Tree of Life and Tree of Knowledge

I'm going to propose an idea about the tree of knowledge and the tree of life.

I'll jump right into it assuming you all know the old testament's creation story.

The building block of all life on earth is DNA. If you could see DNA in it's double helix formation in 3D either as a sculpture or holographic projection, one with a limited language (not of understanding) could, and very likely would, call this sculpture a tree. As DNA are the building blocks of life, it would make sense that this 3 dimensional representation of DNA would be referred to as the Tree of Life. Now, just as genealogist today are deciphering this DNA code, suppose that back in the garden of Eden this code was already deciphered, and was displayed as a codex to anyone who would digest it's information. Such a codex, referring to the Tree of Life would rationally be referred to as the Tree of Knowledge.

The Serpent which 'coerces' Eve to eat from the tree of knowledge, informed her that not only would she not die as God said she would by eating of it's fruits, but she would become Godlike herself.

I propose that this Tree of Knowledge, codex of our human DNA, of the Tree of Life, revealed to Adam and Eve that they, as the serpent said, were related to their creators, the God that created them in "our image and in our likeness". (I'm not going to get into it here, but notice how in the old testament whenever God SPEAKS [in quotes] he refers to himself in the plural, and in any narration is referred to as singular). Upon learning of this fact, they are instantly shamed at their nudity. How come though? This is a mystery with only metaphysical answers. I propose that the God that created Adam and Eve in his "our image and in our likeness" wore clothes and covered his private bits. When Adam and Eve learned of their shared genetics, they, wanting to replicate their relatives covered themselves.

It's like finding out you're blood line is noble, and then starting to act like a pompous fool.

Agreeances? Disagreeances? Additions? Comments?

reply to post by Crabmeat


Personally, I've herd so many interpretations of the garden of eden story, yours is as good as any other speculation about it.

I would suggest that the snake represents time and knowledge, just as the serpent eating it's tail represents time, and because of the features of the snake, it is of knowledge considering it's eyes and not having eyelids.

Also, as to its means of motion, and it creating a wave like pattern in sand... further illustrates how the snake can be seen as such.

Over time, as interaction between young human species evolved, their cognitive abilities did as well. Due to much of human psychology and behaviors being directly linked with that of procreation and self preservation, the acknowledgement of such lead to the covering of particular body parts. But even that's not all true... It would seem to me that much of it is in reference towards the ability of one consciously recognizing tactical deceit.

It is... like recognition of ones bloodline, but further more... it's the ability to use reasoning skills that are filtered through bias, and expressed as a form of ego.

It's kinda a tough one to explain while shooting from the hip... to sum it up. It's about evolution of consciousness and communication. simply put.

reply to post by AwakeinNM


Have you at least never heard this one before? or maybe you have but I presented it differently.

Originally posted by Crabmeat
reply to post by AwakeinNM

 

Have you at least never heard this one before? or maybe you have but I presented it differently.

Maybe. Can't really remember. I do know that the Bible is full of descriptions that are probably not what they seem to the casual reader. Example: Ezekiel's wheel.

reply to post by Crabmeat

I have always found that a MAJOR STUPIDITY is for anyone to believe that a GOD needs GENDER! The Bible is a TEACHING TOOL at a time when the strong ruled and the weal were slaves or were killed.

I do believe in something but it is not based on any Religion...if fact I know that people are not yet evolved to a state of which they can understand what the Reality is of our Multiverse.

This does not mean I do not respect anothers Religious Beliefs or their RIGHT...at least in the United States...to believe or practice any religion they wish and this even includes Satanism...as long as no one is hurt or killed...they have the right to believe or preach what they want.

What REALLY PISSES ME OFF....is when people EVANGELIZE their Belief System to someone who say's...No thank You...but they persist! I really hate that and I have some basic logic to get a couple or group off your front steps at 8:45 AM on a SATURDAY.

If they are Jehovah Witnesses...say this. You Religion believes that only 144,000 people will make it to Heaven when the Rapture occurs...right? They say yes. I reply...Well...there are over 7 Million Jehovah Witnesses now...Right? They say..YES! I reply...so I guess there is a good chance you guy's are not going to make it! Maybe you should have a lottery! LOL!

