Why I believe in Talking Snake

Originally posted by @divegeester
You seem to be upset with me Daniel...?

Trust me you've never seen me upset.

Originally posted by @dj2becker
Trust me you've never seen me upset.

Oh...now you’re making me nervous with this cool hard man on the internet chest puffing.

Originally posted by @divegeester
I’ve already explained very concisely and very simply my position using my own words; I’m not inclined to be shoe-horned into collaborating in another one of your strawman poses sonship.

You call it "shoe-horning."
I just call it merely trying to "pinpoint" your problem.

Nevermind.

Originally posted by @divegeester
Was I talking to you?

Calm down, snorkel boy.

BTW, do you prefer “snorkel boy” or “scuba kid?” I personally like both.

But you’ll always be “tiger” to me, the adorable, joyous, peanut-butter loving, ale-swilling third-grader at Shetland Primary whose hobbies include crushing on Miss Alawat, getting bombed at the pub and being a scamp with your best chum Kiddo.

Originally posted by @divegeester
Your dodge of my question is duly noted...

[b]All the other planted trees, which you noted in your previous post, are still here...where is the tree of life?

Telling me the answer is in the bible and to “read my bible” is the most lazy response you could have come up with.[/b]

I didn't dodge your question. I'm just not going to do your homework for you. If you don't know where the tree of life is, then you haven't been reading your bible.

With your presumption of metaphoricalism comes your own lazy ignorance. You don't even really know what 'metaphor' means. You use it as a crutch to support your unbelief, doubt and lack of faith.

"The tree of life is metaphorical" you say without a shred of scriptural evidence to support that idea.

I showed you the verses. There's nothing anywhere in the narrative that even remotely suggests that the language implies the use of metaphor.

Get you head out of your ... and read your bible in belief.

Originally posted by @divegeester
You say the tree of life is real in the garden of Eden but it doesn’t exist anywhere on Earth. Obviously it doesn’t exist.

Thanks, I took all the time I needed 😵

You say the tree of life is real in the garden of Eden but it doesn’t exist anywhere on Earth. Obviously it doesn’t exist.

No "complete dud" proved in spite of your dishonestly trying to put words into my mouth.

You:

Also, where IS this tree of life now? It was on earth and is supposed to be being guarded by a flaming sword. Where is it???

You again:

But tell me, where is the real actual literal genesis discussed tree of life now?

My reply:

That's an easy one.
I have no earthly idea where such a literal tree as that is now.

I don't have a clue!
is it important?

We also have no idea where the body of Moses was buried.
If people did they would probably make relics out of the dust and bones to worship, totally distracting them from the living God by their idolatry.

And a actual "tree of life" ?

Hey, God had John the Baptist beheaded to get him out of the way so that people could focus on Jesus. You know any physical "tree of life" He would hide.

See how dishonest you are here?
Did I say "it doesn't exist" ?
I said I have no idea and suggested that God had reason to "hide" it.

I wrote

I have no earthly idea where such a literal tree as that is now.

I don't have a clue!

It is no twist of logic that something physical in the Old Testament that was used in a miraculous way, we might have no idea of what happened to it or where or if it is today. Take for example the ark of the covenant in the holy of holies in both the tabernacle, then in Solomon's temple.

In the books of Joshua and Judges we see some strange acts of divine judgment associated with how people physically interacted with that physical object - the ark of the covenant.

I have no clue where to locate it today or if it could be located.
Why not the same for any "tree of life" in the garden of Genesis?

Enoch was not found.
God whisked Elijah away to somewhere.
He could do the same with someone or something else.
God probably has more places then we know about.

The "dud" seems to be your objection that something of God and physical in the Old Testament was not real because it cannot be located anywhere today.

Originally posted by @sonship
You call it "shoe-horning."
I just call it merely trying to "pinpoint" your problem..

Yes, if you re-read the post of yours which I was replying to, you may see what I mean by you trying to “shoehorn” me. You were setting up a stawman argument and inviting me to comment on it.

You employ this tactic a lot and I invariably avoid being drawn in; preferring instead to side-step it and ask you on topic related questions which require direct unequivocal responses.

Originally posted by @secondson
I didn't dodge your question. I'm just not going to do your homework for you. If you don't know where the tree of life is, then you haven't been reading your bible.

With your presumption of metaphoricalism comes your own lazy ignorance. You don't even really know what 'metaphor' means. You use it as a crutch to support your unbelief, doubt and lack of ...[text shortened]... uage implies the use of metaphor.

Get you head out of your ... and read your bible in belief.

You, sonship and others who believe that the tree of life is a literal real planted tree, keep avoiding by well thought out, on topic and pertinent question:

Where is the tree of life now?

