An internal critique of The Fall

by Arber B.

Let's suppose for a moment that an omniscient, infallible God exists. Omniscience means this God is all-knowing. God knows all possible states of affairs, all possible options, and all actual choices a person has made, even before they are born. Infallibility means being without faults or mistakes. This applies even to God's knowledge. If God knows that a certain state of affairs, let's call it "X," will happen, then X will happen. It cannot happen otherwise, because that would contradict God's infallible nature. So, for the sake of argument, we'll accept that this God, the kind supported by classical theism, actually exists. If this God exists with these properties, then God knew that Adam and Eve would fall. God knew this and did nothing to stop it. God could have chosen a very different state of affairs: He could have made Adam and Eve unable to be corrupted by the snake/Satan. He could have completely removed the snake/Satan from existence. He could have given Adam and Eve prior knowledge of good and evil so they could make informed decisions before eating from the tree. He could have placed the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil far away from them, protecting them from its temptation. He could have forgiven Adam and Eve, understanding the impossible situation he put them in: two "grown-up babies" placed in front of the master deceiver, knowing they would fail the test. God knew the test would fail, yet he allowed it to happen. The test required these "babies" to resist the master deceiver, Satan, which is a difficult task for anyone, even a fully grown adult with well-developed mental faculties. Even worse, after knowing they would fail, God chose to not only banish Adam and Eve but also to curse their descendants and all of creation. Animals, completely unrelated to the event, were made to suffer.