02-02-2025, 11:15 AM
Great subject.
I interpret the fall somewhat differently. God gave Adam and Eve all the facts: eat from the tree and you will die. The sin was disobedience on one level, but on another, it was a lack of faith. The serpent lied to them, saying they wouldn't die. It's also relevant that God commanded the Tree of Life to be hidden, lest they eat from it and live. Here, two points emerge: first, if God did not enforce death, He would be contradicting His word, making Him a liar. Secondly, it would have been a minor act for God to show mercy and allow them to live by eating from the other tree. However, given the nature of the crime, it was clearly not in mankind's best interests to be forgiven at that time.
But why all this pretense, right? God is all-powerful—just intervene! Kill the snake or at least warn them.
The issue is interconnectedness. People say, "Well, you have free will." But you have free will because God has free will. Yet, if God is morally perfect, why not make us morally perfect too? (ignoring, for the moment, that this is literally the goal of creation for mankind)
The way I see it, the very act of creation, from God's perspective, requires that He withdraw. If He did not withdraw, there would only be Him. Yet without God, everything would eventually perish. Withdrawn or not, He sustains it all. So, why create anything? The answer is love. Love requires an object. But why does God love evil beings, as we are?
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