If god didn't want us to have knowledge of good and evil, then why did he make a tree that produced fruit that gave somebody such knowledge? If you say "Man has free will, so God put it there to see if whether or not we would obey him," well, since that particular tree served no other purpose other than as a source of temptation, I deduce that your god is nothing but a sadistic being. Also, this totally contradicts the popular belief that god doesn't tempt people to do evil (at least that's what Christian say when they talk about this part of the Lord's prayer: "and lead me not into temptation, but deliver us from evil"). And if god can see the future, then he knew that creating such a tree would produce the results that it did, so why did he act so surprised at what Adam and Eve did.
2006-12-12 05:19:50 · 17 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Pulga: "For the same reason parents let their children make their own mistakes to learn something. Otherwise, we wouldn't of learned it right. "
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Parent's don't roast their children in hell for eternity if they screw up.
2006-12-12 05:34:26 · update #1
Thanks for all the answers. Many answers say that God wants the best for us. Nobody adresses the "or else" aspect. How can God love all but condemn those good people to eternal torture simply because, by their own lights, they cannot find it within their system of logic to believe in Him?
2006-12-12 06:44:31 · update #2
~~~Eagle ,,,,Keep researching and asking these questions to yourself and you will eventually remove all the Veils of Ignorance that The Clergy insists on perpetuating. Go deeper and look to other Religions of the Region, that predate christanity, and find out what The Symbolism ACTUALLY means. In the Eastern Concept, The Tree of Knowledge is the VERY SAME Bodhi Tree which the buddha meditated under for acquiring Wisdom, etc,,,,The Cross of Calvary is also associated/borrowed from other philosophies and is anything but unique to christianity, just as the Virgin Birth comes as a huge surprise to uneducated christians of all intellects that this 'event' has MANY predecessors. Also the superstition of "Knock On Wood" stems from the same origins.
2006-12-12 05:43:02 · answer #1 · answered by Sensei TeAloha 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
God tempeth no man. Look it up. He wanted Adam and Eve to obey Him from their own free will. read Romans 5:12. Scripture says you would have given in too. Thats why we're all sinners. You are not a sinner because you sin, you sin because you are already a sinner from birth. Here's your answer about God being sadistic "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him, shall not perish, but have everlasting life." John 3: 16. God offers a FREE GIFT of eternal life for anyone that wants it. Far from sadistic if you ask me. God is just like your daddy. He was holding out hope that Adam and Eve would do the right thing. He's hoping you'll do the right thing and trust His Son. Then, you won't have the need or desire to ask these questions, because you will be completely at peace with God. Amen.
2006-12-12 05:39:25 · answer #2 · answered by bbjones9 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Ur right. God can see the future. & He saw beforehand the choice that Adam & Eve would make. Therefore, He was not surprised when they ate that fruit. I am a Christian, but i agree with you that sometimes God's way doesn't seem to make any sense. However, it doesn't mean to say that He does not know what He's doing. This is where personal faith comes in. Am i willing to trust Him, even when His ways seem illogical or irrational to me? If you know the God whom you are trusting... you will trust Him 101%!
Why don't you give God a chance & try to get to know Him better?
Grab a copy of Purpose-Driven Life by Rick Warren. It might help you see God in a different way. I wish you well in your spiritual journey!
2006-12-12 05:34:58 · answer #3 · answered by earth_angel 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
To test to see if we would obey His Word. It is knowledge of Good and Evil.
It was the lizard that tempted them to disobey God. So the lizard turned into a snake & still tempts humanity. I would call that god (devil) sadistic.
Also, calling God (Creator) evil is a dangerous thing to do. We reap what we sow. There are conscequences. Especially blasphemy of the Holy Spirit (calling it evil). God is the Father, Word & Holy Spirit.
God has a purpose with Gods creation, and God works around our choices. Sometimes people even die earlier than necessary (because of bad choices). Gods purpose will happen as prophesied.
