During the Lord of the Ring discussion, a friend asked about why God put the tree of knowledge of good and evil in garden of Eden? (knowing full well that Adam and Eve would eat of its fruit)
How can they be guilty if they dunno what's right or wrong?
According to the Genesis account, they do know about good and evil before eating of the fruit. However their knowledge comes from God's command or revelation.
By eating the fruit, they are saying in effect, "We dun nid God to tell us wat's right or wrong. We decide!"
Moral autonomy - doing whatever we want - is an ongoing rebellion against God.
However a deeper, age-old question is "Why did God let it happen?"
Having struggled with it for a long time, I find that there is a range of responses from the Reformed perspective. The following articles have been most helpful to me, but not everyone can stomach them ;)
Articles on the problem of evil
If u dunno where to start, I recommend anything by Matt Perman for simple clarity.
If you have more time, John Piper's "Is God less glorious bcos He ordained that evil be?" and Greg Koukl's "Augustine on Evil" are worth your while. One is more exegetical, the other more philosophical.
Or, if u dun like 'em, you can always find Norm Geisler... :)
If u dun have time, go for the 60-second Theodicy by Greg Koukl
Also Recommended: A critique on traditional answers and a new perspective?
How can they be guilty if they dunno what's right or wrong?
According to the Genesis account, they do know about good and evil before eating of the fruit. However their knowledge comes from God's command or revelation.
By eating the fruit, they are saying in effect, "We dun nid God to tell us wat's right or wrong. We decide!"
Moral autonomy - doing whatever we want - is an ongoing rebellion against God.
However a deeper, age-old question is "Why did God let it happen?"
Having struggled with it for a long time, I find that there is a range of responses from the Reformed perspective. The following articles have been most helpful to me, but not everyone can stomach them ;)
Articles on the problem of evil
If u dunno where to start, I recommend anything by Matt Perman for simple clarity.
If you have more time, John Piper's "Is God less glorious bcos He ordained that evil be?" and Greg Koukl's "Augustine on Evil" are worth your while. One is more exegetical, the other more philosophical.
Or, if u dun like 'em, you can always find Norm Geisler... :)
If u dun have time, go for the 60-second Theodicy by Greg Koukl
Also Recommended: A critique on traditional answers and a new perspective?
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