Two from Bernard Pankok.  In the first Adam and Eve are recast as children, which is somewhat common in art by this time (although usually they’re depicted as young adolescents) and actually makes sense if you consider that they were supposedly ignorant of sin (hence, innocent) and yet they–along with all of their descendants–were punished by God for sinning, even though they could not possibly have understood why it was wrong if they had no conception of what it was.  But that’s the logic of religion for you . . .

Bernhard Pankok – Untitled – Jugend No. 16 (1897)

Bubbles are often a symbol of the fleeting nature of childhood. In a way these two pieces are companions. In the first an infant Adam and Eve are doomed to unwittingly bring about the Fall of Man; in the second, childhood–the time of innocence and guilelessness–is shown to be brief, and we are destined to enter the age of guilt, shame and culpability all too soon.

Bernhard Pankok – Untitled – Jugend No. 26 (1897)

Comments:
From Ron on July 16, 2012
According to Joseph Campbell who has studied mythologies and religions extensively says: “All religions take things to a point of absurdity.” I have observed that the older the religion, the more numerous the absurdities.

From pipstarr72 on July 16, 2012
Hmm, well that is an interesting point, but there’s only one thing wrong with the assertion that the older the religion, the more absurd it is: Scientology.