S. Why Did God put the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil? - Part 1

Why Did God put the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil? - Part 1

The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. And the LORD God commanded the man, "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die." (Genesis 2:15-17)

One of the most asked questions, by both Christians and non-Christians, doubting the goodness and the wisdom of God, is this—“Why did God put the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the garden of Eden?”

Looks like if there is any person who is blamed more than anyone else—He is God. The dilemma about the existence of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil has troubled many, thereby accusing God of being unfair. Some even take this as an excuse to disbelieve in the God of the Holy Bible. By the way, if someone doesn’t want to believe in God, he cannot be convinced by any reasons, however reasonable; he still clings to excuses to disbelieve. But anyone who wants to believe in God, provided that he finds honest answers, such a person is not far from the truth and understanding about God.

Therefore, I urge the reader to give careful thought to the following reasons, guarding oneself from being emotionally judgmental.

Knowing the Nature of God

Before we go further, I believe it is quite significant to comprehend the nature of God. Most of our misconceptions are the result of our ignorance about the right knowledge of God or our refusal to believe who He is and what He claims to be. To share briefly, the following is what the Holy Bible reveals about who God is:

• The LORD is upright...there is no wickedness in Him. (Psalms 92:15)

• The Lord is righteous in all His ways. (Psalms 145:17)

• God is light [holy]; in Him there is no darkness [unholiness] at all. (1 John 1:5)

• His [God’s] works are perfect, and all His ways are just. A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is He. (Deuteronomy 32:4)

• What then shall we say? Is God unjust? Not at all! (Romans 9:14)

We learn from the Holy Scripture that God’s nature is perfect. He does no wrong. All His ways are upright. As the theologians say—He is impeccable and infallible. So, it is important to note that if our foundational knowledge about the nature of God and His attributes is imperfect, we often misconstrue and misinterpret the just works of God.

Understanding the Purpose of Man’s Creation

Another crucial thing to understand is about the purpose of man’s creation. Man is God’s unique creation. He has been created for the glory of God as a morally free being. For this reason, man is concerned about virtues like goodness, kindness, love and justice against vices like pride, hatred, corruption and illegalities, although there are differing opinions about how these are exercised.

We don’t find animals thinking, desiring, discussing and debating about such virtues and vices. We don’t have laws for animals and neither do we put them behind the bars for breaching them. But we hold man responsible and accountable for his actions, for he is created by God as a morally free being, though sadly he is now in a fallen state and unable to live a morally perfect life.

Now think about these questions:

1) When God made man as a morally free being, should He not give him the freedom to live a moral life? Don’t you think that the fact about God creating man as a moral being by default requires freedom?

2) If God should give man the freedom, should He not give him the freedom of choice to obey Him, which also means a choice to disobey Him? Remember, God did not create man as merely a free being, like animals; He created man as a morally free being, giving him moral standards against immoral acts. And what is that moral freedom if there is no choice involved either to obey or disobey?

3) If God must give man the freedom to obey or disobey Him, should He not provide him the opportunities to make such choices voluntarily and without coercion?

Without the above elements, don’t you suppose man would not be a morally free being, but simply a robot—thinking, feeling and acting by a fixed system, not by voluntary choices? The very fact that we question about God—His goodness and wisdom in putting the tree of the knowledge of good and evil—shows that we are free beings with voluntary choices, either to trust Him or to disbelieve Him. People have the freedom either to love or to hate, to accept or to despise God because of this freedom. And here is a last question to think about:

4) If God ought to give man the freedom to voluntarily choose to obey or disobey His standards, then man is morally responsible for his actions. So, should there not be consequences for making moral choices—rewards for obedience and punishment for disobedience? Or else, does it make any sense whether we obey or disobey?

Indeed, the question about why God put the tree of the knowledge of good and evil comes because of the pathetic consequence man had to face because of his choice to eat the forbidden fruit from this tree.

Freedom of Choice

We have seen that man was created as a morally free being, which means, man is free to obey and disobey the standards of God. To exercise his moral freedom, God should not withhold man the choice of disobeying Him. After all, what is that freedom to obey if there is no freedom to disobey? Such freedom would be superficial and unreasonable. For this reason, God presented before man the alternative to disobey His command by putting the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Interestingly, God has forbidden only one thing while giving man all the freedom to do other things. Is it fair to still accuse God because of this one forbidden thing which he has put before man? Doesn’t this show how ignorant we are about God’s holy nature and the nature of design of man’s creation?

If God had not created man as a morally free being without freedom to disobey Him, He would still be accused of being a hypocrite or a manipulator, for He had created man as a morally free being without any choice to exercise his moral freedom. Norman Geisler rightly pointed out that "forced love is rape; and God is not a divine rapist. He will not do anything to coerce their decision."

If this sounds logical, why is God blamed for putting the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, without which it doesn’t make any sense that man is morally a free being to choose that which is right or wrong?

See how fair God was in His creation of man:

• God created man as a morally free being with a choice to do right or wrong. Indeed, when Adam was created, he was fully upright, having left with a choice either to continue in his uprightness or to turn to wickedness. It is written, “God made mankind upright, but men have gone in search of many schemes” (Ecclesiastes 7:29).

