The Fall of man...I've always wanted to ask people who
say they believe such things if they're serious. Here goes. So the first two humans were tricked by a talking snake into eating an apple and this is the ultimate cause of all bad things? In addition, all humans are bound for some eternal torture unless they adopt certain beliefs (faith) and engage in various rituals?
Aw c'mon! Does anyone really believe this? Aren't you at least a little skeptical, incredulous, or enraged at a being who acts in such a preposterous fashion? What does eating an apple 5,000 years ago have to do with children drowning in 2004? (Isn't someone who listens to snakes a good candidate for the insanity defense?)
These events demonstrate the arrant foolishness of all supernatural explanations. The powers that be are as concerned with our plight as much as they're concerned with the plight of oysters.
First, are you saying no one has done anything wrong or sinned since Adam and Eve?
Okay, so in your opinion God should just say, do what you want, no rules, murder, steal, whatever you like. Oh, and while your at it don't even believe in me. God's not asking a lot. All you have to do is believe. There are no "rituals" you have to do to be saved. You can do rituals if you want. You can take communion in rememberance of Christ's sacrifice. You can worship God because you love Him. But that's not what saved you. God can't make it any easier for you, so that's a poor excuse for rejecting Him.
So the first two humans were tricked by a talking snake into eating an apple and this is the ultimate cause of all bad things?
no.
adam was not tricked.
we are told however that eve was deceived before adam's choice was made.
adam CHOSE to disobey God. And there is nothing about an apple in the story. Today that tree of knowing Good and Evil, has to do with any action and the 'fruit' it produces.
Disobedience produces the fruit of the tree that is evil, because it comes about through SOME form of disobedience to a KNOWN EVIL OR THREAT, producing the rotten fruit of disobeying that KNOWN truth... ergo, 'not moving out of the path of a KNOWN TSUNAMI warning,' which results in death...
A death adam apparently chose, in order to do what he wanted (allegedly, stay with his mate)... or whatever that was, we are NOT told specifically.
Had he obeyed, and not 'eaten' he would have enjoyed the fruit of the tree of knowing good and evil, by NOT doing what was known to produce evil, should it be consumed... and the good would be the avoidance of harm to himself and the human race.
God did not kill adam and eve for disobeying. And saying it was an apple, is NOT in the story. There probably WAS a real tree... but the death was not in some super secret poison... it was in the propensity of mankind, to do what he KNOWS is wrong and harmful... to satisfy his own will.
Freedom to choose Evil, is the flip side of our ability to choose good... and represents the nature of our life as humans.
the folks in Indonesia?
In some nations, they choose to respond to tsunami warnings aggressively. Those nations have a much higher survival rate. Same goes for hurricane warnings in other countries. People who CHOOSE to ignore, either as individuals or governments... rather than respond to the warnings appropriately are once again, DUPLICATING the acts of adam and eve in the garden...
Choosing to go against a KNOWN warning and danger, for reasons of their own, resulting in loss of life, property and health.
God did it?
No.
THEY did by NOT responding or forming a response mechanism to... the warning signs that were present.
btw...
if you are at the beach and the water begins to recede from you quickly and much further than the norma tide patterns?
run for your life towards the highest ground and most solid objects to cling to... it's a precursor to the tsunami.
folks near the oceans of the planet should know this by now.
over 110,000 learned this the hard way.
God may have saved a woman by her obedience to the instinct to run and cling to something solid... while others chose to go SEE the big wave... and died...
It's personal choice and individual responsibility, not an angry God smiting sinners for the hell of it.
"The Fall of man...I've always wanted to ask people who say they believe such things if they're serious. Here goes. So the first two humans were tricked by a talking snake into eating an apple and this is the ultimate cause of all bad things? In addition, all humans are bound for some eternal torture unless they adopt certain beliefs (faith) and engage in various rituals?"
"The Fall of man..." as you call it was not done by a literal snake, find yourself a Hebrew scholar that can tell you what was actually written in the original language.
Man conjured up the apple grove when the action actually took place in a 'fig' grove. Now how many times have you eaten an apple and discovered you were naked and then you collected 'fig' leaves to cover yourself?
"Aw c'mon! Does anyone really believe this? Aren't you at least a little skeptical, incredulous, or enraged at a being who acts in such a preposterous fashion? What does eating an apple 5,000 years ago have to do with children drowning in 2004? (Isn't someone who listens to snakes a good candidate for the insanity defense?)"
Again you have been listening to what 'man' says happened in the Garden Party, which is not what happened nor is it was is actually written in the original language. Man placed a covering over what actually took place. Paul has a bit to say in II Corinthians 11:1-4 about the Garden Party.
"These events demonstrate the arrant foolishness of all supernatural explanations. The powers that be are as concerned with our plight as much as they're concerned with the plight of oysters."
Christ said "fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear Him Which are able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
Won't even go into the 'arrant foolishness' of all man in the flesh.