Several questions concerning the fall and evil
Posted: Thu Jun 14, 2012 11:56 am
I have several questions revolving around my doubt that the biblical Christian God is reconcilable with an evil world. My first question is what exactly was the fall? Its seem in the bible that it was a curse so what exactly did this curse do? My next question is how was the curse of the fall a reasonable and just punishment for what Adam and Eve did? It is often described as a rebellion against God but it seems from the bible that what happened was Satan allegedly tricked Eve into eating the fruit and then she talked Adam into eating the fruit basically telling him it wasnt that bad. Why was allowing death and suffering against all further humans (and even animals) a reasonable and just punishment for two people eating a piece of fruit they were told not to? This essentially means that every day people are murdered, raped, children are abused and etc. because two people ate a piece of fruit they were not supposed to. Millions of Jews during the Holocaust were wiped out because two people ate a piece of fruit thousands of years ago. Millions of slaves throughout human history toiled from dawn till dusk their entire lives and were often mistreated, abused, raped, and outright killed because two people ate a piece of fruit thousands of years ago. Not to mention all of those who suffer and die from disease, the many innocent children that go hungry and often starve and countless other atrocities that occur every day and have occurred every day throughout history. Why did God look at Adam and Eve eating the fruit he told them not to and decide that allowing all manner of suffering on all the rest of humanity from that day forward was a reasonable punishment. And its not even like they schemed to eat the fruit, but it seems they were content not to even be bothered with it until the devil (allegedly) approached them and tempted them. Eve even told satan (allegedly) that God said they were not to eat the fruit lest they die and Satan told them this was not the case. So God decided to punish all of humanity because Eve was tricked into eating some fruit and then gave it to Adam. Doesnt seem very reasonable at all. What reasonable father or mother would punish all of his children because one of them got caught eating cookies before dinner when they had been told not to? Furthermore what reasonable mother or father would punish all of their children in an extremely severe way for the transgressions of one child?
Lastly, why did God not simply forgive Adam and Eve for their transgression and tell them not to do it again. The importance of forgiveness is repeated again and again in the new testament and Jesus himself asked God to forgive those who had beaten and crucified him because they didnt know what they were doing? So Jesus (who is supposed to be God) could find it in his heart to outright forgive those who were killing him but yet God decided that a curse of death and suffering was a reasonable response to Adam and Eve being tricked into eating fruit he told them not to? Again this does not make sense. My point is that this to me is very damning evidence that the biblical God does not exist. It is hard enough to imagine an all powerful, good, loving creator that would just sit by while any sort of evil was visited upon innocent people from the lone helpless child that endures abuse to the systematic extermination of thousands to millions of people at a time. That notion itself is pretty ridiculous but the fact that God thinks this is reasonable because "Adam and Eve ate that fruit all those years back" is absolutely ridiculous. If anything one could very easily argue that humanity has suffered more than Adam and Eve ever had to and they were the ones who allegedly committed the original sin. In what way is that reasonable, just, or fair.
Lastly, why did God not simply forgive Adam and Eve for their transgression and tell them not to do it again. The importance of forgiveness is repeated again and again in the new testament and Jesus himself asked God to forgive those who had beaten and crucified him because they didnt know what they were doing? So Jesus (who is supposed to be God) could find it in his heart to outright forgive those who were killing him but yet God decided that a curse of death and suffering was a reasonable response to Adam and Eve being tricked into eating fruit he told them not to? Again this does not make sense. My point is that this to me is very damning evidence that the biblical God does not exist. It is hard enough to imagine an all powerful, good, loving creator that would just sit by while any sort of evil was visited upon innocent people from the lone helpless child that endures abuse to the systematic extermination of thousands to millions of people at a time. That notion itself is pretty ridiculous but the fact that God thinks this is reasonable because "Adam and Eve ate that fruit all those years back" is absolutely ridiculous. If anything one could very easily argue that humanity has suffered more than Adam and Eve ever had to and they were the ones who allegedly committed the original sin. In what way is that reasonable, just, or fair.