The tree of knowledge of good and evil

  • Christian Chat is a moderated online Christian community allowing Christians around the world to fellowship with each other in real time chat via webcam, voice, and text, with the Christian Chat app. You can also start or participate in a Bible-based discussion here in the Christian Chat Forums, where members can also share with each other their own videos, pictures, or favorite Christian music.

    If you are a Christian and need encouragement and fellowship, we're here for you! If you are not a Christian but interested in knowing more about Jesus our Lord, you're also welcome! Want to know what the Bible says, and how you can apply it to your life? Join us!

    To make new Christian friends now around the world, click here to join Christian Chat.

Dino246

Senior Member
Jun 30, 2015
25,366
13,728
113
#41
.



Some say there were no agents in the fruit to cause the changes in human
nature that occurred in the Adams. But I'm not so sure. According to an
article in the Oct 8, 2011 issue of the Oregonian; new research reveals that
some, if not all, the plants we eat actually change the behavior of human
genes in ways never before imagined.

A new study led by Chen-Yu Zhang, of Nanjing University, found that
fragments of plant genetic material survive digestion and wind up swimming
in the bloodstreams of humans and cows. Those tiny strands of RNA that
somehow make it through the toxic acids and enzymes in the gut come from
rice and the plant family that includes broccoli, brussels sprouts, cauliflower
and cabbage. Zhang found that they can muffle or amplify human gene
expression in various ways. The discovery could lead to ways of designing
plants that act as medicine or even change our own genetic structure for the
better (or the worse).

And it's well known what happens to kids when they move into adolescence.
Hormonal chemicals kick in, and their childish innocence vanishes; right out
the window. They lose interest in kid's toys and begin to take an interest in
things more appropriate for their age; including a very noticeable interest in
themselves, and in the opposite sex; and most especially in what others
think about them. In other words: they become self-conscious; which
Webster's defines as: uncomfortably aware of oneself as an object of the
observation of others.

Those adolescent changes aren't miraculous changes-- they're totally
natural, hormonally induced, organic changes. So if kids undergo a natural
kind of change because of the chemicals generated by the glands in their
own bodies, then there is good reason to believe that the tree of the
knowledge of good and evil actually did contain something that caused Adam
and his wife to suddenly have an intuitive sense of decency.

At any rate, the pending dialogue, between God and Man in the next few
verses, implies that God himself had no hand in making those two people
change. On the page of scripture, their altered human nature is directly
related to the fruit and to nothing else.

So instead of stretching our imaginations to construct a complex spiritual
explanation, I suggest it would be better to stick with the biological one and
let it go at that.
_
While this research is interesting, the explanation is inadequate for explaining the fall, in which all creation became ‘broken’.
 

p_rehbein

Senior Member
Sep 4, 2013
30,663
6,853
113
#42
Your comment suggests you think yourself more wise and compassionate than God? How about trusting that He knows what He is doing?
Quoting Scripture? Seriously? Reading comprehension is truly an art form. Not a single thing in my comment/post suggests in any way that I think I am more wise than God. That is just dumb.
 

Mem

Senior Member
Sep 23, 2014
7,121
2,151
113
#43
Quoting Scripture? Seriously? Reading comprehension is truly an art form. Not a single thing in my comment/post suggests in any way that I think I am more wise than God. That is just dumb.
There are some that fancy that they are as wise as God but, obviously lack His judgement?

Woman had no capacity for imagination?
no capability of independent thought?
Speaking of...

This seems to be the general consensus of women but, granted, there is more than ample evidence available from which to draw this faulty conclusion. However, this is also true of men so, of man in general.

Adam is an example in point. Eve "saw that is was pleasant to look at and that it was good for food," and Adam, "listened to the voice of the woman. I believe it is fair to conclude by this that Adam agreed with Eve ('s opinion) in this and that is where he went 'wrong' along with her.
 

Mem

Senior Member
Sep 23, 2014
7,121
2,151
113
#44
As I further consider the implication of my thesis upon those with mental handicaps and children, I think it also fair to assume that these aren't easily swayed by opinion. Not possessing the capacity to process them (opinion) as thoroughly, they are not hindered with adult 'reasoning skills,' and can believe (receive as fact), with childlike faith, if given that the Spirit whispers to these as much as He would care to.
 

posthuman

Senior Member
Jul 31, 2013
37,726
13,522
113
#45
And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: Gen 3:22
Adam is an example in point. Eve "saw that is was pleasant to look at and that it was good for food," and Adam, "listened to the voice of the woman. I believe it is fair to conclude by this that Adam agreed with Eve ('s opinion) in this and that is where he went 'wrong' along with her.
Depends on what she said to him, which, we aren't told..

