I'm confused by the Fall of Man story in the Christian Bible... Can you help me out?

Question

Surely God knew that by creating man with a free will he would eventually fall from grace and be banished from the Garden of Eden. That's a mystery that I simply cannot understand. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Answer 1

Consider the implications of predestination. If this doctrine were true, it would mean that God foreknew all that would result from his creating man—the deflection of Adam and Eve, the wars, the crime, the immorality, the oppression, the lying, the hypocrisy, the disease. By speaking the words, “Let us make man,” then, God deliberately would have been setting all this wickedness in motion! (Genesis 1:26) God’s placing before Adam and Eve the prospect of everlasting life would, therefore, have been a sham. So would the Bible’s invitation, “Let anyone that wishes take life’s water free.”—Revelation 22:17.

But the Bible says that Jehovah is a God “abundant in loving-kindness and truth.” (Exodus 34:6) He would never offer something he knew that it was impossible for one to obtain. Jesus Christ asked: “Who is the man among you whom his son asks for bread—he will not hand him a stone, will he? . . . Therefore, if you, although being wicked, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more so will your Father who is in the heavens give good things to those asking him?” (Matthew 7:9-11) Furthermore, if God long ago foreordained precisely who would gain eternal salvation and who would be eternally destroyed, why does the Bible say that “Jehovah . . . is patient with you because he does not desire any to be destroyed but desires all to attain to repentance”?—2 Peter 3:9.

Predestination, therefore, runs counter to what the Bible actually teaches about God. ‘But would not limiting God’s knowledge of the future undermine his almightiness?’ you might ask. Not at all. At Titus 1:2, for example, we learn that “God . . . cannot lie.” But does this undermine God’s almightiness? No, rather, it highlights God’s truthfulness.

The apostle Paul counseled Christians endowed with the gift of prophecy: “Gifts of the spirit of the prophets are to be controlled by the prophets. For God is a God, not of disorder, but of peace.” (1 Corinthians 14:32, 33) Such prophets would not speak out indiscriminately but would share their prophetic messages in an orderly way. To do this, self-control was needed. Certainly, then, God is also able to use his foreknowledge selectively, using it only when there is a reason or a purpose for doing so.—Compare Genesis 22:1, 12.

Answer 2

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RE:
I'm confused by the Fall of Man story in the Christian Bible... Can you help me out?
Surely God knew that by creating man with a free will he would eventually fall from grace and be banished from the Garden of Eden. That's a mystery that I simply cannot understand. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Answer 3

It was God's expectation that Adam and Eve would be tempted and subsequently be expelled from the Garden of Eden--for one most important reason: so that they could bring offspring into the world, thereby allowing all God's spiritual children the opportunity to gain a mortal body.

Gaining a mortal body is but a first step to follow righteous paths toward salvation through the resurrection and atonement of His Beloved Son.

Answer 4

While it is true that Jehovah God knows all things.The fact that God did not choose to know which course mankind would take did not prevent him from prophesying the consequences of man's good or bad actions.
When God created humans,among the many marvelous gifts he gave them was free will,freedom of choice.God also gave us the mental abilities,such as the powers of perception,reason,and judgement,that work in harmony with free will.These enable us to think,weigh matters,make decisions and distinguish right from wrong.We were not created to be like mindless robots that have no will of their own,nor where we created act primarily out of instinct,as where the animals.
Adam and Eve were created perfect,designed to live forever.They were placed in a garden paradise and told to multiply and fill the earth.Jehovah gave them everything they could possibly need.All he asked in return was for obedience.The choice was theirs - it could have gone either way.

Answer 5

Not necessarily. Free will only gave man the POWER of choice. It didn't mean he would automatically make the RIGHT one. God didn't know for certain man would fail. He's spent several millenia trying to help us clean up our own mess because of Adam and Eve's fall. If God KNEW man would fail, He could've left free will out of the picture and kept us wandering around as zombie-like creatures, incapable of unconditional love. We have to LOVE God unconditionally to be able to make good choices spiritually. He is a good God in that He showed us how to cover our sins properly by the blood of His Sacrifice through Jesus, and leave us a "road map" of sorts in the Bible that would help us learn to abstain from sin.

Answer 6

Certainly God knows the end from the beginning. Jesus in His earthly ministry expressed then and, as the Holy Spirit, expresses now all the attributes of God.

