What is your Churches Doctrine or Official teaching on "THE TREE OF LIFE"?

  • Thread starter Thread starter racing59
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
R

racing59

Guest
I have read many threads where people claim to have “The Fullnest of Truth”. I finally decided to post my question on “The Tree of Life” which is as important to me as the Ark of the Covenant was to the ancient Jews. Genesis 2:9 talks of not one, but two trees in the center of the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve ate from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, not from the tree of Life.Genesis 3:24 tells of firey cherubim guarding the tree of life. The Tree of Life is throughout the Bible all the way to Rev.22:14. I have yet to find some church,besides Covenant Theology who has an official teaching on this. Can any one tell me their faiths teaching on this? Even some non- Christian cultures have official teachings on “The Tree of LIfe”. I’m curious about others./B]
 
There is an article on “Kabbala” in the catholic Encyclpedia. Kabbalah is a system of theosophy which is organized by the tree of life.

newadvent.org/cathen/08590a.htm

Jewfaq has a more modern statement of Kabbalah:

jewfaq.org/kabbalah.htm

I have discovered that the Platonic Solids are the basis of a metaphor of the Kabbalistic tree of life.

www.theosopher.com

From my view the tree of life is a very coherent metaphor for ontology and ethics.

In epistemic theory I lean toward experience as most reliable basis for truth, and that revelation is the ultimate source. Even though not everyone knows themselves well enough to reach back to the source of the things that they hold as true.

Best regards,

Vincent
 
I read the Dialogue article, because I know it is a liberal publication. Thank you, I have Mary, and my God transcends gender, but that article clearly shows respect for women. A step in the right direction.
 
The best description of the Tree of Life is in RSV Revelation chapter 22, where it is seen in heaven before the throne of God, and eating of its fruit is the ultimate reward.
 
Jerusha said:
I read the Dialogue article, because I know it is a liberal publication. Thank you, I have Mary, and my God transcends gender, but that article clearly shows respect for women. A step in the right direction.
Click to expand...
If there’s a good starter book on Mary, I’m interested.
 
Sunstone said:
Unofficial teachings about the tree of life in my church are interesting:

dialoguejournal.com/content/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/4104-05Barney.pdf

and

farmsresearch.com/publications/jbms/?vol=9&num=2&id=223

If you want to understand what’s going on with Mormonism and the whole Heavenly Mother thing, these two links are a good start.

Thank you for starting this thread, racing59
Click to expand...
Intresting articals, but wouldn’t you say The Tree of Life is chokmah of God?/B]
 
geometer said:
The best description of the Tree of Life is in RSV Revelation chapter 22, where it is seen in heaven before the throne of God, and eating of its fruit is the ultimate reward.
Click to expand...
Revelation22:14 is a good source on The Tree of Life, but in verse 15 it talks of outside the city are dogs,sorccers, the unchaste,ect… Are the talking about Heaven or they refuring to the Tree of Life being on earth?
 
geometer said:
There is an article on “Kabbala” in the catholic Encyclpedia. Kabbalah is a system of theosophy which is organized by the tree of life.

newadvent.org/cathen/08590a.htm

Jewfaq has a more modern statement of Kabbalah:

jewfaq.org/kabbalah.htm

I have discovered that the Platonic Solids are the basis of a metaphor of the Kabbalistic tree of life.

www.theosopher.com

From my view the tree of life is a very coherent metaphor for ontology and ethics.

In epistemic theory I lean toward experience as most reliable basis for truth, and that revelation is the ultimate source. Even though not everyone knows themselves well enough to reach back to the source of the things that they hold as true.

Best regards,

Vincent
Click to expand...
I found this intresting. Some believe Eden was just a metaphor, while others I have found believe it was real. Is not the Wisdom of God something tangable, when it is refered to in Proverbs 3:13-18 that this is something we should try to achieve? I’ve seen LDS view I was hoping for some others.
 
Jesus taught that He is life, at several points in His ministry.
Nevetheless God remained faithful to his creature; God - as Jesus said to Nicodemus - loves the world. For this reason he sent his Only-Begotten Son into the world. “In him was life” (Jn 1,4). He came that they that they might have life and have it abundantly (Jn 10,10). He is “the way, and the truth, and the life” (Jn 14,5). This is the explanation that Jesus offers Nicodemus: after access to the first tree of life in paradise was denied, the new tree of life was lifted up on the Cross, “that whoever believes in him may have eternal life” (Jn 3,15). Because anyone who drinks the water that Jesus gives will never thirst; rather, the water he will give will become “a spring of water welling up to eternal life” (Jn 4,14). Through the water of Baptism, God is again the source of new life; through Baptism, we partake in the new life, we are made new men (and women), new creatures, we are born anew “for a living hope” (1 Pt 1,3).
Click to expand...
**The Cross is called “the tree of life”. **
We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you.
Because by your holy Cross you have redeemed the world.

From the Gospel according to Jn 19,26-27
When Jesus saw his mother, and the disciple whom he loved standing near, he said to his mother: “Woman, behold, your son!”.
Then he said to the disciple: “Behold, your mother!”. And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home.

Mary, you are standing at the foot of the Cross; the youngest disciple is standing next to you. Amid the noise of the soldiers and the crowd, the two of you lift your eyes, silently, to Christ. Mary, did you raise your hands to collect the blood running down the wood, the sap of the tree of life? Did your tears water the earth, where too many mothers lay their children to rest? From the beginning you pondered in your heart, in silence and abandonment, in peace and trust, what you saw and heard.
Jesus is THE Tree of Life
Lord Jesus, our resurrection,
in the new tomb you destroy death and grant life.

