SpearofDestiny
Perfection
If you read through the Bible, there are instances where it does seem that God will test someone by making the circumstances such that it is almost impossible to prevail or stay loyal to God (story of Job for example).
However, I think these are stories about Human Limits, and I think the message is supposed to be that we have the ability to endure anything if we keep a strong Faith in God.
A controversial message, but a nice one I think. What I would personally derive from that is that the human mind is very powerful, and the mind exceeds the body. If one's will is that strong, than he or she can endure or surpass nearly anything circumstance has to offer.
As for the Adam and Eve story....I personally feel it is completely flawed. God allowed the serpant to tempt Adam and Eve. God put the Tree of Knowledge there, when he should have located it somewhere else. God tested his first creations, wanting to know how loyal they really were- an egotistic entity indeed.
Secondly, for the mistake of eating the fruit, God cast upon Adam and Eve an eternal punishment.....life of hardship, having thier hardships pass upon thier children and thier children (personally, I don't know how Cain and Abel had kids)
*I do not feel a child is responsible for the "wrongs" of his or her father or mother.
The story of Adam and Eve, is too similiar to Pandora's Box, and thus, irrelevant to me.