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It seems like from the very first chapters of the Torah, mankind is destined to be evil and transgress the law of God:

  1. The very first couple make the only sin they can.
  2. The second child the world has ever seen, Cain, kills his own brother out of jealousy.
  3. Noah's generation is full of thieves, idolaters and perverts.
  4. The generation of babel rebels against God by building the tower of babel.

On top of all that, God knew that all this will happen.

It seems like god created us with a strong nature to go against him, and then teases us with his commandments.

Is evil our nature? Or is there a secret message within these passages?

msh210
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    I don't think it is so much that we were created "with a strong nature to go against him", rather it is one of two consequences of being given free will, to do good or to do evil. – Dennis Jul 05 '13 at 13:16
  • But given the statistics of the Torah, the majority of the humans are evil and only a few are good (Adam, Noah, Avraham, Isaac and Yaakov, etc). If so, what chances do we have? –  Jul 05 '13 at 13:20
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    @Ramin What do you mean by "chances"? It's not chance; it's choice. – Double AA Jul 05 '13 at 13:51
  • IIRC the Derech Hashem discusses this. – Hacham Gabriel Jul 05 '13 at 15:09
  • Related: https://judaism.stackexchange.com/a/130262/7303 – Yaacov Deane Aug 01 '22 at 01:37

1 Answers1

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It's a complicated question, but realize that the Bible focuses on flaws so we understand how to avoid -- and fix -- them.

But the Italian rabbi Ovadiah Sforno pointed out about 500 years ago that a theme in the beginning of Genesis is that man keeps messing up, and G-d keeps bailing him out. It's not so much "we're messed up" as it is "G-d is kind."

Shalom
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