The Tree of Knowledge

[Heneni]

I like what Christine said,that it was a loss of innocence. The innocence was lost due to the knowledge of evil. Evil tempts. Innocence is lost when evil is given in to. Adam did not bring evil into this world, there was evil around before he sinned. There would not be a tree of knowledge of good and EVIL if there wasnt EVIL already. However Adam brought sin into this world, the giving in to evil.The submission to it. Even though adam gained the knowledge of evil, he did not gain with it, the ability to withstand its lure and temptations. And therefore the wages, or the reward for sin, which was death, was also brought into this world. Adam acquired what god already had, the knowledge of good and evil. But the tree did not bring with it the power to say NO to evil. His free will seemed to be less free than he thought it would be. The overpowering lure of evil would beset humankind. They would be powerless against it. They would become obedient to the master of evil, and become his slaves. Hence, Jesus had to come and set us free. The freedom that Jesus purchased brought with it the power of God to withstand the evil forces. And to return to innocence.

 

[michel]

I like what Christine said,that it was a loss of innocence. The innocence was lost due to the knowledge of evil. Evil tempts. Innocence is lost when evil is given in to. Adam did not bring evil into this world, there was evil around before he sinned. There would not be a tree of knowledge of good and EVIL if there wasnt EVIL already. However Adam brought sin into this world, the giving in to evil.The submission to it. Even though adam gained the knowledge of evil, he did not gain with it, the ability to withstand its lure and temptations. And therefore the wages, or the reward for sin, which was death, was also brought into this world. Adam acquired what god already had, the knowledge of good and evil. But the tree did not bring with it the power to say NO to evil. His free will seemed to be less free than he thought it would be. The overpowering lure of evil would beset humankind. They would be powerless against it. They would become obedient to the master of evil, and become his slaves. Hence, Jesus had to come and set us free. The freedom that Jesus purchased brought with it the power of God to withstand the evil forces. And to return to innocence.

I agree; but I am not sure that the tree of knowledge contained any "Evil"; sure, evil was around - in the shape of Satan, who had been booted out of heaven for trying his best to "outdo" God.

Adam was told not to eat from the fruit of the one particular tree; Eve was not quite as guilty as he was - because she was not aware of the comandment not to touch the one tree. The serpent (Satan chose an animal that Eve would probably not have met before, as serpents mostly run when they see humans; therefore she would not be aware that snakes don't speak)

Since then, Satan has been the ruler of Earth; God the ruler of Heaven. God needed to give us a chance to prove that we can resist the devil - and, being God, he has been true to his word, he has given us every chance - unfortunately, the evidence all around us indicates that we humans are weak and are easily led into sin.

 

[gnostic]

I just wondered, how could Satan possibly be ruler of earth, when the earth didn't exist for every long between the 6-day creation and the expulsion of Adam and Eve?

If Satan was indeed the serpent, then the serpent was created around the same time as the 1st human (animals and humans were created on the 6th day).

What could Satan possibly rule in a short period of time?

 

[Thief]

Thief here...Hey michel...
Have you seen yet the response you were looking for?

The quote you called upon in post#1 shows the tree of knowledge...
the knowledge of good and evil...as an item coming up from the ground.

The terms good and evil refer to the nature of an item.

Shall we speculate the nature of the tree itself?
Was it evil...in appearance...in it's chemistry...in it's mind altering abilities?

Adam was not a scientist.

But Chapter Two of Genesis has all of the earmarks of a science experiment.
Pick a specimen...place it into ideal living conditions...and alter the situation to see what happens.
Perhaps there was an hypothesis...not mentioned...not written down.