The tree of the knowledge of good and evil, why was it created and placed on earth?

  • 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.
May 2, 2021
126
24
18
#81
People have my view, it is different to yours, they can compare and decide which is right.
The thing I find is fantastic is that whatever views one puts across if the Spirit of God doesn't make it grow or bring illumination to the receiver then it will fall on deaf ears and won't grow. This takes the pressure off the messenger. This indeed is great news.
 

BeeThePeace

Active member
May 2, 2022
443
135
43
#82
Exactly. Did it come as a surprise to Him when Eve and Adam ate of that tree? Did God need to then come up with a plan B in response to their actions that God did not see coming?
I don't think it could be a surprise.
They were made of God. Why was it forbidden they also possess the knowledge of God? And how could they obey God without knowing anything?

And it was a tree of the knowledge of both good and evil. Which has to mean evil already existed for there to be knowlwdge of it. And that tree was God's creation.
Sin entered the world after Adam ate of that tree.

Which tells me Sin pre-existed the creation of the world. And it would have to wouldn't it? When Lucifer went to war in heaven against God.

How does an angel of God sin?
 
May 2, 2021
126
24
18
#83
Yes, Adam and Eve were prevented from accessing the Tree of Life. It seems that they could not have died if they had eaten from the tree of life. If they could not have died, they would have remained eternally evil, like Satan.
If they had ongoing access to the tree of life would God have still have sent the Lamb of God to take away Adam and Eve's sin if they ate of the tree of life and lived alongside Jesus 4000 years later? Would they be able to accept the redemptive work of Christ and enter into the place Jesus went to prepare for us (them)? How would that have panned out do you think?
 

BeeThePeace

Active member
May 2, 2022
443
135
43
#84
If they had ongoing access to the tree of life would God have still have sent the Lamb of God to take away Adam and Eve's sin if they ate of the tree of life and lived alongside Jesus 4000 years later? Would they be able to accept the redemptive work of Christ and enter into the place Jesus went to prepare for us (them)? How would that have panned out do you think?
The tree of life was in Eden too. Eternal life. But if death comes by sin, weren't Adam and Eve immortal in the beginning?

What if they'd of eaten of the tree of life first before the tree of knowledge?
 
May 2, 2021
126
24
18
#85
The tree of life was in Eden too. Eternal life. But if death comes by sin, weren't Adam and Eve immortal in the beginning?

What if they'd of eaten of the tree of life first before the tree of knowledge?
Good thought. Or did they need to eat of it periodically, when they felt they were in need of more life, what we call dying?
 

Magenta

Senior Member
Jul 3, 2015
60,160
29,464
113
#86
They were made of God. Why was it forbidden they also possess the knowledge of God?
And how could they obey God without knowing anything?
They were not in a state of "without knowing anything".
 

posthuman

Senior Member
Jul 31, 2013
37,840
13,558
113
#87
Good thought. Or did they need to eat of it periodically, when they felt they were in need of more life, what we call dying?
why would they be dying without sin?
that proposition, that they were created in a perpetual state of death which needed to be constantly remedied by eating an 'antidote' tree, would contradict Romans 5:12 ((sin entered the world through Adam, and death through sin)) and it would blasphemously indicate that the breath of the Spirit of Life ((Genesis 7:22)) was not life at all, but only a deceitful, temporary illusion of life.
 

Magenta

Senior Member
Jul 3, 2015
60,160
29,464
113
#88
The tree of life was in Eden too. Eternal life. But if death comes by sin, weren't Adam and Eve immortal in the beginning?
Not necessarily. A&E were of the natural world and as such would have required a Spiritual rebirth to attain to life ever after, although as it was, God was sustaining them, just as He does all things at all times.
 

posthuman

Senior Member
Jul 31, 2013
37,840
13,558
113
#89
They were not in a state of "without knowing anything".
yes

which tells us that they did not gain basic understanding of right v. wrong from eating the fruit.
how could they be held accountable for disobedience if they could not comprehend that obedience is 'good' and sin is 'evil' ?
 

posthuman

Senior Member
Jul 31, 2013
37,840
13,558
113
#90
Since woman was made out of man, the two WERE one flesh. God created woman not because Adam asked for a partner based on his observation of animals, he never said "it's not good for me to be alone," instead God said that it was not good for Adam to be alone. And that was all on Day 6 where God created male and female in His image.
why does God bring all the other living souls before Adam, knowing that none would be a suitable helper?
 

