It wasn’t about keeping them safe, it was about giving them the freedom to obey him or not. Eve told the snake (Gen3:3) “But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of paradise, God hath commanded us that we should not eat; and that we should not touch it, lest perhaps we die.” So they knew the consequences were dire. They chose to believe the snake when he essentially told them God lied to them.If they did not know that it was wrong then they lacked the “full knowledge” of the “gravity” of their act, if it was a “grave matter” at all. As such their “sin” only venial and not mortal. Therefore the punishment was irrational and unfair.
Of course the number one irrationality was to place that tree there in the first place. A good parent does not place bowl of poisoned candy on the table and gives a stern warning to the children about leaving it alone, rather he hides it in a safe place, where the children cannot get access to it. Simply obvious, isn’t it?
Don’t be naïve. The word “death” was a meaningless phrase. According to the Christian theology, death was introduced by the fall. Meaningless words cannot be used as arguments. (By the way, God did lie to them. “On that day you will surely die” - which did not happen. And “spiritual death” is yet another meaningless phrase.)
Adam and Eve did not have conscupiesence, that is (unlike us) they did not have any inclination to sin or do “evil”. Because of this their act was much worst than grave. What you mention first is for us who have conscupiesence. They didn’t so it doesn’t apply to them making it much worst.If they did not know that it was wrong then they lacked the “full knowledge” of the “gravity” of their act, if it was a “grave matter” at all. As such their “sin” only venial and not mortal. Therefore the punishment was irrational and unfair.
Of course the number one irrationality was to place that tree there in the first place. A good parent does not place bowl of poisoned candy on the table and gives a stern warning to the children about leaving it alone, rather he hides it in a safe place, where the children cannot get access to it. Simply obvious, isn’t it?
That is exactly what every child does, even when I are able to understand the command. They try to test their limits. No decent parent would immediately throw them out of the house after the act of ONE disobedience. God is depicted in those verses of Genesis as the penultimate abusive and tyrannical parent who deliberately created A & E to fall. (Why deliberately? Because he knew that they will fall, and he could have created them differently. It is impossible for God to be surprised.)
Again this is not correct because this would require conscupiesence. Adam and Eve did not have conscupiesence. They could not “test the limits” because they lacked the ability or desire to test the limits. God did not created them to fall because they lacked the inclination to fall. That is what, again, makes it worst than a grave sin and what makes the punishment fair.
While I kinda agree with you, you have to be a little careful with the above as that is not what the bible says and is not taught by the church. It can be a personal opinion from this Minister and yes God seemed to be around them but that is not teaching of the church.
Pardon me.If they did not know that it was wrong then they lacked the “full knowledge” of the “gravity” of their act, if it was a “grave matter” at all. As such their “sin” only venial and not mortal. Therefore the punishment was irrational and unfair.
Of course the number one irrationality was to place that tree there in the first place. A good parent does not place bowl of poisoned candy on the table and gives a stern warning to the children about leaving it alone, rather he hides it in a safe place, where the children cannot get access to it. Simply obvious, isn’t it?
I was under the impression that God is much, MUCH better than a measly human parent, no matter how good a human parent might be. That God - as a supremely good being - would use his nearly unlimited powers to display his love and caring toward us lowly human beings by acting in our best interest.
Well, God is not without restrictions. He is not able to create logically contradictory events, like married bachelors. But he could create all of us directly into heaven, and according to the Christian theology, that exactly what God wants to achieve more than anything else… And yet, he did not. So he did not really “want” us share the eternal joy in his presence. Actions always speak louder than words.
Why would you think that he did not? A minor disobedience is not “rejection”. Every child “tests” the limits imposed by the parents, and that does not mean that they reject the parents. It is a normal learning curve, to find out what is acceptable and what is not.The only catch is that there cannot be two equal almighty Gods at the same time; therefore, the first literal human, Adam, had to choose to freely live in submission to his Creator God.
Clear, eh? The fact that I do not respond to everything does not mean that I do not read everything. Some people like to view the lack of response as an indication that I cannot make a reasoned response, that I am overawed and blinded by their superior intelligence… when the reason is that I find them unworthy to consider.
Whatever you mean by “sin”. And the catholic dogma differentiates between minor (venial) and major (mortal) sins.
This is not what the story of Genesis tells us. They might have been extremely intelligent children (in an adult form?). But they were surrounded by a plush and perfect environment without problems, without disease, without death. They were even ignorant of the difference between good and evil! And this ignorance renders them to be simple children. And children are NOT MORAL BEINGS. They are not held responsible for their little disobediences, since they do not know what they are doing.
Ultimately EVERYTHING is God’s fault.
Please, am I reading right?
Fault implies, well, fault. God created us as a free gift, he didn’t need to, nor is he required to sustain us simply because he has created us. Everything he does is done freely, out of love. He owes us nothing, while we owe him everything. The fact that we choose to misuse a free gift places the blame on us, not him.
Sorry for the misunderstanding. God’s behavior is vastly inferior compared to the behavior of a decent human parent. I left out the word “behavior”, because I thought it was obvious. Mea culpa.
