(December 14, 2014 at 12:14 pm)Stimbo Wrote: 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 itChoice was always apart of God's over all plan, otherwise the forbidden tree would not have been put in the garden to begin with.
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).
However, just because they had the ablity to choose didn't mean they were free of the consenquences of their choices. For instance if we/they want to remain on your game show then we/they have to play by your rules. If we choose to play, we are subject to whatever rules the game mandates. Fairness is not apart of the equasion because the term can be manipulated to fit any situation, and besides with the choice they have been given they weren't looking at identical boxes with one being forbidden. They were looking at boxes that brought life and one box that brought death.
