"I recall coming across the idea that God intended that man would eventually be allowed to eat of this tree; man was just not mature enough yet to do so. Or maybe first God wanted to see if man could be obedient before trusting man with more. Or both."
I remember reading once that since Adam and Eve ate the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil that they were driven away from the Tree of Life. They were removed from its presence. The author (may have been Gary North) speculated that if they had eaten from the Tree of Life first, then the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil would have been removed from their presence.
Potentially, if the Tree of Life had been tasted first, Adam and Eve (and all their descendants, including us) would have never known what Evil is.
Pure speculation at this point.
IF Jesus has been shown to us as the foundation of eternal life (Tree of Life), then we can believe that we ARE GOING to live forever, even with the burden of the knowledge of evil. We just have to trust (as Adam and Eve had to) that what we are told is true.
"You shall know the truth and the truth will make you free."
"Jesus is referred to as “His Word,” “God’s Word,” or “the Word.” When I read it this way, it opens a new understanding of the Trinity for me. However, as I have mentioned before, I don’t want to write more on this: speaking wrongly about the Trinity and God is a risk I am not prepared to take."
I know how you feel. Sometimes I wonder if I have blasphemed the Holy Spirit because I don't even know how to blaspheme the Holy Spirit, and it is possible that I may have done it without knowing.
Still, I wonder what your new understanding of the Trinity may be?
I think that the Trinity is one of those hidden gems in the Bible, there for people to discover but not stated outright. That's why I don't really hold it against people if they don't believe it because they don't understand it. Jesus doesn't outright say that he is God, but the proofs are there. Why get mad at someone who hasn't seen or understand the proof but still believes that Jesus is the Son of God and obeys Jesus as God's Word?
My understanding of the Trinity is very Nicene. I have long felt that Christ's death and resurrection would be of no value if He was anything other than both God and man.
This has been further reinforced by my reading of St. Athanasius and St. Anselm, and for each of these you will find my work in the bibliography tab at the top of the home page of this blog.
Finally, as for blaspheming...to some degree, speculating is fine - in other words, some things just need to be worked out. But forming and teaching individual opinions as one who is formally a teacher or in some position of authority (which I am not) - this, to me, is where blasphemy is the risk.
For me, the biggest risk in the area of describing God in any person: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; further, describing the relationship of these three to each other. Which comes back to...I am quite comfortable in the Nicene description. So I walk cautiously in these areas.
Thanks for the patristic reviews and your thoughtful reflections upon them. Melito of Sardis's "On Pascha" is worth inspection. Melito provides us with the earliest account of the celebration of the Paschal feast as it was done by those observing a yearly celebration according to the Jewish reckoning of Passover: the Quartodecimans. The "On Pascha" was a sermon and Biblical commentary on Melito's community's reading of the Exodus account and other Old Testament lessons recited in the nocturnal Christian liturgy on the fourteenth day of the month Nisan. It was meant, it seems, to be chanted in a synagogue cantillation. Although the Quartodeciman observance of Pascha was replaced by the yearly Sunday observance of Easter, it left a considerable mark on both the Eastern and Western liturgical traditions. Melito also provides us with evidence in that sermon that his community was grounded in the traditions of the Johannine Christian groups.
"I recall coming across the idea that God intended that man would eventually be allowed to eat of this tree; man was just not mature enough yet to do so. Or maybe first God wanted to see if man could be obedient before trusting man with more. Or both."
I remember reading once that since Adam and Eve ate the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil that they were driven away from the Tree of Life. They were removed from its presence. The author (may have been Gary North) speculated that if they had eaten from the Tree of Life first, then the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil would have been removed from their presence.
Potentially, if the Tree of Life had been tasted first, Adam and Eve (and all their descendants, including us) would have never known what Evil is.
Pure speculation at this point.
IF Jesus has been shown to us as the foundation of eternal life (Tree of Life), then we can believe that we ARE GOING to live forever, even with the burden of the knowledge of evil. We just have to trust (as Adam and Eve had to) that what we are told is true.
"You shall know the truth and the truth will make you free."
"Jesus is referred to as “His Word,” “God’s Word,” or “the Word.” When I read it this way, it opens a new understanding of the Trinity for me. However, as I have mentioned before, I don’t want to write more on this: speaking wrongly about the Trinity and God is a risk I am not prepared to take."
I know how you feel. Sometimes I wonder if I have blasphemed the Holy Spirit because I don't even know how to blaspheme the Holy Spirit, and it is possible that I may have done it without knowing.
Still, I wonder what your new understanding of the Trinity may be?
I think that the Trinity is one of those hidden gems in the Bible, there for people to discover but not stated outright. That's why I don't really hold it against people if they don't believe it because they don't understand it. Jesus doesn't outright say that he is God, but the proofs are there. Why get mad at someone who hasn't seen or understand the proof but still believes that Jesus is the Son of God and obeys Jesus as God's Word?
My understanding of the Trinity is very Nicene. I have long felt that Christ's death and resurrection would be of no value if He was anything other than both God and man.
This has been further reinforced by my reading of St. Athanasius and St. Anselm, and for each of these you will find my work in the bibliography tab at the top of the home page of this blog.
Finally, as for blaspheming...to some degree, speculating is fine - in other words, some things just need to be worked out. But forming and teaching individual opinions as one who is formally a teacher or in some position of authority (which I am not) - this, to me, is where blasphemy is the risk.
For me, the biggest risk in the area of describing God in any person: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; further, describing the relationship of these three to each other. Which comes back to...I am quite comfortable in the Nicene description. So I walk cautiously in these areas.
Thanks for the patristic reviews and your thoughtful reflections upon them. Melito of Sardis's "On Pascha" is worth inspection. Melito provides us with the earliest account of the celebration of the Paschal feast as it was done by those observing a yearly celebration according to the Jewish reckoning of Passover: the Quartodecimans. The "On Pascha" was a sermon and Biblical commentary on Melito's community's reading of the Exodus account and other Old Testament lessons recited in the nocturnal Christian liturgy on the fourteenth day of the month Nisan. It was meant, it seems, to be chanted in a synagogue cantillation. Although the Quartodeciman observance of Pascha was replaced by the yearly Sunday observance of Easter, it left a considerable mark on both the Eastern and Western liturgical traditions. Melito also provides us with evidence in that sermon that his community was grounded in the traditions of the Johannine Christian groups.
William, I have downloaded this document. Thank you for bringing it to my direct attention.