A Genesis Question for "Free Thinkers"…?

Question

In Genesis (in the KJV)3:22 it reads – “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.

In the Torah the same reads: “And the Lord God said, “Now that the man has become like one of us, knowing good and bad, what if he should stretch out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever!

God is saying “The man is become as one of us” ... “Now that the man has become like one of us” …

How would you as “Free Thinkers” interpret this?

Please no Scriptures or bashing,
Thank you

A "Free Thinker" is a person that thinks for them-self, and has their own opinion. A "Free Thinker" can be of any belief, lifestyle, culture, etc.

To R U Randy:

Yes I did. Did you also notice how some who answered did not answer at all....?

Answer 1

Hmm. Well it seems to imply that having knowledge of "good and bad" is what makes men more like those deities (and I use the plural word because it says "one of us" not "like me"). There's the further implication that knowing how to live forever would be the next step, but they weren't going to let that happen just yet.

It might imply that the knowledge on how to live forever can only be obtained from the knowledge of the first tree. I see a couple of different ways to interpret this.

So that's my quick take, speaking as a personal advocate of freethought.

Answer 2

If Man can become like one of the Gods, by knowing good and evil....then what is the second part about? What does it mean to take from the tree of life and live forever?

It is implied that knowing the difference between good and bad is not knowledge. In fact, stretching forth our hands to the tree of life is the crucial step toward living forever??

I'm sorry....I don't really understand the subtle differences.

Answer 3

the traditional reading of this is that prior to eating from the tree of knowledge man lived in a state of paradise, maybe an ignorant bliss, similar to the animals in that he/she did not have the understanding of his own mortality and his moral choices. Then their eyes were opened and they gained some of the knowledge of the gods. I think it is a way to show the difference between man and the animals. Animals traditionally have no sense of right/wrong good/evil or of their own mortality. They do not worry about the future or regret the past. I say traditionally because there are some suggestions that some other primates may have a form of morality.

So mankind is now above the animals and we need to kick them out of paradise or else they will eat of the tree of live and live forever as we do.

The "us" being god and the angels including that troublemaker angel Satan.

Answer 4

I think the tree of life is God's word, or Truth, and eating from it, or living by righteousness, or God's word, gives eternal life. To stretch ones hand out I think could be interpreted as making the effort. It's there for the taking, truth, but not without making sacrifice, and stretching yourself beyond carnal or earthly needs.
Although I was raised Christian, the problem I have with religion is others beliefs are pushed onto people who don't follow 100%. I think truth and righteousness extend far beyond the customs of one sect, or the dogmatic beliefs of one, and that the bible and all it's parables serve only as a guide; a guide for men (and women) to live by, so there's peace and understanding, and spiritual growth. "Know thyself."
The bible is certainly holy, and contains Truth -- that you are either open to comprehend, or are not -- but some of the beliefs are too strong, give too little leeway, which seems to contradict truth, which I think of as being more laid back. Righteousness is not so cut and dry. It doesn't chop ones head off and feed it the the lions because of an "infraction," but serves to correct error. Religion through the ages, politics, and society, has been taken too far. Instead live by what you know to be right, respect life, and love your neighbors as you would want to be....

Peace :D

Answer 5

No scriptures.Hmmmm.Man was aloud all the fruits of Eden but one,so He was aloud the tree of life,I believe this is strictly a symbol or metaphor not a real tree. When he disobeyed God ,he new evil as well as good.He wasn`t carefree any more ,he became a thinker and was then cable of doing many things.If man had eaten the tree of life then he would have greater power and learned the secrets of the Gods and because of life everlasting couldn`t /wouldn`t die.

Answer 6

I think the man who originally expressed that concept (it probably wasn't written down until several generations later) was just feeling that his intelligence made him somehow much more than an animal, and therefore 'god-like'. But he simultaneously thought that his knowledge should somehow lead to immortality, which was clearly wrong for him. We're living in an interesting time, because the exponential growth in knowledge might lead in the next 30 years to the ability for some of us to 'live forever'. If that happens, then he was right in a way, even though he was wrong in all the details.

Answer 7

How in the world could you think that a question based on Genisis would ensnare the interest of a Free Thinker? The freedom to use ones own brain begins by getting ones nose out of the books of holy nonsense to look at reality where it truly is.... What a numb-nut you must be.