If they are Born Again Christians...and people who are Born again only become so after they have HIT ROCK BOTTOM! Thus they believe that they can make up for all the awful things they have done by coming to my house and trying to convert me. LOL! So I say...so you are asking me for a donation for a Magazine? They say....wewill give you the BOOK and if you wish...you can make a donation. I say...so no donation is required for the "BOOK"? They say no. I reply...what if I asked you for alot of these "BOOKS"....now they KNOW I am a Celebrity so they are thinking...BIG SCORE! If he tells his other celebrity friends then we can get alot of money!
So they say...HERE...and take out about 100 of these thin Magazines and say...if you would take these and put them to good use...we would like that very much! I say...OK...I take these magazines and as I am closing the door...they say...if you need more to hand out we will come back next week. I say...OK...that would be great as these "BOOKS" will be put to good use...they look like they will easily catch fire and I am running out of TINDER for my FIRE PLACE so bring back as many as you can as Winter is right around the corner! I close the door.

The doorbell rings. I answer...they say...Excuse me but you said you were going to hand them out! I reply...I NEVER SAID ANY SUCH THING! I said I would put them to good use! At this point they don't know what to say as they are stunned. So I say....I will tell you what...if I give these back to you will you PROMISE TO ME AND BEFORE YOUR GOD to never bother me again? They say...Yes...we promise. I give them back the FREEKIN" 6 page "BOOKS" of which they were suggesting a $50 Donation....and a I say one last thing as they leave. By the way...why are you guy's asking for MONEY? Is JESUS short a couple of BUCKS? LOL!

They have NEVER BEEN BACK! The last group which bothers me the most is the SURVIVAL CENTER TYPES who ask for Food donations in the form of Canned Goods or Boxed Dry Goods...and usually I would donate as much as I have....that is until I found out that this group was coercing the HUNGRY AND POOR in a way that if they wanted a large box of Food...all they had to do was show up on a Monday Morning...get on a few busses and drive to a town that had a PLANNED PARENTHOOD CLINIC and protest as they provided the SIGNS and Ballons filled with RED PAINT as they threw them at Doctors and Nurses as well as try to barricade the place and GRAB poor young women who have enough to think about as they screamed into their ears...if you abort you CHILD YOU ARE A MURDERER AND WILL BURN IN HELL! I had to see this to believe it!

The HUNGRY and POOR just held up signs and the activists were the ones doing all the violent actions. After seeing this...I helped create a Food Bank where Resteraunts donate their unused food daily as well as I donate what I grow.

Some people of Religion are SICK SOB'S Split Infinity

Or maybe the tree of life represents the woman, and the tree of knowledge with the serpent represents the male.
How many people were there 2, and the how many important trees 2. I think its a metaphor about the Woman understanding sexuality that it is both physical and spiritual. And the fall was when the woman used it to usurp Adam. Which caused the breaking of bliss. When you study the way of life in nature and see the drive. I would think it would of been the reason for the intellectual stimulation to develop the brain. I believe the creation story is a metaphor that's telling you first a child's story that you except, and then when the knowledge has increased you would understand the true story. Besides I don't believe a Serpent spoke.

reply to post by MESSAGEFROMTHESTARS


This is too anti-religious for me to even care about responding.

People,

I don't care about your ideas. This thread was to discuss MY IDEA. Lets try to keep ATS and different ideas ORGANIZED here.

reply to post by Crabmeat

The Serpent which 'coerces' Eve to eat from the tree of knowledge, informed her that not only would she not die as God said she would by eating of it's fruits, but she would become Godlike herself.

Informed her, or lied to her. Did they not die ? Did they become Godlike ?

To suggest only that the serpent informed her is misleading.

It is the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. The Serpent did not lie per se, but told half truths. By eating the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, Adam and Eve did know what God knows but were ill equipped to handle this knowledge. I have long believed that the "Fall From Grace" interpretation is the wrong interpretation of this myth. It is a typical call to adventure myth, and both Adam and Eve are the hero's who are called to adventure. Their adventure was to know what God knows. Their crossing of the threshold was eating the fruit. The consequences of this action meant that in order to know both Good and Evil they had to necessarily leave the Garden of Eden.

