“The story of Adam and Eve is an
allegorical explanation for human biological evolution and existential angst. When
Adam and Eve ate from the Tree of Knowledge, they became aware of themselves as
being separate from nature while still being part of it. This is why they felt
"naked" and "ashamed": they had evolved into human beings,
conscious of themselves, their own mortality, and their powerlessness before the
forces of nature and society, and no longer united with the universe as they
were in their instinctive, pre-human existence as animals. The awareness of a
disunited human existence is a source of guilt and shame. The solution to this
existential dichotomy is found in the development of one's uniquely human
powers of love and reason.” ~ Erich Fromm