Tree of knowledge? (Bible loses the plot)

And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you are free to eat; but as for the tree of knowledge of good and bad, you must not eat of it; for as soon as you eat of it, you shall die.” (Genesis 2:16-17)

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If Adam was commanded to eat from every tree in the garden, why did Yahweh in the next chapter prevent him from eating from the "Tree of Life"? What's worse, Satan makes it clear that nothing would happen to them if they eat from the tree of knowledge i.e. die as mentioned in Genesis 2:16.  furthermore, Eve was questioned by the serpent on "if God really told her not to eat from the tree of knowledge" and in some way this was true, because God never spoke to Eve and told her not to eat from the tree of knowledge, he spoke to Adam as found in Genesis 2:17.

Now to the next problem of this story, we read in Genesis 3

And the LORD God said, "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." (Genesis 3:22)

Why is God so concerned about the Tree of Life when he allowed it to be as part of eatable fruit tree in the beginning?

And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you are free to eat (Genesis 2:16)

If the Tree of Life really could make anyone immortal, then wouldn't you think the Serpent or "Satan" in Christian understanding would have been the first to consume the fruit and live forever? Why was God afraid after Adam eat from the tree of knowledge.

If the after from the tree if knowledge nothing happened to Adam and Eve i.e. they never died as claimed in Genesis 2:17, what would have happened if they eat from the Tree of Life as God claimed they would be "immortal"? If after eating from the tree of knowledge nothing happened to them what makes you say they would have become immortal after eating from the Tree of Life?

Suppose they even eat the fruit from the Tree of Life, why was God afraid? Does not everything happen by his command? Could be not stop them from being immortal? Seems like the "Tree of Life" has more power than God himself, that if they eat from it he wouldn't have been able to reverse the cause.

The New Testament make is worse. According to the Christian Bible, the righteous will be able to eat from the "Tree of Life"?

Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God. (Revelation 2:7)

How could this be? According to Genesis 2:16 all tree from the garden of Eden was free to eat from, including the "Tree of Life" if the Tree of Life is supposed to make you "immortal" why will it be presented to the righteous in the Paradise when everyone will automatically become immortal?

Coming back to Genesis, we read that after the fall of man God decided to prevent anyone from eating from the Tree of Life.

So the LORD God banished him from the garden of Eden, to till the soil from which he was taken. He drove the man out, and stationed east of the garden of Eden the cherubim and the fiery ever-turning sword, to guard the way to the tree of life. (Genesis 4:23-24)

Why would God protect the Tree of Life in “Paradise” where no evil could enter? What or who exactly is God protecting the Tree of Life from?  Does this mean anyone could enter the Garden of Eden? If Adam and Eve did not die after eating from the tree of knowledge, then the Tree of Life would not make them immortal. Now Christians claim that Genesis 2:17 was not literal but metaphorical, this would prove that being immortal by eating from the Tree of Life would also be metaphorical not literal, making Revelation 2:7 absurd and misleading.

Why would God make a tree which makes anyone immortal? Does immortality come through eating a fruit? The entire story of two trees are dubious and unreliable. The narrations make no sense and get sworse each time the story elaborates.

another point to add to this article

And the LORD God said, "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." (Genesis 3:22)

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so according to the above verse, anyone who knows the difference between good and evil becomes like Yahweh. and thats exactly what happened to Adam, he became like Yahweh, since he eat the fruit, a confirmation from God himself. Which begs the question Eve must of become the lady version of Yahweh?

Imagine even Jesus didn't get such a title from Yahweh, Yahweh recognized Adam the same as him God!

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And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you are free to eat; but as for the tree of knowledge of good and bad, you must not eat of it; for as soon as you eat of it, you shall die.” (Genesis 2:16-17)

 

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If Adam was commanded to eat from every tree in the garden, why did Yahweh in the next chapter prevent him from eating from the "Tree of Life"? What's worse, Satan makes it clear that nothing would happen to them if they eat from the tree of knowledge i.e. die as mentioned in Genesis 2:16.  furthermore, Eve was questioned by the serpent on "if God really told her not to eat from the tree of knowledge" and in some way this was true, because God never spoke to Eve and told not to eat from the tree of knowledge, he spoke to Adam as found in Genesis 2:17.

 

Now to the next problem of  this story, we read in Genesis 3

 

And the LORD God said, "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." (Genesis 3:22)

 

 

Why is God so concerned about the Tree of Life when he allowed it to be as part of eatable fruit tree in the beginning?

 

And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you are free to eat (Genesis 2:16)

 

If the Tree of Life really could make anyone immortal, than wouldn't you think the Serpent or "Satan" in Christian understanding would have been the first to consume the fruit and live forever? Why was God afraid after Adam eat from the tree of knowledge.

 

If the after from the tree if knowledge nothing happened to Adam and Eve i.e. they never died as claimed in Genesis 2:17, what would of happened if they eat from the Tree of Life as God claimed they would be "immortal"? If after eating from the tree of knowledge nothing happened to them what makes you say they would of become immortal after eating from the Tree of Life?

 

Suppose they even eat the fruit from the Tree of Life, why was God afraid? Does not everything happen by his command? Could be not stop them from being immortal? Seems like the "Tree of Life" has more power than God himself, that if they eat from it he wouldn't of been able to reverse the cause.

 

The New Testament make is worse. According to the Christian Bible, the righteous will be able to eat from the "Tree of Life"?

