Adam & Eve

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             God knew that since both Adam and Eve had now gained knowledge of both good and evil they would soon learn to really appreciate life and all it has to offer. And for this reason the couple was expelled from paradise. Had Eve ignored the serpent and refused to eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil perhaps civilization would still exist as nirvana. However happiness and in effect perfection is relative. A beautiful spring day is only as beautiful as the worst storm you have experienced. .
             In exchange for knowledge and as a result of Eve's actions man was required to labor for his food, while his companion, woman, was to bear the pain of childbirth. But perhaps the most significant consequence that came from eating the apple from the forbidden tree was mankind's mortality. ?until you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; you are dust, and to dust you shall return.? Before this passage nowhere was death, or an end to life, addressed. Of course the presence of the tree of life within the Garden of Eden suggests that mortality may be an issue, however an uncertain one at best. When the story begins the option of immortality does exist for all of God's creatures, but once Eve chooses to disobey the orders given to her this option is eliminated. .
             Does this mean that Eve's actions were bad? The bible itself doesn't seem to take a position on this, and perhaps this is so because it is the wrong question to be asking. Instead what should be focused upon is why God chose to place the tree of knowledge of good and evil in the garden if he was simply going to forbid its being eaten? Maybe he wished to see what mankind would do when faced with such an option. Would they choose the tree of life? Or would they choose what they had explicitly been told to stay away from, the tree of knowledge of good and evil? Regardless of the decision, by creating the choice itself God has instilled upon mankind free will.