Why would God, Knowing full well what Adam would do, put the Tree of Knowledge in the garden AND tell him not to eat it. He knew they would eat it. What was the point of the tree being there? This is one reason I have a hard time with Christianity. God sounds like the Great Experimenter not the Loving Father
2007-08-22 13:32:03 · 22 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Its all in the plan???? Come on. Try some thinking please
2007-08-22 13:38:52 · update #1
Okay so essentially you dont get that God brought the temptation and said dont do it. And He knew we would and He knew the world would end up crappy and he could blame us, when he put the tree there to begin with?
2007-08-22 13:43:48 · update #2
The truest expression of love is to offer a choice. In the garden, God offered a choice: Love God or Love "not God". If the opportunity to choose other than God didn't exist, then there wouldn't be any love and God is love.
Consider whether abducting a "special someone" and forcing them to say they love you is actually love. I'm pretty sure you'd agree that you can't force love.
Love involves choice. Choice is a sacred gift from God. The opportunity to choose poorly is as sacred as the gift to choose wisely. God honors both choices. With one, (the one you were created to choose--loving God, honoring His desires for you) there is a whole list of benefits--the best of which is to be in His very Presence and enjoy that relationship all the more.
The alternative has it's own set of consequences (note: not benefits). Man was created to exist in community with God. When mankind removes itself from God's existence, there is an emptiness that endures and creates this longing for MORE...more of everything, anything, the desire to fill that hole that can only be filled with God.
So, we have the choice. God didn't create evil (I know that's a question you may be having at this point). God set up the conditions for us to choose Him or not. We actually sentence ourselves to a life so much less than we were created to live when we choose "not God".
Hope that helps. (the seriously seeking, objectively minded person will look at this from as many perspectives as they can and draw their own conclusions...NOT simply accept someone else's subjective assessment based on their desire to continue to live against God.
Hope you're definitely in search of truth.
2007-08-22 14:14:01 · answer #1 · answered by S S 2 · 4⤊ 1⤋
We are the ones given the choice, however... He also said the fruit would kill us but Satan is the original tempter... and Satan is a direct effect of the creation of life (life and death, good and evil), everything has an opposite, it cannot be avoided. Either God could have kept us as puppets and Adam & Eve would still be here or not have created us at all. Personally, i believe life is the most wonderful gift He could have given us.
Either way, if God didn't create the tree Satan would have done something else to manipulate Adam & Eve and that would have been a sin and therefore would have the same outcome. This story merely describes how us as humans would rather make our own decisions than have God do it.
2007-08-22 20:40:20 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
This couple had the prospect of everlasting life. In perfection. (Remember the tree of life?). They had been given everything from God. He made sure they had everything they needed and a great deal that they could want. They were lacking nothing.
Do we feel God did not have the right to test their love for and loyalty to him by a simple act of disobedience? All they had to do was leave the tree alone. How hard is that, really? No deprivation was involved. No problem until "somebody" came along and told Eve she could be like God.
The tree symbolized God's right to set the standard and His right to determine what is right and what is wrong. No, he did not know they would eat it. People assume because God has the power of knowing things in advance, that he always exercises it. He does not. He uses it at his own discretion.
How sad that after getting all these wondrous gifts from God, they could not do this one thing. They could not leave alone something that belonged to God. It's like we put out all sorts of goodies for our kids and then we tell them: "That slice of cake in the corner. That is not yours. That is mine. Leave it alone. If you do not leave it alone, you will be punished." It is simple. And yet the attitude and response of the child (Adam and Eve) is very telling. How profoundly selfish they were.
Do we not think this is important? Do we feel it was just "a little thing"? Read Luke 16:10.
Hannah J Paul
2007-08-22 20:40:40 · answer #3 · answered by Hannah J Paul 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
God gave Adam and Eve the entire earth to roam about and plenty of fruits an veggies to eat. They could go anywhere and do anything without fear. He gave them only one rule. Don't eat the fruit of one tree among the thousands.
Sure, He knew they would disobey, but what good is the freedom of choice if there are no bad choices? What good is obedience if there's no possibility of disobedience? Where's the benefit of doing good if evil is not an option?
To make Adam and Eve truly autonomous there had to be alternatives that included both right and wrong. And in this case again, there was only one wrong.
2007-08-22 20:41:29 · answer #4 · answered by High Flyer 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I have a very good book explaining the entire creation story. It portrays god as a loveable sort of child, just discovering his powers when he creates the earth. It makes the story so much more believable
I remember how after adam and eve ate the fruit, they were complaining and asking why he put it there if he knew they would eat it and god said that he kinda knew they would eat it anyways and he didn't really know why he put it there but he kinda wanted them to.
I never thought of god as the loving father when I was a christian. It's impossible to. A father would never banish their child to hell.
2007-08-22 20:40:23 · answer #5 · answered by lonely suburbanite 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Why would God knowing full well that man could not live up to his righteousness give man the law?
Because God had a plan of salvation the other tree in the midst of the Garden was the tree of life.
The tree of life is God's mercy eat of it and you will live forever.
This story in Genesis is the story of man's fall from God's glory and God's plan of salvation.
The law was never given to man that man could live up to God's righteousness.
The law demonstrates to man his need for God.
It was never God's plan that the law would make man perfect.
The law does not change the heart of a man but the atonement makes the man new and in agreement with God's righteousness. It is the heart that God changes.
Our salvation did not come from the law nor our righteousness but from God.
Think for a moment would removing the temptation change the man's heart?
God's plan for his creation was through the tree of life.
2007-08-22 20:36:06 · answer #6 · answered by djmantx 7 · 4⤊ 1⤋
If you want to believe that story, then I guess you can interpret it as God wanting to test his creation. How far is man willing to go to defy God? In the beginning, God did experiment a lot with us. For example the flood. But he has evolved with the times. One reason I can think of as to why he doesn't speak to us like he did our ancestors, is because we are so self sufficient now. Honestly, do we need a God? Is there not anything we can do to help ourselves. We can think and act for ourselves. Sure we live in a cruel world, but asking God to make it alright is a bit unfair. Part of what makes life so great is the challenge of surviving in such a world and the feeling of accomplishment when you succeed. I think on that point God would agree. Our life is what we make of it, remember that.
2007-08-22 20:45:02 · answer #7 · answered by afilmbuff 3 · 0⤊ 2⤋
Humanity's free will was also given to them, and while God did create the temptation He also gave them everything they would/could need without eating from the tree......... also as a test of faith and obedience which was failed.....
2007-08-22 20:41:05 · answer #8 · answered by thehowlingone 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
God put the TWO trees there to give A&E a choice. He COMMANDED THEM TO LEAVE THE TREE OF KNOWLEDGE ALONE!
The TEMPTER was SATAN not GOD!
Jam 1:13 Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man:
READ YOUR BIBLE
REPENT AND BE SAVED
2007-08-22 20:38:04 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
If free will is a reality, then God REQUIRED sin to enter the earth in order to provide an option for humans and therefore provide free will.
Without Sin, we wouldn't have a choice.
2007-08-22 20:38:20 · answer #10 · answered by ɹɐǝɟsuɐs Blessed Cheese Maker 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