Originally posted by @sonship

You say the tree of life is real in the garden of Eden but it doesn’t exist anywhere on Earth. Obviously it doesn’t exist.

No "complete dud" proved in spite of your dishonestly trying to put words into my mouth.

You:
[quote] Also, where IS this tree of life now? It was on earth and is supposed to be being guarded by a flaming sword. ...[text shortened]... God and physical in the Old Testament was not real because it cannot be located anywhere today.

Sonship, where is the tree of life now?

Originally posted by @divegeester
You, sonship and others who believe that the tree of life is a literal real planted tree, keep avoiding by well thought out, on topic and pertinent question:

Where is the tree of life now?

Apparently the tree of life is in heaven, tiger:

“He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.”

(Revelation 2:7)

Why are you so obsessed with it? It’s not a tree of barley and hops.

Originally posted by @divegeester
You, sonship and others who believe that the tree of life is a literal real planted tree, keep avoiding by well thought out, on topic and pertinent question:

Where is the tree of life now?

The tree of life is again mentioned in Revelation as being in heaven:

“And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.

In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.”

(Revelation 22:1-2)

Originally posted by @romans1009
Apparently the tree of life is in heaven, tiger:

“He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.”

(Revelation 2:7)

Why are you so obsessed with it? It’s not a tree of barley and hops.

But sonship claims that the mentions of the tree of life in the book of Revelation are not literal, but signs. Are you claiming that the mentions of the tree of life in Revelation are literal descriptions?

Originally posted by @divegeester
You, sonship and others who believe that the tree of life is a literal real planted tree, keep avoiding by well thought out, on topic and pertinent question:

Where is the tree of life now?

I know you don’t like copy-and-paste, but this is pretty interesting and directly addresses your question:

“What Happened to the Tree of Life? Did the Flood Destroy It?

Nowhere in the early passages of Genesis do we read that anyone tried to force their way back into the Garden of Eden to get to the Tree of Life. One would presume that even descendants of Adam and Eve would have lived forever had they eaten from the Tree of Life as well.

Considering how long most people lived before the Flood (at least the ones recorded in Genesis 5), the pre-Flood population may not have been as interested in prolonging their lives as we would be with our shorter post-Flood life spans.

The Flood of Noah’s day was more than likely the event that annihilated both the Garden of Eden and its contents. It would be at this time that the Cherubim would no longer need to guard the path to the Tree of Life. Also, keep in mind that God did not declare that trees/plants (or even marine life) would all be preserved (like land animals that breath through the nostrils—Genesis 6:18–20, 7:21–23).

So, extinction could have been a possibility with a variety of kinds—perhaps including both the Tree of Life and The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.

However, one needs to be careful here, too. There are other possibilities that we may have overlooked. For example, in a sin-cursed world, things rarely stay the same. With the curse, God no longer upholds the universe perfectly and things run down and have problems. As a result, we are in a world full of detrimental mutations that have been killing off living things. With natural selection and mutations, the offspring of the Tree of Life could have lost the ability to heal. In light of this, if the Tree of Life does still exist today, it could be so degraded that we would not recognize it, nor would its effects be what they were originally.

More About the Tree of Life

It is true that the Tree of Life is in heaven, but I would still lean against the tree simply being transplanted to heaven. If this were the case, then why did God place the cherubim to guard the way to it on earth? Also, in Genesis 3, God cursed the ground due to man’s sin. This curse directly affected vegetation (e.g., thorns and thistles). This particular aspect was brought out specifically. The Lord surely revealed this to us, knowing full-well that He would wear a crown of thorns at the time of his crucifixion.

Regardless, the vegetation was a recipient of this curse to the ground (for their very roots grow in the ground). So this means that the curse affected the Tree of Life that was in the Garden. With this in mind consider that nothing unclean, defiled or impure will ever enter into heaven as per Revelation 21:27 (even people must be made clean and pure through Christ’s blood to enter). So it makes more sense that the Tree of Life in heaven was created in heaven.

Further to this, in heaven, there is more than one Tree of Life (one on each side of the river) in Revelation 22:2. Yet, there was only one mentioned in the Garden. I pray this helps clarify why I didn’t leave transplantation open as a possibility.”

https://answersingenesis.org/genesis/garden-of-eden/questions-about-the-tree-of-life/

Originally posted by @divegeester
But sonship claims that the mentions of the tree of life in the book of Revelation are not literal, but signs. Are you claiming that the mentions of the tree of life in Revelation are literal descriptions?

Yes, I think they are

Originally posted by @romans1009
Yes, I think they are

Where do you believe the tree of life is now?