rrhian earlier writes:
If I tell you that you will die before sunset today and you don't die, was I telling you the truth?
Your interpreting "on the day...surely will" here in a way that implies God was lying (or issuing empty threats or simply wrong) - as Adam didn't die that day. If this is possible then....
rrahain writes:
After all, god panics as soon as he hears that Adam and Eve have eaten from the tree of knowledge and kicks them out lest they eat from the tree of life and become immortal.
...on what basis do you think God wasn't lying here, getting it wrong etc? It seems as soon as you include possibilities of God lying,being wrong, etc., then discussion becomes impossible
In order to discuss we must assume that God doesn't lie or get things wrong or issue empty threats. If that is agreed then "on the day" + Adam living as long as he did = the abililty to die entered.
Meaning immortality before.
And since carnivores don't survive on vegetarian diets, this must mean that there was death before the fall or a great many animals would have starved to death.
And if such dramatic changes could take place such as an immortal being changing to become mortal then a lot of other things are relative childs play to accept as being able to occur
Then what was the point of the tree of life?
The function of the tree of life is open to debate. We know that it could give eternal life to a mortal person (assuming God was telling the truth here) but what other functions it might fulfill are open to question. Whether we know what they are or not does not indicate that the function described was the only one possible