Were the trees in Eden symbolic?

Question

"Tree of life" and " tree of knowledge" and what were they doing there in the first place?

Answer 1

You can't take fruit from a symbolic tree.

Answer 2

I have wondered if the Tree of Life may have been symbolic of DNA. I have also wondered if fruit may be symbolic of knowledge. If you eat or "take in" the fruit you gain knowledge of what that is about. So when they ate of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil they became aware of those things. Ever hear the saying? "You are what you eat." If they were to eat of the Tree of Life they could have gained knowledge of how to live forever. And it just so happens that is the reason they were driven from the Garden of Eden. So that they couldn't eat of the fruit of the Tree of Life and live forever and become as God's. But that is just my interpretation of what the symbolic meaning could be. I don't actually know. But I do believe that Genesis is heaping with symbolism.

Answer 3

It is a time worn story similar to the story of Persephone for the changes of the seasons. As you see once Eve and Adam ate the apple they had to leave the Garden of Eden deal with the troubles and woes of the world afterwards. Also similar to the story about Pandora's Box where she opens the box after marrying to have all the woes and troubles of the world escape. Then to slam it shut on hope. I see this as the awakening to human facts of intimacy and having children where a young child or teen well protected suddenly is addressed with the responsibilties of adulthood. I also relate the part where she eats from the tree where they had been previously fed by the milk of the lamb or just pure clean energy to deal with a high sugar intake which can help induce fertility in many animals because they are set off by nutition cycles to help them survive better. She eats the fruit her sugar goes up she ovulates then reproduces along with becomes more physical such that she desires carnal knowledge etc. I say both symbolic and highly representative of what does happen to animals.

Answer 4

I think that the Tree of Knowledge is symbolic of a key stage in human evolution. Back when these stories were first written, people must have been aware that humans used to be just another animal. The eating of the Fruit of Knowledge is symbolic of the transition from acting purely on instinct to the complex logical and emotional mind of the modern human.

Answer 5

They were a kind of trap that gave God an excuse for kicking A & E out of the Garden.

Put a small child in a room with a bunch of toys & a closed box. Tell him he may play with any toy except the one in the box. Then leave him alone while you watch via a hidden camera.

How would you feel about a child that didn't open the box? I think most parents would be disappointed in the child's lack of curiosity.

The whole Apple thing was a set-up. God and Eve didn't want Adam spending his whole life doing nothing but naming animals and eating fruit.

That is pretty much the Jewish interpetation of the story.

Sadly, Christianity has used the story to justify the doctrine of Original Sin which became an excuse to denigrate women.

Answer 6

They were tempting Eve to eat from them. The Tree of Knowledge is symbolic of the Church's ongoing disdain of science and intellectualism.

Answer 7

yeah, I think they were. I think there were six trees in total, and Adam and Eve were allowed to eat from each except the tree in the middle. The 5 trees they were allowed to indulge in were the five sense (sight, smell, hearing, touch, taste), and the sixth tree, symbollically in the middle of the garden, was the sexual sense, and once they tasted that, they realized or were made to believe they were different

Answer 8

No, they are not symbolic, they are very real.

11Let him that does unrighteously do unrighteously still; and let the filthy make himself filthy still; and let him that is righteous practice righteousness still; and he that is holy, let him be sanctified still.

12Behold, I come quickly, and my reward with me, to render to every one as his work shall be.

13*I* [am] the Alpha and the Omega, [the] first and [the] last, the beginning and the end.

14Blessed [are] they that wash their robes, that they may have right to the tree of life, and that they should go in by the gates into the city.

15Without [are] the dogs, and the sorcerers, and the fornicators, and the murderers, and the idolaters, and every one that loves and makes a lie.

16*I* Jesus have sent mine angel to testify these things to you in the assemblies. *I* am the root and offspring of David, the bright [and] morning star.

17And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that hears say, Come. And let him that is athirst come; he that will, let him take [the] water of life freely.

Answer 9

by eating from the tree of life they realized that they needed this tree to exist.
The tree of knowledge acknowledged God's right to rule and they were to remain subjected to him. To follow his rules, because doing otherwise could result in great harm to the people who were to come after them.
Look at world conditions this is what happens when man rules himself.

Answer 10

That would depend entirely on your beliefs.

..Unless you are analyzing the Bible as a literary work of fiction, in which case you posted this question to the wrong catagory. Prepare yourself for the sudden, but short lived, flame war.