(May 26, 2014 at 12:09 pm)Tonus Wrote:(May 24, 2014 at 7:17 am)Godschild Wrote: His perfect love and justice would, it seems to me that people believe God can do anything He desires, that's not true and scripture reveals this if one would just take the time to search out the truth. God has no desire to do things against who He is.
What I mean is that god is not restricted from taking any action he pleases. His particular nature may mean that he does not take certain actions, but he is capable of them if he wished. I may occasionally get angry enough with a person that I'd like to hit them, but I it's extremely rare that I even yell at another person. I am capable of hitting someone, but it's against my nature to do so. If god was somehow incapable of taking certain action, then he is more limited than I am, and that doesn't make sense to me.
Scripture says God can not lie, this seems to indicate He is incapable of lying, scripture also says God can not do evil or sin (both I see as the same), this to me means He is incapable of these actions. I do not see God as a being who has to live a perfect life but, One who lives a perfect life because that is who He is, He's not capable of living ant other way. If God could do evil that means evil existed before creation, thus Satan could not have been said by God to be the father of lies.
Godschild Wrote:
Tonus Wrote:But is that because any action god takes is by definition good, or is it that he cannot do certain things because he is somehow limited? If god avoids sin because he is incapable, then it seems as if he is good not because he chooses to be good, but because the choice is denied him for some reason.
Again I refer to scripture, it says God can not lie or do evil, so by this explanation I see that there are things God is not capable of doing. It is because of this explanation of who God is that He can be defined as absolute good.
Who would be denying God, something of greater abilities would have to exist and again I go to scripture, it says no one is above God. God is the supreme creator of all that exists. Evil has no part with God.
Godschild Wrote:
Tonus Wrote:But if that is the case, then he could have simply put the tree out of reach, or not created it at all. Thus the tree needed to serve some purpose besides being a stumbling block for mankind. The command to not eat from the tree made the tree serve as a symbol of god's sovereignty over humanity-- he could command humans because he was god, and that should be good enough for man.
No I do not think so, obedience and love go hand in hand, this is a theme throughout the scriptures, the scriptures show them to be locked together. The tree was not meant as a stumbling block, it was there to show love through obedience.
Agreed the tree did symbolize God's sovereignty over man, I'm not sure God would say that should be enough for man, He did create us with feelings such as love and it is love He desires from us. So choice has to be a part of the relationship or it is just sovereignty.
Godschild Wrote:
Tonus Wrote:Originally, god tells them that if they eat, they will die. Some versions of the Bible even imply that it would be the same day. Only after, when he is condemning them, does he add the pains and suffering that they would experience before death (woman's birth pains, the cursing of the land, etc).
Yes, those were added as far as Adam and Eve were concerned.
The death on the same day is the spiritual death, God does not look at the physical death as we do, it's the spiritual heart God is concerned about, that lives on forever.
Godschild Wrote:
Tonus Wrote:But the story tells us that until she ate from the fruit of the tree, she did not have knowledge of good or evil. God gave a command (do not eat from the tree) and a punishment (or you will die) and there seems to be no additional explanation.
No additional information is given, I do think it is implied by the walks they took, regardless the story doesn't tell us one way or the other.
I look at it this way, parents do not tell there children not do do something unless they know that child understands going against their will is wrong.
Godschild Wrote:
Tonus Wrote:We can at least infer that she understood, on some level, that death was not desirable, that it was something she did not want. Otherwise the command has no motivating value-- if Eve did not understand death, then the threat of death would not dissuade her from disobeying. What she understood about right or wrong is unknown, but my understanding (based on my comment just above) is that she would not have understood this. If she did, then the tree is kind of superfluous aside from serving as a test of loyalty.
To dissuade would to be gain loyalty. I was taught this was a story of love and after studying this story many times I agree with what I was taught, it is a love story, not a story to gain loyalty. The theme of love runs throughout scriptures, it is actually the most important thing in the scriptures and to God. When we view scripture through the light of love they take on a meaning of wonder. Why so many here want to only see evil and hate in the scriptures is beyond me, love is the greatest theme in scripture. So in the end I believe Eve knew that to disobey God meant she was not giving Him all of her love.
Godschild Wrote:
Tonus Wrote:In this case I'm just going by the story. Eve replies to the serpent's question by explaining the rule-- do not eat of the fruit of this one tree or you will die. The serpent tells her that this is not true-- she will not only not die, but she will gain some sort of additional insight that god has. Thus the fear of consequence is removed and a temptation is added. Now she thinks there is only an upside to eating of the fruit.
I have to disagree, I believe you've missed part of the story, Eve not only told the serpent they were not to eat the fruit, she added they were not to touch the fruit. Why would she add to God's commandment? Was she intimidated by the serpent, was she trying to reassure herself, was she trying to show the serpent of some authority she had over it, was she unsure what God had told her? Regardless what she was thinking I believe the serpent knew he had her on the right track to tempt her, not with the death want happen, but that there was power in that fruit which would make her like God. I believe she thought of only good things happening because she did not know what evil resided in the knowledge she would receive. Children who disobey their parents know there's a punishment coming (or at least I did and knew it would be very unpleasant, the worse part was waiting to find out what would happen), they how ever like I did, convinced themselves that the pleasure gained was worth the punishment.
Tonus Wrote:This does make me wonder about the time spent with god and being taught directly by him. If Eve was this easily deceived, then god did not prepare her well enough, it seems.
I believe she was prepared, I can't believe God would throw them to the wolves so to speak, that would not have been part of a loving relationship. Love comes through choice and God couldn't deny them the choice, that would be to deny love.
Godschild Wrote:
Tonus Wrote:But it was god who chose to curse the land and make humanity imperfect. That was not his original warning to Adam and Eve-- his original warning would have made them pay the price for their own misdeed. Even if humanity was now unable to live forever, why make us disease-prone? Why curse the land, that it would no longer produce in abundance? If a perfect man and woman in the perfect setting could not remain faithful to god, why make the obstacles even more difficult for their offspring? This would guarantee that most would fail, if not all, and that is what we see happen before long-- god decides that mankind has become almost completely evil and he decides to kill all except for Noah and his family.
No not at all that choice was determined by what Adam and Eve did, the consequences of disobedience. Sin made man imperfect, once it was introduced into creation it would be hard to fix, the fix cost God more than it has cost man. As far as the original warning goes, no one knows all the consequences of their disobedience, the warning was put into creation and the consequences followed, as they always do. Sin came with all that we suffer. the curse on the ground was that man would have to work it to receive from it and that there was going to be thorns and weeds to deal with, the ground still provides plenty of food for the world, we only need to remove the greed in our lives and the world would be feed.
Tonus Wrote:Imagine if god had said to Adam and Eve "your offspring will not live forever. They will grow old and die, yet they will not become sick and the world will produce all the food they need and I will offer them the chance to enjoy the life that you denied them through your disobedience. All they must do is prove themselves loyal, as you did not, and I will give them the rewards that you rejected by your rash actions." Why would that not have been more just?
Wait God has done this, even though He did not tell them, as I said above the land will produce enough to feed the world and Christ will give us that life as I stated before. God is not after our loyalty first, He wants us to love Him above all things and after that all things will fall into place.
GC
God loves those who believe and those who do not and the same goes for me, you have no choice in this matter. That puts the matter of total free will to rest.