We are told (1 Timothy 2:14) he wasn't deceived - so I think it's clear that whatever it was she said, yes, he agreed to, but she did not tell him anything untrue.

For example if she had said the serpent was correct, God had lied to them, this contradicts the verse in Timothy. But if she said "don't leave me to die alone.."
 

Ballaurena

Well-known member
May 27, 2024
415
273
63
#46
Quoting Scripture? Seriously? Reading comprehension is truly an art form. Not a single thing in my comment/post suggests in any way that I think I am more wise than God. That is just dumb.
Incorrect. you didn't just quote scripture. You interpreted scripture and did a whole lot of it.

This is not the Bible:
Regarding children and mentally impaired persons who are not able to understand right from wrong, I agree that should they die before they reach what is called the age of accountability, they will go to heaven. That age is most often believed to be 12 years because Jesus was 12 when He stayed behind to speak to the Jews while Joseph and Mary were returning home.
However, I just realized I read your post incorrectly, for which I apologize. Please forgive me there as I was highly disturbed to read a proposal that certain children SHOULD DIE rather than SHOULD THEY DIE. In fact considering what I read, I was actually being quite gentle, though it may not have felt that way to you.
 

UnoiAmarah

Junior Member
Jul 28, 2017
907
141
43
#47
Depends on what she said to him, which, we aren't told..
The scriptures represent that the female had not been made when the man was put in the garden.

" And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed. And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil. " Gen 2:8-9

So how did the woman know about the tree in the midst of the garden?

"And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: 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." Gen 3:2

We are told (1 Timothy 2:14) he wasn't deceived - so I think it's clear that whatever it was she said, yes, he agreed to, but she did not tell him anything untrue.
If a person is told the truth and disregards it, he isn't deceived, they are at enmity with the truth.

"And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression."

For example if she had said the serpent was correct, God had lied to them, this contradicts the verse in Timothy. But if she said "don't leave me to die alone.."
Male and female created he them; and blessed them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created. Gen 5:2

And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: 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. Gen 3:4-5

If the scriptures say the serpent told the woman that they shall not surely die in the day they eat thereof, and there eyes would be opened and be as gods, knowing good and evil, then you can either grab the serpent by the head or by the tail.
.
 

Mem

Senior Member
Sep 23, 2014
7,121
2,151
113
#48
Depends on what she said to him, which, we aren't told..

We are told (1 Timothy 2:14) he wasn't deceived - so I think it's clear that whatever it was she said, yes, he agreed to, but she did not tell him anything untrue.

For example if she had said the serpent was correct, God had lied to them, this contradicts the verse in Timothy. But if she said "don't leave me to die alone.."
I drew my conclusion from that she saw the tree as "pleasant" on the eyes and "good" for food, which are judgment calls in regard to quality, without consideration for any possible good reason for God's prohibition. I don't think that the actual consideration was as much the sin, seeing and thinking (that it might be good) but it was at the adoption of the opinion, iow 'swallowing' it. Perhaps that is the actual 'fruit of the totkogae' if, indeed, the tree may have actually been a spiritual tree (that they could 'see' in their innocence and lost sight of in their spiritual dead left with only faith to go on). And if this speculation has any merit, then there would follow, also, an implication on the tree of light and the subsequent flaming sword surrounding it. :unsure:
 

posthuman

Senior Member
Jul 31, 2013
37,726
13,522
113
#49
If the scriptures say the serpent told the woman that they shall not surely die in the day they eat thereof, and there eyes would be opened and be as gods, knowing good and evil, then you can either grab the serpent by the head or by the tail
you believe the Serpent, father of lies?

nothing he told Woman was true.
 

posthuman

Senior Member
Jul 31, 2013
37,726
13,522
113
#50
If a person is told the truth and disregards it, he isn't deceived, they are at enmity with the truth.
if Adam believes he won't die from committing sin, he is deceived. Adam was not deceived. therefore Adam knew that eating the fruit was death, and therefore his wife didn't tell him otherwise.

she knew what had happened to her, immediately. her eyes were opened. and Adam saw it too: the only sinless man on earth saw the only dead human on earth. he was not deceived by what he saw; he made a conscious, fully informed choice to sin.

neither Woman nor Adam were idiots. they were far wiser than us. this account is not an account of idiots mindlessly acting out of lust; it is deep and nuanced.
 

