I think the tree of life is something you must continue to eat from in order to continue to live. Or in order to have life over death.
I agree with Tammy and the other poster who said it.
The Two Trees - My Genesis Ponderings
by cedars 190 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
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N.drew
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Larsinger58
Look around you. Humans are here and are all from the same parents. So what about the Eden story is there to doubt? We certainly didn't evolve from apes did we? Apes are still here doing just fine. Where are all the half-man/half-apes? Why did all of them die off?
So Eden works for explaining the nature of mankind we know now.
But things in the past can't be proven sometimes.
But this is one of the top three debates of all time that goes round and round: evolution vs. creation, the Bible vs. homosexuality and the reality of the global flood. ..
but it is a bottomless pit. Atheists think creationists are crazy and creationists think atheists are incredibly stupid. That doesn't seem to make sense, but that's the way it is. Neither can prove conclusively one way or the other.
LS
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james_woods
I agree with Tammy and the other poster who said it.
I beleive it is a hybrid between the Peach and the Pear.
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palmtree67
And the LORD God said, "The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever."
New Living Translation(©2007)
Then the LORD God said, "Look, the human beings have become like us, knowing both good and evil. What if they reach out, take fruit from the tree of life, and eat it? Then they will live forever!"English Standard Version(©2001)
Then the LORD God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever—”New American Standard Bible(©1995)
Then the LORD God said, "Behold, the man has become like one of Us, knowing good and evil; and now, he might stretch out his hand, and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever "--King James Bible (Cambridge Ed.)
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:GOD'S WORD® Translation(©1995)
Then the LORD God said, "The man has become like one of us, since he knows good and evil. He must not reach out and take the fruit from the tree of life and eat. Then he would live forever."King James 2000 Bible (©2003)
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 forever:American King James Version
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:American Standard Version
And Jehovah 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-Douay-Rheims Bible
And he said: Behold Adam is become as one of us, knowing good and evil: now, therefore, lest perhaps he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever.Darby Bible Translation
And Jehovah Elohim said, Behold, Man is become as one of us, to know good and evil. And now, lest he stretch out his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever ...!English Revised Version
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:Webster's Bible Translation
And the LORD God said, Behold, the man hath become as one of us, to know good and evil. And now, lest he should put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever:World English Bible
Yahweh God said, "Behold, the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil. Now, lest he put forth his hand, and also take of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever..."Young's Literal Translation
And Jehovah God saith, 'Lo, the man was as one of Us, as to the knowledge of good and evil; and now, lest he send forth his hand, and have taken also of the tree of life, and eaten, and lived to the age,' --Don't all these translations seem to indicate that They didn't get a chance to eat from the tree? And that they needed to be prevented from ever eating from the tree?
I'm not disagreeing that they may have had to continutally eat from the tree in order to have life, but these all seem to indicate (to me, anyways) that they never got a chance to eat from it.
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james_woods
So? Do you believe it really happened?
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palmtree67
As I said before.....I believe it is an allegory.
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tec
Don't all these translations seem to indicate that They didn't get a chance to eat from the tree?
They do seem to indicate that, yes.
Peace,
tammy
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GOrwell
I think botchtower and mind-blown were on to something here :
@botchtowersociety said:
"I think in the story the Tree of Life represents communion with God in perfect relationship. I think the Tree of Knowledge represents trying to make ourselves God. Original sin was a breaking of the relationship. It still exists, but it is comparatively feeble."
I agree with you here. In this account, God said that they would die "in the day" or on that exact day if they ate of the Tree of Good and Bad. Of course, they eventually did die, but not right on that day. God said they would. Did God lie?
Of course not. I think Adam and Eve died spiritually on that day. With that, their perfect relationship with God, and their source of life, died as well. Allegory or not, no tree would give immortality, but the Source of Life of God could give eternal life, and it's through our eventual perfect relationship with Him that we will gain eternal life. Of course, we can have a relationship with God now, but it is as Paul said, "through a foggy mirror" (or something similar).
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palmtree67
Isn't this all just pre-supposing that Adam and Eve had immortality, then lost it?
I believe Adam and Eve were createdmortal and dying.
They were prevented from eating of the Tree of Life, so that they wouldn't live forever.
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GOrwell
palmtree : When God was detailing the trees, and what to do and what not to do in
Gen 2:16,17 : "And Jehovah God also laid this command upon the man: “From every tree of the garden you may eat to satisfaction. 17 But as for the tree of the knowledge of good and bad you must not eat from it, for in the day you eat from it you will positively die.”
Wouldn't that be the appropiate time to lay out the requirement to eat of the tree of life on a somewhat regular schedule? After all, that would be pretty much required information, in that if you didn't eat of it, you'd die.
People assume that Adam and Eve had eternal life (immortality is not eternal life) because of verse 17, and the consequence of eating of the good/bad tree was that they would die. Ergo, if they didn't eat of that tree, they would live forever.
As well, God said all his creation was perfect. Perfection would seemingly include not being sinful and thus having to die.