2006-12-12 05:41:59 · answer #4 · answered by t a m i l 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Makes a good plot twist in the story line. Ya gotta have that paradox angle and then maybe get Wes Craven for a director, staring George Clooney, Selma Hayak and special effects by Wetta Workshop, Bible The Movie, Get Mel Gibson to produce it and script by Mel Brooks, Should be a blockbuster. (Yeah I know John Houston already did it but Hollywood is into the remake kick now.)
2006-12-12 05:25:04 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
You have approached your question with the understanding that God did not want Adam and Eve to have knowledge. That's not true. He just didn't want them to get it from the Tree. In the Bible, James 1:5 says "If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of Gid, who gives to all [who ask] generously, without finding fault, and it will be given to him [who asks]." In Genesis, God is described as coming each evening to walk in the garden with Adam and Eve. If there was anything they wanted to ask Him, they could have. If you want to be mad at someone for tempting Adam and Eve, hate the lying serpent who took God's words and twisted them to deceive Eve. When God planted the tree in the garden, He warned the couple, "The day you eat from this tree, you will surely die (Gen. 2:17)." Later, when the serpent had opportunity, he enticed Eve by telling her, "You will not surely die (Gen. 3:4)." She had never heard a lie before. If she doubted, the best thing to do would have been to ask God that day what the serpent meant - to ask for wisdom, like the verse in James says we are to do. God did not create temptation. Satan (posing as a serpent) did. Jesus called Satan the "Father of Lies". I can't think of a more fitting title.
One last thing...Nothing surprises God. And He doesn't have "Plan B" when something doesn't go the way He planned. This is hard for us to understand when we hear of awful things, senseless violence, and "bad things happening to good people." But let's be honest. There are no "good people". There are some that seem better than others to us, but that's all subjective, and depends on where you are in the world. Romans 3:11 says there is no one good, no one who seeks God. The fact that any of us find Him is due to His goodness, not ours; His pursuing us, not our pursuit of religion. Thanks to the sinful past we inherited, we're born into this world as enemies of God and each other. And God's only desire is that we be reconciled to Him and to man, on HIS terms. (Ephesians 2:8-10)
2006-12-12 05:52:27 · answer #6 · answered by Joanna 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The thing is that we can't apply rational deduction to irrational things. There is no way to properly deduce why magic elves do not behave in the way we believe magic elves should.
If you are looking for indicators of a god capable of evil and jealousy (an emotion), and a god that's limited in power, you don't even have to use rational thought. You can cite the Bible itself. The Bible states it's impossible for their god to lie, yet we read that their god lied to Adam and Eve.
Again, there is no way to think about supernatural irrational things in a logical manner.
2006-12-12 05:25:14 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
It's not a literal thing. The story of Adam and Eve is an obvious metaphor for childhood. Your childhood is the garden of eden, and the tree represents the loss of innocence as you start to understand dishonesty, cruelty and sexuality. Leaving the garden of eden is leaving your parents house to deal with the harsher world. It is an excellent metaphor filled with wisdom, but it is not a literal story.
2006-12-12 05:24:29 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
The answer is that God wanted man to have the knowledge. The tree was there so that man would know the knowledge existed. The problem was that Adam and Eve jumped the gun. They would have been permitted have that knowledge without reprecussions if they had only waited until after the 7th day. By taking the knowledge early, they absorbed it without experience the full range and breadth of God's creation...only experienced on the 7th day. If they had waited, they could have absorbed the knowledge without sin or embarassment.
2006-12-12 05:26:48 · answer #9 · answered by mzJakes 7 · 0⤊ 3⤋
Now we can see, God is totally coherent when he says he want the best for us; he didnt order Adam nor Eve to eat, or to realize the sin.
It wasnt a temptation 'cause they got everything they need in perfection; is our fault, accept it: we need God to live, thats how we're made.
2006-12-12 05:35:00 · answer #10 · answered by The-Voice-Of-Enigma 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