It's hard to forget about the part God played in that garden.
I agree. God played a part. He created man in His own Image and likeness.
God is omniscient, so he knew what Adam would do and the consequences of Adam's sin before creating him, the Garden, the Tree. You can't surprise an omniscient being.
All of this is true. I agree.
Why would God put Adam in a situation where he would sin?
To give Adam the chance to be a human being and to exercise his unique ability to choose to obey and love God or to disobey Him.
God did not cause Adam to sin. God knowing beforehand that (x) will occur does not mean that God causes (x) to happen anymore than you knowing beforehand that offering someone one million dollars in cold hard cash causes the person to accept it when you do offer it. The person chooses to accept it. You knowing beforehand that they will accept it does not cause them to accept it.
It is silly to say that knowing (x) will happen causes (x) to happen.
Maybe God had no choice. But God is also omnipotent. If omniscient beings can't be surprised, omnipotent beings can't be forced by circumstance.
God chose to create beings with the ability to choose to obey Him or disobey Him. There are many things God cannot do. Omnipotence =/= ability to do anything.
So God placed Adam at a place where he would sin, then proceeded to punish not only him, but all of his descendents.
God placed Adam in a situation where it was possible for him to obey God and live in paradise, or disobey God and die. Sins have consequences. Evil acts have consequences. Surely you agree?
Millions upon millions of people suffered and died, though they never ate that apple. So today, when children die, you blame Adam. Why not blame God?
If Adam had not sinned, there would be no death. It is just that simple.
"How did the Fall affect humanity?"
Answer: Just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so sin spread through all men (Romans 5:12). The effects of the Fall are numerous and far reaching. Sin has affected every aspect of our being. It has affected our lives on earth and our eternal destiny.
One of the immediate effects of the Fall was that mankind was separated from God. In the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve had perfect communion and fellowship with God. When they rebelled against Him, that fellowship was broken. They became aware of their sin and were ashamed before Him. They hid from Him (Genesis 3:8-10), and man has been hiding from God ever since. Only through Christ can that fellowship be restored, because in Him we are made as righteous and sinless in Gods eyes as Adam and Eve were before they sinned. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:21).
Because of the Fall, death became a reality, and all creation was subject to it. All men die, all animals die, all plant life dies. The whole creation groans (Romans 8:22), waiting for the time when Christ will return to liberate it from the effects of death. Because of sin, death is an inescapable reality, and no one is immune. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 6:23). Worse still, we not only die, but if we die without Christ, we experience eternal death.
Another effect of the Fall is that humans have lost sight of the purpose for which they were created. Mans chief end and highest purpose in life is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever (Romans 11:36; 1 Corinthians 6:20; 1 Corinthians 10:31; Psalm 86:9). Hence, love to God is the core of all morality and goodness. The opposite is the choice of self as supreme. Selfishness is the essence of the Fall, and what follows are all other crimes against God. In all ways sin is a turning in upon oneself, which is confirmed in how we live our lives. We call attention to ourselves and to our good qualities and accomplishments. We minimize our shortcomings. We seek special favors and opportunities in life, wanting an extra edge that no one else has. We display vigilance to our own wants and needs, while we ignore those of others. In short, we place ourselves upon the throne of our lives, usurping Gods role.
When Adam chose to rebel against his Creator, he lost his innocence, incurred the penalty of physical and spiritual death, and his mind was darkened by sin, as are the minds of his successors. The apostle Paul said of pagans, Since they do not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, He gave them over to a depraved mind (Romans 1:28). He told the Corinthians that the god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers so that they cannot see the light of the Gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God (2 Corinthians 4:4). Jesus said, I have come into the world as a light so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness (John 12:46). Paul reminded the Ephesians, You were once in darkness but now you are in the light of the Lord (Ephesians 5:8). The purpose of salvation is to open the eyes [of unbelievers] and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God (Acts 26:18).
The Fall produced in humans a state of depravity. Paul spoke of those whose consciences are seared (1 Timothy 4:2) and those whose minds are spiritually darkened as a result of rejecting the truth (Romans 1:21). In this state, man is utterly incapable of doing or choosing that which is acceptable to God, apart from divine grace. The sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so (Romans 8:7).
Without the supernatural regeneration by the Holy Spirit, all men would remain in their fallen state. But in His grace, mercy and loving-kindness, God sent His Son to die on the cross and take the penalty of our sin, reconciling us to God and making eternal life with Him possible. What was lost at the Fall is reclaimed at the Cross.
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How did the Fall affect humanity?
If you want your God omniscient and omnipotent, erase omnibenevolent. If you need omnibenevolence, erase either omnipotence or omniscience.
God is all of the above. It is your erroneous conceptualizations of the terms that needs erasing.
PS: you wouldn't have this problem with Thor.
I do not have the problem with God.
PPS: About your earlier post that God doesn't cure cancer victims because they don't believe enough: Great! let's blame the dying child and her parents, along with Adam and various posters for his plight. Anyone but god.
That is not what I said.
I said one of the reasons why God does not heal people is because of unbelief. ONE OF THE REASONS, not THE REASON.
There are certain things that are pretty self-evident. Atheists do not generally ask God to cure them of cancer because they do not believe in God in the first place. Now it is possible that God could heal a person who does not believe in Him but that would be His prerogative.
It is not unreasonable to say that one reason why God does not heal people is unbelief. Scripture even bears this out. It is recorded that Jesus could not do many miracles in certain places because of their unbelief.
