The tree doesn't know good from evil - the term "tree" is a noun and good and evil are adjectives describing it.
The command came from the God who is the revealer of Truth.
To Adam and to us.

If you want to be taken seriously, you are going to have to do better.

I invite your comments HT but we usually extend grace to one another as we read through the biblical text. Ephesians 4:31-32 should always be in view.

I'm not inspired so I don't hold the Truth but to scoff at each other doesn't glorify God or edify others.
Scripture tells us that God gave Adam the first no can do in Genesis 2:16-17.
That is a literal read and exegetical interpretation of the Creation narrative which I have (and many of those whom I've had the privilege to learn from here at DTS).
I invite your comments of course.

Blessings,
Mark

I didn't read the whole thread, but the issue had to do with obedience and God's sovereignty. God gave them a command to not eat of a specific tree and told Adam what the consequences would be if he disobeyed that command. So he had a choice (free will) when tempted by the devil.

Yes, there will be a time when we will have free will and not be tempted anymore. If we stay obedient to God clear up until the time he crushes Satan, then we will have showed who's side we really support and be rewarded with living in a world without temptation or sin.

Can we imagine the way the world around us would be if people would become to one another, compassion and gracious just as also God in Christ was gracious to us.
That's our prayer always.

Blessings,
Mark

I’m not scoffing at you, sorry if you feel I am. Maybe it’s me but many of your post are bush beaters that don’t speak to questions you are suppose to be addressing. That and your use of “this is how it reads but that’s not what it means” has folks rowing the other way. lol

No Sir, I don't believe so.

Amen Brother. Being a Christian and living by Jesus' doctrine is the hardest life there is; particularly in this day and age when the world rules all. Everything around us, governments, and people in high power.

I have a very solid pastor but every once in a while he'll quip about something he thought or did and wonder how a genuine Christian could do such a thing. The battle rages.

It's very encouraging to me to see battle-hardened believers here. We're not alone.

No doubt Posco. The beauty of it all is that we stand by the Rock; Jesus Christ and the Word of God. The grass withers, the flowers fade, but the Words of our Lord will stand forever.
That rock solidness gives me great peace in what we have being shoved down our throats right now.

To Hobbie Trapper's original post, I read the Bible very literally. We must not forget to read our Bible and listen to what it says.
There were two trees in Eden....The Tree of Life (Jesus) and the Tree of knowledge of good and evil (The World IMO). Basically two choices. We can choose the god of this world, or we can choose the God of Life is the way I see it. So yes, temptation and free-will has been with us since Eden. (Eve gets the wrong deal in many cases at the church house, Adam was with her. He allowed it to happen and is just as guilty)

Let us not forget though that after the fall of mankind in the Garden and the Genesis 3 Curse, there were two seeds. The seed of the serpent and the seed of the woman. "And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between our seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel"

Danny as always make a good point. And all of us true believers need to come to reckon with it because we need to be able to understand it and defend our positions if we are to stand up to this world that cries theology on one hand and does absolute blasphemy on the other. My position is not popular but it is what I think, and I believe the Word of God proves it.

When you ask the forum a question, was I not correct in thinking you were looking for answers? I would hope a believer isn't threatened or offended by another believer's interpretation given in sincerity.
I don't tee anything up with "nice try" or " try again" language... or any other cutting humor some here like to hide behind, but rather I always enjoy the robust sincere discussion of our faith.

Plus, I don't align with the multitude who think liberal theological attitudes will sooth the division in the Church as the stats show just the opposite. The soft drink cola Christianity has decimated the churches in the West as the liberalist - we can all believe what we want when we want why we want - has gutted churches, because people are pretty smart and they know there isn't Truth in everything.
I pastor many who are seeking real Truth, not soft drink WWJD theology. I am formally trained in a new world that is anti-intelligence but many like me don't care about the anti-intelligence movement because we know that people who walked before us, deeply trained and duly ordained in the faith are worthy soldiers in a culture where the flesh, the world, and Satan despise the pastor, preacher, priest who dedicates themselves to Kingdom efforts.

So dive into Scripture deep. Real deep. Dive into the study of the Word. A lot. Alone for sure, but mostly with many others who do not think like you do.
We are commanded to love one another and tomorrow when I walk alongside another person who is in a tough spot, it'll be a privilege to share what was first given to me to others.

