Part II
think about the heart of a child. a child's heart is soft and
receptive. only when the hatred of the world hits it,
does it begin to harden.
The narcissist has a hardened heart. As mentioned in Part I of The Saul Syndrome: The Origin of Narcissism, we believe that the narcissist as a child was either over-protected, neglected, or abused, resulting in his or her heart being affected in a negative way. The negative experiences in the life of an individual can reduce the amount of love within that person’s heart. In the case of a narcissist, the heart has hardened over time. Having started with a soft and receptive heart as every child does, it was the presence of evil that brought about the unfortunate transformation. Whenever evil collides with the heart, it can produce pain and hurt. If the pain and hurt are not dealt with properly, then hatred can appear in the heart and displace the portion of love that was once present. One way to look at this is to study the interaction between the serpent and Eve in Genesis chapter 3.
In Genesis chapter 3 verse 1 it reads, “Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?” At this time in history, evil only existed two places: one was within the realm of Satan and his fallen angels who had been cast out of heaven, and the second was on a tree within the Garden of Eden. According to this verse, we see Satan communing with Eve through the serpent. Because Eve was the first woman, and by definition of her name, she was the mother of all living, she had no earthly parents. There was Adam, her husband, and God her spiritual father. It was God who had given her instructions for living. Those instructions are now being challenged by the serpent. The serpent is questioning whether or not God, her spiritual father, had given her instructions on eating from every tree in the garden. This appears to be an innocent question at first glance.
Moving on to Genesis chapter 3 verse 2, it reads, “And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden.” Eve begins to hold a conversation with the serpent. She speaks back in a confident manner. There is no reason for her to be concerned about one of God’s creatures. She confidently recalls what her heavenly father has instructed her and her husband as it relates to eating the fruit of the trees in the garden. At this point, the serpent asked a question, and Eve began her initial response.
Eve continues her response in Genesis chapter 3 verse 3 with “But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.” She finishes her response by telling the serpent that God had instructed them not to eat from one tree that was in the midst of the garden. According to Genesis chapter 2 verse 17, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was the one tree in the midst of the garden that Adam and Eve were commanded not to eat from it. Up to this point, Eve had no reason to question the commandment of God. In fact, Eve’s relationship with God was good. Her heart was still soft and receptive to all the good things that the world and God had to offer.
This all begins to change in Genesis chapter 3 verse 4. It reads, “And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die.” The serpent has now presented something evil to Eve, and it is on a collision course heading straight toward her heart. The intent of this statement is to invoke pain and hurt on the heart of Eve. Up to this point, all Eve has known is love from her heavenly father, God. Satan is working through the serpent to deliver evil to the heart of Eve. The serpent’s statement is a lie, and thus it represents evil. This negative experience with evil will deliver pain and hurt. We know that if this pain and hurt is not dealt with properly, then it can bring about hatred, displacing a portion of love. We will soon see that Eve does not properly deal with this evil. Hence starts the hardening process of Eve’s heart.
Genesis chapter 3 verse 5 reads, “For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.” The serpent is working to convince Eve that her heavenly father has not been true to her. In fact, the serpent wants to convince Eve that God is holding something wonderful from her. He wants to deliver hurt and pain to the heart of Eve. The love that she thought she had from God was being brought into question. Many children have been hurt by parents, teachers, relatives, so-called friends, and strangers when they receive evil where love was expected. Eve could have dealt with this false statement by reaffirming herself of her initial statement to the serpent.
When convinced of the serpent’s words, Eve reacts. Genesis chapter 3 verse 6 reads, “And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.” We can know without a doubt that Eve’s heart has begun to harden. We also know that she is experiencing a level of hatred toward God caused by the pain and hurt inflected by the serpent’s words. Consider this, if Eve’s love is still strong toward God, then why would she even contemplate that her heavenly father has been anything less than truthful with her? The narcissist has a hardened heart that is full of hatred because of repeated hurt and pain to the heart.
One generation later, the offspring of Eve experienced extreme hardening of the heart. Her eldest son, Cain, would most likely be identified as the first narcissist on earth. He probably possessed all 9 symptoms. In just the few verses in Genesis chapter 4, we are given insight into what was going on inside the heart and mind of Cain based on his interactions with God, Abel, and himself. The evil hitting his heart had generated a tremendous amount of pain and hurt. His inability to respond in a Godly (healthy) way resulted in the buildup of hatred inside him. Whatever love he had for God and his brother Able eventually vanished. He did what most narcissists contemplate on doing and that was—he murdered someone. The Pharoah of Egypt wanted to kill the children of Israel along with Moses. King Saul spent a good portion of his life seeking to kill the shepherd boy David.
Had Eve responded differently to the evil events brought on by the serpent, she never would have started down the path toward a hardened heart. The situation with Cain and Abel would have never occurred. In fact, the behaviors of Pharoah and King Saul would have never been written. Eve served as the starting point, but we realize that it didn’t take very long to reach the extreme point—just one generation later. If the pain and hurt are dealt with properly, then hatred can no longer appear in the heart and displace any portion of love that is present.
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