There was nothing poisonous in the fruit of the tree of knowledge itself, nothing that would cause death in partaking of it. The tree had been placed in the garden to test their loyalty to God.—ST Feb. 13, 1896. {TA 56.2}

There was nothing poisonous in the fruit. It was not Satan's plan to destroy Adam and Eve. His goal was to take them into bondage to him and use them in the war against God. The highest conscentation of mobile genetic elements are in DNA that codes for the CNS. To say there was nothing poisonous in the fruit, does not say there was nothing in the fruit.

Adam and Eve were permitted to eat of all the trees in their Eden home, save one. The Lord said to the holy pair, “In the day that ye eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, ye shall surely die.” [See Genesis 3.] Eve was beguiled by the serpent, and made to believe that God would not do as he had said. She ate, and thinking she felt the sensation of a new and more exalted life, she bore the fruit to her husband. The serpent had said that she should not die, and she felt no ill effects from eating the fruit,—nothing which could be interpreted to mean death, but, instead, a pleasurable sensation, which she imagined was as the angels felt. Her experience stood arrayed against the positive command of Jehovah, yet Adam permitted himself to be seduced by it. {3T 72.1}

The target of a majority of mobile genetic elements is the CNS. What Eve experienced is not surprising.

Adam quite well understood that his companion had transgressed the only prohibition laid upon them as a test of their fidelity and love. Eve reasoned that the serpent said they should not surely die, and his words must be true, for she felt no signs of God's displeasure, but a pleasant influence, as she imagined the angels felt. Adam regretted that Eve had left his side; but now the deed was done. He must be separated from her whose society he had loved so well. How could he have it thus? His love for Eve was strong, and in utter discouragement he resolved to share her fate. He reasoned that Eve was a part of himself; and if she must die, he would die with her; for he could not bear the thought of separation from her. He did not think that God, who had created him a living, beautiful form out of the dust of the ground, and had given him Eve to be his companion, could supply her place. After all, might not the words of this wise serpent be correct? Eve was before him, just as lovely and beautiful, and apparently as innocent, as before this act of disobedience. She expressed greater, higher love for him than before her disobedience, as the effect of the fruit she had eaten. He saw in her no signs of death. She had told him of the happy influence of the fruit, of her ardent love for him, and he decided to brave the consequences. He seized the fruit and quickly ate it, and, like Eve, felt not immediately its ill effects. {ST, January 23, 1879 par. 1}

There was nothing in the fruit of the tree of knowledge that was dangerous in itself, but the danger was in Adam and Eve listening to Satan and venturing to transgress. Here was Eve listening to the voice of the tempter. His words were contradicting the words of God that death was the penalty of transgression. Satan says, "Ye shall not die." God says, "If ye eat of it ye shall die." Whom shall we believe? {1SAT 227.2}

The fruit of the tree of life in the Garden of Eden possessed supernatural virtue. To eat of it was to live forever. Its fruit was the antidote of death. Its leaves were for the sustaining of life and immortality. But through man's disobedience death entered the world. Adam ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, the fruit of which he had been forbidden to touch. This was his test. He failed, and his transgression opened the floodgates of woe upon our world. {MM 233.5}

The Tree of Life was biologically active. It is not a far stretch that the "seeds of death" was sown in the forbidden fruit. God is not arbitrary. He would not have forbidden the fruit without cause. What was sown in the fruit may have been a substance which destroyed the mechanisms which would be necessary to ward off further attacks to come.

The Lord has given me a view of other worlds. Wings were given me, and an angel attended me from the city to a place that was bright and glorious. The grass of the place was living green, and the birds there warbled a sweet song. The inhabitants of the place were of all sizes; they were noble, majestic, and lovely. They bore the express image of Jesus, and their countenances beamed with holy joy, expressive of the freedom and happiness of the place. I asked one of them why they were so much more lovely than those on the earth. The reply was, "We have lived in strict obedience to the commandments of God, and have not fallen by disobedience, like those on the earth." Then I saw two trees, one looked much like the tree of life in the city. The fruit of both looked beautiful, but of one they could not eat. They had power to eat of both, but were forbidden to eat of one. Then my attending angel said to me, "None in this place have tasted of the forbidden tree; but if they should eat, they would fall." {EW 39.3}

Again - eathing the fruit was necessary for other worlds to fall. It was a necessary ingredient in the fall of Adam and Eve. God did not design our system as it currently is, with all the inherited diseases and woe. Those "seeds" are in the DNA.

