Is the tree of life symbolic?

Mastermind · Post by **Mastermind** » Mon May 09, 2005 5:47 am

I was skimming through revelations and I saw this:

22:2 through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.

This doesn't sound like a literal tree to me. But if this tree isn't literal, what of Adam and Eve?

AttentionKMartShoppers · Mon May 09, 2005 12:25 pm

Why doesn't it seem like a literal tree? Just because it won't correspond to how trees currently produce fruit (not all year round).

Mastermind · Post by **Mastermind** » Mon May 09, 2005 2:03 pm

AttentionKMartShoppers wrote:Why doesn't it seem like a literal tree? Just because it won't correspond to how trees currently produce fruit (not all year round).

Among other things. Its leaves are healing other nations. 12 kinds of fruit. It all sounds like there is an actual meaning to it, not just a tree.

jerickson314 · Post by **jerickson314** » Mon May 09, 2005 2:23 pm

It could be a non-literal occurence of a literal entity. For example, God is present in potentially figurative parts of Revalation, but that doesn't mean God is simply a figurative being. Likewise, John could be applying figurative attributes to a literal tree.

AttentionKMartShoppers · Tue May 10, 2005 8:45 am

12 kinds of fruits on one tree isn't necessarily a far flung idea. First of all, God made the rules for how plants work on earth, but He doesn't have to apply them to everything. Second, you can graft, so if a supernatural and infinte personal God...bound to the laws of nature (which He made), wanted a tree with 12 fruits, all He had to do was graft 11 branches onto one tree.

Mastermind · Post by **Mastermind** » Tue May 10, 2005 10:29 am

AttentionKMartShoppers wrote:12 kinds of fruits on one tree isn't necessarily a far flung idea. First of all, God made the rules for how plants work on earth, but He doesn't have to apply them to everything. Second, you can graft, so if a supernatural and infinte personal God...bound to the laws of nature (which He made), wanted a tree with 12 fruits, all He had to do was graft 11 branches onto one tree.

But there is also the issue of Eden (where the original tree of life is located) not being around anymore.

AttentionKMartShoppers · Tue May 10, 2005 6:43 pm

Mastermind, don't you remember? It's back on that flooded planet of yours.

It was either taken up by God, died (after everything was subject to death), or it was destroyed and buried during the Flood which really happenned on Earth.

Mastermind · Post by **Mastermind** » Tue May 10, 2005 6:48 pm

AttentionKMartShoppers wrote:Mastermind, don't you remember? It's back on that flooded planet of yours. It was either taken up by God, died (after everything was subject to death), or it was destroyed and buried during the Flood which really happenned on Earth.

Which means the tree of life is gone. But it appears again in Revelations. It makes more sense that it is symbolic IMO.

AttentionKMartShoppers · Tue May 10, 2005 7:12 pm

So, if God didn't take it up and it was destroyed...(wait, it's the tree of life, how can it die??) what's the problem with making another one? God made the first one and all.

Mastermind · Post by **Mastermind** » Tue May 10, 2005 7:25 pm

AttentionKMartShoppers wrote:So, if God didn't take it up and it was destroyed...(wait, it's the tree of life, how can it die??) what's the problem with making another one? God made the first one and all.

It's not A tree of life, it's THE tree of life. And what did God do with the tree? Move it on the moon?

voicingmaster · Post by **voicingmaster** » Tue May 10, 2005 7:40 pm

It's possible that the whole story of Adam and Eve was a myth inspired by God to get a point accross. Jesus told several stories to get points accross, and Jesus is a reflection of God, so it would make sense that God would do this as well. The moral of the story being that if you believe Satan over God, you will be punished, but if you would've stayed with God, you will continue to be blessed. Also, look at what Adam and Eve did when they bit the fruit, they hid and clothed themselves. They were trying to hide thier sin, just as some do know. Butt, no matter where you hide, God will find you, as He did in the Garden. Usually, symbolism rarely happens in real life.

