Tree of Knowledge

[Rev Rider]

hether you believe the literal story of Adam and Eve or believe it to be a parable, it is irrelevant to the lesson that it teaches.
The serpent said that if you eat from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil "...your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil". Now what does this mean, knowing what is good and what is evil? Isn't that a good thing? Shouldn't we know what is good and what is evil? (It took me a little while to get this one.) What this did is to give us the ability to put a value on something and by virtue of the value, to judge it, whether it is good or evil. This judgement is based on our own knowledge, our own experience, not on God's. We took this from God. We no longer relied on Him, we no longer needed Him, we put our own value, hence our own judgement, on it. In a sense, we became gods by taking this right from Him.The serpent, this god of this world, revels in this. He uses any little schism that he can to get us farther from God. And he is the god of this world. (Proven when he tempted Jesus with offering Him the cities of the world in turn for Jesus to worship him. Jesus didn't dispute that they were his cities, but said that that "thou shalt worship the Lord thy God".) This insidious creature has had all this time to integrate this type of thinking into the very fiber of our civilization, even into the the very way in which we think.
The Old Testament gave us rules by which to judge by. But as Paul said, in Gal. 3:24, the law was but a schoolmaster to bring us to Christ. For in Christ we have the power/opportunity to undo the mistake of eating from the Tree of Knowledge. Through Christ we have the power/opportunity to go into the Holy of Holies, to have a personal relationship with the Father. We don't have to judge anymore, we don't have to put a value on anything any more, we just have to look to the Father to guide us, through Christ, in the Holy Spirit. Christ said "Judge not, and ye shall not be judged" (Luke 6:37).
We need to give this back to God. We are not the judges, Christ is (John 5:22). If there is a problem we need to pray. We need to "Be careful for nothing, but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." (Phil 4:6-7)

 

[papaJP]

Why do you think you have the right to carry the title reverand.

 

[mog144]

Very interesting writing my friend, I have questioned the A&E story and maybe you can offer further interpretation of Genesis chapter 3.

I'd like to know what people believe as to why the serpent asked the woman the question and not the man?

Any are welcome to give answer to this question. Thanks and God bless.

 

[Rev Rider]

In answer to papaJP, I was ordained to the Gospel Ministry in 1990.

 

[Rev Rider]

Thank you for your kind words, mog144.

 

[John Stefanyszyn]

Mr.Rider,

as per your words..."What this did is to give us the ability to put a value on something and by virtue of the value, to judge it, whether it is good or evil. This judgement is based on our own knowledge, our own experience, not on God's. We took this from God. We no longer relied on Him, we no longer needed Him, we put our own value, hence our own judgement, on it. In a sense, we became gods by taking this right from Him.The serpent, this god of this world, revels in this. He uses any little schism that he can to get us farther from God. And he is the god of this world. (Proven when he tempted Jesus with offering Him the cities of the world in turn for Jesus to worship him. Jesus didn't dispute that they were his cities, but said that that "thou shalt worship the Lord thy God".)"

Sir, this understanding is true. Man has taken into his hands the authority and right to judge, determine, justify what he believes to be good and evil.

This belief is seen today in a world belief, which wears the sheepskin of peace but speaks as the dragon. This world belief is that of universal values, human "rights', freedom of rights - freedom of religion.

This belief has labeled the God of Christ into a religion amongst other religions.
This belief dictates that Christ is irrelevant as the One True Way.
This belief states that there is no "One True Creator God", that instead all "gods" are valid and equal in worship as per the "conscience of each individual".
This belief prioritizes the rights of each individual instead of the true way of "loving your neighbor as yourself".

Wish you well, and that the Spirit of the One True God be with you.

 

[childofdust]

Now what does this mean, knowing what is good and what is evil?

“Know” has a lot of semantic range of meaning. It can mean a lot of things. I can “know” a woman – meaning to copulate with her. I can “know” a mathematical equation – meaning I can reproduce it or work with it. I can “know” about being dumped by a girlfriend – meaning I have experienced the same circumstance. Etc.

Shouldn't we know what is good and what is evil?

Depends in what sense you mean “know.” In the sense of the text – to know good and evil means to have experience with both good and evil. Adam and Eve were never meant to experience evil.

What this did is to give us the ability to put a value on something and by virtue of the value, to judge it, whether it is good or evil.

I don't see anything in the text that says that whatsoever. Before they took of the fruit, they knew there was a value in what they were doing and they had already made a judgment of it. God told them they were not to eat of it and to eat of it would be to go against what God told them. They had knowledge of all that and there is both value and judgment in that knowledge.

I'm with PapaJP... I have a hard time believing anyone who was, in truth, a Reverend could make such simple linguistic and exegetical mistakes. I "know" a few Reverends and they all "know" the basic things I've outlined above.

