Expert: Marco - 11/14/2005

Question
Dear Marco,

I did not find a satisfying answer to my questions in your reply. Allow me to clarify what I meant.

(1) Let me restate my first very simple question as follows: Why don't I live in a creation where whatsoever choice I make, it is a good one? It is as if the allmighty God could not have avoided one of the "consequences" of giving us a free-will, i.e. the possibility of Evil. Of course I understand the tree in paradise is a metaphore, but why did God tease the still "pure" Adam and Eve by confronting them with the forbidden? If you do not want that the cat to drink milk, don't put it near the milk, as a Dutch proverb tells.

(2) I do not envy anybody for what he or she has got. On the contrary, I am very grateful for the life I have and I wish all people - even the ones I do not like - as much happiness in their life as they want. I simply revolt against the idea that in the "holy scriptures" and in christianity in general some people are almost predestinated to be the bad guys so that the good guys can be sanctified or saved. Examples: the Jews needed an unwilling pharao, the first Christians needed bloodthirsty Romans, Christ needed a betraying Judas etc. all that to fulfill God's plans? That goes so strongly against my personal understanding of what the magnificent God could be that instead of enabling my belief, "official" christianity inhibits it.

Thank you for answering my questions.

Bernard

PS: why there is not a single word of thank in the "Our Father"?
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Followup To
Question -
Allow me to ask you two questions:
1. Why did I receive a free will to decide whether I would do or leave certain things if some of those things are in any way categorized as sins for which I will have to expiate? Just like Adam and Eve who were forbidden to eat the fruit of a certain tree, why was this tree there?
2. Why would God work with a "Chosen People"? The others would perhaps also have liked to be God's favourite, but they've never got a chance. I have two sons and as a loving father I would never favour one of them to the detriment of the other one. Why would God act like this?
Answer -
Dear Bernard,

I think that the tree of Adam and Eve is only a symbol.
Evil does not exist as a substantial reality, and therefore it has never been created. Evil is only a concept we use to indicate a wrong choice.
God has chosen to create us with a free-will, and therefore we can make right choices or  wrong choices. When we make a wrong choice (for example a person who choses to divorce), we commit a sin.
In other words, evil is only a possibility we must reject; its existence is only a direct consequence of our choices, our refuse to make always the good and right choice.

God loves each of us, and He desires that each of us go to heaven. However God is free and He can freely give special gifts to those He chooses. We must never envy others' gifts, because we all have received many gifts beyond our merits. God loves us infinitely and He desires to lead each of us to the eternal life  and to the true happiness. But God is perfectly Holy and Good; God cannot tolerate evil because evil is uncompatible with His good and holy nature.
So, we cannot go to heaven as long as we are not completely purified from our sins and sanctified.
Our sanctifcation is necessary for us to go to heaven.
God desires to sanctify us, but He has given us a free-will, so God needs our consent in order to purify and sanctify us. God respects our choices and therefore God cannot santify those who do not want to be sanctified and purified, those who do not want to stop sinning, those who do not want to live a holy life.
These are those who go to hell.  

I hope this may help you.
Let me know if you need some clarifications.

Your brother in Christ,

Marco

Answer
Dear Berbard,

1)the possibility of evil is intrinsic to free will. This means that there can be no freewill without the possibility of evil. God is almighty, but omnipotence does not mean that God can eliminate every possibility.
Consider that the choice of evil is a purely interior choice; it is the choice to desire evil. If God had eliminated this possibility of choice, He would have eliminated free will.
God did not "tease the still "pure" Adam and Eve by confronting them with the forbidden"; God did indeed teach them the truth. But every time God teaches man the Truth, man is free to accept it as true, or reject it as false. And this rejection of the truth is evil and sin. If God had eliminated the possibility of rejection of the truth, He would have elimintated our free-will.  

2)As I have explained, free will implies the possibility of evil. Many persons choose evil and reject God.
These persons are not forced by God to choose evil; on the contrary, God desires them to repent and convert, but He respect their free will. God knows everything from the beginning, so He knows who are those who will reject Him defintively. God uses these bad guys in His good plans, with the purpose to convert and save the largest possible number of  persons.

I hope this may help you,

Your brother in Christ,

Marco