Freedom of Choice and The Garden of Eden
Some time ago I became interested in the many similarities and differences as to how the Christian faith is understood. The online presence of biblical professors and teachers with their websites and youtube channels offer active discussion forums to engage in conversations about Christian and biblical theology.
The discussions I had were interesting and informative. One topic of interest was the fall of Adam and Eve. Again and again, I was told that partaking of the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil was a serious mistake, and death was the punishment. Christian theologians and philosophers generally seem to agree that Adam and Eve were meant to live in the paradisiacal security of the Garden of Eden forever.
Was it really God's intent that they forgo the risks, the suffering, and death pertaining to mortality and remain static innocent souls living with the devil? How can a place be paradise if Satan was a resident?
Based on the Bible, Christians believe that Jesus was the Lamb of God, slain from before the foundation of the world? What does this mean? If love was the reason this sacrifice was planned and implemented according to God's foreknowledge, at what time did the souls of every human being come into consideration for salvation?
There are two basic theological considerations as to which place would truly be a heaven of a glorious nature. One is living forever in the Garden of Eden as immortal beings and not undergo The Fall. The other is the heaven spoken of by Jesus Christ for those that have fallen and been redeemed by His atonement, a place described as having many mansions?
Can any really consider themselves a Christian if they think the Garden of Eden was a better choice? Why is the common conclusion among Christian theologians that The Fall was a serious mistake, and our current state of living is a punishment? There is obviously a conflict in reasoning if one believes Eden was the better place.
If Jesus was foreordained from before the foundation of the world to be our Savior, it only stands to reason that Adam and Ever were also foreordained to fall and become the World's first Christians. If not, there would have been no need for Jesus to be born to offer his sacrifice. There would be no Christmas and no Easter if the fall did not occur. Why would God punish humanity for something he ordained, or for one or two person's mistakes?
Why did God create the world and put two people in the Garden of Eden just so he could visit them? Why not just skip any chance of something bad happening and create them right in heaven? God's intent for creation surely was to bless all of his children, not just Adam and Eve. Many people seem to think the story is about two people behaving badly. It isn't.
The greatest enemy to God described in scripture lived in the Garden of Eden. How could it have been safe there? Apparently, he could only do certain things that didn't cause bodily harm. Is there any disagreement among Christians that Satan had been cast out of heaven for his rebellion? How could a mere angel oppose God with any credibility? Revelation 12: 8–9, and a few other references indicate this.
The discussions I had were interesting and informative. One topic of interest was the fall of Adam and Eve. Again and again, I was told that partaking of the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil was a serious mistake, and death was the punishment. Christian theologians and philosophers generally seem to agree that Adam and Eve were meant to live in the paradisiacal security of the Garden of Eden forever.
Was it really God's intent that they forgo the risks, the suffering, and death pertaining to mortality and remain static innocent souls living with the devil? How can a place be paradise if Satan was a resident?
Based on the Bible, Christians believe that Jesus was the Lamb of God, slain from before the foundation of the world? What does this mean? If love was the reason this sacrifice was planned and implemented according to God's foreknowledge, at what time did the souls of every human being come into consideration for salvation?
There are two basic theological considerations as to which place would truly be a heaven of a glorious nature. One is living forever in the Garden of Eden as immortal beings and not undergo The Fall. The other is the heaven spoken of by Jesus Christ for those that have fallen and been redeemed by His atonement, a place described as having many mansions?
Can any really consider themselves a Christian if they think the Garden of Eden was a better choice? Why is the common conclusion among Christian theologians that The Fall was a serious mistake, and our current state of living is a punishment? There is obviously a conflict in reasoning if one believes Eden was the better place.
If Jesus was foreordained from before the foundation of the world to be our Savior, it only stands to reason that Adam and Ever were also foreordained to fall and become the World's first Christians. If not, there would have been no need for Jesus to be born to offer his sacrifice. There would be no Christmas and no Easter if the fall did not occur. Why would God punish humanity for something he ordained, or for one or two person's mistakes?
The greatest enemy to God described in scripture lived in the Garden of Eden. How could it have been safe there? Apparently, he could only do certain things that didn't cause bodily harm. Is there any disagreement among Christians that Satan had been cast out of heaven for his rebellion? How could a mere angel oppose God with any credibility? Revelation 12: 8–9, and a few other references indicate this.
We now know that from some pre-mortal place of prominence, Satan sought to eliminate the risk and suffering of mortality, and to somehow save us without the sacrifice, suffering, and death of Jesus Christ. He sought to make himself a savior of some kind contrary to the principles of heaven and to have glory for himself.
We now see him operate with a certain vengeance to destroy the family of Adam and Eve, even the family of God. While some suffering comes about because of him, certain bounds are drawn around his abilities to tempt and destroy.
The scriptures are clear, there is only one-way eternal salvation is granted, and that is through the atonement of Jesus Christ. This requires creation, mortality, the risks of freedom with accountability, and death. Our life here with all of its uncertainties is clearly God's will or we would not be here. (Unless you're an atheist and then it is just a big accidental crapshoot.)
The fall had to occur according to principles of free will and agency. This is why Satan was allowed in the Garden. It was given to Adam and Eve to choose according to their own free will to undergo certain consequences (death and sin) and not to have them forced upon them. "For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive."
It is not possible to have free will without the ability or opportunity to choose between good and evil. In other words, there must be opposition in all things. This allows for individual agency. This means we re accountable for our choices.
We now see him operate with a certain vengeance to destroy the family of Adam and Eve, even the family of God. While some suffering comes about because of him, certain bounds are drawn around his abilities to tempt and destroy.
The scriptures are clear, there is only one-way eternal salvation is granted, and that is through the atonement of Jesus Christ. This requires creation, mortality, the risks of freedom with accountability, and death. Our life here with all of its uncertainties is clearly God's will or we would not be here. (Unless you're an atheist and then it is just a big accidental crapshoot.)
The fall had to occur according to principles of free will and agency. This is why Satan was allowed in the Garden. It was given to Adam and Eve to choose according to their own free will to undergo certain consequences (death and sin) and not to have them forced upon them. "For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive."
It is not possible to have free will without the ability or opportunity to choose between good and evil. In other words, there must be opposition in all things. This allows for individual agency. This means we re accountable for our choices.
Some Christian philosophers did realize that the fall was necessary. C. S. Lewis said, “Redeemed humanity is to be something more glorious than unfallen humanity would have been, more glorious than any unfallen race now is.”
In other words, the Fall was a necessary step to bring about more glorious possibilities than could have ever existed in the Garden of Eden. When we are born into mortality we are given the opportunity to be free agents, choosing our destiny.
If Adam and Eve had never left the Garden, they would have been without posterity and would have remained in a state of spiritual stagnation or neutrality. Only the Fall put them and us into a position of being spiritually and dependent on Jesus Christ, and this made possible their progress as well as for the rest of humankind.
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