Do you believe; and why?

[Matt_Crimson]

(05-14-2019, 06:46 PM)Lucidus Wrote: As the "creator" - he is the author and definer of what is good and evil.
He created Adam and Eve without the any knowledge of good and evil.
He endows them with both curious minds and the freedom to make choices.
He tells them they must not partake of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.
Then, he either places - or allows - temptation [the serpent] to persuade Eve to make a "wrong" choice.
He then punishes Adam and Eve [and their entire lineage] for:

    Engaging the curious impulses that he created them with,
    which caused them to exercise the free will he endowed them with,
    that led to making the very decision they he knew they would make.

After all, he is omniscient. He knew they would fail his "test" - however, he created them anyway, knowing full well that he would be punishing a creation for utilizing the very impulses and curiosities that he created them with, and to which they [Adam and Eve] had no realistic comprehension of -- because he would not allow said comprehension. 

I'm sorry, but the story of Adam and Eve - in my opinion - portrays God as rather sadistic and extremely capricious. I see nothing in that story which leads me to believe that he "cared" for his creation or that he intended anything more than confusion and suffering for them.

Just because Adam and Eve (well actually all human beings for that matter) are confused and suffer because God created us and allows everything to happen doesn't mean he doesn't care about us. How can you make that conclusion? The fact that God even offers us a way out means he cares. Just because God knew what would happen doesn't mean that he can't care within the realm of already knowing. Even though God knew it would happen he still had mercy on them (and all of us) to the point that he wants us to actually come back to him. A non-caring being would not do that. A non-caring being would have obliterated them immediately or offered them no salvation whatsoever.

Quote:If God truly did not want Adam and Eve to have knowledge of good and evil, it seems either curious that he [purposely] would place among them the very source of the knowledge he was forbidding. Furthermore, he gave them the freedom to choose said knowledge. He then goes even farther and allows/provides temptation to an infantile and ignorant creation -- which seems to all but ensure only one possible outcome. 

It seems to me that you're trying to twist God's intentions. You're doing this roundabout thing of "The bible would like you to think that God didn't want Adam and Eve to eat the fruit, but he actually did because he put it right there in the garden with them. Therefore he is evil".
But that's not true. God didn't want them to eat the fruit. Just because he put the tree there doesn't mean he had some real evil intention of having them eat the fruit so that he could punish them. Again, God's intention was for us to live in peace with him, not to disobey him.

Quote:How did Satan get access to the garden?
How was Satan allowed to test Job?
How many genocides did Satan oversee?
How many virgins did Satan say to keep for yourself during a time of war?
How many times is Satan on record as condoning the ownership of other people?

I could go on and on, but I imagine you can see my point rather clearly. Notice the stories of Genesis, Job, the tempting of Christ, etc -- the character of Satan is always tends to play a very unique role. I'm sure you've observed the similarities in these roles and know what I'm alluding to, which is a rather stark contrast to many of the abominable actions, orders and scenarios attributed to God.

I don't want to put words in your mouth, so I would rather you elaborate on the point you're making with this.