exchemist
Veteran Member
I actually agree with all that.
But my question remains, why in the story does God wish to hold mankind back from moral sentience?
I don't think there's any answer to that which makes sense at a literal level.
I was always given to understand that the doctrine of the Fall and Original Sin, which is fundamental in Christianity to the whole story of redemption by Christ's sacrifice, refers to Man's innate tendency to do wrong. This is something we are all born with: inherited from Adam, if you like. It can be seen as the consequence of an incomplete transformation from innocent animal urges to full moral behaviour. We are neither simple animals nor angels. We are a hybrid, with defects, in effect.
But like you perhaps, I have difficulty believing in a God who would really want us to stay simply animals. I think the story is a way of people trying to reconcile themselves to why there is pain and suffering in the world, in spite of it being created by a benevolent God. That is an issue that has been endlessly debated over the centuries and, to be honest, I have yet to come across a convincing answer to it.