 

Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God. (Revelation  2:7)

 

How could this be? According to Genesis 2:16 all tree from the garden of Eden was free to eat from, including the "Tree of Life" if the Tree of Life is supposed to make you "immortal" why will it be presented to the righteous in the Paradise when everyone will automatically become immortal? 

The Number of Angels Speaking to Mary

By

Ansar Al-'Adl

The allegation is as follows:

How many angels were talking to Mary? When the Qur'an speaks about the announciation of the birth of Jesus to the virgin Mary, Sura 3:42,45 speaks about (several) angels while it is only one in Sura 19:17-21.

There are many ways to explain these verses, and we shall examine some of them, insha'Allah.

The verses in question are the following:

From Surah Al Imran:

3:42. And (remember) when the angels said: "O Mary! Verily, Allâh has chosen you, purified you (from polytheism and disbelief), and chosen you above the women of all nations."3:43. O Mary! "Submit yourself with obedience to your Lord (Allâh, by worshipping none but Him Alone) and prostrate yourself, and bow down along with those who bow down etc.)."3:44. This is a part of the news of the Ghaib (unseen, i.e. the news of the past nations of which you have no knowledge) which We inspire you with (O Muhammad ). You were not with them, when they cast lots with their pens as to which of them should be charged with the care of Maryam (Mary); nor were you with them when they disputed.3:45. (Remember) when the angels said: "O Maryam (Mary)! Verily, Allâh gives you the glad tidings of a Word ["Be!" - and he was! i.e.Jesus the son of Mary] from Him, his name will be the Messiah Jesus, the son of Mary, held in honour in this world and in the Hereafter, and will be one of those who are near to Allâh."3:46. "He will speak to the people in the cradle and in manhood, and he will be one of the righteous."3:47. She said: "O my Lord! How shall I have a son when no man has touched me." He said: "So (it will be) for Allâh creates what He wills. When He has decreed something, He says to it only: "Be!" and it is.

And from Sura Maryam:

19:17. She placed a screen (to screen herself) from them; then We sent to her Our Ruh [angel Jibrael (Gabriel)], and he appeared before her in the form of a man in all respects.19:18. She said: "Verily! I seek refuge with the Most Beneficent (Allâh) from you, if you do fear Allâh."19:19. (The angel) said: "I am only a Messenger from your Lord, (to announce) to you the gift of a righteous son."19:20. She said: "How can I have a son, when no man has touched me, nor am I unchaste?"19:21. He said: "So (it will be), your Lord said: 'That is easy for Me (Allâh): And (We wish) to appoint him as a sign to mankind and a mercy from Us (Allâh), and it is a matter (already) decreed, (by Allâh).' "
 

1. There is NO indication that these verses refer to the same event.

If we examine the Qur'anic verses we can come up with an interpretation of the chronological order of events.

a. The angels announced to Mary pbuh the glad tidings of Jesus pbuh without giving any further details. (verse 3:45)

b. After the angels depart, Mary pbuh expresses her surprise in her prayer to God. (verse 3:47). The verse makes it clear that she is no longer talking to the angels because she says, "My Lord.."

c. An angel sent by God informs her that God is able to do all things (verse 3:47, "So (it will be) for Allâh creates what He wills.")

d. After a period of time, Angel Gabriel is sent by God, and appears personally before Mary to inform her of the birth of Jesus pbuh (verse 19:19).

e. Here she asks the Angel directly (verse 19:20) how it is possible for her to have a child. And the Angel Gabriel replies as seen in verse 19:21.

The basis of this explanation is the usage of the words yubashiroke in Sura Al-Imran which means to give glad tidings of a coming event. On the other hand, the verse in Sura Maryam uses the wordsle ahaba lake which means to "present you with", implying that the event is to happen there.

An objection raised to this explanation is that Mary must be forgetful if she asks the same question having already recieved the answer. This is not necessarily the case. An event so surprising and unusual as this would easily explain her persistence in trying to understand how this is possible. Often people may be so bewildered by some news that they may repeat their inquiry in their surpirse, and that is not unusual.

2. Another simple and logical explanation that can be offered is that the it is not uncommon for the action of a single member of an organization to be attributed to the whole organization. In a hockey match, we may say that so-and-so scored the final goal, or we could say that such-and-such a team scored the final goal. It would not be a contradiction. So when Angel Gabriel appeared to Mary and he gave her the glad tidings of a son, the action may be attributed to the angels, whether they were present or not, visible or not. This interpretation is supported by verse 3:47, which says that Mary asked how it could be possible and he (Angel Gabriel) replied, and not they (angels).

3. Another way to understand the verses is to examine a similar verse of the Qur'an:

41:30. In the case of those who say, "Our Lord is Allah., and, further, stand straight and steadfast, the angels descend on them (from time to time): "Fear ye not!" (they suggest), "Nor grieve! but receive the Glad Tidings of the Garden (of Bliss), the which ye were promised!

Here we are told that those who stand firm in Islam will have angels surrounding them and telling them not to fear. Obviously, this does not mean that the righteous people expect to hear these voices speaking to them, but rather it is the general feeling of peace and good inspired into the righteous person by these angels. The presence and words of the angels invoke a feeling of security.

Likewise, when we read the first passage about Mary, the angels speaking to her may just have been a general inspiration or notion that she would bear a child, and she continually wondered to Allah, as to how this was possible. And the answer given in 3:47 is Allah's answer inspired to her through the angels in the same fashion. Naturally, when the event was to occur and the Angel Gabriel physically appeared to her in the form of a man, she would voice this same concern to verify the inspiration she had been recieving.

Each of these three explanations is sufficient to answer the allegation.