If freedom, or “free will” is to exist, then so must the Tree of Knowledge. It isn’t that the tree imparts so much knowledge to us that we wouldn’t have gained otherwise. The effect is to leave each of us as the interpreters of knowledge, right and wrong, true and false. This has led to all the argument and division of the world. We each interpret knowledge in light of our own feelings and experiences. It was the greatest possible deception, for to judge whether or not God was telling the truth, you would have to know more than he knows. Because of the tree of knowledge, (Daath in Hebrew, Gnosis in Greek, Scientia, or Science in Latin) we learn by experiment rather than by hearing God.
“In the beginning was the Word, ( Logos or Reason), and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” “All things were made by him…” Those are excerpts from John 1:1, and 1:3. Verse 14 says,”And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us…” Second Corinthians 5:19 says,”God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself…” If you really want to see God as he is, look at Jesus. Especially, see him on the cross. There we can see what this world does to God. We can never become gods, or become like God by the endless quest for more knowledge. Only his love and sacrifice can take us there. The tree of life is Jesus Christ. Only by faith in him can we find life. He reaches into Heaven and eternal life, and by his sacrifice on the cross, he can reach us. The prophecy of Christ in Isaiah 53:11, says, “by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many…”
If you don’t believe the biblical history of the Garden of Eden, then your own knowledge is exactly what you’re trusting in. With every bit or byte of knowledge, comes the possibility of using it for good or evil. I’m not at all against knowledge, but we must be aware of its limitations. We can’t know everything; so we must believe some things. I don’t exalt my faith above all reason; I just hold God’s reason above mine. It would be impossible to write a complete book about the knowledge tree. The tree contains all the books that could ever be written. If not for intervention by God, the fruit would leave us, “Ever learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.” (2 Timothy 3:7) The truth of God would not be so mysterious, (teras, something strange, a sign), if it were not for all the trial and error that obscures it.
