“Tree of good and bad” means what?

by venus 42 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

  • Irishdub
    Irishdub

    So after all that, you now came to realize there was a choice between two conflicting statements ?

  • waton
    waton

    the statements had no connection to reality. they did not die the day they touched or ate, nearly 1000 years later is kind of late ? right? and do not quote peter please.

  • Irishdub
    Irishdub

    sorry I hear an echo on the line ..someone butting in ....bbbbbbbbbbbbbbb

    mr. Rabbit ...is starting to hop hop hop ...down rabbit holes ...

    what snake oil are you guys selling ?

    lol

  • waton
    waton

    what snake oil are you guys selling

    no, poking fun at the talking snake story is more fun than having to dissect MacBeth in high school.

  • smiddy
    smiddy

    One other thing that came to my mind about this story.

    According to the Bible Jehovah god created all things relating to the garden of Eden right ? So he must have also gave the snake the power to talk/communicate with Eve ?

    If Satan gave the snake the power to talk/communicate with Eve he must have been on an equal footing with Jehovah ,as Jehovah said to his peers "the man has become like one of us" Gen.3:22

    That is also a good point dogisgood ,thats what my teenage son would say to me many years ago the tree of life is the one Eve should have eaten from.

  • Half banana
    Half banana

    Get with it people! We are talking about a story not fact, not truth, not reality. It never happened-- it is pure myth.

    It simply reflects certain aspects of the human condition. It is an imaginative tale about obedience in fairyland. For goodness sake please stop talking about these things as if they were historical.

  • venus
    venus

    Irishdub wrote: "I think the whole point of the story (real or myth) is who do we trust ?"

    If one's life is compared to a garden, his ego stands "in the middle of the garden," around which all his intentions revolve.

    In the OP, I have suggested EGO is the tree of good and bad.

    Hence question is: Whom should we listen to--God or ego?

  • venus
    venus

    Halfbana,

    Myths are like traffic lights--Red, Green, Amber. which are not simply physical objects. They carry specific messages. A story doesn't have to be historical, but the point is that it should carry some message.

    Tree of good and bad carry the message how humanity had a fall. They fell when they listened to their ego and gone into exile of unhappiness and suffering.

    That means:

    Ego creates suffering (as shown by First Adam)

    Suffering destroys ego (as shown by Second Adam--Jesus)

  • deegee
    deegee

    @Venus:

    Whom should we listen to - God or ego? They fell when they listened to their ego....

    Listen to God you say yet God was not forthcoming with information that could have helped Adam & Eve steer clear of danger.

    Could it be that A&E fell because God was not forthcoming with information that could have helped them steer clear of danger?

    God did not alert Adam and Eve to the presence of the snake or instruct them to avoid it. If Eve was without the knowledge of good and evil how could she know the snake was evil? God knew the snake was the big threat, he created it and already had said what a nasty character he was. So why didn’t he warn his new babies about him?

    Why would Eve believe a snake instead of the Creator of the Universe who apparently walked through the garden during the cool of the day and communicated with them?

    Is it because Eve being without the knowledge of good and evil did not know that the snake was evil?

    Is it because she felt that:

    " God created everything. He is my father and I trust him to protect me. God would certainly not create, or allow to exist, anything evil that would threaten me or my family. Besides, he did not alert me to the presence of the snake or instruct them to avoid it. Therefore if this snake is offering me something – it MUST be a good thing."

  • Brokeback Watchtower
    Brokeback Watchtower

    Anybody's guess. What did the original writer of that passage mean? We would need to know what were the persons beliefs about the main character Deity that passes judgement. To conclude that this is an actual true story would make ones guess way off the mark. It's a told story put down in writing of the times and not an eye witness account.

    If we view as mythology we can make a better guess. If we view it from a psychological way and see mythology as bubbling up from the unconscious and full of psychological projections then I think we are closer still to perhaps making a very good guess.

    I can make several different guess depending on how I approach it. I see it as psychological projections in myth form that man's knowledge of good and bad makes death come into existence because as one kind of knowledge leads knowledge of the later. But I'm sure other can go even deeper on the subject.

    As for the Devil being behind a talking snake leading man into sin and death, I see it as a Christian fairy tale that came many centuries after original writing and totally absent from original writers view point.

    Remember this was written thousands of years ago and their was no science their understanding of the world was much more different then us modern humans. Gods were everywhere those days they explained the mysteries in human understanding they were imaginary and they were every where.

Share this

Google+
Pinterest
Reddit