it had something to do with resisting temptation

He also gave us free-will to choose. There will be many trees like the one in the garden of eden, we have to make our choices to go down the hill or create self-discipline to refuse its fruit. Hope you are feeling better. Stay here and ask as many questions as you want, no matter how stupid. And you are not alone and not without hope.

The tree of knowledge is a metaphor. It symbolises free will. God wants us to make the "right choices" of our own free will. What would be the meaning of doing a good deed if you did not have free will? What is life without choice? The answer is meaningless. Given free will, what choices do you choose to make? It's a test. The tree of knowledge is what makes life, life.

The tree was a sign of God's ownership while He was not there. It was a test to Adam of his respect for God's Word when he was not there. Obedience to the creator. The fact that the there was the snake to tempt disobedience is the second aspect, secondary to what God had requested by his word. In modern day equivalence- You believe God or you take your pick and take the easy way out.

Don't you think you are taking a very critical stance with God? I am very pissed that a perfect creature could turn evil and then decide that it would be fun to mislead Eve and lie to her. I don't blame God for setting up rules and regulations, after all, he made everything and if he wants you to keep your mitts off one thing, that is his right.

I'm not for 100% sure. But I personally believe that perhaps it was a test of love. Perhaps to see if Adam and Eve loved God enough to obey the simple commandment that He gave them. They didn't, and they stole from God what was rightfully His. God could have killed them just then, but He killed an animal instead and give them the animal's fur to wear. God promised to send a Saviour to them (see what He said to the serpent in Genesis 3:15) and He did. The Saviour was and is His Son Jesus Christ who came to destroy the works of the devil, which included death and sin. I hope that this is helpful. -In the Master's service. Thank you and God bless you!

I know this won't be a very popular answer but I believe that much of the Old Testament should be read in the same way that we read the parables of Jesus. I don't believe that it is all the absolute truth, but that much of it needs to be read with an eye on the sheer lack of education and sophistication of its 1st century, and earlier (in the case of the Old Testament) audience.

Being an atheist I don't have to worry my head about such things.

God did not want us to be robots. He gave us the free will to serve Him or not. It was a risk, yes, but God had already planned a rescue, should it be needed. The tree, while a real tree, did, indeed, represent free will. Humans were made to rule this earth righteously UNDER God's authority. To disobey this one command was a challenge to God's authority, an attempted coup, so to speak. Come on: you have paradise. There is one condition. Is it too much to expect that out of gratitude for all that has been given you, that you respect ONE rule? Why blame God? He gave us everything, including free will. That free will was abused. And we, their descendants, bear the brunt of it. Except that God sent Jesus to pay the price for the rebellion, so that humans, once more, could be in right relationship with God. And sometime in the future, Jesus' return will usher in a new heaven and new earth, where there will be no more pain.

That is a good question.But it was his tree he could have put it anywhere in the universe,but he wanted to share it with us to see the beauty.Unfortunately humans are not perfect like God so they disobeyed there father.Just like kids do now.You tell them hey don't jump on the bed they say why not it's fun? You dont want us to have fun? the parent knows what could happen so he warned the child but it is ultimately the childs decision to listen or disobey.Hope this helps!

It is an illustration of the concept of free will. From the beginning, it was helpful to have a story that allowed us to explain the separation from GOD. It also had a subtext of women being the temptress of man. The beginnings of a chauvinistic rationale. Without free will, we would be no more than pets.

It's temptation. Choices, and consequences. And from my understanding; Man (to use your word) screwed himself.

If you want the real answer look and read the bible or discuss the matter with a Jehovah witness that calls at your door next time. They are very helpful at explaining questions that ppl have.

www.watchtower.org

Because of freewill? This question right here is fundamental to my disbelief. God knew the choice Eve and Adam would make. God knew that by creating the tree and subsequently freewill, it would bring down the cruelist atrocities imaginable against his beloved creation? That's Benevolence? For example just recently in my state, a 4 year old little girl was raped and beaten and defecated on and then stabbed to death. As Christians, this is ok with you? Are you insane? Freedom of choice is worth this? No way I say! I do not want a God like that. It is cruel and immoral. I believe in God but the God of Abraham is not it and the Bible is simply a collection of complete fantastical storytelling. No more no less. Thank you for reading.

it's called free will.

god wanted to keep us blind, and dumb so to speak, and satan allowed us to think for ourselves, and develop intelligence. I do think god was setting a trap tho.(tho I am atheist)

You appear to have answered your own question!

