I think in order for anybody to truly understand anything, we need to stop being so rigid in our preconceptions. Words are used to convey thoughts. If we can’t properly define what thought that word represents then language will continue to be a stumbling block to knowledge and understanding. That’s why you need to properly analyze what sin is. Sin is a thought or action outside of God’s design. That is why homosexuality is a sin. Since sex is for procreation this act is in violation of design. All sex voiding procreation is sinful. Do you see oral and anal sex performed in nature? Just like our body, nature is designed to be balanced. The genetically gifted survive and weak are eliminated. Whether there was a tree in a garden is not the message. It is a story to convey the message. The knowledge of “good and evil” is being sentient. We have the capacity to understand how our actions can bring us good or bad. We act on OUR thoughts not GODS thoughts. Sin causes GUILT. This is the FRUIT of the knowledge of good and evil. God created us with the ability to hear Him but this is hampered by our conscience. Guilt separates us from God, and forgiveness restores us. If you look at the Bible as abstract instead of so literal you can see how this explains everything. This is why they sacrificed animals, to get forgiveness, elongate guilt, we must forgive others, eliminates guilt. We follow the Commandments, to not experience guilt. This is how eating meat sacrificed to idols can be “sin” for one and not the other, because it creates guilt. Same with honouring special days. Jesus was hardest on the religious leaders because they caused people to feel guilt. This is why the Law brought death, Romans 7, it’s not the act. It’s the knowledge that the act is wrong that brings guilt. Guilt is the separator. This is how Christ unites us and how faith is so important. His death was a perpetual sin offering. It doesn’t eliminate sin, it eliminates GUILT. This allows us to be in constant communication with the Almighty, SO WE CAN SERVE HIM.
The parable of the sower wasn’t given so we would understand how to be better farmers. If you want to believe that Adam was created from dirt, and then He used DNA from him to make Eve, that they lived in a garden with “magical” trees, and devious snakes, fine, but don’t look at just the superficial story. Understanding is granted to those who probe deeper. We are not separated from Adam eating fruit. We are separated because our intellect provides us the choice to violate the design of God, and our flesh is all to eager to do so.
