Question:
Answer:
The consensus of theologians is that the tree of good and evil was present as a test for Adam and Eve. The tree gave Adam and Eve a choice to obey God or disobey God. The forbidding of eating from that tree was the only thing that Adam and Eve were instructed not to do. So this was not a matter of being confused by too many commandments or being overwhelmed by commandments. They were given one clear simple rule. It tested whether Adam and Eve trusted God.
If that tree had not existed, Adam and Eve would have lived in a world without any real choice or commitment. Their only choices would have been what to eat and what direction to walk in. Such a world is not befitting a creature that can freely make moral choices. The “downside” to having the freedom to choose is that we can make the wrong choice, but it is essential to the nature of free choice and gives meaning to our right choices.