Looking at just seven attributes in the seven compound names of Jehovah we find God showing some of who and what He is in Christ. He is. Jehovah jireh, provider; Jehovah rapha, healer; Jehovah shammah, Shekhinah or dwelling; Jehovah nissi, victory; Jehovah tsidkenu, righteousness; Jehovah raah, shepherd; and shalom, Jehovah my peace.

He is as many songs say all these things to me. I could never know or experience God for who or what He is unless I was found in a position of need. One who has everything would never need or seek a provider; one who is healthy needs no healer, one who knows no defeat needs no victory. You can put together the rest.

The lamb was slain from the foundation of the world. God then, before the foundation of the world, was a saviour waiting to unfold redeeming grace.

Never forget that Adam being a son by nature elected in the spirit of Christ to go with Eve. Eve fell by deception not choice; but Adam fell by choice.

The story of the Prodigal Son is just one of many aspects of the fall and the nature of time and circumstance. Think about it in terms of the position of Adams race in heaven and the fall from grace. Consider that the Prodigal Son made a choice but did not see the full implicatons of that choice until he was deep in the pig pen.

It is not long after Adam that we have a man like Job who can stand in the face of total havoc and look down through time saying -- For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth.

Answer 7

God placed man in the Garden without free will.

Prior to eating the fruit of knowledge mankind didn't have any knowledge of good or evil. There was no concept of right or wrong, it just didn't exist, because without knowledge of good or evil, right and wrong couldn't exist. This is one of the major problems with Judeo-Christian theology in my opinion.

If God created man without a knowledge of good or evil, why tempt them with a fruit that would bring millions apon millions to their death. Without a knowledge of right from wrong, should Eve be blamed for eating the fruit? Even though God told Adam not to eat the fruit, he didn't have the ability to know that it was wrong, until having eaten it. It is a deplorable move on God's part, especially considering that it meant that millions of humans would spend eternity in Hell as a result.

Summary:

God created mankind in purity, without a knowledge of good or evil. He put them in paradise. He told them they could eat any fruit in the garden. But then put the knowledge of good or evil in a fruit, which he then forbade them from eating. Mankind, lacking the ability to discern right from wrong, ate the fruit when a serpent, possessed by the devil, tempted them. God then banishes mankind from the garden, and blames them for the taint of sin and doing wrong. Even though they didn't know the difference, and were unfairly tested. The result of this sin was death, destruction and disease, and eventually eternal damnation.

Nice......

Seems that the whole "God is Love" theory is a bit of a stretch to me.

Answer 8

God doesn't make robots. If He hadn't given man a free will, then man's choice to love and obey Him would be pointless.
Our faith was written before the foundation of the world.

Answer 9

I think it's a primitive story that was stone age man's best way of coming up with "why is the world like this?" It doesn't make sense to your modern mind the same way stories about Apollo dragging the sun across the sky don't make sense to you.

Answer 10

.....and paradise was taking out way from our Biblical Fathers?, although lol......,the sacred tree, which is where God deposited the secrets of Life?, and the secrets of good and Evil knowledge, is steal intact. The reason been is that you, me and others can have the chance to find and learn from such a tree, simply because I do believed, God, punish Adam to learn in his own?, and woman's to suffert the concequences. where is Adam, to day?, Adam, is a true representation of the Human and Intelligent being, God originally create, for the world of Humanity to Learn, Grow and expand (Multiply). Not only in a physical way, but to search the possibilities that we all have to become like HIM. Yes he knew, but he also knew that The Demon of Satan, will not reast, until he can destroy what God create, because Man and humanity where week, although to day, humanity steal growing, and Satan, improuving his negativity, whiout knowing how to the secrets, of life, and how to the secrets of Good and Evil knowledge? there is not best time to ponder in such ideas, because the true is within our self's, and after we can prove God, of been worthly of knowing HIM, to Love HIM, there is not Demon that will be able to stop Humanity from achieving, "God Desires for man to pursue to achieved and become" This is a clue, from me to you, some secrets will stay as secrtes, until man?, or just You? and me?, can prove that Satan isn't a match for the gift of Intelligence God gave us to achieved and persue a purpouses in life. Ask your self this, "Did Adam, found his way back into the garden of Eve?", and, "Will we be able to get to meet paradise" "Was that Adam purpouses to achieved"?, " Have Adam prove his wife that also a sinner, he can take good care of her, whitout God help?, we need faith, devotion, goodness, respect, and his blessings, to get closer to HIM(God), only by elevating God creation, and recognising Jesus as the best brother we can ever have, The key to such secrets can be achieved. God bless you and enlight your path, in the name of Jesus. Amen.