Man is God's property, and the ruin that has been made of the living habitation, the suffering caused by the seeds of death sown in the human system, are an offense to God.-- Letter 73, 1896. – Medical Ministry, page 229. {Te 87.5}

Satan corrupted the human system. Just the high sin of the antedeluvian world was genetic engineering being about amalgamations of man and beast, Satan corrupted the human system. And not only man, but of all creation, all life is afflicted by the seeds Satan sowed.

In drooping flower and falling leaf Adam and his companion witnessed the first signs of decay. Vividly was brought to their minds the stern fact that every living thing must die. Even the air, upon which their life depended, bore the seeds of death. {Ed 26.3}
Continually they were reminded also of their lost dominion. Among the lower creatures Adam had stood as king, and so long as he remained loyal to God, all nature acknowledged his rule; but when he transgressed, this dominion was forfeited. The spirit of rebellion, to which he himself had given entrance, extended throughout the animal creation. Thus not only the life of man, but the nature of the beasts, the trees of the forest, the grass of the field, the very air he breathed, all told the sad lesson of the knowledge of evil. {Ed 26.4}
This intimation also nature repeats to us. Though marred by sin, it speaks not only of creation but of redemption. Though the earth bears testimony to the curse in the evident signs of decay, it is still rich and beautiful in the tokens of life-giving power. The trees cast off their leaves, only to be robed with fresher verdure; the flowers die, to spring forth in new beauty; and in every manifestation of creative power is held out the assurance that we may be created anew in "righteousness and holiness of truth." Ephesians 4:24, margin. Thus the very objects and operations of nature that bring so vividly to mind our great loss become to us the messengers of hope. {Ed 27.2}
As far as evil extends, the voice of our Father is heard, bidding His children see in its results the nature of sin, warning them to forsake the evil, and inviting them to receive the good. {Ed 27.3}

All nature is marred by sin. Please explain to me how that happened. The nature of beast, the nature of trees of the forest! The grass of the field! The seeds of death are in the air we breath.

Christ never planted the seeds of death in the system. Satan planted these seeds when he tempted Adam to eat of the tree of knowledge, which meant disobedience to God. Not one noxious plant was placed in the Lord's great garden, but after Adam and Eve sinned, poisonous herbs sprang up. In the parable of the sower the question was asked the master, "Didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? From whence then hath it tares?" The master answered, "An enemy hath done this." [Matthew 13:27, 28.] All tares are sown by the evil one. Every noxious herb is of his sowing, and by his ingenious methods of amalgamation he has corrupted the earth with tares. {16MR 247.2}

Then seeds of death were planted when Adam was tempted to eat of the tree of knowledge. Sin, when it is full grown, brings forth death, James 1:15

Here is a question - who will answer? How many falls did man have?

If there had been something in the fruit which altered Adam's and Eve's DNA/genome (such as by mobilizing and/or adding "selfish DNA") then Mrs. White's statements that the fruit was harmless would be false.

Conclusion: The fruit was harmless and did not affect their DNA in any way. No "sin" was added to their DNA by eating of the fruit.

The real issue here involves proper understanding of the "seed" symbol. I don't have time just now to address it, but perhaps in a later post.

Blessings,

Green Cochoa.

The quote is, "the fruit itself was harmless". If I put cyanide in an apple, the apple itself is still harmless, but that added ingredient is harmful. I need to take all that EGW has said on the topic, which I have in my collection of quotations. To be honest, there may have been nothing at all in the fruit, but when Adam took the step of eating then he was fair game and that is when Satan corrupted his nature. That could be the case. EGW is clear in my last quote, that Satan planned the "seeds of death" when he tempted Adam to eat. As to the topic of seed, keep in mind that "Even the air, upon which their life depended, bore the seeds of death. {Ed 26.3}" The hypothesis still is that mobile genetic elements (of which viruses are one type) are responsible for all disease and death, and is borne on in many papers. Sin relates to disease as cause and effect.

