Member:
For something really stupid and totally insane, visit my The First Scandal web page for a few laughs.
Robert Hagedorn
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Robert:
Thank you for writing, but I must admit that rather than getting "a few laughs", I am just confused. Perhaps it is because I've reached that advanced age at which the blurry line between total seriousness and satire completely disappears and I'm ready to start viewing The Onion as genuine reporting. Or maybe the humour does not appear until after the few pages which Amazon allows the reader to preview.
To my eyes, you seem to have produced a genuine exegesis about the tale of "forbidden fruit" which is no more stupid and insane than a literal reading of Genesis.
Whether or not I post your little item in the June update of the Apathetic Agnostic website remains an open issue. Perhaps a more extended comment explaining why you consider a book published under your name should be viewed as "something really stupid and totally insane" might influence my decision.
Yours
John Tyrrell
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Hello John,
Thank you for your response. Sorry to have caused confusion over the exegesis, but I have recently begun contacting freethinkers out of desperation, in the hopes that they are truly freethinkers in the literal sense of the word. Christians and Jews detest the exegesis, and they detest me for discovering it, so I have given up on them, with the exception of one final pastor, with whom I am so far having a positive correspondence. If it falls through with him, I quit.
You are correct--the exegesis is a serious interpretation of the world's oldest and greatest mystery story, and not something stupid and insane designed to produce a few laughs. I chose those words in an effort to get a freethinker's attention. I was successful to the extent that at least I got your attention. My problem for the last 23 years is getting past everyone's emotions and beliefs, and simply persuading them to analyze the exegesis based on the evidence in the story.
I have done everything in my power to write this little book for all humankind, and not just for believers or nonbelievers. The truth of the Adam and Eve story may be a matter of opinion, along with the belief in the existence of a supernatural force. But the existence of the story itself is not open to debate. And there is no other extant exegesis that lends such seriousness to the story.
Once again, thank you for your response.
Very truly yours,
Robert Hagedorn
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Robert:
This now gives me something to work with, and I'll include our exchange in the June update - possibly earlier depending on material arriving from other sources.
John Tyrrell
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Hello John,
Thank you for including our exchange in the June update. My entire agenda consists of getting people, including believers, to discuss the exegesis in a logical way, based only on the evidence in the story. Adam and Eve actually DID something in the story, and what they did had nothing to do with eating literal fruit. Whatever they did, resulted in sexual shame, as they immediately hid their genitals behind aprons. Maybe the exegesis is wrong, but no one has yet found my mistake in 23 years.
Robert
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Why should we care about Adam and Eve? Because, regardless of our religious beliefs, the Adam and Eve story is the oldest story in the world, one that so many people have been trying to understand for thousands of years. Failure has been guaranteed for one simple reason: evidence has been ignored. 1600 years ago, Saint Augustine, came to the conclusion that the forbidden “fruit” Adam and Eve ate in the Garden of Eden, was actual fruit, in spite of its mysterious name. He presented his exegesis in Chapter 8 of “The Literal Interpretation of Genesis.” Is Saint Augustine’s exegesis correct? This book will examine the evidence, in an effort to answer this question.
Judge This Book By Its Cover by Robert Hagedorn is available on Amazon in Kindle and paperback formats.
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