Not out of punishment were they banished from Eden, but because there was/is no evil in the Garden of Eden. This is why Satan had to enter the Garden in the form of a serpent, and why he could not lie, because evil does not exist in the Garden of Eden. Because Adam and Eve made the decision to know both Good and Evil it was necessary for them to leave that Garden. Of course God was angry, in the same way any parent gets angry when their child places themselves in great danger, and great danger was precisely what Adam and Eve chose.

Their journey was to discover evil and all that entails. Their sword (seizing of the sword) was/is to align the knowledge of Good and Evil in the same way God does. This is the road map back home. To learn to deal with both Good and Evil. Adam and Eve did not cast "Original Sin" upon us, but rather gave us the grand adventure of knowing both Good and Evil and the lesson of knowing how to align these two polarities within our knowledge. This is humanities opportunity for ascension, to know both Good and Evil and to learn - or remember - that if there is to be Good, then there must necessarily be Evil and to eradicate Evil is to eradicate Good.

Originally posted by Crabmeat
People,

I don't care about your ideas. This thread was to discuss MY IDEA. Lets try to keep ATS and different ideas ORGANIZED here.

I was responding to your Idea...that being that you believe that DNA could be considered the TREE OF LIFE as well as THE TREE OF KNOWLEDGE and making reference to how the Snake tempted EVE as a way to open the door to that knowledge.

DNA is in reality a bunch of Deoxyribonucleic acid. It is the code that determines how a a Living Thing as well as some Non-Living things...Virus'...will construct themselves. This code is in every cell of a Living thing as well as in a Virus.

We have already mapped the entire Human Genome as well as many...many other species Genomes. How you are pertaining this to Biblical Accounts is BEYOND ME! Every Living things...animal...plant...bacteria...has DNA which is loaded with ancient Viral DNA placed with all lifes genome by infection. ONE perticular VIRAL DNA encoding exists in all life...this means the original SINGLE CELLED ANIMAL all life evolved from was infected with this Virus and that is why all life has this One Particular Ancient VIRAL DNA ENCODING which basically disproves the concept of ADAM AND EVE. THERE is your TREE OF KNOWLEDGE! And this is irrefutable! Split Infinity

reply to post by SplitInfinity


That's not proof at all.

The story of Adam and Eve and creation in the Garden of Eden does not refute that evolution is real. On the contrary actually, the bible explains that God took the DUST of the earth. Some say that means dirt (clay) but I personally see DUST as DNA. Sounds to me like we (humans) are comprised of the same DNA as the creatures that were on earth before us. After all we do have the hibernation gene that a bear does, a gene (inactive though it may be) for gills, as well as for webbed hands and feet. A gene for a TAIL, and also like cats a gene that would make our eyes more sensitive to light (and reflect that shiny yellow too!). The Tree of Life was supposed to be what made Adam and Eve immortal and it's a well known fact that if aging was to be stopped or tampered with in humanity it would be from knowledge derived from studying how certain 'aging' genes are triggered on and off.

reply to post by randyvs


There's another thread about this point exactly!

God COMMANDS Adam and Eve not to eat from the Tree of Knowledge, and warns that if they eat of it's fruit, that "on that day you shall surely perish"

The Serpent on the other hand doesn't command them anything but rather manipulates; tells her that God was lying, and that she won't die, in fact she'd acquire something that would make her Godlike (knowledge, wisdom, as the name of the tree denotes)

As to whether the Serpent or God was right or wrong isn't in question. Adam and Eve betrayed a direct order from God and afterward didn't own up to it, each blaming the other. God asks Adam first why he ate from the tree and Adam says Eve made him do it, and Eve points to the serpent when God asks her. In this MAN was the one that was wrong, DOUBLY wrong for a. disobeying and b. for not owning up. On the flip side though, God WAS lying to man vicariously when he said "on that day you shall surely perish", and the SERPENT WAS telling the truth.

By being kicked out of the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve no longer had access to the Tree of Life, which in millenia of lore there after relates to immortality. It was upon leaving the Garden, being Banished rather, that Adam and Eve began to age.

