30 Aug 07
1 edit
So God says something along the lines of "Eat the fruit of any tree in the garden except this one". And Adam and Eve eat the forbidden fruit. God is angry at the disobedience and punishes the pair and all their descendants.
We are told that the forbidden fruit imparts knowledge of good and evil and this is why God had told them not to eat it. the implication is surely that before eating the fruit, Adam and Eve did not know the difference between good and evil. So God is punishing disobedience in someone who had no concept of disobedience being a bad thing.
Is this not like punishing a colourblind person for not being able to distinguish between red and green?
How do Christians reconcile this with the concept of a just and loving God?
--- Penguin.
30 Aug 07
1 edit
Originally posted by PenguinI'm a Christian with a B. A. in Philosophy and have trouble believing or justifying about 99% of the Bible (at least the parts that I've read).
So God says something along the lines of "Eat the fruit of any tree in the garden except this one". And Adam and Eve eat the forbidden fruit. God is angry at the disobedience and punishes the pair and all their descendants.
We are told that the forbidden fruit imparts knowledge of good and evil and this is why God had told them not to eat it. the implicat ...[text shortened]...
How do Christians reconcile this with the concept of a just and loving God?
--- Penguin.
I'm a Christian probably because of mental illness.
30 Aug 07
Originally posted by PenguinThe difficulty is in your understanding of language, apparently. Prior to the eating of the fruit, good and evil did not exist... at least, not for either of them. Hoiwever, as you have already clearly communicated, that wasn't the choice. The choice was either life or death.
So God says something along the lines of "Eat the fruit of any tree in the garden except this one". And Adam and Eve eat the forbidden fruit. God is angry at the disobedience and punishes the pair and all their descendants.
We are told that the forbidden fruit imparts knowledge of good and evil and this is why God had told them not to eat it. the implicat ...[text shortened]...
How do Christians reconcile this with the concept of a just and loving God?
--- Penguin.
Either they continue to eat the fruit of the trees given (and thus perpetuate life), or eat the fruit from the one forbidden tree (which would impart death)--- dying, you shall die.
Not difficult to reconcile at all, really.
31 Aug 07
1 edit
Originally posted by PenguinWell I guess that is why our walk with God is called a walk of faith. We see in part, we know in part, but he sees and knows in full. Therefore, we must trust in him in that he knows and sees in full and that he is benevolent towards us, hence the word faith enters the picture. This relationship has not changed since the first man and woman that walked the face of the earth. In fact, if God be God there is no other relationship possible between man and God.
So God says something along the lines of "Eat the fruit of any tree in the garden except this one". And Adam and Eve eat the forbidden fruit. God is angry at the disobedience and punishes the pair and all their descendants.
We are told that the forbidden fruit imparts knowledge of good and evil and this is why God had told them not to eat it. the implicat ...[text shortened]...
How do Christians reconcile this with the concept of a just and loving God?
--- Penguin.
31 Aug 07
1 edit
Originally posted by FreakyKBHI don't think you have answered the question at all. If Adam and Eve were capable of making the right choice why didn't they? Why were they offered the choice in the first place?
The difficulty is in your understanding of language, apparently. Prior to the eating of the fruit, good and evil did not exist... at least, not for either of them. Hoiwever, as you have already clearly communicated, that wasn't the choice. The choice was either life or death.
Either they continue to eat the fruit of the trees given (and thus perpetua ...[text shortened]... hich would impart death)--- dying, you shall die.
Not difficult to reconcile at all, really.
If evil did not exist then how could the tree provide knowledge of it? Was the snake not evil (ie good). Was what Adam and Eve did also good? Or do you mean that evil was being kept away from them? Except apparently for the evil snake and the evil choice etc etc.
31 Aug 07
1 edit
Originally posted by Penguinthe devil said that; he's a liar.
We are told that the forbidden fruit imparts knowledge of good and evil and this is why God had told them not to eat it. the implication is surely that before eating the fruit, Adam and Eve did not know the difference between good and evil.
31 Aug 07
Originally posted by FreakyKBHDoes it say good and evil did not exist before they ate the fruit? It's not called the tree of creation of Good and Evil, it's called the tree of knowledge of good and evil.
The difficulty is in your understanding of language, apparently. Prior to the eating of the fruit, good and evil did not exist... at least, not for either of them. Hoiwever, as you have already clearly communicated, that wasn't the choice. The choice was either life or death.
Either they continue to eat the fruit of the trees given (and thus perpetua ...[text shortened]... hich would impart death)--- dying, you shall die.
Not difficult to reconcile at all, really.
They were told they would die if they ate the fruit, however that was only the case if God expelled them from the garden. If he had allowed them to stay and they had then eaton from the Tree of Life, they would not have died. So God was still punishing them for an act that they could not understand was evil. It's still analogous to punishing a colourblind person for being able to distinguish red from green.
--- Penguin.
31 Aug 07
Originally posted by PenguinIt's just a story full of imagery and metaphor. I think we take it too seriously and literally. The basic message is that somewhere along the line man went his own way and fell out of fellowship with God and he's been trying to restore it (NT).
So God says something along the lines of "Eat the fruit of any tree in the garden except this one". And Adam and Eve eat the forbidden fruit. God is angry at the disobedience and punishes the pair and all their descendants.
We are told that the forbidden fruit imparts knowledge of good and evil and this is why God had told them not to eat it. the implicat ...[text shortened]...
How do Christians reconcile this with the concept of a just and loving God?
--- Penguin.
31 Aug 07
Originally posted by gaychessplayerWe're all mentally ill to one degree or another.
I'm a Christian with a B. A. in Philosophy and have trouble believing or justifying about 99% of the Bible (at least the parts that I've read).
I'm a Christian probably because of mental illness.
You need a mentor.
01 Sep 07
Originally posted by PenguinCreation Mythology.
So God says something along the lines of "Eat the fruit of any tree in the garden except this one". And Adam and Eve eat the forbidden fruit. God is angry at the disobedience and punishes the pair and all their descendants.
We are told that the forbidden fruit imparts knowledge of good and evil and this is why God had told them not to eat it. the implicat ...[text shortened]...
How do Christians reconcile this with the concept of a just and loving God?
--- Penguin.
End of Thread.