Friday, November 06, 2009

HaShem's chutzpah

  • From my response to YC's comment to this post: "Also we are talking 13 yrs later (between Hagar having a child and Sarah having a child)" So why should G-d even be surprised, much less offended, that Sarah was skeptical? What did G-d expect?"

  • Then there's that little incident in which G-d planted a tree in Gan Eden and gave the order that the fruit of that tree was not to be eaten. What, the G-d who created humans curious didn't know that we'd eat from the tree? Gimme a break!

Why did G-d punish Adam and Eve and rebuke Sarah, when it was G-d who set them up?

3 Comments:

Blogger Larry Lennhoff said...

Off topic - the following free on-line course might be of interest to you if you have time The songs we sing

Fri Nov 06, 02:56:00 PM 2009  
Blogger Larry Lennhoff said...

As far as the main post goes, you're headed straight for Calvinism (and not the fun kind with Hobbes either). If Hashem's omniscience negates Adam and Eve's free will, then it negates every choice and action for everyone.

One interesting thing about Midrash is it often offers up 'alternate histories', If Adam and Chava had resisted eating the foribdden fruit, then a nightfall when Shabbat began so would the Messianic age - a world that was only shabbat.

Adam was supposed to have lived 1000 years, but he gave up 70 of them to King David - had he not David would have died in infancy with unspecified consequences.

If the Israelites had not gone along with the sin of the spies, Moshe would have led them into the land of Israel immediately and he personally would have constructed the Beit Hamikdash.

One thing I get out of these midrashim is that although Hashem knows everything that will happen, nevertheless alternatives were and are possible. Perhaps Hashem knows everything that can possibly happen, and is the G-d of each alternate universe where people made their different free choices? Fun to speculate about as long as you don't take it too seriously.

Fri Nov 06, 03:05:00 PM 2009  
Blogger Shira Salamone said...

Re the online classes, sounds interesting, but I need a new computer first, never mind the peripherals (camera, mike, etc.).

"If Hashem's omniscience negates Adam and Eve's free will, then it negates every choice and action for everyone." Sigh. True, Larry, but I still say it wasn't very nice of G-d.

Sun Nov 08, 01:47:00 PM 2009  

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