Blessings,
Mark

Why did satan take Jesus on top of the mountain to tempt him. That was a long time since Eden.

We don't know all the details of the mysty days of Genesis, but one thing is for sure. God was teaching them about original sin and how we must be covered.
From what I understand, God shed the first blood in Genesis. He made tunics of skin from animals living in Eden and used their flesh and hide to clothe Adam and Eve. Mind you that Adam named the animals and many folks think that they even were able to communicate with the animals prior to Genesis 3 curse. He was teaching them IMO, a very important lesson. That lesson, is that only by the shedding of innocent blood would they be covered.

I believe, and it will go unshaken, rest easy on that.

Do you really feel I’M the attacker of another believer’s interpretation?

Good morning HT.
I'm aware that an online forum is an interesting place to attempt to conduct relational chats.
It's nearly impossible because language brings with it context and that context is specifically our own individual heritage, experiences, and philosophy.

Case in point;

From my vantage, on this screen, and reading on online thread you seem to be asking many questions. You usually ask several per week.
We, as readers can choose to read your post or not. If we read it, we choose to comment or not. If we choose to comment, we could then;
choose to answer you in a sincere manner (which is what I make an effort to do especially with biblical questions).
or perhaps we could disagree with you,
and even in that there could be diversity of opinion with a sincere attitude.
Or we could just quarrel with you... for any host of reasons.

Anyway, bottom line is that online chatterers and chats must allow for some level of understanding that the other person isn't trying to disagree with things we type when that may not even be what they intend.

And when it comes to biblical interpretations, there are not many original thoughts, really. These texts have been around for 1000's of years and millions of people have read the "most read Book" of all time. There are 380,000 books in our DTS library about one Book. It's pretty tricky to come up with some idea of what Scripture is saying that hasn't been considered by 1000's before us.

Plus, there are incredibly valuable writings also by those early Church theologians who wrote their comments. Many of them like Polycarp, were disciples of the Apostle John or similar.
We are still being discipled today, 2000 year later. If we view it that way. There are those who strive for much of their lives with a sincere effort made to stay true to the original text and its accurate meaning (translation not withstanding) and these people are God's gift to us learners. We just lost one to Heaven, Dr. Charles Baylis, an incredible expositor of the Bible with a convicted yet humble heart.

We know that these Church Fathers as scholars label them, learned from those who sat and learned themselves from those who sat and learned from Jesus.
So these commentaries are so very helpful to sift our ideas through and see where we land.

Should we read and learn from those who learned from Jesus? Or from the prophets who spoke before Jesus? Or should we just listen to the modern day Western individualist who believers they can figure all things out since we live in the 21st century? Should we just open a Bible, and see what we come up with? Listen to those who teach over and over in this "enlightened" era to "See what Scripture means to me? See what you come up with?" Bible study is a private but more so a communal commission. Passages like "They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer." in Acts 2:42 (and so many other texts) are hard to read past as the individual who tells others we are supposed to read the Bible alone and let the Holy Spirit work in us. Alone. There is very little alone in the Kingdom of God. Very, very little. Americans especailly have built up this false sense of individualism in Christianity which is not truthful to the Body or the Kingdom.

So kind of.... yes, in answer to your question = you arrange your answers here on an online forum... after you ask your question(s)... with a subtle innuendo (maybe you're a witty guy) imbedded.

Here's a biblical example of this innuendo >> when Paul writes the believers in Ephesus "to become to one another kind, tender-hearted, and gracious to one another as God in Christ did for y'all." (Eph 4:32) we can assume that Paul is writing this letter to the believers in Ephesus BECAUSE the believers are NOT doing those things (or Paul wouldn't be writing).
So Paul is writing them to tell them to STOP IT, and to do what God first did for them (seated them in the heavenly places).

When you write "I believe, and it will go unshaken, rest easy on that" it appears as you are writing to us, (as Paul did) as if you might assume that we may be trying to shake your faith and that we are uneasy?
Not me. Can't speak for the forum.

Anyway, I enjoy your posts. Let's ride the red fox line together some time. I miss those good old reds.

Blessings from Dallas.
Mark

Thank you Mark, that would be fun and we have plenty of them.

Have a great day!

Save those glands my friend! Save those glands!
I beg you like a kid on the playground who wants to be on your dodge ball team!

Blessings!
Mark