Interpretation of the parable of the tree of knowledge
The parable goes like this: “From the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, do not eat from it;
For in the day that you eat of it you will surely die,” Genesis 2:17. But God does not kill Adam and Eve as promised - this is firstly, and secondly, all other living beings who “did not eat” are expelled from paradise. How so?
Perhaps the parable meant that “having tasted it” you will not die directly, but you will know, understand, know what “Death” is. As a phenomenon.
And if animals, in principle, do not know about death, then they are definitely happy, because... They don’t know that they will someday die. And living with us in the same world, animals are still not expelled from paradise
. They are in the “paradise of ignorance.”
Now the most important thing is what does this knowledge give to a Man? What makes it qualitatively different?
And that is why we overcame the animal fear of fire - and mastered it. We have created labor, societies, cultures, politics, economics, states - after all, if you “purify” all the foundations of these actions and aspirations to the very core, it turns out that all this is necessary only in order to push back, push wider the boundaries of Death.
To live not for 20-30 years under a Christmas tree, in a den, feeding on still warm victims - like Animals. And already for 40-50-70-90 years, eating more and more varied, more and more processed food, and warming up by the fire, by the stove, or by the radiator. This is what made Man so exceptional:
It turns out that the only nail on which the “Man” project hangs is the knowledge of one’s Death?
And yes, if the tree of the knowledge of “good and evil” is the knowledge of “death,” then “good” and “evil” are connected precisely with “death.”
Those. “good” is, as it were, “from death,” and “evil” is “that which leads to death.” This is where morality comes from and why it is so critical to society. It is needed so that, guided by the guidelines of “good and evil,” society can survive, so that children can survive and not die. After all, societies perish when they lose morality. They lose their bearings on the road to Life. But the “tree of life” is a different story
