Tree of Life

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Ammonius_Saccus

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What exactly is the Tree of Life? Is it a real tree? What does God mean when he says, “The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.”? Is there something that man could do (eat from the Tree of Life, whatever it is) that could give man everlasting life without the need for salvation through Jesus? Why does God guard against man gaining access to the Tree of Life?
 
Ammonius_Saccus said:
What exactly is the Tree of Life? Is it a real tree? What does God mean when he says, “The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.”? Is there something that man could do (eat from the Tree of Life, whatever it is) that could give man everlasting life without the need for salvation through Jesus? Why does God guard against man gaining access to the Tree of Life?
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These are just some of my own personal thoughts:
“The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil.”
Determining what is good and what is evil is a prerogative that belongs to God alone. God’s “knowing” is accurate and true.

In their original sin, Adam and Eve usurp God’s prerogative, and use their own intellects to reason whether the act is right or wrong. Their "knowing" now, is within themselves, a function of their intellects and wills, separated from God. They have established a “right and wrong” that is their own. And it is a false and erroneous one.
This is my understanding of what Scripture means when it says “The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil.”

Regarding the Tree of Life that is in the original garden.
It seems to me that there must have been some sort of “permanent” effect or state of existence that would have resulted from eating of its fruit - perhaps an everlasting existence in the state of one’s condition at the time of eating from it. (Maybe similar to what happens at the time of our physical death. We remain forever at the spiritual level we are in at that moment; there is no more opportunity to repent or grow in grace.) Now, if there was something about the Tree of Life in the garden that would have caused Adam and Eve to exist forever in their current fallen state, that would have been disastrous for them. God, loving them, intervened to prevent it. By the way, it’s interesting to note that there is no evidence given in those Genesis chapters of Adam and Eve repenting. They don’t deny their acts, but they never express sorrow or ask God for His forgiveness.

Nita
 
If people had stayed sinless, they wouldn’t have needed to be saved by Jesus, no.

But now we are made immortal by Jesus, the New Adam, dying on the Tree and rising again from the tomb in the garden. Instead of forbidding us to eat the fruit hanging on the tree, He commands us to eat of Him.
 
The first few chapters of Genesis have literal meanings.

Those chapters are written in Biblical figures.

As with all figures of speech, they have a literal meaning.

Are you serious in wanting to know some of the literal meanings?

Are you going to play with sophistry?

Are you going to attack?

Are you trying to proof faith is wrong?

Faith cannot be proved. It must be loved.

To those of us who love our faith, it is sacred.

It is not silly.

It is beautiful.

This is not a court of law, proof is on another level here.

We are not paid to make the innocent look guilty nor the guilty look innocent. It is for real, not play. It is for real, not money. It is for real, not fame. But most of all it is for love and beauty.

If you are serious, I will try to give a few hints.

I will not be played with, not with these questions.

Please hear, I said try.

I am not sure I can do the job.

I mean that, too!

If you are serious, I will try to help.

My ability is greatly limited.

I cannot yell loud enough, I am not a scholar.

I have studied, but I am not a scholar.

Again, my abilities are limited.

So if you want to trust me, I will try.

If you are playing or know that I am dumb, I will not try.

I am smart enough to know that I am dumb.

I do not need another person to tell me I am dumb.

My words are loud enough.
 
Seamus_Sully said:
The first few chapters of Genesis have literal meanings.

Those chapters are written in Biblical figures.

As with all figures of speech, they have a literal meaning.

Are you serious in wanting to know some of the literal meanings?

Are you going to play with sophistry?

Are you going to attack?

Are you trying to proof faith is wrong?

Faith cannot be proved. It must be loved.

To those of us who love our faith, it is sacred.

It is not silly.

It is beautiful.

This is not a court of law, proof is on another level here.

We are not paid to make the innocent look guilty nor the guilty look innocent. It is for real, not play. It is for real, not money. It is for real, not fame. But most of all it is for love and beauty.

If you are serious, I will try to give a few hints.

I will not be played with, not with these questions.

Please hear, I said try.

I am not sure I can do the job.

I mean that, too!

If you are serious, I will try to help.

My ability is greatly limited.

I cannot yell loud enough, I am not a scholar.

I have studied, but I am not a scholar.

Again, my abilities are limited.

So if you want to trust me, I will try.

If you are playing or know that I am dumb, I will not try.

I am smart enough to know that I am dumb.

I do not need another person to tell me I am dumb.

My words are loud enough.
Click to expand...
Is this a new game? Spit it out already!
 
Seamus_Sully said:
The first few chapters of Genesis have literal meanings.

Those chapters are written in Biblical figures.

As with all figures of speech, they have a literal meaning.

Are you serious in wanting to know some of the literal meanings?

Are you going to play with sophistry?

Are you going to attack?

Are you trying to proof faith is wrong?

Faith cannot be proved. It must be loved.

To those of us who love our faith, it is sacred.

It is not silly.

It is beautiful.

This is not a court of law, proof is on another level here.

We are not paid to make the innocent look guilty nor the guilty look innocent. It is for real, not play. It is for real, not money. It is for real, not fame. But most of all it is for love and beauty.

If you are serious, I will try to give a few hints.

I will not be played with, not with these questions.

Please hear, I said try.

I am not sure I can do the job.

I mean that, too!

If you are serious, I will try to help.

My ability is greatly limited.

I cannot yell loud enough, I am not a scholar.

I have studied, but I am not a scholar.

Again, my abilities are limited.

So if you want to trust me, I will try.

If you are playing or know that I am dumb, I will not try.

I am smart enough to know that I am dumb.

I do not need another person to tell me I am dumb.

My words are loud enough.
Click to expand...
I am not sure what all of that means.

But I am not looking for proof that the Tree of Life exists. I am asking what Catholics believe it to be and how it relates to man. If I asked those questions of the Pope, what would he answer?
 
Ammonius_Saccus said:
What exactly is the Tree of Life? Is it a real tree? What does God mean when he says, “The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.”? Is there something that man could do (eat from the Tree of Life, whatever it is) that could give man everlasting life without the need for salvation through Jesus? Why does God guard against man gaining access to the Tree of Life?
Click to expand...
Many theologians say the Cross is the Tree of Life described in Genesis.

If we eat Jesus’ Body and Blood, which He sacrificed on the Cross, don’t we get Eternal Life?

To me, the whole Garden of Eden/Creation account follows the “Shrek Theory”. There are more layers in these stories than an onion. Each time you peel one away, you find a couple of more.
 
NotWorthy said:
Many theologians say the Cross is the Tree of Life described in Genesis.
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Can you point me to some thelogians that discuss this their writings and in what writings they discuss this? Thanks.

Does this mean that the cross was made out of the Tree of Life? Or that the crucifiction became the Tree of Life? Something else?
 
Ammonius_Saccus said:
What exactly is the Tree of Life?
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A tree.
Is it a real tree?
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Yes.
What does God mean when he says, “The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.”?
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Eat the fruit and you know Good and Evil.

Eat the branch and you know life.
Is there something that man could do (eat from the Tree of Life, whatever it is) that could give man everlasting life without the need for salvation through Jesus?
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Everlasting Life through Jesus is bundled with spending this life in heaven with God.

Concievably, if one ate the tree’s substance, they would have everlasting life, but God could still confine them to a cordonned off section of a realm/plane arguably.

Unless, the actual substance of the tree made the person a God themselves, which would be interesting.
Why does God guard against man gaining access to the Tree of Life?
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Because God is the only God and if the tree had the power to make other God’s that would turn Monotheism into Polytheism.

If you were the only God in existence would you want a possible equal?

God Bless,
Rev
 
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