This serpent, SATAN, is not the enemy of Man, but He who made Gods of our race, knowing Good and Evil; He bade 'Know Thyself!' and taught Initiation.
That free will was demonstrated in the placing of temptation before man with the command not to eat of the fruit of the tree which would give him a knowledge of good and evil, with the disturbing moral conflict to which that awareness would give rise.
The Tree of Knowledge grew fast by, Knowledge of Good bought dear by knowing ill.
Prohibition didn't work in the Garden of Eden. Adam ate the apple.
Adam was not alone in the Garden of Eden, however, and does not deserve all the credit; much is due to Eve, the first woman, and Satan, the first consultant.
Samuel Langhorne Clemens, 1835-1910
I tell Thee that man is tormented by no greater anxiety than to find someone quickly to whom he can hand over that gift of freedom with which the ill-fated creatures is born. But only one who can appease their conscience can take over their freedom […] Instead of taking men's freedom from them, Thou didst make it greater than ever! Didst Thou forget that man prefers peace, and even death, to freedom of choice in the knowledge of good and evil?
Eve tasted the apple in the Garden of Eden in order to slake that intense thirst for knowledge that the simple pleasure of picking flowers and talking to Adam could not satisfy.
I think the fall in Eden was ultimately a failure to give thanks.
Okay, it was the Tree of Knowledge. "You eat this apple; you're going to be as smart as God." We can't have that.
Behind the man is the Tree of Life, bearing twelve fruits, and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil is behind the woman; the serpent is twining round it.
What is the most popular scene in the Bible? Adam and Eve biting the apple. It's not there.
I am sure that in the story of Adam and Eve, the forbidden fruit was a fig and not an apple, pear or anything else.
Of Adam and Eve: They had what they wanted. That they did not like it when they got it does not alter the fact that they certainly got it.