As for becoming God like, it's clear in their sudden realization of nudity that supports this. Their God wore clothes. Clearly. When they learned of their genetic make up and realized that they were literally of God, that in of itself denotes God like. To question this is folly when God is directly quoted to say "let him (referring to Adam) be in our image and in our likeness". It doesn't say "lets give him our DNA", but where's the poetry in that?

reply to post by Crabmeat

What part are you saying is not proof? EVERY SINGLE GENOME OF EVERY SINGLE LIFEFORM we have decoded and the list is extensive...all have this ONE ANCIENT VIRAL DNA ENCODING.

What possible proof would you want in excess of THAT!? It means we all EVOLVED from the same single celled organism. If Adam and Eve populated the planet...which is impossible by the way...but lets say GOD did it. By LOGIC...Adam and Eves decendents...ie...US...would not have that ONE ANCIENT VIRAL DNA ENCODING wich is in all life on this planet.

AGAIN....what more proof do you need!? Split Infinity

reply to post by SplitInfinity


Read above post friend;

Old testament clearly states that God took the 'dust of the earth' and molded us, breathed life into it, etc etc.
Some say 'dust' reads 'dirt', and from dirt people got clay.
Dust of the earth could signify the DNA of the earth, meaning the DNA of the creatures on this planet.
Now lets say that there was already a creature that was very much like this, that contained the DNA of everything that it had evolved from prior. Lets say this creature is early human. Lets say then that God took this early human and genetically modified it using the knowledge of the tree of life, and voila, you have the story of creation and evolution co-existing.

Oh and suddenly the missing link is explained as well as the curious minuscule difference in our genes from modern apes but the BOUNDS within BOUNDS of differences between us in intelligence and culture.

Originally posted by Jean Paul Zodeaux
It is the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. The Serpent did not lie per se, but told half truths. By eating the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, Adam and Eve did know what God knows but were ill equipped to handle this knowledge. I have long believed that the "Fall From Grace" interpretation is the wrong interpretation of this myth. It is a typical call to adventure myth, and both Adam and Eve are the hero's who are called to adventure. Their adventure was to know what God knows. Their crossing of the threshold was eating the fruit. The consequences of this action meant that in order to know both Good and Evil they had to necessarily leave the Garden of Eden.

Not out of punishment were they banished from Eden, but because there was/is no evil in the Garden of Eden. This is why Satan had to enter the Garden in the form of a serpent, and why he could not lie, because evil does not exist in the Garden of Eden. Because Adam and Eve made the decision to know both Good and Evil it was necessary for them to leave that Garden. Of course God was angry, in the same way any parent gets angry when their child places themselves in great danger, and great danger was precisely what Adam and Eve chose.

Their journey was to discover evil and all that entails. Their sword (seizing of the sword) was/is to align the knowledge of Good and Evil in the same way God does. This is the road map back home. To learn to deal with both Good and Evil. Adam and Eve did not cast "Original Sin" upon us, but rather gave us the grand adventure of knowing both Good and Evil and the lesson of knowing how to align these two polarities within our knowledge. This is humanities opportunity for ascension, to know both Good and Evil and to learn - or remember - that if there is to be Good, then there must necessarily be Evil and to eradicate Evil is to eradicate Good.

edit on 22-5-2012 by Jean Paul Zodeaux because: (no reason given)

I mean no disrespect but I didn't read past the first three lines. The Tree of Knowledge is not the "tree of knowledge of good and evil". That later part was an addition after years of oral tradition revolved around the story and it was discerned by ancient Hebrew scholars that the main lesson in the story of genesis relates to Man's acquisition of knowledge that created a separation of Good and Evil.

reply to post by Crabmeat

Well that would be all fine and dandy except one thing....FOSSIL RECORDS....and for those of you who still remember the concept of a Missing Link...there is none anymore.

Humanity has been existing on this Planet in one form or another for at least 4.4 MILLION YEARS and it is most likely we have been around for close to 5 Million years. Now THINK ABOUT THAT! If you take the Bible as literal truth than ADAM and EVE were only around 5 to 6 thousand years ago. Now I think everyone knows that is not true. But my point is...YOU are trying to take written words out of the Bible and connect them with Modern Day FACTS.