Viruses in the air:
**In each cubic meter of air, there are between 1.6 million and 40 million viruses. In this study, half were of the viruses did not match any known species.

Did God create viruses?

It is both. You can't separate the two cleanly.

Did God create our immune system?

Blessings,

Green Cochoa.

Good question - thank you for asking! Romans 5:20-21 But law came in, with the result that the trespass multiplied; but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, 21 so that, just as sin exercised dominion in death, so grace might also exercise dominion through justification leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Do you think that before sin, that one part of God's creation would war against another, as the immune system does? Did we have auto-immune diseases where the body attacked its own tissue? Did we need defenses against attacks by harmful bacteria and viruses? God's work is prefect (Deu 32:4). But here is what we do find. Mobile genetic elements are responsible for the systems such as the HLA (Human Lymphocyte Antigent). No mobile genetic elements, no HLA. No HLA, many of the problems with tissue typing go away. I'm being a big simplistic.

I have many papers on just one molecule, the Neu5Gc molecute, which can cause autoimmune diseases, inflammation leading to heart disease and stroke, and also initiate and cause the spread of cancer. (google it). At the heart of the problem is on ALU transposon, which has destroyed the CMAH gene in all humans. Great apes do not have this problem. All diseases come back to a common starting point, mobile genetic elements in our genome. The Neu5Gc problem is caused by one transposon. We have [i]millions[i] in our genome. And our immune system has them all cataloged and tries to eliminate them, or lock them down. That should also be a hit that these things are against us.

"It is impossible to explain the origin of sin so as to give a reason for its existence." "Sin is an intruder, for whose presence no reason can be given." "Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee." (GC chapter 29 - read the entire chapter) We can't fathom why Satan wanted to sin. It is incredible that he wanted to modify/destroy that which God had made. But that does not mean we can not understand what sin is and how destructive it is. You can not change the law of how God has created us to operate. Sin is transgression of the law. It is not a legal problem, it is a real problem.

I forgot to put this verse in in this context. Genesis 3:15 "And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; it shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel." Enmity - hostility, between "your seed" and "her seed". Some translations use offspring instead of seed, but does Satan have direct offspring? Satan tempted man to sin, as he had caused angels to rebel, that he might thus secure co-operation in his warfare against Heaven. There was no dissension between himself and the fallen angels as regards their hatred of Christ; while on all other points there was discord, they were firmly united in opposing the authority of the Ruler of the universe. But when Satan heard the declaration that enmity should exist between himself and the woman, and between his seed and her seed, he knew that his efforts to deprave human nature would be interrupted (immune system?); that by some means man was to be enabled to resist his power. {GC 505.3}

APL,

I studied a fair bit of biology in college. It was my favorite subject. I remember learning that the ocean is chock full of viruses. A thimble full of sea water contains over a million viruses. Guess what? They won't hurt you. You may play to your heart's content at the beach. The ocean's viruses are harmless.

Viruses aren't living organisms. Do they affect us? Can they spread? Yes, of course. Many other non-living things can also.

I believe God made viruses. At least, God made the original molecules and genetic information. God also cursed the ground, speaking the first thorns and thistles into existence. The devil cannot create. He has no power to form life. But he can manipulate. This he has done. The problem plants and animals we have today have been tailored through the devil's genius to become more and more pestilent and harmful. Our own bodies have grown weaker and less able to defend us against such as the devil has engineered. These are all results of sin.

If I build a new weapon, the weapon is not "sin." The weapon is a fruit of sin. The weapon has no ability to transgress God's law. It may be used in a manner that is contrary to the will of God, but the "sinner" is not the weapon, rather the person who uses it. So it is with these organisms in nature. For example, a child born with trisomy 13 (Down's syndrome) is not "sin." We do not have any obligation to "destroy the sinful thing" in an attempt to erase all "sin." The genetic defect is a result of sin--it was caused by sin, but is not itself "sin." Sin is not in the genes, but in the mind. Sin is a choice. Those things which have no ability to choose right or wrong cannot sin. A tree, even though it has DNA, cannot sin. Even though the tree's DNA has been harmed by sin, it does not itself transgress God's law.