Pilgrimshope

Well-known member
Sep 2, 2020
13,885
5,630
113
#51
you believe the Serpent, father of lies?

nothing he told Woman was true.
partly it was the lie was that it would not bring death to them which sent the whole thing to the level of a deception twisting the truth essentially telling them that God had lied to them it would t surely bring death it would actually benefit them by “opening thier eyes and making them as gods knowing good and evil “ the deception is the first thing he said after she replied

“And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: 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.

What God said was rule earth and have dominion dwell with me in Eden work the land be fruitful and multiply you are free to eat of any tree in the garden but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you must not eat because you will surely die when you do.

satan starts by sayong this won’t kill you . The knowledge of good and evil was not made for man to partake we were already good sepereted from the darkness made in Gods image made only to follow what God said as he dwells with man like a father d his children raising and teaching them his ways to govern this earth he had given to them to have dominion upon in his likeness and image

This part of what he said was true but it’s terribly deceptive because of the lie the precedes it

“ 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. “

….And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil:

and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever:”
Genesis‬ ‭3:4-5, 22‬ ‭KJV‬‬

this is why they now later will die which was the deception Satan knewthis would happen it’s why he did what he did to kill mankind who God loves and chose from the beginning chapter of the Bible
‭‭
It’s the same now almost when someone argues that we don’t need to repent sin is not death we won’t perish like other sinners ect

“I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.”
‭‭Luke‬ ‭13:3‬ ‭KJV‬‬

God spoke about in the gospel again to fallen mankind to raise us up and give us life again but also Satan is still whispering all his same repetetive lies to deceive those who know what he said will save souls

there’s often partial truth its how people take true scriptures twist them and wrest them like Satan did to man’s destruction even when we have the truth we still like eve listen to the alternatives that come after

“And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you;

as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction. Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own stedfastness.”
‭‭2 Peter‬ ‭3:15-17‬ ‭

“But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of.”
‭‭2 Peter‬ ‭2:1-2‬ ‭KJV‬‬

It’s been happening since Eden God speaks life satan tries to take that word from our heart and mind if belief and faith
 

Webers.Home

Well-known member
May 28, 2018
5,783
1,067
113
Oregon
cfbac.org
#52
.
Gen 2:15-17 . . And the Lord God commanded the man, saying: Of every
tree of the garden you are free to eat; but as for the tree of knowledge of
good and bad, you must not eat of it; for in the day you eat of it, you shall
die.

That passage is a favorite among critics because the man didn't drop dead
the very day he tasted the forbidden fruit. In point of fact, he continued to
live outside the garden of Eden for another 800 years after the birth of his
son Seth (Gen 5:4). So; is there a reasonable explanation for this apparent
discrepancy?

The first thing to point out is that in order for his maker's warning to
resonate in the man's thinking; it had to be related to death as he
understood death in his own day rather than death as modern Sunday
school classes construe it in their day. In other words: the man's concept of
death was primitive, i.e. normal and natural rather than allegorical, spiritual,
and/or philosophical.

As far as can be known from scripture, mankind is the only specie that God
created in His own image, viz: a creature blessed with perpetual youth. The
animal kingdom was given nothing like it.

That being the case, then I think it's safe to assume that death was common
all around the man by means of vegetation, birds, bugs, and beasts so that
it wasn't a strange new word in his vocabulary; i.e. God didn't have to take a
moment and define death for the man seeing as how it was doubtless a
common occurrence in his everyday life.

So I think we can be reasonably confident that the man was up to speed on
at least the natural aspects of death and fully understood that if he went
ahead and tasted the forbidden fruit that his body would lose its perpetual
youth and end up drying in the sun like road kill; so to speak.

In other words; had the man not eaten of the forbidden tree, he would've
remained in perfect health but the very day that he tasted its fruit, his body
became infected with mortality, i.e. he lost perpetual youth and began to
age; a condition easily remedied by the tree of life but alas, the man was
denied access to it.

As we all know: the aging process is a lingering, walking death rather than
sudden death, i.e. mortality is slow, but very relentless-- it feels neither pain
nor pity, nor remorse nor fear; it cannot be reasoned with nor can it be
bargained with, and it will not stop until people are so broken down that they
cannot continue.