• God created man and gave him the freedom to eat anything but also warned him not to eat the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. He said, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil” (Genesis 2:16-17 a)

• God not only forbade man not to eat fruit from the forbidden tree but also cautioned him of the consequence if he goes against His command. He said, “For when you eat of it you will surely die” (Genesis 2:17 b).

You see, man did not fall in sin out of ignorance or out of compulsion; he was in complete knowledge of what he was supposed to do and what he shouldn’t. He made the choice consciously and voluntarily. Therefore, God was perfectly fair in the way He created man, giving him the complete freedom to enjoy everything around him and also warning him of the consequence of choosing to go against His will.

Risky Gift of Free Will

Now, I can imagine some raising this question—when God already knew that man would disobey Him, why should He still put the tree of the knowledge of good and evil?” Good question! Let us give a careful thought to this point.

God did not give man the freedom just for the sake of freedom—it is to love, to obey and to do good. Paul E. Little wonderfully describes the necessity of freedom to love in the following way:

How would you like to be married to a chatty doll? Every morning and every night you could pull the string and get the beautiful words, “I love you”. There would never be any hot words, never any conflict, never anything said or done that would make you sad! But who would want that? There would never be any love, either. Love is voluntary. God could have made us like robots, but we would have ceased to be men. God apparently thought it worth the risk of creating us as we are. [Know Why You Believe, pg. 87]

I take great delight when my children obey, for they choose to do voluntarily. I don’t take the same delight in my computer which does what I command with my figures, for it is just a lifeless system playing as I wish. Fortunately, man was not created like this lifeless system. He has been created in a mysterious way to do things voluntarily. Although trees and animals are also animate things, man is marvelous and unique above all earthly creation because of the moral freedom he has and the creative way he functions. Of course, there is a risk involved in this freewill: The more freedom man has to obey means the more freedom he has even to disobey. J. B. Phillips put it so well, "Evil is inherent in the risky gift of free will.” But just because of the negative consequences that man would face due to the abuse of His free will, should it stop God from creating him as a morally free being, especially if He truly loves us and expects us to wholeheartedly love Him and one another? Should Abuse Lead to No Use?

Let me pose few questions for your consideration. Is it fair to stop manufacturing vehicles just because of the accidents? Is it wise to cease using fire just because of the fire accidents? Is it reasonable to end using electricity just because of electrocutions? We all well understand that it is unwise to completely discard something which is so good and helpful just because of the possibility of bad. Someone rightly said, “The remedy for misuse is not disuse but right use.”

Likewise, God did not stop to create man as a free being because of the potentiality to abuse his freewill. If man could do bad because of the abuse of free will, He could not even do good voluntarily without the right exercise of his moral freedom. Despite the risk involved in misusing the freedom, God had still created man as a morally free being. Although there are those who choose evil and grieve Him, God’s ultimate delight is in those who freely choose to love and obey Him. Is it not a risk worth taking for at least the few who voluntarily and joyfully choose to obey?

Allow me to share few more instances to clarify the dilemma. We hear a lot of crime reports on the news. There are times I have read and heard how people murder others for money. Not even once did I hear anyone grumbling and accusing the person who had invented gun or knife. The natural accusation was on the murderer who was greedy and inhuman.

I wonder, why then many accuse God for keeping the tree of the knowledge of good and evil when it is man who should be blamed for abusing his free will!

Moreover, is it fair to blame the educational institutions for having grading system just because of some folks committing suicide for failing in exams? And what about sex? How many people are dying because of HIV/AIDS! Shall we stop having sex because of these deadly and incurable diseases? Think—is the problem truly with sex itself or with the misuse of sex?

Therefore, why is God held responsible for evil when it is man who abuses his freewill to do evil? Does the real problem lie with God who has given freewill or with man who abuses his freewill? You know, sin is nothing but the abuse of freewill God has given to man. And God created us in such a way so that we can rightly exercise our freedom of choice and become like Mother Teresa or abuse our freewill and become like Adolf Hitler.

Final Words

I have nothing but appreciation for God’s marvellous creation. He didn’t create us as robots nor did He manipulate our freedom. He created us in His own image, i.e. as volitional, relational, rational and moral beings, so that we would reflect His glory. God made man as a free being, i.e. with an ability to make moral choices. In consideration of this fact, there is no created thing on earth as beautiful and wonderful and mysterious as mankind. David rightly expressed, "I praise You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Your works are wonderful, I know that full well." (Psalms 139:14)

Well, the goodness of God is that, even though man disobeyed God and sinned against Him by abusing his freewill, He didn’t give up on man to face his own eternal destruction. Here is the good news: "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son [Jesus Christ], that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life" (John 3:16).

Therefore, I urge people to cease blaming God for putting the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and rather repent of their sins and gratefully accept the gift of forgiveness given through Christ Jesus, who is the one and the only in the history of the world who died on the cross and rose again from the dead to give hope to the perishing world