Category: forbidden fruit / tree of the knowledge of good and evil

Is the God of the Bible “Anti-Intellectual?” #3

Tuesday, November 8, 2022

“And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: 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” (Genesis 2:16,17 KJV).

Is the God of Scripture “anti-intellectual?”

The LORD was so gracious in today’s Scripture. He gave Adam and Eve an entire garden of trees from which to eat—except one forbidden tree, a fact Satan capitalized on so as to fool Eve into joining his side. In the spirit of modern “textual critics”—embarking on endless quests to recover alleged “lost original Bible readings,” never able to overcome their pride and submit to God’s preserved and authoritative words in the King James Bible—Satan cleverly planted seeds of doubt in Eve’s mind and prompted her to “reconstruct” her own Bible (cf. 2 Corinthians 11:3,4).

Genesis chapter 3: “[1] Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? [2] And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: [3] But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.” Compare verses 2 and 3 with today’s Scripture. Eve definitely lacked a clear understanding of God’s words to her and Adam!

Chapter 3 continues: “[4] And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: [5] For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.” Satan portrayed God as harsh and domineering, thereby causing Eve to believe her Creator—and her husband’s Creator—was not seeking their best interests. That is, “Eve, God cheated you and Adam. You both could have been something even better than He made you, and He is limiting you both by having you avoid that forbidden fruit.”

Let us see if Eve falls into the trap….

Is the God of the Bible “Anti-Intellectual?” #2

Monday, November 7, 2022

“And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: 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” (Genesis 2:16,17 KJV).

Is the God of Scripture “anti-intellectual?”

Observe how the Creator originally ordained earthly life to be: “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth” (Genesis 1:26-28).

When the LORD made man (Adam) and woman (Eve)—yes, they were real, historical people!—He did not create them as robots. They were given volition or free will, a capacity to choose what path they would take in life. Since they were creatures and the LORD God was Creator, He exercised the right to make the rules and He gave them two options. Either they could function as He designed their life to be (see Genesis 1:26-28 above), or they could deviate from His will and suffer the dire consequences. Today’s Scripture again: “…Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely [exercise free will to] eat: 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.”

Satan, the fallen cherub (spirit creature in the angelic world, leader of the angelic rebellion against Almighty God), noticed Adam and Eve, and realized here was a way to train more worshippers of self. Let us now watch the Master Deceiver work….

Is the God of the Bible “Anti-Intellectual?” #1

Sunday, November 6, 2022

“And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: 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” (Genesis 2:16,17 KJV).

Is the God of Scripture “anti-intellectual?”

The context of today’s Scripture: “[7] And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. [8] And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed. [9] And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.” In today’s Scripture, the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was not to be eaten.

One vicious opponent of Christianity voiced his position thusly. Since the LORD God had forbidden Adam and Eve to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, He must therefore be “anti-knowledge.” This bygone critic rejected the Bible entirely and vehemently detested Christianity because, as he viewed it, the God of the Judeo-Christian Bible advocates ignorance. (Interestingly, this celebrity’s attitude reinforced Bible ignorance in those he affected and hid Bible knowledge from those he influenced!)

As always, we must have a pure view of Scripture, instead of seeing it (distorted) through the lenses of denominational eyeglasses. The above individual was raised in a theological system that quotes the Bible only when verses support the church’s beliefs. Otherwise, that “church” is hostile toward the Scriptures—ignoring and/or ridiculing passages that do not prove useful to advancing that cult’s agenda. If the Holy Bible ever gets a fair hearing (a rarity!), much of what it is presumed/assumed/thought to teach is demonstrated to be false. However, as long as we keep the Scriptures divorced from the Holy Spirit’s teaching ministry, our willful blindness and abysmal confusion will become a campaign of aggression.

Let us study and learn why the forbidden fruit was forbidden….