Did a loving God foresee the Fall?translated

Reader question:

Hello. The Bible says that man disobeyed God and was expelled from paradise. Imagine: a parent leaves their children with a dangerous object, an attacker has access to them, and does not explain the consequences. Due to their inexperience, children violate the ban, they feel bad, and their father kicks them out of the house to a place of suffering. Can such a parent be considered loving? Could God have known that they would make a mistake and suffer?

Sergey

Priest's answer:

Priest Victor NIKISHOV

God bless you!

Your comparison of God to a parent who leaves their children with a dangerous object is not entirely accurate because it views the relationship with God in legal terms of crime and punishment. Saint John Chrysostom explains that even expulsion from paradise was not an act of anger, but an act of love: “So, God’s punishments themselves are blessings, they serve for correction, edification, instruction, and the suppression of evil. People do one thing as a benefit, another out of hatred and disgust; and God does everything out of love. As a benefactor, He settled man in paradise; as a benefactor, He expelled him from paradise.” Removal from the tree of life was not punishment, but mercy, so that a person, having sinned, would not remain alive...