Magenta

Senior Member
Jul 3, 2015
60,160
29,464
113
#91
yes

which tells us that they did not gain basic understanding of right v. wrong from eating the fruit.
how could they be held accountable for disobedience if they could not comprehend that obedience is 'good' and sin is 'evil' ?
True... and since Adam was not deceived, he knew what he was doing to/in disobey/ing.
 

JohnDB

Well-known member
Jan 16, 2021
6,219
2,523
113
#92
Ok...
The name of the tree isn't a name tag...it's a title. Just like Adam's name wasn't "Adam ". Adam is a title like "President " or "Govenor" isn't a name but a title.

And there are many theories as to what the tree actually was....
But the garden in Eden had EVERY tree that was pleasant and good for food.

A word about the garden.
Adam and Eve had everything they could want in the garden. They were well fed, no need for clothes or shelter, and they were secure from danger. God visited them on a personal basis regularly.

They had only one rule.

And they blew it.

Today's "rules" and laws grow by the minute. Because we are sinful creatures. We are so far from paradise that we think we deserve because we follow rules. But the existence of the rules is the clue...we have too many to ever be good. The rules exist because we are horrible.

We NEED a Savior.
 

posthuman

Senior Member
Jul 31, 2013
37,840
13,558
113
#93
I say evil is a fact, absolutely essential to creation. Evil is essential to creation in the same way that electricity is essential to our needs and comfort. But man is not created to himself partake [imbibe] evil any more than man is able himself to become electrified.... lest he die.

if the creation is a response to Satan's sin in the presence of all the angels, to show forth God's righteousness in justice, mercy and salvation through Himself, then in that sense i would agree that evil is a 'necessary evil' ((ooh! i punned!)) in this world.

the initial '
very good' creation, sinless & full of life by His Word and Breath, on earth - having then been corrupted by Satan's lies & vanity, is a mirror of the angelic realm, which was pure until Satan by traffic of sin corrupted a portion of it, also. everything we are and that God works in us is in that respect a witness to them.
 

posthuman

Senior Member
Jul 31, 2013
37,840
13,558
113
#94
Eve was amazed, for she knew that to the serpent God had not given the power of speech.
which part of Genesis 3 indicates Eve was in any way surprised that another living being was striking up a conversation with her?
 
May 2, 2021
126
24
18
#95
why would they be dying without sin?
that proposition, that they were created in a perpetual state of death which needed to be constantly remedied by eating an 'antidote' tree, would contradict Romans 5:12 ((sin entered the world through Adam, and death through sin)) and it would blasphemously indicate that the breath of the Spirit of Life ((Genesis 7:22)) was not life at all, but only a deceitful, temporary illusion of life.
Interesting thought. So why did God design, create and place it in the middle of His garden on planet earth? Was it purely for its looks and enjoyable fruit like from the apple or abiu tree?
 

posthuman

Senior Member
Jul 31, 2013
37,840
13,558
113
#96
Exactly. Did it come as a surprise to Him when Eve and Adam ate of that tree? Did God need to then come up with a plan B in response to their actions that God did not see coming?
"slain from the foundation of the world"
:unsure:
 

posthuman

Senior Member
Jul 31, 2013
37,840
13,558
113
#98
Which tells me Sin pre-existed the creation of the world. And it would have to wouldn't it? When Lucifer went to war in heaven against God.

How does an angel of God sin?
which tells me Satan fell before the events in Genesis 3. i'm inclined to believe at least as early as between Genesis 1:1 and Genesis 1:2, if not before Genesis 1:1 -- noting that the creation of the angels is not related to us, and that Job 38:6-7 tells us the "morning stars sang together and the sons of God shouted for joy" watching the foundations of the earth being laid, therefore, they pre-existed the earth in its present form.

the fact angels can sin tells me angels have will
 
May 2, 2021
126
24
18
which tells me Satan fell before the events in Genesis 3. i'm inclined to believe at least as early as between Genesis 1:1 and Genesis 1:2, if not before Genesis 1:1 -- noting that the creation of the angels is not related to us, and that Job 38:6-7 tells us the "morning stars sang together and the sons of God shouted for joy" watching the foundations of the earth being laid, therefore, they pre-existed the earth in its present form.

the fact angels can sin tells me angels have will
So angels (demons ) could choose to repent and return to their Creator's side?