Adam and Eve were told not to eat from the tree of Knowledge, do Christian's still follow that tradition?

Question

john_d_ayer, the ignorance is all yours, my friend, the earliest texts do not add 'good and evil'. You lie and deceive, you should be ashamed of yourself.

Sebastian, lighten up.

Answer 1

Yes. "They went unto Jerusalem and did smite the Librarian and his foul works, and rent asunder all Library cards. and it was good".

Answer 2

It's hardly a "tradition" to be followed, since the command and the tree of Knowledge of good and evil are simply symbolic forms in a symbolic story. Moreover, Christians are much too intelligent to try to find knowledge from a tree. They know that it takes years of study and a lot of hard work to gain real knowledge, and they realize that with learned knowledge they have further questions. Perhaps the beginning of wisdom is being aware of just how much a person does not know and has yet to learn -- and not from a tree.

Someone who would ask such a question as this seems to be someone who does not know Christians and/or Christianity and who would learn about that only if such knowledge were as easy to acquire as picking and eating an apple from a tree.

Answer 3

caveat: I "cut and paste" this snippet from an online newsgroup relating to Gnostic philosophies:

In Genesis 2:17, God commands Adam and Eve "But of the tree of the
knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that
thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. "

Then in Genesis 3: 4-5 the serpent says to Eve:

"And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: For God doth
know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye
shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. "

So Eve decides to trust in the serpent rather than in God and she partakes
of the fruit. It says in the next verses who really decieved Eve.

Genesis 3:7 "And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they
were naked............" Here, the Serpent was correct.

Genesis 3:22-24 "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...Therefore the LORD
God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence
he was taken....So he (Yahweh) drove out the man; and he placed at the east
of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way,
to keep the way of the tree of life."

Again the serpent was correct. They didn't die "in the day that they ate
it," AND they "became as the Gods, knowing good from evil." AND they could
have lived forever had they also ate of the tree of life right next to it.
God lied on multiple counts. Instead of dying they were merely expelled from
the Garden of Eden and cursed. The serpent told the truth yet it is the
serpent that is called the beguiler of Eve.


/***************/
end of "cite"

symbolisms and metaphors.

I find it odd that people who cast Genesis stories into the metophor/symbol camp often seem to insist that "tree" and "fruit of tree" are *literal* referents.

however, the interpretation I cite above appears different from most I have read elsewhere.

who is right? is anyone right?

Answer 4

for patrone07 - baptism doesn't remove sin. Accepting Christ as your personal Savior DOES, however.

Baptism is an outward expression of an inward commitment.

Remember, the thief on the cross, to whom Jesus said "today you will be with me in paradise." That thief wasn't baptized, but he was forgiven by Christ because He believed He was God incarnate.

Answer 5

The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil is in the Garden of Eden where it is protected from people eating of it.

Of course I did not miss either the sarcasm or the ignorance in your question.

Answer 6

I understand the sarcastic gist of your question, but to answer it, Adam and Eve DID eat the fruit of the tree of knowledge and the consequences of that choice, spiritual death (separation from God, kicked out of the garden) and physical death are in effect for everyone, including you. What was the knowledge they gained? Knowledge of good and evil and consequences for actions based on free will given to them by God.

Answer 7

You mean Tree of knowledge of Good and Evil? Sadly, everyone is born with original sin, but with baptism, it is removed! God bless.

Answer 8

It was not the tree of knowledge, but the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Adam and Eve had more true intellectual power than exists today; as attested by the condition of mankind and many of the questions and answers seen here daily.

Answer 9

By some of the questions and answers seen here it would be very likely that is the case.

Answer 10

This is the best ha ha I've had in a while. Thanks! Of course Christians follow that tradition. When your only source is the Bible, well.....