Paradise Lost

[Beren3000]

Ok,here are my thoughts:
I don't see why you can't logically come to the conclusion that God exists. However, I think that both theories can be reconciled easily. Maybe people jump to that conclusion because God already set His knolwedge in their hearts.

Originally Posted by RÃ*an

But why would they "come up with" the gods that people typically come up with? Personally, I'd "come up with" a god that only wants to make me happy, and overlooks when I do wrong, and isn't giving me everything I want right now because he's not all-powerful, but he will do it someday.

The Greeks in fact came up with gods "to make them happy". Bacchus is one of the most poignant examples: he's the god of wine, so on his feast day (the Bacchanalia) the Greeks would drink themselves blind and commit all sorts of lewd acts: rape, murder and what have you...
Not good enough? Zeus himself is a god to make the Greeks happy. His escapades are legendary: Diane, Lydia, Europa, etc... certainly that is a figure many men can identify with and relate to. A god you can relate to is a god that makes you happy.
Among the Ancient Egyptians' religious beliefs is that Egypt is the sky's image on earth and they strove to make it more so. I think they compared the Nile to the Milky Way or something, and what's really amazing, if you draw a line through the three stars known as Orion's belt, you'll find that the thrid star deviates from that line a little bit. If you do the same with an aerial photo of the three pyramids, you find the exact same situation: a line running straight through the centers of the first two, while the thrid deviates from that line a little bit. Even the pyramids' relative sizes reflect these three stars' relative brightness. Anyway, I drifted , my point is: they created these beliefs because it made them feel proud and important.

Originally Posted by RÃ*an

and overlooks when I do wrong

I disagree with you there. People who "invent" gods must be very romantic and very meditative people. They should also be wise (or at least you'd think so!). So these people would see the justice of creating a belief system where the wrong-doers are punished and the Dudley do-rights go to heaven. If they should refrain from sin in the process, why not? It'll make things more orderly and elegant.

Anyway, here's my thought about the Tree:
God forbade to Adam and Eve the fruit of the Tree of knowledge (I knew He couldn't have forbidden the Tree itself, but bear with me please!), so considering the metaphor in this statement, God forbids us the fruit of knowledge not knowledge itself. That fruit being, as I said earlier, a godhead and a feeling of equality with God or even a complete denial of God's existence. So I would say that it's okay to pursue knowledge with moderation, keeping God in sight always. As to scientific curiosity that prods people to pursue knowledge, well we have the promise that that's going to be satisfied in Heaven. Paul mentioned something to that effect in his letter to the Hebrews, I think (Sorry can't find the CD with the English version of the Bible right now, so I can't post the exact quote).
After all, science can't be that bad, Einstein once said: "The more I observe the universe, the more I believe in a higher power." (or something close to that).

From one of your earlier posts:

Originally Posted by RÃ*an

I would say one of the main reasons is in John 3:19,

You were talking about a reason why atheism is thriving right now. However, I looked that up and found the verse when Jesus tells the Pharisees that he can destroy the Temple and rebuild it in three days. Explanation, please?

P.S. Get well soon!

EDIT: Brownjenkins, you're welcome to join in the discussion
I think both of you (brownjenkins and RÃ*an) would also enjoy discussion in The Da Vinci Code thread in this forum, if you've read the book that is.