If ignorance is indeed bliss, I imagine having complete ignorance like they did, and then having it taken away from you all at once would lead to confusing emotions. Hypothetically speaking of course.

maybe there were confused that adam has a penis and eve has a vagina

maybe adam and eve were confused because adam had a penis and eve had a vagina

Antigone, you do come up with the best questions in this department! Are you sure you're not Mr. Richard Dawkins? (That's a huge compliment) BTW : )

I think "shame" comes from awareness of self. Before the fruit was consumed, there was no knowledge of self. Once eaten, innocense was lost forever..maybe that was the day people became selfish, self-serving and self-involved..it's the fault of that doggone apple! :(

Hi AR!

I'm pretty sure nakedness is a picture of how you can't hide anything from God in a Biblical context. I could be completely wrong, though, so please do not take my word for it.

They didn't. The Bible's authors took a little artistic license based on their own prudish nature.

It wasn't actually their nudity that caused them shame,(I don't care what the printed page says),it was the knowledge of their seperateness from God and therefore becoming self-aware that caused their shame and the loss of their Primal Innocence. And- they were NOT in the exclusive presence of each other's spouse, they were also in the presence of God with the full knowledge of their sinful nature as demonstrated by their recent act of defiance don't let us forget.

Youngster huh? Always the "Mystery of Sex" Questions from the Young!!! They were Not "Ashamed of their Nudity", but how "Stupid" they were to "NOT BELIEVE WHAT GOD TOLD THEM!!! For now their Minds Understood their Sin because the "Holy Spirit" was now withdrawn from them, making them "Dichotomous" & no Longer in Fellowship with God!!! John

Here is the short Doctrine on this Topic. Enjoy! John DOCTRINE OF MAN'S STATUS AT THE FALL A. Originally man was trichotomous, having a body, soul, and spirit, Gen 2:7. B. The unbeliever is dichotomous, 1 Cor 2:14. Therefore, it is impossible for dichotomous man to have a relationship with God as did Adam and the woman in the Garden, Jude 19. C. The believer today is called trichotomous, 1 Thes 5:23. This indicates that what Adam lost in the fall we have regained at the cross. D. Spiritual death effects the soul in the sense that the soul is separated from God. Salvation also effects the soul in the sense that the soul cannot exist in the presence of God apart from the human spirit. The soul has to be saved, Ps 19:7, 34:22; Mk 8:36-37; 1 Pet 1:9; Heb 10:39, and is saved by the creation of the human spirit at the point of faith in Christ. E. The human soul and spirit are distinguished as two separate invisible inner entities in Heb 4:12. The human spirit was destroyed in spiritual death. Because there were no human spirits, neither the man nor the woman were capable of entering the classroom in the Garden when Jesus Christ came to teach them. This is one reason why they hid themselves. F. Adam and the woman can now only understand Gospel information. Gen 3:15 is the first Gospel presentation. The Holy Spirit acts as a human spirit, making the information real to them, Gen 6:3; Jn 16:8-11; 1 Cor 2:14-16. G. The status of the original parents is summarized by Rom 5:12. H. The old sin nature resides in the body. Spiritual death resides in the soul in the sense that the soul without the human spirit is dead to God. Therefore, the volition of the soul makes the decision by which we are saved. 

If I'm not too late, I'll attempt to lend an umbrella in this squall of sarcasm. Why not take the passage in Genesis as a literal happening, rich in metaphorical significance? Disobedience to valid authority is rebellion, if you will allow me the liberty of assuming there is, in fact, a Valid Authority. Although the eternal, self-existent God's word treats rebelliousness universally as a bad thing, and does so quite frequently, 1 Samuel 15:23 may be the definitive passage about it. Inquiring about mankind's First Sin is like wondering when a baby's first breath took place. One could try and pin that on the moment she hollered in response to the slap on her bottom. But, while that was her first breath of air, how long had she breathed amniotic fluid before birth? Unless she had been on Candid Ultrasound Camera during the weeks when that milestone was possible, no one would know the answer. Humans today have no concept of perfect, absolute innocence on the personal level, so we can't begin to imagine the emotional impact on Adam and Eve when their moral eyes opened, as the serpent had prophesied. For a brief moment, they were elated by the prospect of being "like God, knowing good and evil," but they quickly saw their rebellion for the affront to God that it was. The hopeless feeling we get when some unwarrented liberty in our past has been or is about to be exposed is nothing compared to the horrible guilt Adam and Eve experienced when they fully realized the consequences of their rebellion. So, the question of the hour is, why were they ashamed of their nakedness? Of course they were naked from the beginning, but in their innocence they couldn't experience shame of any kind. When that innocence ended, the shame for their transgression spread over and corrupted their entire beings. Imagine seeing an attractive, naked woman from the neck down, only to discover she was your sister. As Father God's created children, up to that point Adam and Eve had lived as brother and sister. How do I know? Eve didn't conceive until after their fall from grace. So sex had nothing to do with their fall, contrary to the prudish beliefs of many.

Genesis 2:25: The man and his wife were both naked, yet they felt no shame. No one is afraid of being naked and innocent before God. Shame is a painful emotion caused by a strong sense of guilt, embarrassment, unworthiness, or disgrace. Genesis 3:7: Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized that they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made loincloths for themselves. Once sin is committed, shame causes us to hide ourselves both physically and spiritually from God. It should be understood that God relieved both the physical and spiritual shame of the original sinners. Just like us, Adam and Eve had to live with the result of their sin but God forgave them and clothed them. With love in Christ.

i think first they were as innocent as new born babys who when naked dont know they are naked but when they ate the fruit there eyes were opened and they saw themselves as they really are

MAybe they got apple pips down their fronts?

They felt shame before God... Their shame would have been for one another having absolutely no conception of partner or marriage or union until after eating of the tree. That one act... brought to mid all the things that they were unaware of in innosence. There is a book *can't remember the name right now? That tells the story of the lives of Adam and Eve shortly after being expelled from the garden. People don't realize that they were very basic people... Not even aware of how to make fire, now that they were unprotected, they were left to the mercy and the tricks of every evil thing, every thought and every demon. The equilivent of early cave men I suppose. It was the beginning start of the process of evolution of man as a species. They didn't know things... They knew feelings and experienced the positive and negative aspects of emotion, feeling and self awareness. Sometimes... our worst state and condition in life. Is to be self aware.

Adam and Eve were not ignorant, they just didn't know good and evil; all they knew was good, but it was just normal to them. they were perfect and i imagine them a bit child like... but once they disobeyed they were no longer perfect. not before God and not before each other, and being naked (it's more than just no cloths on) they would see that they were no longer perfect and this would cause shame. But i think they were aware of there self, just not selfish.

Eating from the fruit introduced into consciousness the possibility of there being something other than perfection. Nothing was changed by that act except man's perception of reality. --- Recommended reading: The Little Soul and The Sun http://www.iloveulove.com/spirituality/cwg/cwglittlesoul.htm

cause someone ate an apple

Bible stories frequently don't make sense and are ridiculously unbelievable because they were made up. There are, however, no shortage of people who will go to great lengths to make up other stuff and double talk to "help you understand" why this nonsense is "important".