[Dan]

Sure he can, and I believe he does. But a true liar always has agendas for the truths he slips in. This is an area where I disagree with Skousen, who claimed he could not tell trust, ever.

The garden can be see on so many different parallels that the different aspects thereof can mean so many different things. Notice in the scriptures it is not Lucifer that tells them to don the fig leaves, but "elsewhere" it is lucifer.

Ultimately, I do not believe the intent of the word "nakedness" deals with nudity. It may from a purely historical standpoint, but the fall is so damn symbolic that it seems pretty overwhelming to me that the primary means of understanding the garden/fall is on symbolic levels.

On one level notice that Adam represents Christ and we (the church) represent Eve. Adam (Christ) was created specially by the Father and Eve (the church/us) were created from the rib of Adam (Christ). With the creation of all of us (man) were are propagated after our own "kind." The rib represents the side of man, close to the heart and on par as a equal. Just as Christ was created, the church was created as an help meet for him. The church is promised all blessings of joint heirship with Christ equally.

The church (Eve) is commanded to remain close to and at one with Christ (Adam). But notice when they are not in unison it is Eve (the church/each of us) who stumbles, not Adam (Christ). Further notice that when we partake of that which is forbidden we sin and fall. When we (Eve) fall, we force Christ (Adam) to fall so that we "may be." After partaking of that which is forbidden, we (Eve) is commanded no more as an equal, but to hearken directly to Christ (Adam) as Christ (Adam) hearkens to the father.

When Adam and Eve were in paradise, they froliced in the light and glory of God. They were "clothed" with God's love and glory. When they transgress (or any time we sin) we lose that glory and become naked. Anyone who has been close to the spirit and has lost it for a time knows the feeling of this sudden "nakedness."

So we do what Adam and Eve did (which on certain levels represent each of us) in that we attempt to cover our shame with our own craft through the things of the world (more lies, cover-up, denial and self justification, etc.) represented by the worldly color green and withering leaves. But on other levels green trees represent righteousness so you cannot make definitive conclusions as to absolute meaning at any one time. that is the beauty of parable.

Interestingly, when Adam and Eve discover their "nakedness" (or spiritual alientation from God) God attempts "to cover" them with symbolic coats of animal skin. "Atonement" means "to cover." Therefore, when man sins and becomes naked through loss of the spirit, God provides the way for loss of the nakedness through a covering, or rather the atonement.

Lucifer claimed that if they ate, they would not surely die. But I will call upon our hebrew scholars here and ask them to back me up in that the Hebrew for "you shall not surely die, but shall be as the Gods" is more appropriately translated as "in dying, ye shall not surely die, but you shall become as one of the Gods." Lucifer did not deny that they would die, but rather that it was a step to becoming more like God. But ultimately there are so many ways there things could be seen on different symbolic levels.