Haha I was probably trying a little hard to be provocative here. I don't know if this would be the actual interpretation I would put forward. I have never read the story as a believer but I read it in classes. It is short so it is open to a lot of interpretation. I am much more familiar with Milton's version in Paradise Lost. There he presents it as a sort of "happy fall" (there is a Latin term that escapes me) in the sense that this new knowledge will ultimately lead to salvation but that we must learn to apply it. That is one way to read the poem anyway. It does blend nicely with the reading you present. "The children" must learn the hard way.

Haha I hear Jack Nicholson's voice in my head as read that last sentence. lol