Can anyone tell me

what the fruit was that Eve ate to get her and Adam kicked out of the garden?

 

It was fruit of the Tree of Knowledge. In other words, logical understanding of the Universe. Beware it, if you want to remain "saved".

 

Satan said it was the tree of knowledge of good and evil. God didn't specify what it was; He just said, "Don't eat it, and don't touch it."

 

I kinda have a questions related to this. How long before"God" created humans was "Satan" banned to hell? If they had no knowledge of evil how could have "Satan" appeared to them? How could he have even tempted in the first place? There would have been no such thing as temptation in their minds. I can go on with this line of thought but I will leave it here for now.

 

I don't think the Bible says how long, probably because it was long before there was an earth or a sun for it to orbit around. Satan's fate was sealed when he incited a rebellion against God, taking 1/3 of all the other angels with him (Revelation 12). The temptation of mankind was just icing on the cake. But according to the Bible, Satan has not been placed in hell yet. That will happen on Judgment Day.

In this case, the temptation was just the introduction of an alternative. Adam and Eve lived in complete harmony with God up to that point. It appears from the setting, it simply never occurred to either of them to disobey or even second-guess God before Satan suggested it.

 

If the fruit gave them the knowledge of good and evil then how could have "Satan" tempted them before they partook of it. They would not have known what temptation was. With out the fruit "Satan" would have meant nothing to them.

 

The most obvious and least-asked question from that whole story is: How is the Serpent of the Garden a villain at all? Isn't the gift of self-aware intellect what makes us distinct from all other known forms of life? Doesn't that justify gratitude rather than scorn and hatred?

 

The fruit didn't give them that knowledge. It was just fruit. The temptation was the introduction of evil into the world, and their decision to act on that temptation was the manifestation of it.

In other words until that point, man had never rebelled against, disobeyed, or ignored God. The choice to give into the temptation was the first instance of such a behavior in man's history. That choice is what the Bible calls "sin" (sin being a Latin word that mean's 'without').

 

The serpent was the villain because he made Adam and Eve aware of an option that would ultimately ruin the harmonious existence they had experienced with God.

 

Why would more, not less knowledge and awareness be grounds for a damaged relationship between humans and a loving Creator? Did God intend for humans to remain docile, drooling imbeciles unaware of their own nakedness for all time, or was the opening of their eyes "a part of the plan the whole time?" If the latter is to be believed, doesn't that make "original sin" a bit of a scam? If the former is the case, isn't the Serpent more of a friend to mankind than God, more to be given credit for our uniqueness among living things?

From a literary standpoint, I don't see anything praiseworthy or admirable in God's motives in either possible reading of the Genesis myth. God demands servitude and obedience; mankind's happiness, growth, liberty and pleasure are irrelevant. Any other character possessing these traits in any other setting would be called a tyrant. But then the circular reasoning kicks in: God can't be evil, because God is good. Even evil is good if God does it...