Originally posted by Alliance
GOing with this reference.Why is the tree of "Knowledge" evil? Whats so bad about knowledge that we can't eat its fruit? What was God hiding from us?
Why is the serpent, a symbol of inellectualism, the form that the devil takes?
If the tree is so evil, why create it in the first place? Why have it in the garden?
Originally posted by Alliance
😆 I don't really understand that, but it late and my mind is hazy.
you know, how the bad guy in a movie explains how he's going to carry out his evil plot after he's captured the hero. And then that information is how the hero saves the day later in the movie, after he escapes from teh villains useless thugs. It's just poor planning on god's part. he's like the writer of a b movie.
Originally posted by Imperial_Samura
The problem with the whole "parent/child" analogy is that, simply put, it doesn't work.If it was true God would be be considered negligent by the law.
Oh wait, I forgot God doesn't obey the law. God is a parent? When he drowned the world and killed all those "evil people" - was that something a parent usually does, kill their children? And the Egyptian children. And I know few parents who would see their children suffer terribly - even the ones who actually have done something wrong let alone the ones who simply "believed the wrong thing." Yet God will let the Atheist burn, and the Hindus and Buddhists and Muslims and Catholics and everyone else who found more truth in teachings other then he, or those who believed in him but believed wrong.
So much for a proud father, proud of our free will, doing what out hearts and minds tell us is right. I mean it might be understandable if it was just really bad people. But the people who society doesn't classify as bad? Like some father sending his son or daughter to hell because she wanted to be a doctor instead of a lawyer. "I know I said you should use your free will and do what you think is right... but by that I meant follow me complelty. Sorry, off to hell with you my child. But remember while you suffer I will still love you."
And parents are meant to educate and answer questions... ooops, looks like God forgot that one. He just left a book and nothing else, and that book is far from perfect.
And parents who leave poisons in reach of children are bad parents. Whats this... God left the tree that would lead to sin within reach of the children! Bad Parent! Bad God!
And parents are meant to protect their children from harm and bad people... lets see, open up the paper... and whats this? There are children dying somewhere. A house fire... faulty wiring. Flames to hot for it to be rescued. Well, thank heavens its parent God was looking out for it. Its horrible fiery death is understandable when one has God as a parent.
And whats this? The ultimate bad man Satan... yes, God certainly protects us from him, doesn't he? Just let Satan whisper in our ears and then gives him our eternal souls if we don't live up to God's expectations.
Etc etc etc.
Why do you sound so cynical and bitter? God is righteous, holy, and just. It is abundantly indicative in your tone that you don't know God personally, which is perhaps why I perceive that you sound so hurt or frustrated with God. You seem to want to know and understand God but your anger (which is cause by your lack of knowledge about God's ways) is an impediment for you. God can and will get rid of your anger if you allow Him to love you. Maybe your earthly father failed you in some way and perhaps this is the root of your rancor towards God. But God is not your problem, I assure you of this. God has never done anything to you but good. Your enemies are satan, demons, and other people who are not fully submitted to God.
God and His ways are so past finding out (i.e. they are so profoundly mysterious except where God wills and chooses to make His ways known) that one illustration is not sufficient to adequately describe His multi-faceted ways (remember God is infinite). I used the parent-child analogy to describe the guiltlessness of God in terms of His children's behavior. But I have only dealt with one aspect of God's dealings with His creation. But you see God wears more than one hat as it were. God is not just our true Father, but He is our Judge as well. Hence, God must judge sinners for their sins. God is righteous and just. He does not take bribes and cannot be persuaded to adjudicate corruptly. That is why Adam and Eve died because they were separated from God (i.e. the Source of all life). God will not violate your free will. As much as God wants you to be saved and spend eternity at His feet learning from Him all of His mysteries, He will not override your free will. Did your parents not give you options as you grew up in their home? They gave you certain parameters (if they were good parents). They didn't just say, "Alright son, you are two years old now, you are on your own. We will let you do your own thing because we don't want to force you to do something that you don't want to do. We don't want to hinder or repress you in any way. We want you to prosper and flourish, so express yourself as you see fit." I am sure that is what your parents told you. No, that is not what they told you. I am positive that your parents laid down some ground rules to guide you and keep you headed in the right direction. So I said all that to say this: God has set boundaries for His creation but there is still ample room within the scope of God's will for us to express ourself and be full of joy unspeakable and full of glory. Furthermore, God has to allow every single person to exercise their free will. As a result, there are times when in the process of folks exercising their free will, that what they do encroaches on our lives personally. For example, has someone ever cut you off in traffic? Has someone ever spread malicious rumors about you behind your back? Have you ever been in a physical altercation? Have you ever had something stolen from you? Has someone ever verbally abused you? These are all examples of other people exercising their free will even to your detriment. But here is the good news: God will protect you from certain things that people attempt to do against you. Now, why some people are protected and others are not, is all in the wisdom, purpose, plan, and counsel of Almighty God. Some people believe that if they just have enough faith that they will not go through certain things. This is partly true. But friend, there are just some things that not even faith will override because it may just be the will of God for you to experience that. For instance, we all have an appointment with death. So when that time comes there is nothing we can do to escape it. Am I going off on a tangent here?
Originally posted by NellinatorYeah the whole give people choice but not the knowledge to discern between correct and incorrect choices thing was really clever of him. Omniscient you say?
To give us the choice. We were given free will from the beginning. The knowledge was not evil, the act of disobeying God was the evil part.