I'll let EGW answer that: "The fruit itself was harmless. If God had not forbidden Adam and Eve to partake of the fruit of the tree of knowledge, their action in taking it would not have been sinful. Up to the moment of God's prohibition, Adam might have eaten of the fruit of that tree without realizing any harm. But after God had said, Thou shalt not eat, the act became a crime of great magnitude."

God is not arbitrary. There was a reason why God commanded Adam not to eat of the tree. And we know what she said happened to all of creation when Adam ate the fruit.

EGW said: The fruit itself was harmless.
APL said: The MGEs were in the fruit.
Melashenko said: iniquity = MGEs

The logical conclusion is that at least some MGEs, and therefore some iniquity, are harmless. That doesn't sound right.

Sigh - - EGW said in the quote above, the fruit was harmless up to the moment God prohibited it.

It looks like it was God's prohibition that made it harmful to eat that fruit. But this paradigm says that the "harmfulness" comes from MGEs. How did God's command result in MGEs in the fruit?

OH - put the blame on God! Nice.

You might want to read your quote again: If God had not forbidden Adam and Eve to partake of the fruit of the tree of knowledge, their action in taking it would not have been sinful.

I was expecting your reaction, given your previous statements. In fact, I'm surprised you even brought up this quote, since it strikes down some of your most cherished beliefs.

But it seems pretty clear that without God's prohibition, the fruit would have been completely harmless. So the question is clear: How did God's command result in MGEs in the fruit?

I doubt you can answer that and still keep true to Melashenko's conjecture.

If a Father tells His son to not play in the street, has the Father now made the street a dangerous place? Is the Father to blame? I guess by your reasoning, YES! The Father is to be blamed. God was stating the truth, don't eat from that tree. God did not cause the problem, Satan did. God's command was to protect Adam and Eve, not cause them misery.

DA 58 paragraph 1, "In the judgment of the universe, God will stand clear of blame for the existence or continuance of evil. It will be demonstrated that the divine decrees are not accessory to sin. There was no defect in God's government, no cause for disaffection"

I think you've gone around the bush so many times you got dizzy. Let's keep a laser focus and see if we can make progress.

Did God forbid the fruit because it was harmful to eat? Or was the fruit harmful to eat because God forbade it? Which is the cause and which is the effect?

If you say the fruit was harmful and that's why God forbade it, that would seem to contradict your SOP quote. Furthermore, it would mean that something God had made was harmful even before sin entered.

If you say that God forbade it and that's why it's harmful, that would mean that disobedience is lethal even if the action itself is inherently harmless. That means disobeying God's command is the true culprit, not malicious genetic elements.

Now, you may question the causal relationship between God's command and harm from eating the fruit, but that would make God seem arbitrary.

You are right - it gets dizzying. "The fruit itself was harmless. If God had not forbidden Adam and Eve to partake of the fruit of the tree of knowledge, their action in taking it would not have been sinful. Up to the moment of God's prohibition, Adam might have eaten of the fruit of that tree without realizing any harm. But after God had said, Thou shalt not eat, the act became a crime of great magnitude."

Break it down.
1. The fruit was harmless when created
2. God then commanded to not eat of the fruit - - WHY? What was the reason that God commanded Adam and Eve to not eat from the fruit? That is the question.

What is arbitrary is God commanding not to eat of the fruit if it was no harm. As created, it was perfect. But Satan was limited to that tree only. He could not harass Adam and Eve anywhere else. What else do we know from the SOP?

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. {2SM 288.2}

So no question that Satan unleashed his weapons when Adam ate from the tree. She goes on in this quote to tell us that it was genetic engineering, "ingenious methods of amalgamation". Fits Melashenko's hypothesis perfectly.

The Lord would not have them investigate the fruit of the tree of knowledge, for then they would be exposed to Satan masked. He knew that they would be perfectly safe if they touched not the fruit. {1SP 40.2}

There you have the reason for the first quote above. God commanded them to not eat the fruit so they would remain save. Maybe there was nothing in the fruit. I don't know, I was not there. However, but eating the fruit, they were in Satan's hands, and that is when Satan "planted the seeds of death in the system".

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}

No eating, no fall.

Adam was required to render perfect obedience to God, not only in his own behalf, but in behalf of his posterity. God promised him that if he would stand the test of temptation, preserving his allegiance to the Creator during the great trial to which he would be subjected, his obedience would ensure his acceptance and favor with God. He would then be forever established in holiness and happiness, and these blessings would extend to all his posterity. But Adam failed to bear the test. And because he revolted against God's law, all his descendants have been sinners. {9MR 229.1}

Adam's fall brought down his posterity. ALL of his descendants have been sinners. It is genetic.

Eve was told that there was nothing bad in the tree, that its fruit was of such a character as would give increased knowledge. Does not Satan come to us in just that way? Does he not present attractions, and try to make us believe that if we will pursue a certain course, contrary to the law of God, something will be gained by it? But after they had yielded to the temptations of Satan, Adam and Eve found that they had met with terrible loss, and so will everyone in our world who yields to the temptations of the enemy to indulge appetite, find that it is a fearful loss to them. {9MR 232.3}

So there was nothing bad in the tree, that is what Eve was told! But what do we see happened to them?

APL seems crystal clear to me, but then my weakness is that I lack the education of an engineer. My mind does not function so that I see the flaws in APL's arguments.

That, in itself, makes it even more clear to me. Do I need to be an engineer to see what God did wrong? Is such a knowledge essential to my eternal well being? Wasn't that just what Satan tempted Eve to discover?