This image came my way on Facebook. There is more information about the tree on the National Geograohic website. Of course, by calling this post “tree of knowledge” I will be setting some readers on edge because of the allusion to Genesis. But that reaction itself reflects a problematic understanding of the passage. I doubt there are many people who actually think that living as immature and naive children in a garden forever would be desirable. The story is about growing up, which involves learning wisdom and discernment between good and evil.
It is thus profoundly ironic that young-earth creationists oppose the learning of discernment, in a manner that suggests that they have not read the Bible either carefully or reflectively. The Bible is full of wisdom teaching that encourages people to look closely at natural phenomena and learn from them.
“Look to the ant, you sluggard!” We need to add, “Look to the Swedish Spruce tree, you young-earth creationist!”
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