Harsh but Effective Medicine

Why does not God just pull us back into paradise by dint of Omnipotence?

By the exercise of their omnipotence, God could easily pull us out of godlessness and back into paradise. So why do they not?  Suppose the goal is not just to get us to paradise but to keep us in paradise.

The Story of Adam and Eve Answers Our Most Important Questions

The story of Adam and Eve is viewed by many as a child’s fairy tale with little or no relevance to us today. Its lesson is judged too simple and, hence, too well-understood, to deserve any further serious contemplation. It is taken for granted. Few sermons are preached about it. Yet, the story of Adam and Eve provides answers to many of our most important questions about our predicament in godlessness and God’s plan to rescue us from it.

The Difference between Adam and Eve and their Children

God delivered the gift of paradise to Adam and Eve upon their creation. God, however, delays the delivery of the gift of paradise to the children of Adam and Eve. Why? Why is delivery delayed?

Adam and Eve Opted out

Adam and Eve opted out of paradise after the gift of paradise had been delivered to them. Like foolish children, Adam and Eve ran away from their home with God in paradise and took us with them into godlessness.  

A Gaggle of Angels Opted Out

A gaggle of angels led by Lucifer opted out of paradise after paradise had been delivered to them.

Paradise is not a Prison, God is not our warden; We are not God’s prisoners

Paradise is not a prison, God is not our warden and we are not God’s prisoners.  Even though opting out is contrary to our self-interest, we have the freedom to opt out of paradise.  Adam and Eve exercised their freedom. A gaggle of angels led by Lucifer opted out of paradise as well. Both groups had paradise in hand but opted out. They abdicated paradise for godlessness.

The Illusion versus the Reality

The serpent’s propaganda conjured up the illusion that a life in godlessness was superior to a life in paradise. The opposite, however, is the reality. Paradise is the home of an immortal, omnipotent and benevolent God.  We are the apple of God’s eye who loves each of us individually and who desire to shower us with gift after gift.  

The Motive for Opting Out

The illusion of the superiority of godlessness over paradise persuaded them to abdicate paradise after the gift of paradise had been delivered to them.

God does not want the Children to Repeat the Mistake of their Parents

God does not want the children of Adam and Eve to repeat the mistake of their parents. Once God delivers to us the gift of paradise, God wants us to keep it.  

What is the Solution to Post Delivery Paradise Opt Out?

What is the solution to the problem of post delivery paradise opt out? What is the remedy that can neutralize the devil’s propaganda?

The Solution

Reality neutralizes propaganda. Reality shatters the illusion. The truth sets us free. The prodigal son will not return to the pig sty. Never. No way; no how. The solution to the problem of post delivery paradise opt out was delay. Between our creation and the delivery of the promised gift of paradise God inserted a lifetime.  A lifetime is a thin sliver of eternity that gets thinner and thinner as time passes by. As time passes by, the duration of a lifetime becomes insignificant. It dwindles down to nothing. During the delay, we experience for ourselves the sourness of godlessness. Some get a spoonful of the sourness of godlessness; others get a mouthful; and, still others, including God’s dearly beloved Son, get a baptism by immersion. From our own experience in godlessness, we learn that the propaganda that the serpent gave to Adam and Eve at Eden was false, that the serpent lied to Adam and Eve and that godlessness sucks. Experiencing godlessness for ourselves reduces the likelihood that we would opt out of paradise after it is delivered to us to near zero.

Harsh but Effective Medicine

A lifetime in godlessness is harsh but effective medicine. God prescribes the harsh but effective medicine to us to make sure we keep the gift of paradise after the gift of paradise is delivered to us.  We ain’t going back to godlessness. No way; no how. The prodigal son will not return to the pig sty and neither will the children of Adam and Eve.

Our Rationality, Disabused of the Illusion, keeps us in Paradise.

Our experience in godlessness informs our rationality. Our rationality, having been informed about the sourness of  godlessness, tells us to stay in paradise and stay out of godlessness.  

Evil’s Existence is Ambiguous Evidence

The existence of evil in the world is the premise used by atheists as evidence to prove the nonexistence of a loving God.  This argument is good but specious. As strange as it sounds, the existence of evil in the world is also evidence that supports the proposition that a loving God exists. As explained above, the existence of evil is harsh but effective medicine. It keeps us in paradise and out of godlessness.  The existence of evil, is therefore, ambiguous evidence. What resolves the ambiguity? The brevity of life. If a loving God did not exist, we would stew in the shithole of godlessness forever. Because a loving God exists, the time we spend experiencing the sourness of godlessness is mercifully brief.  The brevity of life is the strongest evidence to support the proposition that a loving God exists.

Riches Dull the Sharp Edge of Godlessness

“And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God” (Matthew 19:24-26). Why? A rich man can shield himself from the sharp edge of godlessness. He can ameliorate its sourness.  Yet, Jesus goes on to say that nothing is impossible for God. Even the rich man will eventually taste the sourness of godlessness for himself.  No child of Adam and Eve escapes this experience.  Each of us must consume for ourselves the harsh but effective medicine. It is prophylactic. It stops us from abdicating paradise after paradise is delivered to us. The delivery of the gift of paradise is ineluctable for those who want it. What is problematic is us keeping paradise after it is delivered to us. Experiencing the sourness of paradise is God’s solution to this problem.  Given the choice between godlessness and paradise, we ain't picking godlessness. No way. No how. Rationality, informed by experience, points us in the right direction. Thank God for the gift of rationality. Thank God for the experience. Both prevent us from making a terrible mistake.