I have a couple of liberating thoughts that I want to share and it⠙s best to soak them in gradually because what I intend to write surely doesn⠙t fit the ⠜fundamentalist paradigms⠜. But, remember that truth (any truth) is initially rejected when it opposes our existing belief systems. I want to start with some foundational principles and concepts of writing.

I grew up laboring to make sense of so many things that my denominational teachers passed along to me that they said were LITERAL! Let me say up front that the second creation story (Beginning with Genesis 2:4) is an ALLEGORY and isnâ ™t LITERAL! Keep your powder dry until we get through at least a couple days of pondering and then fire away.

I need to set the table before we dive in, so let me brief and review your memory of those high school English classes.

The Old Testament is full of metaphors and allegories: the New Testament is full of parables and aphorisms (primarily used by Jesus). And strewn throughout the Bible are similes.

Allegories are similar to metaphors: in both the author uses one subject to represent another, seemingly unrelated, subject. However, unlike metaphors, which are generally short and contained within a few lines, an allegory extends its representation over the course of an entire story, novel, or poem. Thus the Garden story is more of an allegory than a metaphor (as I define the words).

Letâ ™s review!

1-A Metaphor is a figure of speech using the substitution of one idea or object for another wherein it does not literally denote, in order to suggest a similarity or several similarities.
2-An Allegory is a short moral story or fable that conveys a meaning other than or in addition to the literal.
3-A Simile compares two objects, but with only one likeness or comparison.
4-A Hyperbole is an exaggeration or overstatement.
5-A Parables are simple, short stories illustrating a moral lesson.
6-An Aphorisms are brief pithy statements that are most often satiric.

My point for today is to validate the allegorical format by looking at the tree.

Have you seen those beautiful OAK trees in the Hill Country, the ASPENS of Colorado, the FIR of Washington State, the BLACK WALNUT in Missouri, and the ASH trees of Ireland? I have seen all of the above and many more.

What I have NOT seen is a tree of good and evil!

Have you? Or is that a metaphor (contained within an allegory)?

If there was such a tree, what kind of fruit would it produce, or would it produce any fruit at all. Would the fruit be literal or metaphorical? And why do so many preachers speak of Eve luring Adam with the APPLE?

APPLE, what APPLE? Whereâ ™s that in the second creation story? Go back and read Genesis 2 and 3 as a refresher and weâ ™ll dive deeper on this tree and then tackle the Adam and Eve part: literal people, or?