@moonbus said
Now, tell me, what was the second tree?
Read strictly, Adam was not banished as punishment for eating the fruit of the first tree; he was banished to prevent him from discovering and eating of the second, about which God had told him nothing. He was banished to prevent him from becoming "like us."
On the contrary, they had become "like us" after nourishing their minds with the forbidden fruit.
We have God's word for it if we are to seriously consider the story from within the context from which it arises. Genesis 3:22 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.”
Moreover, the "serpent" did not lie, as God confirms what it said to Eve in enticing her (Genesis 3:4-5). And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.
Had God not prohibited them from consuming the fruit of the Tree of Life, they would not have died. This further supports the serpent's truthfulness. Simply eating from the forbidden tree does not result in death; if Adam and Eve had been allowed to remain in Eden and consume the fruit of the Tree of Life, they would not have perished.
The reality is that God and His trusted, wise assistant, the serpent, conspired to ensure that the two would succumb to temptation. God did state that humans were to be created in their image, embodying both Good and Evil. In this dichotomy, God embodies Good, and the serpent symbolizes Evil.