Q: A priest in a video said, “Have you ever wondered why God allowed the devil to tempt Adam and Eve?” Yes! There’s nothing in the Bible said about God telling Adam and Eve that their complete obedience was crucial, that there would be permanent consequences for their descendants. Did they know how serious the repercussions would be? Then there’s the issue (for me) of their free will. God knew in advance that they would succumb to the devil. I can’t understand how God’s plan was to have every person born after them to have “original sin,” which means a damaged nature. Why should each person be punished for the first two peoples’ sins? Another part of this is trying to fathom what God wanted initially. We’re told that he wanted us all to be with him in his kingdom, in love and beauty forever. He could’ve just made a bunch of people already there, sinless, adoring him in heaven. My understanding is that he wanted to give us the free will to choose him. I accept that, but did Adam and Eve have any experience whatsoever with God to be able to trust him? – P.K.

Answered by Fr. Edward McIlmail, LC

A: Your basic question is why God allows evil in the world. This is a question that has puzzled people for millennia. It is the theme behind the Book of Job.

The question still puzzles the Church.

The Catechism in No. 395 says, “Although Satan may act in the world out of hatred for God and his kingdom in Christ Jesus, and although his action may cause grave injuries […] to each man and to society, the action is permitted by divine providence which with strength and gentleness guides human and cosmic history. It is a great mystery that providence should permit diabolical activity, but ‘we know that in everything God works for good with those who love him.'” [boldface mine]

But let’s focus on your questions.

God did, in fact, indicate that Adam and Eve’s obedience was no small thing. “From that tree you shall not eat; when you eat from it you shall die” (Genesis 2:17).

True, Adam and Eve probably didn’t understand what the full consequences of their sin would be. But then, most of us never do.

A husband “fools around” on a business trip—and ends up passing on a disease to his wife.

A teenager playfully texts his buddy while driving—and gets distracted and hits a bicyclist, leaving her half-dead.

A woman passes on a bit of gossip about a co-worker—and costs him an otherwise well-deserved promotion.

In all these cases, the offenders didn’t realize what the consequences of their sins would be.

Part of being human means that our actions affect others, for good or ill. In the case of Adam, he ended up passing on a damaged human nature (“original sin”) to us. It is what it is.

Jesus himself warns that people can be guilty of grave sin even if they don’t understand all the consequences. Read Matthew 25:31-46 and notice that the “accursed” didn’t realize it was Jesus whom they neglected to feed or clothe or shelter.

God’s foreknowledge that people will sin doesn’t take away their free will. An analogy might help.

If Jane looks out her window and sees the neighbor across the street cutting his lawn, Jane’s seeing him doesn’t cause him to cut the lawn. She is simply seeing what the neighbor is doing.

It’s a little like that with God. Only for him, everything is present. He sees Jane’s neighbor cutting the lawn today—as well as next year and the year after.

Ditto with sin: God sees us sinning today, tomorrow and next week. But his seeing those sins doesn’t cause us to sin. We have free will.

So, why didn’t God just create us in heaven? Because souls automatically placed in heaven wouldn’t have had the chance to make their own decision to love God. And God doesn’t want to force his love on anyone. He doesn’t want us to be robots.

Admittedly, some of the above won’t satisfy all your questions. There is a bit of mystery about sin and God’s providence that we might never totally grasp.

God designed things that way to give us room to make an act of faith. If everything were laid out logically and neatly, there would be no need for faith. And not much room for love on our part.

As for Adam and Eve, they were given so many extraordinary gifts, it’s a wonder why they didn’t trust God and follow his simple command.

This is a pattern that would be repeated later with Israel, when the Lord would lament, “What more could be done for my vineyard that I did not do?” (Isaiah 5:4).

For related reading, see the Catholic Answer postings on the problem of evil and Adam and Eve.

I hope some of this helps. Count on my prayers.