/lit/ - Literature

>>17812353
>If the Bible is literally the word of God then why has it changed over the years?
Correct, it has been corrupted over the years, and thus it is no longer the true word of God.
>Why did God (in the Christian tradition) set up Adam and Eve for failure and thus eternal punishment?
Who knows? Christians love to hate themselves, and drive themselves to self-pity.
>Why did God set up Adam and Eve for failure and for eternal damnation?
The answer is that he didn't. The Quran teaches that humankind is greater than God's angels, because they have freedom of choice. It was never meant as a punishment to put humans on earth, but it is meant as a test. With great power comes great responsibility, etc. This is a much sounder doctrine than instilling the idea that humans are hollow, cursed husks of beings, destined from the get-go for their deserved damnation. In fact, Satan was punished for refusing to bow down to the superiority of Adam. In response, Satan deceived Adam and Eve. True, they disobeyed God, but they had the power to do so. The tree, by the way, wasn't the 'tree of good and evil' to give us the myth that seeking knowledge is impious. So God, the most gracious and merciful, immediately forgave Adam and Eve, and promised that they can return to Paradise (i.e. heaven = the garden) as long as try harder to keep God's commandments, in a more difficult life that will only make the reward that much sweeter. They will till the earth for a time under God's commandments, and return completely rehabilitated for union with God. And God promises that he will send messengers occasionally to remind them to listen to his commandments, (until one day, when the message is actually memorized by the faithful and exactly delivered to subsequent generations, which was fulfilled in the Quran) so that Adam and Eve's descendants can also return to Paradise. Finally, God promises that if someone hasn't been exposed to the truth, he will be judged only on his character (by a totally merciful God, no less) and will attain Jannah on this basis alone. There is no weight of 'original sin' weighing down humans for which they are destined to damnation. God just wants to make sure you're fit to join him in Jannah. Plus, imagine how much sweeter the fruits and flowing streams of Paradise are after one has lived through the trials and tribulations of earth.