 

[stan1953]

hether you believe the literal story of Adam and Eve or believe it to be a parable, it is irrelevant to the lesson that it teaches.
The serpent said that if you eat from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil "...your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil". Now what does this mean, knowing what is good and what is evil? Isn't that a good thing? Shouldn't we know what is good and what is evil? (It took me a little while to get this one.) What this did is to give us the ability to put a value on something and by virtue of the value, to judge it, whether it is good or evil. This judgment is based on our own knowledge, our own experience, not on God's. We took this from God. We no longer relied on Him, we no longer needed Him, we put our own value, hence our own judgment, on it. In a sense, we became gods by taking this right from Him.The serpent, this god of this world, revels in this. He uses any little schism that he can to get us farther from God. And he is the god of this world. (Proven when he tempted Jesus with offering Him the cities of the world in turn for Jesus to worship him. Jesus didn't dispute that they were his cities, but said that that "thou shalt worship the Lord thy God".) This insidious creature has had all this time to integrate this type of thinking into the very fiber of our civilization, even into the the very way in which we think.
The Old Testament gave us rules by which to judge by. But as Paul said, in Gal. 3:24, the law was but a schoolmaster to bring us to Christ. For in Christ we have the power/opportunity to undo the mistake of eating from the Tree of Knowledge. Through Christ we have the power/opportunity to go into the Holy of Holies, to have a personal relationship with the Father. We don't have to judge anymore, we don't have to put a value on anything any more, we just have to look to the Father to guide us, through Christ, in the Holy Spirit. Christ said "Judge not, and ye shall not be judged" (Luke 6:37).
We need to give this back to God. We are not the judges, Christ is (John 5:22). If there is a problem we need to pray. We need to "Be careful for nothing, but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." (Phil 4:6-7)

God's command was to NOT eat from the TOKOGAE. It was simple. One command. That was it.
Now do you think Adam & Eve understood the concept of death or dieing? Eve reiterates what God told Adam, but did she really understand it? In fact the serpent didn't lie did he? To me, the sin was want of the forbidden or unknown.
Disobedience or disbelief was secondary to her sin, which was self gratification. Now isn't that a familiar concept?

 

[mog144]

Who are people referring to when they mention Adam?
There's one thing that hinders our understanding and that's the lack of knowledge and understanding about the Creation account and the Eden story. I've learned a great deal since my last post here and I'd like to share it with you all, here's a link to my thread and I pray that it helps to enlighten your minds to an understanding of our father and mother.

copy & paste this url portion to view it, sorry that I don't have enough posts in order to post live links. christianforums.com/t7649607/

The name "Adam" is misunderstood because it points to the one man created on day-6 who was made as a womb containing two genders (male & female), parallel to the story of Esau and Jacob; two nations in one womb. When anybody is referring to the "male" gender, he or she should indicate so, such as using the word "man" or "male" because there's a difference and this needs vindication. This relates to the image of the beast-666 in Revelation because knowing the details of creation, we can see how satan uses images to masquerade in.

Mog144

 

[stan1953]

Who are people referring to when they mention Adam?
There's one thing that hinders our understanding and that's the lack of knowledge and understanding about the Creation account and the Eden story. I've learned a great deal since my last post here and I'd like to share it with you all, here's a link to my thread and I pray that it helps to enlighten your minds to an understanding of our father and mother.

copy & paste this url portion to view it, sorry that I don't have enough posts in order to post live links. christianforums.com/t7649607/

The name "Adam" is misunderstood because it points to the one man created on day-6 who was made as a womb containing two genders (male & female), parallel to the story of Esau and Jacob; two nations in one womb. When anybody is referring to the "male" gender, he or she should indicate so, such as using the word "man" or "male" because there's a difference and this needs vindication. This relates to the image of the beast-666 in Revelation because knowing the details of creation, we can see how satan uses images to masquerade in.

Mog144

The account of God making man in Gen 1:27 is in the context of the 6th day.
Gen 2:4 picks up on day 6 with detail and goes forward. Revelation is OUT of context here, as is the beast mentioned in Revelation.

 

[St. Paul]

hether you believe the literal story of Adam and Eve or believe it to be a parable, it is irrelevant to the lesson that it teaches.
The serpent said that if you eat from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil "...your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil". Now what does this mean, knowing what is good and what is evil? Isn't that a good thing? Shouldn't we know what is good and what is evil? (It took me a little while to get this one.) What this did is to give us the ability to put a value on something and by virtue of the value, to judge it, whether it is good or evil. This judgement is based on our own knowledge, our own experience, not on God's. We took this from God. We no longer relied on Him, we no longer needed Him, we put our own value, hence our own judgement, on it. In a sense, we became gods by taking this right from Him.The serpent, this god of this world, revels in this. He uses any little schism that he can to get us farther from God. And he is the god of this world. (Proven when he tempted Jesus with offering Him the cities of the world in turn for Jesus to worship him. Jesus didn't dispute that they were his cities, but said that that "thou shalt worship the Lord thy God".) This insidious creature has had all this time to integrate this type of thinking into the very fiber of our civilization, even into the the very way in which we think.
The Old Testament gave us rules by which to judge by. But as Paul said, in Gal. 3:24, the law was but a schoolmaster to bring us to Christ. For in Christ we have the power/opportunity to undo the mistake of eating from the Tree of Knowledge. Through Christ we have the power/opportunity to go into the Holy of Holies, to have a personal relationship with the Father. We don't have to judge anymore, we don't have to put a value on anything any more, we just have to look to the Father to guide us, through Christ, in the Holy Spirit. Christ said "Judge not, and ye shall not be judged" (Luke 6:37).
We need to give this back to God. We are not the judges, Christ is (John 5:22). If there is a problem we need to pray. We need to "Be careful for nothing, but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." (Phil 4:6-7)

That was a beautiful post. Thanks for sharing. I got something out of it.

 

[StephenMason]

How could you even speculate that the story of Adam and Eve is fictional. Shame!