Refuting Christians with their Own Bible

[RoadRunner79]

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Ok, let's give it one more go.

[1] Could that nation of tribes get a civilization together? Yes, if that's what your God wanted. The question is, what were his choices? Option 1. is do nothing, don't intervene with their free will, watch the universe unfold but have no interaction and wait for cultural evolution to gradually give rise to ethics, since this will ultimately give rise to more successful societies. But then we wouldn't have the Bible or Jesus - or if we did, they would be false, man made delusions no having come from God even though he was there. Option 2. is give humanity moral guidance. How best to do this? Lots of ways - he could simply appear to each human being, or to whole groups at a time, and clearly explain the world and what is good and bad. There are so many ways he could achieve this, so many creative possibilities.
 
What option does he take? Neither. We are told that he takes option 3. where he chooses only to appear only to a very few humans, meaning that everyone else has to take their word for it and accept extraordinary claims on very weak evidence. He further chooses not to appear after this, meaning that as time goes on the strength of the evidence gets weaker, the message is diluted and corrupted by translation and scribal error, and the heresay evidence gets less and less believable. [A] He only gives them a bizarre selection of very strict and narrow instructions that include barbaric behaviour - by which I mean teachings directly instruct humans to kill and [2]enslave each other [Leviticus 25:44-46; Exodus 21:2-6, 7-11 and 20-21; Ephesians 6:5; 1 Timothy 6:1-2] and consequently create a society based on injustice.

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Your option 2 is not compatible with free will. If God appeared to each person, our choice to choose God rather than not God becomes nearly impossible. However, that does not mean he has not given moral guidance. Everyone knows the difference between right and wrong. We are born with it. 

As a point of discussion, I've never been crazy about using "free will" in this manner in regards to the question of why God doesn't show Himself all the time. As I believe that others pointed out, if it is correct, that God's appearance violates ones free will, then He had no problem doing so to those to whom He did appear.

We are not given an answer to this question, so I think any discussion of it is just theory (and mine is open to change). What I see is two things shown in Scripture. First we have the fall. Sin separates us from God. Part of the consequences of sin, was being cast out of fellowship with God (Garden of Eden). It is by Grace, that God does show Himself, and has provided for redemption. (It is also by grace, that I think that we do not experience the complete separation that will come after the judgment) Second, when I read through the Old Testament, I see a repetition; in that Israel is sent a prophet or see God's work within them, they straighten up for a while, and then they fall away again. It shows us what we are like without God. It's not just about behaving correctly, but what is in our hearts. Which do you think is a truer representation of your driving (when you are being followed by a cop, or not)? I think you see this in social constraints as well. If society broke down, how quickly would we become the Lord of the Flies?