Blessings,

Green Cochoa.

Why are they harmless? For one, our immune system wars against them. For another, not all are targeted towards us. Does not all create groan under the weight of sin? Yes!

If you studied biology in college, which I going to guess, was more that 10 years ago, and if you studied genetics at all, then you are woefully out of date. I know a world class genetics researcher, who retired more that 10 years ago, and is very behind the lastest in genetics.

"The devil cannot create". That is a profound statement. And I dare say, quite nieve. Can you create? Have you ever designed and built anything? I'll bet you have. I think you meant to say, the devil cannot create life. To this, I would agree. But guess what? Viruses are not alive. They are tools, information modifying tools. Yes, God created the atoms and molecules, and the laws the govern them. God created the original genetic information, which contains His laws of how to build and maintain organisms. Give me one good thing a virus does naturally. Can you? A virus is the ultimate of selfishness. EGW: "All sin is selfishness." Viruses are destructive. Viruses are only one class of mobile genetic elements. There are others. Others which work like copy and paste in a word processor. Others that just cut. They bring in alternate promotors which rewrite how the genetic code is interpreter.



You have taken biology in College. Good! Please tell HOW sin causes genetic defects? How does sin cause death. (or is death only execution by God?)

The world today is full of pain and suffering and agony. But is it the will of God that such a condition shall exist? -- No. God, the Creator of our bodies, has arranged every fiber and nerve, and sinew and muscle, and has pledged himself to keep the machinery in order, if the human agent will cooperate with him, and refuse to work contrary to the laws which govern the physical system. {SpM 40.5}

God's law is written by His own finger upon every nerve, every muscle, every faculty which has been entrusted to man. {SpM 40.5}


HOW is God's law written on every nerve, muscle, every faculty? It is written in the DNA which is THE information carrying molecule in all life.

Satan, the prince of evil, the author of sin, the first transgressor of God's holy law.--The Great Controversy, Introduction, pp. x, xi. {3SM 40.2}

What is an author? One who writes. Satan wrote the code of sin in order to efface the image of God in man. Remember, it was genetic engineering which was the highest crime that the antedeluvians committed. It is the high crime that Satan did. Satan sought to correct the law of God in heaven, and to supply an amendment of his own {ST November 19, 1894 par. 2}

Careful now Green. God did not cause the thorns or the thistles. God did give the pronouncement that this would happen. And it did. But WHO created the thorn and the thistle? Satan and his genetic engineering! All tares are sown by the evil one. Every noxious herb is of his sowing, and by his ingenious methods of amalgamation he has corrupted the earth with tares. {16MR 247.2}. That's pretty clear, is it not?

Is the transgression of the law limited to just humans? No!

The Lord's curse is upon the earth, upon man, upon beast, upon the fish in the sea, and as transgression becomes almost universal the curse will be permitted to become as broad and as deep as the transgression (Letter 59, 1898). {1BC 1085.9}
Though mared by sin, we can still see tokens of God's love.

Tokens of God's Continued Love.--After the transgression of Adam, God might have destroyed every opening bud and blooming flower, or He might have taken away their fragrance, so grateful to the senses. In the earth seared and marred by the curse, in the briers, the thistles, the thorns, the tares, we may read the law of condemnation; but in the delicate color and perfume of the flowers, we may learn that God still loves us, that His mercy is not wholly withdrawn from the earth (RH Nov. 8, 1898). {1BC 1085.10}

Did you read this quote carefully? Adam's transgression might have destroyed every bud, fragrance and flower. but God's mercy has not been wholly withdrawn. Remember Genesis 3:15???

It is Satan's constant effort to misrepresent the character of God, the nature of sin, and the real issues at stake in the great controversy. {GC 569.1}

I think Satan has done a good job in misrepresenting the nature of sin. A very good job.

Blessings,

Green Cochoa.