Q&A Forum - December 2008 (Best of Elise)

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I could write pages on my interpretation of the Genesis account of the fall of mankind, but briefly let me give you my overview. The Garden of Eden was paradise (i.e. Heaven on earth). Adam and Eve were naked and innocent and there was no such thing as sin because they lived in harmony with God and Nature. There were two central trees in the Garden. One was the Tree of Life (meaning a personal relationship with the Creator) and the other was the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil (meaning man living under his own rules, making his own decisions based on his limited knowledge). There was no sin as long as man ate of the fruit of the Tree of Life because nothing was sinful. But God warned against the Tree of the knowledge of good and evil because that fruit was poisonous. God did not say “If you eat from that tree, I will kill you.” No, God said “If you eat from that tree, you will surely die”. Meaning that fruit will kill you because once man relies on his own intellect and his own judgment of what is good and evil, he will spiritually die and will live life in accordance to his flesh (the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh and the boastful pride of life).