There is nothing at all in any of the holy books that is not an invention from the mind of man.... Your books are fairy tales and myths that have long since passed their useful days - they are nothing more than relics of a by-gone age.

Try a little "free thinking" of your own for a change. Trash the book of BS.... it isn't needed. We have invented reliable doorstops, aren't you aware?

[][][] r u randy? [][][]
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POST SCRIPT: Did you happen to notice that there are a great number of people responding to this question who appear to have no idea at all what it is to think freely, (i.e., without being bound to a scripted set of rules.) They sound a lot more like dogmatic god-believers, if you ask me.
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Answer 8

After God banishes Adam and Eve from Eden, he places guards called "Cherubims" at the border and somehow or another suspends in the air a "flaming sword which turned every way."

Nothing more is heard of this sword in the Bible; nonetheless it would become famous. (The phrase "flaming sword" seemed the readiest English name for those ceremonial weapons with wavy edges.) For all its obscurity, the sword -- perhaps a poetic figure for lightning -- remains a powerful and intriguing image, one perhaps ultimately derived from Mesopotamian myths.

More directly linked to ancient Semitic mythology are the cherubim (now a plural form -- the singular is "cherub"). Their name stems from the Akkadian (karibu) for minor Babylonian gods who guarded threshholds and mediated between the major gods and mankind.

The cherubim have not been mentioned previously in Genesis, but perhaps they are included among the "us" in such of God's statements as "let us make man in our image." If the cherubim at all resemble their Babylonian ancestors, they are creatures like the Greek centaurs, half-human and half-beast. (They are not to be confused with the seraphim, flame-like, winged ministers of God mentioned only in Isaiah, chapter 6.)

Perhaps God could have also been speaking of the Holy Trinity: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit...but this would appear much less likely as it is derived from the OT, many, many years before the life of Jesus Christ. Unless you are a Biblical scholar, which may have led you to a deeper understanding of the meaning behind the earlier scripture, much of the OT is left open to interpretation.

Answer 9

Pardon me, I might be misinformed or inexperienced in the field of biblical interpretation, but I do not understand how to interpret the verse any more than you have already done. The meaning within the context of the Bible is made plain by the subtle difference between two words you used: "like" and "as".

You quote the Bible and the Torah as separate sources, making it seem like twice the proof. Is my understanding wrong that the Torah is simply the name Jewish people have for the texts that Christians know as the first five books of the OT? Aren't their contents expected to be the same?

Frankly, I'm more interested in the questioner than the question. Did you purposefully phrase your defintion of "Free Thinkers"? You are very coy in your description. It sounds like a paradox, people holding accurate and informed opinions of things without basing their opinion on outside information. It is at least a paradox on the same level as the concept of accurate information in general.

If I had used the scientific method in seeking my answer to your question, would you find it appropriate to portray me as one who is unable to think freely, simply because I admit that I am bound by the laws of physics?

Are you suggesting that to act as a "Free Thinker" is to begin to relate these words in the Bible to one's personal life, specifically? That train of thought would then imply that those who refuse to rely on instructions from God when deciding how to live their life are not "Free Thinkers".

Did you specify “No scriptures”, in essence, to paint the Scientific Method as the atheistic counterpart to scripture, and thus hindering to thought in the same way as Bible verses?

Will you then proceed to make the philosophical point that EVERYONE is bound by a strict set of rules or guidelines that controls their actions? Some are held back by the rules of their religion, some are held back by the laws of science, and everyone is contained by society?

Would you go on to make the assertion that since people are always being controlled in their life, you are quite comfortable staying right where you are? And Is your view that what prevents humanity from TRULY being "Free Thinkers" is, ironically, all the consideration for showing proof and evidence when we decide what is fact?

Can YOU employ some critical thinking skills and concede that it is logical that when one experiences a psychologically-natural fear of death, it could easily be mistaken as a fear of hell?

Answer 10

I'm a christian freethinker:
Man knew Good.
satan lied and decieved
Man ate the fruit of the tree of Good and evil.
Man gained the understanding of evil
they were decieved and learned of death
God didn't want man in an eternal life of corruption so he had them blocked from the tree of life and Eden
God wanted mankind to only know good.
That is why Jesus shed His blood for all sin (if anyone from the heart repents of sin and accepts Jesus forgiveness).