The mystery of sin and God the Benevolent

[Alan McDougall]

Enigma of the existence of evil and the Garden of Eden and G-D the Benevolent

I know the story of the Garden and Eden and the fall of man is most likely a mythical account of a people long past in the mists of time

I will try in my own humble way to answer this most difficult question.

How can we ever reconcile the fact of evil, suffering and pain, existing side by side with a benevolent holy G-D of light?

Let us go back to the story of the Garden of Eden G-D says to Adam in Gen,Chap 2 Verse 17 that he may eat of any tree except the “TREE OF KNOWLEDGE OF GOOD AND EVIL”

Note; The tree of knowledge of Good and evil, so Evil existed before Adam. “Adam” representing an entire people and how they related to G-D


However, G-D being all-knowing knows before hand that Adam is going to fail the test so why did he give it in the first place? I hear a loud reply from the forum, “because he wanted us to have a free will and not be robots”.

I don't buy this, completely, as G-D could easily given Adam absolute free rain and said to him “Adam your can do anything you want without any reservations”

Surely, the above would still have been free will without the “necessity of any test”.

Nevertheless, G-D in his infinite wisdom goes ahead and gives Adam (and Eve) a test he “knows they are going to fail, Why? Was this fair seeing the awful consequences for humanity down through the age?

Yes absolutely as I will describe later in this essay

Let us go back to the origin of evil, where did it come from.


Isaiah Chapt. 45 Verse 7 G-D says “I form the light and create darkness: I make peace and create “evil” I G-D do all these things. G-D made everything so he must have made evil but why?

Let us go back to Adam and the pampered environment of the Garden of Eden. If Adam and Eve had remained and by obeying God ( as God knew the would not) they would have existed in forever a paradise setting of beauty warmth, comfort, never ever have to toil work just reach out and eat do any thing they want .

This would be wonderful for say a hundred years or a thousand years, but having never ever experienced cold they could not appreciate warmth, never being hungry never appreciate food never being thirsty they would not appreciate the taste and satisfaction of sparking water , never knowing hate the would not know what love was.

They would have existed in a one-sided reality never knowing the opposite. But G-D knew that they must know evil, pain and sorrow to become fully functional free thinking beings similar to him in consciousness and indeed co- creators of their own domain and reality

Therefore, after countless years what is paradise to us would become a boring hell to them. Therefore, G-D simply had to banish them into the world or toil sorrow and hardship.

So G-D being fair and just gave them the test, which they failed and drove them out into the present reality world of thorns, cold, dark, pain, evil etc, etc. This reality is based on a duality we know evil so we know the beauty of goodness; we know truth so we can hate the lie, and we experience the light so that we know dark.

Humanity can look back on a “paradise lost with a longing to for the eternal wonder and beauty of the original Eden, which they would love and rejoice as paradise regained


I do not for one moment believe the nonsense that there is an eternal battle between G-D and the Satan and that this being is almost Almighty G-Ds equal. Satan can only do what God permits him to do as we read in the book of Job.

Good and evil
Light and dark
Truth and lie
Deception and honesty
Love and hate
War and Peace
Positive and negative
Faith and despair
Holiness and depravity
Warm and hot
Life and death

And so on and so on……………………

G-D bless

Any comments are welcome

Alan
McDougall

[Alan McDougall]

Just added to be notified when a reply is posted

[cslewislover]

However, G-D being all-knowing knows before hand that Adam is going to fail the test so why did he give it in the first place? I hear a loud reply from the forum, “because he wanted us to have a free will and not be robots”.

I don't buy this, completely, as G-D could easily given Adam absolute free rain and said to him “Adam your can do anything you want without any reservations”

Nevertheless, G-D in his infinite wisdom goes ahead and gives Adam (and Eve) a test he “knows they are going to fail, Why? Was this fair seeing the awful consequences for humanity down through the age?

God has the ability to be all knowing, but I don't know that he chooses to see all the possibilities all of the time. Maybe he did not know how Adam and Eve would react. We don't know for sure. We also don't know why God chose to test us in the manner He did, relative to other possibilities. We aren't told everything. We can only try to learn from the revelations God does give us. I believe that God is love and that He is truth, so I look at things from that perspective. Even though there is much evil and suffering in our world, I believe there is a good, overriding reason for it. There is a verse I've been trying to find with one of my thoughts on this, and I can't find it. I'll add it when I do.

I do not for one moment believe the nonsense that there is an eternal battle between G-D and the Satan and that this being is almost Almighty G-Ds equal. Satan can only do what God permits him to do as we read in the book of Job.

I don't either, and I don't know anyone who does regarding your first sentence.

[rare96ws6]

God could have created a world with free will but the absence of evil, but he did not. He must have wanted us to
experience evil for some reason, although he could have made a universe devoid of it altogether. If there is free
will in Heaven then free will does not require evil and it makes it very hard to understand why God would allow evil in
this world.

[Byblos]

God could have created a world with free will but the absence of evil, but he did not. He must have wanted us to
experience evil for some reason, although he could have made a universe devoid of it altogether. If there is free
will in Heaven then free will does not require evil and it makes it very hard to understand why God would allow evil in
this world.

There is no such thing as free will without the presence of evil (or more correctly the total absence of love). Evil is allowed precisely so choice can be possible.

[rare96ws6]

God could have created a world with free will but the absence of evil, but he did not. He must have wanted us to
experience evil for some reason, although he could have made a universe devoid of it altogether. If there is free
will in Heaven then free will does not require evil and it makes it very hard to understand why God would allow evil in
this world.

There is no such thing as free will without the presence of evil (or more correctly the total absence of love). Evil is allowed precisely so choice can be possible.

