[Serafine]

BTW, there are at least a few Messianic teachers that absolutely do NOT believe that G-d planted the tree of good and evil in the garden, but rather that is was actually planted by the enemy.

If you read the actual text it says:

And the LORD God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

NIV

And out of the ground the LORD God made every tree grow that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

It doesn't actually say that G-d planted BOTH of those trees. And the 1st part of the verse says G-d made every tree grow that was pleasant AND good for food. Clearly the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was NOT good for food, since it brought death and sin to the world.

I can't get to blb.org right now for some reason...so I can't actually look at the Hebrew to verify those 2 translations. BUT, the theory is that the creation scripture, along with the following 2 statements...as well as what we know about the character of G-d...give enough doubt as to whether HE planted the tree...or whether He simply left it there.

B) in another passage, it says that whatever G-d plants, He does not root up (I haven't looked this up yet...it was quoted in the video I saw, but I can't remember where in Scripture He quoted it from)

And, at the end of time...we see passages referring to the tree of life still being planted...but no mention of the other.

So, while it is not CLEAR that G-d or someone else planted the tree of good and evil...there is at least enough evidence to suggest that in fact, it might not have been G-d.

Anyway...just throwing this out there to give you something to consider...I haven't come to a conclusion on it one way or another yet...b/c it doesn't matter in the least to me re:how I parent or who G-d is.

ETA: I realize this sounds really wacky (and it may very well be...like I said, I haven't delved into it)...I thought so too when I first heard about it, but it at least gets me about everything, which I think is a good thing.