I think the Tree of Knowledge is a bit of a mystery, but we can examine what happened both before and after partaking of the fruit. Satan came to Adam tempting him; telling him there was something deficient about him. He refused to listen. To Eve, he said the same thing. Eve heard his saying and afterward the effect was "I am deficient, I am unloved, I am unworthy." Was partaking of the fruit believing that lie? The lie of deficiency is present both before and after partaking, but one refused to believe, at least initially, and therefore remained "without sin." What sin did he remain without? He refused to speak and invest faith in lies against himself.

Eve acted in "haste". There was something wrong about her, so she believed, and instead of believing what was true, she hastened to fix what was wrong with the false image she created in her head. "Haste" is also present both before and after partaking.

Is it true that they were "deficient" when they were created, or were they exactly as God intended them to be at that time?

As their children, we think a lot. We create all sorts of images in our head. We believe so-and-so is just a wicked person. We invest our faith in these images and believe them with all our heart, and often when confronted with truth, we distort what we see to conform to the image in our head. We worship these false images and become willing to kill and die for them.

Satan is the great liar, and when we die, what sacrifices will we see that we have made against Iove to satisfy our faith?

 

See Also

The McGurk Effect