This statement is incorrect. There can be free will without evil. A person can be confronted by two good choices. There does not have to be an evil choice to have free will.

[Canuckster1127]

God could have created a world with free will but the absence of evil, but he did not. He must have wanted us to
experience evil for some reason, although he could have made a universe devoid of it altogether. If there is free
will in Heaven then free will does not require evil and it makes it very hard to understand why God would allow evil in
this world.

There is no such thing as free will without the presence of evil (or more correctly the total absence of love). Evil is allowed precisely so choice can be possible.

This statement is incorrect. There can be free will without evil. A person can be confronted by two good choices. There does not have to be an evil choice to have free will.

When one of the choices is whether to accept the invitation to walk in relationship with God, it requires converely the ability to reject it or by definition, there is no choice.

[Byblos]

God could have created a world with free will but the absence of evil, but he did not. He must have wanted us to
experience evil for some reason, although he could have made a universe devoid of it altogether. If there is free
will in Heaven then free will does not require evil and it makes it very hard to understand why God would allow evil in
this world.

There is no such thing as free will without the presence of evil (or more correctly the total absence of love). Evil is allowed precisely so choice can be possible.

This statement is incorrect. There can be free will without evil. A person can be confronted by two good choices. There does not have to be an evil choice to have free will.

In other words you're restricting my choice? And you call that free will?

[rare96ws6]

God could have created a world with free will but the absence of evil, but he did not. He must have wanted us to
experience evil for some reason, although he could have made a universe devoid of it altogether. If there is free
will in Heaven then free will does not require evil and it makes it very hard to understand why God would allow evil in
this world.

There is no such thing as free will without the presence of evil (or more correctly the total absence of love). Evil is allowed precisely so choice can be possible.

This statement is incorrect. There can be free will without evil. A person can be confronted by two good choices. There does not have to be an evil choice to have free will.

In other words you're restricting my choice? And you call that free will?

I see no restriction. You can choose any number of colors. Why do you think one has to be evil?

[Byblos]

In other words you're restricting my choice? And you call that free will?

I see no restriction. You can choose any number of colors. Why do you think one has to be evil?

Because that is my preference.

P.S. We're discussing the same topic in more than one thread, I'm getting a little lost. I don't think they can be merged so perhaps we can pick one or the other? Your preference, no restrictions. .

[rare96ws6]

In other words you're restricting my choice? And you call that free will?

I see no restriction. You can choose any number of colors. Why do you think one has to be evil?

Because that is my preference.

P.S. We're discussing the same topic in more than one thread, I'm getting a little lost. I don't think they can be merged so perhaps we can pick one or the other? Your preference, no restrictions. .

Since both of them seem equally good, let's use this one;)

You introduced free will to this post. I was merely writing about how between 2 choices, not every choice, one does not have to be evil. If you bring in free will, you encompass an infinite amount of choices. I don't believe that free will requires evil and suffering. If it there is free will in Heaven, but yet no evil, this shows evil does not have to exist. Is there evil, or just what we sence as evil? is there even free will?

[Byblos]

You introduced free will to this post. I was merely writing about how between 2 choices, not every choice, one does not have to be evil. If you bring in free will, you encompass an infinite amount of choices. I don't believe that free will requires evil and suffering. If it there is free will in Heaven, but yet no evil, this shows evil does not have to exist. Is there evil, or just what we sence as evil? is there even free will?

But we're not talking about free will in the context of mundane, irrelevant choices. In essence, we're talking about free will in the context of choosing or rejecting God. God is said to be pure love. Please explain how you can have the free will to choose love without having the choice to reject that love? How do you create a one-sided coin?

[August]

You introduced free will to this post. I was merely writing about how between 2 choices, not every choice, one does not have to be evil. If you bring in free will, you encompass an infinite amount of choices. I don't believe that free will requires evil and suffering. If it there is free will in Heaven, but yet no evil, this shows evil does not have to exist. Is there evil, or just what we sence as evil? is there even free will?

But we're not talking about free will in the context of mundane, irrelevant choices. In essence, we're talking about free will in the context of choosing or rejecting God. God is said to be pure love. Please explain how you can have the free will to choose love without having the choice to reject that love? How do you create a one-sided coin?

Mmm. Can a sinful man choose God?

Also, if man has this type of free will, why does he not simply choose to stop sinning?

[Byblos]

Mmm. Can a sinful man choose God?

I hope so (with some help, of course), otherwise we're all in big trouble.

Also, if man has this type of free will, why does he not simply choose to stop sinning?

Ah, the age-old question, to which I can humbly respond that I do not know (after all, theologians and philosophers from all ages have been grappling with this one). A possible answer might be that in our concupiscent nature we are incapable of not sinning.

[rare96ws6]

You introduced free will to this post. I was merely writing about how between 2 choices, not every choice, one does not have to be evil. If you bring in free will, you encompass an infinite amount of choices. I don't believe that free will requires evil and suffering. If it there is free will in Heaven, but yet no evil, this shows evil does not have to exist. Is there evil, or just what we sence as evil? is there even free will?

But we're not talking about free will in the context of mundane, irrelevant choices. In essence, we're talking about free will in the context of choosing or rejecting God. God is said to be pure love. Please explain how you can have the free will to choose love without having the choice to reject that love? How do you create a one-sided coin?

If there is free will in Heaven and no evil, then there is no reason to have any choice which we consider evil. If giving us free will was so important to God, then beings in Heaven must have free will. Therfore, God could have made this world just like Heaven, where he did not allow such a thing as sin or evil, but allows free will. In this universe, evil is a choice. It did not have to be if God created Heaven this way.
Oddly enough, it could be arguied that there is no such thing at all as free will. I read some data recently from some studies that showed that the decisions to act occured before we are conscious of them. Very weird!