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[Newbie]

God is no hero. He is a vicious, cruel, murderous thug. One example, he punished everyone for the sins of one. What kind of fairness, goodness, or love is found in that?

[jimwalton]

Thanks for asking the questions. Now we can talk. You have a slight misunderstanding of the Adam and Eve story if you think God is punishing everyone for the sins of one. While I believe Adam and Eve are real and historical people, the main reason we read about them in Genesis is that they are the archetypes of the human race. What happened to them happens to everyone, and what they did is what everyone would have done in that situation. As you read the story in Genesis 2-3, you'll pick up on fact that all of things that are being said are archetypal: humanity is mortal (made of dust, 2.7), they have to make decisions about good and evil (2.16-17), they have to make decisions about following God or about believing in themselves, they have responsibilities and stewardship, etc. (I'll stop there with the illustrations so I don't just write 12 pages of stuff.) AND they chose self instead of God. As archetypes they become the first of all the rest (but that doesn't mean they're prototypes), which means that Cain would have done the same thing if put in the same situation, and Cain's son, and that guy's son, and so on, and so on, and even you and me. It shows that the tendency of our hearts is against God, and we choose that. So while it became obvious through the sin of one that the whole human race was on the wrong track, we all get punished for our own sins, not for Adam's.