by cedars 190 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
I would take it as a given that they ate from it given that they were not prohibited from doing so, and after all, it was evidently a fairly prominent tree.
Just curious as to why my thoughts on the subject have to be written in exact words int he Bible, but your thoughts on it "are a given".....
Metaphor, my friends.
Nothing to beat yourselves up over.
If they had ALREADY eaten from it, then why did he kick them out before they could eat from it?
So that they would not continue to be immortal whilst simultaneously being like God. It's right there in Genesis 3:22.
How many times they would have to eat from the Tree of Life would be irrelevant, since in the long run, they were prevented form eating even once.
Can you show me where it says this in the text? In Genesis 2:16 and 17 it is clearly only the tree of the knowledge of good and bad that is prohibited. All other trees, including the tree of life, can be eaten from "to satisfaction".
Cedars
I don't have all the answers. I'm continually trying to piece these things together.
C.S. Lewis held that homo sapiens evolved into a spiritually-minded species when God willed it, but that early humans turned away.
Origen held that the fall occurred before the universe was. In the preexistence, we fell, by turning away from God. The purpose of the universe, he held, was to rectify this. In this way, the Lamb was slain before the founding of the world. I have heard some say that clothing Adam and Even with skins was symbolic for giving fallen souls fleshly bodies.
One thing I think many can attest to: We are born fallen. None of us can claim perfection. We all make moral mistakes. We all have a wrestling with our more animalistic impulses. Many of us feel a spiritual need and desire a relationship with God. Christianity provides a frame of reference for some to pursue this.
Currently, I am trying to keep an open mind and a listening ear. I gravitated from being a Witness, flirted with agnosticism, but after reading Crisis of Conscience, I began to gravitate toward Christianity again and this has provided a good sense of direction that I was lacking in the interim.
As Paul said, "For at present we see in hazy outline by means of a metal mirror, but then it will be face to face. At present I know partially, but then I shall know accurately even as I am accurately known." I believe only when we will all see God face to face will we have a more complete understanding.
N.drew - I'm sorry but there's way too much supposition in your answer. I'm afraid I'm still in the dark. The trees are definitely described in the text as two distinct horticultural specimens!! Unless you're delving into the mysterious realm of tree-trinity?!!
Cedars
Can you show me where it says this in the text? In Genesis 2:16 and 17 it is clearly only the tree of the knowledge of good and bad that is prohibited. All other trees, including the tree of life, can be eaten from "to satisfaction".
Can you show me where it says in the text that they definately ate from the Tree of Life ?
"Who would be so childish as to think that God was like a human gardener and planted a paradise in Eden facing the east, and in it made a real visible tree, so that one could acquire life by eating its fruit with real teeth or, again, could participate in good and evil by eating what he took from the other tree? And if the text says that God walked in the garden in the evening, or Adam hid himself under the tree, I cannot think that anyone would dispute that these things are said in the figurative sense, in an effort to reveal certain mysteries by means of an apparent historical tale and not by something that actually took place." (First Principles - 4: 16 by Origen of Alexandria)
definitely described in the text as two distinct horticultural specimens! How so? I do not think they are horticultural. I think they have something to do with the mind.
How many times did they eat from the Tree of Knowledge ?
palmtree67 - whether they had eaten from it (the tree of Life) or not prior to the fall, there was certainly nothing stopping them as you suggested in your previous comment. And the question still remains as to where inherited sin came from, since there is nothing mentioned in the narrative that would indicate that the tree of the knowledge of good and bad was in any way poisonous or death dealing. The only thing death-dealing was seperation from the tree of life through banishment from the garden. As my blog article points out, this brings into question the concept of inherited sin - because if sin wasn't contracted from eating the fruit - where did it come from? The edenic narrative, at least as far as the Witnesses are concerned, is that Adam and Eve were created perfect, and only through subsequent actions did they contract imperfection. It has been implied that this resulted from the forbidden fruit itself, but there is no evidence of this in the narrative.
Cedars
