I received a POTM for my take on the A&E parable, and I guess I'd like to run it up the flagpole again in this thread. I'll make it shorter and to the point.
It is not a literal statement, and neither is it a discussion of how humans were tested and so became sinful.
To me it is a fable showing that the end of happiness in life is pretense to knowledge of good and evil. That is when humans play god, and judge the world based on their own criteria, rather than simply living and accepting the world as it is.
Everything in life is made worse and eternal life would be just a greater extension of hell. One truly loses paradise.
I think the elements for this interpretation are clear enough, but I can go through it again if people want.
holmes
"...what a fool believes he sees, no wise man has the power to reason away.."(D. Bros)
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