Why can't God sin?

[EGross]

In god's case, is he not even more (sinfully) responsible for putting the tree there in the first place?

Is God responsiable for giving us the oppertunity for sin/choice YES! For He put the Tree of knoweledge in the Garden. The Tree from the beginning repersentes Choice. Sin is not automatically bad the way you all seem to think it is. Sin=FreeWill. God knows this and is why He put the tree with in the Garden, and it is also why we have been given the oppertunity to be forgiven of our sins. You can not have one without the other. For Sin is Choice. with out choice/sin then there is only the expressed will of God. If there is only God's Expressed will then We must Always obey it.

I must respectfully disagree that the Adam and Eve story has any free will at all. In fact, free will is taken away repeatedly.

God tells Adam don't do this or you will die. That is threat/coercion. No free will exists. If I tell you to give me your money or I will kill you, you have no free will. You will give me the money, and if you don't that is your fear reacting. Either way, that choice was taken away.

The next part is that Eve, who was never told this rule by God (she get's it wrong, and nothing happens to her after she eats. There is a Jewish Midrash that the snake wanted Adam to eat it so the serpent could mate with Eve. Cool, huh?). But she is seduced, and seduction removes free will, because the seducer has manipulated you into making his choice.

Adam shows up, and he is coerced and seduced by his wife, and he does so. Then "Zap" God finds out, they all get punished (She has painful births, Adam has to get a job, and the serpent will transform into a living phallus (hence the Midrash - he became what he desired).

But wait, here is the kicker...

God then confirms the snakes seduction and says that he doesn't want them to eat from the other tree, so in order to take free choice away, he kicks them out on the basis of what they might do! (We never find out what happened to Mrs. Serpent, by the way).

No free will there. Just coercion, threats, and seduction, and at the end, having any possibility taken away before you can get it.

The story of the garden is one of seduction, not one of free will. (My determinism is showing). It is not really about what happens when you sin, but what happens when you decide to do something that puts you at the same level as God, which the snake hinted at and which God later confirmed. (Never piss off the big guy! He is a jealous big guy with ego issues)