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Discussion » Questions » Books and Literature » God told Adam & Eve that they could eat from any tree except the Tree of Knowledge of Good & Evil. What did he think was going to happen?
Livvie

God told Adam & Eve that they could eat from any tree except the Tree of Knowledge of Good & Evil. What did he think was going to happen?

Inspired by this question: https://answermug.com/forums/topic/61063/how-did-adam-and-eve-get-enough-protein-to-survive-did-they-jus/view/post_id/501704

The story of Adam and Eve doesn't make any sense to me.  It sounds like Adam and Eve were set up.  If a single being created humans then it would have to know that telling someone not to do something without really explaining why they shouldn't do it really makes them want to try it.

Posted - July 9, 2018
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Responses


  • 22891
    he probably already knew what was going to happen
      July 9, 2018 2:50 PM MDT
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  • "You're not the only one."

      July 9, 2018 2:52 PM MDT
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  • 5391
    It doesn’t make sense to you because it is nonsense.
    Wait,... I mean, you haven’t soaked up enough Holy Spirit (i.e., resigned your critical faculties) for it to make sense.
    I digress.

    Based on the logic of the OT, it is fair to say He knew what would happen. This post was edited by Don Barzini at July 11, 2018 5:41 PM MDT
      July 9, 2018 2:58 PM MDT
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  • 10469
    God created us with free will.  Free will only works if there is a choice.  Now before you call it a" setup" consider this - you are in a giant luxurious garden.  All around you are trees and flowers of all kinds - extraordinary beauty as far as the eye can see.  If you're hungry, all you have to do is pick and eat.  The only "job" you have it to tend it (i.e pruning).  No weeds to pull.  Everything's self watering.  You even have a mate right there with you (sex, companionship).  Now right in the middle of this paradise is a tree that if you eat of it you can live forever. And this entire aden is yours - enjoy!  Now towards the center of the garden is this one scraggly tree that you're told not to eat its fruit as it'll kill you!    You can eat of the garden and live in peace and harmony, or you can eat of that 1 tree and die.  A billion trees you can eat from, but just one you can't.  Would you call that a setup? 
      July 9, 2018 3:41 PM MDT
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  • 5455
    The story still doesn't make sense to me if it's meant to be literal.  If it's really allegory it would be easier understand.
      July 11, 2018 6:01 PM MDT
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  • 10469
    May I ask why you don't think it could be real?
      July 11, 2018 6:24 PM MDT
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  • 5455
    The easiest answer is I just have a hard time believing it happened that way.  I have some hardcore Christians in my family and I wonder why they believe it just as much as they wonder why I don't.

    Discussions with them never get very far.
      July 12, 2018 6:08 AM MDT
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  • 7280
    I'd go with myth, not allegory---but allegory is close. in the good sense of the word: myth  a traditional story, especially one concerning the early history of a people or explaining some natural or social phenomenon, and typically involving supernatural beings or events.

    Not with the bad sense: a widely held but false belief or idea.


    This post was edited by tom jackson at July 12, 2018 7:40 AM MDT
      July 12, 2018 12:26 AM MDT
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  • 5835
    Mama tells baby not to touch the stove. Baby touches the stove. Is it Mama's fault that baby got burned? Of course not: baby disobeyed and got the natural result of that disobedience.

    Some people assume that God is to blame because He is all-knowing. That is not so. People have free will and God does not know in advance what they will choose, except that they naturally make pretty much the same choices all the time.

    The answer to most challenges to the bible is "The bible does not say any such thing." This post was edited by Not Sure at July 11, 2018 5:42 PM MDT
      July 9, 2018 4:12 PM MDT
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  • 5391
    Off the top of my head:

    1 John 3:20
    in whatever our heart condemns us; for God is greater and KNOWS ALL THINGS

    Psalm 139: 1-4
    Even before there is a word on my tongue, Behold, O LORD you know it all.

    The most egregious assumptions being made here is that you know what you’re talking about. You don’t. 


      July 9, 2018 5:06 PM MDT
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  • 5835
    Don, I am not going to respond to your lame insults. If you want an exchange with me, you have to be polite. 
      July 10, 2018 5:38 AM MDT
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  • 7280
    I mentioned a few days ago that I was becoming concerned about some of the answers on sites like this one.
      July 12, 2018 12:19 AM MDT
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  • 5455
    I have babies and I keep them away from the stove.  When they're old enough to understand I'll tell them to stay away from the stove but if they do touch it when it's hot which I hope they won't then that'll be what they need to learn a lesson.

    The stove has a purpose.  I'm not sure what the purpose of a Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil would be.

    Your analogy makes me think of something else.

    Mama tells baby not to touch the loaded gun.

    Baby touches the loaded gun.

    Is it Mama's fault baby got shot?

    Yes!  It's called negligence!

    Also, if God isn't all-knowing would he still be God?


      July 11, 2018 5:50 PM MDT
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  • 5835
    Livvie, you are making a lot of assumptions. Lots of people assume God is all powerful and all knowing, but the bible mentions several things He can't do, and several things He doesn't know. 

    2 Samuel 7:14 I will be his father, and he shall be my son. If he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men:

    "If", get it? Jesus had free will to disobey, same as A&E had free will to disobey. 