I wonder why God didn't put a fence around that tree so that we were not able to kill ourselves. He knew that there was a being in the garden that would trick us into eating the fruit. We did make the choice to eat it, but obviously we weren't wise enough to protect ourselves from harm. If you tell your child to not do something, they might do it anyways, even if you tell them what will happen if they do. If they disobey you, then give them a spanking, but don't let them die and then make up more rules for them to follow, which if they don't follow well enough within a certain amount of time , will suffer for ever with out your help. I also wonder why He didn't allow another being to convince us not to eat the forbidden fruit, like an angel or a babysitter. Also why didn't He do a better job of warning us about beings that might try and trick us into killing ourselves, kind of like warning your kids not to take rides from strangers who claim to represent yourself. Yes we made the choice, but obviously God didn't care enough to protect us from harm. I bet most of us are better parents than that. How can you trust a being to take you to heaven that didn't look out for us well enough in the first place? Hopefully it will all be okay in the end. For now, let's not worry, but be happy. Do whatever makes you happy as long as you do not violate the rights of another. Spread the love and respect.

In every house there are live powerpoints. YOu know that if you put a knife into any of these that you will be electrocuted. Most of us don't....but there are people who do. JUst because they can. Despite the warnings. Despite knowing the danger. Just as the warning tells people not to cross the bridge, or that if they swim outside the flags, they are likely to drown, or not to take the drugs. Just because these things are there, does not mean you HAVE to do them. You know the dangers. If you do them. then YOU have to wear the consequences, not blame it on the inventor of electric sockets, or knives, or the bridge builder, or the lifeguard or the guy making the crystal meth. YOU do not HAVE to put yourself in danger. So why blame our human predicament on God? He gave the warning. Had they trusted Him, who had given them everything, they would not have gotten into trouble. And even, despite our stupidity and rebellion, it was HE who took the action to rectify it, by sending His perfect son, Jesus, as the fall-guy for our rebellion. Jesus paid for our sin/rebellion/disobedience with his death on the cross.

I think he should have given more folks a chance before passing judgement, because I would have listened to him if it was me.

No. He really didn't. I used to think the same thing until: Dad: "I've bought some Pepsi Colas for you kids to drink. You can drink as much of them as you want, but I have a Coke for me, and a Diet Coke for your Mother in the back of the Fridge...DON'T touch my Coke, less you will surely die!" All the kids respond, "M'kay!" Son: "Daddy said don't drink his Coke" Daughter: "I'm not!" Later that day the childrens father gets home from work and, of course, the Coke is gone. Dad: "Why can't I expect for MY Coke, to be in MY fridge, in MY house" Daughter: "Why didn't you hide it?" Dad: "Number one, ITS MY FRIDGE!, I shouldn't have to hide it. Number two, I had the Coke first. I only bought the Pepsi's to keep you from drinking my Coke. Number three, you missed the point! If you loved me, you would have drank the Diet!"

Well at the time Adam and Eve had the run of the whole earth with no restrictions save for one. The tree in the middle of the garden was the only restriction placed on the first human pair. The tree was a real tree make no mistake, but it had great symbolic meaning. It symbolized God's right to be Sovereign Ruler over his creation. They were warned not to mess with it and if they broke the one and only rule placed on them it would result in their death. ***** Question: So, were they warned about the consequences of breaking that one Law? Answer: YES, Eve even repeated it back to satan when satan asked her if it wa really so that God said they cant eat from every tree of the garden. ***** Question: Did they take the word of someone they just met over the word of their Father and Creator whom had never given them reason to doubt his honesty? Answer: YES, They took the word of someone they had just met, who was even using a snake like a puppet over their creator who gave them life and happiness to that point. ***** Question: Was that such a big thing to ask to simply leave the one tree on the whole earth alone because it belonged to God? Answer: (You fill in the Blank...)

Free will is an important cornerstone of Christianity. If you don't choose to do something, it's really not the same. Therefore, the option was there to be able to choose good or choose evil, because to not give them the choice would be to strip them of any free will at all. Why is free will so important? Because God (at least as I understand it) wishes people to obey and love him because they want to, not because he forces them to. After all, if you were in love with someone, would you really WANT to be able to force them to love you back, knowing they may not really love you at all if they had the choice?

it is so we could be obedient... that is a blessing to be obedient, only good thing could of come from it if we would of.