Faith and God?

Question

I'm a little puzzled by this. Why, if God loves us so much, does he stick us with Original Sin? It seems a little odd that if someone or something has an unending love for us, that he/she/it would punish us for something that two other people did (Adam and Eve).

Why would God send us to Hell because of what they did? Why is it OUR responsibility? It bothers me that people think that some god could love and still punish like this.

WHY should we be stuck like this? If we don't believe, we go to Hell. That doesn't sound very loving.

What do you think? Can you please explain this? Thank you in advance.

Steve N, this has been taught to me through the Bible and my past 13 years of Theology classes.

Answer 1

Why are we stuck like this?

Simple question, simple answer:

Because the bible says so.

Corrupt and dishonest men, as well as ignorant men have taken the bible to be a source of power rather than a source of hope. Read the bible if you like, but do not fetter yourself with the obtuse teachings of the church.

Answer 2

As said, we aren't stuck by God with it, it was man's choice. God gave freewill and a choice so that Adam and Eve could freely choose to love and obey Him. He could have created robots to love Him and do only what He asked, but that is an entirely different love than that which is freely given. Sadly, there was failure. Sin and death entered the world. Now Adam and Eve were imperfect. Two imperfect things cannot create anything better than themselves, so we were doomed to be imperfect, and separated from God because He can only be in the presence of perfection. Adam and Eve were exactly that, but they blew it! So many talk about how good you are or how innocent someone was, but it just isn't true when it takes only one sin to negate that comment.
You are not paying for anyone else's sins, only yours. Just one sin, one lie, one piece of stolen gum, one fling, one curse word. It is you that is imperfect and incapable and unworthy of being in His presence. He gives us a way to overcome that. When you choose not to take it, then you suffer the end result. It's all about choices. Many will say they'll tough it out and al their friends will be there....but it really isn't that simple.

Answer 3

Well I guess it's like if you have a smaller (or older) sibling and you always get blamed for it.

But see Adam and Eve could eat anything they wanted to in the Garden EXCEPT the fruit on a certain tree. Eve was TEMPTED by the DEVIL to eat it. Eve brought Adam to eat it with her. The tree was filled with knowledge therefore sins also. Adam and Eve had children and it was passed on to the children because of either born with it or being taught it by Adam and Eve.

Innocence is going to perish on Earth but if you do your job by repenting from your sins you will be forgiven. It's like if you break something and you don't try to cover it up. If you lie about it you get worse punishment.

God will ALWAYS love you no matter what. Remember that! God works in mysterious ways!!!

Answer 4

Because if Adam and Eve hadn't done the "original sin" someone else would have...you know? i dont think that whole story is necessarily word-for-word true, its more that it represents the sin of everyone, ever, without having to write it all out individually in the bible.
God could maybe have said, okay there'll be no sin...but then we would have had no choice in life and would be like puppets.
So to have a compromise, its something along the lines of "okay, they will sin, but instead i'll do something that will mean their sin is forgiven, as long as they recognise it and know it, and accept they do all this stuff wrong.

does that work, ish?

Answer 5

What gets me about it is that this deity is not held responsible for anything - even though he's omnimpotent and omniscient. He created everything, including hell, he made the rules, he created all the circumstances, and yet holds responsible for eternity his utterly powerless creation.

No amount of fancy rhetoric can tap-dance around this fact for me. The diety is all-powerful, therefore all-responsible. It's a fundamental law of the universe: power = responsibility. You are responsible for that over which you have power, and you have power over that for which you are responsible.

That this deity's 'grace' is unconditional is a flat-out lie. It is totally conditional. There is nothing loving about anything it has ever done. Even if I were capable of believing it was real, I am not capable of worshipping such a horrible being.

Answer 6

God loves us but hates our sin. Once we sin (and all of us do) that puts a wall between us and God. All we must do is repent. Sin is sort of genetic. It passes on. Adam and Eve is the original bloodline of the human race beginning after God created them. It passed like a disease and plagued all humanity. Jesus Christ offered a cure for this. All we have to do is take the cure.

Answer 7

Ok here it is. God told Adem and Eve not to eat from the tree because he didn't want to punish them, but they ate it anyway. So he kind of had to.
Secondly God doesn't send everybody to hell because of what Adem and Eve did, I mean did you stop in Exodus of something... Because of Jesus We don't have to be stuck with sin. If we except him as savior he clears our name and we go to heaven even if we are prone to sin and most likely won't make it through life without sinning.

Answer 8

It is more complicated than that. Original Sin is like a genetic disorder that is passed on generation to generation. Adam had sinned, or fallen short of the mark of perfection, so he could only produce children that were also imperfect. That is why we all die.
But more than that happened in the Garden of Eden. God only gave Adam one law to obey. As the Creator, he had that right, (just like parents have the right to set rules in their house) That one law was not to eat from the Tree of the knowledge of good and bad, if he did, he would die. Adam told this to Eve after she was created. Satan seduced Eve into taking the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge, he lied to her and told her she would be just like God and that she would not die. This was not only a lie, it was slander against God. Satan claimed God was the liar and that he was withholding something good from her. She took the fruit ate it then gave some to Adam. This was more than just eating fruit. It was a rebellion against God's right to rule, his sovereignty. Satan didn't challenge God's strength, because he knew God could destroy him easily, but by challenging this right to rule and whether humans could rule themselves without God's help would take time to prove. That's where we are right now, man has tried every form of government and they have all failed, there is still suffering, there is still lawlessness, there is greed. Humans cannot rule themselves successfully without any help from God.
As far as going to hell...the punishment for eating from the Tree of Knowledge was death, plain and simple. That is what happened to Adam and Eve and all of their offspring since, they have died. There is no such place as firey hell. Just nonexistance.
It is interesting to note though that God's original purpose was for humans to live forever on the earth and make it a paradise. That pupose has not changed. Right after Adam and Eve sinned, God gave a prophecy that pointed to a way out for humans, it involved a ransom to buy back the perfect life that Adam lost. That ransom ended up being Jesus. He was a perfect human, he remained faithful to God until his death. He made the way for the opportunity to gain everlasting life again. But in order to gain everlasting life, it takes effort. Jesus said it meant taking in knowledge. We have to know what God's requirements are inorder to gain his favor. We all have the opportunity, but it takes a lot more than just believing. Just like Adam and Even needed to submit to God's authority inorder to have life, we also need to follow his laws.

Answer 9

Unfortunately, Adam and Eve made decisions that affected us. However, we still choose to sin.

If we go to hell, we go because we refused to accept the forgiveness he offers us. It is not God's will for anyone to go to Hell. I believe that is the entire reason for sending Jesus.

It grieves God very much if you refuse to return His love - but because of free will (which demonstrates great love) He will allow us to reject Him.

It's not that He sends us to hell. Our sins send us to hell. If we die without forgiveness, then we will be judged by the law. Who is perfect enough to be judged by the law? No one.

Answer 10

We are not being punished for their sins. We commit sins as well. God wants us to love him, have faith in him, and worship him. So if you don't worship, love or have faith you won't have ever lasting life.