In the Garden of Eden, God created Adam and He also created Eve as Adam's spouse. Thus, when we find in the Garden of Eden a tree symbolizing the perfected man who has accomplished the ideal of creation, mustn't there be another tree symbolizing the perfected woman who has also accomplished the ideal of creation? The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, which was described as standing with the Tree of Life, is this very tree.

In the Bible, Jesus is referred to as the vine (John 15:5) or the olive tree (Rom. 11:17). Likewise, perfected Adam and Eve are represented by two different trees. Thus God has given a clue to fallen man as to the secret of the human fall. In the Garden of Eden the Tree of Life and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil were not literal trees but symbols of the two important individuals, Adam and Eve, who were the nucleus and center of the ideal of creation. God's entire ideal of creation is to be accomplished through people. Seen in this light, the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil must by a symbol of Eve. But to further clarify and prove this point, let us examine the true character of the serpent mentioned in the third chapter of Genesis.