God's injustice towards Adam and Eve

[John V]

Right, and that's what I'm doing. Wondering what is missing that would make the story reasonable. I am left with the unsatisfying but nonetheless realistic possibility that either or both of them simply made illogical or irrational decisions, but even that is a bit of a minefield, which I think is made a bit worse by Paul's input.

Yes, illogical/irrational decisions is one possibility. Whether that's "satisfying" is personal opinion, but decisions based on emotions rather than logic/reason are very common. One can then contemplate the possible emotions involved, as we started doing with Adam.

Yes, I considered that. Without Paul's input we could at least consider the possibility that the serpent's case was compelling enough to deceive them both, but Paul removes that possibility, so another option is what you propose. The problem with having Adam choose Eve over god is that shortly thereafter, when god is questioning them, Adam doesn't hesitate to throw Eve under the bus.

How is that a problem? That a person could succumb to peer pressure to fit in, then blame others when found out, isn't unusual in my experience.

But that's only part of the equation here. For starters, Eve seems nonplussed at the fact that a snake talks to her, and appears to have no issue taking its word over god's. The serpent doesn't do anything particularly clever, he just tells her that god has lied to them and withheld something of apparent value (although even that is questionable-- of what value is freedom in a paradise where the only apparent rules are to make babies and avoid one tree?). Eve accepts this without question and turns her back on god without much thought. We don't know Adam's reaction or thought process aside from the claim that he wasn't deceived, and therefore knew that he was choosing against god.

As already discussed, we're not given her thoughts, and the first few chapters of Genesis do not give any indication that they were intended as exhaustive accounts - just the opposite. We can consider her possible thoughts and emotions.

Children may fear a parent, but they can also feel love and admiration for them, and loyalty to them. If fear is the primary motivator for our relationships with those close to us, it strikes me as a bad relationship. Adam and Eve don't appear to have that moment where they wonder what god with think of their actions, or how god will feel, or what he might say. That detachment would seem odd for a human child who has a healthy relationship with his human parent. For a human "child" who presumably has a healthy relationship with his god, it's a detail that sticks out like a sore thumb.

I guess your experience is different from mine. I had a good relationship with my parents. Schools had given us the anti-drug talks, and my friends and I had said we would never do drugs. Then one day, one of those friends said he had tried pot and asked if I wanted to. I agreed, without thinking of how my parents would feel, or what they might say or do. Afterwards, when I had to go home, I sure thought of those things, and tried to hide it. So from my experience, the account seems very plausible.

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I would argue that sentience and consciousness past a certain level of complexity would count as a good exception to this rule of yours, even assuming I decide to play ball with what is, at its heart, a bare assertion to begin with.

Could not god make a similar argument, but draw the line somewhere above us and below/at himself?