Another thing that points to Adam and Eve being mythological, is the law of incest. In the Bible, incest is a sin. But however, if the Adam and Eve thing is true, then everybody is committing incest right now. Also, incest usually results in retardation or other deformaties, so the population o f Earth would be declining or getting worse by each generation, but that doesn't seem to be happening. In fact, our lifespans are increasing, just the opposite. Which could also mean that the story of Noah could also be a myth. Two animals of one kind is not enough to repopulate an area of said kind.

kateliz · Post by **kateliz** » Tue May 10, 2005 7:49 pm

I was in a taxi once where the driver had some views similar to Mastermind's. He, however, (and this creeped me out, being stuck in a car with him,) said that the whole Bible is symbolic of sex. He claimed that the Tree of Life was a woman, with the snake in it. I don't remember what other things he said about that, but I probably wouldn't want to remember them anyway! He also claimed that the devil was part of God, but that's another topic.

I believe that the Tree(s) of Life are a concept. Different than figurative in that they are real, (at least the first one,) but similar in that they don't truly hold spiritual properties themselves but are a sort of medium for God to impart the spiritual. Because they aren't spiritual themselves it wouldn't matter if they got destroyed or recreated.

I'm not sure about the Revelation trees being literal or figurative because I'm still thinking over just how symbolic Revelations as a whole is. I stopped reading Hal Lindsey's There's Another World Coming which convincingly presents Revelation as much more symbolic than traditionally understood, and so my changing thoughts are temporarily halted from a conclusion.

(This I wrote before I found voicingmaster's last post here, which I don't feel like responding to right now.)

AttentionKMartShoppers · Tue May 10, 2005 7:59 pm

It's possible that the whole story of Adam and Eve was a myth inspired by God to get a point accross

You have a problem. Jesus is basically called the opposite of Adam. Adam brought death into the world, and Jesus came to do the opposite. So, you do this, and Jesus has no purpose, because man didn't do anything to bring death into the world, God made death then.

Butt

Um, that butt is the one you sit on.

Another thing that points to Adam and Eve being mythological, is the law of incest.

He says so after there are enough people running around. If they would have kept on going at it like they were, they would have diminished the gene pool in each individual group.

In fact, our lifespans are increasing, just the opposite. Which could also mean that the story of Noah could also be a myth. Two animals of one kind is not enough to repopulate an area of said kind.

Our chances of survival are increasing, we're just surviving more is what I'm thinking. Most of the world doesn't have a high average lifespan like in industrialized countries. You can't call whatever you want to be a "story." Wow, you're tearing the Bible up.

Mastermind · Post by **Mastermind** » Tue May 10, 2005 8:11 pm

voicingmaster wrote:It's possible that the whole story of Adam and Eve was a myth inspired by God to get a point accross. Jesus told several stories to get points accross, and Jesus is a reflection of God, so it would make sense that God would do this as well. The moral of the story being that if you believe Satan over God, you will be punished, but if you would've stayed with God, you will continue to be blessed. Also, look at what Adam and Eve did when they bit the fruit, they hid and clothed themselves. They were trying to hide thier sin, just as some do know. Butt, no matter where you hide, God will find you, as He did in the Garden. Usually, symbolism rarely happens in real life.

Another thing that points to Adam and Eve being mythological, is the law of incest. In the Bible, incest is a sin. But however, if the Adam and Eve thing is true, then everybody is committing incest right now. Also, incest usually results in retardation or other deformaties, so the population o f Earth would be declining or getting worse by each generation, but that doesn't seem to be happening. In fact, our lifespans are increasing, just the opposite. Which could also mean that the story of Noah could also be a myth. Two animals of one kind is not enough to repopulate an area of said kind.

Actually, I know somebody who doesn't know whether to take Genesis as literal or not because he feels that it might be a parody of the cultures around it (Israel has a history of jokers so it wouldn't surprise me).

Mastermind · Post by **Mastermind** » Tue May 10, 2005 8:12 pm

kateliz wrote:I was in a taxi once where the driver had some views similar to Mastermind's. He, however, (and this creeped me out, being stuck in a car with him,) said that the whole Bible is symbolic of sex. He claimed that the Tree of Life was a woman, with the snake in it. I don't remember what other things he said about that, but I probably wouldn't want to remember them anyway! He also claimed that the devil was part of God, but that's another topic.

Gee, thanks. ;_;