"A voice said: Shout! I asked: What should I shout? Shout that people are
like the grass that dies away. Their beauty fades as quickly as the beauty of
flowers in a field. The grass withers, and the flowers fade beneath the breath
of The Lord. And so it is with people. The grass withers, and the flowers
fade, but the word of our God stands forever." (Isa 40:6-8)
_
 

UnoiAmarah

Junior Member
Jul 28, 2017
907
141
43
#53
you believe the Serpent, father of lies?
nothing he told Woman was true.
Really?

And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: 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.
Gen 3:2-3


It is written that the serpent told Adam that he surely wouldn't die in the day he ate of the tree in the midst of the garden.

And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: 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.

And it is written that the serpent told Adam that in the day the ate of the tree in the midst of the garden then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.

And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil:
 

posthuman

Senior Member
Jul 31, 2013
37,726
13,522
113
#54
Really?

And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: 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.
Gen 3:2-3


It is written that the serpent told Adam that he surely wouldn't die in the day he ate of the tree in the midst of the garden.

And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: 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.

And it is written that the serpent told Adam that in the day the ate of the tree in the midst of the garden then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.

And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil:
yeah really. Satan is a liar.

it is not written that the Serpent told Adam anything. if he did, he did not succeed - that is written in 1 Timothy 2:
"not deceived"

one does not, as the Serpent would have us believe, become like God by committing sin.
God said Adam, not Adam and his wife, had become like one of Him.
the text says "Ha-Adam" which can be the particular man but it is also Adam's name. it's not plural. it is not referring to both of them.

God said this when Adam heard the gospel and, believing it, changed his dead wife's name from out-of-man to life, and was covered with the shedding of blood by a garment made by God's own hands.

it is not acting wickedly and being deceived that makes a man like God.
it is through faith and the shed blood of the spotless Lamb.
Adam confessed his faith in Christ by calling her Eve.

it has not yet appeared what we shall be, but we shall be like Him
 

UnoiAmarah

Junior Member
Jul 28, 2017
907
141
43
#55
it is not written that the Serpent told Adam anything. if he did, he did not succeed - that is written.

Male and female created he them; and blessed them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created. Gen 5:2

Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female, and for this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his help meet: and they twain shall be one flesh?

Is there any reason why you capitalize the word serpent?
 

posthuman

Senior Member
Jul 31, 2013
37,726
13,522
113
#56
Male and female created he them; and blessed them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created. Gen 5:2

Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female, and for this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his help meet: and they twain shall be one flesh?

Is there any reason why you capitalize the word serpent?
Michael had respect for Satan, and Michael is greater than me. we aren't just talking about any serpent but "the" Serpent.

there is no record of Satan speaking to Adam. he spoke to Woman.

Just "adam" in Hebrew means mankind, and it isn't a proper noun - not a name - it isn't capitalized.

1000034420.png

everywhere in scripture you see Adam himself being mentioned it is ha-Adam

1000034422.png

this is not referring to mankind in general. it is referring to a specific human male named Adam.

in particular, here:

1000034424.png

this is Adam's name, and it is not a reference to both of them. Yah speaks about the man Adam saying this, and not because he sinned, but because he believed in the Messiah Jesus Christ, and acted on that belief, and God had covered them.
 

posthuman

Senior Member
Jul 31, 2013
37,726
13,522
113
#57
No, @UnoiAmarah

comitting sin does not make you like God.

Satan says that, but the Bible does not.
 

UnoiAmarah

Junior Member
Jul 28, 2017
907
141
43
#58
No, @UnoiAmarah

comitting sin does not make you like God.

Satan says that, but the Bible does not.
You can play word games all you want, but principles don't change no matter how you translate the words.

I guess you don't get it, but there was only one tree in the midst of the garden, regardless of whether you think it was the tree of knowledge of good and evil or the tree of life. Why don't you show how Genesis 3:3 translates.

Remember, man does not live by the scriptures alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the LORD does man live.
 

UnoiAmarah

Junior Member
Jul 28, 2017
907
141
43
#59
While you look up Genesis 3:3, here is the translation of "in the day", same
word in Genesis 2:17 and Genesis 5:2, so the measure of the day is the same.


1719140932545.png
 

posthuman

Senior Member
Jul 31, 2013
37,726
13,522
113
#60
While you look up Genesis 3:3, here is the translation of "in the day", same
word in Genesis 2:17 and Genesis 5:2, so the measure of the day is the same.


View attachment 264975
this does not make Satan not a liar.

it is as i said, as Christ said, "there is no truth in him, when he lies he speaks his native language"

whenever you find your theogy agreeing with Satan, you should reevaluate your theology.