So this god offered all the trees except one which it pointed out specifically not to eat from, diverting attention from the other magic tree of which no mention is made until after the choice, then locks it away to make sure nobody eats from it
Yep, that positively screams "offered" to me.
Imagine a game show. In the final round I show you a hundred identical boxes, or at least similar enough to be identical for practical purposes. Unknown to you, most of them are just plain boxes, nothing special. I tell you to pick any box you like - except that one over there, which you absolutely must not touch.
I go away for five minutes then come back to find you opening the forbidden box. I get so angry that I kick you out of the studio, throw your clothes after you and lock all the doors. Then I take the other special box containing the grand prize of eternal life, one that I never mentioned before, and lock it in an electrified safe so nobody can have it.
Was that prize freely offered? Did I over-react? After all, if I behave like that because you chose the box I manipulated you into choosing, what would I have done had you accidentally picked the star prize? Especially given the disparity between them (realisation you're naked vs eternal life).
Yep, that positively screams "offered" to me.
Imagine a game show. In the final round I show you a hundred identical boxes, or at least similar enough to be identical for practical purposes. Unknown to you, most of them are just plain boxes, nothing special. I tell you to pick any box you like - except that one over there, which you absolutely must not touch.
I go away for five minutes then come back to find you opening the forbidden box. I get so angry that I kick you out of the studio, throw your clothes after you and lock all the doors. Then I take the other special box containing the grand prize of eternal life, one that I never mentioned before, and lock it in an electrified safe so nobody can have it.
Was that prize freely offered? Did I over-react? After all, if I behave like that because you chose the box I manipulated you into choosing, what would I have done had you accidentally picked the star prize? Especially given the disparity between them (realisation you're naked vs eternal life).
At the age of five, Skagra decided emphatically that God did not exist. This revelation tends to make most people in the universe who have it react in one of two ways - with relief or with despair. Only Skagra responded to it by thinking, 'Wait a second. That means there's a situation vacant.'
