The fall of Adam and Eve, I have heard the story many times growing up in the church. Going through the story on an academic level put a spin on the train of thought that I had usually gone through when reading and analyzing the story. Some of the questions from the discussion that really struck me were if the tree of knowledge was really a tree, is ‘the fall’ just a transition from child-like innocence into adulthood or to disobedience, and did the fruit have meaning, or was it just a test of obedience.
I think that the tree was not an actual tree, but a metaphorical one to represent the knowledge that God had and that was intentionally kept from Adam and Eve to keep them innocent. This was kept away because God knew that if the humans could have this type of knowledge that he would not be able to keep them in his presence in the Garden but put them down on Earth away from the presence of God. Therefore, he just had one big rule for them to stay listen and to not take from the tree of knowledge.
The fall of Adam and Eve was not a transition from child-like innocence to adulthood, it was more an act of disobedience. It is a flaw of humans to want more than they should and disobey the set rules because of the curiosity that is inside of us. This was a curiosity that was fulfilled, but not in a good way. They were tempted and fell into the trap, and they got knowledge. While it might be seen as a transition into adulthood, this does not strike a chord with teaching a lesson and if God was telling them not to eat from this one tree knowing that one day they would eventually transition into adulthood, this knowledge probably would not have been forbidden.
For the fruit of knowledge, it stood for something that humans could not have because they could not enjoy the fullness that it brought. This fruit of knowledge was reserved for God, who knows all things and can comprehend it. It’s almost like going out to a high-end restaurant with five-star food, as a child, all that you are looking for is something that tastes good and fills your hunger you don’t comprehend the beauty of the food and the effort that was put into everything, but as an adult, you know the price, about the food itself, and you enjoy it more fully. God knows, and as limited humans, Adam and Eve did not know what knowledge would bring, which is why God intentionally told Adam and Eve not to eat from the tree. Once Adam and Eve would gain knowledge, it would be good in some aspects such as gaining a sense of yourself, but on the other hand, it would bring strife because of the differing views that would develop as a result of gaining knowledge.