I knew someone was going to come in with this "God has a plan" nonsense. Just because someone has a plan, doesn't mean you go along with it (Hitler had a LOVELY plan for the entire world, Genocide on a Old Testament God-like scale, yet we didn't exactly go along with that plan now did we?)
Most of what has been said here is a pretty good argument. I will try to explain some, but again, as has been said, it boils down to faith. God gives us the choice to believe or not. If you truly want answers, go to a church with a pastor that will answer your questions. If you want to disprove christianity, then your waisting your time.
And return to the Garden by making the right choices? Thats a Paradox, the ones who you want to return to you, the intelegent thinkers, will be the ones who question you because they aren't the ones to take the word of a few guys in robes and an archaic old book (There is no such thing as second-hand revelation. The Bible is simply hearsay), whereas the people who WILL end up returning to you are little more than sheep, following the will of something they do not know, cannot comprehend, and will not question. If you are telling me that the only way to return to God is to throw my intelegence and curiosity out the window (for the Bible CLEARLY condemns those who question it), then I would rather suffer for eternity as the man I was born with than live forever as a Pretender.
The whole "return to him" thing just fails in the grand scheme of things.
Throwing your intelligence and curiosity out the window is not what I meant. Did you miss the part where faith comes from believing and trusting? And I really don't think you would rather suffer an eternity than blindly obey. I really don't. But then again, you don't have to make that descision.
I don't know why lightning falls from the sky. There must be a guy throwing thunderbolts.
I don't know why we suffer and die. Some woman must have opened a box.
Have faith maybe, but why in YOUR religion? Why can't God simply accept that humans will make their own minds up, and not punish us for eternity for it, is it not the job of a "Father" to love and cherish his children regardless of their choices in life?
All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Being created by Him, we answer to Him, whether or not man had sinned, we still answer to Him. And I hope you grasp that Adam and Eve represent all humans. They were just as human as us. Its easy to think that you would never had done something so stupid. But I'm sure it would be a little different if you were there. God makes the rules. He gives you the choice to accept that or not, but he also gives consequences for actions....
So as I said, before, God set us up to live guilt ridden lives, going into eternity knowing that we will never again return to Paradise (according to Genesis).
He allowed an OBVIOUSLY charismatic demon (lets be honest, Lucifer convinced half the angels of Heaven to rebel, he is obviously a good speaker) to talk to your creations and tempt them? Thats quite the equivilant of Rosevelt allowing Hitler to come over here and make a speach to America during WWII, its utter stupidity.
So why would you want to worship this guy again?
Do you own a Bible? If so, try reading the book of Job. In that book, Job is probably the richest, and most righteous man in his time. Yet God allows the Devil to tempt him, and eventually do all but kill him. He allows the devil to do it to test Job's faith. Job can still say "naked I entered this world and naked I will return. Blessed be the name of the Lord." Thats not blind obedience. Thats faith. Look at it closer, you'll see the Roosevelt/Hitler case is very different from the God/devil case.
We are lucky he doesn't throw us all into the fire because he made us imperfect and wishes to save some of us from a fate of eternal pain and suffering in a place he made?
The more I hear about God, the more I think of him as a cosmic Hitler, judging and killing those he finds unworthy to be with him, and casting them aside.
Yes, were lucky he provides an escape, because as all have sinned, all have fallen short of the glory of He who made us.