    Psalm 82:6 I have said, Ye are gods; and all of you are children of the most High.

    Gods, not puppets. This post was edited by Not Sure at July 12, 2018 5:54 AM MDT
      July 11, 2018 11:41 PM MDT
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  • 5455
    My definition of God, whatever it may be, is a being that's all powerful and all knowing.  It's possible there's no such thing as God.  You're argument makes more sense to me but probably not for the reason you want it to make sense.

    That tells me your guy really isn't God.  If that's the case then there are two things that'll make sense.  Either someone made it all up or the god that's in the Bible was really some powerful extraterrestrial or other being that just had some issues like narcissism or autism.

    That would explain why he got bent out of shape over things like wearing clothes not made out of 100% of the same fabric or people sitting in a chair after a woman for whom it was that time of the month sat in a chair.
      July 12, 2018 6:03 AM MDT
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  • 5835
    Science is anything that can be measured. Spirit is anything that can not be measured. Spiritual matters are not proven by logic. Science is proven by logic. No connection. The reason you can't "prove" God is that if you don't believe, then by definition all proof is nonsense.

    But if you study the bible for a while, you will eventually realize that it is all true, proven to your own satisfaction. Read a chapter of Proverbs every day. Proverbs has 31 chapters so you can keep your place by just looking at a calendar. There is no religion or nothing in Proverbs and you don't have to believe anything. Just read to find wisdom.

    When you are comfortable with that, then read the bible from Romans to 2 Thessalonians over and over until you start to remember what it says. That is the part that applies to Christians.
      July 12, 2018 1:43 PM MDT
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  • 7919
    I agree. If god is all-knowing, then he'd know exactly what would happen, meaning he created people knowing what decision they'd make and knowing he'd be punishing them. In other words, if god is real, he's a great big jerk. 
      July 9, 2018 5:43 PM MDT
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  • 5455
    I think that's the way a lot of people see it.
      July 11, 2018 5:52 PM MDT
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  • 5835
    God does not punish anybody. Like if you kick a curb, God does not make you hurt, that is the natural result of kicking a curb. Please try to stay in touch with reality. 

    You say "if". Did it ever occur to you that maybe your thesis is wrong?
      July 11, 2018 11:45 PM MDT
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  • 7919
    "Please try to stay in touch with reality." That made me giggle a little. I think god is a mythical creature. I could not possibly get farther away from reality than by believing in a god. But, going with the god theory, if he is all-powerful, why put us in situations where we can harm ourselves? Why not make us bubble people who can't be harmed and just live in happy bubbles all day? Why is free will even a thing? If we had no free will, we wouldn't even know it was a possibility. We'd go about our days in perfect contentment. If a god made the rule book, that god could change it. So, that leaves two theories... either there's no god or there is a god, but he really screws up sometimes. That's actually why I was pagan for a while. At least their gods screw up and have flaws, which would totally explain the way the world is. A single all-knowing all-powerful god? Nope. It's not even a little plausible. I'm also no longer pagan because the belief in any type of god is nonsense to me. 
      July 12, 2018 1:42 AM MDT
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  • 5391
    One then supposes God didn’t punish the Egyptians, that all the plagues did them a big favor; or that casting A&E out of the Garden was merely a business move. Sodom and Gomorrah, the Noahide flood, all accidental discharges of divine flatulence, not punishments.
    (God: “Oops, My bad!”)

    Probably the best ally you have here, Jewels, is that none of it really ever happened...

    My previous so-called “lame” assertion remains, unchallenged. This post was edited by Don Barzini at July 13, 2018 7:36 AM MDT
      July 12, 2018 4:33 AM MDT
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  • 7280
    Well, it's probably accurate to say that He knew what was going to happen---but if you think the creation story is about God and His foreknowledge, you are missing the point.  Instead, it is about His power over everything that He created.

    The creation story is primarily told to show that God is the creator of all things---including man and woman---and that there was and cannot be any equivalent force that can effectively destroy God's plan for us to be with Him in heaven  (Satan tried, but he does not possess sufficient power to frustrate God and God simply used him as instrument to establish an even better future for mankind because of what he attempted to do.)

    The focus of the creation story in Genesis was to show that God created humans also---man and woman---and the first two were equal (from Adam's rib, not his foot or his head) and that the plan that God had in store for their lives and their descendants was contingent upon their obedience to God with regard to His instructions regarding the fruit of that tree.

    When Adam and Eve disobeyed, they lost what could have been, but a savior was promised to mankind which would give them an even better outcome than if they had not eaten of that tree. And the serpent, who tried to "sabotage" God original plan for man would have his head crushed by a woman (same gender that the serpent tempted) and an even better and more intense relationship between God and His creation would be established by the Word (second person of the Trinity) when He became man and ushered in that better and more intense relationship.

    “O Felix Culpa”---“O Happy Fault that merited such and so great a Redeemer!”

    Edit---spelling
    This post was edited by tom jackson at July 12, 2018 6:03 AM MDT
      July 12, 2018 12:13 AM MDT
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  • 6098
    What that means is with knowledge and a moral sense they would be tempted to start depending on those rather than depending completely on God. 
      July 12, 2018 6:17 AM MDT
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