Lord Jesus, our hope,
your body, crucified and risen,
is the new Tree of Life.
In the Garden, the choice was there that we have today. Follow Satan, or seek holiness. The Way to Holiness is found in a Person. The One Who has given His life in order that we might live. Our first parents chose to follow Satan, and were barred from the Tree of Life. They were cut of from the presence of God. The Tree of Life therefore represents life with God, holiness and Jesus Christ, whose Presence has been given to us.
 
This is a non-question.

“Tree of life” is a symbol and metaphor that can mean mean different things. It’s cultish to claim it can mean one thing and one thing only.

More than one writer has likened the Cross to the Tree of life bearing the Fruit of immortality.
 
racing59 said:
Intresting articals, but wouldn’t you say The Tree of Life is chokmah of God?/B]

The influence of Kaballah on Joseph Smith is interesting (Quinn’s Mormonism and the Magic World View book gets into it), but I wouldn’t know how to connect Chokmah with the study of Asherah.

As an aside, I agree with those who are suspicious of the idea of symbols having one meaning.
Click to expand...
 
RebeccaJ said:
Jesus taught that He is life, at several points in His ministry.

**The Cross is called “the tree of life”. **
We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you.
Because by your holy Cross you have redeemed the world.

From the Gospel according to Jn 19,26-27
When Jesus saw his mother, and the disciple whom he loved standing near, he said to his mother: “Woman, behold, your son!”.
Then he said to the disciple: “Behold, your mother!”. And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home.

Mary, you are standing at the foot of the Cross; the youngest disciple is standing next to you. Amid the noise of the soldiers and the crowd, the two of you lift your eyes, silently, to Christ. Mary, did you raise your hands to collect the blood running down the wood, the sap of the tree of life? Did your tears water the earth, where too many mothers lay their children to rest? From the beginning you pondered in your heart, in silence and abandonment, in peace and trust, what you saw and heard.
Jesus is THE Tree of Life
Lord Jesus, our resurrection,
in the new tomb you destroy death and grant life.

Lord Jesus, our hope,
your body, crucified and risen,
is the new Tree of Life.
In the Garden, the choice was there that we have today. Follow Satan, or seek holiness. The Way to Holiness is found in a Person. The One Who has given His life in order that we might live. Our first parents chose to follow Satan, and were barred from the Tree of Life. They were cut of from the presence of God. The Tree of Life therefore represents life with God, holiness and Jesus Christ, whose Presence has been given to us.
Click to expand...
I love your anwser. The anciets believe Eden was the Holy of Holies were the Shekinaof the Lord dwelt there.There are very few people I have come across that see the Tree of Life as the Cross. Eziekel talks of it’s leaves be medicine for the Nations of the world. John refers to the Tree of Life in Revelation 22:14, would you than say the Tree of Life is in Heaven or present on earth?
 
Cluny said:
This is a non-question.

“Tree of life” is a symbol and metaphor that can mean mean different things. It’s cultish to claim it can mean one thing and one thing only.

More than one writer has likened the Cross to the Tree of life bearing the Fruit of immortality.
Click to expand...
Why would this be cultish when it is in the Sacred Scriptures? Was it really just a metaphor or did it really exist in Eden? The ancients believed Eden really existed, there are scholors searching still for it.What if Eden was the First Tabernacle were the Shekina[dwelt there. Does it not stand to reason the Tree of Life would be real too? God gave the Israelites manna in the desert to eat, why could he not have a physical Tree of Life in Eden? If we are to search for full truth,how would this be cultish to find an answer?/B]
 
Sunstone said:
The influence of Kaballah on Joseph Smith is interesting (Quinn’s Mormonism and the Magic World View book gets into it), but I wouldn’t know how to connect Chokmah with the study of Asherah.

As an aside, I agree with those who are suspicious of the idea of symbols having one meaning.
Click to expand...
Proverbs 3:13-18 Tells us that the Tree of Life is the Chokmah. Genesis 3:8 tells us the Shekinaof the Lord was in Eden.Why is the Tree of Life just a symbol,why could not really exist?
 
racing59 said:
Proverbs 3:13-18 Tells us that the Tree of Life is the Chokmah. Genesis 3:8 tells us the Shekinaof the Lord was in Eden.Why is the Tree of Life just a symbol,why could not really exist?
Click to expand...
I suppose that it could exist, but “I don’t really have a dog in that fight,” so to speak.

Thank you for the scriptural references. I’ll look at them this weekend.
 
RebeccaJ said:
Both.
Click to expand...
*You are the first Catholic I have ever talk to that has your view. I’m fasinated with that.The Tree of Life and Revelation are powerful part of what I believe in Covenant Theology. I have never come across anyone else with this view. To me God put these Scriptures together for a reason. They are powerful and important for us to understand. The Holy of Holies was present in the beginig and throughout Salvation History.Shekina[/Iof God was present in the tabernacle. Mary is the only human in which was overshadowed by the Shekina]Holy Cloud. These teachings are critical to me to find the Fullness of Truth. I have search a long time for a Church that teaches on “The Tree of Life” and the Historical Significance the Book of Revelation has. What would you than say the fruit of the Tree of Life is? What is ment by the leaves being medicine for the nations?
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top