1.1 - Big Questions

Although I dread launching straight into them, the weight of letting them loom as future entries is overwhelming, so I must pose the questions. I'll save the in-depth discussions for later, but let's get them out in the open so we can see what we're dealing with.

(In the interest of not being labeled an unbelieving paganistic heretic, let me briefly reiterate that thoughts are not beliefs, questions are ok, and I believe.)

The actual questions posed here are representative. They initiate the dialogue and point to deeper issues. The answers to them create more questions.

Basic assumptions: God made everything. God knows everything. God makes the rules.

1. God made man (Genesis 1:27). God institutes death as punishment for sin (Genesis 3:3). God regrets (actually the KJV says "it repented the Lord") that He made man and destroys the earth with a flood (Genesis 6:6-7). Does not regret indicate that if He had it to do over again, He would do it differently?

2. Since God makes the rules and God knows everything, why would He make a rule that He knew Adam couldn't handle, followed by many more rules that man couldn't handle, followed eventually by Him sending his Son to die? For an omniscient being, this seems to show a lack of foresight.

3. Since God is all-powerful, why should I be impressed by miracles of any kind? If God created the universe, then any miracle is trivial at best.

4. How can a loving and perfect God put in place a system where a decision made by tremendously fallible man—in a period that is infintesimal in comparison to eternity—determines his eternal fate?

Bonus: Do I still have freewill in heaven? What happens if I screw up once I get there?

Comments welcome. Stakes and fire not so much. Steaks and fire on the other hand...