Why didn't God simply forgive Adam and Eve for the apple incident?

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   Sara Tonynposted 14 years ago

   Why didn't God simply forgive Adam and Eve for the apple incident?
   
   You know, why not give them a second chance, a do-over, before booting them out of Eden? Since God is believed to be all merciful, all forgiving, all loving, all kind, all just, etc, why punish all of mankind forever after the first screw-up? Kinda severe, no?

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2. 69

   Mr. Happyposted 14 years ago

   That "story" is needed for "the original sin" "story". There also had to be an explanation for Pandora's box ... it's a bloody story ... if it was done by Holywood maybe it would have had a happier ending; maybe Chuck Norris could have jumped out of the bushes and gave a round-house kick to the snake, saving the day ...

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   EdG.posted 14 years ago

   If he had then the story would have ended there and the human race would have been spared hundreds of years of painful christian dogma and bigotry.

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   yes2truthposted 14 years ago

   They did forgive them. They forgave them before they were created.
   
   The Lord Jesus Christ was the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world.
   
   The Godhead also knew beforehand that Adam and Eve would make the mistakes they did.
   
   Everything is for the Godhead's Glory.

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   adejosh09posted 14 years ago

   You have forgotten they are perfect( not like you and me), they knew what was right yet they went ahead to do the wrong thing. Yes God is merciful but also very just. We are not all doom like you suggest, He did'nt just punish everyone He also provided means for saving the righteous mankind. Sara the story does not stop there it continues.

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6. 61

   eaux(as in oh!)posted 14 years ago

   You're looking at this the wrong way. God didn't condemn them - they condemned themselves, thenceforth condemning all mankind. They were warned, and yet they followed through with their desires and temptation. God is not only merciful and all-loving, like you said, He is JUST. He is the judge of judges. He says in His Word that the wages of sin is death (Rom. 6:23).
   I believe He could have let them off easy, and just killed them right there (physically), and started over again. But He didn't. He let them live with their mistakes, knowing that 2,000 years from then His son would be born into the world to save the world (Jn 3:17-18). He allowed them to live in death so that we may have Life, through Him. When you think about it, it's really beautiful.

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   A M Wernerposted 14 years ago

   Man was made a little lower than the angels, so that the plan the Lord worked out for the angels (1/3 fell without salvation), would not be the plan for man.  People seem to think having mercy means never correcting, never chastening. 
   The chance to be corrected, means one had the free will to choose wrongly and still be redeemed. 
   People complain about having a 'god' that tells them what to do - and then complain when the Lord allows people to make bad choices that affect other people.  People themseleves are the contrary ones.
   Problem is, most people are just not content with anything in life but their own will being done.  People want forgiveness without change.  What worldly sense would it make to forgive a murderer, if the murderer expressed no interest in changing? 
   The Lord, just like any society, does not condone those people who simply want another opportunity to sin again.
   The Lord wants people who learn from bad decisions.  He wants people who want forgiveness because they want to change.  Forgiving without repentance accomplishes nothing.

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8. 52

   yabeyaposted 14 years ago

   Adam was created perfectly, in fact God hung out with him "in the the cool of the day".  Eden was also created perfectly, for all the life in it, even the weeds. There was no bloodshed or suffering. God gave Adam and Eve the responsibility of caring and preserving it all.
   
   But God, from back then even to this very moment, knows that forcing anyone to love him is not love at all.  Adam and Eve would never be forced to choose God's side (neither are you). And, bad for us, they chose to believe that God lied to them about the knowledge of good vs evil.
   
   I agree that it does seem severe to us, since after all Adam and Eve were kinda tricked. But God is outside of time. Nothing is severe to him. It's ok, call it severe, God knows it's hard for us. He is perfect, we are waay not.
   
   So where we are today is where Adam and Eve were, allowed to choose God's side or not, to call him a liar or not.  He's being patient, waiting for more folks to choose his side -- to simply believe what he says, regardless of what other people, or serpents, tell you about him.
   
   (BTW, his patience must soon run out. Don't just look busy... believe what HE says.)

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9. 60

   Allan McGregorposted 14 years ago

   This is too involved for a short answer, so I'll write a hub on it. Suffice to say for now, on a more trivial note, that the 'apple incident' is an incorrect epithet because the fruit is not identified in Genesis. The idea of the apple comes from the Latin translation of the Bible, in which language the word 'evil' and 'apple' are both 'malus'.

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