Why would an all knowing, powerful, and loving god (the christian variety) put us on earth with the devil?

Question

God (christian variety) created Adam and Eve so that they could live eternal bliss in that paradise called Eden, right? Or did he set us up? I find it troubling that an all powerful, all knowing, all loving god would not know that the serpent he placed on earth with Adam and Eve would talk Eve into eating an apple.
Further, I find it even more troubling that such a god would put such an apple on earth within reach of Adam and Eve. Sure, he said not to eat it, but if I'm not mistaken, Adam and Eve were brand new people. This means that they had the self control and moral compass of a 12 month old child. For those who have children, you know how hard it is to keep kids away from getting into things you tell them not to touch, especially if it's easily accessible.
If god designed people, and had a divine plan when he created them, then his plan had to include roasting humans in eternal fire. Why would he set us up this way? Why would he intentionally put us on earth with satan

Answer 1

The good/evil dichotomy is a timeless impetus for all the fables humans have woven for their children through the ages. Life lessons are necessary to a child's development. Even hero legends have an important role in helping the kids to grasp the various nuances of making one's way the best you can without causing undue harm to others.

Sooner or later the kids grow into adults and, hopefully, have taken the lessons of the fable and made them a permanent part of their lives. But they outgrow the fables. There's no point in rote repetition of the story of the dog with the meat who saw his reflection in the water. They live the lessons day in and day out - or they don't.

For grown-ups, obviously, new lessons may be developed and conveyed within art and literature and music. Humans have never slowed in their passion for examining truths and inculcating virtues just as their appetites for learning and the arts has grown.

The God/Devil stories, the Adam-Eve-Cain-Abel fables, together with tall tales such as Noah and the Flood, Samson and the Temple, Joshua and the fiery trumpet blasts are the fables for ignorant, child-like peoples of past millennia. Let's keep in mind that the educated elites of those ancient times made sure the unwashed masses held fast to their silly kid lessons because, coincidentally, these helped to keep the mob from questioning the system and rising up against it.

As for the core lesson of the apple tale - remember it was the fruit of the tree of knowledge. To me the greatest reason to reject God or the idea of God is that apocryphal story that is meant to warn humans that they cannot be all that they might be for that would be a challenge to the supremacy of God. Enlightenment is to be left on the tree and we must content ourselves to be companion animals to this insecure, volatile, cruel entity that demands that we recognize his perfection.

Rev. Art - Atheologian

Answer 2

i just read your top question and am not interested in the rest. so here is my answer. We have been put on this earth for this the second time so God can see who's ways we are eventually going to follow, His or satan's. It is as simple as that. OK i give up i just read some of it. what trot. first you say that they had a moral compass of a 1 year old. What is your data that brings you to that conclusion. What do you mean by moral compass. It boils down to this you say Adam and eve should not have been accountable for their actions based on your assumption of a lack of moral compass. That is a hell of an assumption. From the conversation she held with god it sounds as if she is fairly intelligent. It is written in scripture that a sin done in compete and honest ignorance is not a sin. This dissertation of yours is just an attempt to put God in a bad light . there is very little validity to it . It is highly advisable to not use ambiguous term such as you have.

Answer 3

Actually, the Bible indicates that Adam had been around for awhile. He'd been observing all the other of GOd's creations, and giving them all names. That must have taken some time, plus he was made a full grown mn, with full powers of conception. He was fully capable of recognizing truth from fiction, & right from wrong. He was even warned of the consequences of disobedience -- death -- complete cessation of all life. Yet, he either lacked the patience --or faith-- in God to supply him another, perfect mate. He allowed his feelings to guide him, rather than wisdom, which he was also endowed with. He was no baby.

You assert that what Adam did was GOD's fault?
Are YOU at fault if some adult in your household hurts either themself or another person, either intentionally or on purpose?:

As in someone jumping from or pushing someone off of a balcony?
Or, taking or giving poison --intended for sanitizing the home-- in food?

Is this not Misuse on the part of the Perpetrator, rather than guilt on the part of the provider?
How, then, can God Reasonably be held accountable for Adam's misuse of Free Will?

Why Does God Permit Suffering? :
- The Problem of Human Suffering
- - What of the Future?
- God's Permission of Suffering Nears Its End
- - The Gift of Free Will
- - Whose Law?
- - What Went Wrong?
- - The Main Issue--Sovereignty
- - God's Sovereignty Asserted
- - A Marvelous New World
- - The Failure of Human Rule
http://www.watchtower.org/library/w/2001/5/15/article_01.htm

The Wonderful Gift of Free Will
http://watchtower.org/library/dg/article_05.htm

If applied to yourself, the 'principles' of your argument against God would show You to be very evil ...
True principles are unchangeable ...

Answer 4

satan, like all the angels, was given a free will. after mankind was created (also with a free will) satan used his free will to decieve mankind in order to usurp YHVH's position as the sovereign of the universe. satan succeeded with the first humans and temporarily ruined YHVH's original purpose for the earth and mankind (paradise and immortality) but YHVH immediately put into motion the means for mankind to regain YHVH's original gift. He has given mankind ample time to make a choice (see 2 Peter 3:9) and He will restore His original purpose for those who choose His Way (as exemplified by His son) and shun satan's world of political self-rule. see also
Daniel 2:44
Luke 4:5-8
James 4:4
John 15:19
John 18:36
Acts 5:29
1 John 2:15
Romans 12:2
John 14:30
2 Corinthians 4:4
Ephesians 2:2
1 John 5:19

agape!

