This is so easy. It's possible the tree was symbolic, but....
Adam was not created 'perfect', in the sense that he had the ability from the start to live forever. Adam was like a child, who didn't know a tree of life from a hole in the ground. He couldn't possibly have, otherwise he'd have eaten from the tree of life from the very start. Had he eaten from the tree of life, then eaten from the tree of knowledge, even God couldn't have stopped him from living forever. This is proven by the fact that God prevented them from eating from it on their way out of the Garden of Eden. Had they been able to snag a piece of fruit from the tree on the way out, even then God couldn't have prevented them from living forever.
I agree with Dazed, it was the plan. As cruel as it seems, it was the plan. But then again, no matter how you look at it, this entire mess since the day Adam set foot on this earth, has been cruel. We come to earth to gain knowledge, and Adam HAD to eat from the tree of knowledge to have knowledge. "Adam sinned so that we might live". Had he NOT eaten from the tree of knowledge, then he wouldn't have even known how to procreate. And if you don't believe that one, then why didn't he have the common sense to eat from the tree of life prior to eating from the tree of knowledge? (now you guys have me arguing with myself, lol).
In the grand scope of things, meaning eternal life in paradise (heaven/earth - wherever), our lives on earth are but a brief 'blip', at some future point we'll look back on all the BS we went through here on earth and realize it was a 'learning experience', which is exactly what it was meant to be. We needed to learn all human emotions, sometimes more than twice.
That's my opinion, and you can't make me take it back
Rev
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LambsRoar.org
