Was God being arbitrary over which tree’s fruit could be eaten? Was the Fall really a question of picking and eating the wrong kind of fruit? How could this bring such a disaster? Why should they not have the knowledge of good and evil? How much freedom did God give Adam and Eve—and Satan? Why were they banished from Eden?

Why is the origin of evil such a challenge to us? In what way could God defend himself against charges that went to his very nature and character? Is the Great Controversy like some cosmic chess game that we have been conscripted into against our will? What issues have to be played out?