Answer 5

I grew up Catholic, but knew that religion was never for me because well most of read I read I questioned and asked tons of questions about it in Sunday School.... my answer was always "because the bibile says so." But I always figured who actually wrote it? Not Jesus, and it was transcribed by different people so parts were elaborated, expanded on or left out.... I mean that is what happens when the story goes from one peson, to another, to another, etc. So in Jr. High I finally convinced my parents to not make me go anymore....

Well, I have studied many different religions and I think they all have some of the truth. I am now a Gnostic Christian which believes that we choose to come here (incarnate) and experience all these things for God. Of course there are always evil people which are NOT going to go to the other side when they die, they just come back here (which is really the only "hell" there is). They are here to test us and to make us experience. Life is never easy, even for people who look like they have it together, they usually do not.

Answer 6

God created man so that there would be a being in creation who would know, by experience, the full depth and measure of His grace. That is the reason why He allows bad things to continue, allows sin to run rampant, allows Satan to do all that he does, does not just wave His hand and stop all this stuff from happening. In order for His grace to be fully known, sin must become as sinful as sin can be, and man as enslaved to sin as a man can be enslaved to it. Then, He has to, for no other reason that that He loves us, deliver us from sin (which we chose, by the way). And He did. If we believe He did, we will experience His grace, in it's full measure, not only in that we will not have to pay the penalty for sin, but in that we will be added to God's own family. We were created a little lower than the angels for God's pleasure, chose sin and to worship the created rather than the creator, rebelled in every way against Him, and through Jesus' sacrifice become Children of God (that's a bit above the angels to be sure). All this, just because He loved us. AMAZING GRACE!!!
P.S. This is the same answer I just gave to another question, and the answer is the same.

Answer 7

He did it so his creations would have free will to choose KNOWING what is good as well as bad and knowing what those consequences were prior to choosing. And to have his creation know that even though the bad was chosen he would still yet have a chance for good through Jesus Christ who sacrificed himself after fulfilling the ten commandments so that we could have a chance to choose. So, the one thing Satan told through the serpent was you will gain the knowledge of "good and evil" If there were no Satan, his creations would not know bad and DEATH, only good and life therefore unable to choose between the two. It all goes back to "free will" and free choice. Yes, he indeed would put Satan on earth and yes he KNEW what was going to happen and YES it all was in the PLAN!!

Answer 8

You would know the answer to this if you actually looked for it. My take on it was that they were all in the garden having a nice time, Satan disobeys and convinces the Eve to do likewise, who convinces Adam it's okay because she's not dead. All of them are kicked out for doing what they weren't supposed too.

Time passes and God works with people to bring glory to himself. He does things and wonders and the people are amazed when they see them and complain about stuff that is pretty lame when you think about it. Durin all that God was telling the people He would send a savior to them so they can be in heaven with Him again since they screwed up. He kept telling them over and over to be ready for it, and even gave them the exact year the savior would be born. Go figure, they kill him. Good thing God knew they'd do that, and so made that part of the plan to save them, lucky for man that God cares so much. He gave man a way out of the fire, who's fault is it that man chooses not to take it? Man for not choosing it, or God for not forcing it? Would you like God to come down and beat you with a stick each time you disobeyed? I don't think so. So you get to choose, it's up to you to follow willingly, or to continue to disobey.

As far as Satan goes, he's here for the same reason. God knows Satan is going to cause trouble on purpose, but even that evil schmuck is given a chance to turn around. Satan chooses not too, and rebels all the more trying to ruin anything God works on. That includes lying, cheating, killing, etc, etc to keep people from God. Satan will get his punishment the same time as the people who choose to follow him. Man and Satan are given the same amount of time to repent and do what is right, some men do, some dont. We all know Satan won't, but he is still given the time to be fair.

You choose to obey, or you choose to disobey. Which is it? If your sin is not forgiven you, it is thrown in the lake of fire, and you are attached to it. He throws sin into the fire, not the sinner. You can have it removed, and you know how, you choose to keep it or not.

Answer 9

When dealing with religious text one must take into account that it was writen in symbolism and should not be considered "real" per se'.

As a species we yet cannot think outwsiude the terms of a singular "God" or why there must be a "god" for us; creation exist, agreed, who made it? You tell me. Could it be that we made it, yeah, I think so.
Religious doctrine was written for the purposes of politics of the times, Government of the times and so on; unfortuantely, there are those who actually think "God" is responsible for all the balogana they cause.

Think way outside the bun on this one as truth is foggy and hard to find; when the true nature of reality is discovered, we can all take a rest from the prosecutions of religion and those damn Jehova's witnesses...

Answer 10

Satan Originally was an Angel that lived in heaven under God, however his jealousy of God consumed him and he decided to rebel and take 1/3 of all angels and rebel against God. God Banished Satan to Hell and the rest of his angels. Satan with his still rebellious heart knew God was creating a world out of his own image. Satan set out to corrupt this perfect world God made. Satan did Corrupt this world with the start of Eve's sin then Adam. Then God sent his son JESUS To forgive us of our sins that way we can accept God and Jesus and not dammed to hell. God's allowance of Satan into the world is unknown because we will never be able to comprehend God's mind and ways because they are higher then anyone. god loves you.