It is GENETICALLY IMPOSSIBLE no matter if you have no VIRAL DNA in your Genome for ONE MAN AND ONE WOMAN to populate this planet! NO WAY! On top of this...we have people walking around today who have some Neandethal DNA in their Genomes as Cro Magnon did a bit of interbreeding with them. Cro Magnon looked exactly like US...they were a bit taller and a bit more muscular on average but in a police line up...you would not be able to tell Homosapien from Cro Magnon....we are them.

All I am asking of you is to look at FACTS. I am not trying to change your Faith. But the FACTS seem to indicate the BIBLE was written by MAN with all of MANS issues and prejudices. The BIG TELL...GOD is refered to as a MAN. Split Infinity

reply to post by Crabmeat


You're reifying. Do you honestly expect to get away with that? Should everyone reading this thread simply accept that the Good and Evil part was added later simply because you say so?

Gordon and Rendsburg[3] have suggested that the phrase "טוֹב וָרָע", translated good and evil, is a merism, i.e. a figure of speech whereby a pair of opposites are used together to create the meaning all or everything (as in the English phrase, "they searched high and low", meaning that they searched everywhere). They conjecture, therefore that the tree of the knowledge of good and evil means tree of all knowledge. This meaning can be brought out by the alternative translations tree of the knowledge of good and of evil (the word of not being expressed in the Hebrew) or tree of knowledge, both good and evil. The phrase occurs twice as applied to the tree, Genesis 2:9, Genesis 2:17. It also occurs twice as describing the knowledge gained Genesis 3:5 and Genesis 3:22 where it may be translated perhaps with knowledge, both good and evil.

en.wikipedia.org...

In this study I would like to study the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, that was found in Gan Eden. This is the tree that HaShem commanded Adam and Chava not to eat. Bere# (Genesis) 2:16-17 And HaShem God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: 17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

When Adam and Chava ate from this tree they crashed the world. Most are aware that Adam and Chava required clothes after they ate, but most do not realize the profound ramifications of this sin that have reverberated through all of time. In this paper we will explore some of these ramifications. Mixing Good and Evil

The tree of the knowledge (daat) of good and evil contained fruit that was a mixture of good and evil. If this idea was present in a human being, we would call this situation: Doubt. Thus we have the tree of doubt, the tree with an admixture of good and evil. To understand this admixture we must understand the state of Adam HaRishon as he was before the sin. The state of Adam HaRishon before the sin was quite different from the state we find ourselves in today.

www.betemunah.org...

IN PART I, WE ESTABLISHED THAT THE STORY of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil was actually part of the greater narrative of Berei# 2:4 - 3:21. An analysis of the story of the Tree, as such, must include an investigation of this entire section of the Torah. In Part II, we began this investigation by looking at the first verse of this section. We determined that this portion of the Torah is not simply a further portrait of creation but, rather, is the description of the conception and definition of a very specific part of creation - that of the moral universe. It is within these verses that we are to find the purpose of man - how G-d left potential in His creation for man to affect creation, thereby to perfect the world and, specifically, himself.

www.nishma.org...

Look at all these poor ignorant fools who lack the special knowledge you do! Of course, I suppose you didn't read past the first sentence, so you'll remain ignorant of all those poor ignorant fools who lack the special knowledge you have.

reply to post by SplitInfinity


Man has been around for 4.4 million years? As in homo-sapiens?

My good sir, are you Homo-insane?

The old carbon dated human bone found was dated to 130,000 - 120.000 BC. Evidence of the great flood has been found, which is dated to around 13,000 BC, at the end of the mini ice age. The cause of the great flood itself is 'unknown' but many very credible sources have suspicions that as the ice age ended, a giant antartic ice sheet broke away from the continent and slipped into the sea. The Ice sheet was so massive it displaced so much water so suddenly that a great tsunami/flood occurred. To find definitive answers to this hypothesis is one of the reasons there is now a massive scientific outpost in antartica.

The Epic of Gilgamesh in it's Sumerian version reports of a 'Wildman' named Enkidu that helped Gilgamesh on his quest for immortality. Some scholars think this Wildman was cro-magnum man, and while Enkidu passed for human, he was very clearly discernible from the norm.